library nostalgia

I went to the library today. I walked by the books. I saw the books. I smelled the books. And I remembered: I love books. I love to read. That is all.

Forever

I am taking a class at UNCC called Murder, Marriage, and Mayhem: The Golden Age of Spanish Theatre. Interesting title, right? Actually, it has been a really interesting and very challenging class. We read whole plays in Spanish. YIKES :)

So, tonight, we were talking about an the last play that we read called El Burlador de Sevilla (the play that is the basis for the famous opera Don Juan). In it there is an allusion to the myth of Cupid and Psyche. When I was in elementary school, I used to check out Greek mythology books to read just for fun (nerd = needs extra reading daily). Anyways....so I was familiar with the myth. The brief version is this:

There was a young girl named Psyche who was very beautiful. The goddess Aphrodite was jealous of Psyche and sent her son Cupid to pierce her with one of his arrows so that she might fall in love with an ugly man. Instead, Cupid himself fell in love with her. He married her and came to her every night, but told her she must not see him, because he was a god. Out of jealousy, her own sisters warned to that he might be a dangerous serpent and that she should light a lamp while he slept to find out his true form. Disobeying, she lit a lamp and at once was saddened by what she had done because she realized that it was the god of love himself, and she had betrayed him. A drop of wax fell on him, and he awoke and fled.

The idea that we discussed in class was that of in one instance seeing paradise and then losing it. My mind flashed back to CS Lewis' book Till We Have Faces, which is a retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche with a lot of variations. Although certainly a work of fiction, Lewis is a master of capturing and conveying true truth through story.

And if it was a dream, Sister, how do you think I came here? It's more likely that everything that had happened to me before this was a dream. Why, Glome and the King...seem to me very like dreams now...You could see it was a god's house a once. I don't mean a temple where a god is worshiped. A god's house, where he lives. I would not for any wealth have gone into it. But I had to...for there came a voice so sweet-sweet? oh, sweeter than any music, yet my hair rose at it too- and you know what it said? It said, "Enter your House" (yes it called it my house), "Psyche, the bride of the god." Till We Have Faces, CS Lewis, 112-113.

Cupid and Psyche are a myth.

This is the truth: those who belong to Christ are His bride, and one day, they will be invited to spend all of eternity with Him....in paradise! In a place more beautiful than we can imagine!

No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him Isaiah 64:4

All of this flashed through my mind in an instant when she mentioned Psyche glimpsing paradise and then losing it.

My heart cried out: I want paradise! I want an eternity with God! I want to spend eternity with Christ, the lover and savior of my soul! I want to hear Him say well done and invite me into His house to live and enjoy and glorify Him forever. I don't want to miss that...

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living
hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—
kept in heaven for you! 1 Peter 1: 3-4

I will praise you, O Lord my God,
with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. Psalm 84: 12

i love kittens :)

Night at the Opera

I love the Opera!

Time to go to the Opera! Spanish 4 went to see
Miguel de Falla's La Vida Breve!

Andrea and Katie are excited about the opera!

Enjoying Spanish food at MIRO in South Charlotte

not betty crocker

I am a little grumpy.

The other night I went to a fellowship dinner with some ladies from my church. Everyone brought these yummy recipes to swap. So, tonight I decided to try my hand at making a yummy desert that we will just call "little oreo balls of delight"...there are only three ingredients and seven easy steps: grind oreos, mix with cream cheese, roll into balls, chill 1 hour, melt white chocolate, dip balls in the chocolate, cool.

Simple right? Not for Trish....I can't even melt chocolate!!!! I think I might have over melted it (aka burned it)....it never got to the point where I could actually dip something in it.....or maybe it was past that point....I DONT KNOW....i dipped the oreo balls in, and they fell apart as I was trying to cover them in chocolate....all I was left with was "little balls of disaster" and no fun christmas treats for my friends.

I am bummed. I don't like white chocolate anymore. I don't like oreos. And I don't like cooking!

little miss distracted

So, I just opened up my freezer and what did I find? A frozen roma tomato....no I'm serious...a tomato!!! The other day I was making a salad and I thought to myself, "hmmm...I like my tomatoes cold...I should put it in the freezer a few minutes." Somewhere between getting out the lettuce, putting on the cheese, and adding some yummy balsamic vinagrette dressing I forgot about my tomato.

And that brings us to today when I was looking for some chocolate. No chocolate in our freezer, just a bright, red, frozen tomato. In fact, I dropped it on the floor....ya know...just to see what would happen....nothing! Just a ice thunk on the floor. So we played a little frozen tomato soccer and then tried to tempt the cats into playing with us.

The sad thing is that I don't just forget about tomatoes. The same night I left the tomato in the freezer I left chicken in the oven. I was baking some chicken to use for sandwiches later that week. Luckily, my roommate, who came home at 9:30-3 hours later-decided to make some food for a work party. She found the chicken and saved us all from a potentially fire-y death.

