Come

Effortless

More Bluebonnets

Took some more pictures today - this time of my sweet friend Kat and her brother Chris.

Bluebonnets

Today, I took bluebonnet pictures for my friend Emily. She was a fantastic model, and the flowers were gorgeous! I had so much fun.

Glow

Today I woke up, ate breakfast, puttered around on the computer, dug through our bookshelves, decided to re-read an old Nancy Drew book, got 3/4 of the way finished with it, set it down, looked for something interesting to do, finished a magazine of my mom's, moaned that I was bored, sat and continued moaning for at least another hour, took pictures for my mom of furniture that we're fixing to sell, got lectured by my mom for aforementioned moaning, and then went and laid down on our upstairs couch.

I felt drained. And dim. And empty.

Bored? Yes, I was that. But I could have found something to do. I thought for a while about what was really bothering me. Then, it hit me.

I didn't do my devotional time this morning.

During D-Now this year (see previous posts) we talked about the basic disciplines of Christianity. One of them was "quiet time." I know, it sounds juvenile, and I've been told to have one daily at least a bajillion and three times by my sunday school teachers, youth leaders, etc. And for the record, I do a fair job of keeping up with mine.

But I hadn't really been doing them every day, and I hadn't been excited about them. I was just taking part because I was supposed to. So I decided that I would start doing them in the morning again, for just 7 minutes.

And I realized that the reason I've been told to do these devotional times a bajillion and three times is because they are so important. They are a time of peace before the frenzy of the day begins, before frustration sets in, before problems start. And they bring me joy! I like them.

Yesterday, I overslept and skipped.

Then, today, I forgot again.

No wonder I felt like I was running on empty. Because, technically, I was.

I dove into one of my favorite passages of the Bible right away - Psalm 42 - and felt refreshed right away. Because God is awesome like that. He instantly energizes me.

Suddenly, I didn't feel so drained anymore.

I can't wait for tomorrow morning. I am not missing out again!

Indeed It Is

Tonight, I have lots of random thoughts spinning through my head with no end, no organization. I would write them down, but I know that the resulting post wouldn't be legible, cohesive, or interesting.

So I'm saving the posting for later.

When I'm not so tired.

And it doesn't feel like my brain has been replaced with cotton, bees, and spaghetti.

The Stuff of Legends

Was it amazing or what?

The Duke - Butler NCAA championship face-off will go down in history as one of the single best basketball games ever played. It was the best of the sport: the excitement, the skill, the heart, the will, the effort, the unity, the fight to the finish, the race to beat the clock. The biggest point difference between the teams the entire game was six points.

For those of you who don't keep up with basketball, let me fill you in:

Duke University is a basketball powerhouse with three (now four) national championship wins on their record. The team is coached by the one and only Coach Krzyzewski (more commonly known as Coach K, for obvious reasons), the best of the best and a legend in his own right. No one, however, expected this Duke team to go as far as they did, declaring them weak in comparison to past Blue Devil teams.

Butler University is a mid-major, 4200 student school in Indianapolis, home of the 2010 NCAA Championships. The team is led by coach Brad Stevens, who looks younger than most of the players themselves - a seemingly misfit group of athletes who make up a shockingly united, skillful, and talented unit. Most people didn't have the team going past the second round of the Big Dance. But oh, were they wrong.

We sat back and watched first with amusement, then wonder, then awe-filled respect as Butler knocked off every team in their path, including number one Syracuse and number two Kansas State. Butler had come to prove a point, and their message came through loud and clear:

We belong here.

I anticipated this game with such excitement, I could barely stand it.

Apparently, so did millions of other people.

It was a battle - of skills, speed, stamina, and a whole lotta heart. It came down to the final seconds. Butler was down by a single point with 30 seconds to go, so they placed the ball in the more than competent hands of their best player: Gordon Hayward. He drove to the lane and put up a fade-away that was just slightly too long. Duke came up with the rebound, and Butler had no choice but to intentionally foul. Brian Zoubek nailed the first free throw, but was instructed to intentionally miss the second. With 3.6 seconds on the clock, Hayward snatched the rebound, tore down the floor, flew past a teammate who set a brilliant screen (yes, seriously) and put up a shot from just over half court.

My heart soared with the ball. I thought, this is in. It has to be! It flew with stunning accuracy, smashed into the back board, hit the rim...

... and rolled off onto the floor.

Duke wins.

And let me tell you, I was so sad. I wanted Butler to win worse than anything. But my congratulations to Duke, who played a great game. And I loved Coach K's statement from the platform in regards to his Blue Devils ("their" refers to his own team):

"And as good as the Butler story is and was ... their story is pretty good too."

My utmost respect for Duke's performance in the Big Dance. This game was ... historical.

I am, however, looking forward with great anticipation to the return of the mighty Bulldogs and Gordon Hayward next season. More than you know.

Because who doesn't love a good underdog story?