A moment of reflection.

I am completely overwhelmed, at this moment, by the wonderful grace of my sovereign Savior. My days no longer consist of depression and loneliness, but of a joy that is incomprehensible to the human mind. In essence, He is showing me, moment by moment, the great beauty of something that I have, for so long, overlooked: life.

When I awoke this morning, I had absolutely no desire to push aside my blankets and face the chilled air that surrounded me. However, after an hour of arguing with the alarm clock, I quite excitedly dragged myself out of bed into the hall, and from the hall into the bathroom, and from the bathroom to the ironing board, and back to my room to gather my necessities and drive to, of all places, Starbucks. There, I was greeted by way-too-happy faces and way-too-awake people, who were kind enough to give me a venti white mocha (for a small fee). I smiled on my way out of the parking lot, as I remembered the wonderful people God has so graciously placed in my life.

As I sped down the freeway (Starbucks put me a good fifteen minutes behind schedule), my eyes were drawn to the glorious display of color and artistry that flooded the eastern sky. Tiny clouds resembled lace underneath an orange sun, and reflected its rays like the sunset on a rippling ocean. And this God loves me? He paints the sky every morning and every evening; how much more is my life to be a portrait of His character? His beauty is displayed across the heavens every moment; who am I to doubt His sovereign orchestration of every detail of my life? I am a canvas, which He paints to reflect His own glory. This amazes me.

At some point, I remembered to begin breathing again, and turned toward work, where I was greeted by Josh, with whom I proceeded to converse for the hour preceding the boss's arrival. The moment passed quietly, until Josh and Austin decided to debate truth, and appropriate Christian reading, and other such things. I love listening to people's conversations regarding various topics, especially when they happen to involve God and truth. Thus, despite the great amusement inspired by this argument, I was greatly blessed by its content and God's grace.

Upon my arrival home, I was greeted by my adorable, precious baby nephew. Enough said.

Friday is my weekly day of pampering. I arrive home from work, I shower, I actually make an effort to style my hair, I polish my nails, I experiment with makeup, I spray on a bit of perfume, and pull the adorable tops and heels out of the closet. This is my time of refreshment and preparation for the weekend, and I look forward to it with great anticipation all week.

After engaging in the aforementioned activities, I pulled A Tale of Two Cities off the shelf and headed to Starbucks, where I planned to read for a while before returning home to enjoy dinner with my family (and aforementioned nephew). I was surprised to find Jared sitting, reading, outside, and even more surprised when he offered me the chair opposite him. So, I bought myself a tasty beverage (for the record, I am addicted to Raspberry Melon Passion Tea Lemonade) and took my place outside the door, across from Jared, and began to read my beloved Dickens. After a while of peacefully reading, a man came out of Starbucks and made a comment to Jared (to which I wasn't paying attention). Presently, the man took a seat and proceeded to converse with Jared about all sorts of interesting subjects.

Did I mention my great love for listening to people's conversations? When two people I admire and respect (or even one, for that matter) are talking, I find few things more edifying than enjoying their conversation. Call me an audience or an observer, but one of my great joys in life is learning from other people's communication with each other. . . especially when they understand that I am not, in fact, bored, but simply desire to participate only with my mind, and not my lips.

Needless to say, I greatly enjoyed that conversation.

I came home to find my family seated around the dinner table, and quickly reserved the pleasure of feeding the baby while everyone else ate desert. I love my family.

I am amazed by the pleasure that God has given me in simply living. For so long, I always found something about which to complain. Yet, there is such great freedom in freely bestowing love upon those around me, and genuinely desiring to learn from them and to invest in their lives, and simply recognizing the beauty of every being that God has placed on this earth.

Thank You.