newest fave

i often have lull moments at the office where i jump around from blog to blog snooping in on what's happening in the world. last night, fellow blog-addict and dear friend, susan, showed me her newest find - city girl meets cowboy and turns into the pioneer woman. and yes, it's amazing.

city girl, a.k.a. ree, blogs about her new photography business, unbelievable food experiments, thoughts, and just hilarity in general. last night while at susan and dan's home for dinner, we had ree's crash potatoes and pots de creme and (can i get a witness) they were incredible.

thanks susan for the introduction. i look forward to many more entertaining experiments and laughs!

not so hot

recently, it has definitely not felt like june in south carolina. maybe the end of july, but not the beginning of june. as i drove home from work yesterday at 5:30, it was actually 103 degrees out. there was no "ease your way into summer" - it was just BAM! hello summer.

but we like summer. i told jed yesterday that i'm addicted to the season changes. i, of course, have my favorite depending on where i'm at (summer in FL, fall in the city, winter in the north, and spring everywhere), but all in all every season shatters the fatigue from the previous season. so exciting!

not so excitedly though, have i been about waking up in the night and feeling really hot or having to take two showers a day to feel good. you would think that a girl from africa wouldn't really flinch until the 120's hit, but that's all going to change.

today i read a priceless blog posting of a friend who is enduring her first summer in nyc. after reading her dehydrated story full of sweltering expression (and after laughing just a bit), i have, with her help, come to the conclusion that it's all perspective. if you expect not to be hot but to be cool and comfortable, then it's going to feel horrible when you're not cool and comfortable!

like exercising. when i used to work out, i expected to somehow enjoy it or not feel like throwing bricks. that is, until a wise woman told me that it's all about learning how to be uncomfortable. you have to learn to be okay with sucking air until your sinuses hurt and coaxing each muscle into going one more lap. if you're not okay with that, then don't exercise.

likewise, if i'm not going to be okay with sweating like a pig, then i might just not enjoy the life until it's sweater weather again. personally, i'm not willing to give that up, so the only other option was to like - no, embrace - sweating. as it gets hotter, i will thank God that i'm not an orphan in siberia. when the first sweat of the day breaks, i will thank God that i had a few moments of clean irish spring smell up until that point. and when the first good hair day turns into a complete grave yard, i will thank God that i even have hair to look bad.



so for now, i say "cheers to summer!"

lyrics

music happens to be one of the biggest ways for me to meditate and remind myself of God's goodness and perfection as the one who is in complete control of his creation. jed came home several weeks ago after work and insisted that i hear this song. it has been awesome to think on for the past few weeks! i'm guessing that for most people, it's a conclusion that is hard to come to, but yet it's the most freeing conclusion as well. see here for ordering info on come weary saints.

as long as you are glorified
by mark altrogge

shall i take from your hand your blessings
yet not welcome any pain
shall i thank you for days of sunshine
yet grumble in days of rain
shall i love you in times of plenty
then leave you in days of drought
shall i trust when i reap a harvest
but when winter winds blow, then doubt

oh let your will be done in me
in your love i will abide
oh i long for nothing else as long
as you are glorified

are you good only when i prosper
and true only when i’m filled
are you king only when i’m carefree
and God only when i’m well
you are good when i’m poor and needy
you are true when i’m parched and dry
you still reign in the deepest valley
you’re still God in the darkest night

© 2008 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI)

people are people

i've come to realize this week that i am not truly a people- oriented person.

one of the dear men in our church died last saturday, and i was just getting to know his daughter better. consequently, even though i didn't know him well, jed and i attended the funeral yesterday. i have only been to a handful of funerals in my lifetime, but never have i walked out with such a lump in my throat and so many lessons to learn. there were several testimonies/eulogies yesterday that continued to reinforce the common thread throughout them all - this man loved people.



he didn't just love being around people as though he feared being alone, and he didn't use people to fill his needs for friendship. he intricately cared about the people around him and everyone around him knew that! his deep love for others and selfless care for himself is an example of the Christ-like love i only hope to imitate in my lifetime.



