I Reformations
I'm so glad that there isn't a book of the Bible called Reformations, be it I Reformations, 2 Reformations, or 3 Reformations (hey, there are three John's, right?) My life over the last day or two has been like this...
Christy: Mama, my left arm has been going kinda numb off and on, and I'm having muscle twitches. What do you suppose?
Mom: Honey, you need Potassium, and you need to eat more/more balanced.
Christy: [with a deep sigh] Yeah....
Christy: So, self, about unpacking---ready to go?
Self: Not until Nate moves out of the basement and Sarah moves out of my room and Marjorie moves out of my new study and Charity and Marjorie move to the basement and Dave moves to Charity's room.
Christy: Oh. Right.
Self: You can unpack your books and clothes starting... oh... maybe the 23rd.
Christy: And until then?
Self: It's called "living out of a suitcase."
Christy: I hate living out of a suitcase.
Self: So now you get to learn unselfcenteredness.
Christy: Coming from you, that's actually somewhat amusing.
Christy: [sinning] Why am I sinning?!?!
Holy Spirit: You have heat in your life which is tempting you.
Christy: But I don't sin like this at school!
Holy Spirit: You don't have heat like this at school.
Etc.
There have been a thousand wonderful moments since I got home. Today, for example, I spent four hours shopping for Christmas presents with my little sister, who is about the most adorable person currently in shoe leather. I have had multiple opportunities to hang out with Mom, Mom and Dave, Mom and Dad, Charity and Sarah, Nate and Dave, and other combinations. Nate surprised me by giving me the big gorgeous rolltop desk at the office---the golden oak one---for my personal space. <:0) I am blessed beyond my wildest dreams, and though I'm beginning to be slightly apprehensive at how seriously everybody is taking my new position (I hadn't realized that becoming "Managing Editor" at TOG was such a big deal) I figure they all know me well enough not to overestimate my abilities, so it's probably all good.
I hope.
I haven't conversed with a single soul from PHC for 36 hours... which is a little bit of a switch, and weird in its own right. On the other hand, I have talked to Sarah Lewis (HUZZAH!), and I went to see King Kong with Courtney until all hours last night (GOOD MOVIE). We are up to our ears in familial stuff around here, as usual. I've got Marjorie and Charity about 1/3 convinced that they need to do Yoga with me this spring---and I'm not going to join the health club after all, since the girls would prefer long walks in the woods, and we have an elliptical for cardio workouts. I'll take an occasional horsebackriding lesson, do my Yoga twice a week, the elliptical otherwise, and call it good.
But here's where the 1 Reformations comes in. Observe the list of habits which I must modify and/or acquire:
Eating three balanced meals a day (my current average is 1.5, and the content oscillates wildly. For example, lunch yesterday was a large carrot.)
Getting up at 6 AM every morning (since I have to leave for PHC with Dad at 7:15 AM, and I want my QT and exercise before we go)
Spending two days a week at the office, three days a week at school, and most evenings at home.
Having free evenings (GASP!)
Doing ALPHA and caregroup (not to mention church) at CLC.
Widen/establish my circle of acquaintances here at home. My family wants me to get out more.
Take a crash course with Dad in setting up and running a budget. I've never had money before, really, so now I need to learn to manage it.
Setting up/decorating/maintaining/cleaning a suite of two rooms and a bathroom (my incredibly generous family has given me lots of space, but what do I do with it!?!?!
Not to reference Huxley, but it really is a brave new world, and I think it's braver than I am.
And bigger.
A lot bigger.
And I feel very, very small.
<:-?
Soooo.... let the reformations roll on, including (but not limited to) alterations in dress, diet, schedule, reading habits, relationships, church, family, QT, exercise, cultural milieu, and all the rest. Constant change is here to stay.
I'll tell you what doesn't change in all of this. Absolute beauty is here to stay.
What is absolute beauty, you ask?
I'll give you a hint...
It starts with G. ;-)
Christy: Mama, my left arm has been going kinda numb off and on, and I'm having muscle twitches. What do you suppose?
Mom: Honey, you need Potassium, and you need to eat more/more balanced.
Christy: [with a deep sigh] Yeah....
Christy: So, self, about unpacking---ready to go?
Self: Not until Nate moves out of the basement and Sarah moves out of my room and Marjorie moves out of my new study and Charity and Marjorie move to the basement and Dave moves to Charity's room.
Christy: Oh. Right.
Self: You can unpack your books and clothes starting... oh... maybe the 23rd.
Christy: And until then?
Self: It's called "living out of a suitcase."
Christy: I hate living out of a suitcase.
