I have been home from trip to San Diego for over a week now and still haven't gotten around to writing about each day of my trip. And it is not that my trip was not excellent, because believe me it was. It is just since I have been back my head has kind of been in funny places.

I feel as though I have been trapped inside my head more this past week than I have all year. And that frustrates me to no end. Because it sucks to be trapped in my head, to think too much, to get cynical and frustated, to just want to give it all up. I walk in circles and talk in circles and don't seem to accomplish much. But it will be okay, my head will settle down eventually and I am sure I will have learned something from all of it . . . that is just nature of my life these days . . . sometimes things just suck and I just need to be able to learn something or take something from it all in the end.

I just spent the last few hours working on a picture collage for the wall in my new living room (only two months after I moved in). And as I finished up putting the last picture in its frame, I was hit once again with the reality that I would not know a single one of these people if it was not for some crazy church planter who asked me to move here and learn about community and following Jesus, over a year and a half ago.

I value very deeply the gift of my life here in Columbus . . . and during weeks like this one it is sometimes hard to see the beauty of my life and the people in it . . . but at the end of the day I know the beauty is there, whether I choose to recognize and honor it or not.

My life is beautiful . . . the people in my life are beautiful . . . even when I feel ugly.