But now I am so keyed up from a day of just doing doing doing that I can't turn off to sleep.
Highlights:
- Shopping for my secret Santa at Walmart
- Reading Jane Austen's Book Club, my reward, at my reward dinner at Abate, an Italian/Fish restaurant near my house
- talking to my sister
- talking to my friend Alice
- talking to my friend Kerry
- spending some real quality time praying and getting deep into the Bible
- WATCHING THE FAMILY STONE! If you have a chance to see a movie, go see this. It is about this totally screwed up family, but it is soooo beautiful!!! I was sobbing at the end, because of its beautiful-ness. Some guy sitting near me said are you okay and I said yeah. Beautiful movie, he said. Yeah, I said. Take it easy, he said. It was sweet to have someone want to know if I was okay, even if it was a wierd strange man.
I'm still not tired. And not sure I want to email my friend about why I think two jobs isn't the answer for her...although drafting an email to send later might at least clear my mind...
I hope y'all are fast asleep.
Here's some wisdom I gleaned from the Word today:
- "Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place; and labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the earth. (1 cor 4:11-13)
- Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting with strife (prov. 17:1)
- A man of many companions may come to ruin but there is a friend who sticks like a brother. (prov 18:24)
This, from the Women's Devotional Bible, a devotion quote: "Need waits for longing for the familiar entrance of dear ones who pad barefoot through the soul on ordinary days."
I love my friend--I want the best for her. I want to communicate, not like a bull in a china shop, but not quiet as a mouse as is my norm. Off to draft an email...
6 comments:
Fast asleep? Check the time stamp lady.
I love that passage from St. Paul's epistles to the Corinthians. It reminds me of the call we have as Christians to (as the Baltimore Catechism refers to it) "...suffer grievances patiently," and how that is pleasing to God when we do.
I also love the verse from Proverbs mostly because it rings achingly true with me.
I agree that drafting an email is an EXCELLENT way to shake the cobwebs loose. I dunno anything about your friend, but already I am getting a weird vibe about two jobs. Maybe spending even MORE Time away from home and doubling the stress you bring thereto is not the smartest course of action...but what do I know?
Hey, tell her I said so, maybe that'd prove semi-useful. :-)
Happy Advent!
-Joke
i think it's very courageous of you to love your friend enough to speak truth into her life.
so few today really care enough to do so. i really believe that conflict is what god chooses to use to build community. it's through working through the difficulities that we draw courage and confidence that people do truly love us.
i pray you speak the truth in love to your friend, and that she sees the love and responds in love.
thanks for the tip on the family stone - i can't wait to see it!
Actually, I wrote the email and had enough peace about it that I released it into the ether of email. I basically just told her that I didn't want her to be over-tired but that I couldn't tell her what to do (she thought I was) but only suggest. I still needed "You've Got Mail" to get me to bed, but I was asleep by 2ish.
Hey, you accrued a gazillion Heaven points. You may not have actively known it but you covered 4 of the 7 spiritual works of mercy.
1- Correct the sinner
2- Instruct the ignorant
3- Counsel the doubtful
4- Pray for others
Good on ya!
-J.
What do you know? What are the other three?
Update: my friend emailed me back and while it would take too long to go into her details, I understand what she's doing, and she is grateful to have me as a friend as I am to have her. Good has been done here! If you want to pray for her, though, she has an inherent distrust in churches--I pray that she would find a church that would welcome her. She is such a strong intercessor but with people she can be skittish.
The other 3 are:
5- Comfort the Sorrowful
6- Bear Grievances Patiently
7- Forgive Injuries
So check 'em off as you run into them.
-J.
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