When You Comfort Me...

<sup>Psalm 139
Of David

1</sup> You have searched me, LORD,
   and you know me.
² You know when I sit and when I rise;
   you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
   you are familiar with all my ways.
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
   you, LORD, know it completely.
⁵ You hem me in behind and before,
   and you lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
   too lofty for me to attain.
       ⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit?
          Where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
   if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
   if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
   your right hand will hold me fast.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
   and the light become night around me,”
¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you;
   the night will shine like the day,
   for darkness is as light to you.
 ¹³ For you created my inmost being;
   you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
   your works are wonderful,
   I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
   when I was made in the secret place,
   when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;
   all the days ordained for me were written in your book
   before one of them came to be.
¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
   How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ Were I to count them,
   they would outnumber the grains of sand—
   when I awake, I am still with you.
 ¹⁹ If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
   Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
²⁰ They speak of you with evil intent;
   your adversaries misuse your name.
²¹ Do I not hate those who hate you, LORD,
   and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
²² I have nothing but hatred for them;
   I count them my enemies.
²³ Search me, God, and know my heart;
   test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,
   and lead me in the way everlasting.

TV Taught Me How To Feel

Why Marina and the Diamonds is awesome.  An explanation in three facts.

1.  She originally tried to break into the music scene by auditioning for a reggae boy band--dressed in full shock drag.

2.  She has a condition called Synesthesia which causes her to see musical notes, days of the week, letters and numbers as different colors.

3.  Makes dynamic music videos that are eye-catching without all the skin and sex that comes with most all pop-esque music videos now and still retains the depth of her lyrics.  Take note, Gaga.

Happy anniversary of birth, Miss Marina.  Too bad you share the day stateside with Mr. Columbus, aka, The Scourge of the New World.

Miniature rant now over.

-KL

I've Seen All of the Realness

"Watch out! Weeeeowwww"

Whew.

I just had an amazing weekend and I want to share it with YOU, oh world of the interwebz.  Well, mostly with whatever kinds of people read this blog and in order to recollect my thoughts.

Friday morning, I did not work.  A first in almost a year (minus that one week I was in Montana, but that's beside the point).  Instead of my usual Friday hecticness at the Cuda, Michelle and I ventured to Spokane.  Now, this wasn't just any old "girls weekend out"--we don't really do those...sadly.  This was in order to attend the Women of Faith Conference.  Going in to this weekend, I expected it to be mostly boring with a huge helping of Bible thumping and Christ cheese (<-is that blasphemous?).  Those expectations were only the beginning of me being completely and utterly and pleasantly wrong for the following 36 hours.

I would liken it to Ghormley even (as a student, not as a counselor), minus the games and overcrowded cabins and delicious food--unfortunately.  The line-up of women speakers and lone man were completely down to Earth, real people with some sort of weird side-gig in stand-up comedy.  Not that they did stand-up, but some of them definitely could have.  Their talks were not weighed down with scripture as some Christian sermons are, but instead stories about their lives and about their families, how they relate to and connect with other people, seeing the good in everything, trusting in God's mysterious wisdom and how to be a better friend and woman of love and compassion.  I was deeply touched with laughter and profound thought at each of their words.

Michelle and I were already planning to go next year by the time lunch rolled around on Friday.

I'm encouraging my mom and any other woman of any amount of faith I know to go as well.  Seriously, that weekend did me more good than a year's worth of Sunday preaching.  Not that Sunday preaching isn't important, it just doesn't always seem as applicable as a modern woman of God living in a world wrought with brokenness.

I'm going to post some videos now of what could be expected at this conference as opposed to the cold and disconnected, memorized Bible verse touting preaching that I ignorantly expected going in.

The ever amazing and my new role model of old age, Patsy Clairmont:

And for those American Idol watchers, finalist Mandisa was there as well.  I had no idea who she was, to which Michelle had a nice little chuckle, but I definitely know who she is now.

As always,
-KL

P.S.  There are still a few more conferences this year, check and see if there are any near you, yes you.  If you can't make it this year, consider going next year.  Srsly, I will go with you.  Then the magic will be even more spectacular. 
P.P.S.  With 7 or so speakers, I never heard a single "where we're at".  Grammar is especially important to Women of Faith.

Justbecauseiamawomanirefusetocleanupyourshitandbeyourmomcuzitsfootballseason

Fantasy football was invented by the Devil to make me hate my otherwise favorite time of year.
Thanks for that Satan.
-KL


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