Love is a pox...

I seldom indulge in doubt.

But there are some things as a kid that the adults said were "givens" in life that I'd always written off as exaggerations. I'd always doubted a certain set of things. You know the sort. "Time will go so fast ten years will pass like a month." Really? Come on now-I'm not that dumb. The "time-flies" promise was something I always denied. At seventeen, eighteen, I was not ready to accept it. Not quite yet. But my reticence to acknowledge there might be something in it after all was weakening, though I wasn't aware.

Because this year has been huge in one way: A pox has broken out. The pox. 

When you're fourteen years old you sit on the bed with mama beside you and talk about "the future" in comfortable terms of far-awayness. You sigh and lament the fact that there's nobody around to marry, were you old enough anyway. "Don't worry," mama says. "Once it starts happening you won't know what has started. Everyone will start dropping like flies."

You snort.

You chuckle in a "Yeah, like that will every happen" way.

You forget about it.

Until you're twenty. And then. Then. Then the pox does break out.

After coming home from a trip for the second time this fall and finding (for the second time!) that another friend has found herself a "matchless match" (and what's up with this happening every time I leave town?) I felt rather kooky. Was it just me or was there an inordinate amount of "matches" being made this year? How many was it? An alarming amount, it seemed. Could it be that Mama was right and once it started it wouldn't stop? Ahem.

This afternoon I sat down and decided to count--for sanity's sake--how many friends and acquaintances of mine had begun a relationship {or were bordering on it} this year? The total took me by storm.

14.

14 couples.

That makes 28 if you're counting. But who's counting?

28 people I know (more or less) who have coupled off this year. And this isn't counting the people I know who have gotten married or are engaged currently.

O.o

I feel...

...not jealousy.

More like bewilderment.

 Confusion and a little kick-back defense to find that those adults were right all along.

Love is a pox. A pox the whole world succumbs to by and by.

Well jeegley-clambake. This is a to-do.

It's one of those cases where you find the world flying out of control, out of your grasp, and growing up suddenly looks rather serious and cock-eyed and not at all like you thought it would be. It's exciting because obviously some things are finally moving along and little people are growing up and meeting people and loving people and marrying people and having more little people. But it's going so fast.

A busy summer and fall of campaigning, ministry, and writing.

I finally slow down, turn around, and three of my best friends are in relationships.

Several good friends follow suit.

I hear tell rumors of the same happening in my extended circles.

What on earth happened? I'll tell you. We grew up. And once you grow up beautiful things start to happen. Beautiful, scary, adventurous things. It's real now and I find the adults were right.

...about love.

...about time.

...about life.

I have seen things change so fast it'll give you whiplash. I actually started a Pinterest-board because of this new revelation of having grown up. It's inspiring new ideas, new thoughts, new inspirations. So here's to adventure. Here's to wearing a neck-brace if you have to. Here's to buckling your seat-belt, checking your parachute, and waiting for the drop.

Here's to a bit of daring.

"...Paper faces on parade..."

I'm going to a masquerade ball tomorrow night and have had the worst time trying to figure out what sort of mask to wear since I have glasses. It's an age-old question, and the only option that remotely appealed to me was to paint a mask on my face. That's what I've decided to go with and the ideas are actually really cool...here are some of the really neat ones I've seen...

A tissue-paper election

"Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before." 

-Jacob A. Riis

You'd think that with Obama as president of our country again I'd be struck down into some dull state of depression and despair.

The temptation was there last night. It really was.

After all, for the past five days I, along with sixty students, a slew of parents, and an awesome team of fellow leaders, had worked our tails off making phone-calls twelve hours a day, running through neighborhoods passing out literature, enduring foul-mouthed people tired to death of the phone-calls, and generally pouring our every drop of life's blood into this presidential race.

When I sat with my kids and watched the results come in, when it was clear that not only was America keeping Obama, but my own state as well, it was tempting to feel a haze of depression and give into it.

But one of our leaders had the oh-so-brilliant and right idea to turn down the volume on the news and to turn up some worship music. As the words to "Ten Thousand Reasons" poured out of the speakers, I turned my heart to worship the Lord:

"Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me let me be singing when the evening comes..."

