Jules

This is for Julie. Hey there friend! Julie is my Panera buddy. We meet there at least twice a week to have coffee, a brownie, a bagel, and all of the gory, mundane, yet dramatic details of our lives. Thanks for listening, and mostly being available on the spur of the moment.

iTunes

Hey I just got a new laptop (yes, the reason for the overhwelming number of blogs recently...all 3 of them) and iTunes. Welcome to the 21st century, Lisa. I want your top 5 suggestions of songs I should download. Please, comment.

Ready, go.

Elizabeth and Cinderella

I spent a weekend at the lake with my family in August. Always a good time. Getting some sun, sleeping in (well, sort of), eating good food, water sports, etc. It's so weird to see my cousins getting older, listening to cooler music than me, having more relationship experience than me, and become better looking. When did that happen?

My youngest cousin, Elizabeth, is a beautiful, brown eyed, brown haired (haired?), spunky 4-year old. She's smart and funny and even a bit sarcastic. It's possible she also has more relationship experience than me, but let's not get depressed.

She is also very much in a "princess" phase. She wants to watch princesses, be a princess, play with princess Barbie, dress like a princess, and maybe even act like a princess. She asked me to sit with her and watch Cinderella, the Disney classic. If I turned my head for even a second to look at something other than the t.v. during the course of the movie I was reprimanded: "Lisa, watch!!" She was glued to the t.v., holding her Barbie, asking me to hold Ken, and we were to make the dolls mimic the cartoon characters. She was in it.

I love Cinderella as much the next girl, but it was fascinating to watch her fascination with the movie. How is it that a 4-year old girl can already be caught up in the fairy tale? From such a young age, she has bought in to the whole story hook, line and sinker. No wonder it can feel like we're single for such a long time. We've been waiting for Prince Charming (or Cinderella) since we were 4. That's 20 years for me!

I watched the film with a bit different perspective this time. A beautiful girl is hidden away by an evil power, with a beautiful heart, a true servant, that no one fully appreciates or even sees. Until...the day. When he sees her. Truly sees her. The way no one has ever seen her. He sees something in her, in a moment of true destiny, from across a huge room, and goes after her. He doesn't care what anyone thinks. He doesn't care if he's making a fool of himself. He's found her. He asks her to dance, she accepts, and she feels so sublimely happy that she isn't sure if she's dreaming. It's too wonderful. Too perfect. So she runs, because she is afraid.

But it doesn't matter. Because now that he's found her, he'll do anything to find her, to win her heart. He needs her to know that he is safe. He can be trusted. He'll send someone to every house in Colorado to find the pair of perfect feet, that will fit the perfect shoe, that belong to the perfect girl...for him.

Lord! No wonder we get so disappointed! Who could ever live up to that?

This time around, I realized that is exactly what Jesus does. He notices something valuable about us, despite our disheveled appearance, and asks us to dance. And he comes after us even if we run because we're afraid. I know it seems a bit cheesy to be all "Oh Jesus is my prince charming!". Annoying, but there is a bit of truth in it. He does see the value in us, despite our cleaning clothes, and he wants to dress us up and take us to the castle and live happily ever after. Maybe we just don't know a good thing when we already have it...

Say goodnight and go

I'll just give a big Colorado welcome to myself after a long hiatus from the world of internet blogging. Yes, Colorado. That's where I live now. People ask me why I moved back; my ansewer? "Why not?" This is the type of thing you're supposed to do when you're 24, have no significant other, illegitimate children, or any semblance of clue of what to do with your life. Mountains? Why not? 105 degrees and humidity? No thanks.

I have a hard time making major decisions in my life often times. I struggle so much with figuring out The Thing I'm Supposed to Do, seeing my life's journey as a tight rope I have to try and balance, staying exactly on The Path of Destiny. The older I get (yeah, so I'm only 24), the more I realize that it is so much more a Choose Your Own Adventure book. This explains so much why I create so much stress for myself. As a kid, when I read those, I had to know every single possible conclusion. I had to read every adventure, know everything that could possibly happen in order to choose the best adventure. Real life does not work that way, however, which is a good thing!

I have to learn to just DO something. Be ok with making a mistake. I think it is foolishness (and perhaps even prideful) to think that we can always make the best decision all the time. I could have stayed in Texas and worked at Geico, or I could move to Colorado with no job and hope things turned out for the better. And they HAVE! God provided an amazing job for me within a week of being here; a job I really enjoy. What a novel concept. I could never have known what lied ahead had I not just packed up my car and started driving. I also think that I could have stayed in Dallas, worked at Geico, and probably been fine. But not quite as happy. I just don't want to live my life looking back, wondering "what if....".

I heard someone say the other day that there is a reason the windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror. Look forward! Choose your OWN adventure! Trust that God is right along with you, ready to take the adventure with you, to bless, to provide, to delight, just because you're His.