Memories and Friendships

Sunday, I had the great opportunity to spend the day helping my mom pack boxes at her house.  We really spent the day sorting through old photo albums and memory boxes.  At times it made me a little sad.  On Sept. 20 I am saying goodbye to a house that I have grown up in.  There are thousands of good memories in that house.  But, it is time to move on from all that and for my mother to finally turn over a new leaf.  I am excited to see where God takes my mom on this journey.  Goodbye 2321 Mt. Hebron Dr.....

Today (monday) I got lunch with one of my favorite people in the world (Jaq).  The Lord brought her into my life when I was a senior in high school and she was a freshman.  And to be honest we have always had this real and fun friendship.  She has been such a blessing in my life.  I love friendships.  My roommate sara and I went hiking in the woods today (next time I am taking my camera), what an adventure.  She has been another example of a deep and real friend.  The Lord provides for us in so many ways....

Beamers, Weddings, Sunshine

I have a lot of catching up to do!  On friday I flew to Columbus for a few days for the one and only Geoff Triechler's wedding.  It is true Geoff had finally tied the knot.  The trip was eventful to say the least.  My roommate sarah and I (pictured) were on the same flight.  We were lucky enough to be on the flight with the ccri (community college of rhode island) volleyball team, you would have thought they were none other then brad and angelina by their star treatment.  I arrived in columbus to discover that my car for the weekend would be none other then a beamer convertible (then to me by our dear family friends).  So to say the least I had fun cruising around Columbus. 

 I planned for the wedding to be the pinnacle of my visit there.  But, I greatly enjoyed the conversations I had with old friends.  It reminded me of the utter importance and impact Christ can have in your life.  Without Him, what are you really living for?  I had the best date of my entire life saturday night, the sun was setting and I sat leaning against the window of my airplane enjoying God.  Thanks for romancing me.

Underneath it all

I got the great privilege of hanging out with my dear dear friend Booe yesterday.

She spent the last year in Ecuador and had this.

While it does look like brains it is not, it is actually a very very delicious fruit.

I of course had to take pictures because ya know that is what I do.

But then I was thinking about it later and I thought about how we all have this outer shell that we try and make pretty and perfect and act like we have it all together.  But that is not what is true and real.  The inside things are a mess, we are all a mess.  But the underneath part is who Jesus loves so much and who he died for.  He loves US!  Not the shiny outside.  The realness.  And the best part is that the wildest messes create the sweetest juice.  God creates something beautiful out of our messes.  He wants the messes in order to show HIS glory, he wants to create masterpieces out of our messes.  Our messes are the masterpieces.  Much like this fruit, the best part was the mess/disgusting looking brains, but it was soooo sweet.

Panera!

Panera is a must in east baltimore, maryland.  On a good week I could be there 3-4 times.  Gotta love it.  These are my great panera friends!  Meet kate, annie and bianca.  They are all starting their senior year of hs at eastern (#1 football team in the state) on monday!  I love friends and a good place to always meet.  Thank you Lord for hazelnut coffee!

Courtney goes to college!

Today my friend Courtney left for college.  As my friend Alex (also pictured) and I said goodbye to her today I couldn't help but think about the next time I would see her again.  Or better yet when the Lord would choose to intertwine our lives again.  I love having old friends who have come back into my life again in recent years.  I love the way our lives get intertwined with sometimes the same people over and over again.  As if our life is a tapestry and we are all intertwined at the perfect time and in the perfect place.

Jesus and Coffee

How appropriate that Leanne and I both posted about coffee.  We were roommates in college and Leanne was actually the one that made me become obsessed with Coffee, she made me an addict.

Since I have been out of college my obsession with coffee has increased... because

I think Jesus is like coffee.  I have an analogy that I have shared with some friends and now I am going to share with you how I think Jesus is like coffee.

When you first begin your relationship with Coffee you think it is gross.  Most people do.  But you begin your relationship by having the "coffee drinks" that are not really coffee but you tell yourself that they are.  You then begin to wean yourself off of coffee drinks and you drink real coffee just with half a gallon of creamer and sugar in it.  As time goes on you begin to really LOVE the taste of coffee.  You had to start out with lots of creamer and sugar the "extra sweet things" in life to really love the taste, but now that your taste buds have matured, you drink your coffee black because you LOVE the taste of coffee.  I think our walk with Christ is kind of similar.  I work with high school students who are beginning their journey with Christ and in the beginning they need to be around lots of fellowship and people that love Jesus as well (the extra sweet things).  When I first got to college the Lord gave the me sweet sweet fellowship that helped me LOVE the taste of Jesus.  I needed that at that time because I did not love the taste of Jesus, yet.  Then I got out of college and all throughout college my taste buds changed to where I LOVED LOVED LOVED the taste of Jesus.  Now I am in a place where those sweet friends are not, but because I love the taste of Jesus I do not need the extra sweet things.  And at times I will have my "coffee" with creamer and sugar and get to enjoy the sweetness of fellowship but it is not necessary to have because I love the taste of Jesus.  

Jesus is all I need and I know that he will give me extra sweetness at times but all I need is my own relationship with him, that is not how my heart was beginning college, but he matured my taste buds to make that so now.  

Love Coffee.  Love Jesus. 

Coffee

As sad as it is, I am a coffee addict.  As I took this picture I couldn't help but think of the funny contrast that took place.  I keep that candle on my desk to help me to remember that the light of the world is all around me.  Yet, coffee is one thing I continually rely on to get me going everyday.  I have the light of the world, yet I am addicted to coffee.