At the end of one of my favorite sequences of chapters…
Oh, the depths of the riches both of
the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable His ways!
For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who became His counselor?
Or who has first given to Him
that it might be paid back to Him again?
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.
To Him be the glory forever.
Amen.
So I’m not quite sure why I decided I wanted to write something, but maybe it’s just because it’s a grey Tuesday night and I’m sleepy and more than a slight bit fever-touched…
Was going to be at Alec and Pip’s for dinner tonight(which would have been awesome!), but as the work day wore on, I felt my energy draining from me as some kind of sickness gripped my body. Ugh. And so now I sit here, after my small dinner of green bean casserole and rice and shiver slightly. I think a nice hot cup of cocoa sounds lovely right now. And maybe a spell of reading Lord of the Rings…
Huzzah for lovely Saturdays!! Been having a most delightful day today, I must confess! After a good morning relaxing in the depths of Starbucks, emerged to find the sun gloriously shining a midst a sea of blue. Had a good walk home talking to Laura and Dad and Mom – and then went to the store to grab some dinner fixings. I came home and decided it was just too perfect of a day not to be outside, so sat out in the garden, soaking in the sun while enjoying some quality reading time.
And now I sit in my living room, Fellowship of the Ring on the TV and a spinach salad before me…and chicken parmigiana baking in the oven. Good day? Yes. God is good.
And now why ever should my heart ever be downcast or my soul depressed? So silly am I at times!! How blessed am I! My heart will sing – of the loving-kindnesses of the Lord.
Peace be with you all. Now back to enjoying my salad…
And so this grey and dreary day, I enjoy the comforts of being cozily ensconced in my warm flat. Ten Commandments plays in the background while a lovely roast chicken cooks to perfection in the oven. Ah the simple pleasures of life. Now to finish cleaning my room and then I think I’ll make a cup of coffee to complement this afternoon. Ah how can I not be profusely thankful for the blessings that have been so richly lavished upon me!!
One more Saturday, one more blissful morning of rest after a long week.
Won’t write too long, but thought a brief update wouldn’t be a bad thing! This week has been rather crazy, but I’ve been exceedingly blessed with a quiet weekend of rest thus far! This past Monday, me and John and Joel went to see Men in Black 3 – hilarious and awesome, of course. Then on Tuesday night, was at the Smarts’ house for their Jubilee party! The Queen’s been on the throne for 60 years. Wow. It was definitely a unique experience, celebrating the Queen’s rule, since we can’t quite do that in the States…
As much fun as I was having Monday and Tuesday, work was piling up pretty steadily, since I’ve been covering for both Ryan and Ian as they’re away on vacation! I say, I think half of my work this week has been for Transocean. Ryan owes me!! Anyway, this week has been exhausting and Friday night last night was ever so welcome…had a beautifully relaxing evening. Leftover lasagna, spinach salad, garlic bread while watching classic Star Trek? I say yes! And got to read some too, of course…
Now time to go home and do some cleaning, laundry and other chores. Also will try to catch the women’s French Open finals…Sharapova v. Errani. Go Maria!! And tomorrow Nadal will try to take his seventh French Open title. Epic. He has to go through Djokovic first though…going to be intense.
Now I’m trying to think of what else I can write, but think I’ll just stop here and go out and enjoy this day! Rock on, y’all.
I’m in Starbucks and getting ready to move out and do some shopping, but before then – wanted to write at least a small update! Had a pretty good week at work, quite possibly my least stressful week in quite some time! And the whole city(and country) is going a bit crazy over the upcoming Queen’s Jubilee(sixty years IS a long time, I suppose), so I’m looking forward to going over to the Smart’s for a Jubilee party on Tuesday night.
This morning I’ve been relaxing with my reading(classic Proverbs with some Ezekiel for good measure, plus a letter from dearest Laura!) and doing some tune-up on my laptop. For some reason, Windows has gobbled up some 28 GB of hard disc space, drastically eating away at my free space. Not cool, Windows. Not cool at all. So got to do some cmd prompt wizardry and free up some 15 GB of that. Excellent. Felt like I was back in high school – been a while since I’ve actually been able to use any of my computer knowledge!!
