Starbucks madness

I am visiting my [crazy :-) ] friend Carlene this weekend, and since my visit was very last minute, she's worked every day. But she works at Starbucks and opens alot, so I've been getting up several hours after her and going to Starbucks to hang out for the last few hours of her shift. I brought Stephen Lawhead's newest book, Scarlet, with me, and I finished it today. So good! It's the second in a series about Robin Hood, set in Wales at the time of the Norman invasion, in the late 12th century. Scarlet is, naturally, told from Will Scarlet's perspective. It was the perfect book to read with my coffee in the mornings. :-) I also talked to a few of the people who work there with Carlene. Like R, her manager, who is crazy and told her we'd better do "something fun" since she wasn't working this afternoon, then give a full report of how much fun we had. Or else. And V, who "loves semicolons" and has awesome bouncy hair. And K, who told R and Carlene he wanted my phone number. Rule #1: if you don't want someone to know something, don't tell R. R promptly told me what K said.
And RY, who obediently wrote " X amazing" on my cup when Carlene told him to put make my coffee extra amazing. And there were many more...
Since I spent so much time at Starbucks this week, let me give you some drink advice :-) Try....

A grande Starbucks Doubleshot with four shots instead of three. With X Amazing.
A black tea lemonade with apple juice instead of lemonade (don't ask) and a few pumps of raspberry.
Zen Tazo tea. Perfect for reading.
A black and white mocha (half white, half regular chocolate, which balances the two, and a pump of vanilla.)

Oh yes, and smile at your barista! :-)

Waiting on God

I have been reading Waiting on God by Andrew Murray and enjoying it so much. There is so much wisdom and encouragement and conviction in what Murray says. Here are a few favorite parts of what I have read so far. :-)

"It is specially at the time of prayer that we ought to set ourselves to cultivate this spirit [of waiting on God].
Before you pray, bow quietly before God, just to remember and realize who He is, how certainly He can and will help. Just be still before Him, and allow His Holy Spirit to waken and stir up in your soul the childlike disposition of absolute dependance and confident expectation. Wait upon God as a living Being, as the Living God, who notices you, and is just longing to fill you with His salvation. Wait on God till you know you have met Him; prayer will then become so different."

"He knows so well that we are unable to do what is really holy and heavenly, except as He works in us, that He means his very demands to become promises of what He will do, in watching over and leading us all the day."

"If we but saw our God in His love, if we believed that He waits to be gracious, that He waits to be our life and to work all in us- how this waiting on God would become our highest joy, the natural and spontaneous response of our hearts to His great love and glory!"

Simple Woman's Daybook

I am still figuring out the tech part of the linking and everything that go with this Daybook... and I posted it on Tuesday even though I wrote it on a Monday... oops :P But I'll get it right soon ;)

FOR TODAY...

Outside My Window... A courtyard with stones and ivy that I've seen for two years and will trade next fall semester for the arboretum :-)

I am thinking... about C.S. Lewis and my test on that class; about reading The Problem of Pain this summer; about being done and seeing people :-)

I am thankful for... People to study with and later to do nothing with

From the kitchen... A random assortment of end-of-the-year dorm food... a quesadilla Chris made, chicken noodle soup, macaroni and cheese, an apple, and popcorn...

I am wearing... A blue skirt from Israel and a black t-shirt over a white cami, flip flops, hair down, and earrings Mom sent :-)

I am creating... A mental layout of my suite for next year and a list of what we still need, a plan for coordinating the Suites small groups, Bible studies, and discipleship groups, and a list of potential leaders I still need.

I am going... to take a test at one and be DONE with my sophomore year after that!

I am reading... Notes on many C.S. Lewis books, The Once And Future King, and my Bible

I am hoping... to spend a great deal of time in prayer & reading & waiting on God very soon.

I am hearing... People talking as they study or (sleepily ;)) celebrate the end of the school year.

Around the house... Half-packed boxes, unwanted clothes, old notebooks and out-of print textbooks, girls sitting in flip-flops happy to have finished their first year of school

One of my favorite things... Books- the smell of them. And horses :-) The smell of them, and the feel of them, and the sound of them eating.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... Watch movies on our list :-) Spend time with Clara, go visit the boys, go to the Orchestra concert and jazz afterglow, say goodbye after graduation, go to Chicago :-)

Finals