Art is therapy.

I love it.

Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see...


On Monday, I asked my students what was happening "tomorrow."
" TUESDAY Miss Rachel! Duh!"
I probed them to find the answer that Tuesday was for voting, and when I asked what the voting was for, Terrance, 7 years old, replied...
" Barack Obama or the white guy!"

Hope. That my students who are 6 and 7 know who the President-elect is?
Hope. That my students have someone to look up to that is of the same color?
Hope. That our country will be unified once and for all?
Hope. That our God, who sits on His throne is completely in control though we cannot see Him.

I am sure that hope is worth pursuing and holding fast to, I am hopeful for our future--whatever that may look like.

They all fall down...

Today I am writing a research paper at home, feeling anxious and knowing it is 75 degrees outside, I convinced myself that a nice walk would be just what I needed to conjure up some mental freshness before really attacking my paper. hmmm...

Instead, all I want to do now is go on a run, and take more pictures of falling leaves.

I felt like a kid in the middle of their first pile of leaves. I sat on the ground and felt alive with the whistling wind shaking the trees of their summer's growth. I walked, pointed my camera, and tried to catch leaves on their way down, finding myself not the best at action shots...



... this was the only decent one I got, but it seems to sum up the atmosphere well. It's a partly sunny day, wind blows on and off, allowing leaves to precariously cover the streets with gold...

It feels like a dream sometimes, to be sitting in my apartment in Chicago, looking out the window to hundred year old trees and brownstones. I feel the fall coming, I feel leaves changing color right before they fall. I pray that I don't do the same, that as my color changes, and I enter into my next season of life, that I too will not fall. But if I do, at least I will be lining the streets with gold...

Slice of humble pie.

Head on a Silver Platter

"... An architect who is not out there to change the world, is not an architect. But merely one who makes buildings..." Eric Owen Moss declared as his thesis of the Southern California Institute of Architecture graduation speech this past weekend.


As my brother graduated I felt such joy, seeing people around him who loved him, supported him, and became his allies throughout his four years of schooling. It's always fun seeing someone you love in such a great spot in life...

As I sat there, attempting to decipher the message Moss was trying to unfetter, I naturally could not help but relate that benevolent idea to us everyday folk.

A ________ who is not out there to change the world, is not a _________.

(please fill in with occupation, belief, goal, identity.)

A barista who is not out there to change the world, is not a barista. But merely one who serves coffee.

A teacher, a mother, a father, an artist, a singer...

A Christian who is not out there to change the world, is not a Christian. But merely one who follows a moral code.

Are we out to save the world!? How are we doing it? What else can we do?
I fail miserably at this seemingly abstract pursuit.

If I am led by the spirit of God in my everyday life, I should constantly be thinking of God's coming kingdom, and how I affect that. How am I making this a better world, how am I bringing the love of God to each day I live in this spectrum of life?

I tell you, I forget, daily, minutely, this core belief that is apart of my faith, so when Moss resonated the importance of changing the world I was humbled and filled with grace, as I was overcome with grief that I do very little daily to make a difference. But as grace took its course, my heart was softened to see the beauty of not being on my own. I am simply a vessel for God's use, *though a willing vessel, and He is on my side. He is helping me make a difference once smile at a time, one car-ride home, one dishwasher unloading, one test...

Thanks be to God, who knows my faults and still wants me on his team of architects who are not merely builders, but world changers.

Don Miller

Don Miller at the DNC.





I love Don Miller, he was someone whose book Blue Like Jazz changed a lot of my thinking, made me see God in a new light... a book I always have an extra copy of in case I need to give it away.

How about Obama? I'm so curious to see where his campaign goes, where this election goes, where the sovereign Lord takes it...

I just want to do Hoodrat stuff with my friends...

Me too.. I want to things because they are fun, because it's fun to do bad things, right?

Thanks for your honesty, Laterian.

