blessings.

today was full of blessings.

things have been so crazy since the middle of last week, with the internship finishing up, then flying home, driving to dallas for the wedding, staying there, and running around fort worth to visit people who would only be here for the weekend.

i don't think i've really sat still since last tuesday, and i KNOW i haven't had a chunk of time to sabbath. so today i took the morning to rest and pray and read and think, a much needed pause from the craziness of my schedule since i've been home. i went on a long (-er than usual) run in the cool (-er than the middle of the day heat) morning weather while i listened to a mars hill podcast on community. it felt great to get out and move, and good to hear a familiar seattle voice in my ears :) after my FAVORITE breakfast of cereal with fresh blue/black/raspberries i walked myself to starbucks where i just sat and read and wrote for a couple of hours. a time to sabbath, to connect with the Lord.

a couple of verses stuck out to me today.

"you are not your own, for you were bought with a price. so glorify God in your body." 1 corinthians 6:19-20
(so what does it look like for me to glorify God in my body with the way i eat/sleep/workout?)

"and i was with you in weakness and fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but the POWER of God." 1 corinthians 2:3-5
(i consistently feel the need to be prepared before i say gospel words to someone. but even paul didn't have it figured out, and in fact, it's better that we don't! "lest the cross be emptied of its power" and we receive any kind of glory. so why do i feel the need to? in trying to be so prepared, aren't i failing to trust that the Lord is going to provide the words, as he PROMISES that he would?)

and a quote that i recently read: "a sense of His absence is proof that He has touched you." (by i forgot who)
(after all those busy days, i truly did miss time in the word and prayer. this was so encouraging to me. that i even longed for that time is proof of the Holy Spirit, creating that desire within me.)

then, after all that thinking, i got to go visit the modern art museum here in fort worth with kelsey and thomas. i love spending time with them, they're thinkers too, and i appreciate that. we wandered through, deciding which pieces of art we most appreciated and which ones we really didn't care for. i particularly liked the silver trees in the courtyard, they remind me of the one at the sculpture garden in seattle.

after that, i met up with my friend austin for coffee at a new coffee shop. i'm all about trying new places. we had a lot of catching up to do, and after the shop closed up at 5 (probably should have checked that before we decided to go there), we relocated to the bench outside to finish our conversation. such a breath of fresh air! (the conversation, not the fact that we were sitting outside on a bench.) i appreciated it very much- to hear how the Lord is moving in the lives of people is so encouraging and challenging to me. AND, just to make things really great, i saw the first lightining, heard the first thunder, and felt the first storm blow past me in 10 months. i do hope it thunderstorms one of the days i'm home, i sure do miss that good texas rumble.

that's all for now. it's been a day of great conversation and time with more people who i love and appreciate. what a blessing!

that's all for now.

love,
tracey