It is a great comfort to know I am not the only one who is a few tacos short of a fiesta platter. Solidarity, people; it's a wonderful thing.
2. If anyone asks me for good book recommendations this year, I will tell them to read The Boys in the Boat.
It's a true story about the University of Washington's crew team, a group of mostly poor, hard-working, humble kids, who ended up winning the 1936 Berlin Olympics during Hitler's rule. (No spoilers; this info is in the prologue). The story is fantastic and beautifully written. It made me laugh and cry and breathe deep satisfaction. I highly recommend it.
3. Yesterday I told my dad that "I no longer feel like a dead muffin." Which is to say, this Tracy Anderson dance cardio video — a combination of flailing kicks and windmill arms — did wonders for my body and brain yesterday.
4. The clouds cleared and the sun came out the other day.
It made my endorphins perk up and do the cha cha before tempting me to throw myself prostrate on the ground in order to soak up as much warmth as possible. Washington, you have been good to me, but you are sorely deficient in vitamin D...
5. But the horizons here. They take my breath away.
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| Washington State University, flanked by mountains not visible in this photo |
6. I've discovered a Russian artist and mother who lives on a farm and takes the most magical, whimsical photos of her kids and the farm animals. They take my breath away, and may make your day a little more magical:
http://www.boredpanda.com/animal-children-photography-elena-shumilova/
7. This morning, seconds after waking up, I realized that my life, if I'm lucky to live long, is almost halfway over. This feels problematic. It's not just that my skin will sag and my triceps will jiggle (even more), although to be fair, my friend, John, has discovered a way to slow the aging process:
And goodness, my resistance to aging (dying, really) confirms that we were (and are!) meant to live forever, and things have gone terribly awry. And that's the problem: there are billions of us who will die in the next 40 years, and so many of the dying ones don't know the resurrected Jesus of the Bible who died on the cross so Death doesn't have to have the last word in our lives... There's so little time to spread and live this Good News. You guys, we've got to get busy and bold proclaiming the Gospel that's changing our lives!
8. Last year, while on a walk in my neighborhood, I met and befriended a lovely elderly couple. I wanted to get to know them more, and felt a deep stirring in my spirit that they needed to hear the good news of Jesus. But I was still feeling so lousy as a result of my health problems that I didn't have the energy to get to know them. I felt heavy with responsibility and regret. Months later, I discovered the elderly man had died, and that my neighbors, who are Christians, had befriended the couple, and got to sit with the them on the man's death bed where they shared Jesus with them both. It was a timely reminder that we don't Complete the Great Commission alone; we're members of a Body that brings the Good News, and we're in a yoke with Jesus. This is very good news, for which I am exceedingly grateful. Solidarity; it's a wonderful thing, isn't it?!
Happy Friday, friends! I hope your week is full of hope, laughter, and opportunities and courage to share and live out the Good News of Jesus!
-Sarah
© by scj
Boys in the Boat- awesome book! Did you know that someone at church was a coxswain at UW in 1956 and knows some of the people mentioned in that book? Pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteSoCal is burning. Don't go back. Stay here and grow some moss on ya.
Yes, we actually had him and his wife over for lunch a couple weeks ago! He said reading that book was like reading his own history. So fun. Also, coxswain is a really fun[ny] word. ;)
DeleteYou know, driving with the windows down yesterday after dark was pretty glorious. This burning weather, I don't hate it....! But man I miss the clean air already.