i'll admit that i need people, and i even love a lot of people, but not selflessly. my thoughts this week have been brought to remembering how the ultimate example in this world loved people perfectly, even though the people he loved weren't nearly as perfect as he.



it's something to chew on. loving people as people and loving them without any thought to yourself is an awesome responsibility, but the way to the most joy.

jury duty

the oddest thing happened to me and jed - we both got jury duty on back-to-back weeks! my jury duty was last week, and thank goodness i didn't get chosen. turns out, i knew one of the parties being defended, and the other party's attorney does printing with the business i work for. i guess that meant i would have an opinion about the matter, so fortune smiled on me and i left.

however, before leaving, i couldn't help but look around me and notice how entertaining people are. there are several categories i would divide my fellow jurors into: those blissfully unaware of the world around them, the quiet obervers of the world around them, and those bored in every aspect of life.

category one is always defined by particularly entertaining people. a few gems from this category were in the waiting room with me that day, and the strength it took to keep my jaw shut was great. one in particular loudly proclaimed the stories of her past jail stents, an arrest for assault and battery, and current accusations from a "friend" of hers. i was glad to hear that she quit wearing a knife in her boots just a few months ago. she gets a 5 star rating on the "blissfully unaware of the world around them" chart. most people would change their identity before offering such information.

category two is what i would place myself into. i brought a book with me, but the people from category one made it too tough to read. it was even tempting to take notes of all these people, but i figured that might be too obvious. (thankfully, the mental inscription these people gave me remains for at least a few more months.) on occasion, a category one will venture into a conversation with a category two and the category two typically glances at another category two with a pleading look in their eyes that says "HELP!" conversations between category ones and category twos just don't happen too much.

what does happen more often is that the category one people chase after the category three people and stun them with fact and fiction, without end. most of the category threes are dying to be entertained in some shape or form, but simply possess no ability for entertainment in themselves. of course, this is category one's delight!

the conclusion to my assessment of the situation is this: when people are anonymously thrown into a room, they automatically assume a category and then immediately bond with those in their category. the ensuing entertainment is truly beyond words. i guess we'll see what happens to jed today...

graduation day

i guess there are always going to be significant milestones in life as long as you keep on living, but this past saturday seemed to mark a huge one for us. our wedding was a huge milestone and our first child will be a huge milestone someday, but for the past 5 years together, looking forward to jed's graduation has been the prominent goal. he's worked so hard and studied so late and lost much sleep, but God has been good and he walked the aisle on saturday to receive his diploma! it took him six and a half years to complete his master of divinity, and i could not be more proud of him. for the first time in all of his life, he bears no school guilt! he will never have to choose between systematic theology and a party; or between studying for a test and watching a movie; or between staying up to work on a project and sleeping. neither of us know what it's like to be married without school, so we're quite pumped. congrats to jed!!!

i guess we're bloggers

i'm not sure where to start or if even i know what to do, but i guess i'm going to blog. i don't think it's necessarily that i want to be heard or have this deep need to express my voice, but sometimes i feel like talking to a void so here is where my journal to him (or her) will be.

sometimes i wake up in the morning with words and scenes playing out in my mind. perhaps it's because of my dreams or perhaps it's because of a hidden psychological disorder, but nonetheless, i have no painting or drawing skills to use as an outlet for these wild ideas (aside from incredibly instructed paint-by-numbers). so, i imagine my thoughts on emails and words to others to be the painting of that picture that i wake up with each morning.

when i expressed my thoughts to jed about maybe starting a blog, he informed me that i would probably end up being the sole blogger for the two of us (unless the eagles win the superbowl - i'm sure he'd blog about that). i don't mind that one bit, but please be informed that this is just the one side of life with jed and amy. maybe someday, dear void, you will hear from my jed and he will entertain you endlessly more than i will.

until then, i type away and i type for us both. my goal is to keep a record of what is going on in our lives, entertain you as i have been entertained by other bloggers, and (last but not least) keep a record of how great God is to us.