catching up...

Oh hey, look; here I am again. Crazy that it's been nearly 8 months since I last posted. Even crazier, though, were those eight months... As a quick summary, from mid-May 2012 until now, I:

- Found out that I'd been accepted into the nursing program at a college here in town.
- Worked a lot. A whole lot. Good thing I love my job (well, most days).  :)

fun in the Smokies

- Traveled with Paul in July for a quick family reunion/camping trip in the Smoky Mountains.
- Attended the weddings of several former coworkers, one in June and the other in August (congrats, Brian & Emily and Jack & Anna). Fun fact: they all worked at Starbucks at one time or another.

Lina and Taylor

- Got to spend lots of time with my youngest sister, when she came to stay with me and Paul for a few weeks in July. We celebrated her 17th birthday while she was here (she has now had two birthdays in a row in Texas)!
- Received the sweetest birthday gift ever from my coworkers - a handmade card full of kind words, and money to go towards my next trip to Haiti.
- Said good-bye to free time ;) and started nursing school in August.

with Melissa at her wedding reception

- Studied. A lot. Most productive place I found to study? On the floor in the back room at Starbucks. Go figure.
- Made a quick trip to Kansas in October for Guepson and Melissa's wedding. Such a perfect, beautiful ceremony and reception, and it's always fun to see Haiti friends in the States :)
- Cooked many a crockpot meal at Starbucks. Besides this, I pretty much survived the semester on coffee and tortilla chips.
- Successfully completed my first semester of nursing school. 4 more to go...

loved, loved, loved being back in
Haiti and with these kids

- Traveled to Haiti with Paul and spent two gloriously wonderful weeks at Heartline and Notre Maison. More on this soon...
- Started running again for the first time in many months...and signed up for a half-marathon to help raise money to build a new maternity center for Heartline. Learn more about Run for Life Haiti here. More on this soon, too...

These past eight months have been busy and fun and challenging and stressful and exciting...pretty much the full gamut of adjectives/emotions. Through it all, the Lord has continually been teaching me about trusting Him, that His grace is (as the song says) greater than all my sin, and that I can work super hard and try my best until I'm absolutely exhausted...but if my focus isn't on Him, if I'm relying on my own strength to get things done, at the end of the day, I'm a mess. And being a mess is not fun. So here's to a new year, and to a renewed focus on the loving the Lord, celebrating His goodness, and living in a way that reflects His gospel message.

The gospel teaches us that instead of focusing on ourselves and our closely clinging sin, we've got to focus on, to consider, Jesus. We've got to look away from our sin, whether because it's alluring and drawing us toward it or because it's condemning and pushing us into ourselves and away from our Savior. We must patiently focus all our attention on him. We've got to think on, ponder, or consider, Jesus. Every aspect of the gospel is meant to encourage us in our war against sin. Of course, we should be aware enough of our sin that we seek to repent of it and are grateful for the cross, but that's not where our thoughts should settle.  Our thoughts should be steadfastly riveted on what Jesus has done.  (Elyse M. Fitzpatrick, Comforts from the Cross) 

Multitude Monday...on Thursday

Once upon a time, my perfectionist/control freak self would have cringed at doing my "Monday post" on any other day of the week (I mean, helloooo...clearly to publish my gratitude list on any other day would mess up the entire order of the universe, right?); we can all breathe a deep sigh of relief that I've relaxed a bit -- Multitude Monday can happen on Thursday; my house doesn't have to be perfectly clean/organized in order to invite people over, and it really is ok to go to the store without mascara (if I'm quick. and it's early in the morning. and I'm reasonably sure I won't run into anyone I know.... K, still working on that one :) ).

It's also okay to humble myself and admit that I need prayer.

That recently I've been easily overwhelmed and stressed.

That I'm really missing my mom.

That yet another sweet baby in Haiti has died, and I hate that this is all-too-common.

