I am in awe of how sovereign our God is. He is orchestrating the perfect redemption of this world. I was re-reading some of my old sermon notes and I came across one sermon from Slate that was encouraging to me. Our story as Christians is not over. It looks forward. It is working for the redemption of His kingdom.

I have been reading Isaiah through my quiet time. I have always shied away from the Old Testament because it lacks the bluntness of the New Testament. At the beginning of summer break, the Lord blessed me with a a sweet friend who asked me if I would like to go through a book of the Bible together. God-stop. I had been worried about my accountability and growth this summer because last summer was a spiritually dry time. It was disappointing after all I had learned during the first year of college. Together, we decided to go through Isaiah. God-stop. I wouldn't have gone through this book if I did not go through it with my dear friend. We decided to read 6 chapters a week and then go through and discuss it. On Sunday, I read the passage of Isaiah 25:8-9 which states, "he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people's disgrace form all the earth. The Lord has spoken. In that day they will say, 'Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.'" I then sent this verse to a family that has been on my heart in hopes of encouraging. Then, in church this passage was part of the passage on which our pastor spoke. "'Death has been swallowed up in victory.' ' Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?'" This is found in 1 Corinthians 15: 54b-55. So many things and events had to line up in order for that to line up. How crazy is that?

Monday Musings

1. Friends are such a gift. I have been blessed this summer by such a diversity of friendships. I have felt close to friends from Charlottesville and at home. I feel like the Lord has blessed me with friendships that stemmed from high school. I especially appreciate and feel blessed by two high school friends whom I have gotten much closer with this summer and who have become some of my dearest friends. I would not have anticipated these friendships at all, which makes me appreciate them that much more. I also have felt an increased closeness with my long-time best friends. I have been able to see how the Lord is working in their lives and I have been challenged and encouraged by the steadfastness with which they are walking with the Lord. I feel so honored to call them my friends because they are women of the Lord. I also have gotten to reflect on how the Lord has grown my friendships that began in Charlottesville. I feel so much freer in UVA relationships. I keep up with friends because I miss them and want to know what's going on in their lives this summer. This is such a change from last summer, where I felt the pressure to keep in contact with everyone and know about everyone's life. In doing so, I put unrealistic pressure on myself and did not really get to love them well. The Lord is good. He has blessed my friendships. Thank You, Lord!
2. The life of a nanny never fails to be entertaining. This is a comment I overheard at the pool today: "Wait, is it practices or practici?" Sheesh. Kids these days.
3. If you have not yet seen Brave, you must go do so. I'm not kidding. I may or may not be seeing it on Friday...after going on the opening day! I thought it was so cute!
4. Pinkberry.is.addicting. nom
5. I am not sure whether this love of music has been enhanced by being best friends with a girl who has always been in love with music. Regardless, I have been playing some certain songs on repeat as of late. The first is "Come Wake Me Up" by Rascal Flatts. 

Secondly, I love "Wanted You More" by Lady Antebellum. 

Lastly, "Come Back Down" by Greg Laswell featuring Sara Bareilles.

Thoughts

1. I have the absolute BEST summer job. If you want to take me up on this argument, please see below.

I just can't get over how stinkin' cute she is!

2. I "house-sat" overnight for the first time last night. I slept in a love sac. I want one. 

3. I fell off a bike today and scrapped my elbow up. Typically. I am really living like a kid this summer. I was flung to the ground because I was messing with something in my hand while I was starting out on the bike. I pumped the brake a little too hard which flung me forward a little bit. Instinctively, I grasped the handle harder. Problem being that my hand was wrapped around the handle AND the hand brake so the bike basically came to a halt and I kept going. That, ladies and gents, is called inertia. I caught myself on my elbow and my phone. It could have been worse. 

4. I need sleep. 

Nannying 101

My job this summer is playing "mom" to a 10-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl. I go to their house 4 days a week while their mother works. Now, I have had various babysitting jobs, but nothing this long or regular. These kids are great, but there has been much I have learned in the past week about kids and being in charge of a household, even for a little bit:

1. The recorder is without a doubt the worst instrument created. I am seeking vengeance on whoever created the recorder, whoever decided it was a good idea to give it to elementary aged kids, and whoever taught these kids how to play it. Mom, I'm sorry for all those years. I now know how you must have felt.
2. Kids are M-E-S-S-Y. Keeping the kitchen clean is next to impossible. Kids like to snack. Maybe they have a snack impulse that is triggered by a clean kitchen. Seriously.
3. Kids have no filter. They say what's on their mind. It is hilarious, great, and refreshing.
4. Kids are innocent. It's awesome to watch kids who love the Lord. One day this week, I was driving the kids to go see Madagascar 3. Matt Redman was serenading us with "10,000 Reasons." I was singing along when I heard a little voice pipe up and start to sing from the back seat. Before you knew it, I had two kids in the car singing their little hearts out to the Lord. A mundane task of driving to the movies became a sweet moment of praise to the Lord.
5. Safety becomes an issue for most activities. I worry about them when we bike places. I become hypervigilant.
6. I am not ready for kids as much as I love em.

I am a nomad. 

I am a nomad. I live for half of the year in Charlottesville where I pop into different churches, different fellowships, and different seminars. I hear speaker after speaker on a variety of topics. I spend the other half of the year in Oakton, where I have experienced more dearth of variety in my church attendance. My parents settled on our current church quite soon after we settled down here. I have been going there ever since. It was the perfect place for me to grow up and grow in my faith walk. Some of the relationships I formed through this church are the relationships that will last my life time. 

Recently, I have been struggling with the extreme desire and tendency to church-hop. In every church, there are aspects that are valuable and tools of building. At the same time, there are also those areas which need improvement. I recognize this. But I am draw to the ability to go into a church and worship unanimously - just me and God - and to hear a new speaker with his or her quirks and personality. 

New services are full of surprises - they are not comfortable, but they keep me on my toes. 

Getting honest. I think my feelings of nomadicity (I know it's not a word. Let it slide this time) are rooted in three aspects 

1. I think a lot of my dissatisfaction with the church services were due to my experience at Passion. Passion was the wonderful combination of theology and worship. A perfect harmony of heart and head. It is an experience like no other (if you are a young adult and haven't been to Passion - get to the dome...seriously). But the facts come down to this: Passion may not exist in a church body. I cannot keep leaving church after church looking for something that embodies the experience I had over winter break. Something amazing happened in Atlanta when 40,000 young people who love Jesus gathered in one place. That may not be the experience of any one church body. I need to release my expectation on a church to embody Passion.
2. I find it hard to get plugged deeply into a church family and body when I am a physical nomad, dissecting the year by spending it in two different places. I am moved to paralysis for fear that my time in any one place is too short to contribute. 
3. Lastly, most importantly, the root of by nomadicity: "I find in myself desires which nothing in this earth can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world." Thanks, Lewis. Sometimes it's nice to be understood. 

I am a nomad.