Pep in my step

Where has time gone? It's finally April and everything seems much more hopeful now that spring is (supposedly) just around the corner. I think today I even spotted a flower! People suddenly seem more cheerful and I also can't help but being super chipper.

Early last week I left Indiana behind with snow on the ground, and headed much farther south to spend the most marvelous week with Andrea in Florida. It was a much-needed break from work and the constant cold and cloudiness of Bloomington. I felt the old, adventuresome Laura well up inside me as our plane banked over the coastline late at night and landed at the tiny Daytona Beach airport. I think they turned the airport lights on just for our plane's arrival and then switched them off again.

Throughout the week, we went to the beach, read a lot, talked about everything under the sun, watched an old movie, got our first pedicures ever, ate lots of amazing food (mostly Asian, of course), hung out with her friends who have also become my friends over the years, and laughed nearly every waking moment. On Easter Sunday after church we drove up north along the shore to St. Augustine, which is an old town founded by the Spanish in 1565! It's extremely historic and gorgeous. We packed (well, Andrea did most of the work) a little picnic lunch and lounged on a blanket under a little palm tree on a hill overlooking the old Spanish fort and old town. It was a beautiful day, as families flew kites and played games, sailboats drifted by in the harbor, and the sun shone brilliantly. We even watched an Easter parade, which was a first for me. The parade was filled mostly with Easter bunnies and pirates, which was an interesting and amusing combination. It was my first Easter I've spent with any family member since 2004--9 whole years ago! So I was extremely grateful for the opportunity to see her, to be warm, and just to rest. She was a great encouragement to me, and hopefully I was also able to encourage her!

One of my favorite parts was going to Good Friday and Easter service at her church. I have felt very distant from God lately, like my heart was covered in lacquer. Life has just been so... hard. From the sermons and the songs we sang, and the time I got to spend praying and reading my Bible, I felt like a little bit of the ice inside me was being chipped away. Some of the verses from the hymns we sang pierced me to the core:

Because He lives
I can face tomorrow
Because He lives
All fear is gone
Because I know
He holds the future
And life is worth the living
Just because He lives

~"Because He Lives"

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

~"In Christ Alone"

So with a little pep in my step, I returned on Tuesday to Indiana, where it had flurried that morning. That evening I rushed to downtown to the old theater for the "Be More Awards" by the City of Bloomington. The bikers, beach bums, and tourists of Daytona were replaced with Btown's hippies, hipsters, and intellectuals. At this cozy, packed-out event of hundreds of people, several individuals and organizations were recognized for their incredible volunteering. It was an experience uniquely Bloomington. The mayor and our organization's executive director cracked jokes about each other on stage like they usually do, the crowd was filled with a diverse array of students, elderly folks, prominent business people, and all the nonprofit people I've gotten to know over the past 3 years. The recipients gave short, heart-warming acceptance speeches, and there was one woman who used her speech to warn about climate change in a way that made everyone so uncomfortable (now I just keep laughing about it). This particular woman stood on the edge of the stage and commenced to blow a ram's horn, "as a warning against climate change." It was delightful seeing someone who could make the eternally-accepting Bloomington crowd cringe from awkwardness.

In other news, I've still been staying extremely busy with the usual activities: volunteering, church and small group, dancing, and solving everyone's tax issues... I'll leave you with a couple of pictures from this past week's little Florida adventure! Sorry they're mostly of me--Andrea is modest and doesn't like to be photographed. I, however, obviously don't mind!



In my preppy Florida gear.



Amazing sushi!



St. Augustine on Easter.



Little Easter picnic lovingly prepared by Andrea.



My gracious hostess.



Ah! Warmth and sunshine!