The Library.

So let’s skip all of my regrets of not having written in a few months and get right to the good part.

Back-story: I’m support-raising this summer and taking 5 independent online Bible classes and can’t seem to find a good, quiet place to get some letters and studying done.

So I’m at the library, and things seem to be going PERFECT. No one knows me there, and if they do, they don’t care. There’s a large desk where I can plug in my computer, connect to wireless, spread out my books and papers, and not bother anyone.

On my left, there are two teen-aged girls tutoring two younger girls in math. On my right are children’s DVD’s. In front of me is the main desk, and behind me is this black dude with a brief case. Are you with me?

Suddenly, this woman. lol This woman in a blue shirt. Long, curly brown hair, heavy-set. She starts talking REALLY loud to the librarian at the front desk. The teenagers start laughing at her a little bit. It goes on for a long time, and finally the guy behind me is like “SSSSSSH!” I sneak a peek at her over my cubicle, and she yells out, “Thank God you’re not MY roommate! Hahahaha!” I turn around and look at the guy behind me and laugh a little bit to ease the rising tension in his demeanor. He relaxes a little and says to me and everyone else around, “I don’t think she has an inside voice.” He sighs and goes back to work. Blue shirt calms down a little bit for a while.

Then I notice this guy. He looks around my age. He takes his son over to the DVD’s and says

“Hey! You like CHOO CHOOS! You wanna CHOO CHOO MOVIE??! ” Kid says, “Oh I LOVE CHOO CHOO!”

Dad says, “You love CHOO CHOO?” GOOD!

Kid: I LOVE CHOO CHOO!

Dad: You LOVE CHOO CHOO??
Kid: Yeah. I love dem.

Dad: It makes me so happy that you love CHOO CHOO.

Me: *Sigh* Me, too.

Kid: I love CHOO CHOO.

Me: Oh my gosh.

Dad: Let’s go home and watch CHOO CHOO, okay!?

Kid: I LOVE CHOO CHOO!

Finally, when those two split, Blue shirt lady is at it again. By this time, the math kids have given up. They have gone. Blue shirt is walking all around and finally tells a lady that is helping her kid pick out a DVD, “HA! Thank God I’m not YOUR roommate!” and walks away. Mom lady looks at her and says, “What?”

“Thank God you’re not her roommate,” I relayed.

The lady stopped and looked around confused, and then angry. She goes, “Really??” under her breath. Black dude and I realize in that moment that Blue shirt did not know mom lady. He yells after Mom, “She’s CUCKOO! She’s CRAZY!” I start packing up my things, finally surrenduring to circumstance. I turn around to face the man with the briefcase. “Well, it’s been real.” But lo. He wants to chat.

“Hey. You know, if she just said that to the wrong person, she could get hurt,” he said.

“Yeah, well it’s times like these that I’m glad we don’t live in NYC or something. Then she’d really be in danger.”

“Seriously. That’s where I’m from.”

“I figured.”

“Where I come from, people wait all year for someone to act like that so they can use it as an excuse to mess them up.”

“Heh, yeah. Well, I gotta go. I’ll be seein ya…I…”

Brief case guy’s not done.

“You know, I was under the impression that libraries were supposed to be quiet.”

“Well I guess this one’s an exception.” lol

I go over to the DVDs to see if they’ve got anything besides Alfred Hitchcock, Star Trek, and Miss Marple movies, and there’s Blue shirt’s kid. He runs right into me, appologizes, then says, (I’m not making this up) “MOM! Can we check out One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest!?” I will not go into the fact that this film is not for kids. It’s barely even for me.

I run over to briefcase guy and exclaim, “They’re checking out ’One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’! How ironic! Just thought you’d like to know!”

Returning my excitement he replied, “The librarian just told me she’s a ‘regular’ here! What the heck!”

We had a good laugh then said our goodbyes. And that’s why I got NO work done at the library today.

Thoughts from a Pretty Place

A couple of weeks ago, some of us packed up some blankets and mattresses to go sleeping under the stars one last time together before we part ways for the summer. Our favorite spot is a landmark called “Pretty Place.”

For those of you that aren’t cheering at the very mention of its name, Pretty Place is a stone chapel that was carved out the side of a mountain. We like to climb out on its ledge and sing and tell stories all night, then watch the sun rise the following morning. On my last time following through with this precious tradition, I couldn’t shake a heavy sadness that made me feel I would never have moments like these after leaving Clemson.

God has called me to move on to Fayetteville, Arkansas, and preparing for that has been scary and painful and just plain out of my comfort zone!

So there I was, waiting for the sun to rise. Now. When you are sitting on that rock in Pretty Place, let me make two things clear to you.

One. During the night, you cannot see anything but the sparkling city lights to the right, and of course the moon.

I remember sitting there almost wishing that the sun would not rise so that the last camping trip would not be over so soon. Imagine! Wishing for a sunrise never to come! I stared at the glittering town below, the stars in the sky, the moon. I didn’t want that to go away because I would never see it like this anymore. I’m moving away from Pretty Place.

I always have this creepy imposing desire to make time stand still. I told myself that I was being awkward and needed to just enjoy the morning like everyone else, but I couldn’t. I didn’t want the sun to rise! I didn’t!

Two. When the sun finally shows its first flame on the left, it illuminates the entire valley, revealing a view with tons more depth, distance, and best of all, colors! As soon as this landscape was revealed, I felt even sillier for wishing it wouldn’t come. Now I could see how high up we were. I could see all the little hills and trees, and the sky turned all kinds of beautiful!

God designed my personality to be very passionate and appreciative of every moment I spent with those I love. I know this. I come from a very emotional family and am easily the most nostalgic, sentimental girl you will ever meet. However, sometimes I think Satan uses that to make me fear the loss of the stars so much that I miss the sunrise. Arkansas is the next part of my life. For all I know, the things I’ve learned in Clemson are merely the basics. Don’t get me wrong. Stars are breathtaking, and the night lights are mesmerizing. But there’s so much depth in my life that I can’t see yet, and I know it. Perhaps God is bursting at the seams to ignite the sunrise in my life, and all I can think of is trying to freeze time. How shameful.

I don’t know if any of you struggle with “moving on,” but I fear it very much. God revealed to me at Pretty Place that life is far too beautiful to waste time on those sorts of anxieties when all He wants to do is show you a brighter, more profound exquisiteness than the one before. Class of 2009 [and Erin], let’s pwn this year! That’s what He’s saying, I bet. ^_^

This is the city to the right I was telling you about! Suzy took this photo. Well done, Sue!

 

Now imagine this. Plus INFINITY more watts of prettiness!!!Praise the Lord that the sunrises anyway.