"wintry mix"ed in... still.

Well, okay, I could leave the house. But like I said, the excuse to stay in under a blanket, eating red beans and rice, playing wahoo and the x-box, hanging out with the Windhams, and continuing our Die Hard movie marathon is too convenient to pass up. So we all stuck to that excuse today. Correction-- Luke and I stuck to that excuse while Mom, Steph, and Dad had to work until 3. Luckily, by then, I had showered and gotten dressed for the day, after Katie and I layed around for the greater portion of the morning, er, afternoon watching Jumper and playing facebook scrabble. Just barely ready for the day by 3 pm. And I am not ashamed. Two words: snow day. Well, three words: wintry mix day. No worries, it will be 69 degrees by Friday. Oh, Arkansas weather. 

It really has not been the most productive 24 hours. But it has been such a gift to have few cares in the world for a little bit, outside of enjoying the company of my family, and the most precious couple of friends who have long waited for direction from the Lord and have finally been called away. Jared and Cindy will be following God to Florida for ministry in a matter of weeks, a truth that has yet to sink in. I can hardly explain their influence in my life for the past two years, much less how much I will miss it. At the same time I am elated for them at this opportunity to begin anew in a place where they feel fruitful. So I'll let Jared and Luke stomp Cindy and me at Fusion Frenzy and take in their casual presence as much as possible in the coming weeks-- it will never happen like this again. 

While it has been such a blessing to hang out and be purposefully unproductive, I am painfully aware that not all of my loved ones have been afforded such luxury. Those of you who are dealing with so many difficulties, I want you to know that you are in my prayers and that as I type these words about the fun I am having, I am also truly burdened for you. God has this crazy way of letting us feel both joy and sorrow simultaneously. I ask Him to show up in small ways and bring you joy now. You with your plate full of worries and me with not a worry besides the wintry mix currently thawing outside my window, we both worship the same God. I don't know how I got this end of the deal this Christmas season, but I am determined for your sake and the sake of the Lord we worship not to waste away my days blissfully ignoring the reality of others' pain as I celebrate, uninhibited by my own person pain. More than I am grateful that I have personally been spared sorrow or stress this season, I ask that He equip me to carry some of yours. I love y'all, and wish I had you here to take in a leisurely viewing of Die Hard with me. But where our situations are very different, I rejoice in Him for giving us a unity of Spirit. 

Remember mid-exam week when I chastised myself for getting so anxious of exam material when I could hardly call up information of eternal significance, like, say, the Bible? I said how easy it was to tell God to wait until life got easier to work on me. Funny how now it is easy to tell God He can work on me when life gets back to a scheduled routine. So I've chosen to mean what I say and join Angie Smith in memorizing Psalm 139 over break (careful if you go to her site, you may end up reading the whole story starting here, and you would be all the more blessed for it). It's just a couple of verses a day until January 1st, by which time you will have one full book of the Bible to claim out loud, to yourself, for others, with others or between you and God from memory. I tried doing this with Philippians once and can only recall "Grace and peace be unto you from our Lord Jesus Christ." Riveting. I've also had literally hundreds of memory verses over the course of my 19 year-old Southern Baptist upbringing, but could probably only quote and cite a maximum of 30. Hear me now, Psalm 139 will be different! Because if I can still list to you the four fallacies of evolution or the three ways in which social organizations shaped the outcome of the Little Rock Crisis, I should be able to claim some scripture. Here's the whole passage:

 1 O LORD, you have searched me 
       and you know me.

 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; 
       you perceive my thoughts from afar.

 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; 
       you are familiar with all my ways.

 4 Before a word is on my tongue 
       you know it completely, O LORD.

 5 You hem me in—behind and before; 
       you have laid your hand upon me.

 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, 
       too lofty for me to attain.

 7 Where can I go from your Spirit? 
       Where can I flee from your presence?

 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; 
       if I make my bed in the depths, ^[a] you are there.

 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, 
       if I settle on the far side of the sea,

 10 even there your hand will guide me, 
       your right hand will hold me fast.

 11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me 
       and the light become night around me,"

 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; 
       the night will shine like the day, 
       for darkness is as light to you.

 13 For you created my inmost being; 
       you knit me together in my mother's womb.

 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; 
       your works are wonderful, 
       I know that full well.

 15 My frame was not hidden from you 
       when I was made in the secret place. 
       When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. 
       All the days ordained for me 
       were written in your book 
       before one of them came to be.

 17 How precious to ^[b] me are your thoughts, O God! 
       How vast is the sum of them!

 18 Were I to count them, 
       they would outnumber the grains of sand. 
       When I awake, 
       I am still with you.

 19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God! 
       Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!

 20 They speak of you with evil intent; 
       your adversaries misuse your name.

 21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD, 
       and abhor those who rise up against you?

 22 I have nothing but hatred for them; 
       I count them my enemies.

 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; 
       test me and know my anxious thoughts.

 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, 
       and lead me in the way everlasting.

...not a bad bunch of words to know. It could be fun for you to join me, especially for the accountability. Let me know if you decide to do it. But seriously though, no pressure. If you forego doing it yourself, feel free to randomly quiz (ahem, grill) me, I'd love the help! And whether or not you choose to memorize this scripture, I pray you find comfort in it tonight.