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!!

sometimes i hear improbable dramatizations of life

listen to all these pretend people
listen to them talking
laughing
wishing

listen to them trying to breathe meaning into their lives
but they can't quite.......
do it


listen to all these pretend people
listen to their stories
jokes
complaints

listen to them trying to impress you with their lives
but they can't quite.....

do it

listen to all these pretend people
listen to their embellished lies
exaggerated exploits
inconceivable experiences

listen to them trying make up utterly unique, distinguished lives
but they can't


quite...



do it

i get philosophical sometimes o' nights

now is one of those times. it's usually after i've watched a movie or youtube clips of famous people being all famous and whatnot. i start to think about how pointless fame is, and yet at the same time how powerful it is. the famous are a force to be reckoned with. whole countries listen to them, and for what? so we can be influenced by the extremists in the media and take notes on how they live so we can do likewise?
oh america. how silly you are. you exult fools and folly, and in so doing, condemn your children to further foolishness. but what then?
will we continue in a downward cycle until the only people in the public eye are those willing to lower their standards?
will we try to better ourselves?
will we turn to emotion, art, ideas, or other ultimately useless knowledge?
will we seek truth?
will we value goodness?
will we abandon all former discernment and chase after only the new, exciting thing?



only God knows.

i should probably give up writing.

i speak so much more eloquently using images.

THE MONTHLY CHALLENGE CHALLENGE - march

well children, we've entered a new month, and with it, a new challenge.
how did i do on last month's challenge? oh ya know, i BEASTED it.
no. no, not really. but i did complete it. two of the books i read may or may not have been much shorter than the ones i originally intended, but hey, i read three spiritual books. challenge beasted.

what do i plan for march? quite simple really. i am to spend no money unless it be absolutely necessary. like, toothpaste or something. gum is not a necessity. ergo, i will be rationing my gum this month.

this will be hard.

BUT. God gives me grace for every day (even if He sees fit not to give me gum).

ALSO. as i was talking to my dad this evening about the march challenge, he said, 'so what your spiritual challenge?'
i think this is genius to have a spiritual challenge as well as a regularly scheduled one. therefore, the month of march will be 'encouragement month'! i'll make it a point to message, text, email, or write on someone's wall an encouragement about how i see God working in their life. so be godly so i can encourage you.