AMAZING GRACE

My plans for the past few days screeched to a sudden halt when I woke up thursday morning with my throat so red and puffy I was unable to speak without pain. I had felt a twinge of rawness that comes with the beginning of a sore throat on Wednesday but because there were no cold symptoms, I simply assumed I had scratched the back of my throat and carried on with my day. Thursday morning my dad drove me to the doctor to be tested for strep throat. Thankfully, the results came back negative. However, my throat remains inflamed so the past few days have consisted of resting, mindless activities, and meals consisting of slurpees and mac n' cheese. That part wasn't so bad... I love slurpees and mac n' cheese.

Do I type this to receive sympathy from my faithful readers?
Yes.

But I also wanted to share something God shared with me when I finally slowed down enough to listen. (You would be surprised at the amount of listening you're capable of when you can't speak.)

The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
1 John 2:17 

Odds are fairly decent you have read or heard this verse before. And if you're like me, it may have caused a twinge of sadness. Trapped in my legalistic mindset, I always took this verse to mean the things I placed my hope in would be gone so I should do better to make sure I desire only what God desires. I think this is part of it. I think going through the process of sanctification involves the shifting of our desires and that is a good thing. However, there is a message of hope in this verse that was hidden from me. I missed it.  However, after reading this verse at the end of an entire day of being silent, God blew my mind with a fresh perspective. Read the beginning again...

The world and its desires pass away...

Do you see it?

The world and its desires pass away. 

My desires keep me in bondage. I am consumed by them. They become my god. I constantly battle desiring things more then God himself. And I think... "If I could only force myself to not want what this world has to offer me." Taking our thoughts captive is important, but that night it was like God whispered to me...

"Hannah, there will be a day when you won't desire anything but me. Not that you will be master over your desires... they won't be there. Nothing but a desire for me will be there."

Praise God.

SOUL SISTER

This blog is about one of my bestest friends. We became friends over a mutual love of Justin Bieber and a mutual hatred of haters of Justin Bieber. On a scale from one to ten, seven being the highest, she is definitely a solid eight point five. I’ll be super secretive about which friend I am talking about. For the sake of her privacy (and the possibility she won’t want to admit this blog is about her) I will just call her “A”. The “A” stands for Andrea. Is that ok, Andrea?

Andrea. Andrea. Andrea.

One of the best things about Andrea…Oh! I mean, “A” is her vast amount of knowledge. This is due to her mad internet researching skills. She is the queen of finding information. And the reason for this is her inquisitive mind. I kid you not… one day I asked her if some celebrity gossip was true and she was able to tell me the whole story from every side. You want to know how she knew? She was walking through Target and saw some artwork on the cover of a cd that she liked. So she looked up the artist and while she was at it she looked up the band. While she was listening to the band, she realized that the band sounded a lot like another band that she liked. While she was checking to see if the band had ever met, she stumbled upon an article about the celebrity who had the same middle name as the guitarist in the original band she looked up. So she read the whole story. Then she looked up the story from another angle and read that. And while she was at it, she found an article filled with information about removing brain tumors…but that was just a plus. Then she is able to retain all of that information for weeks, possibly years… ask me again in 2020. This skill of hers comes in extremely handy if you want to know anything about prop 8, props used for the stage production of Wicked, the art of propaganda, ten cute ways to prop things up, or any subject in between.

(Also, something worth mentioning is this super-memory of hers doesn’t just retain information she reads…this girl can remember dates and events better then an icalendar app. This is both a blessing and a curse for an absent minded person like myself. A blessing when she helps me remember dates I should know and a curse when I forget dates she remembers.

When is our “friendaversary” again? I’ll never know…)

 Another wonderful thing about “A” is her dry sense of humor. She doesn’t think she’s funny but let me tell you…she is. You definitely had to be there for this story but one of my absolute favorite memories is one time I was with her when she received a text message inviting her to go to one of our friend’s house to hang out. Without hesitating, she types out… “I would never come to your stupid party.”

Ah-SEND!

Another time she walked into class wearing a sharks t-shirt and saw a kid wearing a ducks t-shirt from across the room. Without hesitation, she walked up to the kid and said…

“Hey, nice shirt! NOT.”

The best is when she gets tired and says things I can hold against her forever. (I know, I’m a great friend) Once she was sitting on a couch, half asleep, and in a sleepy voice she stated…

“Once, I was holding a little mouse in my hand and I um… I suffocated it to death.”

