Two weeks ago:



We go out walking...



Before the big Ike-storm...



Out in the sunset...



Searching for a glimpse...

I was not a happy clam yesterday.

Clams are happy, right?

Work obligations required that I miss my Spanish class, postpone running, and miss dinner with my roommies. I like all of those things, and as such I was a little sad.

I was to go visit with Galveston kids on campus. After TAMU-Galveston was Iked, about 1,500 of the students decided to complete their semester here on main campus. Yesterday was the day for those students to come walk around campus, see where their classes are, get a new ID, get a new parking pass, and on and on and on.

I know myself. Before going, I knew that -- although moderately disappointed at missing Spanish -- I would perk up once I was talking to the students. And I did. I love talking to people. I love asking them about their passions and worries and thoughts. I love listening to words that, when strung together, paint a picture of who the speaker is.

I love it.
I love it.
I love it.

P.S.-- I love it.

I talked to Kat about it last night. She's a wise owl. HootHoot. She loves her job for the same reason. Working in speech therapy with (primarily) stroke patients, she loves listening to people share who they are. She loves the stories. She loves the triumph, the shared pain... she loves anything that brings people closer together.

So we decided.

We love watching/hearing about/being involved in people connecting because that is what we were made for. Not just us, but everyone. Made to love. Made to accept love.

I was running on the gym treadmill Sunday when my brain revolted. My gym is set up like most others -- rows of treadmill and elliptical machines maybe ten wide and five deep with 10 or so televisions bracketed to the ceiling in the front.

With 10 channels, you can watch several shows at one time. Helllllo, Men in Black II and CIS. Distract me from my Sunday long run.

Please and thank you.

So... Will Smith is fighting all these aliens, right? They blow up and throw chunks of green slime. Then he erases everyone's memory with the neutralizer.

Aye-ya. Oooooe-bacha. Ka-pow.

Movies are a marvel. Popcorn would be nothing without the theater--Word.

When a commerical for Swiffer Sweeper came on I went back to watching CIS.

I had no idea what was going on in this show, but alas, it's a colorful glowing box, so I'm entertained. One of the CIS-ers was digging through an old box looking for clues and pulled out a photo slide. He held it up to his eye and the light to see what the image was, and I thought, "Yeah, he must be getting ready to neutralize someone."

Uh. Wrong show, Steph. Chuckle, chuckle.

But it triggered something deep inside me, like God wanted to tell me something through my weirdness. And that is, when you try to live two ways, it doesn't work. Investigators looking to solve a complicated crime also have to fight aliens and erase memories?

I don't really want to watch that show.

But I for sure don't want to go back to my old life before Christ. I for sure don't want to live without perfect love. And I for sure sometimes make decisions and act and live like I'm unchanged.

"I can anticipate the response that is coming: "I know that all God's commands are spiritual, but I'm not. Isn't this also your experience?" Yes. I'm full of myself—after all, I've spent a long time in sin's prison. What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary. But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge."
Romans 7:14-23

So, I'm not be the best at predicting, but changed I am. It's not my flesh that's alive, it's Jesus inside of me, because... "If Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness." Romans 8:10.

It's quite a random thing to be reminded of my broken bonds when watching aliens.

rawr

I used my personal camera for work yesterday. I was just snapping away when the camera started beeping "full disk."

Full disk?

What do I have stored on this thing?

...

Happy and very funny memories with my Tam and Kat.

There are 30 or so of these goofy pictures on my harddrive now. I couldn't erase a one of them.

Sorry work :)

Rev: Arf! Arf!
SJ: Aw, Rev! No, you're the prettiest.

hehehehehe

HELLO COOL WEATHER!!

Anne and I ate dinner out on the back porch.

I wore a sweater.

Monday, I ran to Bible study and wore a pull-over.

So exciting.

There's something about fall, yes indeed there is. It's when the steam from coffee is the most soothing, stars get the most ogling and outside pavement gets the most pounding.

En la clase de Espanol, aprendemos a como leer palabras. (In Spanish class, we're learning how to read words)
Es casi demasiado dificil para mi tounge de Tejas. (It is almost too difficult for my Texas tounge... demasido is a new one for me... it means too much)

World's Largest S'More.

oye.