"All Shall Be Restored" (by Kay Ryan)

The grains shall be collected
from the thousand shores
to which they found their way,
and the boulder restored,
and the boulder itself replaced
in the cliff, and likewise
the cliff shall rise
or subside until the plate of earth
is without fissure. Restoration
knows no half measure. It will
not stop when the treasured and lost
bronze horse remounts the steps.
Even this horse will founder backward
to coin, cannon, and domestic pots,
which themselves shall bubble and
drain back to green veins in stone.
And every word written shall lift off
letter by letter, the backward text
read ever briefer, ever more antic
in its effort to insist that nothing
shall be lost.

~ Daybook : September 1st ~

Outside my Window: it is hot, sunny, and rainy....all at the same time! i've been enjoying walking in the evenings....when it actually is feeling a little bit cooler...

In the Kitchen: all is quiet....
we were invited over for Sunday lunch today...such a blessing. lovely....

Around the House: we are in the process of changing our floors....due to the unexpected problem/blessing of under the slab pipes leaking...i am overwhelmed by all the options and all that's going to have to be done!! excited for the floors to look better & work better, though....(they have been a thorn in my flesh ever since we built this house...don't ever ask me about it unless you want to see me get all wild-eyed and start talking way too loudly!!:) i already knew it about myself but have confirmed it again that i do not have much of the renovating spirit in me!!

I am thankful: that i am sleeping a little better these days....

I am reading: i go through stages where i feel like i'm reading a lot of everything and finishing not much of anything....sorta feeling that way these days. for friends who  also read all the Thoene books, i recently found The Swiss Courier (Goyer/Yorkey) (1st Christian fiction i've finished in awhile!)....reminded me a lot of why i loved those Thoene books. 
I just started Two Kisses for Maddy (a memoir of Loss & Love) (Matthew Logelin).
Memoirs matter to me...reading others' stories is enriching (even if i can't seem to get the book of our story off the ground *sigh*). 
I've also started reading Lincoln at Gettysburg: the Words that Remade America (Garry Wills)....
good....lots to take in.

I am watching: "Broadchurch" (BBC America)....so intense!! and "Ballykissangel" (old BBC, from my local library:)...non-intense, sweet, and just the right episode length needed to unwind....

I am listening to: lots of Sara Groves these days....good for my heart music...
and really enjoying my $3 Tony Bennett "Duets" (o how i love thee, 2nd and Charles!)

I am thinking (part a): about Giving: there have been a couple of instances lately where my Mom has taught me lessons in giving. (well, she always has really!) She decided to give away a whole set of dishes to someone who needed them more than us (totally her idea!)....and she recently had us turn the car around to go give $$ to a young woman holding a "help needed" sign.....and she promised the sad young woman her prayers (and Mom keeps those promises!!)
I don't have Giving all figured out but i know my ideas about it have evolved....i know giving is what we're called to be, not just something we're called to do...
i know it has to be done with open hands....without conditions....not part of game-playing or fairness-judging....and with the clear understanding that we might never see results for our "efforts". I am challenged to be more giving in the ways the Spirit leads....

I am pondering: restoration....praying and hoping so hard for some healing that needs to happen!
Grateful for every drop of grace movement that my tired eyes see....

I am remembering: the 8th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina (a few days ago)...like most other passages of time, this one seems unbelievable ...so many changes in me and my surroundings and our little world in these 8 years...and lots of monotony, too...

I am thinking (part b): about the situation in Syria....so complicated, horrible, and heartbreaking. 
(as are so many other terrible things in the world!) So we watch, helpless....and pray....

I am confessing: that i kinda have a crush on the Chopped judges (the male ones, that is:) .....they are all so cute! and they cook! perfect combination! we so like this show! (funny how even the totally grey-haired one seems like a cutie to me:)

I am looking forward to: Fall....wearing sweaters and jackets and fallish colors....burning candles....

I am hoping: to get a job at some point in the not too distant future. to go on a couple of little trips to visit friends. to get a job to make some $$ to pay for those trips!:)

A current favorite quote: 

"The longer I love and know our Jesus, the less I want to write or pontificate about Being a Good Christian." (Sarah Bessey)