There are certain parts of just being back in the States that I love...getting together with people I haven't seen for the last year or so is top on the list. Last night I had dinner with my old roommate, Missy and we talked for a long time after that. She is one of those beautiful people who I can open up to and she sheds light on things that I never saw or believed until she shared her perspective. Today I had lunch with friend Eli who is heading to Bosnia next week for a few weeks and then coming back to life here and doesn't know for sure where he is headed. Tonight I am going to a movie with a friend who has been my friend for years and though we have walked very different paths, there is just a comfort in being with an old friend who knows who you are and still loves you. :)

Today I was working through a devotional thingy that a guy sent me for people who have just come back from being overseas and are re-entering the US. I have been challenged time after time even though I am only only on the second day of the study...but today this thing tied two verses together that I have never put together and I wanted to share because it was pretty cool.

"Your path led through the sea, your way throught the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen." Psalm 77:19

and

"Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.""
John 5:17

It was just a cool reminder that even when I can't see God at work, He is working. Even in this numbness He is working on me and preparing me to be more of the woman He wants me to be. And today He shed a light of hope in a dark place in my heart...it was painful, but oh, so sweet. Healing is a beautiful thing.

I'm reading too many books right now, as is my usual habit. One of them I am reading is called "Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious thoughts on Christian Spirituality". I really like this book...there are parts where I think the guy goes to the borderline, but I love the challenge of thinking outside the box I live in and whether I agree or not with all that he says, he says some really great things. I love this one story he told about a team of SEALs who went in to some area to free some American hostages. The hostages hid their eyes in fear when the SEALs came in and were not healthy mentally or physically and didn't believe that they were really Americans. Here is the paragraph I love...a clear picture of what Jesus did for us:

"The SEALs stood there, not knowing what to do. They couldn't possibly carry everybody out. One of the SEALs, the folksinger's friend, got an idea. He put down his weapon, took off his helmet, and curled up tightly next to the other hostages, getting so close his body was touching some of theirs. He softened the look on his face and put his arm around them. He was trying to show them he was one of them. None of the prison guards would have done this. He stayed there for a little while until some of the hostages started to look at him, finally meeting his eyes. The Navy SEAL whispered that they were Americans and were there to rescue them. Will you follow us? he said. The hero stood to his feet and one of the hostages did the same, then another, until all of them were willing to go. The story ends with all the hostages safe on an American aircraft carrier."