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Warning: It's a long one. :)
My Great Father's Humor: A Lesson in Vanity
I nearly flew up the stairs clutching the small brown box closely. Another care package from my wonderful neighbor. I made my way quickly through to the coffee shop and took a quick detour to say hi to one of the girls sitting at a table near the couches. As I walked over I fought to suppress the feelings of vanity welling up inside me. I loved the way my pink heels sounded as I walked through the tables of studying students. I loved the white flowy dress I was wearing (it’s the first white dress I’ve ever owned. Thank you Ross. :)), and I loved the way my hair had decided to behave for once. I forced myself not to think of how much I loved my outfit.
I am continuously frustrated by my own vanity. Sometimes I even force myself to believe that I am ugly just to try and counter the feelings of vanity that so often fly through my head.
Anyway, as I quickly made my way over to my friend I was fully prepared to express the overwhelming joy that was coursing through my veins. A sunny day will do that to a person. Well, I walked right up to that person and with a huge smile exclaimed, “I love you.” (It was a girl, so don’t get your feathers in a tizzy). She smiled sweetly up at me and replied, “I love you too.” She then looked at my dress.
“Wow Belle, I love your dress.” The bubble inside grew bigger. “But I think you might have spilled something on it.” Aaand the bubble popped. Mortified, I looked down and noticed a few orange blotches, no doubt from the tomatoes I had eaten for lunch. My first reaction: Be incredibly mortified, and quickly change. My second reaction: Burst out laughing. God has the most wonderful ways of humbling me. I decided not to change, and proudly sported the dress the rest of the afternoon, orange splotches and all. It’s little lessons like these that the Lord uses to teach me every day.
| Laughing at oneself is the best remedy for vanity. :) |
Ecclesiastes, Work, and Joy
I’ve been reading from Ecclesiastes lately. It’s currently my favorite book of the bible. I love reading it over and over. Especially the phrase “All is Vain, All is Vain.” Indeed everything really is in vain done apart from Christ. Somewhere in there it says that when a man toils for himself he will become weary, but when he toils for the Lord he will be rejuvenated and filled with joy.
On the way to awanas (I volunteered one time. I wish I had gone more), Aaron Kamakawiwoole, one of the most godly young men I know, exclaimed with delight, “You know what I can’t wait for?!?! To be able to work in heaven and never get worry.” We all stared at him and laughed (in a very good natured way of course). He replied in ernest, “No! Seriously! Think about! When I get to heaven I will be able to work and work and work all day long, and never get tired or weary. Do you know how amazing that will be?” Now there is an example of a man completely dedicated to the Lord and so completely filled with His joy.
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| 1. I love Pooh Bear right now. :) 2. Mom will totally laugh at me, but I can't wait to work in the garden. :D |
Joy. That’s been my goal for the semester. To be filled with God’s joy alone. I have failed soooooo many times, but God’s grace is new every morning. I am so completely thankful for him. Like………yeah. :) hehe. :)
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| This is my favorite. :) |
Taylor Eckel and I headed out for a 3 mile run down the W&OD trail. The sun shone brightly, and we were both ready for the chance to get off campus and exercize. As we embarked on what was soon to be the most wonderful run I’ve had in the history of running, we turned around and looked at the sky. What a contrast! On one side the sun was shining and cheering us onward. On the other side, the darkest clouds loomed ominously in the distance. Now I’m from Oregon, so I’m used to the clouds and the rain and the fog. However, these clouds are unlike anything I’ve ever seen in Medford. They really are absolutely stunning. They make you want to shout, just from the sheer grandeur of them.
Anyways, we headed out on the trail around 6:00. After running for about 5 minutes, I looked up and saw it. About 100 yards in front of us the rain was coming down in sheets. Closer and closer it came. 75 yards. 50 yards. Suddenly, without warning, rain came crashing down all around us. Now like I said, I’m from Oregon, so I’m used to constant down pour, but the rain here is soooo much different. For one thing, the droplets are at least twice as big, and the second thing, the rain completely strikes you out of nowhere.
There we were, running down the trail in the pouring down rain, and in about 3 minutes (maybe even less) we were completely soaked to the bone. It. Was. AWESOME! We ended up running a little bit under three miles, but it was still amazing. As we walked towards the BHC we looked at each other giggling gleefully. We were both soaked, but we only had 20 minutes till the dinning hall closed. Trying to suppress our glee we quickly went through the BHC doors, wet clothes and all. :) They were all setting up for an event tonight, so there were several people in there. Needless to say we got many stares, and rolled eyes. :) We quickly grabbed plates and sat on folded up napkins. Taylor forked down her food while I tried to figure out how to eat mine (it was some sort of chicken tortilla thing. It was really good, just hard to eat; it was slipper). I eventually gave up and settled on an orange. Then it was a mad dash to our dorms to change and then off to a movie night (hooray for Western civ extra credit!!!)  |
| I couldn't pick one. I love all of these. You seriously have no idea how many times I've done the above this semester. I've gotten several looks of patronizing and "poor immature thing" hehe. So worth it. :) |
Last weekend was soooooo amazing.
Thursday: Drove to Ross with Bets and bought an Easter dress, a black and white stripped dress, and a lovely white sweater. Then was dropped off at the blacks and had dinner, made cookies, and watched Annie. :) Then I came back to campus (it was pitch black by now, around 9:30) and played capture the flag. Then it was in bed by 12:30.
Friday: Up at 5:15, and was on the bus at 6 headed for D.C. with Stephen, John, and Caleb. Once there we found our way to our favorite coffee shop (the one on the corner of H and 7th) in Chinatown. After a couple hours of studying we headed out and walked about 5 blocks to Union Station (in the rain), where we met up with Stephen Williams for lunch at chopt. Best salad ever! We then parted our separate ways: Stephen Willaims to his internship, Stephen and John to watch “Atlas Shrugged,” and Caleb and I (who wanted to get back to campus early) to explore the national gallery of art. Oh. My. Word. New favorite place. :) So we got on the bus around 3:40, after a mad 6 block dash (to starbucks and back. We needed coffee). After a great talk we got back around 5:15. I then, very spontaneously ;) decided to go to the Escobar’s for dinner, dessert, and anime. Yes. Anime. :) Ian picked me up, and then we spontaneously ;) (hehe) invited Eric Landstrom along for the ride. Dinner was absolutely incredible, and dessert was equally so. The Escobar’s have the most amazing couch ever. It actually rivals the “holy couch” back home. :) Needless to say, by 12:30 I could barely walk from exhaustion. Everyone obliged, and we went home.
Saturday: Was awakened at 7:00am, not by my own choice (we won’t go into that), and cleaned my room, worked on papers, and got ready for Saturday night. That evening I played at MarketStreet Coffee shop. :) It was pretty fun, and it gave me a chance to play most of my new music. I played for an hour, about 20 songs, all but three of which I had written.
Sunday: Church at Grace; an amazing service about Mary. It’s so awesome when your preacher looks like Tom Cruise. :) Then when we got back, Bets and I went to Taylor Eckel’s house for Easter brunch. We were there till 7:30ish. I absolutely adore that family. :) <3
And that was that. :)
Have a fantastic night. God is so amazingly good. Never forget, that everything little thing that ever happens to us is a part of his perfect plan for our lives. He’s been growing me in sooooo many ways. I know He uses circumstances to change us and lead us to become better for Him.
Blessings,
Belle
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