{T.I.L. #25}

I'm pretty tired today after making my way to work this morning and having only half my class there to teach. Did I mention that I woke up all through the night because I thought we'd have another snow day for sure? Welp, we didn't. So I armed myself with coffee AND Starbucks Chai and white-knuckled through my morning commute, dodging old ice piles and tiny sleet pellets.

The powdery snow started falling quickly after I arrived and I went ahead and opened our blinds for the kids to watch it cling to the ground. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em! We went out and played in the melt-as-quick-as-it-came snowfall, making mischief with the tee-niniest snowballs you've ever seen.

As I walked through the hallways of my school, I stole quick glances and longing sighs with my awesome co-workers...each one of us dragging through the day because of restless, anticipatory sleep. As a teacher friend said on Facebook, "We were all secretly hoping for THE call." Teachers can be a greedy bunch when it comes to snow days in February. 

I was thinking through these co-workers and how many have become close friends...the kind who go to see Bieber movies because they know you want to go and don't want you to look like an old creep.

...reminiscing about a wedding from a few weeks back; praying that his marriage is blessed and feeling excited to go to lunch soon with his new bride.

...reading on Facebook and looking forward to the event that my church homegroup girls are having this weekend, just to get together for homegirl time and catching up. 

...sharing a text message convo later with a best friend who gives me great news, but urging me to continue to pray for God's goodness in her life. 

...thinking about another friend who had a horrific event strike her family this weekend and praying as her family member fights for breath. 

...hanging out with the friend who knows me so well that I don't have to censor myself around her; we can jump from serious to tears to silly stories, all in one breath. 

...missing my best friend, my sister, who is half a world away right now, ministering to others' hearts the way she often ministers to mine.

Today was a good day. Today made me realize that I am blessed. I don't mean blessed in the Southern, sure way that feels proud to be American. I mean a life touched by the Lord Himself. I wouldn't have the close-knit friendships that keep me sane without His hand. And I know it. 

I know how rare it is that many of these friendships were found in adulthood. I still have incredibly close friendships from middle school and high school that I cherish deeply as well. I hope I am as good of a friend to all these people as they are to me. I can only thank God for them in my life and promise to steward them like a treasure, pouring out for others with the joy they pour into me.

So tonight, I guess I'd point out what I feel every day:

A Tale of Two Princesses

Once upon a time (let’s be honest, it was like 12 years ago), a delightful girl decided to teach overseas. She raised a bunch of money and went to training and wondered who she’d meet in this new adventure. Delightful could've sworn it'd be a husband, but God had other plans. The first night, she met this really cool gal with blonde hair and a sparkly personality. They connected quickly and deeply as friends and each thought the other girl was so cool that she couldn’t possibly want to stay friends over the long haul. But boy, were they both wrong. 

Werd

Hey there 2013, nice to meet ya. My feelings toward you: so far, so good.

I had a very low key NYEve, but it was a productive one. Let's cross our fingers that it will be a sign of life to come for me. I have so much swirling around in my head and rarely the energy (a polite way of saying discipline, let's be honest) to carry it out.

In my last post, I mentioned having to break it to my dog that we would be re-starting our running plan to more of snail in slow-mo pace, and I think she took it well. Here is her reaction:

Expectant but not too disappointed, I'd say.

On another 'unrelated to my dog but more to the point of this post' note, it seems that every blogger and their g-ma is introducing their 'Word of the Year' at the moment. I was planning on doing this for the last month or so, but I'll have you know that now I'm bothered that it's a 'thing'. I know, it's a good thing to be a thing. But, I kinda get annoyed by bloggy 'things.' I will set aside my snooty pride, however, and continue as planned.

The word of the year started out as a very cool idea I got from my best friend, Amanda. I'll be introducing her formally in the coming weeks {and it involves a precious pink purse. Get excited.} She is so fun and girly and innovative...but because she doesn't blog (yet!), you'd never know it. That's what I love the most about her. She's a trendsetter without even being aware of it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not afraid of popular trends and such, but if I hear one more "oh, is that from Pinterest?"...so help me. But I digress.

Amanda has been doing a word of the year for a while now, and she encouraged me to think of one these last couple of years. I've really loved doing this, as I think choosing a focus helps you steer in the right direction, regardless of what resolution/goal/project you are working with.

Last year in 2012,  my word was Freedom and boy was it apropos. I've loved looking at the areas of my life that needed the Freedom of the Lord to invade. I've loved seeing how my fear has been crumbling and I've been resting on that new-found Freedom for a while now. But freedom is only the beginning. What do you do when you are free? I'd say new fear grows in the place where your broken shackles rest.

A few weeks ago, Amanda texted and asked for a word and it ended up becoming my WORD word. In a sense, Amanda used my 'gut reaction' to help my word choose me. So, my new word is:

Amanda's X-mas present to me--so precious!

The story/significance behind this word originally came from here, but I've loved what this word represents for a while now. And isn't my bestie the best-y? From the bag the bracelet came in, it looks like it came from here in case you want your own personalized cuff.

Back to Twirl: I've taken it and privately written out a few guideposts of what I am twirling toward in the New Year, as well as the things I'm turning away from. In general, it stands for embracing Freedom but not just stopping there. It means moving forward with style, a flourish, personality, uniqueness, joy. Twirl continues where Freedom left off. So that's where I'm starting in 2013. Werd.