I was certainly right in believing that yesterday would be a good day - it was. Very much so, in fact. It even lasted into Saturday by quite a few hours. I loved it. My day wasn't entirely God-filled, but more so than it's been the last few days... so that was great.
I hung out with Mr. Zachariah Pecchia-Bekkum, that kicked it all off. We went on a lovely walk. It was nice getting to know him a bit more; he's just so quiet that I feel it's been difficult to do so! I figure I just need to work at developing a friendship with him a little harder than with other people, which is really perfectly fine with me. He's a good guy. I was really glad I decided to randomly contact him today, because when we got back to his apartment Matt was about to leave to go to the mosque - which Katie and I had talked about earlier that day and wanted to go to, but wouldn't have had a way to get there! I love how things work out like that. So Katie, Matt, Tiffany and I all went; we were the only students from the U that were there, even though an invitation had been sent out to all the members of Salt Co. (which I don't even go to, actually, but receive the e-mail newsletters for). That was a wonderful time. Even before deciding to major in Middle Eastern Studies I had always been interested in Islam and the culture of the Middle East. The people that attend that particular mosque are mostly Pakistani, I believe. We were able to observe one of their Friday prayer times - beautiful. I love their recitation of prayer. I really felt a presence there, honestly. God certainly filled my heart and I prayed on my own for awhile. There was then a question and answer time; the imam had a neat sense of humor and answered the questions really well, I learned a lot. Last there was a reading of a Qur'anic verse followed up with translation and explanation. I really enjoyed it all.
Later Katie, Zach (a different Zach than whom I had hung out with earlier), Anita and I went to hang out at Spencer's house. There were more people there than usual, which was cool, but the four of us actually ended up chatting most of the time. I felt bad, but it was still a really good time. I'm really glad that Anita came and that I am getting to know her better; she's a really awesome girl. And Zach is a very cool guy, really genuine, I feel. We left kind of early at my suggestion. Hopefully that was alright. We went over to Coffee Break for a bit, saved a guy's life by finding his iPod under my couch cushion, and found out that Anita and I have more in common than I thought we did. Three cheers for Speech/Debate. Then we went back to the dorms to watch a movie - American Beauty - and then stayed for yet another movie, Alfie. It was 6:00 in the morning by the time the second movie was finished. Awesome. Honestly though, I could hang out with those three all the time and never get tired of doing so. They're amazing.
Throughout the day I didn't pray as often as I usually do. Want to know a secret?
I didn't mind.
I mean, I didn't find myself thinking, "Oh man - I need to pray more," or "What's wrong with me? Pray, Natalie, pray!"
I don't know. It was like I needed a break from talking to God.
Don't get me wrong, I love doing so. But sometimes it's nice to take a breather, I suppose.
Yesterday and this morning were wonderful. I thank God for friendship and fellowship. What beautiful gifts.
'Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love on another deeply, from the heart.'
[1 Peter 1:22]
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