a walk down memory lane

i have a new orleans box...this box was made for me as a going away present from my friend kate..to say it comes in handy would be an understatement..i toss in some type of article every few days..a card..a letter..a postcard from anyone (which always brightens my day)usually ends up in this little box..any little trinket or neat sign..business card..picture..or program i've collected over these past few months can be found there..


the other day i was feeling a little sentimental and decided to rummage through it..and it was much like looking back through all of the wonderful experiences i had so far...some that i regretfully had forgotten about...

there is liturgy from the annual peace gathering where i had the honor of meeting sister helen prejean..i found several museum tickets..colorful art from the kiddos i tutor..my book cover of nine lives which brought back memories of talking with the author dan baum..pictures and name tags from our community days that included planting trees with bayou rebirth and clearing lots with hands on new orleans along with agape meal fellowship devotions that reflected on the days highs and lows...a program from caroling in jackson square..different cards and coins from the joan of arc parade in the french quarter..while discovering all of these things again i felt very blessed...blessed that i live in such a lively city..blessed that i have had the opportunity to serve here..

along with all of these reminders were letters and cards from my friends and family..they warmed my heart all over again reading through them..and once more i felt so blessed...blessed that i have such loving and thoughtful people in my life..that encourage me and keep me in their thoughts and prayers..

"sometimes it hits me..how magnificent life really is..all the little details all the little features..like the dust..gracefully floating of from old books..like the little fibers in your favorite sweater..like the way paint sits upon a white canvas..like the broken lines and creases on your hands like the warmth of a hot cup of cocoa..or like the path a tear takes..slowly dripping..when you begin to see small details like these..you'll begin to appreciate life more..this world is waiting for you..whispering for you too..'fall in love with me..fall in love with life" 

peace & love 
jillian                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

back to the sunshine

"you get a strange feeling when you're about to leave a place..like you'll not only miss the people you love..but you'll miss the person you are now at this time and this place..because you'll never be this way ever again" azar nafisi

i've been back in NOLA (and soaking up the sunshine) for well over a week now..and it is as if i never left...as if my christmas break at home was merely a dream..it's hard for me to grasp this in many ways..i had the pleasure of spending time with a lot of  my family and friends..got back in the saddle (finally)..enjoyed some delicious home cooked meals (thanks mom)..had a chance to see some snow (brr)..got a much needed haircut (i am a repunzle no longer)..and brought in the new year with some of my favorite people..all in all it was a wonderful trip...

                     

however..i found it hard to adjust being home at first..i wasn't sure if i had changed in some ways that made it difficult for me to comfortably slide back into my life before new orleans..and when i got down to it..i don't really know if i wanted it to be an easy transition..see i specifically remember before i left for my yav year that i was in many ways nervous about change...not necessarily change in my enviornment or what i would encounter here but what this year would change in me...i knew for certain i wanted to grow as a person and in my faith..but what if that meant i did so much that i didn't recognize my "previous life" when i returned? and on the other end of things i was also nervous if i wasn't changed by this experience...contradictory? yes..and that left me trying to balance it all..

but that balancing act is tiring and after much deliberation and analyzing my trip home i am a bit tired of all that type of thinking so i am hoping to just embrace all that is happening..good and bad..put more trust into god and what he is doing with my life..

"our relationship with jesus is messy..intimate..and beautiful all at the same time..often he takes us on these dangerous adventures just to strip everything else away but himself..from there he'll show us that he is writing a bigger and far more beautiful story than we could have ever imagined" paige armstrong

peace & love

jillian