Day 337: Epic Embarrassment and the Crockpot of Doom

This morning I get this genius idea to make a crockpot full of goodness. Thus, my lentil/brown rice creation unfolds. The crockpot was acting a little funny, but I really didn't think twice about it to be completely honest. I think I was just distracted by the pungent aroma in the kitchen and kept getting visions of myself enjoying the taste bud EXPLOSION known as my dinner.

All this to say, smelling the sweet aroma of my creation, I failed to recognize clue #1 that something was going terribly awry. As I repeatedly checked on my dinner, I kept needing to obsessively add water. I thought this was strange, so I asked my roommate, Hannah Long Hair. She came over to the crockpot, opened the lid, peered inside, and concluded that I was nuts and everything was fine. I trusted her and went about my day.

Bad choice.

I left the house, leaving the crockpot on the counter to continue cooking, and proceeded to hike a mountain near my house. I was sitting at the top when I received a text from my other roommate, Elaine the 1/4 Asian, that said, "Dude. That thing isn't a crockpot. It's a rice cooker."

Fabulous.

Then she tells me that she's been uncontrollably laughing on the floor for the last ten minutes.

This is me embarrassed.

So, I get home, take one look at Elaine the 1/4 Asian, and she is sent into a fit of laughter like I have never seen (at my expense I might add). In the midst of her crying she is laughing so hard she asks me, "You try to find a lesson in everything. What's the lesson here?"

Without missing a beat I say, "Not to live with an Asian."

This is my Wednesday. Day 337 of 2010.

P.S. My dinner was still surprisingly palatable.

Day 335: What's up with the dead owl?

All this bird business made me wonder what the Bible has to say about owls.

Check these verses out:

Psalm 102: 6,7

⁶ I am like a desert owl,
like an owl among the ruins.

⁷ I lie awake; I have become
like a bird alone on a roof.

I prayed about the dead owl in my backyard, asking the Lord what He could be saying to me and then I read the two verses above.

WOAH! Could the owl mean the death of isolation and loneliness in my life?

I then looked up more scripture regarding owls/birds and what the Bible says about them. In culture we say things like "wise as an owl"---so we automatically think that owls are tied to wisdom. In the Bible, however, owls are repeatedly linked to loneliness and isolation. David even repeatedly referred to himself as an owl in the Psalms (or something very similar), which solidifies my theory that the dead owl means the death of isolation and loneliness.

[see http://www.bible-topics.com/Owl-The.html for more interesting facts about OWLS from the Bible]

Then my mom sent me a biblical commentary on Psalm 102:6,7. It says:

These birds are pictures of loneliness and desolation. At times we may need to be alone, and solitude may comfort us. But we must be careful not to spurn those who reach out to us. Don't reject help and conversation. Suffering silently is neither Christian nor particularly healthy. Instead, accept graciously the support and help from family and friends.

WOAH x2

Then, the Lord really brought it all home when I received two e-mails regarding the dead owl:

From my mother:

I am doing my Bible study right now - Stepping Up, Beth Moore, p. 123. She says, "Jesus is the author of connection. Satan is the author of isolation. The more our enemy takes us captive, the further we distance ourselves from healthy people..."

I immediately thought of you. I know you have been so lonely in the past - searching for deep and meaningful friendships for so many years. NOW YOU HAVE THEM!!! And in abundance. Could Satan be trying to attack you, to take you back to that really lonely place? He'd much rather have you there than watching you be the beacon that you are now.

Then this one is from my friend Ashley:

Thinking of our little conversation we had last night, referring to you RECEIVING love from friends, I'd say with this bird thing God is just saying there's a part of you that's passing away-- an OLD part-- a part that God is NOW making NEW. Allow yourself to receive it and open up to it. Walk through the doors God is opening...there's nothing at all to force about it, but it's simply a breath of the Spirit on your life that's doing it. It's SO exciting!!!...I'd say God is giving you a picture in the natural of what he's doing in the spiritual. A part of you that found comfort in isolation is dying. Praise God.

Basically the Lord has gone to great lengths to get me to see HOPE instead of loneliness. Poor little hooter had to die so that I would know that the Lord loves me. It's such an obvious sign of HIS love! He desires for me to no longer be a friend to isolation or loneliness and instead embrace this new season of fellowship with Him as well as others.

Check out what God says about loneliness found in Hebrews 13:5.

I will not in any way fail you,
nor give you up,
nor leave you without support.

Another version says:

I will not, I will not, I will not in any degree
leave you helpless
nor forsake you
nor let you down (relax My hold on you)!
Assuredly not!

Who knew that I would understand the LOVE of God better because of something dead in my backyard.

Day 334: There's a Dead Owl in my Backyard.

I woke up this morning to a dead, Great Horned Owl in my backyard.

[see video for documentation]



Let's review my life in the last few weeks:

1. Okay....so, when I moved in to the 852 there was an owl that moved into the backyard of my house. I have never seen it, but my roommates and the people who own the house saw it. Never really gave it a second thought.

2. Then, I was hiking a mountain the other day and while I was praying the Lord told me to look up and there was a hawk soaring above me.

3. I've been dreaming about doves for the past 2 1/2 years---over and over again.

4. I started thinking recently that maybe God was trying to tell me something (DUH!). I told Hannah Long Hair, who just looked at me skeptically, and then I said, "God will confirm it one more time today if He's trying to speak to me." Then that afternoon I was driving and a flock of geese flying in a "V" flew right in front of my car. In the wrong direction and at the wrong time of the year might I add.

So then last week I started seeing doves everywhere (like earrings and posters and pillows at PotteryBarn).

Then I saw a flock of geese chillin' in a random, ritzy city in the middle of a busy street.

Then a hawk was flying next to my car on the way to my parent's home for Thanksgiving. The hawk flew parallel to my truck for about a mile or so.

So, then I'm in my room this morning and I hear Hannah Long Hair screaming my name from in the kitchen. I run out there and in the backyard was an owl.......dropped dead. Seriously, dead as a doornail (I poked it with a stick to check).

What's up with this? Stay tuned...

This is a weird Monday. Day 334 of 2010.