3/14/03

The only thing wrong in the whole world is that tomorrow I have to leave here. Who knew you would find the glory of God in an ugly place you think you hated? But I can’t ever hate this place again. What has happened this week had changed everything.

Today I saw an old friend. We hung out when she was 17, her sister was 18 and I was 19. When she got married last year, she went to Darrell, her former youth pastor. And they kept in touch. So Darrell called Lisa and the next thing you know we were at Starbucks. She has turned into a wonderful woman. She works for Disney, is happily married and is a neat person. We laughed so hard, remembering chicken stripes (that is not a typo), largos and Richard’s answering machine. But the best part was seeing that if I met her today I would truly like her. She had given her sister my email and when I got home today I had an email from her too. Lisa’s in laws are from Oklahoma and Louisiana, so more renewed friendship is brewing between her trips home and my new home away from home, as Darrell and Terry keep saying, out here.

This morning Darrell and I had a long God talk (again). I was about to go running and he was headed for work. Terry had just left to do a client’s hair and we started talking—Terry came home and we were STILL talking. Then Terry sat in the car forever after she got here. I had let her borrow one of my CDs I got at the International House of Prayer and she was enamored with it. I told her to keep it til June anyway. Darrell laughed and said sometimes they will drive home from church in separate cars and she will come in the house 45 minutes later than he does because she is so caught up in worship. Finally Darrell was leaving and he and Terry were talking out at the curb, so while I waited for Terry I was dancing on the front walkway. The song got in my head when Darrell had hummed a part of it and I could see the moves that had to go with the beat. I was not sure I had it right since I just learned the song last night. Darrell joked that he was sending Terry now to take me inside. I laughed because I noticed a neighbor had come home and I was doing developes and pique pas de bourees outside. I said the neighbors would think I was crazy. They laughed and said neighbors already know they are crazy. After Terry left, I got the song out (she gave me the CD to take back and learn the dance). All the parts I had worked on outside fit when I played the music. I probably had a third of the song. I mean, it is still not a dance, but I know a lot of it. It is unlike anything I have done and I know it is the Lord choreographing it. I just get to dance. And it is touching me. I think it was more prophetic when Terry said it was my song and I had to do it, Today I read the Scripture on which part of it is based—in Song of Solomon. And I had been practicing it too. I was, of course, in tears. It is my song. Spring has come.

How am I going to deal with leaving? I am not ready. I just found this. But I have been waiting years for it.