A Curious Girl: Weekend at home

Haven't written in ages, so thought I really should :)

My Dad has an MSc! How cool is that? Open University. If I was chancellor of a university, I'd either want it to be a good new one in somewhere that really needs a uni, my own uni, or the Open. Matthew and I went to my house for the weekend. Usual procedure - playing Balderdash, eating lots of very nice food, making silly jokes, Dad's 'When Uncle Bill had double brandies at mine and Caroline's Wedding' story, hugging, kissing, and receiving the occasional hint that I should lose weight. Surely the fact that I neither pretend to like celery nor hate it in a spirit of rebellion, but merely appreciate it for its own virtues in that it's a pleasant, crunchy vegetable, shows that I'm not interested in dieting... but never mind :) I think it's interesting that after index.html and Music and Musings, which gets a lot of search requests because it's got the lyrics to 'Blessed be your name' in it, which are probably still a rare find on the web, Why I Hate Dieting receives the most hits out of any page in my entire diary. I can't be bothered to rant now, so please go read that entry if you want to hear more :)

Anyway, as to the weekend. Wonderful. One of the nice things about going home after being away for a very long time is you rediscover how much you appreciate it. Winding Steve up about his semi-Liverpool accent, him counter-winding me up about my apparent posh accent (Matthew says I sound 'broad' to him, which probably means 'common as muck' or something, but never mind :) ), knowing that my sister and I can still laugh over the same things, Steve's girlfriend Nicky interjecting amusing remarks, Jonathan suddenly making a very-Matthew-like exclamation of 'Sound!' at dinner today. My parents being their usual wonderful selves :). I think Matthew enjoyed himself too, he and Jonathan ended up dicussing time-travel. Then I started arguing that it's impossible, but apparently Einstein would disagree with my grounds, and who can argue with that? :)

I like family. Wish I could have some more :) Is it my imagination, or is there usually a sense of cautiousness between non-related friends? I seem to become more and more aware that most friends are not forever. Yet often family stays together just because they stay together. For me, one of the most enticing things about my faith is that it promises family. In fact, one of the greatest things about my family is that most of them had a choice whether to be around me. My Mum had a choice whether to keep me or not. My Grandma helped raise me when I was little. My Dad has only been my Dad for about four years now, same with my sister and brother! I want to be able to extend the sort of love and trust and respect that we can share (and occasionally winding each other up) with others. Why is that so hard?

"Hello, welcome to FaithStores Worldwide, how can I help you?"

"I'm here for a faith."

"And which faith would you like?"

"Er... Christianity please."

"Full-package or reduced?"

"What does full entail?"

"Eternal life, freedom from sins, overflowing joy, fellowship with God, love, peace, patience, self-control, gentleness, goodness, kindness, the desires of your heart, true rest and a family extending far past the biological."

"Sounds great... how much does it cost?"

"You must forsake all ungodly desires, be willing to give up your life, take up your cross and follow. Love God with all your heart, soul and strength, and love your neighbour as yourself."

"Er... I'm not really at the right stage for that sort of financial commitment. Can I pay in installments?"

"I'm afraid that's probably not an option. You could always try the reduced package - you get friendly casual acquaintances, warm fuzzy feelings, occasional guilt absolving activities, and, if you should so desire, the chance to become a pillar of the community. Yours for only attending the occasional church service and piously quoting a Bible verse or two in appropriate situations. A bargain at twice the price."

"Er... I'll take it, I guess..."

*sigh* sometimes my niggly little fears won't let me take anything more...

Final thought - "What matters is not your outer appearance--the styling of your hair, the jewelry you wear, the cut of your clothes-- but your inner disposition.
Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in." (1 Peter 3)

Random word for today: gustatory

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