Good Things in Small Boxes...

I've been really struggling with a particular question which God chooses to remain silent on. Not knowing makes me feel insecure and unsure of myself in so many areas; I've prayed and prayed, but there is no clarity to be found. But even in the midst of this frustration, God still lets me know that he's with me every step.

For my birthday, Trisha gave me two beautiful ceramic angels. One says on the bottom of her dress "Lord, hear our prayer" and the other one just says "Courage". When she went to pick them up from the Hallmark store, she asked the saleslady for the boxes that they were shipped in. The lady went into the back room to search for them, and came out with one box. Then she unwittingly gave Trisha a message to me from God- she said "well, the prayer box is full, but the courage box is empty".

Cool, huh? As I said to some friends, it's nice to have a diagnosis, even if you don't yet have a cure.

Birthday

Saturday was my birthday. My mom rented a cabin in Santa Cruz and we all went out there to barbecue steaks and play Cranium in the moonlight. It was great fun.
My birthday present, you ask? Oh, yes. Certainly worth mentioning. I got pepper spray.

So here I am, the beginning of a new year in my life. Life Teen has started, and every time I'm put in a position to do something new and uncomfortable, I feel that familiar hesitation and certainty that I'm inadequate for the task. But if I take it to prayer, one thing comes back to me; a line I heard years a go from a book about temperaments. "Throw a melancholic in the water and he will swim". Perhaps the theme for this year will be learning to swim.

Please, More Prayer Requests

Please, to all you out there praying, add 2 more to your list:
Monica Rodrigues (whose website is linked at the right) has found out the tumors in her lungs have all grown by 2-3 mm, despite the fact that she's been on chemotherapy this whole time. Please pray for her emotional state and also that she makes the right decisions about what treatment comes next.

And a friend of a friend, Sharon Skinner, has been diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic cancer. It's in her brain, lungs, and spine. She goes in today for surgery to put a shunt into her brain which will remove fluids that are building up. She is 35 years old and has 5 kids.

Pray especially that they CLING to God n this most frightening time, throwing themselves on his mercy.

Another Celebrity Sighting

Well, we can't be sure, but I think we saw Bono and a girlfriend at In And Out burger the other day. They were wearing expensive looking ski clothes, and also dark glasses and scarves as if they wished to remain unrecognized. But my sister spotted them.
If it was him, he looks pretty different. We went and did a google image search to find some pictures to confirm the sighting, but all the pictures that came up were of him in his younger days. B. said we were going about it all wrong; that we had to do a google search for "Bono old fat". That didn't turn up any images either.
But in our search we did find mention of one of his favorite recipes (I think it was ribs or something) so we know he's not a vegetarian. So the sighting remains inconclusive.
I hope he doesn't google his name everyday and find this posting, because that would be hurtful.