For me, personally, this move has been in the making for more than five years. In fact, I was still a Fire in the Night intern when the Lord began to give me vision for what is now our next step.

When I went on staff as an intercessory missionary at IHOP-KC, I knew that I would eventually leave to help build a smaller house of prayer. I have held a deep conviction that the Lord wants to draw together communities of worshippers in every tribe and nation who will commune with Him in the place of night and day prayer. The prayer movement that God is orchestrating around the globe will be manifest and expressed in many different ways. The dream of my heart has been to participate in raising up houses of prayer all around the world.

The Lord has made clear my calling as an intercessor. I expect that I will walk this out in the context of some kind of house of prayer for the rest of my days. There are a lot of things that I could do with my skills and strengths, but I belong in the place of prayer as my primary occupation.

The Lord has also given me a unique invitation to partner with Him in the place of prayer through the night watches. I am “NightWatch for life.” This doesn’t mean that I will not have temporary seasons of living in the day like a normal human being, but the Lord has set me in the night and has even given me a love for this bizarre lifestyle.

So what will we be doing in Colorado Springs? Well, all of that. But you will have to wait until my next post for all of the details.

Hoping to have celiac disease.
Wait… Hoping to be sick?
Does it betray true hope?
Does it betray hope for complete healing?

I was once encouraged by someone well-acquainted with suffering to keep hope alive every day that it would be the day that I am healed.
Is this contradictory?

It seems like such a small sacrifice, though, giving up gluten.
I just want an answer. I know I am sick.

Perhaps I only want to know that I have been suffering from a gluten intolerance. I KNOW I have been suffering.

I don’t want it to continue, but hoping for a label is not hoping for permanence.

Tricky thing is the fact that I would be unlikely to test it out in the future.

How does God feel about allergies?

OK… so I wasn’t delusional. I knew both of my parents were human. But I was an only child and our cats became like my siblings. I loved cats so much and spent so much time pretending to be one (complete with cat kisses to the face) that a part of me just decided it was something kind of like the truth.

But enough about the weird ideas of a feline-obsessed child.

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about a particular trait that I share with many of my furry friends: I love it when my forehead is touching something. It is one of the most soothing sensations in the world. Since it helps me fall asleep, pillows most frequently supply this comfort. But soft things in general or any form of light pressure will work.

I’ve seen many cats seek the same blissful arrangement. Seal, our gorgeous grey kitty, is especially committed to obtaining this delight. Fortunately, her feline flexibility makes the task a great deal easier than it always looks.

My favorite moments are when Seal forces me into the arrangement. She has this bad habit of settling in on my iPhone. More than once, when I have reached over her in an attempt to reclaim my phone (or some other object she had effectively stolen), she has wrapped her paws around my arm to pull it down against the top of her head. Every time, I think the cuteness factor of the moment might actually injure me and I have to grit my teeth to resist shrieking. I have survived each adorableness overdose, thus far, but I often leave the scenario a little sore. (I am generally incapable of taking my arm back in moments like that and will thus remain awkwardly positioned for unreasonable stretches of time.)

And it isn’t just Seal. When I was in junior high, our neighborhood was adopted by a white cat that everyone called “Baby”. (Actually, that’s not true. One family called him “Keeper”.) In my favorite picture of him, he is laying in the standard sphinx pose… only his neck was stretched down all the way so that the top of his head was flat against the surface upon which he rested.

The whole thing makes me wonder. Why do cats like that so much? Why do I like that so much? Is it normal? Do other people do this? Is everyone else just missing out?

Whatever the case may be, I am burying my forehead in an extra pillow tonight.

OK, so I am not actually running away to get away from the heat. But I am going to Montana and I will be gone for a fairly long time.

Next Saturday, I am flying to Spokane, Washington, the home of the Washington Wasingers. On Sunday, my favorite uncle will drive me across the northern sliver of Idaho and into Missoula, Montana.

Most of my extended family is in or around Montana and I hope to see many of them. I will be staying with my mom’s family in Stevensville for about a month and a half. A month and a half in the mountains… GLORY!

