Road Trip to FL with my sister

My sister and I drove to FL in my little Kia, Matilda, this weekend. It is an 18 hour drive both ways. We made the drive straight through both times. Matilda does not have AC and her radio speakers crap in and out (they lasted 14 hours on the way down and the entire 18 hours on the way back). We ran over a full 18-wheeler tire tread that raked the bottom of the car a 1/2 hour after we left at 4 am on Friday morning (it did no damage). We got stuck in a huge traffic jam in Alabama in the heat of the day (we saw a lot of interesting characters!). A cop pulled up behind us and flashed his lights more than once (we never got pulled over). Our cd player stopped working about 9 hours away from home (my little ipod has about 9 hours of music on it).

It was a wonderful adventure and I loved every minute of it. :)

States through which we travelled - 7
States in which we decided we would never live barring the mandate of God - 2

"Caverns" advertised between Allentown and Pensacola - 10

Headlights which I witnessed flicker and go out (not my own) - 3

Close calls involving road debris - 3
Close calls involving banana peels - 1

Brothers seen - 1
Beaches visited - 1
Cockroaches sighted - 3
Cockroaches in personal space - 1
Fish caught - 0
Jellyfish stings - 0!!!!!

Times the GPS messed up - 3

Sweet tea consumed - 3 quarts

Total Hours driven between Friday and Monday - 40

I love road trips.

"Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God."
Psalm 20:7

Resumes

Got 'em in at 5 studios, 1 temp agency.

I'm going to Florida for a weekend to visit my brother and some family I haven't seen for a while. It's funny that I never did much traveling over the summer or breaks (missions trips excluded, of course!) and I always used lack of money or the need to work as an excuse. Now that I need money more than ever but have no job, I'm getting around more than usual! One road trip down, one planned, and one to plan.

Katlyn and Nate's wedding was this past weekend. It was awesome. I truly enjoyed it, including all the fuss leading up to it. Everything was great, from meeting new friends, the shady shopping trips, getting prepped and beautified, hanging out with Katlyn's family, the "other wedding" at the park, seeing old friends at the reception, and even the trip home. It was really a blessing just to get to see Katlyn go through the whole process, especially the day of the wedding. She was absolutely radiant. I'm not good enough with words to describe her and Nate on the wedding day. they blew me away.



Songs of the week:

Manchester Orchestra

Saves the Day
Wild Sweet Orange

Some thoughts from Basileia...

At Basileia (an InterVarsity end-of-year retreat), I was in a track where we intensely studied a portion of the book of Mark. I came home and continued my morning study of Matthew with a completely renewed perspective. The things that I got out of Mark during the week of Bas were stunning, while my new perspectives on Bible study in general led me to crave a new attitude in studying Matthew. I have begun to tell myself:

It all has to start with believing that God has something to say to you. Believe that he has orchestrated this very moment in time, everything surrounding it, and that this moment has a purpose in your life within His will. He is here with you, experiencing this moment and watching you. Enjoy what He's made for you! He's ready for you to hear what He has to say to you. Are you listening?

I think that was the overall theme of Basileia for me. "Are you listening?" And now I'm at home, forced to do nothing but wait for something to happen, for some effort to pay off, for God to reveal the next step. Will I be ready? Will I know it when I see it?

Am I listening?

"To wait is not to sit with folded hands, but to learn to do what we are told."
~Oswald Chambers