A witness. Of the Jehovah variety.

They were nice ladies, to be sure. We got into an interesting discussion of the Kingdom of God. They see it as an earthly, physical kingdom God will establish, but I countered that in the NT that was precisely the wrong view that the people had. They misunderstood Christ’s purpose and what the Kingdom of God truly is, which is a spiritual kingdom.

I didn’t ask them if they really think Christ was just Michael the Archangel and if they could show me such a thing even in their Scriptures, but that can wait until they possibly come back. It was a good discussion and I’m happy that I’m grounded in the Word of God and in my beliefs in Jesus and the Holy Spirit, but I grieve for these women in a sense. They are in my prayers. As they press on from door to door earning their way to salvation, I have security that salvation was given, not earned, nor could it truly be earned. My works are a result of grace and a result of the gift of salvation, not a means to that end.

Anyway…

The repairman did arrive. He did some very scientific banging around under my stove and pronounced it good as new! He said there were deposits around the pilot light that were preventing the proper lighting of the oven but he cleaned them up. He said to call again if there’s any trouble. So easy! To christen my newly repaired oven, I immediately fired it up to 400 degrees and busted the muffins out of the fridge. They smell divine, but I must let them cool or they will burn my tongue. Still, I’m glad that my oven is back and I can get back to baking, roasting, and broiling as usual!

Thank God for Sundays. I think if I didn’t have them I’d just die. This week was like some sort of wretched roller coaster. Up and down and up and down. I’m not fond of that sort of thing. Nice interview Monday, annoying work meeting. Nice day Tuesday, then Tuesday night a water pipe broke in the upstairs neighbor’s bathroom and I came home to rain in my bathroom. Most of that is dried out and the landlord responded quickly to shut off the water, but my linen closet ceiling is trashed and I’ll probably have to clean out the closet until repairs can be made. Fortunately it hasn’t seemed to effect other ceilings… I’m hoping for the best.

Wednesday I felt generally blah. I left work early and went to the farmers’ market. That lifted my spirits. They had tomatoes, squash, and pumpernickel bread. Happy times.

Saturday was day of crappy work junk. Sometimes I hate being floor super on Saturdays cause everything goes wrong and no one else is there. Grr. However, all those were solved.

Today my pastor’s preaching cut straight to my heart. I gave him a little trouble (”Stop preaching directly to me like that! It’s scary!”), but I like that he really hears the Holy Spirit and preaches in a way that has an impact on people. It was all about looking for a spouse. I got some prayer, too. Really, really needed it. I cleared up some things with a friend and I feel better overall.

I have lots of wonderful books to read as I hide inside during this awful heat! I’ve also been playing FFXII. Doing lots of leveling and entering areas I didn’t dare to tread (aka The Zertinian Caverns) on a much lower level than I thought possible.

I also have use of the washer and dryer back! I did two weeks worth of laundry and, since my gas bill is low and should stay that way, have been rack drying my clothes again. It takes longer (about 24 hours per load), but is worth it.

Going to a Cards game tomorrow! I have tons to do in the morning, including cleaning the linen closet, copying my keys, and getting something with which to hang things on the wall. Also dropping books off at the library. But the rest of the day will be a fun day!

This week has been crazy busy with lots of up days and down days. Taxing and tiring. A long bath is definitely in my future.

If you want to see Body Worlds, hurry up cause it’s only here till March 2nd! On March 3rd it’s gone, gone, gone! But don’t see it on the weekend. That’s insane and ridiculous cause everyone and their mom is seeing it on the weekend. It’s very tiring managing the lines. It’s not really my job to do it but I can’t stand just leaving things so ridiculous. People are really cranky, too. Well, not everyone. I had some very nice visitors talk to me today. And a couple not very nice visitors, too. No one likes long lines. Can’t say I blame them.

Still, I implore you all DON’T COME ON A WEEKEND. Try a weekday (call in plastinated or something) or a weeknight. That’s the good time.

Um, one exception, there is a special college student rate tonight and tomorrow (that’s the 26th and 27th for those who don’t pay attention to the time stamp).

Whew. Enough about work. I did my taxes. Looks like a little refund action. Woohoo! That money is going straight to the student loans. According to my calculations and projections, this means my goal loan amount will be attained by May. So I’m tentatively going to say I’M GETTING AN APARTMENT IN MAY.

Nice to look forward to, that’s for sure.

The last six months have been a major growing period for my faith. I mean super major. I feel like I’m getting closer and closer to God. I love it! More on that later if I have a chance. I’m working M-F this week. No Saturday! I might take another Saturday off! Shock and awe!

Okay, I’m reading a book called Affluenza. This book kicks butt and takes names. Each chapter outlines the further devastating effects of rampant consumerism. I’m only on chapter 10 and this book is like the bitter medicine of conviction to me. I’ve really seen times when I turned to stuff as the answer to my problems. Stuff. I’m like freakin’ Madame Blueberry at the StuffMart in Veggietales. How utterly preposterous! But true! Argh!

So I’m going to try a couple weeks of no buying. This will be really hard for me but it needs to happen. I have too much stuff. And I’m spending more than I ought to. This is foolishness.

I really feel like the Lord has been calling me to slow down, too, and not to waste time on the frivolous. Like this conviction to take the bus to work. Taking the bus not only gets me walking as I play my little bus game, it also gives me a good 15 minutes that I can reflect and pray. Man, do I need that 15 minutes. I find myself so much more relaxed when I come home after taking the bus. I really hope I can stick with this mass transit to/from work thing for awhile because I need it. It’s so healthy.

I’ve had some cool things happening in my life and have been asking for prayer. I’ve really realized today how many phenomenal, godly women are around me, praying for me. This really touches my heart (I’m getting teary right now, for goodness’ sake). Having such beautiful, intelligent, and genuinely good women looking out for me, checking on me, and praying for me is the most amazing blessing in the whole world. Thank you all so much. I’m praying for you all, too.