Random Thursday: Graduation Week Edition

1. Recent text message conversation with a teenager:
(transcribed verbatim)

me: Are you going to need a ride home?
boy: yes ma'am
me: Let me know when you're 15 minutes out, okay?
boy: ok homie
me: Peace out.
boy: your a old woman dont ever say peace out please
me: Whatev homeslice. For shizzle.
boy: silence.

2. In the not-so-distant past, I applied to the Blogher network.  I would very much like to be a part of this network of women bloggers, and have been working towards that goal since I started writing for all y'all.  In response to my application, I received a very nice email from them, which began with the words:

"We love your blog!"

(Insert me smiling.)

As a result of this, my business manager (aka the Wonder Hub) and I have decided that it makes sense to move from blogger to a .com website, and to pay someone to make that website look pretty. (An endeavor for which I am completely lacking in both skill and patience).  Over the next three or four months, that will happen.  My question for you is this:

Which do you prefer?

karenwrites.com
karenklasiwrites.com

And hey?  Thank you.  This wouldn't be happening without you.

3. My fingernails are too long.  I can't feel the keys on the pads of my fingers.  I can't think, even randomly.

Be right back.

4. Mel emailed last night.  He makes me laugh.  His email, with subject line:

Parchment paper!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

contained this very short message:

I did not tell you to put the pizza (and parchment paper) on the lowest rack!

I laughed then.  I'm laughing now.  So my dearest father won't sue me for defamation of character, please let me clarify.

Waaay back in 2007, in another iteration of my life, I wanted to learn how to make biscotti. Being who I am, it was an adventure that included (parchment paper and) an oven fire.  As I was telling Mel--my tutor in all things baking-- he insisted that parchment paper could not catch on fire.  As proof, I sent him the following photos:

So.

• It is a FACT that Mel (incorrectly) told me that parchment paper cannot catch fire.
• It is also a FACT that he taught me the parchment paper-pizza paddle trick for baking pizza.
• HOWEVER, please know that it was Ree Drummond who suggested placing pizza on the bottom rack so that the cheese (the good stuff, real mozzarella) will not burn in the 500 degree oven.

There, Aged P.  Your character has been redeemed.  Please don't write me out of your will, unless you intend to will me your Bob Dylan collection.

5. We're having a little party here this weekend.  You may have heard.  In 48 hours we will have a high school graduate, and the party will be ON.

As you can well imagine, I'm deep in the throes of mixed emotions.

...and that's all I'm going to say about that.

6. This party, rockin' party that it shall be, could not, would not happen without the help of my local girlfriends.  I would name their names, but I'm terrified I'll forget someone.  Instead, please hear me publicly, loudly tell them

THANK YOU!!!!

7. I'm in week three of the Beth Moore Bible study titled, Living Beyond Yourself: Exploring the Fruit of the Spirit.  This is the fourth Beth Moore study I've done, and by far the deepest.  I love. It.  I love digging in my Bible, flipping back and forth and learning exactly what God has to say about the role of the Holy Spirit in my life.  It's deep.  I'm finding that my understanding of the Holy Spirit has been shallow and immature, and in some cases, just plain wrong.

Did I mention that I'm loving this?  If you have the opportunity to gather with other women and study the Word, please do.  There is nothing like it.

Today's homework was on the kind of love called Agape.  If you were raised in a church-going family, surely you've heard of agape love.  Agape is most often defined by what it is not: it is not Eros love (named after the Greek god Eros, and generally meaning "longing and desire.").  It is not Philos love, which is the love of blood relatives for one another (often called "brotherly love.").

Beth walked me through I Corinthians 13, often called the "Love Chapter," to help me better understand what Agape is and is not.  In I Corinthians 13, every single use of the word "love" (or "charity," depending on version) is translated from the Greek word "agape."

So.  Let's be clear.
Love is:
Patient
Kind
Enduring
Protective
Trusting
Hopeful
Persevering

Love is not:
Envious
Boastful
Proud
Rude
Self-seeking
Easily angered
Grudge-holding

And here is the kicker:

Love never fails.

Agape never fails.

I can't help but think that Love sounds an awful lot like my God.