Several statements that have caught my attention or made me think (or laugh) recently:

1) Monday evening I took K. out for ice cream at Carvel's for her 16th birthday. I also arranged for three of her friends to meet us there. Between the ice cream and the laughter, the four girls (ages 14-16) were discussing what age one should be to get married. Although thoughts differed, they all thought that they needed to be married by 21 because, "everyone knows that 21 is so old!" "Thank you. Thank you very much," I interjected. "No, it's different for you," K quickly replied, "You know you're not old." (I just realized that her comment looks much different in type than it sounds in audio. The emphasis was on the "know"... never mind. It made it sound like it was the fact that I knew I wasn't old that made the difference.)

2) I was talking with Lei today and she referred to the music one listens to being "representative of the filter they're placing on their life." When someone says "filter" to me, I think internet filter. A device you deliberately put in place to keep bad stuff out. What kind of filter do I have on my life?

3) At lunch with a new staff member today, I was sharing about wheat harvest and how it affects my understanding of the Bible mentions of harvest. "You throw yourself into it, working, long days, pushing yourself as hard as you can for that short amount of time. You do whatever you have to do to get the harvest in. But there is a difference. Wheat harvest is an average of three weeks. You can push yourself to exhaustion for three weeks. This harvest [meaning spiritual] is much longer than three weeks. You can't push yourself that hard."

LJ turned to me with a look of sudden intensity and replied, "Oh, but it is three weeks." Confused, I just looked at him as he spread his arms wide, punctuating his words with his hands. "This and this is eternity." He brought his hands so they were barely an inch a part. "This is the harvest."