Today I witnessed a miraculous turn of events.
The moving company has been scheduled for weeks, and they told me that they would drop off the truck today in the afternoon and pick it up on wednesday morning. Great! So a few of my friends agreed to come over after work to help me move some of the heavy stuff into the van. Last night, I get a call around 6:30pm saying that they will have to come in the morning and pick thr truck up around 5pm - right when all my help is supposed to begin. I couldn't get ahold of them until this morning and found out that they couldn't supply me with any help for the labor, and that the truck company couldn't pick my stuff up from a residential address...
It seemed like a "Mr. Bean moment" where things just keep getting worse. I kept trying to remember that roomates, a house, and a graduate program have all been provided for me and that God is still in control and loving...but it was difficult to say the least. I had all my stuff ready, and the company seemed to be dropping me ON my moving day!
To make a long story short, after a bit if prayer and some phone calls, I not only had the truck within an hour, but I could keep it for a while and I had professional help in moving my stuff in - all for a really reasonable cost! And my stuff loaded in the truck in only 2 hours! It was incredible!
At 8am, I was sitting in confusiona and disappointment, and by 4pm all my stuff was loaded in the van securely and on its way to Oregon!
I give thanks to the One who controls it all and took such good care of me today - in freaking me out a bit and in taking the burden.
I'm on my way to Portland!
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
portland, here I come!
September 4th is rapidly approaching. That day will mark the beginning of the Portland chapter of my life. I've changed my "location" online to Portland (I suppose I have "moved" in virtual space) but I have not yet physically relocated to Portland! Tuesday September 4th.
I've been packing a lot of boxes as of late. Packing boxes and choosing which furniture to take have been my daily acticities. My mom has given me a ton of furniture and miscellaneous items for the move. I cannot believe how much God has been providing for me in this move through my family's generosity. I had been pretty much taking everything she was passing my way, until I realized just how much stuff I had agreed to take.
It occurred to me yesterday that I really don't want to clutter my future life with a ton of things that I don't need. My room in my mom's house is full of things that have memories, but I don't know what exactly I need them for...
I really want to have a lot less clutter in my future life. Less things mean less maintenance! It is just so easy to cling on to all the little things. Interestingly enough, a lot of what I've been studying as I've read the Bible this week has been specifically on eternity and perspective.
"What does it profit a woman to gain the whole world and forfeit her soul?" (Mark 8:36, paraphrase)
Thomas a'Kempis said "Use temporal things for their proper uses, but make things of eternity the object of your deisre."
As lovely as the stuff I'm getting is, and as grateful as I am to receive it, I feel a definite weariness in accumulating tons of things...especially if I am feeling a desperate need to simplify and de-clutter my life. The thought of moving into my house in Portland with tons of clutter and never having a place for things and just having junk explode out of drawers and from under the bed - what a night mare! I get a bit queesy just thinking about it.
And besides that, the really interesting thing is that as much as I like the "pretty things," the more I get to know this incredible and loving Jesus, the more I have a slight sense of the insignificance of all these beautiful things around me. They are incredible, and I am humbled by the generosity of my family...and yet I keep my distance.
It is easy for me to acquire things without really taking an inventory of whether or not they would truly be useful and beneficial to me. Isn't this age and culture I live in just so crazy and swimming in riches that I'm spending my time thinking about these things? My head is spinning with the realization that I even have these choices. What a small, wealthy corner of this HUGE world I live in that my life consists of these kinds of choices.
And yet...these little choices are intricately connected to having an eternal perspective and to worship. They are both significant and insignificant at the same time. For me, however, it can be difficult to hold the two realities together. But I guess that's why He's God and I am not. I guess that's why He still has me here, plodding along toward heaven.
Anyway, those are the musings of a girl steeped in packing...
I've been packing a lot of boxes as of late. Packing boxes and choosing which furniture to take have been my daily acticities. My mom has given me a ton of furniture and miscellaneous items for the move. I cannot believe how much God has been providing for me in this move through my family's generosity. I had been pretty much taking everything she was passing my way, until I realized just how much stuff I had agreed to take.
It occurred to me yesterday that I really don't want to clutter my future life with a ton of things that I don't need. My room in my mom's house is full of things that have memories, but I don't know what exactly I need them for... I really want to have a lot less clutter in my future life. Less things mean less maintenance! It is just so easy to cling on to all the little things. Interestingly enough, a lot of what I've been studying as I've read the Bible this week has been specifically on eternity and perspective.
"What does it profit a woman to gain the whole world and forfeit her soul?" (Mark 8:36, paraphrase)
Thomas a'Kempis said "Use temporal things for their proper uses, but make things of eternity the object of your deisre."
As lovely as the stuff I'm getting is, and as grateful as I am to receive it, I feel a definite weariness in accumulating tons of things...especially if I am feeling a desperate need to simplify and de-clutter my life. The thought of moving into my house in Portland with tons of clutter and never having a place for things and just having junk explode out of drawers and from under the bed - what a night mare! I get a bit queesy just thinking about it.
