On My Hope Mug

"Christ with me.
Christ before me.
Christ behind me.
Christ in me.
Christ beneath me."

I broke a mug today.  There were too many of them, all balanced on a plate as a wandered down the hallway to the sink in the lounge to wash the dishes.  Five feet before reaching my destination, my unsteady nature took hold, and gravity sent two mugs and several forks cascading to the floor.  The first ceramic cup bounced painlessly upon the hard carpet, but the other cracked cleanly in two.

I gasped, quickly set the rest of the dishes still in my hands beside the sink, and sunk to my knees.  That mug, a perfect orange in color, was broken.  The word embossed on the side: hope.  It was too symbolic.  Something cracked inside of me and I felt my eyes filling up with tears.

Jill came into the lounge while I was kneeling on the floor holding the two pieces in my lap.  She took them for me, with an "I'm sorry, honey."

When I came back to my room, laden down with clean dishes, the mug was sitting on my desk, newly super-glued.

Thanks Jill and Em. You two have blessed my life immensely this year.

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."

Holly and Jessica just reminded me quite harshly that I'm supposed to be writing a paper right now.  They are so correct.  But I'm tired of writing about Jonathan Edwards and his hybrid ideology of both Puritan and Enlightenment philosophy.  And let's keep in mind that they just distracted me for like five minutes with a dinosaur themed video on youtube.

Speaking of Holly, I really love her.  I did a bit of cleaning/rearranging/purging today.  It left me with a box full of memories, being carefully watched over by my faithful velociraptor , Ralph.  But it also left me with quite a few gaps in the collage of pictures lining the bulliten board behind my desk and the montage of photos adorning my closet doors.

When I got home frm a rainy study date in the Queen Anne Starbucks with Jill, the first thing I noticed (besides the abnormally large and slightly loud group of people enhabiting my room) was a few white rimmed pictures, freshly printed, filling the spaces I had left bare only hours before.  My dear, lovely roommate filled up those gaps with memories from this year and last: onesies, a magical group of girls, retreat, spring sun, a fourth hill barbeque.

Now when I glance up from paper writing, email composing, facebook cruising, my eyes aren't met with gaps filled only with blue fabric, empty places and spaces, but beautiful faces of people I love.

Thanks Hol.  Where would I be without you?

"Christ in me, the hope of glory."