So, I completely slept through yesterday. I got back from the scavenger hunt at noon and passed out from 1 to 8:45 last night. That felt phenomenal. I then woke up, ate dinner, and went with my movie buddy, Brandon, and attempted to see He’s Just Not That Into You. I say attempted because when we got halfway through the line, the announcement came that the movie had sold out. Immediately afterward, we overheard the gaggle of ladies in front of us derisively asking how any guys in line could be wanting to see the movie anyway. Brandon immediately announced how excited he was to see Taken. I, following suit, agreed audibly. We got our tickets for Taken and Brandon then accidentally walked into the theater showing He’s Just Not That Into You. I asked him if he had realized his “mistake” and when he asked me which movie I preferred to see, I commented truthfully that I’d rather see the movie playing in the theater into which we had haphazardly walked. In all honesty, it was a great movie.
I was really debating whether or not I was going to Portico this morning having slept through my normal 9am service. I’m still planning on going to “Abide”, the young-20’s service at 5 starting this week. It all came down to me worrying about having enough time during the rest of the day to complete the work that I feel I “need” to do.
So now it’s around 11:30 pm and I have a heck of a lot more to write about now.
Service this morning was certainly awesome talking about the fourth Commandment which focuses on keeping the Sabbath. It was good for me to hear again that I do need to slow this life that moves at the speed of light and just rest once a week. Of course, this is not something that’s possible on my own, but when is that a new thing?
I studied for a little bit after getting a free coffee from Starbucks (yes, I said free) when I ordered a red eye as per my usual and because they didn’t have coffee readily brewed, my drink was free. This was slightly bittersweet as I got a free drink which is never a bad thing, however given that I can only drink either straight espresso, coffee or a red eye, and their coffee is atrocious, it will take longer to go through this gift card. Yes, the fact that I had a gift card was the only reason I didn’t go to Fox Park, the much better coffee place that is open on Sundays. Had it been any other day of the week, I would have been at Para without hesitation.
I studied for an hour or so, when I decided to return to the house so I could take care of a couple things before a group project meeting I had to attend. This was no coincidence as I ran into my friend John on the way back. We ended up talking for over 45 minutes on the Corner about various topics, and I couldn’t help but think even as I was talking to him that the conversation was nothing short of a blessing from God. I love talking to John, because he forces me to explain my points better and articulate my thoughts to a further extent than I am used to and he is a very intelligent man for someone who has never gone to college. I do not feel bad for the man, because he generally has a great outlook on life, but he is certainly self-conscious and for no apparent reason, honestly. What I love most, though, about talking to John is that I feel like he has given me so much more than I could have possibly given him in our conversations. I will admit that I don’t feel like anything I say does him much good, but he assures me otherwise. Therefore, I not only feel good about the effect on my life, but the effect that he insists I have had on his. There are few better feelings on this earth than just that.
I went to the new service after my group meeting and, sure enough, the first person I saw inside the sanctuary was none other than John. Once again, I talked to him for a few minutes as the service was getting ready to begin and he said something that blew me away in a sense and made me feel important in a way that I have never felt important. He thanked me for taking the time to talk to him, for not caring who saw me talking to him, and most of all for taking him under my wing spiritually. Truthfully, this last thought had never once crossed my mind and I wanted to throw the compliment right back in his face, because I thought it was preposterous to think I had any ability to do something like that. It wasn’t until I had thought into and about this statement that I truly was able to appreciate the fact that God is doing something through my relationship with John and I am horribly anxious and excited to find out just what that might be.
The message at church, amazing as it was, paled in comparison to the conversations I had with John today. I have to say, the Lord has been absolutely amazing as of late with the things he has been showing me. Some of these things, I had no clue were an issue in my life, but all of them lead to a greater sense of joy in knowing that God cares enough about me to remove them from between us. He is nothing short of absolutely amazing.
I was just about to quit typing, but then I realized that I almost forgot a significant part of my day which happened right after my second stint in church. I had told my good friend Nicole that I would accompany her to some house party for some thing that she told me about whose details I simply can’t remember, but she said she didn’t want to go alone, so I obliged. What I didn’t realize or pay attention to until she sent me the email today was that this party was actually a house concert. I assumed it would be some outdoor event in someone’s backyard where it would be mildly awkward, but everyone would be looking at the performer so as not to force god-awful conversations. No. After picking Nicole up at her house, getting lost in the woods on a wonderfully curvy road (wonderful because we were in my car with the top down and romantically enough a full moon to boot [Nicole and I are not in the least involved in any sense of the word, but we both saw the full moon as ironically funny as she commented how she wished she could have seen it with any guy other than me clearly denoting me as a safe guy in her books]) and finding the house (no, I’m not going into the back story on Nicole and myself, because that is simply too long and just unnecessary to delve into) we walked inside to find the guy setting up in the living room. This was fixing to be a very different experience for me. They were serving hors d’oeuvres and beer and wine and people from about 20 to maybe 50-somethings were all conversing about the first floor of this nice ruralite home. Long story short, the guy was an amazing guitarist and vocalist and I am dying to own some of his music. Yes, I promise this guy, Tom Conlon, was just that good. I don’t lie about music. The only problem I had with his performance, was that I felt much less certain about my own musical ability. At the moment, I question whether I have much of any haha. Well, I’m off. I have to work in the morning. What a beautiful, blessed life I lead =).