don't worry, this isn't me actually throwing up, but it definitely looked that way. i was at jason's deli yesterday after church and somehow, while telling a story and waving my hands all around, managed to spill my whole bowl of tomato basil soup on me and jason. it was all over my shirt, jeans, shoes, the floor, the table, jason's pants and jacket--EVERYTHING! so gross too, because it totally looked like, well, you know what...but, as i like to think, most anything can become a funny story--somethings it takes a while, but there's still usually something funny to be found. this is funny now, and if i get the stains out of my new shirt, it'll be even funnier.
on another note, something i was thinking about this morning:
"They'll rebuild the old ruins,
raise a new city out of the wreckage.
They'll start over on the ruined cities,
take the rubble left behind and make it new."
This is from the Message, somewhere in the first 7 verses of Isaiah 61. i've always liked this passage, especially the part about the "oaks of righteousness" becaue i LOVE oak trees. but today, this part about building and restoring struck me. we went out the the Habitat for Humanity site in Kaplan today to check out what they're doing and what we'll get to be a part of in January for our Disciple Now youth retreat. there was a lady there who was working on her house and hoping to be in by Christmas. i just thought, wow, this is beyond what i can really imagine or comprehend. similar to being in New Orleans last may during all the disaster relief work--i can't imagine what it'd be like to have a city, your city and home, ruined. and then to rebuild.
i was in india when Katrina hit, and watching it from several thousand miles away was very surreal. to be here now and think about rebuilding, honestly, part of me just thinks, wouldn't be easier to just leave? go somewhere new? start over? and i know many people have. but what boggles my mind is those who have worked so hard to come back, who have that strong feeling of home, even if home will never be the same again. i don't understand that, not really. it was amazing to come back to lafayette after being gone 2 years, but that's not exactly the same. i find that sense of home very interesting and something i think i want more of, to feel settled, invested, willing to work and fight for a place--and not just the land or buildings, but the community, the people, the home-ness, if that makes sense.
i've wrestled a lot with different thoughts about this lately, just thinking how much easier it is to reset, to start over, to move and leave and begin again. not to rebuild or restore, because that's so messy. but i think that God is opening up my heart and mind to that more and more, and i am very interested in seeing what He has in store in 2009...
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