And...that I'm recognizing more and more how I idolize control...because when things don't go as I'd hoped...or when I don't even know exactly what it is that I'm hoping for...or when the measliest little comment or occurrence makes me want to go into "self-defense mode" and avoid everyone...that's when I realize that I've quit trusting in the Lord and am instead trying to do things in my own strength.

But I am weak.

Good thing His power is made perfect in weakness.  Real good thing.

So there's drama at work?
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear...Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:29, 32)

Potential life decisions to make?
You guide me with Your counsel, and afterward You will receive me to glory.  Whom have I in heaven but You?  And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You.  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:24-26)

Hopes and dreams that are out of my hands to bring about?
Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.  Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:3-4)


Disappointments?  Sadness?
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.  "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in Him." (Lamentations 3:21-24)

As I type this, Hillsong is playing in the background:

You are stronger
You are stronger
Sin is broken
You have saved me
It is written
Christ is Risen
Jesus, You are Lord of all.


O Praise Him!

481. Praying friends.  You have no idea how much I appreciate y'all.
482. Visiting with Sabrina, Everly, and Birdie at Eyrie Park.
483. Dinner with Jessica; so grateful for her encouragement.
484. Rain outside my window.
485. Clopening with Aja; love this girl and am really going to miss her while she's in San Antonio this summer.
465. Movie night at The Yet-Unnamed Duplex with Paul, Julie, Aja, and Anna.
466. A super fun and yummy lunch with Aja and her mom.
467. Dinner and games at Jason and Meg's.
468. Babysitting some super cute kids with Jessica (favorite moments from the night: snuggling with an adorable two-month-old and learning all about how to make crystals with a crazy-smart seven-year-old).
469. My freshly-mowed backyard (thanks, Paul!).
470. The last meeting of our Biblical Theology class; I've definitely learned a lot over the past few months.
471. Dinner with friends after BT class for Kate's birthday; so fun!
472. This is really cool (at least, I'm fascinated by it...).
473. Sleeping in on Sunday...eating breakfast...starting a load of laundry...going back to bed for two hours...moving the laundry to the dryer...getting up and going out to my hammock...  It was a wonderfully [rare] lazy Sunday :)
474. Lunch with Sarah and Julie; good food, good friends, good times :)
475. Game night at Sarah's...and Rachael's memory trick so that we'll never EVER forget how to differentiate the branches of Islam :P
475. Discovering an unopened bag of Casi Cielo at my house...mmmm!
476. Wonderful Taryn, one of my amazing coworkers with whom I worked for 10 months.  We all already miss her now that she's graduated and moved on.
477. Getting to talk to this amazing woman after church on Sunday; excited to spend time with her family this summer talking about Haiti and practicing Creole.
478. "Roommate night" (this week and last) at Julie's.
479. Joe's moving back this weekend; yay!!!!!!!!!!
480. A surprise from the brother, discovered at 4:30am on my way to work :)

The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; You hold my lot.  The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.  I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.  I have set the LORD always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.  Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.  For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let Your holy one see corruption.  You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.  Psalm 16:5-11

praises resound

Crucified with Christ

No longer we live

But Christ lives within

You're crowned with many crowns

Our praises resound

To Jesus our King

We sing to the One who has made us alive

- Made us Alive (Michael Bleeker)

341. This.

342. Spending my lunch break on Thursday with a dear friend.

343. Allergies. Not because I like 'em, but because when they hit me hard like they did this week, it's a very good reminder of how blessed I am to normally have good health.

344. Getting to see two wonderful friends every single day this past week at Starbucks (and then yesterday at church).

345. Chasing a coworker around the store with a mop. Just trust me on this. It was great fun.

346. An impromptu middle-of-the-night baking session.

347. A way-super-long-overdue coffee date with the lovely Sabrina.

348. My doctor/lifegroup leader/church elder handing me a prescription at church so that I can maybe quit being "Beth the Mute" sometime in the near future (I lost my voice on Saturday and its return has been quite gradual).

