SOS 8:14

Song of Solomon 8:14 (Amplified)
A much better version than the NIV one I grew up with.

[Joyfully the radiant bride turned to him, the one altogether lovely, the chief among ten thousand to her soul, and with unconcealed eagerness to begin her life of sweet companionship with him, she answered] Make haste, my beloved, and come quickly, like a gazelle or a young hart [and take me to our waiting home] upon the mountains of spices!

knock knock

While on I walked, a comfort seemed to touch
A heart that had not been disconsolate:
Strength came where weakness was not known to be,
At least not felt; and restoration came
Like an intruder knocking at the door
Of unacknowledged weariness.

William Wordsworth (1770–1850)

who did swallow jo-jo-jonah?

Ever have that feeling that you

have been running

from something? Or Someone?

Maybe for so long that you can't remember what you've been running from? I sat here for about 10 minutes with snippets of an old childhood poem I remember reading in one of my favourite books growing up, Arrow Book of Funny Poems, which I was finally able to track down via Google:

The Ostrich
(Mary E. Wilkins Freeman)

The ostrich is a silly bird,
With scarcely any mind.
He often runs so very fast,
He leaves himself behind.

And when he gets there, has to stand
And hang about till night,
Without a blessed thing to do
Until he comes in sight.

If God calls you to do something, and you don't do it, is it sloth or sin? Yes, he gives second and third and fourth chances - but, usually, those chances are to do what we should have done the first time around...not opportunities to re-write the script. Do we run, frantic, attempting to track down our "place" only to realize we probably had a better grasp of the complete picture before we started running?

God is patient. God is kind. He'll wait, as we wait, to figure out what's gone wrong, to figure out why we're inside the belly of a giant fish, to recall, dimly, that there might have been something that we were told to do...

"God's calling and you're the one
But like Jonah you run
He's told you to speak
But you keep holding it in,
Oh can't you see it's such a sin?"
- Keith Green, Asleep in the Light

arg

(from a website yoinked from my boy)

Who enjoys going around the mountain a second time?
Anyone? Anyone?
Bueller?

Much like this time last year, I find myself unemployed and wondering why. Not only that, but in the search to be gainfully employed I find myself asking those deep, sometimes helpful, always time-consuming questions like:

Well, what do I want to be doing?
What was I made to do?
Do I still belive in destiny?
Should I just plant a garden?*

Neck-deep in recently published books on finance, loaned excerpts from inspirational authors, quotes from big-name dreamers, and a myriad of interests, skills and goals, I seem stuck. How many people do I know who are doing what they love AND getting paid for it? Is it (hu)man's task to seek out a hidden destiny?

* "It is the mark of maturity to stop waiting for someone to bring you flowers and plant a garden."

007 Kitty

Emails passed between my roommate, Nicole, and myself today regarding our mischievious cat, Audrey Hepburn:

From: Sarah Aubrey Hunter
To:Nicole Evans

Oh, here's a fun story: as I got ready for work, I washed my face and realized....no Audrey sitting in the sink. Then I realized...no Audrey hanging around the apartment. I whistled and called for her EVERYWHERE and realized....no Audrey at all. Then I looked out of the dining room window. She's frolicking in the garden.

OK, this was at 12:30 IN THE AFTERNOON.

So she had been frolicking since about 8:30 when you left. It's hilarious that she had four hours to kill and didn't get any farther than that garden. Good to know for later. She's pretty house trained, I guess...just keeps mistaking the garden for another living room.
S.

From: Nicole Evans
To: Sarah Aubrey Hunter

I KNEW IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh man, she’s quick – I watched the door, but turned my head for literally one second and I heard some trees rustle right next to the door. I stopped. Turned around. Looked through the bushes….. but saw nothing. She must have jetted out the door and hid, waiting for me to walk away before she moved again. 007 kitty.

I personally think she was out looking for Andrew. But she would have had to venture a little farther than the front garden to find him in Dallas, Texas...

shree-yimp

Southern Dictionary:
shrimp - "shree-yimp"
mother - "moe-ther"
amen - "ay-min"
expression of exasperation - "Great day in the mornin'!" expression of exasperation, short-formed - "Great day!"

AJ Malett Jones and I went ("wee-int") to North Carolina this weekend for a women's conference at a church called East Side World Outreach Church (aka: "The Purple Church") this weekend and had an absolute blast. Let me tell you, those Southern women know a thing or two about love, life and laughter. I feel like I have a dozen mamas and a dozen more sisters in Shalotte now - and I miss them already.

AJ's little one, Zoe Abigail ("Abi") Jones, was a 4-month-old traveling MIRACLE. She grinned, snoozed and cooed through security checks, take-offs, landings, three days of conference, 37 degree heat, being jostled in car seats, strollers, cribs and various people's arms and even sleeping through a delayed flight in Washington D.C. on the way home and an impromptu hotel layover. Oh, and have I mentioned how cute she is?
Things I Learned:

1. Millionaires are sometimes confused as gardeners.
2. Lightening can strike your bum if you're sitting on a toilet during a storm.
3. There are at least five ways of eating rotisserie chicken.

two weeks

two weeks, at one time
the limit - but now two weeks
apart is as loss