Membership

God really has a sense of humor. Or maybe a great I-told-you-so attitude. For example, my life. As you may or may not know I really like living here in DC. Okay, okay, the DC metro area - I do technically reside in Virginia. Despite the fact that everyone and their dog is always exercising and tourists crowd my metro stops, I'm a big fan of this city. However, this winter I did go through the proverbial "winter slump" wherein I questioned my compatibility with Washington, District of Columbia. You know, the age old "Am I in the right place" and "Did I miss something along the way" questions we often ask ourselves. It was a downer. So, naturally, I start asking God these questions. I'm all, "Sup, God, sup?" He's like, "Wait for it!" I'm all, "Riiiiiight, how about now?" He's like, "Wait forrrrr iiiitttt!" And BAM! Roasted.

So you know how to get over feeling unsettled? Join things. That's right. I started off easy, I joined (in conjunction with a couple roommates) a wine club. Okay, okay, enough with the gasps of shock. I'm not a wino. I took a Tuesday off work a week ago and these roomies and I tootled through the Virginia countryside to a local winery. The owner is a friend of one of my roommates, so we thought we'd say hi, taste a bit o' wine, and tootle back home for an evening of relaxation and Dancing With The Stars. Au contraire, ma cherie! We ended up joining the club. I stood there, swirling this glass of wine, smelling it, taking teeny sips - you know, basically pretending that I knew what I was doing - and asking question about the "finish" and stuff. Gag. Like I know anything about it. Oh well, I'm now a wine club member. I don't even know what that means. As you'll see in the rest of my tales, membership just happens to me. It's not something I plan on, generally. It's an accident.

Okay, part deux, and this is going in chronological order. I joined a church. Now, let me make this clear, this was not an accidental membership situation...though that would be funny. Hahaha, mental picture. Anyhoo! I've been visiting the DC Metro Church since the new year began, and have enjoyed it very much. I joined a small group almost right away - good peeps. I go on Sundays - learning a lot. However, that was about the extent of my involvement. I kept thinking about joining or serving or something, but never got around to doing it. THEN on more than one Sunday the pastor mentioned membership. He's all, most of us are only in DC for a short period of time or at least don't know how long we'll be here but it's important to get planted in a community blah blah blah. This was my exact though, "Grrrrr." So I started really thinking about joining, what with the conviction and all. The church has one membership reception a month and I thought to myself, Why don't I just skip the March one cause I'm so very busy (not!) and wait another month so I can really evaluate things blahdebleepbloopers. THEN I'm sitting at small group the night before the March membership reception. OF COURSE my leaders are all, "Pastor David wanted us to remind you all about the membership reception and that if you're at all thinking of joining the church you can go just to get information" blah blah blah. Oh great. I said, "Oh, I didn't R.S.V.P. yesterday by the deadline, so I don't think I can go." OF COURSE they say, "Oh that's no problem, we can just give your name to them." Thwarted at every turn! Apparently God isn't intimidated by my stubbornness. I should remember that. Okay, so I went. A couple people I knew were there, and I met a couple new people. I thought, I'll just get some information on this and give it some good month-long prayer time. Yeah, right. I'm a member now. Oh, and I'm also a Children's Ministry volunteer. Unh huh, that's right. (Had my first Sunday with the kids three days ago. They pretended they were baby tigers. I kept locking them in their "safari cage". It was great.)

Part three, and this you're going to laugh at. (Yes, I ended that sentence in a prepozish. Sue me.) Hahaha, mental picture. Okay, last Friday night my roommate Kristen and I were just casually strolling through our neighborhood, headed to this new French eatery we wanted to try. Naturally, on the way we pass the gym. "I think I'm going to have to join the gym," says Kristen, "but probably not till the end of the summer." "Yes," I agree, "I've been thinking about it for a couple months now and I really need to join, too." Innocent chatter, of course. "Do you want to stop in real quick and just see what kind of membership specials they have," she inquires. "Um, sure yeah," I say, quite casually. We walk in and approach the desk. "We don't want to join today," Kristen tells the employee quite firmly, "we just want to get some information." Half an hour later, we're members. Um, how did that happen? Don't worry, we talked them into giving us a super deal. But, um, again...how did that happen? Sheesh!

So there you have it. These things happen in threes, apparently. Don't ever say, "Sup, God, sup?" Cause he'll say, "Bam! Roasted!" I'm not gonna lie, I'm enjoying the fruits (literally and figuratively) of my DC-plantedness. I'm sore from my first couple forays to the gym (I suppose that means progress...it better cause that pilates class schooled me), I'm getting more involved in church, and there are some very nice wines to be had from Rappahannock Cellars. Anyway, I guess that means I'm making this my home for real, getting all plugged in and stuff. Who knows how long I'll be hear, could be another year or 5 or 20. But whilst I'm here, I feel good about it. Spring.

P.S. Pretty soon you'll be seeing some pictures again on posts. I haven't taken any pictures lately, but there will be some prime opportunities soon. It's spring, first of all, and the cherry blossoms are out here. Also, I'll be attending my brother's senior piano recital this Saturday and what's more picture-worthy than that???