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Day Seventy-Four (Monday, April 26)
I would say there were a wide range of emotions throughout the day. In the first third of the day, I was super happy, and finally worked out again after over a month of not having done so. Mom has been inviting me to go pretty much all the time but I always turn her down. Not one to be discouraged by this sort of thing, she invited me once more in the afternoon, and I said yes. It definitely felt good to get back to it.
Before going to work out, Pete and I texted back and forth about getting together since he was back from the Ivory Coast, Paris, and Switzerland and he wanted to catch up. That would definitely be in the happy category.
Furthermore, I got a (mini-mass) update from a friend about some major happenings. That's all I'll say, except that I admire her so much for her bravery and optimism.
Another email I got was from a friend who is teaching English in South Korea. We went to high school and I knew she was still there on her 3rd year, and that she would definitely be able to give me a good idea of the pros (as well as cons) of living there to teach English. She sent a really (nicely) long email about her input and answered my questions I had emailed to her 11 days before then. It was so helpful!
Every other Monday night, I have Book Club with some wonderful women. If I haven't already said so, we're studying "The Lies Women Believe: And the Truth That Sets Them Free." It's been such a blessing and I really value that group. Our gracious host Mariam is so great.
We conclude group with prayer, and let me tell you, there are a lot of intense prayer warriors in that group. Like I said, they're intimidating! One very serious prayer request was shared, and one of the women touched my heart when she started crying during prayer for this other woman in the group. She really felt the emotion and burden of her sister in Christ.
Book Club went a little longer that night, and when prayer concluded, I got up to leave right away. I had intended on going to a bookstore afterwards, so that was my main motivation for leaving so quickly. On my way home, I got a text from Liz asking if I was okay, since I had been so quiet at Bible Study. Haha, here's the thing; I'm naturally a very quiet, introverted, shy girl. This is especially true in that group because I'm trying to take in all the insight these women have to offer on the book material, as well as they all tend to intimidate me (in a good way). So, whenever I leave group, someone asks me afterwards if I'm okay LOL. Aww they're so sweet.
But here's the other thing: I was feeling emotional, and I suppose that was part of the reason I had to jet so quickly. As soon as Liz sent that to me and I read it (at a stoplight), I lost it. I just started crying harder than I had in a LONG time. It was scary in a way because it was the hypervenilating kind that often made me close my eyes from the hysteria of it all...If I wanted to keep my dignity, I probably shouldn't have shared those details, but the thing is, I'm glad it happened. (And also that I didn't kill anyone while my eyes were sometimes closed from the heaving sobs.) I had a lot of unworked through emotion that came through when a friend demonstrated that she cared about me. That "session" lasted for about 30 minutes or more. I drove to Borders but saw that I would only have 20-30 minutes to be there, and that it was pointless. Instead, I used that time frame to drive around on AIA, cry, and sort through my thoughts. It was a very good investment of time too, I think.
Since my eyes were so red and blotchy from crying so long, I entered the condo with my back to my parents (who were watching 24) and went to my room to drop off my things. I manage to avoid them the whole night upclose until the evidence was gone. One of the things I did was do dishes. Unfortunately, I also broke one of two of Dad's favorite wine glasses. Ugh. He was upset at first, but pretty immediately forgave me. What a good dad.
To conclude an interesting, emotionally exhausting day, I chatted with Alli and Ashley on gchat. I told Ashley we'd missed her at Book Club and we decided to make a coffee finally happen as soon as her finals were over. It was so cool talking to her! I have only met her the one time at our first Book Club, but she made an impression on me when she honestly shared that one of her reasons for being part of the Club was to build community with believers. Wow, that was so vulnerable! I liked her from that instant. And talking to her online made me like her that much more! There are so many wonderful women here in Fort Lauderdale. It was also cool chatting with Alli for awhile before she turned in for bed.
She asked me how Book Club was and we discussed the things I agree and disagree with the author on. (Overall I agree, but not on everything.) We also talked a bit about Korea, which is helpful since she's travelled and lived abroad in places like Germany and Switzerland.
Day Seventy-Five (Tuesday, April 27)
A friend of mine called me up in response to a mass text I sent out about going to 1921 bar this Friday for a show. It was good catching up and hearing about how things were on his end, and very sweet of him to ask how I was doing, since apparently I sounded down. (I am probably THE most transparent person these days. Or maybe it's always been that way and I'm only now realizing it.)
I had a few great conversations via gchat once more. (I love that mode of communication!) One was with Andrea who asked the question that has become common among my friends: If I was okay lol. She wanted to be sure I was okay or if I was mad at her or something. It was so touching! I told her about being emotional the night before and then I quickly asked her about Friday. That was me trying to get away from the more serious topic lol, but to no avail. She probed more, which admittedly meant a lot to me. She even offered to beat up any guys if necessary LOL. As I told her, I love the guys in my life and there was no need. Before we ended the conversation, she made sure to tell me she loved me very much.
Later on that day, shortly before I left to help volunteer for the Missions' Expo, I chatted briefly with Alli. Haha, to preface it, she and I have this ongoing, and entirely unintentional, thing of having awkward moments. It's become our thing and we actually embrace it now. So, after talking about a few other things, she started in with, "Oh let's get the awkward moment out of the way - I spell my nickname A-L-L-I ;)" Hahahaha, I had been calling her that for a little bit but had been spelling it A-L-L-Y which actually just made me think of country allies, for some reason. Awesomely, it wasn't too awkward after all, but just informative for me to know.
