It's just a dip in the roller coaster.

It hasn't been a month, but I'm ready to post again. Hope you don't mind. :)

When I looked back at my (few and far between) posts, I noticed I was going through a spiritual high earlier this summer. God was rocking my life and it was awesome! I was really thinking through some things in my life and calling myself out on things.

Man, that seems like forever ago.

My spiritual life, like many others, is best characterized as a roller coaster. I'm high at some points, and then I drop low with a plummet that makes my stomach lurch (we're talking the really scary roller coasters, not the fun ones.)

The thing that kinda separates me (in not a good way) is that I'm easily affected by the events around me. Depending on who I spend the weekend with/what I've done with my evenings and the little things surrounding those events, I could be high or I could be low on a smaller scale within that general trend.

In the spirit of vulnerability, I'm kinda low right now. I know what I need to do (get in the Word more and really seek Christ), and I'm working my way there. But for now, I'm low. Blame it on the busyness of life or any other excuse you want, but the truth is I haven't made my God a priority like I should. I need to be better about guarding my time with Him.

I went to a missions conference 2 weekends ago, and it got me excited about missions again - I hadn't realized that my passion was waning. My direction hadn't changed, but my vigor in pursuing it had. I loved Revelation 7:9 "After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb."

Every nation, tribe, people and language!!! Can you imagine?!?! All crying out in one voice, "Glory to God who reigns on high!!"

And if that didn't rock my world enough, God gave me just a tiny little taste of it on Thursday at Anthem. I wish you could have been there, in the top row of the balcony in Cornerstone's auditorium. 1,200+ people crammed into the room, every single hand stretched out and giving God glory by singing, "With one voice we shout Your praise, Holy holy be Your name, glorified and lifted high, we long to bring You praise!" 2,400 hands!

I wish I could say I was belting it out with them. I wish I could say I had hands outstretched before me. But all I could do was sit and weep in the back row, blessed beyond belief by a church body that is so sold out for Christ, grateful that God would give me such a small glimpse into what heaven is going to be like.

If that doesn't give you a renewed fervor to pursue Christ and have joy regardless of the circumstances around you, I don't know what will. I'm on my way back up.

Also, it's amazing how a simple verse that you've heard all your life can bring you to your knees. 2 Corinthians 5:21 "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."

What do you do when you're dipping low in the roller coaster of life?

Ah reunions....

Why, hello!! Remember me?! Oh, you don't? Hm...well, I suppose I can't blame you. I've gotten particularly good at saying, "We should definitely get together!" (write a blog) and then totally fail at any attempt to reconnect, whether it's for lack of material or motivation.

Well, get ready for a purge of epic proportions. (Maybe.) Holy crap, it's been forever since I blogged...

It's been 2 months in the duplex, and I'm still, as Paige refers to it as, "nesting". I very much associate this phrase with being pregnant and preparing the nursery, and since I have not been with a man nor received any divine message from God (as I'm pretty sure there's just one Messiah, not two to come), there is certainly no bun in the oven. Whatever you want to call it (anything but "nesting"), it's been fun.

Trim has been painted (while on steroids, which are incredible, by the way. No wonder athletes take it!), cabinets have been organized, basements have been deflooded, mold has been removed, furniture has been arranged... it definitely feels like home now.

So besides making my home feel like my home and working, what have I been up to that has kept me so busy and away from you all?

Taxes.

I know it's not tax season yet, but it's quickly approaching, and soon I will be sitting behind a desk either delivering delightful news that the government garnished more than they should have and you get to pay off credit cards from Christmas shopping or breaking the devastating news that you claimed far more exemptions than you should have and unfortunately, you owe quite a sum. Can't wait, really.

I have to admit though, I am a bit of a tax nerd. It's like a puzzle really, and if you fit just the right pieces together, something marvelous can come of it (i.e. money!). I've enjoyed doing them thus far, but part of that may be that when the information is presented to me, it's all nice and organized within 2 or 3 pages of my textbook, and it's not all mashed into a shoebox where possible tax deductible receipts and paystubs have resided for the year.

Well, it's time to close, for now. Just like you shouldn't feed a buffet to a starving man (his body can't handle the mass quantities of food that he's not used to), I will refrain from delivering every juicy detail from the past 2 months. I'll be back though. With pictures. =D