2024: week 31.

monday, july 29.

i’ll be honest, i was in a pretty cranky mood all day, and i just couldn’t shake it. so after work, instead of working on my book, i took a power nap, read the bible, talked to jesus, took a shower, and went to bed early.

tuesday, july 30.

this was a much better day. plus it was a church night.

it was raining pretty hard when church started. in fact, the thunderstorm lasted throughout the whole service, with thunder rumbling at some pretty appropriate times. but walking in as it rained reminded me of probably exactly ten years ago — when i first started going to my church and i knew, not that it was different (although it was), but that i was different because of it.

back then, i would opt out of going to service for the smallest reasons — like rain. but when i started going to the belonging co, i couldn’t miss it. one tuesday, it started pouring rain right as i pulled into the parking lot. it wasn’t raining when i left my house, and i was definitely wearing the wrong shoes. but i didn’t want to be late and miss any part of worship — or any part of what god was doing. so i took my shoes off and just ran barefoot through the (super sketchy) parking lot.

this past tuesday night, i had an umbrella and better shoes, but i kept thinking about how i still feel the same pull to be in the house of god that i did ten years ago. there’s just nothing else like it.

wednesday, july 31.

i came across this in my feed and it felt like a mashup of things i’ve heard god say — from years ago and today.

thursday, august 1.

i caught up with a friend this night. we were supposed to hang out and work on a project together, but we ended up just chatting the whole time.

friday, august 2.

i discovered the fray has new music on this day. their ep (appropriately titled “the fray is back”) releases late September, but they already released a new single last week. what a thrilling surprise. the fray is the first band i really loved that made me love music in general.

saturday, august 3.

i spent most of the day journaling, talking to jesus, talking to my mom, and working on the book. and then i made dinner.

i had this dish at t’s house when i was there last. thankfully, she occasionally posts about the easy meals she makes on her blog so i grabbed the recipe and made it too.

then i baked a couple cookies in the toaster oven and accidentally set the temp to 425, not 325. not my best move. they were pretty crunchy, but i ate them anyway.

sunday, august 4.

i served at church this morning. our manifesto is written in giant letters on the wall in the back hallway, and i’m obsessed with how they did that. like, this is it. make the font as big as the wall. this is what we value and who we are. they’re not just words on a wall but how things are done. it’s the posture of our hearts.

i think i love it so much because it hits on the things it could be about, but we come back to it over and over again. it’s not about that. it’s about this. it’s about jesus.

after church, i spent the day with sj sitting by her pool. i don’t have any photos or words to share about it, but i’m noting it here because it felt like one of those marked conversations we’ll point back to in the future as a way to measure growth. like, remember when we were here and we had this conversation and it felt so much like that?

that’s all.