taking the world into my arms

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Highlights of this past week:

+ Wednesday evening: grace to somehow crank out a philosophy paper in just a few hours. (Hour-long phone calls with philosophy-PhD-aspiring brothers who can explain how thoughts could exist without thinking beings are always helpful.)

+ Thursday night: in bed before midnight for once - both Kathleen and I warm under our bedspreads sitting in the dim light reading our books.

+ Friday morning: silence in my room after getting back from early morning pilates class. Organic yogurt, my favorite design blogs, prayer, a bit of reading, some Jon Foreman, and a little knitting - all before 9am.

+ Saturday afternoon: walking on the leaves-scattered sidewalk around the quaint neighborhoods, decked in scarves and mittens, eating a baguette fresh from the French bakery, breathing the brisk and rainy air.

+ Later Saturday afternoon: knocking on the door of my professor's home, being ushered into the scent of pumpkin pie and the sound of Christmas music and the warmth of the smiles of all the elderly Mennonite women - learning the rhythm of working and talking with them.

+ Sunday afternoon: tea and cookies in my room with two sweet girls . . . talking about Dante and Dostoevsky and all the places we want to go in Europe.

+ Sunday evening: dinner with Margaret in a young couple's apartment from church . . . homemade chorizo tacos, friendly conversation, and generous hospitality.

I don't mean to make it sound like my life is perfect - believe me, there were plenty of moments this week that weren't so beautiful. But I find that reflecting on those moments of grace helps me to grow in the discipline of amazement . . .

When it's over, I want to say: All my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.
(Mary Oliver)

all this grace,
Jessina
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a losing position

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Starting today, I hope to be back to regular posting. It was one of my goals for the year to post more often - mostly because I enjoy it, but also because it is good practice for writing and helps me stay focused and intentional regarding my larger life goals - so I plan to try and get back into the habit, as best as stressful college life allows me.

Today, though, I simply want to share this quote, which I reread tonight. I had underlined this paragraph when I read Wirzba's book earlier this year, and as I picked up the book again tonight and flipped through its pages, I found much needed grace in these words again.

"We are too much social climbers, angling and jockeying for position within an ever-changing hierarchy of prestige. We continually compare ourselves with others, seeing who is more successful or popular or beautiful. This is a losing position to be in, since there will always be somebody who compares better in some area. It is also theologically naive, because it assumes that God sees us in a similar hierarchical manner. When we recognize that we are all sinners, there is no cause for boasting and no need for competitive comparisons. In God's household all members are equally important."
(Norman Wirzba, Living the Sabbath, pg. 60)

under mercy,
Jessina
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multitude monday

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continuing my list of one thousand gifts . . . (and I really did write this on monday - just didn't get around to actually posting it until now) . . .
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101. a long walk and good conversation in a sunshine-scattered field with the beautiful sarah

102. the kindness of a sophomore who drove me to whole foods - so glad to have yogurt and strawberries and granola again . . . little things that I miss from home

103. the smoky scent of autumn wafting through the air

104. the thought of apple-picking this saturday

105. a merciful professor who gave our entire class an extension on a paper

106. how all the girls on my floor pop out of their rooms whenever I get home from a regatta and give me a grand welcome back and cover my door with welcome home signs

107. the old oak trees that line the path that I walk several times a day

108. the unexpectedly large and blue mid-western sky

109. yoga class tonight with kaitlyn

110. grades that turned out much better than I had anticipated

111. the complete silence of the chapel (silence is something quite rare here)

112. talking about international justice mission with elise around the bonfire sunday evening

113. package slips in my little post box . . .

114. . . . and homemade apple bread from my wonderful mother

115. church-sponsored art exhibits

116. good health and no colds (yet)

117. the night tara and I spent reading our favorite poems together

118. quiet tears that always birth new hope

119. lunch with the lovely jessica every monday, wednesday, and friday

120. returning to an anglican church this week after several weeks elsewhere - and speaking all those wonderfully familiar prayers again - it felt like going home

. . . grant us strength and courage to love and
serve you with gladness and singleness of heart.

All is grace.

grateful,
Jessina
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top six | cooking blogs

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One of the things I miss the most since coming to college is having a kitchen. On days like Sunday when the only on-campus food option for dinner is basically a hamburger or a veggie burger, there is nothing more that I'd like than a homemade banana-blueberry smoothie or a quick whipping up of whole wheat pasta with basil, tomatoes, and feta. Somehow greasy burgers don't compare.

