God is Speaking

Today was a heavy day. It was good, I guess, because it was one of those days where the divine and the mundane seem to merge, and I feel like I get a glimpse of my life as something important, as something that God is working on. That sounds kind of cheesily poetic, so let me explain.

I went back to my old school office this afternoon, because Jason wanted to hear about my time in Senegal. I used to babysit his kid, so I knew him and his wife pretty well, and they are passionate about world missions. Jason and I used to break from working to talk about how God was directing our lives, and it was really awesome to get to do that again.

There's just something different about sharing stories from my trip with someone who loves missions. They ask different questions, they get excited about the things I do, and there's a general air of awesomeness surrounding those conversations. I told Jason about my ideas for the future, and he shared what God is doing in his life, and I just had this feeling of "God is so crazy amazing, and I just feel giddy talking with someone about this God we both love so much."

And then Jason went and got all voice of God on me. By which I mean he randomly said, "I think maybe you know this, but from reading your blog and hearing you talk, I think you're going to end up on the mission field for the rest of your life."

It was the first time someone has said, not asked, that I will be a career missionary. And yeah, the idea has crossed my mind, though I tend not to think that far ahead. But suddenly it seemed so real, and it felt right. I know I'll go back overseas, and I can't really imagine a point in my life when I will say, "Okay, that's enough. I've traveled and told enough people about Jesus."

Then he went on to say that I will find a guy when I least expect it, and that God tends to bring missionary couples together in crazy ways. And for once it didn't bug me. I won't go into why this time was different, but yeah, when I think of the future, of living overseas for years and years and years....I want a guy beside me. I want a partner. Not someone to fulfill my every need, because that's God's job, but someone to work with me, to have strengths where I am weak, to talk to in English when everyone else is speaking gibberish.

So that was super awesome.

Mentally Reset

I went to Northbrook today, which was slightly terrifying because I went by myself like old horrible times. I sat next to an older guy that I kind of recognized, and we massively bumped heads when we both reached for our Bibles. Oops.

But the service was awesome. I miss Northbrook sometimes. The sermons are always so practical and hard hitting and personal. Today's was about humility, and the various sneaky ways pride manifests in our lives (mine is not sneaky....I think I am better than people, and I think I deserve everything good and nothing bad, and these are things I know God has to work on in my life). Anyway, we focused on God's grace, and how God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble, and how really, we just need to forget ourselves and always focus on God. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. It's so simple, but I always need to be reminded of it.

I think God works most powerfully in my life in really small ways. Last night, as we were entering the Jackson city limits, God reminded me of my water bottle sitting in the cup holder next to me. I automatically thought "eh, I'll leave it there for Erin to get rid of." Hello, ever-present pride! But then I immediately felt like God was rolling His eyes at me, and I knew I had to take the water bottle with me. It was a tiny thing, but I really struggled with it. I simply didn't want to be bothered with such a stupid task, but in that little decision hung this monumental philosophy of "is it more important for me to serve and help my friend, or for her to serve and help me?" God got me to take the water bottle, and I won a small (but huge) battle with my pride. God has to start small with me. I am a slow learner.

I surprised Dr. and Mrs. Guthrie after the service, and it was super great to see them and hug them. I adore them because they just sent their 17-year-old son to war-torn Sudan all by himself because they knew God wanted them too. Mrs. Guthrie is really into OCC, so she ate up my stories of our distributions, and then honestly told me she wanted to be updated on my application for Samaritan's Purse. I love them a lot, and I will miss them not being in my life.

At home, Jennie and I had a great conversation about what we learned in church, and what God has been teaching Jennie about gratitude. I really miss our Sunday conversations. It's so nice to get life perspective from someone in a different life stage than me. Plus, she is wise and stuff, and she has different struggles than me, which makes me learn from her in roundabout and sneaky ways.

Then I went to Jackson, hugged Brother (Tim) goodbye, and took Erin to Memphis. We drank coffee at Otherlands and talked for a couple hours about materialism. I miss college and Jackson, and all these awesome conversations about big life philosophies and Christian decisions and how to best live a life that will please God. I need to find that sort of comfort and passion in Peoria.

I love Erin a lot. I'm so excited she is marrying someone I love, and I'm so excited that no matter where God sends us in the world, we will save up our money and visit each other.

