community

"Community" has so many different meanings that I hesitate to even use the word.

So I asked a trusted elder the other day, "What does it mean to be community with other people?" Wisely, she replied, "Community is consistently presenting your authentic self to others over time." Brilliant! But then I said, "Yeah, that's great . . . except when they don't present their authentic selves." Then she said, "That's community too." I had a good laugh.

But today I had a pretty great experience being "community" with a girlfriend. Some things happened & we had given each other some space over the last few months. But then today we had the opportunity to talk - really talk. We shared & brought our authentic selves to the conversation. It was one of the most beautiful experiences I've had recently. You know who you are sister, and I love you for bringing your authentic self today & for meeting me as myself. I love you & am glad you are a part of my community.

rabbit out of the hat

Ever had one of those moments in life where there was no possible way that you were going to make it through something unless there was a literal miracle? You've done everything humanly possible & none of it is working.

Well . . . been going through something like that. And I've had this crazy peace about it all. The kind that looks kinda stupid from the outside. In fact, a good friend asked me the other day, "You seem so calm about this whole thing - like something's shifted." And I told her that I've gotten to a peaceful place internally - a place of accepting the inevitable.

And last night at 11pm, Dan shared some news with me - good news . . . REALLY good news . . . the kind of news that you almost can't believe. But I wasn't surprised. I knew God (through his people) was gonna pull a rabbit out of the hat. Thanks God.

marinate

I'm not one to pray before every meal (though my kiddo simply LOVES this tradition, so I may start doing it after all) . . . seems like a bit of overkill, minus the sincerity that I hope goes into prayer.

However, the other day, one of my most interesting (& creatively articulate) friends, John Tiersma-Watson, prayed something that really got me thinking. He prayed, "Lord, may you marinate in our souls as we share this food together." I couldn't stop thinking about that . . . because the thought of eating anything that Dan marinates is simply glorious!

What if, instead of simply praying standard prayers, we let God marinate in our souls? Or better yet, what if God marinated tasty things in our souls when we spend time in the company of others? Something to marinate on . . . . . thanks John - I've been marinating!

success

So far, so good on my "What am I not going to do" stay-cation. I've managed to be 100% on my list of things not to do.

What I have done during the last 36 glorious hours . . .

• napped twice
• took a trip to the fashion district with a girlfriend
• gone dancing
• slept in
• had lunch with another girlfriend
• painted nails
• getting ready for my first night of serving at the well

. . . then off for more late night dancing & another round of sleeping in. Ahhhhh!

not going to do

So this morning I put Dan & Mahalia on an airplane to Texas for a family reunion on Dan's side of the family. It took me a LONG time to wake Mahalia up . . . in fact, she crawled back into bed. But when I whispered, "It's time to get on the airplane," she literally SHOT up, eyes WIDE open & shouted, "right now, Mommy? I'm going to Texas right now?" She could not be even slightly more excited.

So as I rode back home, I made a few phone calls - one to my Dad. When he asked me what I was going to do, I said, "Actually, it's all about what I'm NOT going to do."

I'm not going to

• do laundry
• wash dishes
• cook
• wake up early
• dress anyone but myself
• answer questions
• do play dates
• go to the park
• or do ANYTHING else I don't want to do

Hooray for a stay at home stay-cation!!! (Can ya tell I need a break? :-)

debut

This last weekend marked Mahalia's debut as a flower girl. She's been looking forward to it since Mandy asked her 2 months ago.

We found the dress ages ago (well, ages for a 3 year old) & she's been DYING to wear it ever since. She even got to walk down the aisle with two ring bearers . . . golden.

yes or no

So I've decided to take a slightly different perspective on life. The last few years have managed to bring about a lot of change - things I haven't really been looking forward to . . . lots of nitty-gritty, but necessary stuff. I've found that there have been many "no's" in life lately. I won't list them all out, but it's mostly lots of "no's" to things that I would (quite frankly) rather have "yesses" to.

So today it hit me that I'm wading through all of the "no's" before I get to my "yes." So rather than looking at it as another "no," I've decided to look at it as one step closer to my "yes."

farewell

Tuesday was a happy & sad day all at once. Mahalia is all done with preschool for the year. But we didn't want to leave without saying goodbye. So Mahalia hosted her very first farewell party with "Scooby Dooby snacks" and juice for her classmates.

Saying goodbye isn't fun, but it's been a great two years at her school. Thanks to Mrs. Gina, Mrs. Yvette & Ms. Keyanna for loving on our little girl!!! And Eli, you'll be especially missed.