overwhelming weekend

It's been quite the weekend here in Nashville. It was suppose to be a fun, no schedule weekend. And while it was to begin with, it took a tragic turn. I'll start at the beginning:

Friday: Diana, Leslie, and I got up early (6:30is) to wander around at a yard sale. Unfortunately, it was not what we expected, but we still had fun looking around. We ventured then to Starbucks. It was my third Starbucks stop in two days. . . I felt like Kayla! After Starbucks, we had our Vocational Discernment as YAVs. We discussed one of my favorite books, Let Your Life Speak. We had great discussion and I left feeling challenged to reexamine my spiritual life and my vocational goals. The rest of Friday was spent preparing to celebrate Lisa's birthday. We had the other YAVs over for pizza, cake, drinks, and a movie night. It was fun to be together. I was sad going to bed though, because we watched Flashdance, which is set in Pittsburgh. Watching the incline go up Mt. Washington, I felt pangs of homesickness.

Saturday: I woke up feeling rested for the first time since moving to Nashville. I started and finished "Five People you Meet in Heaven," which was a great way to take sometime for myself. I had no plans for my day, and I was really excited to have it that way. But with one phone call, that all changed. The birthday girl, Lisa, had a bike accident, and called me. I ended up calling her back, trying to calm her down, and found where she was. She was a few blocks away, with several bumps, bruises, and open wounds. The ambulance showed up, and took her to the hospital. My roommates and I followed, where we learned that Lisa had broken her jaw in three places. She ended up having surgery which was to fix her broken teeth and wire shut her jaw. Spending the afternoon in the ER was draining. . . I had to leave to get some fresh air, as all the traumas coming in got to me. I still can't believe how well I generally behaved there though.

Sunday: I woke today, dreading having to do anything. Yesterday had certainly taken its toll. But it was the first Sunday I was to worship at Downtown Pres. so I got up and headed over early. There was a Titans game starting at noon, so I left to make sure I wouldn't be late. Luckily, there wasn't much traffic going into the city, so I got there too early. I parked, tried to get into the church, but all the doors were locked. It ended up that while venturing around the church, I walked through urine left by the homeless men that frequent the church's alley. Disgusted by that, I continued to the streetfront. I still couldn't get in and my summer skirt was flapping in the breeze. Getting frustrated, I tried to walk away, only to be stopped by David, a mentally ill homeless man. David started talking about all sorts of things: the weather, professional women, overdrawing his bank account, what a horrible city Nashville is, and how a young woman like me should eat more Mexican food. I was so frustrated, so angry that church doors were locked etc. I was trying to listen to David, but I allowed lots of other things to cloud my mind. Eventually, David made some comment about how tense I was. And I was. He totally called me out on that. Finally, the doors opened, I got into the church, met a few people (Lee, a sweet older man; Jeff a younger elder; Laura the Habitat woman). Even though I met them, I found myself sitting alone in worship. I hate sitting alone in church. Needless to say, this morning left me very frustrated. I felt so alone and yet horrible for feeling that way, as Lisa was pretty much alone in the hospital on her birthday. I'm trying to keep it all in perspective, to be thankful that things aren't any worse, that Lisa is going to be okay, that church is sure to get better as I meet more people . . . but right now it's hard.