What's your story?

"The world will give you that once in a while, a brief timeout; the boxing bell rings and you go to your corner, where somebody dabs mercy on your beat-up life"-Sue Monk Kidd
I've been reading The Secret Life of Bees"..seriously good book, written beautifully and a really good study on people...and for those of you who know me..I LOVE to watch people. I love to watch people's idiosyncrasies, what they're wearing, how they walk, how they interact with other people. It's seriously fascinating. Discovery Village..great place to people watch..the boardwalk in Jersey..nothing funnier..airports..I love to guess where people are from and how they are handling the evilness of travel...I think maybe I would have actually done better in my grad classes had I sat in the front row..but I can tell you about everyone in the class..how they sat..what they did on their computers while listening to lectures..if they actually listened. Let's just say its probably a good thing that I've started to sit in the front at the Stirring...

what can I say..I'm a studier of environment and people..its what I do..just take all I see and store it away for a different time...(input and adaptability--strengths quest does know what it's talking about!)

anyways...that's not even what I was going to write about...

I wanted to write about the aforementioned quote...

Sometimes life gets so overwhelming, stressful, full of stuff, things to do, full of other's expectations..and you feel like you're being hit on all sides..like you're being hit when you're already down....so not fair..but then the Lord comes along with his mercy...and it always looks different..cuz he knows what you need..when you really need it.

Over the last week I've just been reflecting and thinking on tons of stuff, trying to sort things out in my life, and by the end of it just got hit full force with just plain depression..ugh...and in all my crying out and prayers..all I had left in me was to praise him....to thank him...because really there's so much to be thankful for. I don't think being thankful makes things any less painful or diffucult, but it gives you new perspective, and gives you the stamina to get back into the ring. And he knows..he knows when you need that extra shot of encouragement..and what it should look like. For me it comes in my relationships...that phone call from a beloved friend..a friend to cry with...friends who care about you and love you despite it all. The way he places people in my life just at the time I need them and the way he orchestrates events perfectly.

And I don't just see this in my life. It's beautiful to see him work the same way in people's lives all around me. Maybe its why I love to watch people...because I can always sense and see God moving even as they go about their daily routine of life. Just last night, Jenna and I, sitting and talking about the yucky things of life..painful things of life...but I just saw God's beauty. The way he saves his children, pulls them out of yuckiness, pours his mercy on them again and again, heals them, uses those hurts, and sometimes gives them a much needed break from life's beatings..and it always looks different...that's what makes it beautiful...

maybe that's why my favorite question to ask of people is..."what's your story?"...cuz there's so much in those three little words. People's story's are amazing, painful, crazy, ridiculous, awesome, awful, but always...always beautiful.