Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Discovering Nashville: The Well

Now that I'm starting to feel like I know Nashville a bit 
[& I no longer take 45-minute-long detours of the city because I'm lost]
I decided I'd start documenting some of the places I've stumbled upon.
Since I'm working on homework most of the time, I've spent lots of 
quality time in the many coffee shops that exist here, & I've found my favorite: 



There's someting about this place that is very Every Day Joe's-esque.
[Which I miss terribly]
It's in a renovated old drive-through fast food restauraunt & everything
about it screams Nashville, from the burlap coffee sack covered chairs to the 
small stage for impromtu open-mic nights and Tuesday night church services. 
The main room is divided from the bar by two blue barn doors. 

The Well is the kind of coffee shop that makes me take out my headphones,
& listen, because their music is so good. There are books for sale & fair trade items,
& the profits of their coffee go to help underpriveledged people all over the world. 

They have a "wishing well" where people can post prayer requests,
encouragements, or needs, & anyone can take them to help get the 
poster's needs met. It's a beautiful picture of community. 





Be sure to check out their website. It's sweet. 

ps. Tomorrow begins 30 days of thanks-giving. I'm excited. 

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Now.


I've been thinking a lot about how cool it is to be in a season of life
where I have very little holding me down. Sometimes I think about 
how just 3 months ago, I was living in Colorado, about to move
1,200 miles away. Now I'm here & it's great & all I can think about is where 
I'll be for my residency, because there are so many places I want to visit.
[spoiler alert: it's Austin, TX. More on that later.]
But in the midst of my excitement for the future, I've realized that 
I am often robbed of each day's joy because of my anticipation of what's next.

So this is now: 
I am almost done with my first semester of graduate school.
I've found friends & a church that I love.
I live in a beautiful city, in a huge apartment, in a cute room.
I have the best roommates I could ask for.
It's almost November, and I still get to run outside in a tank top.
I am so very thankful for it all. 



Saturday, October 27, 2012

All Too Well.

It's a Taylor Swift kind of morning. 
Try as you might to hate her, her new album is good. 
[REALLY good.]
I'll pretend it's because I live in the same
town as her, but honestly there's just something
so emotionally appealing, catchy, and perfectly angsty about her
songs that I can't get enough of this morning. [or ever, really.]



Friday, October 26, 2012

Four Months

June 26th, 2012 was the scariest night of my life.
 
Four months ago, I left work in the middle of the day under a pitch-black sky filled with smoke.
Four months ago, I used my windshield wipers to clear falling ash from my view.
Four months ago, I saw a wall of fire cascade down the hillside toward my home.
Four months ago I stood in front of the television all night
& cried as I watched my childhood neighborhood burn to the ground. 
Four months ago, I spent 14 days as an evacuee, moving from house to house 
with my family, close friends & animals. 
Four months ago, I recognized just how few material things mattered to me
& just how many things could never be taken away by fire.
[Don't get me wrong, I did cry in the middle of COSTCO about my
yellow KitchenAid mixer and Ariat boots-both of which did not burn]
Four months ago, my life changed. 

It's amazing what can happen in four months. 
I have so much to be thankful for. 




 

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

I am satisfied in you.

Some days I am restless. 
Other days, being satisfied is as simple as breathing
the next breath, thinking the next thought of how much I am thankful for.
I know a lot of my daily experience depends on my perception 
of what is going on, but I also know that both of these 
types of days were created by God for a purpose. I am completely
understood by Him, & therefore my deepest needs are met by
his closeness as a response to my longing for Him. 
Today is one of those easier days & I am thankful  for that. 


Monday, October 22, 2012

What I've learned [Part 3]


I've had a hard time blogging lately because I've been so busy &
exhausted with school. But I wanted to finish what I started, which is
reflecting on the things I've learned from this season of life. This season
I had my heart broken, lived through a devastating forest fire, 
 moved accross the country, & followed my dream of becoming an 
occupational therapist by starting school in Nashville, TN. 

Being broken connects one to another. 

This lesson is one of the most apparent & probably
the one that I've experienced as the most fruitful since I've
lived in Nashville. One of the biggest lies you can believe when 
you're hurting is that you're unique-there's not a chance anyone understand
what you're going through. But what I've learned in this season of life is not
only that brokenness is common to all, but also that deep relational
development is born from vulnerability & brokenness. Since I've been in 
Nashville, I've made friends that I would never have bonded with had we  
not shared the common experience of deep hurt & brokeness. I'm experiencing
a closeness with people that has taken so much longer to develop in the past
& it feels great. I have grown in my own ability to see the beauty in new 
beginnings, & I have seen my growth directly affect those who are 
hurting as well. Brokenness creates a fertile ground for restoration not
only in our own hearts, but the hearts of others. I love it. 

[If you missed part 2, read it here.]

   

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Glimpses from home

I was able to spend a long weekend in Colorado last week. 
After living in Nashville for a couple months now, it 
was just what my heart needed:

Time with my family that loves me,
old friends who know my heart,
& some of the prettiest land in this country. 








Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Symmetry

"I love God's symmetry of trouble & mercy."
Troubles for every day;
 mercies for every morning."
[Matt. 6:34 & Lam. 3:23]
-John Piper







Sunday, October 7, 2012

What I've Learned [Part 2]


There is a need for emotional vulnerability. 

I've spent a good portion of my life out of touch with my own emotions.
It's not that I don't feel things.  But when it comes to identifying
just what it is I am feeling, I often struggle to recognize or categorize my emotions.
I remember watching The Notebook in theaters & feeling highly
uncomfortable while everyone cried around me. It was then that I first
realized that I'm not very emotional.
Call it being unsentimental.
Call it being  hard-hearted. 
Call it having a heart that is 3 sizes too small.  

What I've learned in this season of life is that there is an absolute need
for emotional vulnerability. Could the root of my inability to exhibit genuine emotion
stem not from an inability to do so, but rather a fear of transparency?
Probably not in the case of watching The Notebook, but most definitely
in my emotional relatedness and honestly with myself & others.
In my worst moments, I want to attribute this to being an internal processor,
but when I'm honest with myself, I can identify the root of this as pride.
More specifically, it is a control issue of choosing just how vulnerable,
just how broken I wanted others to view me as. 

But here's what I'm learning: 
Brokenness is the human condition. 

We all share a common thread of brokenness, 
whether it be a failure in achievement, relationships or status. 
We all hurt, we all feel, & we all experience deep movement within us
that is not only natural, but necessary for growth. Confronting the state
of my own heart & allowing myself to be emotionally vulnerable has been
one of the best things I'm learning to do. I am overflowing with good
things that I have gained through conversations, questions asked, &
advice received because I've allowed myself to be a little bit vulnerable. 
Now that I've experienced these things, I can't imagine sacrificing them
for the sake of not feeling a little bit of hurt.


[This is the 2nd part of a mini series. You can find the topic here,
& part 1 here.]

Friday, October 5, 2012

Look what you did to me, Autumn.

It's officially started snowing in Colorado. 
It's weird to look out my window and just barely
see the first signs of fall here in Tennessee. In fact,
I'm sitting here in jean shorts and a t-shirt & it doesn't
seem right that this is what's going on at home: 




Colorado, I'll see you at the end of this week. 




Monday, October 1, 2012

Things that delight my heart

I've been sick for a week now, but I'm finally on the up & up.
School has been so much different than I imagined, but I'm
slowly starting to get my feet under me & figure out a rhythm 
to this whole thing. I came home from school today with this
waiting for me: 4 hand-made coasters from a lovely friend. 


Here's to falling leaves, cool weather, & warm drinks
to put these puppies to work.