Heat waves, heavenly conversations, & food

"For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses. but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need."

Hebrews 4:15-16

This last week was one of those weeks when I felt overwhelmingly showered with God's blessings. (Side note: I feel like the phrase "showered with blessings" is really cheesy. Maybe because it reminds me of this hokey, old pastor that I never liked as a kid because his sermons were the closest things to a drug-induced coma I've ever experienced.) I know that prayer was a huge reason why this week was so great.

On Monday, Cru participated in a campus-wide 24-hour prayer event, where we spent an hour praying for unity among all the Christian fellowships on campus and for the lost, Jesus-needy people of UCLA. Then this last Wednesday at Real Life, our weekly meeting for Cru, I spent half of the time outside of the auditorium praying for the message, our speaker, all the people in the room, etc... And I really mean "etc." Because after a while, the Spirit started to bring up issues and concerns in my prayers that I never would have thought to pray about. I have never considered myself a chatty Kathy, so I knew it was God working through me that gave me the strength to pray to Him for over 40 minutes. (Ha, that doesn't sound like a lot of time, but I really am trying to build up my prayer endurance!)

There is certainly something to be said about extended time in prayer-- I'm talking about the kind of prayer that goes beyond the 5-10 minute verbal confetti we shoot up to God at the beginning and/or end of our day. The kind that stretches us. The prayer that forces us to rely on Him to provide us with words to say. The Lord has been teaching me so much about that, this week in particular. Yeahhhh prayer!

This week I was missing cooking a lot. I mean, really a lot. You laugh? Haha, I suppose it is pretty hilarious to think that I could be just as cookingsick as I am homesick... Maybe even more so? (Yes, cookingsick. It means exactly what you think it means.) So it was a huuuuuge blessing yesterday to to go grocery shopping at Ralph's and prepare a delicious, home-cooked meal at Sarah's apartment. Here's the final product:

Pan-roasted fingerling potatoes, roasted brussel sprouts (yes, kids, they're delicious!), pan-fried salmon fillet, and delicious cheesy/garlicky biscuits. Now that I look at these pictures I realize I need to start working on my plating skills. However unattractive the plate may look, however, I have to say the meal was delicious. And therapeutic, to boot.

I laugh when I think God made some of us liken cooking to therapy. He can be a funny God sometimes.

Today was the football game. The heat was nearly unbearable. My friend and I decided that in hell there will humid heat (like that of today's game), only without the option of taking a cold shower afterwards. Man, hell would suck.

And I leave you with two pictures that concisely sum up our roommate relationship: laughter.

Go Bruins! Hehe :)