Also just downloaded some Andrew Belle music(graciously introduced to him by Steph – many thanks. *bows*) Great summertime music – oh I love “In Your Sleep”! I’m attempting to compile a summertime CD for my work driving pleasure, but I’ve only been able to find 12 suitable songs – tragic! Any suggestions?
Now, I really think I’ve been in Starbucks quite some time, so about time to go. Before I do though, you all should read through some of the prophets. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel…quite intense. The Book of Isaiah is grand, majestic and awe-inspiring. The Book of Jeremiah is tragic, mournful and almost depressing. And the Book of Ezekiel is enigmatic and tears-inducing. Of course, those are just my surface impressions, but reading them through is as encouraging an exercise as any I’ve done in some time, as much as they can bring me to feel such great sorrow. We are not that different now, than the stone-faced and hard-hearted people of Israel. Good to balance the prophets with some classic Thessalonians(always so encouraging!) Just read Ezekiel 22 today – seriously, go and read it. The sins of the people are grave. And the Lord will not forestall his wrath forever, although His compassion and lovingkindness are indeed greater than the skies and stretch further than the east is from the west. That I would be a man who would stand in the gap before the Lord. This is my prayer.
And now that that unexpected profusion has come to an end…it is time for me to flee Starbucks to the light of a Scottish afternoon!
This lovely Saturday evening slowly winds on. Been a beautifully sunny day and now as the sun slowly sets, I have some potatoes in the oven and a book at my side. Ah what a night! I think this is my first quiet night to myself in quite some time…you know how nice it is to just rest and read and have some time to yourself? Well, that’s my desire tonight. And I think it just may come true!
By the way, I completed my 25th year yesterday. What.
And before I sign off the internet for the night, some lovely words I’ve been reading in Owens –
“Should I engage into the consideration of this love of Christ, which was the great means of conveying all the effects of divine wisdom and grace unto the church,-that glass which God chose to represent himself and all his goodness in unto believers,-that spirit of life in the wheel of all the motions of the person of Christ in the redemption of the church unto the eternal glory of God, his own and that of his redeemed also,-that mirror wherein the holy angels and blessed saints shall for ever contemplate the divine excellencies in their suitable operations;-I must now begin a discourse much larger than that which I have passed through.”
Beautiful. And if I can just sum that up in a few words of my own…what bliss it is to know the love of our Father and be known by Him. What a pure and more perfect peace is given to us that are at rest in Him. What joy is ours! With uplifted eyes and eager faces do we gaze upon the manifest glories of our Lord. We cannot help but shudder in anticipation of that day when we will be in the very presence of God. We cannot help but to lose ourselves in the love of Christ. There is nothing now better in this life. Ne’er will there be.
So should I be in bed right now? Well, yes. Actually, I am sort of in bed already now, since my bed is the couch and I am sitting on it! But while my eyelids are drooping and my thoughts are fading…I still feel I must write a few words. And so I will be uncharacteristically brief, but wanted to write one last post from Florida before I fly back to Scotland tomorrow.
This trip has been most glorious – although it’s flown past far too quickly for my liking! Nevertheless, I have been oh so blessed these past days…from my times of joy with my family and friends to a pretty sweet weekend past in Gainesville(where I spent time with some of the best friends known to mankind…maybe later I’ll write more on this, but just know that hanging out with Rob, Laurie, Dan and Betsy is pretty much the best thing ever. Just saying. Talking and talking and praying and being together…epic. I can’t really think of a better word right now. Maybe I’m just tired. Or maybe there just isn’t one. Nonetheless, I should probably close this parentheses) But yeah, Gainesville was awesome(also may have included some sweet disc golfing with Dan, Rob, Laura and George…as well as quality time back at the Lebos – one of my favorite families ever!!)
