Why a Woman Needs a Best Friend

She wraps her arm around my shoulder and holds me close

As tears fill my eyes.

Tears of nervousness,

Tears of helplessness,

Tears of fear.

She rubs my back and tells me it's going to be alright.

She lets me rush her through lunch,

Stand impatiently,

Then walks out of her way to go back to my room with me

When I'm not feeling well

And I just need that one thing in my drawer.

She lets me abandon her for a few minutes,

Waits quietly in the hard wood chair by my desk

Until I return and complain some more.

She's there to poke me awake

When I stayed up with her until 5:30 in the morning,

Both of us doing homework,

And the class we're in is just not interesting enough for me to stay awake

With only four hours of sleep.

She's there to buy me cookies,

Or smile when I buy them for myself because I'm craving chocolate.

She's there to give me chocolate

When I have to draw a 32-argument circuit,

And I'm quite sure I'm going to die.

She's there to count down the days to the end of the semester with me,

There to listen to my struggles,

There to smile at my joys.

She puts up with my awkward pictures,

Puts up with my talking incessantly about the same topics all the time,

Puts up with my loud laugh and loud voice.

I can talk with her about anything -

Parents,

Church,

Homework,

That Bible verse I read yesterday.

I can tell her how God answered my prayer

And hit me on the head -

Literally, right on the bridge of my nose -

With a falling berry,

And she laughs out loud

Just like I did when it happened.

I asked her this summer if she would,

And she said yes without hesitation,

Even though I know she had a lot of other things to do,

A lot of other things to work on.

So she and her flute came home with me

And we spent a late night in my room

As I introduced her to my world.

She put the giant headphones on her head.

I watched her hand keep time to the music,

Foot tapping to the beat.

She practiced and practiced

And I ended up beside her,

The two of us each with one earbud,

Me moving my hand down, left, right, up,

Her playing beautifully along with my erratic recording,

The incredibly slow tempo.

A few recordings later, we called it quits for the night,

One of two done,

One step closer to wrapping up my album.

We got ready for bed

And laid down on the air mattress in my basement

In an attempt to get a few hours of sleep before morning,

And all I could do was thank God

For blessing me so abundantly

And giving me such a wonderful friend.

I couldn't have asked for more.

Reasons 2162-2200 today,

Struggling to discern the truth

And to seek after it in spite of fear and doubt:

2162. He watches over the way of the righteous (Psalm 1:6)
2163. He laughs at those who band together against Him and His anointed (Psalm 2:2-4)
2164. He scoffs at those who band together against Him and His anointed (Psalm 2:2-4)
2165. In His anger, He rebukes those who band together against Him and His anointed (Psalm 2:2-4)
2166. With His wrath, He terrifies those who band together against Him and His anointed (Psalm 2:2-4)
2167. He is enthroned in heaven (Psalm 2:4)
2168. He has installed His king (Psalm 2:6)
2169. He has installed His king on Zion, His holy mountain (Psalm 2:6)
2170. He calls people “son” (Psalm 2:7)
2171. He becomes His people's Father (Psalm 2:7)
2172. He makes nations His people's inheritance (Psalm 2:8)
2173. He makes the ends of the earth His people's possession (Psalm 2:8)
2174. He is angry with those who do not kiss His son (Psalm 2:12)
2175. He causes the way of those who do not kiss His son to lead to destruction (Psalm 2:12)
2176. His wrath can flare up in a moment (Psalm 2:12)
2177. He blesses those who take refuge in Him (Psalm 2:12)
2178. He is a shield around His people (Psalm 3:3)
2179. He is the glory of His people (Psalm 3:3)
2180. He lifts high the head of His people (Psalm 3:3)
2181. From His holy mountain, He answers those who call out to Him (Psalm 3:4)
2182. He is the reason people wake again after lying down and sleeping (Psalm 3:5)
2183. He sustains His people (Psalm 3:5)
2184. He arises (Psalm 3:7)
2185. He delivers (Psalm 3:7)
2186. He strikes the enemies of His people on the jaw (Psalm 3:7)
2187. He breaks the teeth of the wicked (Psalm 3:7)
2188. From Him comes deliverance (Psalm 3:7)
2189. He answers His people when His people call to Him (Psalm 4:1)
2190. He gives relief from distress (Psalm 4:1)
2191. He has mercy (Psalm 4:1)
2192. He has mercy on His people (Psalm 4:1)
2193. He hears prayer (Psalm 4:1)
2194. He hears the prayers of His people (Psalm 4:1)
2195. He sets apart His faithful servant for Himself (Psalm 4:3)
2196. He hears those who call to Him (Psalm 4:3)
2197. He lets the light of His face shine on His people (Psalm 4:6)
2198. He fills people's hearts with joy (Psalm 4:7)
2199. He fills people's hearts with joy when their grain and new wine abound (Psalm 4:7)
2200. He alone makes people dwell in safety (Psalm 4:8)

Music update:

1 more flute part to record,
A bunch more songs to mix,
Most of the cover art still to do.

It's amazing how little gets done once summer's over,

And even more amazing that summer is never enough time to get everything put together,

But we're still working,

Slowly getting there.

Hopefully sometime soon.

Counting 10,000 Reasons to worship Him: 

(Sylvia's already made it to 10,000!  I only wish I had that kind of time!  If only I didn't have to do homework . . .)

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Counting in community: