There has been so much going on lately, that I don't even know if God can keep up with me. Okay, that's a lie. The whole Psalm 139, 'He knows when we sit and when we stand' thing is TRUE. (Fortunately, but unfortunately, right??? Sometimes I'm not sure I want Him to know...) But seriously, I've been BUSY. But God knows that for me, busy is GOOD. 'An idle mind is the devil's playground' and all that is the case for me. When I'm not busy, I get LAZY. And when I'm lazy, I just start wallowing. No. Good.
So busy is good! But I also just gotta make sure that I'm making time for the Lord in there, and lucky for me, I've always been able to have a job (no matter how much I like it or not) that allows me flexibility to take time to go to Mass and pray.
Lately, I've been traveling for work, but let me back up just a bit.
Last weekend we (my roomies and I) had a friend from college who I hadn't seen in over half a year come down and stay with us. SO nice. One of the things that has certainly helped me embrace my 'state in life' are the awesome friendships I have been able to maintain from high school, college, and beyond.
The other thing I LOVE about my friends (other than the fact that they are loyal and also in pursuit of HOLINESS!) is that they know how to have a good time!!!
I don't know if I've ever mentioned before that we Jingers- I don't like to brag- but we may have the perfect. party. house.
Exhibit 1: we have beer door. It's a door in our fridge that holds beer. Easy access. Seriously, people have learned just to come in, go straight to the kitchen and grab a beer from the beer door. I love this conditioning that has occurred.
Last weekend was no exception. We were chilling out back (well, we weren't actually physically chilling because it was abnormally warm for a fall day, hence, the sitting outside) and I was impressed by person after person who just let themselves into our house and came outside with a beer. GOOD FORM, my friends!
Exhibit 2: We have a trampoline. Yes, it makes our 13 year old dreams come true too.
Mix beer and a trampoline and you may think it is a recipe for disaster, but we drink RESPONSIBLY, people.
I should've entitled this blog post, 'Ode to Beer', because it seemed that's what last weekend was. But let me also state that it is rare, anymore, that TWO nights of a weekend involve beer consumption for us. But this weekend was an exception. And not only did we consume beer, but we BREWED OUR OWN. EPIC WIN!
I may not enjoy cooking and the like, but grinding hops and watching a pot boil while drinking beer, I can handle.
Okay, so after Beer Gate 09, I had to get to work. Part of my job does require travel, which has been difficult to juggle since I am now in grad school and have additional work and class to attend to (but I'll get to that later).
This week it was off to Ohio, which most of you know, is where my family resides. So I got to hang out with John and Jeannette (aka the 'rents) a little.
I think I may have mentioned before that my parents tend to be cooler than my sister and I, and they actually have spent their recent retirement studying to become docents at The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. My friend Ryan and I had some down time in between the Cleveland trip and our trip to Dayton, so my mom hooked us up with some free tickets to the Hall. Thanks, Mom!
I'd been to the Rock Hall before, but I always get a little...I don't know, is vaclempt the word? err..the spelling?...when I see lyrics for the title of this blogpost, hand-written by John Lennon, Christmas cards made by Jim Morrison for his parents, and teenage artwork done by Jimi Hendrix. There's just something unifyingly beautiful to know that our rockstars are human, and eerily convicting of what can happen when life is taken too soon, talent is taken too soon.
And it's just such a celebration of music which I love! I highly recommend anyone who is a pop culture, music fan to make a trip to the land of Cleve and some point. You can stay with John and Jeannette. They'll show you a good time ;)
I feel like I should also give a novena/prayer update. I mentioned it has been easier for me to accept my state in life lately, but its still not easy and I do struggle with God's Will from time to time. But I think as I've also mentioned before, it's much easier to stay right with God when I'm reading Scripture and going to Confession, so i probably need to get on that.
These next 9 days we are rockin' prayers to St. Ann (at first I was like, 'shoooot...this is a freakin' long novena! But now I'm realizing how AWESOME it is that we are taking the time to address 9-10 different saints! Can never have too many praying for you) and St. Ann is Jesus' GRANDMA. We all know how grandmas just have their way...you KNOW Jesus can't say 'no' to his MOM, let alone GRANDMA. Let's get on it, St. Ann!!
Peace, Love, and Rock and Roll-
Oh, and I should say I'm headed back to the Buckeye State in, oh, 24 hours for my 10 YEAR HIGH SCHOOL REUNION. Yeah, about that grad school stuff, I had to come BACK to DC to go to CLASS. Not cool. But it is what it is, and I feel OLD, but BRING ON the 10 year!!!
I'm sure I'll have more to reflect on after that!
Peace,
Julia
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