curious minds want to know...

... and i'm here to answer.

the move is going well. yes, going. we are technically moved in, i suppose, since we're sleeping there... sometimes. we're still missing a refrigerator so we're not really eating there much but that will come in time. as of this afternoon we now have hot water so we'll be showering there now too. see.. it's going! haha.

we've been slowing arranging and decorating and potting beautiful flowers. actually, that's all been my roommate, God bless her.

we have a bird that took residence in our mailbox due to give birth (what do you even call it) soon, i think. she has four eggs and she is PRECIOUS. i sometimes tap the mailbox on purpose though because she scares me half to death flying out when i least expect it. (i've caught on to her game. i'm the party-pooper ruining it almost every day. poor thing.)

i'm busy, busy, busy with work and two internships with the CPLC. it's been funny to notice all the connections my internship has brought me. it's put me back in touch with people i'd not seen in years, given me more time with people i love to see but don't often have a chance to see, and introduced me to family members of really cool people like veronica.

i dont think i ever mentioned it but i had this sneaking suspicion that one of my professors last semester was not only catholic, but super pro-life. well, her pro-life side showed itself late in the semester and we'd chatted once about her family and she mentioned her son's baptism at a local church. so i knew she was... but i didnt know she was director of ministries for cplc! haha. such a small world, i tell ya. and she's so great.

i spent last night and tonight with my family, a nice little break from work, work, work.

i joined another choir at church (haven't been active in our music program for about six months) and i'm liking it alright. it's hard to find a choir that really jives with me. apparently, though, this isn't all too uncommon. i was talking to one of my old directors who mentioned her daughter (a former choir buddy) was having the same problem. i figure it'll take some time to get settled in though and really, i love my director. he's a long-time friend/mentor/teacher and he makes me comfortable enough to keep going.

hmm.. what else? i guess there's not much more. i'll be pretty busy for most of the summer and may not update much. but that might change when we finally get the internet set up at home. i have plenty of stories from CPLC but not sure all of them are worth telling. and if they are that i have the time or energy or heart to tell them.

anyway, pray for me! i know i'm a bit of a leech when it comes to prayers but i believe in them with all of my being. they are what sustain me. and you. and all of us. so let's pray for each other! deal? cool.

may the Lord bless and protect you, my friend, and shower you with His love. be holy!

Thank you, Lord Jesus

Sometime in the past year I trained myself to always make the sign of the cross when I recognize God's help in my life. Typically this presents itself in finding something I am desperately in need of, just barely avoiding a collision (usually swerving to avoid a car -- happens more than is at all comfortable) or something of similar type. As my hand crosses my body - up, down, left, right - I whisper, "Thank you, Lord Jesus."

I want never to forget to thank Him, especially when I am able to do it at the very moment He has helped me.

It wasn't until the other day though that a profound gratitude and sense of peace and love overcame me as I did this. I've already forgotten what it was exactly I was thanking Him for (I do it several times every day) when, mid-sign, I realized that as I thanked Him for His help in that moment, I thanked Him also for the gift of His life. How beautiful and awe-inspiring it was to recognize once more in the sign of the cross the rich symbolism of Christ's death. He died that I may live. He died that you may live.

Since that time in the car, I have been blessed to feel in a very real way the presence of the love of Christ in my life. I have become more keenly aware of His graces and mercy in my every moment of life. Indeed, His loving presence has penetrated my senses, my thoughts, and I do hope my actions.

What a glorious love it is, this love of Christ...