>>I took a nap today and it was glorious.
>>This past week was one of amazing blessings that occurred only because of the incredible trials that happened simultaneously. You can't have one without the other, right? Well, I guess you can, but you certainly won't appreciate them as much or revel in their wonder as much as when you are flat on your face with nothing but Jesus to pick you up. I'd like to see a blessing brought by good things, but I'm also learning to be content with where God has me. Including those times when life is hard. Choosing joy. Learning that my peace comes from Him and not what is swirling around me.
>>My pastor's sermon was about trials this morning. No joke. It was about the disciples on the water in the storm and Jesus coming to them. He basically gave an entire message that was 100% exactly what I needed to hear after a week of trial after trial. I took lots of notes and just soaked in every verse. Love it when God shows up like that in life. He feels so personal and close, doesn't He?
>>I finished my first book of off the summer reading list. These Broken Stars. It was good. I couldn't put it down, so I finished it quickly. But it wasn't one of those "stay-with-you-for-a-while" stories. I just wanted to know what happened.
Also, I would like to just like to comment on the trend of naming characters way-out-there names. I feel like it started with Hunger Games years ago. Katniss, Peeta, Haymitch, Primrose, Gale (which now seem normal because we all know and love them). The two main characters in this book were Lilac and Tarver. Kinda weird.
I'm totally fine with fun new names, but please, can we just back off a bit and stop trying to re-invent the world we create by giving people random names just because? The 100 was the worst offender. I literally didn't remember who anyone was because the names were so ridiculous and hard to remember. Clarke was a girl. Bellamy was a boy. And Glass...a girl. It was distracting.
>>Current obsessions: getting everything on my list completed (I'm determined to not be 50% behind when camp starts on Wednesday. This might be a pipe dream, but by hook or by crook, I'm gonna try.); Catching Fire: movie and soundtrack (still re-watching/listening constantly), Fever by The Black Keys; Ruth and the whole concept of a Redeemer and Christ being my Redeemer; How I Met Your Mother (just started from the beginning for the first time); reading this (I'm into the Great War and poisonous gas and the horrors of Gallipoli. I keep thinking about that scene in Legends of the Fall when Samuel gets stuck in the barbwire fence when the gas is released and Tristan is screaming his name searching for him) and listening to this (2 months free of Audible courtesy of Amazon Local coupon).
>>Essential Oils. I use them every day now. Diffuse them at night (alternate between Thieves so I don't get sick and lavender and peppermint for a peaceful night sleep). I use them on my face in the morning (frankincense) and evening (blend called Clear Skin). Still searching for something to help with headaches though. Nothing I've tried has truly taken them away, only helped slightly.
>>One of those blessings this week was phone calls and texts from dear friends whom I haven't seen in a long time. It's amazing what a short conversation with someone who loves you and is genuinely concerned for your heart will do for you. I felt so much better having just had them listen to me and care about what was going on in my life. And hearing their burdens and taking those on my shoulders as well. I hate distance and the inevitable lessening of time spent together. But I'm also thankful for those dear ones that instantly feel like home when I'm with them or talking with them no matter how long it's been in between visits. I'm incredibly blessed by the friends in my life.
>>It all starts Wednesday. Summer #16 here. I'm equally so excited I could jump out of my skin and terrified that that it's actually here.
Summer 2014, let's be friends. Let's have some adventures. Let's learn some lessons together and make some fantastic memories.