I want to do hoodrat stuff with my friends, bad things are fun, aren't they? I want to party all night, I want to rebel, I want to do what I want, when I want.. just like Laterian.

But... it's not going to get me where I want, is it?

What is it about doing hoodrat stuff with our friends? Is it really about what we do? Or is it about who we are with? Hoodrat stuff wouldn't be that fun alone... do you think Laterian would have wanted to drive so bad if his friend that smoked cigarettes wasn't there? I don't personally want to do things like keg stands alone...

I tell you, I've done hoodrat things with my friends, been out all night to tell absurd stories upon waking in the morning and savored each moment my friends and I say remember that night... but I've wanted to take a few back as well.

I have also done hilarious things that would not necessarily fall under the category for hoodrat... like camping in sketchy spots in the woods, driving around all night until the sun came up, making sweet jorts, driving home 12 hours in just one-piece swimsuits... all because I was with friends. And these glimpses, though not quite hoodrat or rebellious, were just as satisfying if not more (because of the moral hangover perhaps) than the others.

It's all about fellowship, being with people, doing things together. We long for people to share life with... to rejoice with, to mourn with. God has given us friends not to tear us down but to lift us up, to spur one another on, and to straight up enjoy life.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

OOh baby, here I am,

SIGNED

SEALED

DELIVERED

i'm yours...

I can't help it, I'm that girl who relates everything back to God. Sure it's cool sometimes, other times its down right cheesy. So when I hear these lyrics ( this is a top song on my playlist for whatever reason right now..) I can't help but think of Jesus.

Me shouting at the top of my lungs...

Here I am Lord. Signed. Sealed. Delivered. I'm yours.

But do I? Do I walk that way? Do I act like I am His?

He has signed me with his name, my name is written in the Book of Life.
He has sealed me with his Holy Spirit, ensuring me a ticket into eternity.
He has delivered me from the evil of this world.

Ephesians 1:13-14
13And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory.

And as I look up the version of the message, I coincidentally find this gem...
13-14It's in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what's coming, a reminder that we'll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life.

Maybe Stevie is prophetic!

So... do I live as though I have an inheritance with God? That's kind of mind blowing! Do I live as though I am home free? That the Holy Spirit has already secured eternal life for me...

We are free, once we have called on Jesus, and believed... we are sealed for a lifetime. Nothing we do can earn us salvation... it has already been done. There was a contract signed with our name, and God's next to it... declaring we are righteous simply by His signature.

I don't. I wake up in the morning after I have been out late with the carousers... and immediately need to do something to re-earn my salvation. To make sure God knows I still love him, to justify my moral hangover. I try and do something to ensure that I am still a good Christian.
It's a sickness. I don't believe the words Stevie sings, I don't believe that God continues to save us daily, that God does not seek perfection from me, but all of me.
Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I am yours.

I pray, each day, the words I utter upon waking are simply, I'm yours.

Sun Always Shining.

With an I heart Jesus lanyard wrapped around his neck, Kenny enchanted the audience that sat to watch his documentary, Sun Always Shining. Kenny is an artist. He paints the city of Chicago by memory. He is also most likely diagnosed with autism. He had this thing with throwing a drumstick up and down while he was walking. Everywhere he went, the drumstick was with him, twirling over the Chicago skyline.

When commenting about his stick, he said, "Some find it immature, but I don't care, I do it anyways." He laughed after everything he said and was completely engaging with one hint of a smile.

He was a janitor on the side, and when speaking about his work, he said " The Lord gives me the energy" to do his job daily. He was apparently always lifting people up, and they called him the encourager in his art studio. It was a beautiful picture of the holy spirit who had captivated a man to do his business on earth.

Kenny would walk the streets of Chicago, ride the train, and observe the empty parking lots in sight. Instead of painting what he saw, and what was real, Kenny was constantly fixing up the city through his art. He dreamed of a better Chicago, taking those empty lots and placing buildings where people could "work and live." He always paints blue skies, and stars... and the sun is always shining.