When we got back to Jackson, I bought strawberries at Kroger (I realized I was getting nostalgic for Jackson when I got bleary-happy in my local grocery store) and junk food at Sonic. I ate while the kids bathed, then played with them before they went to sleep. Jennie and Dusty and I watched Dr. Horrible, but they did not appreciate its awesomeness. Then Jennie watched more LOST, and it made me want to watch the whole series through really badly.

I want to be humble, and I want to be anti-materialistic. Dramatically so.

Quote of the day:

Jennie: Hm!
Dusty: Hm!
Jennie: Okay, you're mocking my epiphany.
Dusty: I'm having my own epiphany.
Me: You are lying! You are sinning while you sit!
Dusty: No, I'm epiphanizing.
Me: You're epiphanofalizing!
Jennie: You'd better not do that on the couch.

Roomie and Brother Take Me On a Date

I am dead tired, but today Erin and Tim took me on a mystery date. It was probably the best date in the history of dates. The mystery was halfway solved when we drove down the interstate and Erin said, "Are we going to Memphis? Jackson? Nashville?" and then we took the Nashville exit.

So naturally we ended up going to the Turkish restaurant after two hours of catching up on each other's lives. The food was so so delicious, and Tim surprised me by paying for everything we did today! Which got kind of pricey, so it was super sweet and like a real date.

After eating and chatting with our Turkish waiter and friend from our visit last year (he remembered us and actually knew I'd just gotten back from Senegal because of facebook....kinda cool, kinda creepy)....um, okay, so after eating, Tim gave Erin cryptic directions from his iPhone, and then we pulled up outside a hookah bar! SO MUCH AWESOME! It was such a lovely personal thing, because I only ever smoke hookah with Tim and Erin, and he paid for it, and it was just so fun.

Then we went to the Parthenon and walked around and filmed some dancing. It was crazy hot and humid, though, so we walked over to Borders for some AC. Then we wandered over to Starbucks and asked the barista where he recommended we hang out in Nashville. It was already past 9:00, though, so we didn't take his advice. Instead we walked to an ice cream shop for some internally cooling sweets. Then Erin decided she wanted Starbucks for the drive home, so we walked back to the Parthenon for the car, then drove to get coffee.

The drive home was fun. It was so nice to hang out with Erin and Tim again. I love them dearly, and I love that we are all three so comfortable around each other. We could go from talking about future missions plans, to sex, to peeing our pants, to what a biblical church should look like. I love them so much.

Best date ever. Which isn't saying much, since I've never been on an actual date, but regardless, it was totally awesome.

Craig 3 Reunion

Jennie had coffee ready for me by the time I went downstairs this morning, which I thought was just super nice. After breakfast and some quality time coloring with the kiddos, I got ready to hit the town.

First I hit Union, and went to my old office to surprise my bosses. It was pretty rewarding to see all their doubletakes when they realized it was me walking in. I got lots of hugs, and we all chatted for about half an hour. Then I went downstairs and bought a cute Union shirt.

At noon, I met Whitney, Ashley, and Josephine for lunch at McAlisters! Even though it has been awhile since we have truly been Craig 3 sisters, I guess we all just agreed to leave any hard feelings behind and just celebrate our sisterhood. Because it was awesome, and we laughed a lot a lot, and we caught up on each other's lives. Um, their lives are ridiculous, full of love and the possibilities of marriage (I think my head might explode if one of my sisters gets married) and school and jobs. We're adults now, I think.

After eating, we picked up Stephen, Ashley's photographer boyfriend, and for the next couple hours we went around Union taking pictures and reenacting pictures from our freshman year. Stephen was super awesome for putting up with us and being just as into the photo shoot as we were.

Jo had to leave at 4:00, but after we dropped off Stephen at his house, Whit and Ash and I went to Memphis. Specifically, we ate dinner at BB Kings. So good. Then I got Ashley to video Whit and me dancing on Beale Street. Luckily, people are often drunk on Beale Street, so no one really thought our behavior was too out of the ordinary.

We stopped by the Peabody mall so Whitney could use her Maggie Moo's gift card before driving back to Jackson. We met up with Stephen at Perkins and got the pictures from him while overwhelming the table with laptops. Then we said goodbye.

