Selling Cell Phones

Ace and I are selling our old cell phones. Since we can't use them here, and they weren't under contract, we have no problems doing that. We looked online to find someone to buy the phones from us.

We (or rather I) found someone who offered not just to buy the phones from us, but who would also send us a box to send the phones to them in (postage paid, even).

Today, we picked up our mail and we now have a box waiting to go out in the mail Monday with the cell phones in it. Soon, the phones will be on the way to this company (they resell them, or if they can't they recycle them, but they should be able to resell these phones because they are less than a year old).

At least these phones will be useful again, to someone.

Hymns

Lately, I've been going back over old hymns I remember from years and years of singing. I've been looking at what the lyrics say and comparing it to what I know the Bible says.

Some of my favorites, the ones written in the late 1800s, are the ones that follow closest to what the Bible says. That makes me happy, because if I'm singing to or about God, it should be something that agrees with what God said about himself.

Some songs seem to offer comfort to me, as they are familiar at a time when things seem to be so different than what I'm used to. Some songs offer me encouragement, they remind me what God has promised. Some songs surprise me, I find more faith in them than I originally expected to find.

That's not to say that I haven't found some disappointment in looking a hymns too. There are a few too many that seem to have been written based on how people expect life to be, because of what they are seeing, instead of what the Bible tells them life should be. The writers seem to not have much faith in God doing what he said (or much faith in God, period). It doesn't seem right that those songs have found their way into the mix with songs full of faith and God's word.

I know that I've been talking about God a lot lately. Part of it is posting every day this month. I'm finding that I'm posting about what I've been focusing on, which has been the Bible. Part of it is the fact that I've been focusing on the Bible. I've been stirring myself up in my most holy faith and it's come shining out.

And I think I like that. It's what seems right for right now. Maybe we all need a little more light in a world that seems determined to drown us in darkness. Maybe it's God, trying to reach out and touch someone (probably me).

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is a day to be thankful, so I'm going to write (or type) out a list of things I'm thankful for having in my life.

1. God. I really shouldn't have to explain this any more than that, should I?

2. Ace. My love. My sweetheart. The man who does very little for me to ever complain about (seriously, the only real strong complaint has to do with socks, and it's just because I have issues with dirty socks). The man who can make me laugh when all I want to do is cry. The only person I'd want to live in a somewhat small hotel room for more than a night or two with.

3. Hot water. Oh, how I'm loving having hot water again. I've had more baths to soak since we got here than I ever have in a month before. It's still a wonderful and exciting thing to have. I kind of hope that it always will be, so I remember to be thankful for it.

4. Time. Right now, it feels like we've got nothing but time. Time to play games, time for sex, time for sleep, time to listen to good preaching and teaching.

5. New experiences. Ever since we've moved to Springfield, everything seems like it's new and different. Even the things I'm used to us doing or having. And that's nice right now.

And that is just a short list of things that I'm grateful for today (there are other things, but these are the ones I'm willing to share currently).

Why I Don't Judge Most People

I don't like the idea of being judged. I, in my own mind, feel like I am being judged by everyone around me, even though I'm fairly sure most people don't pay any attention to me.

I got reminded last night why it's a good thing not to judge others. I don't know their hearts or their intentions behind their actions. Since I don't know why they do something, I am unable to judge them effectively. I don't know what all they thought their options were, which would make judging someone even harder.

I'm not perfect about this, I know. If I were, I would probably still be talking to my mother, at least a little bit. But I know how her decisions have effected me, so I find it harder to look for good intentions behind some of her actions (mostly the intentions behind her harsh words).

So, I'm trying to be better about this. I'm trying to realize that some people have messed up thinking and intentions that I'll never understand. I'm trying to remember that just because I don't understand why someone is doing something doesn't mean that they have bad intentions or bad logic.

I'm trying not to judge others. And usually, I succeed. Maybe the world would be better if we could all do this. Maybe.