And then driving back home with Laura this afternoon, with the beautifully thunderous rain pounding down on the windshield and the windswept trees of central Florida shadowing our path…I just couldn’t help but thank our God for his goodness to me. Always.
And then being with my family tonight – eating dinner and talking and being encouraged by the best parents in the universe and then watching some classic 24(3 episodes was not enough!)…capped by reading a few Psalms together. Love it.
And since this post has been characteristically not brief…I’ll close.
Time for some sleep. And then one more day here in Florida. Here at home.
Love longs to leave one last encore-
Songs spill across the sun spun night,
Crystal chandelier, caressing sight.
And stars named
and blessed
with light.
And yes it’s true! Chilling at home here in Tampa right now, soaking in the sun – soaking in the love. Been such an amazing past week and it’s not done yet!! Don’t have too long to write now, but just thought I’d update real quick since it’s been a while. I can smell pork chops, potatoes and green beans in the oven right now…oh does Mom make such delicious meals! I cannot complain. One bit. So great to be back home in the USA!!
And this week has been full of dates with various family members, nights spent eating mint-choc ice cream and watching Jack Bauer domination and days full of luxuriating in the blessings of our God! I have to say, I am supremely blessed. And I cannot claim credit for any of this. All glory to our Father, beloved and supreme over all! Amen and Amen.
Now, as I sit in the family room here…the news softly blaring in the background and Dad sitting in his chair…Mom singing sweetly in the kitchen and the kitties napping on the floor…yeah, I feel – yet again – overwhelmed by the goodness of our God. Always. Forever and ever.
Now, time to help with dinner, methinks. Peace y’all!
And what a lovely Saturday evening it is! I don’t think I shall write too many words tonight, but thought it’d been a touch too long since I’ve last updated y’all! This evening, I currently have lasagna in the oven, perfuming the apartment most nicely. I hadn’t planned on making it, but me and Rosemary were talking about it last night and so I got this craving…and yes, when I was in the store, couldn’t resist buying everything I needed for the king of meals. Of course it’s not as good a lasagna as the one I’ll be having a few weeks, when I’m home in Florida!!! Yes, that’s right – don’t know if I told you all previously about my plans(Well, I’m sure most of you reading this already know!), but I’m flying back to Tampa on the 5th and staying through the 15th! Going to be in Tampa for most of my vacation, but will be in Gainesville for Robert and Cindy’s wedding!! Wow, I still STILL cannot believe Cindy is getting married…I still remember when I was a senior at UF and she came in, such a crazy little freshman…and now she’s about to embark upon one of the greatest adventures – married life. Can’t wait for the wedding!
And of course, being back home with the fam will be pretty sweet. Y’know.
Anything else I can update you on? Well, work is going much as usual – hectic and crazy. Yet my Lord God gives me a most supreme peace and I cannot deny His goodness to me! And while work takes up far too much of my time and I don’t get to see other people that often, the times I have with my friends, I treasure dearly. Wednesday nights at church are indeed one of my favorite times at the week, plop in the middle of my week…what an oasis of love and rest. I talked with Dominic this week a bit(I’m going to be speaking on Isaiah 40 in a few weeks, so he was giving me some pointers – pray for me!!) and I shared with him my sometimes uncertainty as to my future and for God’s plans for my life. While I know my Father has indeed a most glorious future and hope for me, yet my heart sometimes rebels and wonders. Oh why do our feeble minds offer battle to the words of almighty God? I know not. Yet I do. While we live in this world, these earthly temples of ours still cling to the sweetly tempting and faintly beautiful things therein. Yet does our soul and our spirit cry out within us for the fulfillment and glory that awaits us. Come Lord Jesus! Come.
And now that I’ve written far more words than I intended, and allowed my mind to drift to the far beyond…it’s time for me to take the lasagna out of the oven to set. These bodies of ours do need food, after all – and if food, it might as well be deliciously magnificent, so say I!
Have a most beautiful evening, my friends, my brothers, my sisters.
Something Weird 