Favorite things of evenings

taking my hair down after it has been up all day, and it is soft and smells light, holding soft waves.

walking into my room (in the summer) after it has been closed up all day, smelling the old, and opening the window to let in the night air.

the warm glow from a lamp.

finding boots, "good quality but wrong color for me" from my mother sitting on my bedroom floor. WHY YES, I will most certainly take them off your hands! I don't know enough about fashion to know if they are my color or not, to me they look simply brown, and elegant-- oh, I cannot wait for fall.

Palz

I have this pal, her name is Ashley.

Tonight, she invited me to have a beverage, and watch the storm roll in. Well, the storm had passed but the sky was gorgeously blue as the sun began to set against the woods next to the house. We sat on the porch with our hard cider. We watched the sky, the trees, the two deer across the road, the hawk sitting on the flower fence. We talked about Jesus and women's ministries. And it was a rich conversation. A rich time.

I'm so thankful that she's been here this past month. Sometimes I'm not the most affectionate person (sometimes I am), but I'm so thankful she's stuck with me through my transition and hers. She's a pal, a gem, a sisterfriend for sure.

:)

Towels

Tonight I stood in the shower and washed three days worth of grime out of my scalp. Unfortunately for me, that is a lot of grime. It felt good. And then I saw that my mother had bought new towels. HAPPINESS. And then I saw the label.

100% COTTON

MADE IN PAKISTAN

cotton

SUPPLIER 760348 RN#93677

jcp home

I am sure this will sound hypocritical to you. I am a hypocrite, after all. When see tags and labels that read "MADE IN THAILAND" "MADE IN INDONESIA" "MADE IN NEPAL" etc,  I think about the working and living conditions of the people who have made these items. But it doesn't hit me like this did. It is because I know people from Pakistan. I've got a connection to that place that I don't have to Thailand or Malaysia or Mali. Tonight I stopped and asked God to bless the man or woman who made the towel I use out of luxury. I feel bad that every label does not stop me this way. I wonder how my life would change, if truly, no one was invisible. Not even the man or woman who made my towel. I think my life would be much slower.

A quick google search of "Pakistan textile industry" leads me to a company, a city name: Karachi. It is a big city in Pakistan and I am sure there are textile workers all over the country. But it gives me an idea. The world continues to shrink.

The sky!

The world is not yours to police.

Stop with the judgmental rants.
Stop with the "my side is right always."

My friend JUST send me this beautiful text message:

"Oh Phoebe! The sky is the most perfect blue with white clouds, sunshine and a breeze, and I wish that my phone took better pictures so that I could share it with you! :) "

The world, my friends, is not for you to police.
But the SKY IS for you to admire!

WARM

I'm breathing warm air.
I'm loving the heat.
I'm listening to a cathedral of crickets.
I'm remembering to reflect.
I'm stretching.
I'm sitting on a star watching the ocean.
I'm holding time in my ears.
I'm speaking insignificance.
I'm speaking secrets.
I'm laughing.

thought.

{watching the Voyage of the Dawn Treader trailer}

How is it that a movie trailer and make my soul jump, but my own life does not? Is it that I am used to the sort of daily adventure I live, or is it because I am blind to it? Is it the fantastical, past paced adventure? But then, isn't the life Jesus gives me even more fantastical?

every delicacy

Today is the sort of day that belongs in a poem. It is August fifteenth, and for much of the day I wore a sweater and my slippers. I believe it got up to 79 degrees F, but low humidity, a nice breeze, and plenty of shade.

Jared made our last dinner of summer (at least, together as a family). By five o’clock the house and yard smelled of ingredients on the grill: smoking eggplant and lamb, olive oil and za’atar. The sky was sharp blue—I could stare at it for hours. I blew bubbles at my nieces and we sat on a blanket breathing in the smells of the Middle East right here in our backyard. I picked flowers for the centerpiece- they’re wedding flowers that didn’t bloom in time, but they look pretty now!

And when it was time to eat, we sat down to a full table of (all homemade) water with mint leaves (from a neighbor’s garden) and lemon, baba ghanoush, hummus, lamb kebabs, salad, and flatbread. A feast. I felt as though we could have back been in Syria.

and one of Syria, because I love to remember.