Hear, you deaf,
And look, you blind,
That you may see.
-Isaiah 42:18

Worry: the act of focusing so much on what might not happen that we block out what is happening. Through fear and mistrust we lose our today to a hazily disastrous someday. That wrong, sick feeling we get when we try to take it all on ourselves. That blindness to what’s beneath that comes when all we can do is try and decipher the horizon. The deafness that muffles the ears that strive to hear the eternal. I don’t like this suppression, this blankets-over-pebbles feel, this pushing-down-warm dough sensation. Life is freer when you give it up, turn it over.

Oh, what joys we often forfeit, Oh, what needless pain we bear…
But not just because we won’t pray. Heck, we pray our hearts out. Because we won’t release.

Daisy, give yourself away,
look up at the rain,
A beautiful display
of power and surrender,
giving us today
And she gives herself away.

Quotables for the day

Kate, Hannah, Faith, Robert, George and I went to an amusement park for the day. And such followed:
~
(In the car on the way up)
Kate: *reading a sign* “Lil Boo’s Fireworks”!!
Robert: That’s just terrible. Why would somebody want to be called that? Awful.
Kate: Hehe. Lil Boo, watch the road!
~
Me: *hikes up drastically huge shorts* Man, I look like I’m wearing my boyfriend’s clothes!
Kate: Well, maybe now people will think you actually *have* a boyfriend.
~
Kate: *drinks out of my water bottle and hands it back*
Me: Ick, now it tastes like your lip gloss!
George: Grace Anne, how do *you* know what her *lip gloss* tastes like?!
~
Robert: I almost just got strangled by that girl’s necklace thing!
*silence*
Me: Robert, there’s no way you’re explaining your way out of this one.
~
Standing in line for a ride, trying to figure out how not to lose my personal belongings. After some lively discussion, I decide to hold my phone in my teeth.
Faith: *turns around, registers shock* Grace, who are you mad at *now*?

June Songs

I notice a pattern here. :-)

OK - Holly Conlan
And now I'm confused on top of it all
I was ready to lose and ready to fall.
And something about the way you look at me
Makes it feel okay.
Makes it feel okay.

Brand New Day - Joshua Radin
It’s a brand new day
The sun is shinning
It’s a brand new day
For the first time
In such a long long time
I know I’ll be ok

(I just found this song on my iTunes, having bought it a while ago and then forgotten about it. And suddenly everyone loves it. Weird.)

Pony (It's OK) - Erin McCarley
You're fifteen miles over the speed
You're going fast as you can after your daydream
On your mark, get set, you hurry away
And have a serious talk with your champagne.

things that make me happy

Pictures.

Sunshine.

Rainstorms and the peace of coming out of them.

Buttery leather shoes (not that I own any, but I do dream about them. hehe.)

Mountain dew. Like grace needs to be any more hyper.

That clean, bright look that April has.

Memories that make me laugh out loud in public places.

God's spring color palette. Drama He does well. :-)

Ecclesiastes, in a funny kind of way at times.

That bell sound my phone makes when I get a text. "somebody loves me!"

Clear baby eyes.

Papa, my hero, and the ways in which he is heroic.

That perfect chord at just the right moment.

Discovering that most of my favorite people have a color which I associate with them. "No, I won't tell you your color. Stop asking."

Looking forward.

Buying the first flip-flops of the summer.

Voices I love saying things they've said four million times before.

Playing piano in my favorite stone church; something about the peace that passes all understanding.

Promises.

When my friends freak out and I'm all calm and collected and helpful. At least, I think this would make me happy; I suppose I've never actually experienced it.

Dirty chai lattes. ohmygosh. love.

And I think I'd better stop before this goes on forever (ever, ever, ever. not enough evers). Consider me a content person. :-)

Four Must-Sees

No. 1:

No, I did not just like it because of the Dude of Amazingness. I liked it because of the Dudes of Amazingness. Plural. Acting: excellent, score: excellent, cinematography: breathtaking, story: supposedly quite far-fetched compared to the original, but I found it inspiring. I also thought that it didn't quite merit its R rating, aside from the fair amount of language one or two of the characters employed. This definitely counts among the best movies I've seen recently.

No. 2:

Another one with cool guys. :-) (Andy Serkis! *swoons*) It was also a thoroughly fanciful, enjoyable, and delightful story. And much cleaner than Defiance. So go see it.

No. 3:

Possibly Tom Cruise's best role. The story and delivery were awe-inspiring; the theater was entirely silent when the lights came up at the end. Incredible.

No. 4:

Latest RedBox find; I liked it so much I watched it twice in on evening. The child actors were remarkable, and though it got off to a slow start, I couldn't have turned it off before the end. Highly recommended. :-)

A snapshot of my evening...

In case you were wondering, this really is what goes on of an evening around here..

Andrew (watching the Kit Movie with his dear baby sister): *comes to an especially American Girl Movie Moment* I.AM.GOING.TO.RALPH!!

Kate and I love to play duets on the piano. Meaning, Kate foolishly chooses to accompany herself rather than seeking my expert assistance. Out of revenge, I plunk down on the upper end of the piano bench and provide upper-register a-tonal accompaniment. Occasionaly I throw in a background vocal or two, but only when the Spirit moves me.

Essie: *calmly removes sock, attempts to stuff in my mouth* You sound like a dead cat.
Me: Dead cat? Surely not. I can't be that bad.
Essie: *considers*Nooo...okay. You sound like a dying cat. Which is probably worse, but whatever.

Yeah. We are that amazing.