Turbo Tax and The Water Cycle: an unlikely couple

It's a dreary, windy, very un-snowy day in Nashville. I've got the house to myself for awhile this morning and afternoon. Sometimes that's enough to drive me crazy, sometimes it's a welcome treat. I think I'm a sort of bi-polar introvert-extrovert. Who knows.. Today, I'm feeling quite cozy here on the couch. All the lights are off and the dark clouds are making everything sort of dim and peaceful. [Love. It.] My plan for the morning was to drink coffee and explore the free version of Turbo Tax. After three fairly simple questions, I gave up. My brain was not built for taxes. So, I will be doing some research before continuing my relationship with Turbo Tax. My next plan for the day is cleaning. Seeing as I'm writing this post, it's pretty obvious I'm procrastinating on that plan. My new favorite thing is cleaning whilst watching a movie. Sounds lazy, but it's ingenious. If I put on a movie I've never seen before, the whole plan self-destructs. Because, of course, you're going to plop down on the couch for "five minutes" to see what's going to happen. Yeah right. You're just going to watch the whole movie. So I have found that by putting on a movie like The Wizard of Oz, Princess Bride or Julie & Julia, I don't face the temptation of the couch, but rather, the movie serves as a mild distraction from my cleaning frenzy. The whole time I'm quoting lines and laughing at the right times and getting choked up when I know to get choked up. And I don't even have to be in the room. Brilliant!

Have I mentioned, by the way, that I love the movie Julie & Julia? I watched it twice when I had mono last year. Since then I've watched it an embarrassing amount of times, many while cleaning. So many times, actually, that Adam often jokes that Netflix is going to ban me from watching it anymore. And to be honest, I'm a little concerned they might. There is just something about the story and these women that speaks to me. I guess it reminds me of my life in some small way. Whatever it is, Julie & Julia has become my favorite movie. If you haven't seen it, see it!

In Nashville [and maybe elsewhere?] there are these billboards for WeCanKnow.com:

If you have five minutes to waste, you're welcome to check out the website. But it's just a bunch of hoo-hah if you ask me. The main point is [and this should be funny to you if you've read my first blog post] they say Jesus is coming back May 21st of this year and that the end of the world will occur on October 21st. Literally the day before my birthday. Hysterical. It just seemed appropriate to share. Especially since I'll have to change my blog title and tag line: "Life After Twenty-Four: Just when I thought life might end, the world did." [On a more serious note: God is sovereign, and just because I'm not convinced in the least that these people know what they're talking about, I know Christ will come back when it's the right time to come back. Be it May 21, 2011 or, you know, another two thousand years from now. My hope is that these people are not so distracted by this specific date that they miss out on the joy of following Christ. I'm no theological scholar, but maybe that's why we shouldn't know when the world's going to end in the first place. Because, let's be honest, my humanity would push me to spend my last days eating donuts and pizza instead of loving others well and telling them about the love of God. There is value in trusting God with the future of the world.]

I had coffee with a friend a couple of days ago. Being a year younger, she was sharing her anxiety and frustration with the job-searching process and with the officially growing up process. Lord knows I was a mess my last semester of school. Overwhelmed with fear of the unknown, with desire for security, with worry about the coming year. Needless to say, my friend is handling the pressure with much more grace than I had. But I could sympathize with her frustration. Admittedly, because I'm still occasionally facing that same frustration even in my post-grad life. I've encountered three rounds of unemployment this past year. Four, if you count the months before graduation. None of them pleasant experiences. But each time, God has provided, He's comforted me, He's restored my self-worth and self-esteem, and He's promised He'll take care of what's to come. I was so happy to impart that little sliver of wisdom to my dear friend and so thankful to have even a sliver to offer. I think the bottom line is: God just knows what He's doing. He just does. And He's probably not just winging it. Only a guess, but if he planned out the mechanics of our hands and thought up the water cycle, God probably knows what He's doing. Hopefully I can get through one day actually trusting in that.

Now back to that cleaning...

(as an aside: apologies for the title. trying to intrigue the reader, draw you in. also, I have a weird sense of humor..)