my favorite word is

wish.

storms

i love storms.  especially in the summer.  being from a desert, they seem so decadent and are always answered prayers.  i have been in salt lake for the first time this summer, and, therefore, have missed an awesome monsoon season at jacob lake, which i'm pretty sad about.

there's nothing like seeing those black clouds roll in.

waiting, sometimes for days, to see if they have enough in them to actually bring the water, or if they're only show.

watching as it slowly makes its way to you:

and then loving every minute of it when the rain does come.

there's something singular about the stillness that falls, muting the light, stifling the sound, magnifying the smell that i identify with grey until that grey is spilling from the sky, scenting the ponderosas with vanilla.  

nothing i know of beats a good summer storm.  except, perhaps, the sunsets that follow.

(thanks, melindie, for the pics.  they wrote this for me.)

kinds

there are two kinds of boys in this world: those who love basketball and those who love soccer.

baby, cuz i'm a spy

do you think i could use my legal training to become a spy?  (based on my results, i'd say i'm a natural.)

do you think it has made me sneakier, more clandestine?


Espionage or spying involves a government or individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, as it is taken for granted that it is unwelcome and, in many cases illegal and punishable by law. It is a subset of intelligence gathering—which otherwise may be conducted from public sources and using perfectly legal and ethical means.


how about better dressed/accessorized?

has it given me a better theme song?

has the socratic method taught me to be more charming, nervy, and quicker on my feet?

finding legal jobs in the current economical climate is more difficult than ever.  so, i'm just trying to stay aware of all my options.

waiting on the Lord

what a beautiful sentiment.  what a vital principle.

waiting on the Lord, as mary so precisely identified, means becoming His handmaid.  it means being His servant, His helpmeet, His steward, and, as such, being willing to do what He asks.  whether you want to or not.  a lot of the time, i find that i do not.  but waiting on the Lord means that you do it anyway.  and not because you have to, but because it's what the Lord has asked, and that trumps everything else.  

it also means simply waiting, patiently.  it means being still and being calm and going about life as usual until the Lord brings some change or some answer or some something to you.

i am better at option one.  by far.  that alternative allows me to work and to do, to be an active part of the Lord's process, to give something to the Lord.  when i am asked to wait, in the sense of biding my time, on the Lord, i am asked to trust that He is giving something to me.  i am asked to surrender my control and have faith that His unseen means will bring my desired ends.  i have to have courage enough to weather His storms without knowing where they will lead, and hope enough to believe it will be somewhere good.  this kind of heart does not come easily to me.

Psalms 27:14 "Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord."

hasta luego

tomorrow is my last day at immigration court.  i'm pretty sad about that.  i have loved it there.

adoption

i have always wanted to adopt.  my interest in adoption is what led me to law school.  when i was in vienna on a study abroad, we had a family come in and tell us about their adoption process for one of our religion classes.  it was a sad, sad story full of unjust laws that worked against those children who would have benefitted so greatly from being adopted.  and so i thought to myself, "self, that is what we should do.  we should fix adoption laws."  that is what got me trotting down the long and winding path to the s.j. quinney school of law.

little did i know then that changing adoption laws would be out of the question, but that is neither here nor there.  the point is that i always have and always will think that adoption is wonderful and the life for me.  i can't think of anything better than opening my home to a child(ren) who have none.

if i could, i would adopt these little ones right now:

not that i know that they need to be adopted, but i would adopt them nonetheless.

i grew up being friends with kids from a family of thirteen, seven of which had been adopted.  one of them was adopted from the united states.  the other six have come from various places dotting china.  the adoptions didn't only make the lives of the adopted children, but of everyone in the family.  it brought another culture, language, and awareness to everyone.  it broadened the idea of family and love and relation beyond blood for so many, including myself.

i will do everything in my power to have that influence in my life.