So on days like today I suppress (or perhaps increase) my desire to cook by using my study breaks to look at food blogs. These are a few of my favorites today . . .

1 | Smitten Kitchen
2 | The Kitchen Sink Recipes
3 | Eggs on Sunday
4 | Fresh365
5 | Canelle et Vanille
6 | Honey & Jam

all's grace,
Jessina
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and this is college

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trip downtown to get frozen yogurt with some lovely people

saturday morning on campus, walking to the farmer's market

roommates
(and no, I didn't shrink - my lovely roommate just happens to be six feet tall)

I feel like ever since I first stepped foot on this campus, I have been breathing grace after grace after grace.

I had braced myself for college, expecting it to be challenging and uncomfortable at first. And yet it has been unexpectedly good. I don't know quite how else to express it. I have seen the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living - I have seen it here in the faces that I've gotten to know, along the tree-lined paths I walk everyday, in the community of girls on my floor, in the kindness of my professors who give me rides to church each week, in the quiet moments alone in the chapel, in the late-night conversations with my roommate, in my crowded room as girls gather to watch a movie, in the boat as I yell at four guys to keep rowing, in the friendly faces I pass each day as I walk around campus, in the strength to wake up at 4:30am, in the knowledge I feel I have already acquired from my studies, in the cafeteria, in chapel, in classes . . . at that moment each night when I put my book aside, turn my light off and let my muscles (finally) relax in the darkness, as I whisper prayers upward.

I would write more, but I have been out all morning at the river and a lot of reading and paper-writing needs to get done before this evening. But thank you for all who have been praying for me - I know your prayers have truly carried me.

power tens and fall breezes,
Jessina
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fabric-covered bulletin board tutorial

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I've had a basic bulletin board above my desk for about a year now, but ever since I hung it up, I've been wanting to fix it up a bit. It looked a bit too blah and classroom-like for my taste. And so I decided to cover it up with some fabric. The process was much easier and hassle-free than I expected it to be, and it turned out quite lovely. Other than gathering the supplies, I'd say the whole thing only took about 20 minutes.

I used this tutorial as a guideline, but this is how I did it:

Materials: a piece of fabric large enough to cover the cork (I used some extra white linen I had from another project), fabric sheers or scissors, masking tape, spray adhesive, a piece of ribbon or trim long enough to cover the border of the cork, and hot glue or tacky glue

1. Cut out a piece of pre-washed material to fit the interior of your bulletin board. The piece of fabric should fit right up to the frame, but not past the frame. If it's not perfect, that's alright. The ribbon will cover up the inconsistencies.

2. Iron the material, if needed.

3. Using the masking tape, tape off the frame of the bulletin board so that you do not spray any adhesive on the frame.

4. With your material ready and on hand, spray the cork with the spray adhesive and immediately apply the material onto the board. Flatten out any wrinkles while the adhesive is still wet.

5. Once the adhesive is dry, cut out lengths of the ribbon or trim to fit the four sides of the bulletin board. Using hot glue or tacky glue (I found hot glue worked better), attach the ribbon or trim along the edges, within the frame.

And that's it! You could also paint the frame of the bulletin board before doing this, if you didn't like the coloring of the frame. And while I wanted something sort of understated and plain, there are endless possibilities with patterned fabrics or bolder colors.
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multitude monday

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continuing my list of one thousand gifts . . . I'm one-tenth of the way there now . . .

0081. eighteen years of life

0082. richard foster's books

0083. the kindness of a lady who graciously gave me (an almost total stranger) a beautiful old film camera

0084. peach-picking and picnics

0085. achingly hot summer days, when the sun feels very close

0086. a brother who surprised me and came home from his summer away just to celebrate my birthday

0087. this constant and eternal hope

0088. childhood novels

0089. divine rest . . . come all who are weary . . .

0090. visits from old friends

0091. anticipation

0092. sunflowers and farmers markets

0093. the giggles and shouts and sheer noise of a classroom full of five and six year olds with boats sinking into the seas and porcupines crawling about

0094. having amy home again

0095. letters in the mailbox from faraway friends

0096. peach custard pie

0097. my new-found love of cantaloupe

0098. the complete silence of the house while reading in bed each night before turning the lights out

0099. how very green the world is, particularly this time of year

0100. this last week when I can still imagine what college will be like, without yet experiencing it, knowing how naive I am, and how much I will most likely grow and change this next year . . .
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all's grace,
Jessina
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