Thursday, August 13, 2009
Questions
What is it all for? Why do we do the things we do? How come it's so hard to spend time on things that matter? Where has the summer gone? What can I do to slow down the passing of time? How did I get to be 28 already? How can I love more? How can I make the world a better place?
Friday, August 7, 2009
A Bible, Chai Tea, and Rain
This morning I woke to the whisper of soft rain. Not only does a good rain soothe me, but knowing how much the land here needs the rain, it's a double cause for celebration. I rejoice that it hasn't stopped yet; it's just maintained the steady soft hush the last three hours.
My routine this week (if I can even say I have one) has been helter skelter, and I haven't been the best about making sure I spend time reading my Bible each morning. Sometimes I have tossed a prayer up to God on my rush out the door, other times I've sat reading and re-reading the same passage because my mind keeps wandering to the things that need to be done during the day. Today I sat down next to the kitchen window, cup of chai tea in hand, and opened my Bible.
The feeling that came over me surprised me. The cool, damp breeze floating on the hush of the rain combined with the smell of my chai tea, and I was transported to Luther Dell Bible Camp. For the last 6 years, August has brought with it a mix of scurrying, packing, preparing, then living at Luther Dell for 3 weeks. For the last 6 years I have been a part of Youth Encounter's team training. This August marks the first year since 2002 that I will not be traveling up there. I'm not sure I know what to do with myself! On the one hand, I'm thankful for the time I'll get to spend with friends and family here because I won't be working 16 hours a day for a month. On the other hand, I will truly truly miss the quiet mornings, cup of chai in one hand, Bible in the other, when I sat lakeside at Luther Dell talking to God. If I close my eyes, I can feel the planks of the dock beneath me and see the placid lake stretching out in front of me. I can see the dew on the tall wildflowers beside me and hear the loons calling. I feel the cool morning air on me, and see the fog lifting from the lake. I long for those moments at Luther Dell, when the world seemed to stop and life could be seen so clearly.
My routine this week (if I can even say I have one) has been helter skelter, and I haven't been the best about making sure I spend time reading my Bible each morning. Sometimes I have tossed a prayer up to God on my rush out the door, other times I've sat reading and re-reading the same passage because my mind keeps wandering to the things that need to be done during the day. Today I sat down next to the kitchen window, cup of chai tea in hand, and opened my Bible.
The feeling that came over me surprised me. The cool, damp breeze floating on the hush of the rain combined with the smell of my chai tea, and I was transported to Luther Dell Bible Camp. For the last 6 years, August has brought with it a mix of scurrying, packing, preparing, then living at Luther Dell for 3 weeks. For the last 6 years I have been a part of Youth Encounter's team training. This August marks the first year since 2002 that I will not be traveling up there. I'm not sure I know what to do with myself! On the one hand, I'm thankful for the time I'll get to spend with friends and family here because I won't be working 16 hours a day for a month. On the other hand, I will truly truly miss the quiet mornings, cup of chai in one hand, Bible in the other, when I sat lakeside at Luther Dell talking to God. If I close my eyes, I can feel the planks of the dock beneath me and see the placid lake stretching out in front of me. I can see the dew on the tall wildflowers beside me and hear the loons calling. I feel the cool morning air on me, and see the fog lifting from the lake. I long for those moments at Luther Dell, when the world seemed to stop and life could be seen so clearly.
Friday, July 24, 2009
New Addition to the Family
That's right, it's not going to be just Zac and I anymore! In late September we will welcome...a 23-year-old girl from Germany! (what, that wasn't what you were expecting me to say?) Her name is Julia, and she's a friend of my friend Robert who also lives in Germany. Julia will stay with us for about 4 weeks to practice her English and get a taste of Minneapolis. Zac and I are looking forward to meeting this new friend and sharing our home with her. I'll be sure to post some pictures of the three of us when she comes!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Simple Joys
Rewind to 1 year ago. I entered the salon to greet Coley, a stylist I had never met before. She seemed nice enough, and when I saw the scissors tatoo on her arm, I knew she was a serious stylist. She treated me so well, asking me all about my lifestyle to know what kind of cut to give me. I walked out of there with a great haircut. It didn't stop there, though. As the weeks and months wore on, the haircut just seemed to get better and better. I didn't have to do ANYTHING to it, and it folded neatly under at the ends, and flared slightly out just where it needed to. This was the best haircut of my life.
Rewind to 6 months ago. Time to get another haircut. Coley is gone to a salon across town, so I try someone new. She came highly recommended by 3 of my coworkers, so I was confident I was going to get yet another great cut. Well...she must have misread me somehow. Maybe misheard me. Maybe was having an off day. I walked out of there looking like an Emo rocker. For those of you who know me, this is not at all who I am! I was given a rockstar haircut that I couldn't pull off each day without the help of 2 extra hours in the bathroom and 3 stylists! The days went painfully on until it slowly, but surely grew out. It may have been the first time I cried over a haircut. I shouldn't be so harsh - there were a couple days I thought it looked good, but overall, I hated what the mirror showed.
This month, I started to finally feel like my hair was long enough now to where I could get it cut short enough to do some damage control and rehab. I managed to track down Coley, the super stylist, at a new salon in St. Paul called Root. Can I just say she was totally worth the drive? She remembered me from last summer, and we caught up on all the last year had brought for each of us. She fixed what she could, and we laughed about how awful the last cut was. 40 minutes later, she had me walking out of there looking like a model.
You know, I'm not a girly girl, but I have to say I love my hair stylist. Unless Coley has a really really bad day, or moves out of state, I don't think I'll go to anyone else as long as I'm living here.
Rewind to 6 months ago. Time to get another haircut. Coley is gone to a salon across town, so I try someone new. She came highly recommended by 3 of my coworkers, so I was confident I was going to get yet another great cut. Well...she must have misread me somehow. Maybe misheard me. Maybe was having an off day. I walked out of there looking like an Emo rocker. For those of you who know me, this is not at all who I am! I was given a rockstar haircut that I couldn't pull off each day without the help of 2 extra hours in the bathroom and 3 stylists! The days went painfully on until it slowly, but surely grew out. It may have been the first time I cried over a haircut. I shouldn't be so harsh - there were a couple days I thought it looked good, but overall, I hated what the mirror showed.
This month, I started to finally feel like my hair was long enough now to where I could get it cut short enough to do some damage control and rehab. I managed to track down Coley, the super stylist, at a new salon in St. Paul called Root. Can I just say she was totally worth the drive? She remembered me from last summer, and we caught up on all the last year had brought for each of us. She fixed what she could, and we laughed about how awful the last cut was. 40 minutes later, she had me walking out of there looking like a model.
You know, I'm not a girly girl, but I have to say I love my hair stylist. Unless Coley has a really really bad day, or moves out of state, I don't think I'll go to anyone else as long as I'm living here.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
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