After several songs one of my dear friends and fellow leaders came over and began to pray with me. We knelt together on the ground and just poured our hearts out to the Lord...

Pleading for His mercy on our country and for His protection of the unborn children.

Praise for His marvelous ways so far beyond us.

Repentance for pride, for foolishness, and for ignorance.

Dedication of our hearts and minds to His will and service.

Trust that Obama is the president God intends to use in our lives in some way.

I cried. I laughed. And the Lord was with me. I literally felt Jesus' presence right there with me, and His voice whispering comfort and peace and joy back into my heart. It was surreal, how a half hour of deep, intense, sincere prayer changed my mourning into dancing. We prayed separately and then together, and by the end of the time we were literally laughing through the tears over how silly we were to have lost our perspective.

God is way bigger than Obama. He's way bigger than America. He's way bigger than which states went red and which went blue and if our phone-calls and door-knocking mattered at all. He's bigger than all that. The word Josie and I were given in that moment was tissue-paper: it's all tissue-paper in the face of the steel-fists of our God and King.

So Obama is our leader. We are called to pray for Him. We thought we knew what was best for America, but obviously Jesus planted Obama as president of America for another four years for a reason. To bring Himself glory in some way. Our job? Stop complaining. Get involved. And pray. Pray harder than you've ever prayed in your life and don't stop after the election buzz settles. Look for ways to serve Christ and keep on keeping on. It's life people. We weren't made for this world so we're not going feel natural and skin-smooth-fit into it. So let's be resilient, let's be humble, and let's not let a mere man steal our joy.

Voting, Camp, and Running Away

Hello everyone! I know I was just gone and you will now think that I'm never home at all, but I am here to inform you that I'll be gone (and computer-less) for the next 5 or 6 days. I'm working on a Generation Joshua Student Action Team (SAT) with a group of nearly 100 students up through election day!
Since I'm going to be away from home on election day, that means I got to vote early! :)

Matthew, Daniel, Sarah, and I all voted in our first presidential election together!

In other news...I had oodles of fun making decorations for my table at camp...

my co-counselor's idea to put the greenery behind the paper roses. :)

Some of the things my girls and I did together...

Hiked the mountain...

Knotted my co-counselor's hair all over her head to make it curly...

Oh yes! And I turned my whole cabin into "orphans" for talent night.

WE LOVE YOU MISS HEFFINGTON!!!! ;)

I love this picture. It totally looks like a Broadway cast picture. And I make the perfect Miss Hannigan, don't you think? :P 

"I want you kids t'clean this dump till it shines like th'top of th'Chryslah-buildin'. Now get to work!"

The dazed counselor...I think I had just realized how strange I looked....

Our Andrews Sisters pose...

Aaand on the way up we stopped on the state line between VA and NC to take this picture...

Look! Real live twins! <3

Good times. Good times. Well, I'm off so y'all have fun without me, K?

No fits, no fights, no feuds, and no egos.

Well some of you know that my sister Sarah and I are very close. We are generally full of awesome-sauce and personality conflicts and chumminess and those random, precious sister-moments like when Minny (The Help) mentions that Crisco gets rid of dark circles under your eyes and we look at each other at the same exact time.

Some sisters who like to sing and dance are like this:

But Sarah and I? We're of a Broadway-er turn of mind...

(please watch this 2 minute video. It's our favorite.)

My romanticism and her practicalities balance one another out. We're opposites and the same all together. We share jokes and fun and laughter and pretend-we-aren't-crying-in-movies. Sarah's logical and I am not. She's a total ham, but shy in new situations. I'm less of a ham {Well I am!} and more out-going in a new social clime. She blogs awesomely at Two's Company where I join her from time to time, though not as often as I should, leaving her the burden of entertaining our group of followers. I have loved having a sister this close in age to me! She is 18 and  I am 20, but we feel pretty compatible...for instance, I never feel that I can really boss her around. ;)

She has weird ideas for things like cinnamon-face-masks. 

She and Pinterest are like this.

She likes guys to have "good hair" for some reason...

She sings and plays the piano and can put on a man-voice when requested...

In short, she's my sister and I wuvs her.