True story.

In all seriousness, I think another one of the best things about having Andrea as a friend is she expects the best from people. She sees this as a bad thing because she thinks it makes her too sensitive when people disappoint her. I disagree. I think it takes a great deal of courage to expect greatness from people. And it takes so much heart to give people the gift of expectations that will make them better.

She also has been one of my soul (Yes, I mean soul.) comforters when I have gone through hard times. Andrea is real. She knows what real pain is and she mimics God himself when she speaks real truths. One of the most beautiful memories I have is sitting on her kitchen floor crying my heart out and looking up and seeing her crying with me. (Oh snap. Now I am crying as I type this.) I think it’s a true friend who will get genuinely angry when you tell her someone has hurt you. Her capacity for empathy is a rare and special quality about her. I wish she knew how much she is worth. She really doesn’t see it. 

(She is going to kill me for this but…) Fellas! For the record she is currently single and ready to mingle if you want me to hook it up… if I think you’re worthy of course.

=]

But she does have flaws…oh yes…

She is completely and absolutely, beyond all reasoning and logic, obsessed with Paramore. Even though she and Taylor York are definitely getting married someday, it can still be a bit much. Whatever you do, don’t ever let you catch her calling them “Paraless”. I only made that mistake once. She gave me the evil eye.

Shudder* The EYE!!

That girl can hold a stare longer then an owl! Woe to you if you are ever on the receiving end. Picture puppies dying, a Christmas tree falling over, and Fred Weasely dying (Know what I’m talking about? You just outed yourself as a Harry Potter fan!) and that is only a fraction of how you will feel when she’s done.

Sometimes she tells me I am the worst friend she has ever had. (Dry humor. It’s not as mean as it sounds. Lol) I probably am. I don’t retain any valuable information, I get lost all the time (much to her chagrin), I forget important dates, I post blogs about her killing animals, and I…ok, I am just going to say it… I am not a big fan of Paramore. But for some reason, she keeps me around.

And you know, that’s probably the best thing about her…

I LEFT MY HEART IN SAN FRANCISCO

Yesterday, I went to San Francisco. 

Why is this important? Because it's the first time I have ever gone in my entire life!

Yes, I have driven through it on my way to somewhere else... but I hardly think that counts. 

I went with a wonderful group of people (except you Josh L =]) and I couldn't resist sharing some of the highlights of my experience.

THE DRIVE. 

I think taking a long drive with someone can be as intimate as giving them a hug or buying them a gift - a hug because you are essentially agreeing to stay in close proximity to someone for a set amount of time and a gift because it only takes approximately fifteen minutes to wear out surface topics and move on to sharing deeper things. 

Thats why I love them. 

Here is a question that came up worthy of consideration. If you are siamese twins, and you must remain attached to live, should you have to pay separate tuitions for college? 

Also, what is your biggest fear? 

THE ATTEMPT TO FIND A PARKING SPACE. 

There is really nothing interesting to share but seeing as we spent half the day doing this I thought it deserved mentioning. 

=]

PIER 39 

I love places dedicated to eating delicious food. The view was also gorgeous... 

I had the full experience. It was a perfect day to be on the pier. Crisp and cool, the sun was out and there was a light breeze. We browsed through the t-shirts, sunglasses, hats and postcards. We went inside to look at paintings and drawings of what was right outside. We watched the sea lions wrestle and bark. The whole shebang. 

One of things I was looking forward to the most was listening to the street performers. And well, we did hear them...

Thats ok, I guess not everyone is the stuff of movie making. 

HAIGHT STREET

I love haight street.

(I just wanted to say that.) 

Shopping! 

The girls had a field day admiring clothing we could never afford to have or find the courage to wear while the guys had a field day admiring the girls... =] 

The houses in San Francisco greatly resemble the people - no two being alike. And the brick buildings are gorgeous. I loved seeing architecture with character. 

My favorite thing about spending time in the city was whenever anything out of the ordinary happened, one could just shrug and say "Eh...San Francisco" I think that could be what people say to explain me sometimes. "Eh...Hannah." 

THE PERFECT END TO A PERFECT DAY.

Seven people. 

Seven spoons. 

One carton of chocolate chip ice cream. 

I usually do my best to give the reader a reason to read what I write but I admit this blog was a wee bit self indulgent. I now have a blog entry, a slightly sunburned nose, and a shiny pressed penny to remember the day.

Thanks for reading. I love you guys.