"Receiving Grace Fully"

My today:

8 woke up with a spirit of hate writhing against me.

8-830 battled with a spirit of hate that was writhing against me

830-845 got onto the couch and jumped around, rebuking spirit of hate writhing against me. received grace fully.

845-905 walked to classroom. packed up fake Christmas tree from last year and brought it back to apartment. Saw Sunshine and chatted for a few seconds. Thought about when I used to see him walking toward me on campus last year, how I'd always start singing "You are my Sunshine, my only Sunshine!..." to him. I haven't done that lately...which is something I must remedy

905-10 researched for message I was planning for on ps 37, to our congregation (six people, myself included). saw that one of my fantasy football teams was kicking tail, as Miles Austin had 79 yards and a TD before 10 minutes were gone in the first quarter. Received grace fully (no pun intended...)
Listened to John "Smokin' the Pipe"-r talk about envy.

10-1030 rebuked spirit of fear in my living room. jumped around on my couch some more, dreaming of our time together. Wore: blue jeans, maroon VT rugby t-shirt, and oversized Hokie slippers. Perfect uniform for rebuking spirits, I do believe.

1030-11 Made/ drank coffee. Sat with friends in sanctuary/ breakfast table/ movie theater/ study area/ dining room/ newly-christened "rebuking zone"...aka, the living room. Spoke of our time with Canadians who Are Like Us who we met with to exhalt the day before.

11-1 Danced...we danced a pure dance of freedom and left no stone unturned, searching for the Truth inside eight sentences printed in a book made from letters written to friends, poems written to brothers about the One, and stories written about true things in life. We read ps 37, v. 1-11 together.

"What sticks out to you here?" I asked.
"Delight yourself in Him," Kerry answered.
"The part that talks about not fretting," Amelia noted. "I like that."

I noted the action verbs: "Trust" (v. 3), "do good" (3), "dwell" (3), "enjoy" (3), "Delight" (4), "Commit your way" (5), "trust in him" (5), "Be still" (7), "wait patiently" (7), "do not fret" (1, 7, 8), "turn from wrath" (8), "hope" (9).

Listened to a 'teaching' from the Pipe-smoking Johnnie himself. Challenged to fight envy with faith. Intentionally Came before Him together.

1-230 Ate food with these precious people. Asked again, after planning English Night (aka, club) for our lives, for logistical concerns, and for Truth to be Seen.

230-4 Fought more spirits of hatred. Sent e-mails. Burried head in the couch in a position of desperation. Asked and received grace fully.

4-7 heard knock on the door. Answered and carried chairs to my next-door-neighbor and teammate, Bethany's, apartment. Commensed "The MSA Christmas party" with 20 Chinese girls, three dudes (Wang Ja Jun, myself, and John), and our British neighbor, James. Played Yankee swap, charades, 20 questions, and a strange chinese game where everyone pretends to be confused about everything that's going on around them (I often don't have to pretend). Strove toward glad heart, even in the tired moments. favorite moments were during 20 questions, wherein I held a tiny turtle in my hands for about 20 minutes and tried to tickle his belly until he started running away.

7-8 Ate supper...I had "Tang su Li Gi Gai Fan (ten yuan to whoever translates that first!)

8-830 Helped our neighbor get her head wrapped around her thesis for English class. She greeted us at the door with dough all over her hands from making jiaotzi (dumplings).

830-930 Planned English Night. Listened to Jon, my roommate, speak about the date he had in Beijing this weekend. Prepared for club and understood that, indeed, not all days are the same. Received Grace Fully.

930-1111 Listened to Jon play the guitar and talk to his friends on Skype. G-chatted with Robert Ramsey, a young guy who I used to walk alongside, mutually pursuing the King, and challenged him to question if "how you receive is just as important as how you give." Wrote a blog entry about my day and entitled it "Receiving Grace Fully". Received Grace Fully.

1122 Pressed "Publish Post," planning to and (inevitably) executing the full reception of Grace.