Friendships Come and Go but the Love Still Lingers

My cousin has a post up that has be bothering my head since I first saw it towards the beginning of the month. She mentions that if she's ever loved you for a second she'll love you forever.

It's not that I don't believe that, it's just that I don't think she and I would see eye-to-eye on how to show friends that love. All the various friends I've had over the years, the ones that were there at the time I needed them, but that I've not kept in touch with, seem to come to my mind when I read that. It's not that I don't still care for these friends. If I saw them, I would definitely greet them warmly and ask them about how they are and truly care to know the answer.

It's just that I understand how you don't always need to keep the same people as friends for the rest of your life. You aren't always going to be as close to those people as you once were. Sometimes, you need the friend for a time and it's time to let each other go. It's not that you stop caring, it's just that you are in different stages in life. Sometimes those stages just don't allow your former closeness to remain.

The hardest lesson I learned after Ace and I married was that I was no longer the same person with the same concerns as I had been 6 months earlier when I was just engaged. The people I had spent 3 or 4 years being close friends with weren't at the point that they could see things the same way I was now seeing them, because they didn't have a spouse whose input was just as important as their own when making decisions. It hurt to find that these people who I thought I'd be friends with for at least a while longer were people I could no longer fully relate to. And while we could use a shorthand for inside jokes, it wasn't really going to be the same. It was time to start making new friends with people in the same stage of life I was now in.

I'd love to know that all those friends are happy, but the past friendships, no matter how near and dear to my heart, weren't enough to make me stay in contact. I realized that they were important to me, but they were in my past. Still loved, memories still cherished, but the relationships times had passed.

Dishes

If there is one chore I will gladly put off as long as possible, it is folding laundry. The only other chore I knowingly put off is washing dishes.

It's not that I just hate either chore. I'd just as soon not do them as my back tends to hurt by the time I'm done. And not surprisingly, I dislike causing myself pain.

Today, besides being a day I need to do laundry, I did dishes. Of course, just because I did dishes doesn't mean that I'm going to fold my laundry (I like my clothes clean, I like them being put away, it's just the step in the middle that I dislike so much).

While my back is now somewhat sore, it didn't actually take too long to do the dishes (which is nice, since I have to wash them all by hand). What made the task more pleasant was having warm water to wash the dishes in (cold water and hand-washing dishes do not go pleasantly hand-in-hand). The orange-scented dish soap didn't hurt either.

As I was stacking the dishes in the dish strainer thing (what is that called? I can't be bothered with looking it up just now), I was finding myself pleased that I'd actually done the dishes today like I had planned before I fell asleep last night (I originally intended to do them yesterday, but that plan didn't come to fruition).

And now I've bored you, dear readers, because I felt the need to talk about doing dishes. I've really got to get a more exciting life. But not too exciting, after all I'm liking the calm I've been feeling lately.

And now, I find I've run out of things to say about dishes (and my life, or lack of one). So, I think I'll find something else to occupy my time until I determine that it's time to do laundry.

Light and Easy

Today has been a good day. Today, Ace and I got up way earlier than I wanted to and went to church. We got to sit nice and close to the front, so there wouldn't be anyone distracting us.

And then, when we could have let the sermon seem like it was stepping on our toes, we instead looked at it as a gentle reminder of what we need to be doing so that our toes don't need stepping on.

Church lead to a nice discussion on the way home and a chance to work on forgiving Christians who have hurt us in the past, as we need to not carry hurt and anger around. It lead to us talking about our faith and how we've continually trusted God even when we were shaky on trusting Christians we didn't know very well. And how we feel like we can trust other Christians at our new church.

And then we spent a good portion of the afternoon playing World of Warcraft (Ace is still playing, which doesn't surprise me at all). And now I'm sitting here thinking that this has been a great day. We could use more days like this. And the only reason I don't feel like we have them is because of me focusing on the wrong things.

Today has been light and easy. Just as it should be.