A forgotten sandwich

I forgot my lunch today.

It might be the first time in my life, I'm not sure.  Truthfully, I haven't had many opportunities accomplish this feat, because for all my life the kitchen has been a few steps away the entire time I'm doing school.  

That sorry excuse didn't affect Allison, who remembered her lunch.

Thankfully for me, my mom is awesome and dropped my lunch off at work.  One of my co-workers brought it to me.  Later, while I was happily munching, the same co-worker said, "Julianne, are you the favored child?  Is that why your mom only brought lunch for you?"

I laughed, "No, in this case, it's that Allison was the more responsible child and remembered her lunch."

This random conversation brought to you, courtesy of the fact that I didn't have any other ideas for a blog post this week.

Sincerely,
My mom's favorite child.  :)

The Story of My Stationery

OR,

Imposters, Stalkers, Hampsters, OR WORSE.

(A guest post by Molly, for Molly.)

2-28-2012

Julianne,

Do you like my new stationery?  During our last homeschool group while someone was talking, I began doodling (as normally happens in the aforementioned circumstance).  I drew a nutcracker using the one on our mantle as a model and I drew a butterfly and some random wavy lines.  When I rediscovered the notebook today, I decided it would make pretty stationery.  I made copies and voila! now you know the story behind the paper you are now reading!

Anyway, so excited to see you later today!  Miss you!

BTW- today is National Pancake Day!

See you soon!  YPPAF,

*it should be noted that the original does, indeed, include my full name.  However, due to previously stated concerns, I am not going to publish it here.

Since I'm interrupting anyway, I'm going to explain my abrupt change in backgrounds on the next one...  #8 was much too long to type onto my picture of her stationery, so I took a little creative license.  :)  Don't panic, the regular formatting will return very soon.

I hope you have enjoyed this book.  I also hope that you have learned

1. There's no such thing as a normal stalker
2. A hampster is not necessarily an impostor unless it claims to be a guinea pig.
3. Beware stalkers, impostors, facebook stalkers, hampters, enemy spies...

Sweet Season

It goes like this:

I'm participating in a songwriting challenge with some of my homeschool friends.  Every week, we receive a prompt via email containing a subject for that week's song.  A couple of weeks ago, the challenge was, "Write a song including the word, 'Snowflake.'"

"Great!"  I thought.  Lovely word, is it not?  And, with all the crazy weather that's been happening recently, I definitely shouldn't have been lacking inspiration.

I was.

Forget brainstorming and choosing the best idea.  I couldn't even come up with one.  Then, when I did, it wasn't a song.

So, dear blog readers, to you I bequeath this work of my brain, as a sort of consolation to myself for failing that week's challenge.  Whether this is to your fortune or misfortune, you decide.  :)

Snowflake on my tongue*

Wind sings in my ears

Every winter brings

Enjoyment of its own.

Trees enrobed in ice

Sparkle in the sun

Each one, oh, so bright

And I just close my eyes.

Smile.

On my tongue a

New snowflake has arrived.

*Do you see how I got that word out of the way from the very beginning? ;)

In case you're wondering about the plan

^This doodle has nothing to do with the post,
but I needed some graphics.  :)

During devos last week, I came across a striking quote in My Utmost For His Highest.  I know, I know, it's not the first time.  And, since I'm intending to actually read it all the way through from January 1- December 31 this year, it's probably not going to be the last.  Anyway, here it is:

"Have you been asking God what He is going to do?  He will never tell you.  God does not tell you what He is going to do- He reveals to you who He is." (Oswald Chambers)

My first thought was, "I wish I'd read this earlier."  I wish I'd read it in tenth grade, when the perfectionistic planner inside began to feel uneasy that I still had no idea about my college major.  Or, it would have been nice during my senior year, when I'd cry out to God, "I want to do Your will.  Please, just show me what that is!"

I've been asking the wrong questions.

You see, what I'm really desiring when I say, "Show me Your plan!" is not a knowledge of God's will for my life.  I know, it certainly sounds like that's what I'm asking.  I even had myself fooled.  But there's something else going on.  Do you want to know what it is?  (Hope so, 'cause I'm gonna tell you anyway.)

What I'm really asking for is the comfort I've always known.  The comfort of plans and schedules, and being able to say, "On Sunday I go to church," or, "On Friday I get to see my friends!"

In essence, I've been praying for God to give me a reason to be prideful when people ask me about my future plans.  I wanted Him to give me an answer that would make them walk away thinking, "Wow.  That girl really has her life together." instead of forcing me to admit that I'm as fragile and dependent upon my circumstances as everyone else.

And God, in His infinite and loving wisdom, refused to give into my whining.  Yes, He has plans for me, and He could have chosen to reveal them, but He said "No."

No, because plans are, after all, a flimsy substitute for the comfort only He can bring.
No, because I need to learn to walk humbly with Him.
No, because if I knew what was going to happen in my life, I'd miss out on a great opportunity to learn lessons about His character.
No, because I need to trust Him...

I think it's probably safe to assume that most of us are wondering about the plan in at least one area of our lives.  I certainly am, but you know what?  God can raise the dead.  He can transform our times of uncertainty into certainty about Him.

It's a wonderful place to be.

An apologetic letter to my blog

Well, hey!  It's been a while.
Do you remember me?
I totally understand if you don't.  I mean, I'm just the person who created you and all.
Seriously, I know how easy it is to forget your creator if they aren't visible.
The difference between us, of course, is that your creator has been totally absent, whereas mine never is.
You have a better excuse.

I've been thinking.
It's not good for you to be alone this much.
It's also not good for me to be under a lot of pressure to post on you.  You're fun and all, but there are days when I simply don't have time.  Lots of days.
So I came up with a solution.
What if I try to post on you once a week, on average?
Would that curb some of your loneliness?
Would you finally believe that I care about you?
Would that dry some of your invisible tears?
Do blogs even cry?  Somehow, I doubt it.  Oh, well, it's a good thing that you have such a great understanding of metaphors.  That's something I appreciate about you.

I'm going to close now, before this gets even more ridiculous.

Lovingly,
Julianne

P.S.  Did I mention that my camera is broken?  I didn't?  Well, it is.  So we're going to have to put up with whatever pictures I can manage to take with my webcam.  I'm sorry.  You deserve better.