it was all a dream once

Well it's Sunday night. 29minutes til Australian Idol - and counting. I've stuffed myself with so much food in the past 30 hours I'm not sure I'll be bothered to cook (or go fetch) dinner. Besides, the weather is pretty drastic. Almost feels like Winter (as opposed to almost-Summer) - what with the wind howling, the rain splattering through my window, and the doors creaking in the hallway.

But you know what? My sister's comment was right... storms come to pass, and the sky almost clears. Why and how God does it remains a mystery to me, but at this stage in my life I'm happy enough to float into whatever he's got planned.

So this entire weekend has been a heaven away from home. Friday night was Vincent's 30th (whoops... should I be revealing his age online? Ah well - everyone knows he doesn't act like a normal 30 year anyway. Come to think about it he doesn't act like a normal anything). We rushed back to Clovelly after an evening at the FREEDOM concert. That was definitely an experience of God's grace right there. Often I feel completely unworthy to deliver a talk about anything faith-related. 6 years of public speaking doesn't do much to calm the nerves... and the feeling of being a real hypocrite sometimes. But I remember venting my frustrations to a priest once, and he told me that often God uses such moments where we must appear to be convicted to raise the actual conviction that is sometimes lacking. This is exactly what happened on Friday night when I found myself delivering a talk about being called. My only point of reference was the passage from Philippians that God lovingly directed my thoughts to that morning, during Adoration:

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.
[Phil 1: 27-30]

It was affirming.. to know that even thousands upon thousands of years ago, St Paul was struggling.. and writing to Christians who were also struggling... and that despite all those struggles, the Church, and the Truth that it stands for, is still going strong. Praise God!

So Friday kick-started what turned out to be a really beautiful weekend. God has proved to me that there really are some impressive gentlemen in the world. The particular gentleman on my mind is probably going to resent the fact that I'm blogging this - but can I just tell the rest of this online blogging world that I'm MAJORLY impressed that he was able to fit so many of my favourite things into one remarkable day? Orange tulips, hot, rich chocolate, cake, Mass, really YUMMY Spanish food and... gelato!! Wow... All this time I didn't think God could put that much thoughtfulness into one person (let alone a guy)... but waddaya know? I've been swept off my feet and he doesn't even realise it.

Today he introduced me to the fascinating world of shopping for shoes (men's shoes, that is) - something I've never had to do in my entire life. I'm actually pretty proud of myself because I didn't collapse in the middle of Pitt St mall in exhaustion or boredom.

So really I just spent the whole weekend with this guy... and I think I'm falling into that sickening type of puppy love that usually makes me throw up. (AGH!!!!!)

Hand-cuff me to my chair or else I'll lose my sanity. (Although can I admit feeling this way is much better than feeling abandoned and unsure?)

Thank you God for answering my prayers... no matter how lame and gibberish-like they always seem to be.