(Hits head, RIGHT!) Inwhich Sarah Louise tries to fix the whole of her life in one blog post

Be strong and courageous, and do the work. (David to his son Solomon) (1 Chronicles 28:20)

My mother loves trees. Especially Sassafras trees. These are pictures of the tree in our upper parking lot at work. First, the spoon leaf.

Then the fork leaf.

Finally, the mitten. Oh, we'll get to mittens later in this post. Maybe the spoon and fork is to remind me to do dishes...

(See, I did post pictures!!)

"Remember that God does not set us up to fail. He sets us up to flourish."
--Margaret D. Mitchell, in "A Women's Walk" devotional.

So I have not been reading anything but emails when I wake up since I finished reading Anne Lamott's Plan B. I have been relying on email and Twitter to give me direction for the day.

Lemme tell you, it's like the blind leading the blind.

Even on the Bible website, I clicked link upon link, trying to find things to amuse me. Oooh, shiny stationery. Ooooh, a conference in...Georgia. Finally, I decided to follow something that my email devo recommended:

Start with just a small amount of time. Even if it is just 5 minutes at first, give this 5 minutes solely to the Lord without any other distractions. Over the next weeks and months, your desire for more time with Him will increase. (Lysa TerKeurst)

So, since I was finding references to my favorite chapter everywhere, I looked it up: Proverbs 31. Phrases like "she works with eager hands" and "she is clothed in dignity" pounced on me. I work eagerly at work...sometimes. But when was the last time I was eager to get rid of dust at home?

I live alone. So if stuff piles up, guess who reminds me? Me or noone else.

So the fact that God is setting me up to flourish is HUGE. He wants me to succeed. Ohhhh...

So today my prayer is that I notice more than the sumac tree outside my window, that I use these two days to rest and rejuvenate, and to bulldoze through the mess my apartment has become. I hope to get together with friends...although sending out an email didn't work--I'm still learning this electronic, or even this non-electronic life. I meet with BJ this afternoon to talk about starting a small group at the OD. I am glad just to be meeting with him--because I sure need a hug.

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In other news, I have discovered a wonderful book, one that might even make me (yes, me) into a knitter. Yesterday, in looking for books to read on this, my two days off, I picked this book of the shelf: Chicks with Sticks (It's a Purl Thing) by Elizabeth Lenhard. First off, it totally reminds me of Katy, who lives in Chicago, where this book is set, who used to live in Andersonville, where the knitting shop is, and who knits. (Ohmigosh, as I found the author's website, I discovered, oh joy, it's a trilogy!)

Girls, this book is pure wonderfulness. If you haven't read it, run, do not walk, to your local book depository/purveyor/library and pick up a copy.

Why?

Well, here's where two of the four girls exchange hello's:

"And what do you see, in the one class we have together a day?" Amanda challenged.
"I see someone who's figured out that being pretty gets you more popular points than a good math grade," Tay said with a lazy shrug. "Someone who spends a lot of mental energy on, y'know, lip gloss."
"Oh, thanks for the sum-up," Amanda snapped. "I feel so deep now." (p. 58)

The four friends don't start out as cozy, and everyone has their, you know, issues. But knitting seems to transform each girl, as she discovers frogging (tearing apart a project), what all the initials mean: WIP means work in process, and how to be a friend by stepping forward and stepping back.

This is a book you want to read for three hours at lunch. Or finish at ten pm after you started it over dinner. And... (Sarah Louise flips through the book, trying to figure out how to explain its essence.)

This is the passage that GOT me. The one that hooked me in. (Is that a knitting term? I have no clue.)

The scene: Scottie is trying to sleep. The trains outside her window do not help.

She wished her REM state would get over itself and go back to business. Or she wished there was somebody she could call--movie characters always had some die-hard friend who didn't mind when you woke her up in the middle of the night for a little split-screen hand wringing. She wished... (p. 6)

How I learned the hard way that you DON'T call real live friends at 3 in the morning when you can't sleep (the subject for another post, another day.)

And all the chapters are things (I think) you do in knitting: Cast on, check tension, bind off and break yarn.

Anyways, I laughed, I cried, it was better than Cats. I promise.