And then this morning, I woke up and I realized that I forgot I was supposed to play in a softball game the night before. GRRRRR....How does this happen?!

The sad thing is that I don't just forget about silly things. I forget about important things....like trusting God...and loving my friends and family well.....about knowing who I belong to.

I am grateful that God does not forget.

Lord, help me to remember....who you are....what you have done, that I might learn to trust you and love you more.

Psalm 105

1 Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.

2 Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.

3 Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

4 Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.

5 Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,

6 O descendants of Abraham his servant,
O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones.

7 He is the LORD our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.

8 He remembers his covenant forever,
the word he commanded, for a thousand generations,

thoughts from cs lewis and the bible

It seems to me that we often, almost sulkily,
reject the good that God offers us because,
at the moment, we expected some other good.
- CS Lewis, Letters to Malcolm

LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;
you have made my lot secure.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
- Psalm 15:5-6

softball memories

YAY! I got to play softball tonight. I know it doesn't really sound that exciting, but it has been so long since I last played.... It was a little cold at first, but once you started throwing the ball and moving around, the weather was perfect. It feels so good just to be doing something sporty and active.

It definitely brought back a lot of college memories! We used to organize an intramural team for the Lee Symphonic Band....go LSB Ladies. I can't say that we were amazing, but we had a lot of fun. Eric Eledge, the official intramural organizer and writer of the "Intramural Insider" even gave us an honorable mention....One line of fame was all we had. Ahhh....memories...some of my favorites:

1. Randy Cantrell's chant: "Who plays the best positions? Musicians?
2. Katie Bredamus yelling "3 up, 3 down"
3. Hunting for players at the last minute so we would have enough
4. Choosing softball over studying for very important Dr. Bowdle tests
5. Getting made fun of in during band accidentalism (initiation) for being a little overexcited about softball.
5. Jamie Nichols, Jen Miles, Jen Small, Katie Bredamus, Nikki Gorman, Jessica Porter, and others.

So, here's to softball and college memories!

airplane

Bethany Dillon
Airplane

in an airplane i take the window seat
a thousand feet and all i know shrinks in minutes and when the sky is gray i want to believe that when the sun is hiding it still exists

in an airplane are kings and common men
at the window side my side their view is now the same
some relax and rest their eyes
some sit on the edge
as we all break through the clouds into the light of day

mountain tops peak through
this is where i see you
i've never seen a clearer blue
this is where i see you

leave behind your busy life all you have is who you are s
pace like this is hard to find so breathe it in
someone will say, "where are you headed?"
and it might be the first time you ever thought about it

mountain tops peak through this is where i see you
i've never seen a clearer blue this is where i see you

a baby's talking two rows behind me
the sun just set for the second time today
you seem to use the smallest things around me t
o get me to this place

mountain tops peak through
this is where i see you
i've never seen a clearer blue
this is where i see you

perfect time

I love it! Finally, the fall is officially here! I mean, it was calendarially (if that is a word) official on September 23, but now it is weather-ly official. YAY! A cold front came in yesterday. It was blustery and cool. I had to break out the fleece to keep warm. And this morning, it is cool and grey and appears to be wanting to rain a little.

I don't know what it is. Something about the seasons coming in their time. It is so refreshing and perfect and it reminds me that God is really in control. He is truly good and everything that he does comes at just the right time.....whether it feels late to me or not.

Why I love Peru

This is Paulo leading worship at Centro Iquitos. The first song is about how every knee will bow before Christ. The second is about having faith like a mustard seed.

Pre Race Chicks

Here's Jess and I before the big race. It was all her idea to begin with :) In fact, the first time we ran together was at Oak Island in the beginning of the summer. She kept me running by saying: "Ok, you can make it to the next green house. Just a little more. Now keep running until the pink house." Thanks Jess!

I did it!

I am so excited!!!! I just got home from running the Rock n Roll Half Marathon in Virginia Beach. It was probably the hardest thing I have ever done!

STATS

Distance: 13.1 miles (I ran the whole thing...yay!)
Finish time: 2:32:28
Place: 10,203 out of 16,170 finishers, 1248 out ot 2045 women aged 25-29, 4949 out of 9128 women finishers
Bib number: 3205
Amazing Race Buddies: Jess Hawk, Dierdre Mumpower, Sharon McGowan, Donna Simons, Gatewood and Penny
Amount of Food eaten at Olive Garden the night before: WAY TOO MUCH! But the Chicken Alfredo was AMAZING!
Cups of water gulped down: 5
Cool people seen:
1. newlyweds - the bride was wearing her veil and the groom's shirt said "just married"
2. a guy running with no shoes because his gave him a blister
3. several men in hula skirts and leis
4. a lady with sequined gold shirts
5. lots of people dressed as pirates cheering on the sidelines....ARRRR!
6. 20,000 people from 50 states and 11 countries
7. the super-fast africans who passed us while they were on mile 8 and we were on mile 2
8. a loving father pushing his son 13.1 miles in a wheelchair (watch inspiring video here-wow- and official website here)
Fastest Man: James Kwambai 1:03:30
Fastest Woman: Edna Kiplagat 1:11:08
Favorite Part: The first 5 miles, across a bridge, under the trees, feeling like I could run forever.
Least Favorite Part: The last 4 miles in the sun, knees hurting, looking for a water stand.
Related Bible Verse: Hebrews 12:1-3> Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Regrets: none!

