strict joy.

Sunday night was one of the most amazing nights of my summer thus far.  taking in the cool night air, spending time with a good friend, and hearing some of the best music was absolutely incredible.

Zooey Deschanel is the most adorable thing ever! She wore the cutest girlish green dress, with a great silver sequenced belt, black tights, black flats, and danced around the stage like a five year old, banging a tambourine, impressing everyone with her extraordinary vocal abilities.  she has penned the most beautiful heartfelt songs i've ever heard, and enjoying them live was unforgettable! she&him's cover of 'you really got a hold on me,' 'roll over beethoven,' and 'i put a spell on you' were outstanding! m. ward was nothing short of amazing!

the Swell Season! what can i say? i am in love. they were completely humble, beautiful, charming souls, that harmonize amazingly, sing with such love, i just sat there completely in awe! glen hansard is one of the most passionate singer/guitar players i've ever heard. and marketa irglova is the sweetest thing i've ever encountered in a venue as large as the hollywood bowl.
i was completely impressed and ecstatic with how respectful and enraptured with the show, a crowd of 17,000 people were. ah-mazing!!!!
love this # best...from their most recent album...strict joy!

Waiting.

perhaps, the title of this blog seems most fitting because i am literally sitting in a waiting room.

waiting, waiting, waiting...

it's quiet in this waiting.

there are many waiting rooms we encounter in life.  there are the literal ones, at doctor's, dentist's, or other offices, and there are the figurative ones.  we don't always choose these waiting rooms, sometimes we are just placed there for undetermined amounts of time.  we have choices when we are there.  we can sit quietly and let time pass.  we can do something productive while we wait, or we can flee, because the waiting is just too gruesome.

I believe God has me in a place of waiting.  this doesn't mean that life stops moving forwards, or that i am not participating and making wise choices to keep my life in motion, it doesn't mean that i am sitting still, staring out the window, drooling on myself...but i am waiting.

He is working in me...i really feel it...something big is happening...

i am so beyond grateful to have been introduced to Sue Monk Kidd.  she is my kindred soul, a mentor of sorts.  i was introduced to her by another mentor who has been guiding me in my spiritual journey. i have learned so much from her in such a short time.  though our life paths differ greatly, our emotional and spiritual paths are so so similar, it is eerie.

she writes in one of her finest works, that the waiting times in life do not mean that we are disengaged in life.  waiting is a painful process, but it is so beautiful when you can look at it through eyes that aren't impatient and angry with the waiting.  she likens the process to that of a butterfly or a flower, and how they each evolve in a unique process.  each spend time in darkness (waiting) until they are ready to become what God made them to be...something extraordinary, precious, and beautiful.  a butterfly must be born a catepillar, endure a cocoon, and then grow to become what it was made to be.  flowers start as seeds, planted deep in the dark soil, and take time to grow up, and make their way out, as a beautiful creation the way God intended them to be.

right now i am buried in the soil...but i am being watered and fed, equipped and prepared for something new, something wonderful, something big.

the waiting can be grueling, but it will never be worth it if i keep running away from it.

Lord, help me not to run away.

bloom where you are planted.

Hosea 14 
Israel, return to the Lord your God,
because your sins have made you fall. 
Come back to the Lord
and say these words to him:
"Take away all our sin
and kindly receive us,
and we will keep the promises we made to you. 
The people of Israel will again live under my protection. 
They will grow like the grain, 
they will bloom like a vine, 
and they will be as famous as the wine of Lebanon.