... owning a cat

I have been seriously procrastinating on grading this week. Something about knowing that I only had 18 exams to grade rather than the 320 of Biochemistry 440 from the fall increased my laziness. I mean, I graded 320 exams in one sitting (admittedly with a significant reduction of brain function and general life skills by the end of it), so 18 exams should basically grade themselves without any effort on my part. Sigh. I am returning them tomorrow, so I finally got myself to grade them tonight. Pathetic.

My efforts to avoid a (relatively) trivial task reached fairly epic proportions this weekend. Thankfully, I have had a cat to keep me entertained. Coming from a family that held being "dog people" with even more loyalty than we were "Toyota people," a cat is a strange creature. Hobbes is exhibit #1 that my mood swings aren't that bad. I don't really know what sparks the transition from the snugly kitty to the lion that looks with great distain on us lower life forms. Until owning a cat, I had never received such regular doses of distain. I try to affirm my own worth to the cat. "I am a person. I am bigger than you. I have a job. I have a Master's degree! I can buy things (like your food, you ungrateful beast)." This crescendo of self-defense is met with a blink or a yawn. And if I'm extra lucky, a sarcastic little meow. Maybe Hobbes has a point. I did just go through this conversation out loud while (otherwise) alone in my apartment... maybe talking to myself isn't the way to convince my cat he should respect me.

I also don't get how after hours of sitting contentedly on the couch while I am moving around, one of the times I walk back in the room is greeted with a startled meow and flight to the nearest box. By the way, apparently, boxes are the grand-daddy of all bases in cat-world. My mere presence could have been unnerving a moment ago, but now he is a BOX-CAT and box-cats are very brave and fierce. Box-cats dare you to try sneaking up on them again. Box-cats resolutely believe the best defense is a good offense against all strings (and hands) in the general area. Box-cats don't always keep claws pulled in while "defending." And. Box-cats aren't hampered by trivial things like not fitting inside said box.

By the way, when I finally got myself to grade the exams, Hobbes got jealous of all the attention those boring papers were getting and thought he was a much more deserving object of my devotion. With an adorable little purr/meow he laid down on my answer key and tried to bat my red pen off the table. I guess I can be a "cat person" too.

... Reunions

Sometimes I feel lonely this quarter. Sometimes I miss dear friends from before. And sometimes God blows my mind. This morning was a mind-blowing type of experience. I just got to see Julie Richards! Yeah. Be jealous. I got her within a couple hours of landing state-side. And I got to see her after riding the bus there with another Barnabas friend, Kelli.

Aren't friendships a wonderful thing? How crazy and cool is it that in the midst of billions of people on this world, the sight of one (or two from today) person can make you so happy. I morn and miss friends that have been scattered but that makes the reunions so much more sweet. I love that God makes paths cross again. Like a job opening in Texas. Like a lay-over between China and Chicago. Like a wedding. Like heaven. I can't wait to spend that time rejoicing in the best reunion of all time.

... nature

Whether or not Seattle knows it, it is spring. In celebration, we went out waterfall hunting on Saturday :)

I laughed more than I have in a while.

One of the other times we went waterfall hunting was on our honeymoon (a highly successful trip, 16+ in one day!). It was fun reminiscing about our honeymoon and the adventures we had.

We also remembered family vacations from growing up... for example:

When I was in 5th grade, we went to San Diego and specifically, to Sea World. At this time I loved dolphins with a passion. The highlight of the trip, for me, was that I was going to feed a dolphin and pet it. At this time, I was going to be a marine biologist and this day was going to be the best ever!! My parents lovingly forked over however much they charged for a little thing of fish to feed their dolphins (which is an awesome money making scheme, by the way... they make you pay to do their job. Genius!) and I got the honor of being the first one of the family to offer a dolphin a fish. I held out my little fish coaxingly and was ATTACKED by a sea gull. The sea gull swooped in to steal my dolphin's fish! But, in my effort to coax the dolphin close enough to pet, I moved my hand and the sea gull latched onto my finger. I dropped the fish and started crying and bleeding. I couldn't pet the dolphins, I had to go to the first aid station and get a band-aid. As I sat there as Sea World filled out an incident report my parents tried to reassure me that "at least the dolphin caught the fish" that I dropped. And thus it was that I came home from vacation with a sea gull beak shaped scab on my hand and a little less passion to be a marine biologist.

Daniel, on the other hand, remembered that he went to California and saw a cool car.

... Easter!

Happy Easter!

The Mars Hill Church's Easter Celebration was amazing. ~17,500 people came and 682 people were baptized! woot! woot! I have never seen Pastor Mark so excited or yell so loudly. It was also fun to spot Pastors James and Erik baptizing people and Caitlin dancing for joy with each person.

We also got to be a part of Zack's first ever Seattle Metro Bus ride on the way down there. :) Our community group is so precious and I'm going to miss these friends so much. But, as Sara said today, we do get to party for eternity together so we can't be too sad. :)

To cap it all off, I got to take a nap and we're making homemade pizza this evening.

... disappointment

This past week, I had thought we were finally going to be pregnant and was disappointed. Really disappointed. Many tears type of disappointment. According to my default settings, disappointment leads to depression and depression makes me more disappointed in myself, which feels all the more depressing and disappointing. Thankfully, God stepped in via Daniel, my mom, and a friend (all in 1 day!) and told me to escape the cycle

My challenge for myself today is to remember disappointments that God has brought me through and gather confidence that He can handle this one.

• We wanted God to give us a job in Seattle but He clearly chose Waco for us. And then He let us see a couple of ways that the Baylor job could fit Daniel really well, just because He's nice like that.
• I didn't want the Lake City Campus of Mars Hill Church to close but have grown more and been more excited about who God is and what He can do since being at the U-District
• I didn't get in to the more prestigious grad program at UW and it would have been higher stress and I wouldn't have been in Rachel's lab, set up for the gift of a job I had this year.
• I didn't want to give up my academic pursuits until I realized how much more I enjoy teaching and kids.
• I was disappointed my dear Meg moved to Texas and now I'm so excited to have her there. I'm moving to a city that I have never even visited and I have a best of the best friend in driving distance.
• I was disappointed that I broke up with my high school boyfriend and we have been married for over 2 years now!
• I was disappointed in myself and my life in my senior year of high school and God saved my life, stopping me from committing suicide, and is still freeing me from my self-imposed legalism.
• And on this weekend, I can't imagine the disappointment that Jesus' friends faced on Good Friday. All of their hopes and trust in who Jesus was must have been crushed as they saw Him be crushed.

If God can turn that disappointment into the greatest victory of all time... I don't know about you, but I'm feeling more hopeful that He can handle my disappointments.