349. A couple more good runs in preparation for Saturday's Run for Compassion (donate here to help me raise money for the Child Survival Programs in Haiti and in Ethiopia).

350. "Going blue" with friends :)

351. Birthdays! Birdie's 16th last Monday and Sabrina's 21st on Saturday! We had lots of fun celebrating both :)

352. Really good visits with several of the residents at Esperanza, including one whom I hadn't seen in months.

353. Ice skating amongst gabajillion kids/teens; it was crazy but still fun.

354. This fun movie.

355. FINALLY getting to see Donovan again, for the first time since he and Sabrina got engaged.

356. A late-night talk with the brother.

357. An encouraging text from a sweet friend.

358. Getting my raise AND retro-vacation pay on the same paycheck (both of which I'd forgotten were coming).

359. Paul FINALLY getting his raise (that he was supposed to get last summer).

360. 5 years with Starbucks (as of last Tuesday)! Here's my 4 1/2 year anniversary post.

'tis Monday

291. The business meeting at church and hearing all of the testimonies of those who were baptized. God is so faithful!

292. Sweet time fellowshipping and praying with friends.

293. Getting to spend time one-on-one with Miss Pat on Tuesday and Mr. Jim on Thursday at Esperanza.

294. The guys from Still Creek Ranch taking the time to pray with KM and me when they came by to pick up the donated pastries at Starbucks.

295. The beautiful unity of the body of Christ and the incredible blessing it is to be part of this.

296. Hanging out with new friends and enjoying a campfire and s'mores at Lake Bryan.

297. God's faithful provision: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it . . . But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you." (Psalm 81:10, 16)

298. Thankful to have gotten to go to TN a few weeks ago to see my grandpa before he died (3/13/11). So thankful to have had him in my life for 25 1/2 years. And so very thankful that he's with Jesus now.

299. A quiet Sunday.

300. Awakening to the sound of rain outside my window, and being able to lie in bed for a few more minutes instead of having to immediately jump up and begin my day.

cookies and coffee and snow, oh my!

241. Watching the kids at Lifegroup act out the story of Ruth.

242. A great evening at f(logos) discussing the first chapter of the book we're studying this semester.

243. SNOW!!! and the wonderfully fun morning at work that consisted of running outside every 15 minutes or so to make snow angels (especially enjoyed teaching the proper way to make a snow angel to a customer named Josh from Aruba who had never seen snow), slide around, and basically just bask in the Texas snow!

244. Sitting in the falling snow, drinking a cup of Verona with Sir Green Shirt.

245. Spending time with Bunny at a coffee shop, sharing about what the Lord is doing in our lives.

246. A homemade hat, knitted by a friend in Chicago, which I've had several opportunities to wear again this week.

247. Girl Scout Cookies (I bought Thin Mints and Caramel Delights on Sunday!)

248. This book; so convicting, but soooo good.

249. Getting to sleep in on Saturday after a busy week filled with late nights and early mornings.

250. Getting to visit with Everly and another girl from f(logos) Saturday afternoon.

wonderful week

231. Sabrina and Donavon are ENGAGED!!!!! (Congratulations, dear friends!)

232. Middle-of-the-night set-up for the engagement :)

233. Ice skating to the Tangled soundtrack (so fun!)

234. Barbecue and two-stepping with friends from church.

235. An impromptu slumber party at Eyrie Park.

236. Lots of visits from church friends at Starbucks.

237. An overnight visit from Florida friends while they were in town for a show they played here.

238. The Gospel in Singleness

239. Several good conversations with a sweet friend from church.

240. Spending time with Bunny and Samuel.

Sleepy but thankful :)

91. This blog, written by the wife of the former deacon of music at my church. Aaron and Heather moved their family to Haiti in August (I am not-so-secretly envious of this), and Heather updates her blog regularly with very honest (and often quite humorous) glimpses into her heart as she and her family experience both the beauty and the ugliness of life in Haiti. Her posts are not only very well-written, but they're also simultaneously challenging and encouraging and point straight to God and the truth of the Gospel.