And besides that, the really interesting thing is that as much as I like the "pretty things," the more I get to know this incredible and loving Jesus, the more I have a slight sense of the insignificance of all these beautiful things around me. They are incredible, and I am humbled by the generosity of my family...and yet I keep my distance.
It is easy for me to acquire things without really taking an inventory of whether or not they would truly be useful and beneficial to me. Isn't this age and culture I live in just so crazy and swimming in riches that I'm spending my time thinking about these things? My head is spinning with the realization that I even have these choices. What a small, wealthy corner of this HUGE world I live in that my life consists of these kinds of choices.
And yet...these little choices are intricately connected to having an eternal perspective and to worship. They are both significant and insignificant at the same time. For me, however, it can be difficult to hold the two realities together. But I guess that's why He's God and I am not. I guess that's why He still has me here, plodding along toward heaven.
Anyway, those are the musings of a girl steeped in packing...
Monday, August 20, 2007
Birthdays, church, and the cutest baby ever...OR the little big decisions
Yesterday we celebrated Claire's 8th birthday. Claire is my 7year-old - wait! I mean eight year-old - step sister. My mother married her dad last summer. Its kind of like the Brady Bunch, but without all the bell-bottoms and we don't have any brothers. Just 4 sisters: Dominique(23) and Daniella(21), and Sarah(17) and Claire(8). We had the family over for a celebration. It was a small gathering, but it was a big deal. Daniella was "Duchess of Decorations" and she spent upwards of 3 hours turning our house into a birthday extravaganza! Did I mention that there was a 6FT TALL INFLATABLE BIRTHDAY CAKE? yeah. it was sweet.
The scheduling of the party worked out just "perfectly" to where everyone was coming over right as I would normally be heading to the Den (my worship community, call it church if you prefer). A bunch of people were going to be out of town, and a bunch of people were just getting in town and would be there. I look forward to the Den every weekend and felt really torn about leaving the party early or missing the Den. The thought of not helping the Den team when a lot of people wouldn't be there to help wasn't very pleasant. And the thought of not seeing Claire blow out the candles broke my heart.
As you can see from these delightful photographs,
I stayed for the party. Honestly, I kind of got seduced by my cousin, Will. He's irresistible. Especially to a photographer. :)
But more than that, I just couldn't reconcile not being around for Claire. She probably wouldn't have really cared or noticed if I had slipped out, but I would have known. Sometimes its those little big things that are hard in life. The little big decisions are the toughest thing for me these days because they have to do with priorities, time, and boundaries. Does it ever get easier to decide how to prioritize and spend one's time? Older people tell me that it only gets harder. That's encouraging! :) But, at least I have these awesome photos of Will to distract me from that prediction...
The scheduling of the party worked out just "perfectly" to where everyone was coming over right as I would normally be heading to the Den (my worship community, call it church if you prefer). A bunch of people were going to be out of town, and a bunch of people were just getting in town and would be there. I look forward to the Den every weekend and felt really torn about leaving the party early or missing the Den. The thought of not helping the Den team when a lot of people wouldn't be there to help wasn't very pleasant. And the thought of not seeing Claire blow out the candles broke my heart.
As you can see from these delightful photographs,
I stayed for the party. Honestly, I kind of got seduced by my cousin, Will. He's irresistible. Especially to a photographer. :) But more than that, I just couldn't reconcile not being around for Claire. She probably wouldn't have really cared or noticed if I had slipped out, but I would have known. Sometimes its those little big things that are hard in life. The little big decisions are the toughest thing for me these days because they have to do with priorities, time, and boundaries. Does it ever get easier to decide how to prioritize and spend one's time? Older people tell me that it only gets harder. That's encouraging! :) But, at least I have these awesome photos of Will to distract me from that prediction...
Saturday, August 18, 2007
sleepiness
I really want to update my blog right now, but I'm too sleepy to write anything cohesive.
One exciting thing though: I had the most bizarre experience walking in my sleep last night! I don't think that I have ever sleepwalked before, so it really took me off guard! My sister is home and we are sharing a room and I gave her quite a scare when I jerked open the curtains in the middle of the night and couldn't answer her when she asked me what I was doing. I groggily decided to go the other direction to the bathroom, but it took me a while. I had some wild and bizarre dreams last night.
Off I go to bed...for another adventure.
One exciting thing though: I had the most bizarre experience walking in my sleep last night! I don't think that I have ever sleepwalked before, so it really took me off guard! My sister is home and we are sharing a room and I gave her quite a scare when I jerked open the curtains in the middle of the night and couldn't answer her when she asked me what I was doing. I groggily decided to go the other direction to the bathroom, but it took me a while. I had some wild and bizarre dreams last night. Off I go to bed...for another adventure.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
