summer spontaneity

What could be better than a summer trip to Birmingham to celebrate Katherine's off-night from DeSoto?  Complete with shopping at the Summit, Target, Whole Foods, coffee shops, a lot of hilarious/serious talk, and a spontaneous trip to this place - Steel City Pops.  A shop that sells only popsicles, and some really cool flavors at that:

[Lacey - Avocado, Anna - Sweet Tea, me - Mango, and Kat - Hibiscus]

Getting to spend time with these girls was the perfect mid-summer adventure.  It is potentially going to be a long time before we get to be together again, but it was such a huge blessing to get the little bit of time that we did.  I just love these people, and I think I speak for everyone when I say we left feeling incredibly refreshed and excited for what the future holds, even if it means we'll be apart for a while.  Shout out to Birmingham for being an awesome place, too.  I could definitely see myself liking living there.

But looks like I have my own city to figure out - I'm headed to Kentucky on Monday where I will hopefully finally really and truly learn my way around Lexington.  Until then, just packing up and saying final goodbyes in Oxford.  It doesn't feel real, but I think I am ready.  Regardless, this overnight summer reunion was the perfect way to wrap up June.

the new men

I can't get this passage out of my head lately.  I am continually struck by the simple fact that in a room full of people, even a room full of believers, some are different.  Some stand out more than all the rest, but not because of anything they do.  Simply because of who (or whose, maybe) they are.  I've thought about this a lot this semester - how Enoch walked with God, so much so that he didn't even die, the Lord just took him up to Himself (Genesis 5:21-24).  Something about Enoch was different.

Leave it to C.S. Lewis to put into words perfectly that which I can never seem to:

        Already the new men are dotted here and there all over the earth.  Every now and then one meets them.  Their very voices and faces are different from ours; stronger, quieter, happier, more radiant.  They begin where most of us leave off.  They are, I say, recognizable; but you must know what to look for.  They will not be very like the idea of “religious people” which you have formed from your general reading.  They do not draw attention to themselves.  You tend to think that you are being kind to them when they are really being kind to you.  They love you more than other men do, but they need you less... 

        They will usually seem to have a lot of time: you will wonder where it comes from.  When you have recognized one of them, you will recognize the next one much more easily.  And I strongly suspect (but how should I know?) that they recognize one another immediately and infallibly, across every barrier or colour, sex, class, age, and even of creeds.  In that way, to become holy is rather like joining a secret society.  To put it at the very lowest, it must be great fun…  [C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, "The New Men"]

Read the rest here.

Thankful for the "new men" I have been blessed to encounter - several this weekend during my time in Jackson - and hoping to continually live a life that looks more and more like Mr. Lewis's description.  More and more like Enoch.  

More and more like Christ.

song of the day

There's a hole in the roof

For the stars to fall in

I gather them up for you

Fill up my pockets, start walking again

Bringing these stars to you

Bringing these stars to you

Bringing these stars to you.

(Worn Out Shoes, Joe Purdy)

high low

Sometimes in small groups or Wesley or Muffin Club we do High/Low – go around the room and tell your highlight of the week and then your low point.  I have grown accustomed to mentally doing this myself, even when I’m not sharing my thoughts with a group.  The past 10-ish days have been filled with various highs and lows.  For example…

High: pool time with friends

Low: sunburn that resulted from pool time with friends

High: realizing it is not too difficult to make homemade pancake batter

Low: realizing there are cockroaches in the flour you just used to make the pancake batter

High: having enough time to re-read Mere Christianity

Low: somehow, even though it is summer, still never having enough time to read what you want

Other highs include the Farmer’s Market, good weather, summer flowers, spending time with one of my incredible role models, and Summer Wesley.  Other lows include the typical missing of my best friends, and also the fact that healthy, delicious summer foods are expensive and I am on a super low budget with little money to purchase them.  My first attempt at P90X yoga falls somewhere in the middle of high and low.  High because it was hilarious, low because if I had to do one more darn downward dog pose I might have lost my mind.  (Seriously, it's always the downward dog - crazy!!)  Overall, the past week or so has been a good one, and I am finally remembering how to relax a little bit and enjoy summer.  Looking forward to the rest of June with hopefully lots more highs and not many lows to come!