92. So thankful for the time I was able to spend with Lina in Nashville last week!

93. Re-reading a favorite childhood book

94. Conversations with friends about what the Lord is doing in our lives (whether we understand it, exactly, or not!)

95. Officially becoming a member of this amazing church tomorrow!

96. I can absolutely and confidently trust in God's promises. Like this one: Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)

97. Christmas Blend is back (err, well, for us Starbucks people, that is; guess the rest of y'all still have to wait a few more weeks). Anyway, excited for the upcoming Christmas season (though I still don't understand how it's possible that we're almost to November...)!

98. Band-Aids. A very important part of a klutz's life. I should probably buy stock.

99. Little kids; love them!

100. Cool, breezy nights.

4 1/2 years with the green apron

Hard to believe, but it's been four-and-a-half years since I started working at Starbucks. I've barely ever lived in one city for that long at a time (and definitely have never gone that length of time without changing houses/apartments), yet here I've worked for this company for 54 whole months. Granted, I've worked at 5 different stores (one of them twice) in 4 different states and 5 different cities, but still. It's been good. Obviously the flexibility/transferability of this job has been a huge blessing with all of my moves. Also, I've met so many wonderful and fun people that I've been privileged to work with over the years, many of whom I consider friends, and I've had so many great experiences in each of these places. So, in commemoration of this "anniversary" of sorts, here are some photos from the three stores where I've been the longest: Archer Road in Gainesville (26 months altogether), North Park in Chicago (12 months) and Holleman/Texas (10 months and counting). I also worked at City Place in West Palm Beach for my first two months or so and in Alcoa, TN for about two months in 2008.

Archer Rd Part 1 (June 2006 - May 2007)

Chicago (June 2007 - June 2008)

Archer Rd Part 2 (October 2008 - November 2009)

Texas & Holleman (a.k.a. "The Happiest Place on Earth" - December 2009 - ??)

off-the-clock fun with coworkers

fun and tasty creations, courtesy of coworkers

(except for the whipped cream/caramel drizzle. That was me.)

Miscellaneous tidbits from my Starbucks experiences that are emerging from my oh-so-tired brain (and therefore are really quite random and probably not that interesting):

* Three of the eight managers I've had over the years at the various stores have been named Robert. Two of them even look alike.

* Consistently favorite drink: caramel macchiato

* Favorite coffee: Sumatra

* Store with highest percentage of amazing customers: Archer Rd

* Memorable quote, even years later: "It is what it is!" -- Gina D. (Thank you, that was brilliant.) :)

* Least favorite product: matcha powder. gross.

* Favorite Starbucks romance: Ryan and Gina :)

* Coworkers who most frequently made me roll my eyes: Tim and Leslie

* Coworker who's played the "meanest" trick on me: Sir Robert of the Green Shirt

* Best cup-decorator and caramel-designer ever: Aja

* Store with the least amount of drama: Texas & Holleman

* Another random fact: I didn't get my first brand-new Starbucks apron until I was in my third year (see above photo)

* Store with the best/worst tips: City Place/Texas & Holleman

* Store where I've been given the most nicknames: Texas & Holleman

* Most-recently-discovered yummy flavor combination: cinnamon dolce with pumpkin spice (Aja's ingenious idea!)

* Store where I've clopened the most: Texas & Holleman

* Store where I had the most consistent schedule: Archer (opens!)

* Store closest to where I lived: North Park

* Store where I have sustained the strangest injuries: Texas & Holleman

* Favorite Starbucks pastry: cinnamon swirl coffee cake (and the chocolate chip cookie. warmed up.)

* Favorite drink to make: iced caramel macchiato

* Least favorite drink to make: green tea latte (and at Christmas, eggnog latte)

* Favorite Starbucks utensil name: spoodle

* Newest store I've worked at: North Park (helped open it!)

