my time in rochester was wonderful. driving for 2 hours and 15 minutes was simply fabulous because i sang the entire time! and since church hasn't been a place that i've wanted to raise my voice in song and in praise to God, it was great to be able to sing at the top of my lungs in a vehicle. ;)
i stayed at my friend danni's apartment on friday night. she and i would always have great conversations during college...and i was looking forward to some more! on saturday morning she went to a wedding with another one of our friends (her name is day). i had a bit of time with both of them before they left for the wedding.
then i went to barnes & noble!!! by far this is one of my favorite places to go... i love book stores with character and comfy chairs! i normally gravitate towards the: languages section (i'm so fascinated by languages....wish i knew them all!! or at least a few fluently. i'm still working on my dutch...and i still want to improve my french... and learn italian, greek, and german, too of course); travel section (i also just love maps! someday i will have a room that is covered in maps--it'll look really cool!); the music section (of COURSE!); and the christian literature section. i also enjoy looking at all of the journals that are sold there...for inspiration in my own book binding hobby. :)
after barnes & noble i went to the Broberg's home. my last year of college i cleaned their home every other week. it was a nice job during college...a chance to get away from the hustle and bustle of college...a chance to be alone with my thoughts while cleaning and listening to music! i also used to babysit the two daughters in the family, morgan and alyssa. i always had great fun with these girls! and our favorite thing to do? play dress up! each time we would play i ended up looking more and more ridiculous! (but that's part of the fun!) so of course, whenever i visit them we automatically run downstairs to the basement and attack the dress up clothes. this visit was no different. except this time they had a friend up...and she DID NOT participate in our ridiculousness! after we had our fun with dressing up we decided to do something different...and then their friend joined in. what a fun time i had with them!
i ate dinner with the broberg family and then i went to roberts...my college alma mater. i stayed with my friend erin. we met in the summer of 2002 when i was on a summer ministry team with roberts wesleyan college. my team did a worship service at the church that her dad was the pastor for....then we saw erin and her family again at Creation (a large christian music festival held every june)...and then my team was counselors at a camp that she and her brother went to every year! so needless to say, erin and i became really good friends. right now she is just finishing up her first year at roberts. time flies! anyway...i digress...
i hung out with erin and her roommate and also erin's friend deniss. we just sat around talking and laughing here and there... and then we decided to dye my hair. (nynke--it was definitely passed time to do it! the greys needed to disappear and quick!) deniss helped me in choosing a good color (to go with my dark hair and natural reddish highlights) and she even did the dying too! she did a great job. i'm pleased with how it came out. hoera! (one of these days i'll figure out how to post photos on here....)
i made the girls some crepes... (merci solenne!) mmmmmmm, deliceux! then we all went to sleep around 4? haha...really!
deniss and erin shared an air mattress on the floor next to the love seat couch that i slept on--all curled up--both deniss and erin were amazed that i could be comfortable there.... but i just reassured them that i like to and can sleep anywhere! when i woke up on sunday i felt sooooooooooooo rested...i truly had a great night's rest (even if it didn't begin until 4!).
church at edgewood free methodist was absolutely wonderful and just what my heart needed! i really miss that church. the message was about service... Matthew 25:31-40. such an encouraging message about simply serving in everyday life--wherever you are and in whatever you're doing.
after the service i spoke with some people here and there that i would always talk to on a sunday morning.... Vernon, who would greet me with a hug as i entered the sanctuary; another older man who was always ready with a smile for me; Margaret, a great woman i would meet with occasionally just to discuss how things were going in my life--she's kind of like a mentor; and John and Shirley Scripture---yes their last name is Scripture!! i spoke with Shirley briefly...and spoke with John at a greater length. John prays for me every day...(i'm #33 on his list...heehee) whenever i hear about people that are praying for me it always touches me extermely deep. and this time it did as well... i am still struggling to an extent about what to do for a job after school is out on june 1. I JUST DON'T KNOW! i have many dreams...too many to count, actually...and none of them seem to be the kind of job that makes money.... hmmmm. that does make life a bit difficult. after talking with John a bit, i just asked him to pray with me right at that moment... i was already in tears a bit you see... and i knew prayer would really minister to my soul at that moment. and it did. i'm so thankful to have so many different people in my life! (if only we could all be in the same place at the same time! or at least have access to some awesome hidden door that could transport us to all parts of the world no matter how close or far away!!)
after church i met up with day and another friend, kim at barnes & noble. we just sat and talked. it was so good for me to have people to hang out with again! i really miss that...
then, i browsed around the pittsford wegman's. it's a great grocery store...especially this one. and i had such a great time roaming through all of the foreign foods... especially the mediterranean section! and all the cheeses too! i ended up buying some dutch cheese... mmm.
following my fun in the grocery store i headed back to roberts, just to meet up with a few more people... my 'sort-of brother' justin and my cousin jeremiah. i happened to just run into justin in the athletic building....God had to have made that happen (i had no way of contacting justin!). justin and i visited for 30 minutes or so, talking about life, about church issues, about soccer, about roberts, etc! it was good to catch up a bit with him.
i found erin and her friends sitting in front of the library 'studying'. so, using erin's phone i called my cousin...."hi jeremiah! it's rissa..." "hi!" "i'm sitting in front of a library called sprague..." "NO WAY!!!" it was really fun to surprise my cousin! jeremiah is most definitely my most favorite cousin...he and i have always been great friends, which is awesome. so of course i couldn't leave roberts without saying hello to him! jeremiah and his girlfriend jess walked over and we talked and laughed and laughed and laughed and talked...and it was so nice. i'll get to see them this next week sometime...not sure when...but it will be fun, that's for sure!
the drive back to bradford was quite peaceful...full of peaceful sights! ...a red-winged black bird perched on a tree, 2 hot air balloons in the air, a water sprinkler/irrigation system on a field that sprayed part of the road as well and soaked my windshield, a sunset in the distance... so nice.
i stopped in cuba, ny to visit with my grandma. this was so therapeutic... we talked and laughed and shared stories, and prayed together. again, what i needed! i truly love my grandma and i'm so blessed to have her!
and to all of you that read this...i'm blessed to have you as well ;) (especially if you made it all the way to the end of this blog!! heehee)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
hey....i'm glad you had a great time...seems like it was just what you needed...some singing, talking and laughing :)
Post a Comment