forever

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

He leads me beside quiet waters,

He restores my soul.

He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil, for You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord

forever

Like a child

On Sunday I went with my brother and his girlfriend to a Presbyterian church down the street. It's one of those churches where the young children are called out of the service several songs in so they can have their own, child-accessible sermon in a separate room. The pastor went on to talk about getting in God's way or something - to be honest, the sermon didn't stick with me that well. I get distracted easily. It was towards the end of the service when the kids came back into the sanctuary and rushed around to find their parents who were still in the pews when I became focused on the moment.


Two rows in front of me was a little girl, age 5 or so. She had on a pastel green dress with a matching bow in her almost-white hair. This little girl climbed up on the pew next to her mother, stood up, and held open her arms, just waiting for her mom to pick her up. As we were singing at the time and were standing, facing the altar, the mother did not notice right away what her daughter was doing. The little girl continued to stand, hands outstretched as widely as possible. When the mother glanced over, she immediately reached down to pick up her child. The little girl clung there and our eyes met. She stared at me with big blue eyes shyly peaking over her mother's shoulder. It was so sweet, I teared up.

Recently, I have so often been crying out for comfort from God, for Him to pull me in His arms and keep me safe. The moment in church was a perfect image to represent what God does every day as a way to show He loves us, whether we feel it or not. He is always willing to pull us close, soothe our troubled emotions, simply be there. I picture myself sitting on His knee, sometimes telling Him about my day and my thoughts, sometimes just being there with Him and soaking up all His goodness and wonderfulness and love.

Like the little girl in church, I am standing on a pew with my arms open. And God is reaching to pull me in close.

Katie

My senior year of college (and thus the year I was a Mentor Resident Assistant), Randy-Mac's Office of Residence Life and Housing hired a new Coordinator. I originally wasn't super happy with this because I had really like the previous Coordinator, a girl named Shannon who had gone to Randolph-Macon, and she and I got along quite well. Shannon decided that she had had her fill of nasty parent phone calls and assignment paperwork, so she left the college administration realm to do something else.

Enter Katie Thorne. Freakin' Katie Thorne.

Growing up in NOVA (Northern Virginia to you folks unfamiliar with the local geography), Katie left the D.C. metro area for the country when she attended Virginia Tech for college and grad school. And THEN, Katie came to Ashland! I liked Katie well enough from the start, but over my senior year we bonded and became close friends. My year on Richmond's Boulevard was largely characterized by nights out with Katie (along with our other awesome friends). When I moved to Charlottesville, Katie came to my humble penthouse apartment and I reciprocated with visits to her cinder block palace. Our time together has been rife with dinners at Sticky Rice, bottles of wine, nights in front of the TV, and long talks about anything and everything. Katie is incredibly accepting of everyone and is one of the people I can truly say enjoys life for everything it has to offer. The things most people only dream about, like going to Chicago on a whim for St. Patrick's Day or backpacking Europe with people she met while studying abroad in Austria, these are the things on which Katie thrives. I have such admiration for Katie's ability to grab opportunities that are fun and life-giving in a way other people typically don't have the audacity to do. Katie is so good at always seeing the positive in life, and I know that I have learned so much from having the privilege to spend precious moments with her, simply enjoying life.

During the past few months, my situation has been so blessed that I have been able to spend several weeks with Katie after my return from Haiti, and it's a good thing because last Tuesday Katie moved to Scotland (SCOTLAND!). Edinburgh, in fact. If you haven't been to Scotland, it is a gorgeous country, and I'm so happy for Katie's new experiences. While I am sad that Katie no longer lives a short hour and a half drive west on 64, I am so glad for the time we have had over the past three years and I'm very much looking forward to our future adventures in Europe!

(you can get to know Katie on her blog at flower3192.blogspot.com)

Your love is strong

(listen)

heavenly Father, You always amaze me

let Your kingdom come in my world and in my life

You give me the food I need to live through the day

and forgive me as I forgive the people that wronged me

lead me far from temptation, deliver me from the evil one

I look out the window, the birds are composing

not a note is out of tune or out of place

I look at the meadow and stare at the flowers

better dressed than any girl on her wedding day

so why do I worry?

why do I freak out?

God knows what I need

You know what I need

Your love is strong

the kingdom of the heavens is now advancing

invade my heart, invade this broken town

the kingdom of the heavens is buried treasure

will you sell yourself to buy the One you've found?

two things you told me, that You are strong

and You love me 

yes, You love me

Your love is strong