* Oldest store I've worked at: Texas & Holleman

Edit (4/4/11): Texas & Holleman may have now bumped Archer out of its first-place position for best customers, most likely because so many of my customers are now people from my amazing church... And my current pastry addiction is the cranberry orange scone. Exciting, yeah?

Of klutziness and caramel frappuccinos

I am an utter klutz. If there is something in the general vicinity of my feet, you can be fairly sure I'll trip on it. If anything has the potential to be spilled, it's almost guaranteed that I'll do just that. All items with which I come into contact that are the least bit hazardous will undoubtedly leave me scratched, bruised, or in some other way injured.

It's nearly inevitable these days, and I'm not really sure why. You'd think that accident-proneness would be something you'd grow out of as you age; instead, in my case, I seem to be growing more and more into it. I really don't remember being a klutz when I was younger, but there is no questioning the fact that I am one now. And my klutziness tends to lead to such funny/ridiculous/strange mishaps, too -- ones that you wouldn't hardly think possible, yet, because they happen to me, are hardly surprising.

Such as the frappuccino incident of last week... I work at Starbucks, and last Wednesday, about an hour before close, we got really busy. There were only two of us working, and I had a line of about 15 drinks on my bar (with a line of customers to the door who were still waiting to order). Needless to say, I was trying to move as quickly as possible to get all those drinks made and all the customers happily back out the door. All was going surprisingly smoothly...until I came to one particular caramel frappuccino that, though seemingly innocent, was actually a little fiend in sweet, sticky disguise. Ok, so, that may be a bit dramatic, but still. Beware of the Caramel.

Anyway. Back to my story. After putting all of the ingredients for this particular frappuccino into the blender pitcher, as I was reaching for the lid, I somehow managed to splash the pre-blended frappuccino up my nose, across my face, and into my ear (where I could feel it trickling down and puddling). Gross. And ridiculous. I mean, seriously; who in the world manages to spill something in their ear? Clearly, I am a very "talented" klutz.

However, I didn't have time to reflect on the incident at the time, as I still needed to blend that particular frappuccino (minus the portion that was in my ear) and knock out the rest of the drinks on my bar. Which I did, and to my immense relief, there were no further mishaps during the remainder of the night.

When I got home, though, I could still feel the sloshing of the frappuccino in my ear, so I decided to try to rinse it out with eardrops. Didn't work. Nor did my subsequent attempts with Qtips, rubbing alcohol, water, and more eardrops. So for the next nearly-48 hours, I had a very plugged-up ear, out of which I could hear very little. Most of the time it felt like it just needed to pop, like when you're on an airplane. But no amount of yawning or chewing gum achieved this, either. I felt like I was hearing everything from inside a tunnel, which was rather disorienting and incredibly distracting. All this because of a silly frappuccino.

Finally, Friday night, my pseudo-uncle, who is a doctor, looked at my ear and discovered that there was quite a simple solution to my dilemma: all he had to do was flush my ear out with a syringe of warm water. Such a relief; within moments, my ear felt normal again, and it was amazing how clear everything sounded! Though this was a bit of an anti-climactic ending to my ridiculous "injury", I was (and am) so very glad to have that over and done! If nothing else, I've certainly gained from this experience a deeper appreciation for my sense of hearing, a wariness of frappuccinos, and, perhaps, a greater realization of the ridiculous possibilities that come with being a klutz. All I can do is shake my head and laugh. Oh, Beth...

August in review (yes, I realize September is already almost over)

Starbucks game/movie night with my fabulous coworkers

Joey's birthday

Paul and I took a day trip to the Guadeloupe River

love these girls!

miscellaneous moments at Eyrie Park

my birthday

Jack Johnson concert!!!

A thankful heart

The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.
-- Henry Ward Beecher

31. I watched The Sound of Music last week for the first time since I was a child. Loved the movie growing up, love it even more now!

32. Big powerful thunderstorms.

33. Wonderful time spent assisting my dear chef friend Sabrina make fajitas on a blustery afternoon.

34. My first close as a shift supervisor went way better and more smoothly than I'd expected, thanks to having great coworkers. I cannot express the immense relief of having made it through this "first"!

