Stress, Friends, and a Birthday Party

This afternoon, after a stressful week and a particularly stressful morning, my friends reminded me of the comfort found in the blessing of friendship. 

My Hebrew test this morning was rough. Really rough. I got up at 6:15 to study at a coffee shop. The test was at 9:00. During the first few minutes of class, I began hearing sighs and under-the-breath groans from throughout the room. I soon added my own grunts of confusion and frustration to the chorus of agonizing Christian Studies majors. Between an extensive vocabulary section and a grammatically complex set of translation problems, that exam caused much intellectual weeping and gnashing of teeth. It was not a good feeling. 

Then, after my last class of the day, my friend Jason convinced me to come running-shoe shopping with him. I questioned nothing-it made perfect sense. We often run together and hadn't had any "bro-time" the past couple of weeks, so I was perfectly fine with spending a couple of hours in town with him. Why not, right?

Once we got to Traveler's Rest, however, Jason decided he needed to swing by Walmart to "look for some khakis". Then he had to stop and ask for directions to the shoe store. Well, he stopped at what happened to be my favorite restaurant in town. Rather naively, I still didn't catch on. The restaurant was dimly lighted, and the lenses in my glasses are transition lenses that make it difficult to see anything at all when a room is dark. Jason whispered something to the waitress and walked quickly down the hallway to the left. Slightly confused, I followed and...

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!" 

Gathered at the table were many of my best, closest friends. To their delight and mine, I was genuinely surprised! The stress of the day receded into the distant, murky ocean of my thoughts and emotions, and I was able to enjoy a splendid afternoon of fellowship. Hearty laughs, good food, and all the joy that comes with spending time with people you love ensued, and I was happy.

Thank you, Lord for friends. The to-do list will never go away. We will always be busy. We will always have stress. But God has given us the blessing of friendship, and that will be with us to the end. Thank you, Lord, for friends.      

Little Things: Updates and a Thought

This is going to be a quick, but I am exceedingly heavy of heart that my blog has been neglected for an entire month. I wonder if it ever gets its feelings hurt... Life has been ridiculous but pretty good, as always. Updates:

     A. Hebrew class is intriguing but beginning to be overwhelming. 

     B. I have my first extremely intensive research paper due in a couple of weeks. I have to develop a research question about the city of Thessalonica, create a thesis, and prove it. It should be fun, but it'll be a lot of work added onto an already stressful semester. 

     C. I am officially dating someone. Despite my nervousness for obvious reasons, the "Dad Talk" happened Saturday and went exceptionally well. He gave us full permission and blessing. :) Her name is Katie, and you (If you are from my home town) will likely meet her in the not-too-distant future. She's pretty much amazing. Godly, talented, wants to be a missionary, all that good stuff. I'm a lucky, excited guy. 

Here's a little thought from this morning. 

"Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." Ephesians 4:32

I look back in sadness on the many times this command would have helped me make a much better decision. Too often I get so wrapped up in trying to figure out the complexities of life that I forget to focus on the simple instructions that God has given us. Be kind and compassionate. Forgive. It's amazing what a difference the little things will make. 

Yup. Me and Katie :)