Self: So now you get to learn unselfcenteredness.
Christy: Coming from you, that's actually somewhat amusing.
Christy: [sinning] Why am I sinning?!?!
Holy Spirit: You have heat in your life which is tempting you.
Christy: But I don't sin like this at school!
Holy Spirit: You don't have heat like this at school.
Etc.
There have been a thousand wonderful moments since I got home. Today, for example, I spent four hours shopping for Christmas presents with my little sister, who is about the most adorable person currently in shoe leather. I have had multiple opportunities to hang out with Mom, Mom and Dave, Mom and Dad, Charity and Sarah, Nate and Dave, and other combinations. Nate surprised me by giving me the big gorgeous rolltop desk at the office---the golden oak one---for my personal space. <:0) I am blessed beyond my wildest dreams, and though I'm beginning to be slightly apprehensive at how seriously everybody is taking my new position (I hadn't realized that becoming "Managing Editor" at TOG was such a big deal) I figure they all know me well enough not to overestimate my abilities, so it's probably all good.
I hope.
I haven't conversed with a single soul from PHC for 36 hours... which is a little bit of a switch, and weird in its own right. On the other hand, I have talked to Sarah Lewis (HUZZAH!), and I went to see King Kong with Courtney until all hours last night (GOOD MOVIE). We are up to our ears in familial stuff around here, as usual. I've got Marjorie and Charity about 1/3 convinced that they need to do Yoga with me this spring---and I'm not going to join the health club after all, since the girls would prefer long walks in the woods, and we have an elliptical for cardio workouts. I'll take an occasional horsebackriding lesson, do my Yoga twice a week, the elliptical otherwise, and call it good.
But here's where the 1 Reformations comes in. Observe the list of habits which I must modify and/or acquire:
Eating three balanced meals a day (my current average is 1.5, and the content oscillates wildly. For example, lunch yesterday was a large carrot.)
Getting up at 6 AM every morning (since I have to leave for PHC with Dad at 7:15 AM, and I want my QT and exercise before we go)
Spending two days a week at the office, three days a week at school, and most evenings at home.
Having free evenings (GASP!)
Doing ALPHA and caregroup (not to mention church) at CLC.
Widen/establish my circle of acquaintances here at home. My family wants me to get out more.
Take a crash course with Dad in setting up and running a budget. I've never had money before, really, so now I need to learn to manage it.
Setting up/decorating/maintaining/cleaning a suite of two rooms and a bathroom (my incredibly generous family has given me lots of space, but what do I do with it!?!?!
Not to reference Huxley, but it really is a brave new world, and I think it's braver than I am.
And bigger.
A lot bigger.
And I feel very, very small.
<:-?
Soooo.... let the reformations roll on, including (but not limited to) alterations in dress, diet, schedule, reading habits, relationships, church, family, QT, exercise, cultural milieu, and all the rest. Constant change is here to stay.
I'll tell you what doesn't change in all of this. Absolute beauty is here to stay.
What is absolute beauty, you ask?
I'll give you a hint...
It starts with G. ;-)
posted by Praelucor at 4:36 PM
4 Comments:
My sympathies, dear, as you start budgeting. There is little I dislike worse than managing my finances. It's so ... unimaginative. All the columns and the red numbers. And the unfun stuff like taxes and insurance! I never fail to get a headache and start dreaming about more pleasant things like warm green sweaters and boxes of chocolate. And since my current career is ... um ... not very lucrative ... my budget is usually in a state of stifled overwhelm, continually near drowning but by God's grace never quite. I am so, so glad that life is more than economics, and a person more than a number!
On a different note, it does sound like you are being very reformed :). I am glad I will still see you at school this spring. And I'm glad you're getting good family time -- me, too!
Another habit to add: going out to random lunches with me, since we now both work in the same town. On the same street. Yeeeehaaaaa!
I'm so glad you have personal space. :) It sounds like your life is going to be quite fun. Mine is too, but I do feel a little guilty about relegating my loving little sister to the living-room couch to sleep. There's just not room. We have four girls sleeping in one room, since the basement bedroom became the mail room for our business last summer. All my college stuff has formed a small mountain of boxes - and the three packages I mailed haven't yet arrived. There is absolutely nowhere to unpack my things. Nowhere. No closet space anywhere. So I'm gonna be living out of suitcases for nine months! Hehe, unless I find myself an apartment. :)
Anyway, our lives will work out. God has plans for every single thing we are learning right now.
I'l miss you dear! But I am glad that you get time at home and new challenges. Hopefully we'll be able to keep in touch next semester. I'm facing some of the same changes you are. Growing up....
merry Christmas!
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