Friday: 7 Quick Takes [Take Three]

I'm exhausted. Fifty more minutes and it won't even be Friday anymore. Why am I even bothering to do these 7 Quick Takes? Maybe I just need to feel community tonight...so here we go...I'll be there soon, bed.

--1--

 

I was called in to work on Monday. It was okay, though. Distraction is good right now. When I arrived home, I got a text message from my roommate. This is what it said: Hi :) I'm still in bed. Got a little sick last night while at work. Think it was a quick bug though! I'll be getting up soon to take a shower. No joke (but it totally cracked me up that she was texting me a room away!). Even the smiley face. So we continued to text each other until I brought her back a tray with hot tea and yummy feel-better snacks. I love taking care of people. I think that's why I'm a nurse. :)

 

--2--

 

Speaking of tea, I'm getting on a craze lately. I drink it in the mornings during my devotion time...I like to have a mug of Sleepytime before I go to bed...and sometimes I like it if I'm home during the day with an afternoon snack. This is my favorite tea ever (don't mind my favorite mug ever--it got a little jealous so I put it in the picture, too. Pier 1 has the cutest mugs):

Harney and Sons Hot Cinnamon Spice tea...mmmm

 



 

--3--

 

A. and I painted our bathroom this week. (again, need distractions and purpose right now!) It looks so great. Much cleaner and whiter. The only downside--now the bathtub and sink look dirty because they're not as white!

A horrible picture of me, but I leave it for your amusment. Please focus on the upper right hand corner...where you can see the paint colors rather than me. (Really--who looks good when they're painting??)

 





--4--

I've been singing this week, which is incredibly healing and encouraging. I really haven't felt like smiling or laughing, much less singing. So it was a sweet moment when I realized in the car I was not only singing along with the P&W song but was even tapping my (non-gas-pedal) foot with the beat. My brothers are home from college for the holiday weekend and they tend to just burst into song randomly. Kind of like a real-life musical. Or a flash mob. It makes me happy to be around them and I find myself singing too. Thank you, Lord.

Little brothers

 



--5--

 

Thanksgiving itself was beautiful along with a handful of heartache (okay, let's be real. more than a handful) that I'm not with P. and his family this weekend. As for my family, only my immediate family gets together, but we're all pretty close so we have a great time together--my parents, my sister and brother-in-law, my two precious nephews, my twin brothers, and their friend from college. Not only did the gifts of family and food make me thankful...but also the deeper blessings like salvation, mercy, grace. The ones that can't ever be taken away no matter what comes or who leaves.

 

My nephew with my *ahem* fruit turkey. What would we do without Pinterest?

 



--6--

 

The breakup with P. continues to overwhelm me in ways I can't begin to share on here and not sure I even want to. Maybe if I were one-on-one with you at a coffee shop, but here I feel it wouldn't serve much purpose for either one of us. Please just send up a prayer for me. And for him. That God will use this time to refine us and make us more like Him. That if He wants us together, He'll work in P.'s heart. And if He doesn't...that He'll work in mine. Seems so easy. Feels so painful.

 



--7--

 



That being said, let's end with grace. "Grace isn't something we say before a meal. It's a way of life." LOVE that quote. God continues to show me His face and His comfort and to send me grace through the people in my life right now. My brother's 'I love you' on the phone. My friend V.'s response when I sent an 'I need you' text. ("What kind of ice cream do you want me to bring?" she replied. Love that girl. And ice cream.) My friend C. going out to lunch with me today. Two kind comments from blogger E. My coworkers telling me it's okay to not be okay right now. And many, many more. Thank you, friends. Thank you. This all means so much to me. Even if I don't say it...it's probably because there's a lump in my throat and tears I'm holding back.

Disclaimer: I know my heartache is my own. And that so many others carry heavier burdens. I don't mean for my posts to sound self-absorbed. My own heartache forces me to slow down and see others' needs and burdens more clearly and gives me a desire to alleviate their pain, too. I trust in a good God and I believe He cares about every single heartache...yours and mine. Let's lift each other up in prayer and love.