Leavin' On a Jet Plane, Don't Know When I'll Be Back Again

That's not entirely true. I'll be back in a few weeks.

BUT!!!

I'm ready to go...

Packed.

Terrified.

Excited

Our guest blogger for the next two Talk Thursdays will (hopefully) be Chris Maples. Even if he forgets, go check out his blog. And other peoples. I mean, if you just want to read the archives of SarahLewie, I would understand. But I encourage you to expand your blogging horizons.

Hope you guys have a great couple weeks!!

Talk Saturday // What the Heezy?!

I just now realized that we didn't Talk Thursday it up this week. Shame on you for not reminding me! =)

Since it's now Talk Saturday and I've just returned from the Show-Me State and the Volunteer State and am wishing I was still there...

Where do you want to go on vacation? Do you get to vacation this summer? Pick your place and tell us your grand dreams of getting away. 

Where In the World Is Carmen Sandiego?!

That's right! It's time for a new blog game! Woo-hoo!

The Rules: Identify each picture. Correct answers will include both the name of the thing/monument/place and it's location . Submit your answers by March 27, 2009, 5pm. You can put them here or send them to my email: sarniclew@gmail.com

To Win: Be the person with the most correct answers!

The Prize: The winner will receive a really cool prize sent to you by yours truly. If you play and win, you'll know what the prize is! =)

Good luck!

Nothing Makes Senses

Apart from celebrating the wedding of two of my dearest friends and spending glorious time with several more wonderful and dear friends, this was probably the highlight of my trip to Mississippi:

Ahhh...I love the South. 

Oh the Irony

Freaking terrorists have made it impossible for regular people to carry toothpaste or Red Diamond Sweet Tea onto a plane. 

And yet the irony is that there are some airports that have no problem allowing sharps containers to hang on the walls of their restrooms. WTF?? 

Don't get me wrong...I don't want insulin-dependent people to die; I'm not evil. But seriously, people. NEEDLES - - SWEET TEA. Where's the justice? 

I love the consistency in our International Airports. 

There's No Place Like Home, There's No Place Like Home....

Well, I clicked my little sparkly flats together and found myself back in Missouri (thankfully not Kansas) this last week. It was good to see my friends and utterly refreshing to spend time with peoople my own age and relative place in life. During the whirlwind that was my week away, there was a wedding, a bridal shower, a shopping spree, too many rushed dinners, lots of awkward hugs, a birthday party, a moving extravaganza, and entirely not enough time with people that I love and miss terribly.

And in spite of all that, I was homesick.

I do not know what is wrong with me. I get "homesick" for Missouri and while I'm there, I get "homesick" for Washington. There is some kind of disconnect in my brain, I think.

It was a completely exhausting, much needed week away. And I'm glad that I'm back.

Perhaps I've been wrong all along; maybe home isn't always simply where my stuff is. Home is where I feel vulnerable and accepted in that vulnerability. Completely safe from judgment and derision, welcomed to share in community and desired for who I am and what I can offer. And to be honest, some days that changes. Some days I am fully at home in Washington. This last week, there were days I felt right and some days I longed for home. A friend reminded me that we are created for something grander and all of what we know, what we encounter, what we love is sometimes only a reflection and a glimpse into what we were made for.

Thanks God, for giving me people who allow me to find home in You, wherever that may be. Thanks for continually being a rock of habitation to which I call. Thanks for always being home.

The Green-Eyed Monster Strikes Again

Does anyone else ever have this experience?

Imagine, you're sitting with a friend, enjoying a nice frappucino from the 'Bucks, talking about the day, the weather, your feelings on the latest episode of American Idol, when your friend mentions something about an awesome thing they did/are going to do and SUDDENLY, without warning, you are FLOODED with feelings of jealousy and envy. (Sorry about that ridiculously long sentence.)

I have been getting those feelings a lot lately.

Recently a friend moved out to Seattle with another friend. She has a cute little apartment, with her friend, in a new neighborhood, close to her job. I cannot tell you how much I covet that little apartment.

A few months ago, a different friend called to tell me she'd bought her wedding dress. She's one of my dearest friends and the first thought, before "Congratualtions and tell me all about it!" was "Damn...why isn't that me??"

And just today, yet another friend told me about tentative plans to travel and I just want to hide in her suitcase and go with her.

I didn't know I was such a jealous person. And I hate it. I don't want to be a jealous person. I want to be someone who celebrates with other people over the good in their lives. At least do that before I allow myself to wallow in the restlessness that is my life right now.

And really, Paul doesn't help.

"Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." (Phil. 4.11-13)

Great, just great. Now I'm jealous that Paul figured out contentment, but I don't know it.

Argh....when will I learn?