Photo Gallery

racer number 3205

The Rock n Roll Half Marathon is only 2 days away. Tomorrow morning I will be getting in my friend Jess' car and we will be driving to Virginia Beach. I am just looking at my registration packet.

I am runner number 3205....hmmm...sounds like a good, strong number.

I am in corral number 3 with a predicted time of 1 hour 40 minutes....wait a sec! Did I predict that? I think I will ask them to move me back about 5 corrals, because it will be more like 2 hours and 15 minutes (or longer) before I finish. What was I thinking? (a country song just started playing in my head).

Today I was talking to my friend Rusty about the Country Music Half Marathon that he ran in TN. It made me even more excited about the race. He said it was one of the most rewarding, encouraging things he has ever done. We shall see about that!

That is all for now!

a happy little sound

My microwave has the friendliest little bell. I say bell and not beep because it is a really cheap microwave with a turn timer. I just heated up a cup of coffee to drink with a really yummy cookie. When it was finished, the microwave just sang out: "DING! Come and get it! Warm, Yummy, Goodness for you to Drink." What a happy little sound!

marathon update: delusions of grandeur

It is finally here. The weekend I have been anticipating for 17 weeks! The Virginia Beach Rock n Roll Half Marathon. I confess, I am a little bummed, because the farthest I have run so far is 6 miles. However, it is farther than I was running when I started, and definitely farther than I have ever run in my entire life. Perhaps I had delusions of grandeur. I think I fully understand that phrase now.

Actually, this seems to happen a lot. I say, "I can do it." Sort of like Trish thinking she could snowboard when she have never even skied or done any other winter sport. After falling off the ski lift, not being able to even stand up, and then walking back to the lodge almost in tears, I discovered that I could not, in fact, "just figure it out."

Hmmmmmmmm......oh well. Maybe it was good to set my goal so high. At least I will be able to run half way. Final results to follow on Monday morning! Tally Ho!

longing...

Psalm 38:9
All my longings lie open before you, O Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you.

Proverbs 13:12
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

Proverbs 13:19
A longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul

2 Corinthians 5:2
Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling.

Psalm 37:4-7
4 Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:

6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;


C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probably explanation is that I was made for another world.

sad corn

I think corn is one of the most beautiful plants. There is an intersection near my mom's house, way out in the country, where I love to watch the sun go down behind the corn. It seems so tall and unassuming; Humble and yet majestic at the same time. Today I went by and they had mowed it down. I was sad to see it go.....it was so beautiful....but the truth is, sometimes things have to die to serve their purpose.

I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. John 12:24

a morning jog

I went jogging this morning. My path took me to a Greenway that runs near my house. It is a windy trail that took me through a green, foresty area. Nothing special happened, until I came across a family of deer on their early morning stroll. I stopped and stood there in awe. They were beautiful!

Everything else on the trail seemed to take on a new look and sound and personality: I met a granddaddy long legs who, I can only presume, was on his way to buy some new walking shoes, a squirrel eating her morning breakfast, a turtle who I am certain when he gets to his destination will discover that he has, indeed, beaten the hare, and a chorus of crickets practicing for one of their last evening summer concerts. Maybe the butterfly I met will finally find that perfect flower.

the end of a chapter

I started this in August, but for some reason didn't post it.

I have had the feeling these past few days that a chapter has just ended. On Sunday afternoon, I went to a cookout to say goodbye to Scott and Patti Jenkins. As I was on the swing under the big oak at EH and Cindy Cooks house, I looked around at everyone who was there. I thought to myself, we may never be together like this again. Tonight, I had the same feeling as I sat around three tables with some of my old uturn buddies at OCharleys. The group was slightly varied from Sunday, but I had the same thought. We may never be all together like this again.

It was all of us who grew up in youth group together, beginning back when youth was called Power House and later Uturn. We were all there when a single Scott Jenkins came at 23 years old to be our youth pastor. We were a small group. Our favorite Wednesday after youth group hang out was either Carolina Cones or Wendy's and Chilis in the summer. We all went to Camp Courtney together. sigh....memories...

Everyone is headed in different directions. A season has ended. A new one has started.