Wednesday, May 30, 2007

joyeria

Joyeria is the Spanish word for jewelry store. But when I lived in Mexico I always thought it should be a joy shop - maybe there is an implication that jewels will bring you joy, but probably not. Anyway, if I could sell all the things that give me joy right now in a store, this is what it would have:

-a barbecue with my friends on memorial day
-waking up to Hartlee and Zeke giving me hugs and love
-spending a morning cleaning, organizing and packing
-lunch with fun people for three hours today
-a slow week for work
-leftover fruit salad
-flowers from a friend
-sweet time with Jesus the last few days
-lunch with my brother tomorrow, playing with Malia tomorrow, and going to see Carrie and Loren on Saturday! wowee!!!!
-hope in my heart
-rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, etc....
-my cacti growing very well

and I feel like I could list a million more things. I am grateful for a happy heart today.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

graduation day!

My preschoolers graduated today! I am so very proud of them, but also extremely disappointed that I won't get to be in their lives anymore. I was thinking about all the big moments that will happen in their lives and how I won't be there for any of them. It was sad! I know, a bit rediculous, but I just love them. And my prayer the last few days is that the Lord will take care of them and put other believers in their lives to speak truth to them. I'll try to post pictures of the big day if I get them from my director.

After school today I kind of didn't know what to do with myself. So I came home and started the amazing job of packing my life up to move in two weeks! With my schedule so random, I have to start now using the time I have to pack. That way, I figure, my last few days I will have more time to spend with people instead of stuck in the house. Plus also, I LOVE packing, and cleaning and purging crap I don't need any more! It is one of my favorite things, so I just couldn't wait.

I am getting so excited for the changes in my life! I am learning that I love anticipating change and that I might possibly need it in my life more often than I think. Even little things, like changing the furniture around, help me stay energetic. Weird, I know, but if that's how I'm wired then that's how I'll live. I'm not sure how I do on the flip side of change...transitions aren't always easy, but at least the anticipation is good for me.

I guess that's all for now. Back to packing!

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Isolation

Tonight I went to a prayer meeting at my church. I've been to several, and usually go with the intent of asking them to pray for me, but never summoning the courage to actually ask for the prayer. So each week I leave feeling crappy. But tonight I decided to share my heart and ask the 20 adults [most of which are older than me by 30 and 40 years] to pray for me.

And it sucked.

And it was so good.

Every time my dear friend Alicia rubs my back I say "that hurts!" and she asks if it's a good hurt or a bad hurt. This prayer time was a good hurt.

It required being vulnerable, and telling people I hardly know (though deeply trust) that I am actually weak and not as put together as I come across. I shared with them the difficulty I am having in my walk with the Lord and the ways that I am struggling. And for 15 minutes they prayed for me and read scripture to me and cried with me. And it was so good.

Here are a few things I walked away with:

-The importance of speaking out loud...reading the Bible aloud, talking about where I am at with people (instead of the isolation I have been choosing), etc.

-Ephesians 6...claiming this each day.

And several other things I'm not willing to post on the internet. But I feel the Lord stirring in my heart and healing me and changing me. I will share more as I find it important!

I'm off to watch a good movie with a good friend while drinking good water.