A Re-Occurring Theme

Last weekend Aaron had Spiritual Formation class in Charlotte. I went with him and hooked myself to our friend's Netflix and watched almost 17 episodes of Dexter from the beginning of the 1st season, (never seen it before, was pretty sure I didn't really like it right away, but it grew on me.....). When I wasn't watching Dexter, I spent time at Trader Joes, ate great food with Aaron, and went to one evening of his class with him. It was fun meeting people and being a student for a night. The lecture was very introductory but good about depth in spirituality. There was also a session the head of the counseling department came in and spoke about 'attachment theories' with children and adults. It was interesting. I really get psychology, even though I don't buy it all because some is just really hard efforts to put everyone in some kind of box. Anyway, if you don't know about it, you should read something on it because it is interesting. And I may have learned something about my rearing and how I relate or attach to people, that I found helpful.

Saturday we met up with the Heaslips and had dinner and spent time catching up. I love that family and Aaron and I are both super encouraged with good time with them. Sunday church was incredible. Its hard not to wish we lived in Charlotte merely to hear this pastor every Sunday. I've only heard him twice but he has a presence that you know the Holy Spirit is with him. And you know they spend time together through the week. He told great, to-the-point stories about his week. He spoke on Revelation 10 and 11, Aaron said it's probably the most debated scripture in Revelation. I loved it. It was hearty. And we watched a video clip from a documentary done in 2009 about Martin Luther King's death. There was a great tie-in for that, it wasn't random at all. Revelation speaks about being a witness and the title of the movie was "The Witness". I think he said it could be found entirely online. .... To top it all off, the church had a tent outside and staff that made root-beer floats for everyone in celebration of Father's Day. (Aaron's first technically!)

At our smallgroup this week we talked about comparing themes in Adam and Eve's lives and Noah's. This may seem obvious but they were also witnesses. This theme has really impacted me. After talking about the two different stories for over 45 minutes, the covenants that were made, the missional aspects of these scriptures; the fact that these people witnesses came back to me. I've just never thought about it. At first I was annoyed a little, because I am impatient and kind of wanted to move on. There's lots of "be fruitful and multiply" and "spread about the earth" but outside of relationship and love and the reconciliation, I felt like what we were talking about was pretty elementary, until the simple re-occurring theme from earlier this week dawned on me. Noah was a witness to something incredible. Building a huge boat in the middle of a drought was probably really lame, even if he did have faith. Getting on that boat and seeing the world around him get swallowed up probably didn't feel all that great either. Spending 40 days and nights on that boat probably got a little old. I don't imagine him and his family to be playing endless games of texas hold-em and singing road-trip songs the whole time. .... Then the last few days when he was sending out birds to try to find some land, I bet those were some LONG days. Even if he knew God would in the end save them.  .... So the story is concluded with everyone getting off the boat, surely celebration, a rainbow and a covenant. I've never appreciated this story like I do now. ...... The thought to really bow my head every time I see a rainbow hit me. The thought may be silly but there's so much packed into it. We were focusing a lot on what was being said about mission in these passages in Genesis. The fact that these humans experienced what they experienced, then told the stories for years and years to bring God the glory. All of this put a new meaning to the word 'witness' for me. Previously the word annoyed me because it made me think of irritating people that want to be seen as righteous and surely have good in their hearts but are so busy trying to tell "their story" that they don't ask questions or want to understand the people that they're talking to. I realize these thoughts are simple but I love it.


Today I'm going to yoga at noon and writing some letters.
Gender specific ultra-sound in just over 2 weeks!
My Toyota is working great with new breaks. I am enjoying it so much.
We're having dinner with my sister tonight at her new apartment and tomorrow I'll be hanging out and helping with a friend's wedding all day.
And I guess I should note that last night, many people remarked on the baby that was obviously growing inside my belly. Hooray chub! It's getting baby shaped!

Love, love, love, love, love.