In dreams...

I love to dream.

There's nothing more entertaining to me than to review my night of dreams come dawn.

Sometimes I forget my dreams. {often}

Sometimes I wake up before they're finished. {horrid}

Sometimes I finish them in all their completeness. {glorious}

Sometimes I feel things in a dream I've never felt before. {strange}

I meet people I've never seen. {entertaining}

But since science says your brain in incapable of making up a face, I must have seen these people somewhere before. {fascinating}

Sometimes a fellow's in love with me. {*eep*}

Sometimes I'm in love with a fellow. {heehee}

Sometimes I'm chased by cougars or grizzly bears {awful}

Sometimes I'm a spy or secret agent. {awesome}

Sometimes I die. {awkward}

Sometimes I escape. {yippee}

Once I carried on the most brilliant conversation of my life in Shakespearean language and promptly forgot it upon waking. {disappointing}

Sometimes I visit awesome places my brain concocts. {fun}

And they don't cost any money. {great}

Sometimes I meet famous people {autographs!}

Or Mr. Clennam wants to marry me. {Amy!}

Sometimes I am thrown in jail {sobering}

Or am guilty of a Terrible Awful {sadness}

Other times I'm far braver a person than I've ever been before. {Avengers}

All told, dreaming is such a cool thing! I love how God equipped our minds to be able to concoct all these bizarre stories while we sleep! Sometimes my dreams feel like the coolest movie I'll ever see, full of events I'd never be able to construe--even for my books--when I'm awake. Do you dream? How often? How crazy?

Little Letters: Life on a Saturday

Dear World....You are full of copper and gold today, spinning down the torrents of air in reckless gaiety because of the coming storm.

Dear Hurricane Sandy.... Please come as a lovely, thrilling Nor'Easter rather than a full-fledged hurricane...and don't make us lose power. If you do come as a hurricane, we'd love it if you would drop a little business our way. I love all of your sort of storms provided you don't stay too long.

Dear Made-with-honey Carrot Cake.... if you taste as good as the sugarful kind I'll love you forever.

Dear Almond-Poppy-Seed-Spice Cake.... you'll have to wait in line. But I look forward to trying you!

Dear Scarlet-Gypsy Song.... a full round of editing convinces me you are still a beautiful story with a lot of promise. I think you'll fit the bill when you're done being polished. I really do.

Dear Levi.... Fishing must be enacted in a pond...not in the toilet bowl. Many thanks.

Dear Sherlock series... COME BACK TO ME SOON!

Dear Psych... You're a pretty good substitute when I need myself a crime show/detective fix. :)

Dear Masquerade-ball.... You are coming at a time in my life when I can't afford contacts and must wear my glasses. Please let me know how to get a mask out of that one.

Dear Books...I am actually making time to read you. Thank you for being such spiffing fellows when I ignore you for a time!

Dear Math.... You and I both know that I'm purposely ignoring you. "Do not speak to me at this time!"

Dear Loki... That creepy smile you do? Yeah. The "I come burdened with glorious purpose" thing? You make me wish I'd never seen Return to Cranford.

Dear Obama... 'Nuff said. From you. From Biden. From me. From America. Get the picture?

Dear Les Miserables... I can't stop thinking about you, singing you, quoting you. I can't wait till Christmas! (or the week after) ONE DAY MORE!!!!!!!!!

Dear Vast Continents...I'll visit you someday. I promise.

Dear Wallet...You're just like an onion. You may be cry every time I open you. ;)

Dear License....our maiden voyage needs to happen soon.

Dear Family... Sorry I haven't been as helpful as I could be recently! I need to pay less attention to my book and more attention to you!

Dear French Revolution... you were disturbing on so many levels...but very, very interesting.

Dear A. Family... I feel like a geek/nerd/heel for working on a campaign instead of coming to Sheridan's baptism, Oliver's graduation, and your whole awesome Barn-dance. Believe me. But I know you understand previous commitments. Allen for the Win!

Dear Pinterest... You were the one who deserves the credit for my table at camp. Seriously.

Dear C.S. Lewis... Wow. Just wow. I don't know how you did it, but bless you.

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