A Very Snowy Monday

December 9, 2016

I'm sitting in my chair with a cup of coffee and some things on my mind to share with all of you. They're not all that important, but let's chat. It's been snowing since yesterday afternoon around here. Did you get snow where you are?

Now that I've shared my word for 2017, I'm ready to hear all about the words you chose and why! So far, I've noticed that Kiki wrote about hers and I'm excited to read what Rachel shared too. Have you picked one? Share the link to your post! In other news, church yesterday solidified everything that God has been teaching me lately. It was so refreshing to have the themes come together.  The main themes have been: waiting on God, hoping in God, God's waiting to be gracious to His people (Isaiah 30:18), His people never being put to shame, His ruling over everything, and the strength He gives His people. We went through Psalm 31. You should read it.

I've been feeling extra grateful for friends lately. Friendship is one of the best gifts we have to offer one another. I'm glad that God gives us sooooo many different ways to make friends, to stay in touch, and to care for one another. My friends live all over the world. There are some that I get to see, some that I talk to on the phone, and then there are the others. Email and FB are good gifts. Chances are that if you're reading this, I'm talking about YOU. Thanks for being my friend. Thanks for keeping in touch, getting together when we can, and caring. I'm glad we're friends.

I read over 200 pages this weekend. Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon were pretty much spent reading. I stretched out and settled in with Dorothy Sayers's "Have His Carcase". If you haven't read Sayers, you MUST. It doesn't really matter where you start. She's hilarious. She's inspiring. I've still got a ways to go before I finish this book, but I have plans to make some more progress later on today. My reading marathon was inspired by a few hours to myself Saturday and the impending snow that my friends and family in SC and MA were preparing for. With a foot of snow on the ground that's been sitting around for a solid month, it was easy to pretend that I was snowed in with the best of 'em. As it turns out, we ended up getting more snow and adding about six more inches of our own. (All these numbers are realistic estimates. I haven't taken the yard stick out.)

Back to the friends thing. Over the last month, I've had a ton of heart to heart conversations. They keep happening. I don't know if it's winter, the holidays, or what, but everyone seems to have things on their mind. I'm ALWAYS up for these kinds of talks. I don't care if we just met, if we've known each other for years, or if we're trying to find our way toward true friendship...Each one has happened when I least expected it to and that made them even sweeter. It's an honor for someone to trust you with things that they are working through. My prayer list has grown right along with my praise list. God is good to His people.

On a lighter note, I pulled MONK out last night. Netflix got rid of my "main" shows and I have this terrible time going through their selections. What are you watching right now? I've told you this before, but I shared Monk with my family after learning about it from the people I lived with in MA. After MONTHS of watching it with my family, I learned that they mainly liked it because of the fact that I am Monk. It turns out that there's one thing that we don't have in common. He was a runner. I was not, am not, and never will be. To this day, whenever we watch it, he gets the most laughs when he does something or says something that reminds them of me. Half the time I'm clueless. Which has a strange way of upping the laugh factor.

The whole internet is talking about and applauding Meryl Streep. Am I the only one who listened to what she said and thinks that she used her position, power, and place to insult the very people she was trying to instruct? As I've said all along, I didn't vote for Trump either. BUT...She began by poking fun at those Americans who question the legality of Obama's right to be president (based on requirements set in place by the very government he has led for these last eight years) and then she went on to continue doing the very thing she was calling Trump out for doing. There are a lot of things that need to be said in this country of ours. We need to have conversations. We need to listen. We need to honor and respect one another. And we need to play by the rules. That's my take on the whole thing. I'm not clapping.

And now, I'd like to hear from you. What's on your mind? What has God been teaching you? Do you have a position on this whole situation? What are you extra grateful for right now? I'm off to respond to the comments you've left on my latest posts! Thanks for being here. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I'm excited for the year ahead of us!