day thirteen.

La-la-lyrics:

Woah, the Solid Rock, on Christ the Solid Rock I stand. Woah, the Solid Rock, all other ground is sinking sand.

- 4 Him, The Solid Rock (Hymns: A Place of Worship)

Th-th-thankful:

I am so happy I grew up in a small town. Today we went to Alecia’s house for lunch and she lives in Hawkesville, a town of 250. I think its more like a suburb of people who don’t want to live in Waterloo but still stay very close to the city. Being there, walking around down the middle of the street, looking out over fields and a stream, so much green, the smell of manure in the air, the openness of the blue sky; it all reminded me so much of home. Other than the very nice houses and obvious wealth in Hawkesville, it reminded me a lot of Strath, being able to look out your window and be able to see your grandma’s house. I wouldn’t change my upbringing for anything, I was so spoiled to be so close to both grandparents and be in such a safe environment. At Alecia’s we were also talking about how many times we’ve moved, and compared to Terrell’s 8 (?) times I am very glad to say never at this point. Wow, what a blessing.

Wa-wa-want:

Well I know one thing, I want more talks like I had last night with Alecia, that was amazing. I want to raise my kids in a small town. I want to see Strathclair right now, I’m sure the fields are periwinkle and gold and beautiful right now, like a sparkling lake and a winding yellow brick road. I want to spend the rest of my life on the open road with Terrell, singing along to the Hairspray and Moulin Rouge soundtracks with the wind slowly tying my hair in knots. I want to go back in time and do this weekend again because that’s how much I enjoyed it.

Ju-ju-joy:

Today at Alecia’s church the VBS kids sang a song from their week, it was really good music and they had cute actions. There was this one woman watching the VBS slideshow who sang along to every word of the song and did the actions by herself in her pew. Later on, she stood up alone in the middle of the congregation in the middle of a chorus that everyone stayed seated for. I wanted to stand up, but I didn’t. But she did, she didn’t care what anyone thought or that nobody stood up with her. I loved that; I loved her passion, so honest and joyful. I just really loved Alecia’s church – it is the first church I have been to in a long time that was truly ALIVE. These people aren’t just plodding along; they are feeling it, living it, bursting with life at all ages. It was so refreshing to see.

Ello, ello, ello, L-O-V-E (ello, ello, ello):

I love Alecia!! Like seriously, GOOD JOB RYAN, you picked a great woman, you did! She is lovely. She is very genuine, sincere, and easy to talk to. It was amazing to talk to someone my age, also in a relationship, also in school, also a Christian struggling along, who lives in a small town, who has never moved, who is overly emotional, who is dating a boy the same as mine. Oh my goodness do we understand each other on that respect! We talked for hours last night! And if we weren’t so exhausted, and it wasn’t 3 am, we probably could’ve continued. I just feel like we have known each other for a very long time, even though we have only hung out like 4 times. She is just a wonderful person and I can’t say enough about how great it was to connect with a female my age again. I am sad we don’t see each other more often.