Sleeping in on Saturday

Looking up, from bed I lie
Basking in the light
Of cloudy morning--sleeping in
has been my sheer delight.

Closing eyes, the birds outside
Speak cheer and joy and love
The same One who created them
Smiles at me from above

Sunset at the Beach

The sand, it sucked us ankle-deep

We stood there side by side

Shorelines, distant, 'cross the Sound

A row of blinking lights

The tide, it rose; I moved my shoes

To higher ground, and we--

backing out as waves approached

on sandy territ'ry--

Realized that this watery force

Whose depths remain unseen

Was bidding us to take our leave

And leave the mysteries be.

A Perfect Summer

In my mind, a perfect summer would look something like this:

I'd work during the day and then have restful activity during the evening.  (I'm working as a Special Projects Assistant at the Boys and Girls Club of New Haven through the Yale President's Public Service Fellowship.)

I would spend some time with old friends, but also take time to get to know new ones.  (There are a good number of folks hanging around this summer, so it's the perfect time to form deeper relationships on a one-on-one level.  Several acquaintances--the kinds you say hi to at school but haven't gotten to know well--have wanted to get together, and I'm looking forward to doing that.)

I would do some fun things with a group of friends during the weekends, but also have enough alone time to walk, read, think, and pray.  (I really, really want to REST this summer, and that means cutting back on social interactions.  This past semester I really ran myself ragged with various commitments, and I began to almost resent social obligations because I wasn't caring for my introvert well enough.)

I would take some weekend trips and explore New England, but I would also enjoy New Haven.  (What a great small city this is!  I've heard it's awesome in the summer.)

I would like to visit a different church each Sunday morning.  (My regular/home church meets in the afternoon, so no worries!)

I would like to run and swim more regularly.  (Winter really killed my exercise regimen.  Being a Californian, I never learned to exercise indoors, so once the first snow happened in November, I stopped running entirely.)

For Orientation week of my summer Fellowship, we went canoeing on Mill River, near East Rock

Come fall, I'll be starting my final year at Yale and looking ahead to my future trying to figure out what to do and where to go.  I'll be living in intentional community with four other people next year (which is exciting but also slightly stressful to think about, after having a whole apartment to myself for an entire semester) and serving as a Community Life Committee Co-Coordinator at the Divinity School, so I really do cherish this summer and the chance to be away from bustling community (but still connected to people.)

We'll see how it goes!  What does your summer look like?

An evening at Lighthouse Point Park (also during Orientation)

Mother's Day Sermon: A Poetic Response

"Submit"--says the household code

And that's the final word

For many Christians ever since

Who want to please the Lord.

But classes taught me not to see

Each text and then believe

Ephesians is the word of man

Included in God's book

We say it's Paul, but actually

It's just a wannabe.

Who writes in style that's not the same

But takes the famous name.

An Ode to the End of the Year

And just like that,
my first year at Yale
Completed.
Final paper
turned in this afternoon.
Nothing more to say
My brain has been
Depleted.

'Twas a social semester
Parties abounded.
I loved hosting the world
In my home.

'Twas a long winter
Snow abounded.
I lived alone
Cozily

'Twas a sorrowful season
Two losses
Jim, and Grandma
Lent

For much of the semester
My daily prayer was:
"Lord, have mercy!"
He did.