Joy

Several interesting things have happened in the past two days. Sunday: went to church with this really lovely couple that my cousin connected me with. The previous three days were somewhat of a silent retreat because I had so much time to pray, read and journal. And so finally getting to worship and hear the word on Sunday was just so refreshing. Lunch afterwards was great also – a local Mexican place that reminded me of Las Margaritas.

Still no roommates though. So I decided to make a trip to the library for some movies. I was waiting for my bus when a car pulls up and asks if I want a ride. I ask where they are going. They say home. (Home is one block away). I say oh thanks but I’m going all the way to Vail (10 minutes). They say get in we’d be happy to take you to Vail.

Did these boys, all whose names happen to start with J, want to waste their gas? Did they want to show off their insanely loud techno music? Or does it yet again boil down to inevitable answer: The Ratio. Either way, I appreciated the gesture, but I didn’t appreciate smelling like I smoked a whole pack of cigarettes when I left the car. At least I was able to be gone for less than an hour which allowed me to watch a movie and talk to some dear friends on the phone.

MONDAY: first day of work. Guess what? Apparently I am the head honcho. I am in charge of wayyyy more than I thought. I am responsible for training my employees. Two things are scary about that sentence: I have yet to be fully trained, let alone train other people, and two, I have employees? I don’t know about this. For a while in there I was thinking “why the heck didn’t I just sign on to be a cleaning lady?” Oh that’s right; I hate skin cells.

But guess what: I HAVE A ROOMMATE! She moved in tonight. Her name is Karin. Hi Karin, I know you’ll probably read this someday. And guess what? She’s great. She’s funny and real and she’s a Christian! We are going to start looking for churches together. AND I was waiting at the bus stop this morning and I see my friend from high school show up! High School! And what’s weirder is that I randomly saw her in Bradenton this summer also. To quote her, “Apparently we are just supposed to be friends.” So WAHOO! Oooh, ahhh, ohh ahhh…doing a happy dance that resembles the Cabbage Patch.

Finally, I went to swing dancing class tonight. I met a friend at church who teaches ballroom dance lessons and right now he’s teaching swing. So look at me! I move out west and I learn to swing dance. Who would’ve thought…?

God is good all the time, no matter what. But isn’t it wonderful when we get to see him showering his love on us through things like friendship, generosity, dancing, and just all around joy?