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Wednesday, June 26, 2013

A prayer for today

Incredibly quick note before I go off to work this morning, but this is on my heart and I need to share it.

The Supreme Court is ruling on DOMA today, and so I'm sure by the time I get home and check facebook this evening, my feed will be covered in opinions, debates, politically charged memes, etc. on both the happy and disappointed side.

I know one of the beautiful things about our country is that we are allowed to have such differing opinions, but we do so much damage with this privilege. We allow such hate to flow from us because of our freedom of speech and the ability to speak through such a medium that we don't have to actually look people in the eye.

My prayer for today is that, no matter what the ruling is, no matter how happy or infuriated it makes us, we would remember this:

All people are created in the image of God.

I pray that when we deal with this news today we can remember that. That the words we say, especially to those on the opposite side of this debate, would be affected by this truth.

Because those people whom we so strongly disagree with?
God made them, and Christ died for them.

I think that should mean something.

Lord, in Your mercy,
hear my prayer.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

A New Chapter

After a quick weekend up in Durham, Stan the Man and I are back in our new apartment in Columbia, this time for good. Well, mostly. We have a few trips planned this summer (for baby nephew's baptism and Brother Bear's WEDDING!), and I will be back in Durham for Drew's final Sunday at St. Paul's, but just for a weekend. In the grand scheme of things, I live in South Carolina now.

Woot.

Drew is still living in Durham finishing his internship through the end of July, which means I am living in SC alone. Well, technically with Stan, but he's not much of a conversationalist.  And Drew is going to be pretty swamped, especially in the next two weeks, working at a camp at Duke, so he will not be available to chat very often. I'll be busy working (a temp job), looking for full-time work, and unpacking, but let's be honest, I'm going to be lonely. So I would like to apologize in advance for the probable excessive use of social media over the next month. I'm just pretty confident it's going to happen, so sorry if that's super annoying to you.

Drew's journey here will start with classes in August, but I am here looking for a job and trying to get the apartment unpacked and learn a new city. I'd appreciate your prayers as we enter this new chapter of our lives! A few requests in particular would be:

- That I find a job (that I like) quickly! I am mostly looking at office type jobs right now because that is what my experience is in, but I'm open to a change as well!

- That I find a community of friends: I'll probably be checking out a church this Sunday, and there are some people living on campus here. Fortunately, Stan is very friendly and a great ice-breaker when I see people walking around but am feeling shy :P

- For Drew: that the camp at Duke will go well, that the remainder of his time at St. Paul's would continue to be a good experience, and that his transition out of Durham and into Columbia would go smoothly.

- For silly things: like that I would be focused and productive at home so I can get this place unpacked; that I won't find any more cockroaches while unpacking (yes, welcome to the South); that the incredibly sketchy wireless network here would be... less sketchy, I guess, because I really like having Pandora or Netflix on when I'm here by myself and right now that is just not happening; and that I can finally get my TomTom to update it's maps, because a GPS is the only way I'm going to be able to get anywhere down here.

Thanks in advance for your prayers :) I will post some pictures of the new place once it is more presentable!


Also, some good advice for your life:


someecards.com - If anyone ever tells you you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don’t need that kind of negativity in your life.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

That week in Chicago

So much life has happened in the last month. I've started several posts at different times to update y'all on our life and what is happening, but they always fell by the wayside.

And now, as I sit in our very messy, 1/4 unpacked apartment in Columbia, I'm still not going to explain what's happening with us. Not today.

What brings me back to the blogging world this morning is that, four years ago today, I was having reconstructive back surgery at Northwestern University Hospital in Chicago.

I've made mention of this anniversary the last couple years on Facebook. But when I woke up this morning and realized the date, I wondered about whether I should say anything about it; whether recalling attention to that time is relevant, or necessary, or worth the time. Let's be honest, my back has had enough attention to last a lifetime.

But when I recall that week of hospitalization in 2009, it's not the surgery I think about. It's not the pain and the struggle that I dwell on. The shining memory from those seven days, and the days of my recovery that followed, is how incredibly loved I felt by those who cared for me.

My surgery and subsequent recovery was the most humbling (read: often humiliating) time of my entire life. I was literally unable to do anything by myself. I needed help just to get out of bed, let alone walk, eat, clean/dress myself, etc. I hate to ask people for help, but I quickly had to swallow my pride and allow my caretakers to inconvenience themselves for me. To wake up throughout the night to help me move, to raise my spirits with conversation and laughter, to sleep in hospital waiting rooms, to track down nurses when I needed something, to help me eat just to deal with the sickness that followed, to sit by me as I cried and pay attention to the doctors when I couldn't focus because of the pain killers.  Most of all, to do all these things and more without ever making me feel embarrassed or like a burden.

So, on this anniversary, I want to say thank you to my parents, Drew, and Josiah. I don't know what you think about when you remember that week, but for the rest of my life, June 12th will be a day that I remember each of you with overwhelming gratitude.