and there was light, an email and a pigeon.

-Having such a lengthy email conversation with my sister that it felt like we had hung out all night, even though she lives in Texas and I live in Georgia.

-Three children chasing a pigeon with complete zeal and determination.

-The imperceptible shift from night to morning. The morning light brightens everything, but in such a way that I can't pinpoint the exact moment of brightening, but I just recognize that things look differently, lighter. I suppose change is often imperceptible until suddenly you wake up and notice that things look differently.

deep reflections

-Light reflecting off of and through the mirrored star lantern I discovered at a resale shop.

-Going to the diner for breakfast solo because my usual companions were out of town or busy. I realized that a good book is a great second to good friends for company.

-Practicing the dance we're doing for Cheryl's ordination service and really feeling each movement be woven together. Dancing sometimes gets down deep to my core and lets me express feelings in a liberating way.

confirmed brilliant

-Spontaneously going to a free concert at Eddie's Attic and hearing a great new band, the brilliant inventions. It's so relaxing to hear great music, especially when it's free!

-The confirmands processing down the aisle in church on confirmation Sunday. I know how hard they've worked, and found myself a little teary. It was really great to be able to stand behind Zach (I'm his mentor) as he joined the church. I'm really proud of all of them.

-Ditching TV and my computer to go take a late evening stroll through downtown Decatur and grab a decaf latte.

chocolate and coca-cola

-A friendly nurse showing me the quickest way to an elevator.

-Being able to see the Coca-Cola sign from the on-call room.

-Chocolate cake in the afternoon (or any time of day for that matter).

sweet serenades

-Being given a beautiful (and delicious) chocolate cake by my committee at my internship church. It says, "Whitney, your smile has warmed our hearts." It was the sweetest thing. I shared it with the youth after Bible study, and we all loved it.

-Buying warm rye bread, real butter and peach preserves from the farmer's market. The combination was so fresh and yummy.

-Playing guitar outside and having several friends show up, turning it into a relaxing gathering.

serene savannah

(Sorry for not posting for a while...I took a quick and lovely trip to Savannah. See?)

-Gorgeous moss-covered trees with the evening sun shining through them.

-A secretive door in the middle of an ivy-covered wall. My imagination went wild with what could be behind it.

-Reading Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil in Savannah, where it's set. One of my favorite traveling hobbies is to read a book written about that place. (I also did this with Under the Tuscan Sun in Cortona, Italy.) Reading someone else's impressions of a place make it come alive in a new way.

-A beat-up yellow/gray/brown bug named "Stevo."

-Random positive graffiti all over Savannah that says "everything will be okay." I'm so curious about who spreads such a hopeful message.

roundabout dinner time

-Waking up with a song in my head, and realizing that it had just been in my dream.

-Cruising around a roundabout. They're so much fun for me because they remind me of Ireland and feel like adult merry-go-rounds.

-While going to pick up my Thai takeout, I noticed a homeless woman sleeping on a bench. As I left the restaurant, I felt guilty for not having bought her something to eat. As I passed her again, she was still sleeping, but someone had placed a Chick-fil-a bag and drink next to her.

joyful rain

-Rain. Georgia's in a drought, and there have been a lot of destructive fires in South Georgia. The rain was very welcome.

-The woman walking down the street using ski poles. It made me laugh out loud.

-An inexplicable feeling of joy. It probably has something to do with finishing my second year in seminary.

shirts

-The warmth of a just-ironed shirt.

-Spontaneously planning a trip to Savannah, and feeling the sleeping wanderlust in my awaken.

-My friends' fabulous t-shirts: Colin's says "What if the hokey pokey really is what it's all about?" Steven's says "Calvinists are people too." Rob's is the Talladega shirt I turned off of the highway to get him for his birthday last year. So amusing.

leafing through pages

-Using a lovely leaf as a bookmark. It's bright green on one side and metallic silver on the other. My Dad picked it for me at the Botanical Garden on Saturday.

-Being brought coffee in bed by my Dad...what a luxury.

-After referring to Lord of the Rings in my sermon, having several closet Lord of the Rings fans come up to me and announce that they, too, were Lord of the Rings nerds.

kind notes and words

-Diane leaving pictures and a dvd of Project Dance NY in my mailbox, with a lovely little note about hope.

