drink

A person can only survive for three days without something to drink. Water is necessary for our bodies to work. Everything slows down, becomes sluggish. The mouth becomes dry. The heart beats faster because there is less blood to pump. Blood pressure will drop because blood vessels aren't as full as they should be. Things just don't work like they're supposed to.

I think it's weird that I can't just drink once and get it over with. Why can't I have have one big glass of water and be done with it? That would mean I would have no dependence on anything. But aren't we supposed to depend? It keeps us humble and grateful.

The physical thirst we have serves to remind us of our emotional and spiritual thirst. It reminds us that our dependence extends beyond a glass of water. We need people to know us and quench us. There really is nothing more comforting than being in the presence of people who know us and receive us anyway. Knowing glances between people that can result in gales of laughter or tears welling up. No words, just knowledge. Sometimes it's scary. What if I get hurt or taken advantage of? What if my feelings become more vulnerable? Isn't it worth being scared sometimes? I think getting past that fear can open doors to places that can't be explained, just experienced.

We are also reminded that we need Jesus to quench that deep thirst that can't really be explained. It's just there and we all know we have it. The beautiful thing is that He can and will satisfy that deep thirst if we allow Him to. But it's scary isn't it? What if I get hurt or taken advantage of? What if my feelings become raw and vulnerable? What if I actually need to submerge myself in that water instead of just sipping at the surface?

Isn't it worth being scared sometimes? I think getting past that fear can open doors to places that can't be explained....they must be experienced.

quotes of various kinds

I really love quotes. Don't you? some are inspiring, some are annoying and some are downright funny. Often when I read a book, a phrase or a sentence or two will jump out at me and I think, "I have to write that down. It's fantastic." Or I'll be talking to someone and they'll say something that amuses me or touches me and I will make a mental note of it. This happens to me more often than most people...I think. Mainly it's because I am hypersensitive to my surroundings and I take a lot of things in quickly. The absurdity of situations catches me off guard and I laugh out loud before I can catch myself. Anyway, I digress.

These first quotes are from Blue Shoes and Happiness, the 7th book in the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency Series:

"Happiness was an elusive thing. It had something to do with having beautiful shoes, sometimes; but it was about so much else. About a country. About a people. About having friends like this."

"When the rains came, of course, then everything would be different, and the brown which covered the land, the trees, the stunted grass, would be replaced by green, by growth, by tendrils stretching out, by leaves unfolding. It would happen so quickly that one might go to bed in a drought and wake up in a landscape of shimmering patches of water and cattle with skin washed sleek by the rain."

Stranger than Fiction:

"If a man knew he was going to die and still chose to do it, isn't that the kind of man you'd like to have around?"

Sarah Wright (sunday school teacher extraordinaire):

"who doesn't like stick on gems? I mean really..."

Me talking about the old Vancouver Canucks jersey:

"why the big 'V'? It's not even part of the name."

Norm:

"I'm so much like Jonah the book should be called Normah."

Rikk Watts talking about the Apostle Paul's use of the word we. Say it out loud, it'll make more sense:

"Now we're going to talk about the 'we'ness of Paul."

I honestly could go on and on because each day is filled with these glorious nuggets of poignancy and hilarity. May you all see each moment in a new light of beauty.

This picture is one I took while I walked through the city to meet some friends for a beer. another beautiful moment captured forever. Doesn't it make the ordinary extraordinary?

Monopoly Curse

A couple of months ago I wrote about playing Monopoly with my friends Dave and Karla. I wrote about how we had fun and how it was always fun although I lost all the time. I thought it was funny I never won. Those thoughts went through my head because I anticipated that that would change sooner rather than later. We started keeping a tally of wins and losses on the inside of the lid. Surely probability would dictate that I would win. Well.....i was wrong. Not even statistics can help the abysmal state of the world of Monopoly.

I have concluded that I have a curse when it comes to monopoly. Now for all of you who are hyperventilating because I've used the word curse (not a curse word!!) calm down. This is all in good fun. There are various curses in the gaming world. The Curse of the Bambino had kept the Boston Red Sox from winning the World Series since 1920 until 2004 when the curse was broken. The Billy Goat Curse has plagued the Chicago Cubs since 1945 when William "Billy Goat" Sianis was denied entrance to the stadium with his pet goat. He cast a goat curse on the Cubs and they haven't won a world series since then. The New York Rangers were under a 54 year curse until they beat our beloved Canucks in 1994. The list goes on and on. I want to name my curse but it's got to be good. Dave and Karla and I briefly discussed the idea of a mascot...what should it be?! Better yet, what should the prize be when the curse is finally broken?!! Any help you could offer would be greatly appreciated and fun!!

Blessed is she

It's always so amazing to me how so many great things can happen in such a short period of time. Over the course of this week I have had a picnic at the beach, dejunked my house, had the best BBQ chicken I have ever eaten in my life (outside of the chicken in Burundi of course!) rode my bike for the first time in a month, successfully put a central line into an extremely difficult vein and the list goes on and on. That of course was a terrible sentence but I hope you will forgive me!! The joy of the week culminated tonight when Dave and Karla and I walked to Safeway to buy ice cream. We each picked a flavor of Breyer's and then walked back to my place and ate tastings of each flavor, except Dave who had an enormous bowl full of all three flavors. I have loved every second of this week. It feels like I live in a dream world sometimes!! I'm so thrilled to know that so much more is coming. Hiking, Andrea's birthday, playing piano in church and so many things that I know nothing about yet!!

My life is blessed. Knowing Jesus in the midst of this blessing makes all of this that much richer. I honestly believe that the daily pleasures of life are sweeter, richer, more poignant in light of knowing Jesus. Everything is just... so much more. That's the only way i can say it.

Even when things are difficult and frustrating the experience of it all is so much richer. There seems to be meaning in the midst of that also. There is perspective and hope and joy and wealth (not in the monetary sense) in all of it.

"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."-Jesus

brokenness

brokenness gets talked about a lot these days. how it's necessary, but hard and how we can't really be real without it. i've also thought about brokenness often, but ironically, spiritual and emotional brokenness has become more understandable in light of physical brokenness. this week i actually got through a whole work week without wearing my cast. yet at the end of each day my hand would ache reminding me that there was something not quite right. my hand needed to rest and be cared for. it needed to be paid attention to so that it can finish healing.

the soul is like that too. an ache exists within us to remind us that there is something that is not quite right. something needs to be healed. that ache remains until we take the time to rest and receive the care that is available to us. sometimes we need to be the source of healing for someone else's aching soul.

tonight i attended a photo exhibition on human rights in africa. marten youseff has his photos on display at the Vancouver Public Library until June 14th. there are also some articles he wrote while living in Africa. it was very moving for me, especially in light of just having been there. poignant pictures that capture the heart of the people he saw. stories that echo throughout that land but are still unique to the person telling it. pictures that could likely be replicated to a certain degree yet capturing a single moment that has now past. The pictures and the stories are a reminder that God is moving in this heart of mine. more importantly He is moving in the hearts of people who live on a continent thousands of kilometres from the comfort and excess of the life that i lead. He has not forgotten them as He has not forgotten us.

I hope my hand aches, ever so slightly, for a very long time.