The Week in Review

Monday: Started the countdown to Friday. Nothing new.

Tuesday: I know something important happened on Tuesday, but I can't remember what it was. JK! Of course, it was the election. How can i forget the hippie lady standing in front of me in line who kept trying to get everyone to sing the national anthem?? She tried a couple times. With diminishing confidence, she would sing, "OH SAY CAN YOU SEE? By the...dawn's...hnearly...high...hm hm hmMmm...." then complete silence... It was annoying, but entertaining nonetheless.

Tuesday night was, of course, Union, which, of course, rocked! But I realized something about myself. It started when i told a friend of mine that I wanted to do ministry full-time, and ended with me getting annoyed by a couple people at Union. Why was I annoyed? Simply because these people were being "overly" relational. That's my term for it, but I suppose they were just trying to get to know me. It was annoying to me because I just wanted to chill with my friends and catch up with them. Wednesday morning, God was like, "Do you really want to do ministry full-time, or is it just that you want to do it for money?" And I was like, "Too-shay!" And that's when I realized that full-time ministry isn't just 9-5, Monday through Friday, when it's convenient for me. It's all the time: when I'm standing in line at the grocery store, when I'm standing in line to vote (I regret that I did not join in the song), when I'm driving my car, when I'm interacting with my friends, when I'm alone at home. What I consider ministry is a 24/7 thing. My conclusion? It's going to be hard, but I whole-heartedly want to do it...even if it means answering and asking question after annoying question. It's giving all my time for God and trusting that when it's time to rest, He will provide.

Wednesday: Obama wins the election. Some people are upset, some (apparently the majority) are excited to tears (Oprah), and almost every gets angry at some point during the day, either because of the results of the election or because others aren't as excited about it as others. Hey! Should be an interesting 4 years...or maybe 8...

Thursday: Didn't have anything to do Thursday night and was completely bored. This shows how far I've come. I used to be perfectly content not having things to do on weeknights, but now I think I may be addicted to socializing. But hey, at least it was Friday Eve!

Thursday evening: Watched Grey's Anatomy and bawled my eyes out! I mean, seriously, melo-drama can't get any better than an old man fruitlessly pumping his wife's heart. Awww...I just wanted to squeeze him!

And then there's The Office. All I have to say is: "That's what she said! That's what she said! That's what she said!"

Friday: Got to go to Olive Garden at lunch for free! Had the most boring day at work, however. Finally told my boss I was extremely bored with my job and need a challenge. She placed another job at Comcast under my nose. It's a bit more challenging simply because it's different. I would at least get to work with other people in this job. However, I'm ready to move out of the cable industry altogether. But maybe I should take the job anyway, just to get me through. Any suggestions?

Friday night: Spent the evening at church participating in the junior high worship night. It was fantastic! It was so awesome to see so many junior highers so passionate about praising their God. After my Lifeline girls have graduated and if I'm still in Grand Rapids and if I'm still energetic enough at 31, I think I'll circle back around to junior high and commit to spending 6th-12th grade with my group. What a crazy group of kids those junior highers are! I should fit right in!

Saturday: Went to my favorite place in Grand Rapids, Barnes and Noble. I go there every Saturday morning, order coffee, and read the first chapters of about 15 books. This Saturday I had a purpose. I was meeting the parents of the girls in my small group. Unfortunately, none of them showed up. The good news is that I got to read the first 3rd of a fabulous book by Fredrick Buechner called "Telling Secrets." He is an incredible writer. His thoughts flow so seamlessly that you can't really put the book down until a chapter ends. So, don't start reading his books if you only have a few minutes before you have to start supper, or go pick up the kids. His books are for snowy afternoons in front of the fireplace. And if you've never read Fredrick Buecher, then "Telling Secrets" is a great book to start with. It's an autobiography that begins with his father's suicide. I wanted to buy it, but Barnes didn't have it in their used book section. They also didn't have Italo Calvino's "If on a winter's night a traveler" in the used book section, so I went to Bargain Books and bought that one. I told my friend, Annie, that I was reading it, and she asked me what it was about. I couldn't really tell her. It wasn't because the book is uninteresting; it's because the book is crazy. It messes with your mind. If you have nothing to do this week, please stop by the bookstore and read the first two chapters of Italo Calvino's "If on a winter's night a traveler" and tell me what you thought. I think it's fabulous!

The rest of Saturday was spent in warm, cozy, lazy, procrastinating bliss on my couch, followed by an early bedtime, which continued on said couch. This, my friends, was a glorious sabbath!

...and that is my week in review...