Tomorrow real life returns... However, knowing my schedule- I shouldn't complain.  I am extremely blessed to wake up (usually late morning) and go to a job I love, with people I adore, with afternoons and weekends full of fun adventures and more people I don't deserve to call friends.  Knowing all that, I am excited to fill up the next couple weeks with way too much fun to last me the THREE weeks I'll be at home for Christmas.  I miss them all (and the warmth) already!!

Today was an exceptional day... I woke up late, finished some school work, watched some football, crafted, watched Pearl Harbor, went to church and dinner with friends.  

1. I totally forgot how sad Pearl Harbor was and how much I used to be in LOVE with Ben Affleck as a teenager.  That movie is a favorite I love to hate... 


2. I'm reading Practicing the Presence of People by Mike Mason, and I love it.  I've read 26 pages.  I feel so challenged already.  Mason really paints a picture of how the Lord sees humanity and individuals.  His creations are so precious to him so why are we so quick to discard them?  This will be a book I read multiple times.  I've already fallen a little more in love with people in general from allowing my mind to be transformed by the way Mason presents scripture and truth.  Totally recommend the first 26 pages! We'll see if I can recommend the rest in a few days- I'm sure I'll be done with it by then. I've underlined like half the book. 

These belong at my Grandma's, but I think they are the cutest little decorations.  She's had them since my mom was in early elementary school.

3. Tonight began the Advent season at church. I was really effected by the service tonight.  I love Christmas music and decorations and the whole spirit of the Holidays! Isaac made some poignant remarks paralleling the angel's declaration to Mary about Jesus' birth.  One quote I particularly identified with was: "Never does God call someone to servanthood and their lives automatically become easier and more comfortable, but they do become more significant and better."
I absolutely fell called to be in the place's I'm in (and there's not a better, more peaceful feeling in the world), but it's not easy, and I'm uncomfortable.  Hearing that quote in relation to Mary's life brought a lot of hope.  The Lord uses insignificant, common people like myself to change history, and it starts with being outside of our comfort zones.  It starts with a calling to servanthood that requires faith and sacrifice in one way or another.  This call to servanthood doesn't start after my degree is finished or after some milestone, it starts where I am with what I have.