35. Oatmeal chocolate chip cookie dough

36. A long-overdue meeting with Sabrina and Everly for our book study

37. A super-cute and sweet card from Birdie

38. Proof that chivalry does still exist.

39. Lots of opportunities this week to bake!

40. For God's "comfort in affliction", and for reminders from several sources of how to minister to those who are suffering.

(1-10) (11-20) (21-30)

July in review

July was quite a fun but full month (thus the lack of posts--or, at least, that's going to be my excuse...). Here are some photos of the festivities:

4th of July

fun times at Eyrie Park

Kevin came to visit, and we drove to Arkansas for Ian's wedding

Ian and Stephanie's wedding - the most God-glorifying wedding I've ever attended

National Ice Cream Day with the brothers :)

Starbucks girls night

Starbucksness

Caroline's 1940's-themed graduation party

Anne of Green Gables party

Summertime

Some favorite moments of the summer thus far:

Unexpected visit to Galveston

Quick trip to NYC to hear Lina sing at Carnegie Hall; I especially enjoyed getting to visit with Scott and Natasha, who came over from PA for the performance.

Macy's birthday dinner with my fabulous coworkers

Miscellaneous fun moments at Eyrie Park

Can't wait to see what's in store for the second half of the summer! :)

"Friends are the sunshine of life."
-- John Hay (1871)

Happy Things

A month or so ago, I set my facebook status to gummy bears and chocolate, after one of my fabulous coworkers (the lovely Rebecca) brought the aforementioned items to the store for us to try together (this idea was brought about by another fantastic coworker who had been talking about chocolate-covered gummy bears that he'd seen at a movie theater). Anyway, we were pleasantly surprised to find that chocolate does, in fact, go well with gummy bears, and I decided that this discovery was worthy of being a facebook status.

Unexpectedly--but wonderfully--a dear friend responded to this status with "lollipops and roses? ;)" (which, if I am remembering correctly, is a line from a song that she'd recently heard). This then changed the theme of the status to things that make me (and others) smile.

Here is what several of my friends and I came up with:

- Sunshine and lemondrops (me)
- Ice cream and cookies (Lilia)
- Apples and hellos (Caroline)
- Sprinkles and hugs (me)
- Music and rain (Cindy)
- Blankets and coffee (Caitlin)
- Food friend and cup of coffee (Lilia)
- Jane Austen and a cup of tea (me)
- A cool breeze and a letter (Caroline)
- Babies and rocking chairs (Cindy)
- Fireplaces and fuzzy socks (me)

Over the past month or so, I have frequently thought of this status and the responses and wished that the list had gone on. That's why I'm now posting this with the hope of getting lots of comments with more pleasant things that make people smile. So now the question is,

What makes YOU happy?

Honest Scrap Award

Hey look! A new post! Amazing, huh? I must confess that I have not spent very much time reading blogs in recent much, nor have I even contemplated updating my own. Until now, that is, when I came across this lovely little award/tag from the beautiful and talented Everly Pleasant

This is called the "Honest Scrap Award", and basically, I am supposed to write 10 honest facts about myself and then tag 7 bloggers to do the same. So, here goes...

1. In my nearly 24 years of life, I have lived in 8 houses, 7 (soon to be 8) apartments, 2 dorms, and 1 orphanage (volunteering). These places of habitation are located across 2 countries, 4 states, and 7 cities.

2. I am a certified klutz; ask nearly anyone that has ever worked with me. My latest injury includes walking full-force into the sanitizer while transporting a container of disgusting bananas to their ultimate doom (the trash can).

3. Despite the many times that I have moved, I have managed to work for Starbucks for nearly 3 1/2 years now. Thank goodness for a job that allows me to transfer! I have worked at 4 different stores in 3 different states (and this is my second time at the store where I currently work).

