My brightest diamond

When I was in Colorado I used to retreat a lot. I was under a lot of stress, but as long as I "got away" (aka out of the city) then I was fine. It was just something I did, I didn't realize it was something I had to do.
I went on a retreat yesterday. I started the day with prayer and then I discovered Wissahickon Park right outside of Philly. A Lot of people have been telling me I needed to go if I like to be outside or hiking but I never felt like I had time. But the stressors of life proved to be greater than expected during my time in Philly and no stress reliever I had found so far seemed to be working as well as when I would "get away" in Colorado. So I went. And this is what I discovered.










I walked, wandered aimlessly for hours. I prayed. I read. I reflected. I was refreshed. There were no people and no building and no cars and no noise. It was a beautiful oasis and it was exactly what I needed. I had been feeling a little overwhelmed and heavy burned over the past couple days, it had been a hard week, but Wissahickon delivered something beautiful. A diamond in the rough if you will..

Afterwards, I had lunch with Haley, which always brightens up my day, sat in traffic for 2 hours, had class, and then went to the Maundy Thursday Service at Liberti. Incredible. Sometimes I think its easy to forget what Easter is actually about. We prayed and reflected on the gravity of the cross and what Jesus celebrated, sacrificed, and accomplished over these past 4 days...(the last supper, the death, and the resurrection). What a beautiful extreme show of love. It is something I don't quite understand, but being in that room with the candles, the scripture and the other people made me feel like I wasn't alone in this confusion and glorious gift that He so freely gave all who believe (Ephesians 2:8). This is a much bigger weekend than most people give credit to...I'm glad I went yesterday to reflect on it.

Then I watched one of the best episodes of the Office I have seen in a long time (Click on the link to watch)

And ended the night at this little bar with Jojo and Richard and all of his co workers called Sugar Mom's in Olde City and it was actually really fun. Jo discovered some old connections, Robbie showed me how to bust a move and told Jo she had no skills. We also found an old favorite, photo hunt...so all in all my night could not have been much better.