octolilly [through the years]

I don’t know what the goopy sauce was, but I’ve had it in Chinese dishes before. “That viscous, semi-transluscent, color-less sauce that looks like alien amniotic fluid.” You know the one.

An awesome quote from The Girl Who Ate Everything: Cupcakes, Roast Pork, Hot Chocolate, and Fish Bladders.

In the midst of a very overwhelming week where I’ve been second-guessing every single thing, struggling physically with some sort of sickness that has encompassed me (I can’t even be touched without bruising or pain), I finally found consolation in Daniel’s arms tonight as I sobbed out my frustrations and worries.

He encouraged me and gently reminded me that although I don’t have a lot of answers for my health, the thing-which-will-not-be-named, the mysterious path of faith I am stumbling on, and so much more…that time will heal and often reveal the answers I seek. I just need patience.

We also reminisced about how ever since we’ve met, the Really Big pieces of our story have been bookended by January’s. I got kicked out of high school (and deserved it) in January, Daniel and I were engaged in January, we got married in January, we left a church in January, and this January we are in another state and on the edge of another journey (or precipice depending on my mood).

These pieces of my story remind me that I’ve been at the edge of other paths before. Scared. Overwhelmed. And that slowing down and just focusing on breathing is often better than mapping out a plan (or list after list) for the journey ahead.

When we were visiting in South Carolina for Christmas, we were blissfully wiggly to be back at Southside Fellowship.

Not only did Charlie Boyd sit beside us during the Christmas service (and I got a chance to tell him how much his Galatians series literally changed my life, and of course, sobbed the entire time and probably made him think um, okay…), but I also was IN THE SERVICE when the below happened:

MUCH love to Joe for putting it up on YouTube. 🙂