I love my Craig 3 sisters, and this better not only be the end of an era. It has to be the beginning of a new era: the Era of Annual Reunions!

Summer 2008

I am in Jackson, home of my college years! Specifically, I am in Jennie and Dusty's house, home of my summer 2008 and random times before and after.

It was incredibly bizarre walking through their back door, because it was immediately like I had not left. Bizarre in a good way, though. I just went back to coloring with the kids while trying to converse with their parents. Good times. Notable differences: Hannah can read, and Seth can talk, albeit in a language I cannot quite understand.

We went to dinner at a new Thai restaurant in town, which was super awesome delicious. And they had a little counter of Thai foods that you could buy, including some kind of sauce that was labeled "Maggi"! That is used in Senegal! How fun.

We didn't get home (aww, lookit me, calling their house my home) until 7:00, so the kids hurriedly changed into swimsuits and then played in their new pool. It was fun to see the kids get used to me again, to go from "Ummm, Tricia's here!" to "Tricia, hold my hands every single time I go down this slide."


Then they went inside, and all five of us crammed into the bathroom for their bath. Hannah asked if Jennie and I were going to take a bath together, and then she and Seth ate cookies while bathing. I can't think of anything more decadent. We watched some Veggie Tales, and the kids curled up on me, and Dusty took pictures, which made me feel posed and paparazied. We put them to bed, and then we adults went downstairs to eat the cookie cake Jennie had made me. Or I should say, the amazing cookie cake Jennie made me. See?


We watched So You Think You Can Dance, and then Jennie and I tried to think that we could dance, but...we couldn't. But we will improve! To sum up: I love being here, and it is impossible to believe that it has been six months since I've seen these guys. To end, I will share two awesome quotes by the kids that made me laugh out loud.

Hannah: Good walking on your knees, Tricia!

*I carried Seth up the stairs bundled in a blanket*
Me: You're a cocoon!
Jennie: You're a burrito!
Me: Well, you're a butterfly burrito.
Seth: I'm Seth.

Lots of Good

Today I got to hang out with my blood family and my family by Jesus. I just really enjoy both of them. And I got to hang out with a bunch of boys throughout my time at church, and I just love boys. They're so boyish. It's nice to be around that again.

And tomorrow I get to go to Jackson and see three sets of roommates!

And Sarah Pauli is going to room with my mom and I on the church mission trip! It's cool to see God continuing to answer my prayer. I worried that by leaving Senegal, I would lose my passion for missions and fulfilling the Great Commission. So Kim and my HandsOn devotional suggested praying for God to put people in my life who would keep that passion going. First Megan came into my life, and now I'm getting to spend a lot of quality time with Sarah. Awesome and awesome.

God is so crazy good to me.

Edited to add: And I'm painting again! It's just so much fun. I want to take lessons, but even so, I am very pleased with what I did tonight, in maybe an hour or so. I call it "African Doll" because....I painted my African doll. Take a look!

Edible Sensory Support

My aunt Pat is visiting this week, so my mom and I went to my grandparent's house for a family dinner. After eating, my grandma was showing us brochures for Williamsburg, where the five of us (plus my cousin) will be vacationing in July. She was in the middle of describing bayonets hanging from the ceiling when I saw my aunt take out her contact, stare at it for a second, then pop it into her mouth.

I fell apart laughing. Pat looked at me with a mix of "you are so immature" and "if you make me laugh I might swallow my contact." My mom gleefully told the rest of my family that once I got started like that, it might be a good ten minutes before I stopped.

After a few choking breaths, I thought I had composed myself. Then my grandpa said, "What would you do if I was in public and I took out my hearing aid?"

Oh my word. That set me off again, at the thought of him popping his hearing aid into his mouth in the middle of church. Luckily this time Pat and Mom joined me in laughing hysterically. Grandma and Grandpa even laughed along, although Grandpa tried to clarify that it was not what he had meant.

I had tears streaming down my face, and my mom had to physically turn her whole body away from me in order to stop laughing. About ten minutes later, I was composed, although the image of my respected grandfather chowing down on ear wear would pop into my brain and cause me to involuntarily gurgle a laugh.

It's been awhile since I've lost control of my laughter like that. Good times.