brrr...

a pair of flannel pants, wool socks, hooded sweatshirt and a steaming bowl of oatmeal...
not an evening by a wintry fire. nah. this is me in 72 degree weather after spending 4 days in redding, ca.
strange what a week in arid 100 will do to a body.

the g-rents visit

God is hilarious

you know i'm always ready for adventure.
my clarion call to fulfill my occupational destiny has finally gotten through:
jess: hello?
lady: yeah, hi. this is jennie from the temp agency. are you available to work?
jess: totally.
lady: well, it starts on wednesday from 8 to 5 for six weeks.
jess: what would i be doing?
lady: stocking and such in the warehouse.
jess: for what company?
lady: ikea.
(flashbacks, bayarea ikea, crowds, large parking garage, boxes, long lines, multi-pitched racking with furniture, emeryville, wrong turns, getting lost in fruitvale, at night. fear. lots of fear.)
so after mulling for a moment i obviously took the job. (how can i risk an environment sure to rich in blogable madness?) hung up. and strongbadded it, "BWAA HA HA HA!!!" stocking.
is that more like being an author who blows peoples' minds with paradigm-busting philosophizing in seemingly poetic form or molding young tender minds and souls in preparation for their good citizenship with its positive impact on their community and world?

what then, shall i do?

i feel like a speech-savvy, purpose-ignorant 18 year old right out of high school. last night i wanted to be a web designer then translator. this morning i want to be an artist. but I also like kids. hm.

i know my purpose: “to glorify God and enjoy him forever…” (thank you westminster catechism), but quite frankly that’s just not enough right now. (you know what is enough? to be a wife and sister. but apparently that doesn’t fly in this particular time continuum. so i press onward). so how do i do this glorying and enjoying? don’t give me a bunch of verses. i know them. i mean practically. HOW.

i sit here in my calm apartment on an overcast muggy day sipping decaf sierra dorada from peet’s and an organic, vegan, unprocessed, raw, non-gmo, gluten- dairy- sugar- free, kosher nut and fruit bar and wonder…

what next? i’m not looking for esp here. i’m looking for purpose… i am a ________. filling in the blanks with an occupation/vocation (whatever the difference is between the two. though I like the sound of vocation… it sounds like being on a holiday. maybe that’s the one people enjoy more and look forward to going to).

and don’t throw me the purpose driven literature by warren. that book seriously put me to sleep. a lot of books do, actually. dickens. woolf. macarthur.

authors that stay a comatose state: london. tolstoy. lewis.

and looking at that list i can honestly say maybe there is something quite wrong with my mind. (i’d put rowlings in there somewhere, but she’s just lost and anst-driven).

maybe i should write books that don’t put anyone to sleep. yikes. i can’t even put into words the face i’m making right now. it’s one of “that’s a little crazy in a socially faux pawish sort of way.”

filming the holiday

what words can't say...

we meet her majesty

if you click and look very closely... on the walls of this lovely glacial moraine, you will find us picking our way along the trail to the bottom where we get our feet cold and wet in the ice. just another thing one can do in july in the pac nw. tromp around on mt hood. she's quite amazing. and finicky... tank top and 80s to soft shell and beanie in 3 minutes.

commit & trust, delight & rest

these are the words sent to me recently by a dear friend. pretty much sums up life.
here we wait oh so patiently for the plane. and off we went to oahu.
first class there and coach on the return. but we still felt like winners. it's strange telling people we went to the island.
"yes. we have trouble paying rent. yes. we also went to the ko'olina resort on the southwest side of oahu for 7 days."
that doesn't jive so much. but then, when does God's grace ever jive with our pathetic self-strivings? jive schmive.