Unfortunately, this trip will not be without its down-sides. I’m going without Ben! Five weeks without that delightful husband of mine are going to be pretty rough. I won’t get to see him until the sixth week of my visit, when he drives up to retrieve me.

Why am I really going?

For the last several months, I have had a very strong desire to be in the mountains and a deep longing to see my family. Ben and I kept talking about trying to plan a visit, but it was starting to seem less and less feasible. And then the Lord spoke to us.

I am so grateful that God decided to raise the topic with both of us. The idea of spending this much time away from my husband seemed too strange to suggest in our first year of marriage. I had been struggling for a few weeks to get the idea out of my head when Ben came home from the prayer room one night and asked what I thought about being in Montana without him for a little while. I don’t think he knew this at the time (because he couldn’t see my face), but I started crying the instant that Ben asked how I would feel. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing!

We both believe that my visit to Montana is going to be a significant time of healing. The whole of my agenda while I am up there will be to rest, read, write, and talk to God. We know that there is a lot that He wants to accomplish in me during that time.

Ben will be in town with me for about three days before we have to start heading home. That will allow us a day to spend with my dad’s family, a day to spend with my mom’s family, and the possibility of a day to spend alone in a state we adore. On the drive home, we will be staying with my aunt in Billings. She tells me this may involve an anniversary cake like the one that she made for our wedding last September. [Insert squeals of delight]

When we leave Billings, we will then spend two days in Colorado Springs. The first day, we will be celebrating our anniversary and enjoying the city. The second day, we want to check out a couple of ministries and visit with a handful of friends.

I know this is going to be a very good trip and that God has lots of surprises waiting around the corner. Perhaps the emphasis on writing and the significance of this trip will even result in a less neglected blog.

Because my condition and/or the side-effects of my medication were severely limiting my mental capacity, we decided that I would not be returning to the complex requirements of my System Integration position in the IHOP Business Office. This meant a significant cut  in  our joint income, and Ben had to leave his responsibilities in the transportation department to get a job that would fill the gap in our monthly budget.

We are now in the middle of Ben’s first week of working with the IHOP maintenance department. We are so grateful that he did not have to seek employment outside of IHOP and we are amazed by the way that God worked out the timing and took care of our needs, yet again. I have the freedom to focus on getting well without trying to find a way to help make ends meet. I’m also excited about the new opportunities Ben has to build relationship with some pretty cool guys.

Unfortunately, this change also required a change in our schedule. Ben’s work-day starts at 12:30 PM, so we have to shift our schedule up a few hours. We are still planning on doing some NightWatch hours during this time, and we have every expectation of eventually returning to the NightWatch. We just can’t swing midnight to 6am right now.

I have always known that there were advantages to being on a relatively normal schedule and I have every intention of enjoying those advantages while I have them. No matter how many benefits a day schedule offers me, though, I am definitely going to miss the NightWatch.

While I have been stuck at home sick, I have at least been able to join in intercession with my friends through that wonderful 24/7 webstream. It has already been strange to not be participating in those prayer meetings every night. At least I have archives when I really need to see all of those beautiful, pale faces. (Though, the NightWatch community is definitely looking much more tan right now. Summer never leaves the NightWatch truly sunless.)

So, to my NightWatch friends: goodbye for a little while. I hope to see you again really soon!

Well, even if we borrowed our neighbors’ yards, I don’t think we could fit all this stuff out there. And we need money, so I’m looking for good ways to sell some of the stuff in ways that save people lots of money but make a decent handful of cash for us. (After an extended sick leave, I officially quit the job to which I was not well enough to return.)

My mom had many hobbies and collections. And she had excessive quantities of everything. I need to find ways to sell all of the following…

Scrapbooking Supplies:
- Creative Memories, DOTS, etc.
- Quality stamps in great shape
- Scrapbook Papers
- Scrapbooks
- Stickers
- Dye Cuts
- Things I don’t recognize or understand
- Too many things to list right now

Ty Products:
- About 200 Beanie Babies (most of them only worth $4 – $10)
- Several Ty Classic Plush Bears and Cats
- A handful of Beanie Buddies (among the softest stuffed animals ever)
- 4 Attic Treasures

Glassware:
- A lot of tiara glassware
- WAY too much milk glass
- … Other glassware…

Fabric & Sewing Supplies:
- boxes and boxes of fabric
- dozens of zippers
- batting
- miscellaneous other supplies

Cross Stitch Supplies:
- Tons of Aida fabric
- Loop things
- Patterns/Designs
- Kits

Anyone know a good (but not super overwhelming) way to sell any of these things? Any of my friends and readers interested in taking some of this off of my hands (and putting a little cash IN my hands)?

