Five Inches

"It is in the compelling zest of high adventure and of victory, and in creative action, that man finds his supreme joys."

     Antonine de Saint-Exupery

I have some pretty terrible memories because of rain. One of the worst is when I was nine, my mom made me sleep in jeans, sweatshirt, and tennishoes because we were under a slight tornado watch. I guess she didn’t want me to be naked if a tornado took our roof off. The other memories tend to pile up when I think of having to trudge through campus in a downpour, because college professors don’t have souls and they never cancel class. And I think they just find it amusing to see us walk in drenched, and pull out our laptops with water damage, and make us sit through an hour and fifteen minutes of freezing note taking that could easily be better accomplished over a podcast.

All this to say, yesterday a flash flood came across Tupelo.. but it was much more entertaining than walking to class, or miserably laying in bed with my entire wardrobe on. The weather channel said that we got five inches of rain yesterday, and I embraced every drop. Disregard the complaining I did in the previous paragraph, and believe me when I say that I love rain. There is something so…attractive..about a dark sky and the sound of water pounding against a roof. But yesterday, rather than laying in bed and listening to that calming sound, I put on my rain boots from ninth grade, went to Walgreens and bought a disposable camera, parked my car in downtown Tupelo, and began shooting. I literally ran around downtown, across Tupelo’s railroad tracks, through people’s backyards..all in the lightning and rain.

Before I make myself sound like one of those cool people that does cool things every day, I must be honest and say that this is the most exciting thing I’ve done in weeks.  But it was quite fulfilling. Even though they are no Keegan Gibbs (urban photographer) piece of brilliance, this project made a great new memory for a rainy day. 

P.S. I apologize for the amount of commas I always use. I have an obsession with clauses.

Fruit Tea and Things

I just got home yesterday from a much needed week in Nashville. Obviously i was with Anna (Jamieson, for those who aren't blessed to know her), and we stripped the town all week long. Literally, we took an accidental hour long detour one day into the country side of Nash. We ate amazing food everyday..since Tupelo has such a wide variety of great restaurants to compare to. But since being home, I can't stop thinking of two things. One being how blessed I am to have incredibly influential people in my life, and also a delicacy called fruit tea. At a local restaurant called Sam & Zoe's in Nashville, we enjoyed fruit tea..Nashville's version of sweet tea. Today i looked up a recipe and made a pitcher, but it's not the same drinking it in my backyard in Tup rather than in one of my favorite cities in the world. But back to the more serious thought, so far this summer the Lord has consistently illuminated one verse: 

God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits, to the woman who diligently seeks. It's a good thing to quietly hope, quietly hope for help from God.

Lamentations 3:25-26

I've been home alone for the most part this summer, which hasn't been the most entertaining way i can think to spend my time. But through this time I've been slowly learning that we are called to rest, and this is my season. We are called to be quiet, and we are presented with time alone for a reason. We are to be alone, but never feel lonely. So far this month the Lord has given me countless opportunities to be alone and intimate with Him. In my ignorance i don't always take hold or appreciate those times..but it's comforting to know that in my unfaithfulness, he remains perfectly faithful. And the time in my day i see so precious, was actually never mine in the first place.

Highlights of the Sun

My sweet twin cousins

World's greatest grandad. 

what else do you do in summer besides read, write, and eno?

...and create

enriched with a loving mom and sister with a weekend on the beach

Love you all