friendship is a very comforting sort of thing

i recently got to spend an entire weekend almost exclusively with one of my dear dear friends. sure, we saw old friends and meet new ones, but i got to spend the vast majority of my time with her.

i'd forgotten what a wonderful thing friendship was. i really had. i see my friends all the time, but there's just something about sitting down and spending hours of uninterrupted talking, laughing, praying, being silly and serious together. it's delightful.

there really is a reason that the Bible is such a proponent of community. for all my extrovertedness, i actually can become very reclusive and isolate myself in my own little world where it's all about me. it takes true friends slap me upside the head and say, hey! there's a great big world out there that needs Jesus!

oh how i value those friendships! those friendships that force me to take my eyes off ME, encourage me to be selfless, point me to Christ. those friends who have seen me as i really am; broken, proud, in desperate need of the cross, and who love me. i thank God for those friends, who show me so well how to love like Jesus.

i had a rather extraordinary experience this weekend.

i've been to washington dc more times than i can remember. i've been to the monuments, visited the museums, played in the parks, walked the streets. i've seen dc. but i've never really seen it. this weekend, for the very first time, i was made aware of the stark contrasts within the city; a wealthy city with desperate poverty, a bed of crime in the capital of justice, successful businessmen next to unemployed homeless men.

last saturday, one of my best friends and myself took a very brief trip down to the nation's capital to interview for an internship. we sat in on meetings, ate ethiopian food, meet a whole slew of people, went on a prayer tour of the city, and managed to exhaust ourselves to the point of near collapsion. these were all fantastic experiences (ok, i could have done without the exhaustion), but the thing that will stand out as the most memorable experience of the trip involved no people, no food, no sound. at the end of the prayer tour, we went to a spot that overlooked the city. you could distinctly see a thousand quietly twinkling lights and the less subtle washington monument and capitol building. as beautiful as this picture was on its own, it paled in comparison to what i saw.

there was a lightning storm that was ongoing throughout the tour and when we got to the lookout, you could clearly see every magnificent streak.



when i was in the domincan republic, there were times that you could plainly feel that there was a spiritual battle going on. as i saw the lightning streaking down towards the capitol building, it was like i was actually watching a spiritual attack on the city. it was one of the most awe-inspiring things i have ever witnessed.

THE MONTHLY CHALLENGE CHALLENGE - april

well folks, it's that time again. the beginning of a new month. i would have posted yesterday, but everyone would have though it was an april fools joke.

ok, that's a lie. i didn't post yesterday because i'm lazy/i forgot.

either way, i'm posting now and that's the important part. anywho, as it is a new month, i have a new MONTHLY CHALLENGE!! quick update on last month: i only bought gas once, deodorant once, and a gift for a friend that really couldn't wait. all necessities. month of march = SUCCESS!!!

the challenge for this month is to go off facebook. i find my challenges are much more attainable when it involves me NOT doing something. a friend who shall remain nameless has changed the password of my facebook and has been quoted saying that "if you ask for it before the month is over, i'll post on your status that you're a closet yankees fan!!" (she never actually said that) i must never been accused of that, so i plan on never asking. until may that is.

as for my spiritual challenge, i'm going to read the Bible every single day. this may not seem like a challenge for some of you, but it's never been easy for me, so i think this should be quite good. and [BONUS] my accountability partner is doing it with me. moral support for the win!!