Three Things: Moments of Rest in a Hard Patch

Photo Credit: Christopher Campbell

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Dear Friends,

I have been an emotional mess today. It actually feels like I have been riding this roller coaster for the past four weeks. It started with my job loss, but it has also been a time of deepening my relationship with Sheldon. That has involved a series of difficult conversations late into the night. We don't get to see each other often, but it feels like when we do, one of us is in the middle of a some crisis, be it work drama, roommate stuff, school angst or spiritual confusion, or we have to wrestle through some kinks in our relationship together. We have been weary of spirit for a long time. Today I felt particularly easy to bruise. Do you know that feeling? Little critical comments from your friends, which on a normal day would have rolled right off your back, somehow stick into you like little darts. It is as though the thick, protective coat you usually put on when you leave the house was replaced by one of those disposable ponchos you buy when it rains at a sporting event--not very helpful and easy to puncture. That was my day today: full of darts. But I also feel like there were some patches within my day in which I got rest from the darts. The Lord provided moments in which He covered me with a force field and I was able to rest for a while. My Three Things Series for today will be a brief description of some of those force field moments. 

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Photo Credit: Jens Lelie

1. The first one was in my Shakespeare class. We watched a film of the David Tennant Hamlet for the whole two hours. The reason that my professor gave us this break from our usual schedule of discussion and analysis was because he has recently lost a dear friend. The loss of his friend, who was also a fellow professor, means that not only he, but also many at our school are in profound mourning and find it difficult to carry on as usual. So he played a film. All seven of us in the Shakespeare seminar sat together and immersed ourselves in the fantastic production. We laughed at Polonius, played by Oliver Ford Davies and felt deep, confusing feelings with Hamlet. It was somehow the perfect thing to do on this blustering, wretched day: sit in a dark room and watch this cathartic, dark play. It was lovely.

Photo credit: Lechon Kirb

2. The second moment of respite was dinner. I met Sheldon's younger brother, who also goes to Wheaton,  and chatted with him for a few minutes. Talking with Dylan always feels like talking to one of my brothers. His sense of humour and his wacky ideas remind me of the kinds of conversations I have with my own brothers. This evening Dylan told me of his idea for a restaurant in space which could have seating on multiple different gravitational fields. You could have seating on the ceiling, floor and walls but each person would feel like his ground was the real ground. Anyway, do you see why I feel at home talking with Dylan? He is an odd duck and I love it.

Photo Credit: Fred Viljoen

3. The third one was going to Target with my roommate, Sara. We needed eggs and milk, but you know how it is to enter Target: you can never come out without many, many things. In fact another way that Dylan impresses me is that one time he said, "Can we stop at Target so I can buy a notebook?" I purposefully left my wallet in the car so I wouldn't be tempted to purchase anything. But Dylan, who had his wallet with him, walked into Target and only bought one thing. I repeat: Dylan walked into a Target for the goal of buying one thing and he only walked out with one thing. Wow. Wow. Is that crazy to anyone else besides me? Anyway, back to my story...Sara and I helped each other pick out lipstick colours, choose a brand of sugar that we both like (that is me being a little sarcastic, because there were only two brands and we chose the cheapest) and helped each other lift the huge package of toilet paper we have urgently needed to buy since we have been using Kleenexes to wipe for a whole week.

Lucy Rose: Is that TMI?
Lucy Rose's Blog Readers: Um. Yes. Quit it.
LR: Sorry, Guys. Apparently my filtering system is a little out of wack tonight.
LRBR: That's OK. Just go to bed.
LR: Ok. As soon as I finish this post...

In conclusion, each of these events helped to sooth my harrowed bosom whether by letting me emerge myself in a fabulous piece of drama, enjoy a conversation with someone who feels like family or wandering through Target buying "necessities" with a close friend.

PS: You will notice that I have used stock images for this post, rather than my own drawings or photos. The reason is because although I usually love to produce my own work, I need to lean on other people tonight, for time's sake. I just need to go to bed. So I chose images that I felt expressed my mood this week. Thanks for understanding, Lucy Rose's Blog Readers.