coldplay, tea, and candles

Autumn Wreath and Cider candles lit. A cup of Apple Cinnamon tea. Listening to Coldplay's "Parachutes." A good end to the day, even I have been sick all week. If I close my eyes, it almost feels like October. The only albums that make me think of fall more would be Bebo Norman's "Try" and Damien Rice's "O". Good music. Good times. I know why those 2 make me think of fall, because I got them both about the same time in the fall of 2004, but I still don't know why Parachutes makes me think of it. I guess it's just mellow enough. And now as the CD is ending, it is time for me to sleep.

restore to me...

Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. (Psalm 51:12-13)

This is our memory verse in Community Bible Reading (www.joincbr.com) for this week. I have it taped up on my computer at work and as I was looking at it this morning it struck me that so often you see the first verse, but that the following verse is left out. Actually, more often that not, it is just the beginning of the first verse: Restore to me the joy of your salvation! Why? For the good of me, right? Wrong! Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Wait, I have to work? It's amazing that we forget that part of it. I know that I do. Most days, I'm content knowing that I have the joy of His salvation. I don't really want to think about having a willing spirit and certainly don't want to think about teaching transgressors your ways. Am I really that selfish? Apparently, the answer is "yes." These are the kinds of things that we need to check ourselves on. And it would seem that I am coming up lacking. Luckily, it isn't completely up to me. This is where the second part of verse 12 comes in: ...and uphold me with a willing spirit. It isn't our spirit after all. We are being upheld by His spirit. Once we know what to ask for it doesn't make the task seem as daunting. Of course, the only way to know is to read intently. (I'll just add that to the list of things that I want to improve that keeps growing longer...) Feel free to comment and/or add insight.

Letters to the Editor, Vol. 1

Ok, so I know that I don't have THAT many readers, but I wanted to share this with the ones that do read. One of my favorite Nashvillians, Andrew Osenga, has just released a new EP. It's available for download HERE. Here's the interesting part about said EP. The idea for it was thrown out to those of us in the blogosphere on May 23rd. He asked for stories, ideas, pictures, etc to be inspiration for the songs and artwork for the album. Then, and this is what I find to be the coolest idea ever, he asked for people to download the songs in their rough form and add "webground" vocals (a.k.a. background vocals sent via the web). And now, three weeks after the first mention, we have the finished product. And it's great. To top all that off, Andy had been getting calls and emails about the album, telling him what a great job his promoters are doing. Well, that's the funny part. He doesn't have promoters; he just has us, the crazy bloggers and fans that are spreading the love of music all around the internet. So, take a listen, send him a few bucks through paypal, support good music, give 2 little girls more time with their dad because he's not having to go out on the road.

can i be 8 again?

So, I'm taking a break from my exciting evening to write. This is how exciting it is: I've been solving sudoku puzzles (I have reached the intermediate level in my book. Wahoo.) I've been watching 30 Rock and The Office, Scrubs (the musical...hilarious), and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. By myself. Such excitement. But really, I have wanted to write since yesterday.

As I was driving around the lake yesterday on my way to make a bank deposit for work, I was quickly reminded that it was summer. There were kids everywhere, running and playing. I wanted to be one of those kids. I miss the days when I could grab a book and go read outside...all day. I could hop on my bike and ride down to the library and then ride over to the lakes. The trails were supposed to be only for the people that lived in the neighborhood, but my dad and I would ride there sometimes. I hate being an adult sometimes. This is one of those times. Summer. I wish that I still had summers that were free. When making the numbers meant reading enough books to get free pizza or ice cream from the library. (For your information, reading one book a day is a great plan for free food!) When the worst thing you had to look forward to was coming inside for lunch. I want to be a kid again!! Or at least spend more time with them. When I was watching the boys and Anne back in Greenville, I at least had more of a feeling of being a kid. We got to play and run almost all afternoon. Of course, I was the one telling them that they had to come inside and take a nap, but I still felt like a kid. Of course, I hope to someday have that part again when I'm a parent. I just need to work on that one essential thing...the other parent. ;-)

Anyway, changing the subject. So, it's getting hot out, eh? And I've been really craving ice cream. Yeah. That really didn't work, did it? And now I should go to bed. Tomorrow is another day. Maybe I'll wake up and I'll be 8 years old. I'll let you know.

haiku...bless you

Ok, I know that I have once again been a colossally bad blogger. But wait, my friends...there is still hope! I would like to sum up my weekend community group retreat with a few haikus written on the trip. These first few are ones that I wrote about beauty:

watching children play
hearing their laughter resound
knowing they are loved

a symphony plays
the notes linger in the air
my breath is taken

the sun hanging low
colors burst from the water
another day ends

flowers fill the field
the summer air hangs heavy
with rain close behind

And then, there is the one that I helped Joe and Greg write with Joe's "words of wisdom":

Don't run with scissors
Never pet a burning dog
Live by these sayings

Ok, and I'll add this photo of us as well:


For the record, we were being "receptors of the gospel". We were reading "This Beautiful Mess." Great book.

More to come if my life ever gets exciting. Don't hold your breath, though...