Moment

" Live for the moment, but not at the expense of the future." -Unknown.

(Taken from the Journal Justine gave me where she randomly wrote quotes down.)

How fitting this quote was. If you have talked to me lately, you have probably heard me discuss this. School starts for me in 16 days... AHHH! My excitement level? Off the charts. I am so excited for the future, but not at the expense of my present. My entire life I have looked up, looked forward, looked out ... never looked down or in the mirror or in a circle. Gazing out the window in Mr. Bentleys Class... dreaming. Driving in a bumpy van toward Mt. Ararat ... dreaming. Working at Outback ... dreaming. I missed so much. I missed many of Mr. Bentleys wonderful words. I missed the beauty of drives and of so much of Europe. I missed the broken co-workers that were silently screaming at me ... because I was dreaming.

I dream now... but I am so fully aware of my present. What am I doing today? What can I learn from God today? The people I am with. The silent screams. The beauty. The wise words. The silence and joy and freedom. I am living very much in the moment, but it is not at an expense to my future. They are hand in hand. Who and what I am today, is making me into what I need for two weeks from now. I need them both, I focus on them equally. Heather always tells me "Moderation. Everything in Moderation." Your right Heather. Your right.

Bi-Yearly Joy

Justine and I have an unlikely friendship. We have bi-yearly dinner dates that last at least five hours. When we get together, we talk about everything, mainly how our lives revolve around God, and what he is doing and how we can be more productive about getting where he wants us to be. We connect and find similarities and share our hearts. I wish we lived near each other, but for whatever reason, God thinks this relationships is best for now. All I know is that she is encouraging and a very much needed part of my life.

We met in Sunday School at peoples church when we were like four. We did missionettes with Kirsten. We went to Jamaica. Then she moved churches and we lost contact... until Facebook arrived and we found each other: She was in Germany and I was in Hungary. I lives intercepted again when we both returned home, lost and searching for the next part of our lives. We get together and eat ethnic foods, tonight she introduced me to Sushi. We partake in multiple course meals. We lament on how we wish we were MK's. Tonight we compared ourselves to literary characters. Her being most like Laura Ingles, myself most like Josephine March. We are expressive and loud water gulpers.

I shared with Justine what God really taught me this week, I think he has been trying to teach me for a long time. We have heard that in our weakness we are made strong in him. I hear this and know this and try to accept this. Then I started putting it all together: "The Joy of the LORD is my strength." OK so, when we are weak, God is our strength. The strength comes in the form of his Joy. So our strength is joy. When we are weak, we can be joyful! This makes sense when Paul tells us to rejoice in trials and persecution. It is not fake happiness, it is Joy of the Lord despite our current situation! This is so pivotal! We become weak so often, but if we can have Joy in the Lord in the midst of weakness, we will be strong! I may be weak, but you can not steal my Joy!

Goodnight Justine, Thank you for letting me share this gibberish with you tonight. I loved our moving meal at Sushi, and Coffee House, and Sharri's.