4. I desperately miss my churches in Chicago (Grace Church of Dupage) and Tennessee (Grace Community Church) and am very much hoping that I've finally found a similarish church in Gainesville (time will tell).

5. I have a multi-colored family. And we love each other. Usually :) (Oh, and there are a bunch of us...if you ask me how many, I will have to stop and count. Very rarely am I actually able to tell you that I have...5 siblings without having to think about it.)

6. I went on my first mission trip to Haiti when I was 13 and immediately fell in love with the beautiful children. When I got back to the States, I knew that God's plan for my life involves Haiti, and though I don't know exactly how this will play out in the future, thus far it has meant 20+ trips, one semester of living/working in an orphanage, much failing (but hopefully learning from mistakes), irreplaceable friendships, lots of stories, laughter, many tears, seeing Jesus in the eyes of the Least of These, and countless blessings.

7. I love to laugh.

8. I love to read. Some of my happiest memories as a child are of summer days spent on the hammock in our backyard reading book after book after book. Recently, I've been reading some classic children's books (Anne of Green Gables, The Secret Garden, Peter Pan), which has been fabulous.

9. My mom was one of my favorite people in the world, and I miss her more than words can say. She was the most loving, giving, selfless person I've ever known.

10. I am not a big fan of games, be they card games, board games, let's-get-to-know-each-other-games, etc, etc. However, I do very much enjoy Scrabble (yes, I'm a dork, I know) and Apples to Apples (particularly when playing with Caitlin, Caroline, Joe, and Mike).

Ok, so that's 10...and I won't admit how crazy-long that took me to write. But it's done. Yay.

So, for tags...how about:

Cheri Kay

Lovely Rita

Rebecca

Chelsey

Joey

Neverland

Kevin

And, if you're reading this on facebook, consider yourself tagged. Have fun!

Stories

Surprise! I'm back! Contrary, perhaps, to speculation due to my failure to post in 3 months, I have not dropped beyond the realm of existence, gone into hiding, or moved to Mars (or anywhere else for that matter -- yet). I've just been...mmm...busy, for one thing, but also I guess I just haven't really been up to writing.

However, at work today, a semi-regular customer made a comment that really made me think. This customer is one that has been coming in at least since I transferred to this store two-and-a-half years ago (though I myself was gone for about 15 months), and he knows a little of my background of having lived in several (ok, 8) cities thus far in my life (7 of which I've lived in since graduating from high school). Anyway, somehow we got on the subject of all of my moving/traveling (or maybe it was just that I'd lived in Haiti for awhile; don't remember). I said something about sometimes wishing that I'd done things the "normal" way (i.e. graduate from high school and then go to ONE --maybe 2-- college[s] and graduate in 4-5 years, not move a jillion times, etc, etc). He then responded by saying, "Well, I'm sure you have a lot of stories now" (or something to that effect).

At the time, I thought that was kind of an interesting perspective but didn't really think too much about it; after all, there was coffee to be brewed, a pastry case to be restocked, and customers to be rung up. Later, though, it struck me that it's very true; I do have all kinds of stories because of the somewhat unusual way my life has played out to this point. Granted, not all (or even very many) of them are stories that would interest other people, but still, they are a part of my life that God has used to shape me into who I am. Even though many of these stories seem to have played themselves out and are little but distant memories, they still have value because God has taught me so much through the happy and the sad, the funny and the painful moments of my life. Not only that, but perhaps by remembering these things, He can even now show me how He has been at work in my life.

So that's my pondering for the day. Not terribly deep, but at least it's something. Maybe it will inspire me to write more often so that sometime in the future, I can look back on this point in my life and be able to better recognize God's sovereign direction towards ... well, I don't know what, right now anyway. But that's ok; I don't have to know the future. The important thing (and what I have to keep reminding myself) is that God is absolutely and entirely in control of the universe, He has a plan for my life, and all I have to do is seek Him and enjoy being His.

For this God is our God for ever and ever; He will be our guide even to the end. (Psalm 48:14)