Shortly afterward, I drove to church 5 minutes away and went to help set it up for the Mission Field in Our Backyard event (I know that's not the name, but it gives the essential idea.) I was there for a couple hours and teamed up with Alli, Val, Taylor, and others to set up the kids room. We made a cave with built in crawl space that I have to admit was AWESOME! Val is the mastermind behind it, I must say, but it was cool because all of us had the basic same idea as the other, so it was fun to collaborate. The kids there were so cute and helpful. It was fun working with them at times too.
Alli and I had planned to meet for coffee afterwards for awhile. But the work wasn't all done when we took off at 9pm. Sweet Val took care of it all though. Thank God for people like her. (I do feel terrible about ditching...but it was kind of an emergency that I went with Alli afterwards. Sounds dramatic, but it's true...) Before we took off though, Val gave Alli the envelope that she, Jaclyn, and I all knew about and had contributed to as a thank you. We wanted to show Alli that it meant a lot to us for her to have included us in going for brunch at The Breakers. Alli was so touched that she almost cried even! Awww! She'd had a tough, tough day, so it was good timing for Val to have given it to her then.
Coffee at Starbucks was so good! Alli tried to pay for my order with the Starbucks gift card, but I would not let her. We were there for a short time, but every little bit helps since she was going on a 2-week vacation soon after that.
When I got home, I soon received a very sweet text message from my dear college friend Sara. She texted me just to say she loves me. Short and simple, but very effective and touching.
This day was a great illustration of how important it is to surround yourself with good friends and people in general.
Day Seventy-Six (Wednesday, April 28)
I really didn't do too much until meeting with Emma at Borders from 3:30-5:00pm. Before then, I watched the "Home" episode of Glee on hulu.com. Oh. My. Gosh. It was crazy beautiful as well as inspiring! The last number in the episode was just...wow, just incredible. Actress Kristin Chenoweth guest starred again and performed an incredible number from "The Wiz." (I haven't ever seen it but now want to.) There's something chilling about her singing and acting and it was fun seeing the character development from last time to now. Wow, I'm getting chills again just thinking back! I played that song over and over again and even went on the balcony to listen to it while I looked out at the ocean.
As mentioned before, I met my friend Emma at Borders. We chatted for an hour and a half while sitting in the cafe. She is the cutest woman! She's on break right now, and has been taking advantage of sleep and the ocean everyday. It was so nice to have that woman-to-woman rendezvous.
Afterwards, I met up with Pete at the Missions Expo at 5:45pm. It was cool seeing the nice turnout and the transformed rooms that were filled with various booths representing all different parts of the world. The first one I went to was for Bangladesh that Alan was manning. I played a game of Memory with a little girl, which was fun. I was there for about 2 hours, and when I spotted Pete over by Turkey, we hugged and then went around to all the booths. He was really great about asking all sorts of questions from each set of people at the booths. I was less inquisitive, so it was good for me to be around someone who actually probed. It was a really good event.
Near the end, I saw Jim at the Turkey booth. He was wearing the orange top that Andrea found for Jim when we all went shopping awhile back. I greeted him and complimented him on the shirt. In response, he said, "This really nice woman helped me pick it out." Awww. Haha, technically that person wasn't me LOL but still, the sentiment was there.
Soon after that, Pete and I took off. It was only about 7pm, so we decided to go to his place and watch the hockey game that was on. It was a good game, though poor Pete's team lost. But I still enjoyed watching it with Pete and some of his Colombian "family." I do like hockey a lot actually (and am actually watching D2 Mighty Ducks - passively - as I write this), but haven't spent a lot of time watching any games since the live one I went to way too long ago.
I took off around 9:45pm after the game ended, and got Pete to tell me my new nickname. (He insists that all his friends should have them.) He prefaced it by saying that it wasn't an insult or anything. The name he chose was "La Vache Que Rit"(pronounced "La Vash Kayree") which means "The Laughing Cow"LOL. The cow part is what worried him. And for good reason! But not being one to think myself fat, that didn't bother me. He and I both noticed that it was a little bit like "Korean" so to us, it means, "The Laughing Korean" since we I love to laugh. True, I can sometimes take things in a sensitive fashion, but not for things like that, so I love my new nickname!
When I left, he said to be sure I texted him when I got safely home. He lives in Davie and I wasn't sure how to get home, so he gave me good directions, which I followed to the letter.
It was a great day and so good to see a friend shortly after he got back to the States.
Day Seventy-Seven (Thursday, April 29)
This was a far more low-key day. My cousin called me up to chat once again, and once again, I have to give her a shoutout for being so good at keeping our relationship healthy and strong. She is so beautiful inside and out and I adore her!
I also had fun on gchat with Erin. Her kids were in art class, so she had some down time when we spoke. I had invited a mutual friend of mine to Jaclyn and Nicole's birthday party, but he said he didn't know about it. Awwwwkwarrrddd! So I checked with Erin to be sure it was alright, and it was. (He was supposed to get an invite from his brother who was invited via evite.) I did disregard her wardrobe suggestion though ;) lol.
I made a mistake when I didn't volunteer at the Mission Expo homeless dinner they hosted for 100 homeless people at my church. Instead of going to help with the manicures/pedicures, haircuts, and so forth before dinner, I stayed home. I really wish I hadn't. I heard it was an incredible turnout and that some of those homeless participants now attend our church. Wow, that's incredible to me. I love my church and the way they reach out to the surrounding community. It's such a beautiful thing.
Thus concludes this look at Mission Expo Week.
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