-While Claudia and I were baking cookies for the women's shelter in my tiny kitchen, she insisted on washing all of my dishes. While I mixed and baked, she washed up everything. It was beyond kind.

-Having Kathleen O'Connor (our Catholic, feminist, Hebrew Bible and language expert professor) tell me I was smart. Wow! I seriously idolize the woman, and had exegesis with her last fall. Coming from her, it was a huge compliment I won't soon forget.

impulsive frivolity

-Fitting a Lord of the Rings reference into my sermon, and feeling extremely pleased with myself for doing so.

-Calling my parents and finding out that they have left a day early on their road trip to Atlanta to come visit. They just decided an extra day in New Orleans sounded good. This must be where my impulsive wanderlust comes from.

-Children and teachers at the hippyish (I love it) school across the street who were dancing around a maypole with ribbons, while actual violinists played classical music. It was the most comedic thing I've seen in a while.

friendship.

-Picking honeysuckle with Logan and pulling the stamens out to taste the honey. There's no greater hint of summer than the smell of honeysuckle.

-Sitting in chapel, and suddenly being flooded with ideas for my sermon. I feel the Spirit more tangibly than ever when I'm writing a sermon. I just read the text and exegete it for a few days, and don't stress, because that "aha!" moment always arrives in its own time, and then the sermon just comes. This also keeps me from second-guessing myself too much, because I know that the Spirit has guided the whole process of preparing my sermon.

-I know I include this one a lot, but having my friends over for Sex & the City and wine every Tuesday. We laugh at the show, but the main event is when we mute the commercials and talk. We've helped each other through many a decision or crisis, and I know I can tell these women anything. Tuesday nights are often the highs of my week.

earthy embodiments

-Dancing prayer for each other in our CTS-Called to Serve dance group. You share prayer concerns and then the other person prays for you through dance. It's so powerful to see your thoughts, worries and concerns literally embodied before your eyes.

-The shimmer of sunlight playing on trees. In case you haven't noticed, trees always echo grace to me.

-The fresh, earthy taste of my coffee when I make it with a cafetiere/french press. I used to always make it this way in Belfast, but I've gotten lazy and used a machine. I've started making it that way again, and it tastes so much better. Because I grind my own beans, it tastes unbelievably fresh.

mirroring and mariachi

-Sitting with some great women at the Presbyterian Women's Luncheon at church. I felt so included and impressed by how much these women do for others. There's an undefinable strength and dignity found in a room full of these women.

-Sitting in Java Monkey with Lucy and being able to carry on an entire conversation using the mirror on the wall in front of us to look at each other.

-Nat King Cole in Spanish. I've heard almost all of his songs in English, so I'm branching out a bit. His voice blends in perfectly with a mariachi band.

leaves of healing?

-Getting a message from my friend Jen, who also worked in Belfast, saying that the UVF (Unionist Volunteer Force--a formerly Unionist paramilitary group) has become a purely civilian organization. This means they are laying aside violence as a means of change. Jen ended the phone message with a jubilant, "they did it!" It's great to share such a passion for peace in Northern Ireland (and the world) with her.

-The bright green tree perfectly framed by the door to the diner.

-The click of turning on my lamp. That click signifies that I am home for the night. I don't bother turning on the lamp when I'm just home for a moment, so the click means I'm home to stay.

whimsical wisdom

-A display of wild and whimsical hats in a store. I would love to meet the woman who wears those hats. I bet she's a lot of fun.

-Finding a very well-defined chiasm in my passage for my next sermon. I'm preaching from Revelation (gutsy, huh?). Chiastic structure was a common way of writing in biblical times, which points to the central importance of the text by framing it with repeated words or concepts. My central verse is, "and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations." As we say in seminary, "that'll preach!"

-Reading David Bosch's book Transforming Mission for class and discovering something so profound that I said "wow" out loud. When speaking of inter-religious dialogue, he says, "We are all recipients of the same mercy, sharing in the same mystery. We thus approach every other faith and its adherents revertly, taking off our shoes, as the place we are approaching is holy."

new roots

-A smooth part of a tree root just flat enough for my Fresca to sit upon while I read under a great tree outside.

-Watching a new relationship begin between two friends. The energy, flirtation and nervousness is palpable and speaks of newness and hope.

-Hearing Matt Lauer on the Today Show speak about peace in Northern Ireland, and being surprisingly overcome with joy at hearing that long-awaited word: peace.