boston love

you are a city that's been so good to me - you took me in as a young adult, as i tried out my fledgling wings and learned to stand on my own two feet. you gave me my first true experience of community, from lifelong friends to a church that i still call home. you challenged me, encouraged me, showed me beauty in acts of human flourishing. you still hold for me pockets of quiet retreat, old haunts that i'm always happy to stomp around.

yesterday, someone decided to perform an act so horrendous, so atrocious, attempting to gut the joy out of one of your most cherished traditions on a day that celebrates not just you but our nation. o, boston, my heart is heavy for you. i grieve with you as you grieve the loss of loved ones. i demand justice be laid with a strong arm on the perpetrators. i seek comfort and solace for those who are hurt and frightened.

but you are resilient, boston. you are a tough city and you always have been. most of all, there is a God who is sovereign and merciful, and He is ever present to heal the wounded and bind the brokenhearted. He has not forgotten you, even in this present darkness, and He will bring forth your light again.

 Copley Square, photo taken by Eva

 Museum of Fine Arts, photo taken by Eva

cups of coffee:  1

mood:  sad

and there was much rejoicing

7 1/2 months of research and writing....almost 8 if you count some of the work that started in the summer. 30 sources cited of various mediums and sizes, from books to online articles. countless cups of coffee.
blood, sweat and tears...well, apart from a few paper cuts, mostly sweat and tears of fatigue.

finally. it's finished. all 76 pages of it, from cover to cover.

printing out my master's thesis on archival paper and sticking it in one of these special binders felt quite archaic in this digital age, but i admit there was also something extremely satisfying about creating something tangible and feeling the weight of my labor.

i've learned so much throughout this research process, and for this i'm very thankful.

now it's one step closer to graduation......


cups of coffee:  1

mood: free

*hope*

this year, my final thesis draft week (aka crunch time aka crazy town) happens to coincide with holy week.

which makes this poem all the more appropriate.

“Hope” is the thing with feathers 

By Emily Dickinson

 

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -

That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -

And sore must be the storm -

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -

And on the strangest Sea -

Yet - never - in Extremity,

It asked a crumb - of me.

 

 

march was quite a doozy....looking forward to april, where changes are in the air!

 

 

cups of coffee:  working on first

 

mood:  fatigued yet hopeful

all that is gold

“All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.”

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

river of gold, instagram, me

cups of coffee:  2

mood:  pensive

 

inexpressible

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
- 1 Peter 1:8-9

i'm weary. please, Lord, let this be true today.


cups of coffee:  a lot

mood:  tired in so many ways

unexpected beauty

this is a view from the office where i work....and this picture was one of those one-in-a-million shots on a day when the lighting was perfect. i actually gasped when i saw this and scrambled to grab my iphone and snap a shot before the moment passed. completely unadulterated, no filter.

unexpected beauty. thank God life is full of these moments.

also - i'm obsessed with the old water towers in this city. OBSESSED. i'm often in danger of tripping over my own feet when i'm walking down the street because i can't stop looking up to admire these remnants from another age, perched like ancient guards, watching this city speed along.


cups of coffee:  3

mood:  busy busy

circus

the circus, marc chagall

sometimes, this is what life feels like....colorful, chaotic, melancholic undertones but also achingly beautiful....strange sadness mixed with delight....

two more weeks until this current grueling schedule ends.

four more weeks until i hand in the *final* draft of my thesis.

mood:  wistful

cups of coffee:  2