Father’s Day on Facebook

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Father’s Day to me consists of equal parts grief & awkward, with a dash of melancholy. It has become a rare Sunday when I’d like to fast-forward to Monday, and Facebook makes it worse. I think I’ll just stay offline until next week, because of all the #1 Daddy, deceased dads, gag-me-with-a-spoon-fabulous husbands, moms-who-were-father-figures, etc. It’s too much for my emotional capacity right now.

No, I didn’t change my profile picture to my dad like many people (though not as many as changed their profile pics on Mother’s Day, interestingly enough) … not because I don’t love him, but because 1) he isn’t even on Facebook, and 2) since my stepdad actually is on Facebook, and I think he is awesome, it would be awkward. They are both important father-figures in my life (and the lives of my kiddos), but in different ways.

All of the “Happy Father’s Day in Heaven” posts dredge up melancholy feelings about my brother, so yeah, thanks for that, Facebook.

Then, of course, there’s the mushy-gushy, kissy-kissy “You’re the best husband and father the world has ever seen!” posts. Ugh. Spare me. Am I happy that your husband is suuuper dreamy and you love him to pieces? Of course I am. But in the words of Miracle Max: “Thank you so much for bringing up such a painful subject. While you’re at it, why don’t you give me a nice paper cut & pour lemon juice on it?”

Common denominator

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Q: What do the 422nd Quidditch World Cup, Game of Thrones and my research have in common?

 

 

A: The island of Ireland … or, the country of Northern Ireland, to be exact, though that kinda knocks out the Harry Potter reference.

For quite a while, I have wanted to apply as a Fulbright Scholar to do teaching/research, and I recently found a program that meshes with my timetable and research interests! I decided to pursue the first step, which was to write one of the participating institutions and request an invitation. Today, I received a letter of invitation from the host university in Northern Ireland, which gives me the green light to proceed with the formal application!

I’m so giddy, I can barely stand it. What an amazing experience it would be to live and work there for a few months! In addition to Italy and Germany, which I would love to revisit someday (and actually remember the trip this time, seeing as I was a toddler/preschooler when I was in Europe before!), Ireland is very high on my wish list of dreamy travel destinations. I’ve never been to the UK, and my passport has plenty of empty pages for new stamps! 🙂

I am applying for the Scholar program, rather than the Student program, and I realize that the rest of the application process will still be competitive, but just receiving a welcome from the university is extremely validating to my geeky ego.

What I’m *hoping* is that most people will apply to the usual big-name schools in the UK’s big cities, but by tailoring my application to a university in a smaller region that has a research institute that jives with my own studies, it might give me an edge. All I can do is try! 🙂

Preparing for the Big Day (Prayer Devotional for the week of June 9, 2013)

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Summertime means wedding season is in full swing. I had the chance recently to help a friend with some decorations for her upcoming ceremony, and I began thinking about all of the preparations necessary for a modern wedding. She wanted to make rose pomanders (flower balls) to hang along the aisle of her church. We twisted and rolled yards of crepe paper into little roses and pinned them onto foam balls. They tuned out lovely, and the handmade decorations will add a nice touch to her very special day.

Besides decorations, of course, there are many details to tend to when planning a wedding. There’s the venue, the officiator and attendants, the dress, the vows, the reception, the honeymoon … so many things to remember. As I thought about weddings, one of my all-time favorite passages of Scripture came to mind, Revelation 21:1-4. In that last book of the Bible, John describes a vision that God gave him of Christ’s triumphant return and his followers being united with him. Those four verses, in particular, were so meaningful to me that I memorized them years ago, but as I reread the passage recently, I realized something new: God wrote his own wedding vows to us.

When a couple recites their vows, they are expressing a commitment to their new spouse. Similarly, God’s vows are to enter into a new level of relationship with his people. Picking up in v. 3 (NIV), we read: “They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” God promises not merely to love, honor and cherish us as his “bride,” in a symbolic sense, but he commits to completely doing away with every ounce of our pain, every teardrop, and replace it with newness.

Like a couple wraps up their wedding vows with the words, “I do,” God also says in v. 6, “It is done.” Seeing as his eternal existence is not bound by space or time, God’s promise is already assured, simply because he said it would be so. It should come as no surprise, but we humans make a mess of things quite often. We do not follow through on promises; we break our vows. But, God’s words “are trustworthy and true” (v. 5).

God is doing more than making crepe paper pomanders in preparation for the glorious day when we will be united with him. He is readying a place that needs no electricity because he gives it light; a place where even the infrastructure is more beautiful than our wildest imaginations; a place of unbridled glory (Rev. 21: 10-25). What are we doing to prepare to join him?