I read the wanted section on craigslist every day. That has helped me lighten the load a little. I have a person who runs antique auctions coming to look at the glassware. Hopefully that will decrease the abundance of glass a bit. I am going to post a few things on eBay, but most of it isn’t really worth the time.

Thoughts? Ideas?

Did you know that a lot of people out there think INTJ’s are weird? Did you know that many of those people have searched the internet in hopes of understanding this inherent weirdness?

I didn’t. But my blog stats have made this very clear.

Or perhaps there is merely one distressed individual out there who has been unrelenting in his quest to understand the peculiarity of the INTJ.

Whether I do this for the desperate individual who is so persistently seeking to understand or the curious masses, I offer seven explanation for your consideration.

INTJ’s are weird because…

1. God loves weird things and He likes to make them.

2. INTJ’s compose a relatively small percentage of the population (when compared with the other 15 types). This numerical disadvantage makes them unlikely candidates for the establishment of a societal norm. Simple math.

3. INTJ’s are N‘s (intuitive). They are more abstract and are characterized as being “out there” in more than one sense. S‘s definitely think N‘s are weird. They are different… from an S. And I would wager that a significant number of N‘s would also happily consider themselves to be rather unusual. (I, for one, am such an N.)

4. INTJ’s are I‘s (introverted). I‘s generally tend to be quiet and reserved. This often creates a certain degree of mystery around them. We fear what we don’t  understand. To resolve this discomfort, we tack labels like “weird” onto the unknown so that we can at least pretend to put the uncertainty to rest.

5. INTJ’s are T‘s (thinking). The more I look at the world around me, the more I am convinced that people (on the whole) seldom think. A T, who tends toward actions that are determined rationally, rather than emotionally, is therefore somewhat out-of-place in a generally non-thinking world. (This is not to imply that feelers don’t think. Many T‘s are also non-thinkers who registered as T‘s because they lack compassion or are disturbingly vindictive.)

6. INTJ’s are J‘s (judging). They tend to like structure. Anyone who views structure as something that interferes with one’s freedom would have no choice but to conclude that there is something very odd about the person who craves what they perceive to be imprisonment. Someone who feels claustrophobic in Temple Grandin’s hug machine would certainly look suspiciously upon the individual who was calmed by the machine’s constriction. “That’s just weird.”

7. INTJ’s are weird because INTJ’s appreciate that which is unique, exceptional, or special. (We want to be weird.)

I hope that helps. It’s true… we are weird. It’ll be OK.

* “World,” in this particular case, may be taken to mean “at least one person.”

God keeps bringing it up.
God skillfully sneaks recurrent themes into any aspect of life.
Holy Spirit skillfully highlights the notes of a recurrent theme. My attention is caught and the message is virtually inescapable.
Suddenly, everyone and everything seems to be talking about writing.
I am continually reminded: I am a writer; I love writing; I need to write.

God keeps bringing it up to my husband.
Good man that he is, my husband talks to God about me. When there is something God wants to make really clear to me, my husband is likely to hear about it. Especially when I’m a little slow in my response.
Good man that he is, my husband exhorts me to listen to God and faithfully witnesses to what He is saying.
Suddenly, every opportunity seems to be seized to lovingly prod me toward writing.
I am continually reminded: I am a writer; I love writing; I need to write.

God keeps bringing it up in my heart.
God has sewn longings and affections deep within my soul. When my heart is alive, these longings are not easily ignored. I feel.
God is well-acquainted with the longings of my heart and loves to commune with me in the deep and intimate places.
Suddenly, every quiet moment of communion seems to lead me out into the longing to write.
I am continually reminded: I am a writer; I love writing; I need to write.

And so He concludes…
I am a writer. I love writing. I need to write.