Good Morning

I love mornings. Today, I'm thankful for getting up early for my lab, but getting done early enough to come home and shower. Plus, I was able to just take my time reading and journaling this morning. It's already a very good day.

Also, I get to see this guy in two weeks!!! I can't wait. Look at him. He's just the best. 14 days!!!!

Welcoming Wednesday

It's such a perfect fall day. Chilly, slightly cloudy, and simply peaceful. I've been listening to the Dan in Real LIfe soundtrack, a favorite, and just sitting cozily in my warm house. It's a good day.

Here are two of the best parts of today:

My dad gave me this book for my birthday, and I love it. I'd never heard of this Steven Furtick or this book, but I love the truth in it. So challenging, encouraging and hopeful. Frankly, it knocks my socks off with excitement.

And here we have a beautiful friend, Karen. I just love this girl. We're on our way to do some thrift store shopping now. I'm so thankful for her and her friendship. Hmmm...love her.

Now I'm off to get rid of some old clothes and probably pick up a few things while I'm at it. I'm looking forward to the rest of my afternoon. :)

Today

Today's Happenings:

*Went to church with Dad, Mom and David

*Came home after church and watched YouTube videos...thank you, Reed

*Went to lunch with family and talked about the Church (big C)

*Drove to Bethel to visit Laura, Rob, Rusty and other KBM fam

*Made a visit to Barnes and Noble to do an errand for Laura and spent some time there reading/journaling (B&N may be my favorite spot)

*Returned to Bethel and spent time with KBM folks

*Got crazy blessed and encouraged by three people who love Jesus and love me so well

*Talked to Reed as I drove home

*Had playtime and dinner with my parents, David, Paco, Emily and Ireland

*Chased Ireland through hallway and my room

*Enjoyed coffee and conversation (as you know, my favorite things) with the family in the living room

*Watched Ireland and our new puppy, Barnabas, interact

*Practiced my modeling skills (or simply good posture technique) as I walked through the house with a book on my head

*Blogged

In the last 24 hours, I've also enjoyed a few other things. Last night I watched Good Will Hunting for the first time, and I loved it. I've heard it was good, but I was caught off guard by how much I liked the movie.

And after watching that movie, I made a list of my current favorite actors/actresses.

-Matt Damon

-Adrian Brody

-Joseph Gordon Levitt

-Marion Cotillard

-Carey Mulligan

It's been a good day. God surprised me with great joy and peace and encouragement. That's so like him. :) What a good God.

Conversation

I'm very thankful for two things tonight: coffee and conversation. My week has been good, but also kind of tough with Reed leaving on Monday. Honestly, I've had a hard time not getting down when I look at this next year. It seems so overwhelming and daunting. The cool thing? God's grace. He's been so good to show me all that I have and all that he's been faithful in. I'll miss Reed all year, but I have so much to be excited about.

Anyway, back to the coffee and talking thing. Today was spent in Mishawaka, and there was a lot of good conversation that happened. First, I was greatly encouraged by a meeting with my advisor and professor, Beth McLaughlin. In the afternoon, I spent some time with my sister, Emily, and my niece, Ireland. I always love time with Em because she just knows me so well and our time is so natural together. Finally, I finished off the day with coffee and hangout time with my friend, Hannah. It sounds simple, but that little chunk of time with her was so refreshing and uplifting. Two of my favorite things - coffee and friends - in one of my favorite places - Barnes and Noble.

I know I'm a communication person, so of course I should love the art of conversation. But it feels different to me. I think I could be content, no overjoyed, with a job that allowed me to frequently enjoy times of coffee meetings. Please, Jesus, let me be able to use that. :)

Hope

Reed is currently driving across the country to settle in Fresno for the year, and I had put a few episodes from Timothy Keller's podcast on his iPhone. He listened to one at the beginning of his trip and suggested I listen to it, too. So I did.

This morning, I listened to Keller's "Sexuality and the Christian Hope". If you haven't read or heard Keller, he's great. I love his style of teaching and he's a really good communicator (of course, I would love that). Anyway, I learned a lot and was really challenged from this. One of my favorite parts of Keller's message was his recognition of real hope. I forget if it was his definition or he took it from someone else, but he describes our hope like this: life-shaping, joyous certainty that your future is the eternal love and glory of God in a renewed heaven and a renewed earth. That is crazy cool.

The rest of the message was equally stirring. If you want something different to listen to, just check it out on iTunes under the Timothy Keller podcast. Good stuff.

Philippians

I've been reading through the Bible this year, as in straight through, and I'm presently still in the Old Testament. Yes, I'm a bit behind, but I don't need to finish in a year. I just want to read it all. Today, though, I started memorizing in Philippians. When I open up my Bible, this is the most marked up and noted portion of the book. I love this book. We learn about joy in all circumstances, trusting God and partnership in the Gospel. It's such good stuff! So I've decided I want to memorize it - Philippians. I'm going pretty slowly so that I can focus on sections at a time and really let it sink in. Today I started with the first 6 verses and I'll work on them until Monday.

As I was looking at this section today, I realized how cool verse 3 is. I don't know why I've kind of ignored this part, but it's so neat. "I thank my God every time I remember you." What an awesome piece of encouragement to give your brothers and sisters. There are so many people I should be thanking God for every time I think of them.

In other unrelated news, I found tiny gummy bears at a market today. They are so tasty. And I realized how much I love markets. They might be my favorite part of spring/summer.

Variety

I love variety. I always say I'm going to grow my hair out, but then I end up cutting it about every three months. And I always want it to look different.

I can't eat the same thing twice in a row at a restaurant. I always want to try something new.

This need for variety is kind of funny. I mean, I say I don't like change, like most people, but I think I really do. It's kind of adventurous and mysterious. Just look at my blog. I get bored with it so easily and rather than update on a regular basis, I change the look of it every once in a while. Most of my posts have happened right after a little redecorating of the site. Today, I've also decided I don't need to blog serious, insightful or deeply personal things to enjoy writing. I used to think this blog was a place for me to throw up all these feelings and thoughts I needed to get out. But today, I'm very content. I like to write, and I don't quite know what I like to write yet. I'm okay with that.

I don't love the new blog background, though. Don't get me wrong, I love books. And more than that, I love bookshelves. :) But this book-filled wallpaper makes me feel like I'm trying super hard to be intellectual. Maybe I am. Please, you reading this, see me as an intellectual. Did the books help?

Alright, to wrap up today, I will tell you that I love Keith Green and Needtobreathe. And Phil Wickham. And as of this past week, I've been introduced to Florence and the Machine. Good stuff.