Is Kenny hoping for the New Kingdom? I think so. I think he is working with God to rebuild what is to come. He has a hope for Chicago, a new vision. Kenny gets it.

"What you do in the present--by painting, preaching, singing, sewing, praying, teaching, building hospitals, digging wells, campaigning for justice, writing poems, caring for the needy, loving your neighbor as yourself--will last into God's future... they are part of what we may call building for God's Kingdom." From.. Suprised by Hope

If this is true.. if this is what the resurrection of Jesus and the gift of the Spirit are all about... then we are agents of the transformation of this earth, anticipating the day when Jesus comes andhis new kingdom reigns forever!

Kenny is an agent, working for the Lord, building the new kingdom here on earth! Kenny himself said, " To me, the in crowd is the out crowd, I am not apart of this world."

How simply profound, right? How cool that we are here on earth to help God.. that are lives have purpose and meaning... that we aren't here just to die and go to heaven!

I pray I could be as real as Kenny, as devoted, and so absolutely loved.

A miserable life for me?

"I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart."

As I wrote this verse from Psalm 40 in my journal this morning, my heart cries, YES! Lord, I DO delight do your will! More like I want to delight to do your will, that sounds so good! And at the same time the other side of my heart cries out all of the fears if I follow-- fears? Yes.. unrealistic fears that consume me, that hinder me from pursuing God's will.

If I do God's will for my life I am going to end up in the Sahara desert sharing the gospel with camels and with a husband who never wants to settle down, for fear of being a member of the homeowners association. I will never see my family and loose all of my friends.

Or this one...

I will be the wife of a pastor, who has to dress a specific way, can no longer be seen in bars, and will have to go to church atleast every Sunday AND Wednesday.

Okay, so these are extreme, but these are fears of mine... and don't get me wrong, both of these things are good, they are just not for me. (So I think anyways... I could be very wrong then again! Change my heart if so Lord! )

So what, do I not think that the Lord is out for my best interest? Do I think God doesn't know me, that He who created me and knit me together is going to let me be miserable? Why do I believe that by doing God's will I am not going to be happy? Maybe I'm slightly afraid of being refined, since refining often comes from FIRE... but I shouldn't fear that if I follow God's will for my life I will end up unhappy.

I am comforted that my mom also had this same fear. Growing up she thought that if she was going to do God's will, she would end up a nun, husband-less and staunch. My mom's one true desire was to get married, why would God thwart this desire? He gives us our desires!!! My mom is living proof that God wants us to be happy, that he does not delight in joyless souls, but lives that are full of his goodness and unabounding love. She has a beautiful marriage and a life that is far from the nunery.

Our fears seem irrational when we spell them out, but in our heads they are as real as the truth sometimes. I have to continually remind myself that all I need is to "Delight myself in the Lord and He will give me the desires of my heart." Ps. 37:4 That as I do God's will, it will only make me know God's fullness more, and that will increase my joy, my happiness. Running from God's will will only make more anxious and unfulfilled because I am not doing what I was ultimately created for...

Lord, I know and trust you know me, I trust you will find the perfect man for me, that the plans you have for me will prosper me, and that you, my God, will be with me every step of the way.

world. wide. web.

Lifechurch.tv begins in
0 DAYS 0 HRS 3 MIN 13 SEC

WELCOME TO THE INTERNET CAMPUS---
"LOBBY EXPERIENCE"
"MIX AND MINGLE"
"LOBBY CHAT"

I even get to choose what band I want to worship to pre-sermon! Forget Podcasts... this is legit internet use at its finest.

And I wonder...Does this really do what a church is supposed to do? Does it encourage people to not go to church? I wonder what kind of people are on this thing... people like me, because I'm on it... caught in my own thought. Crap. I am a participant, aren't I? Ugh, now they have my email address, I knew I should have chosen the anonymous option.

Millions of these questions evade my mind as I begin my first World Wide Web Live Church Service.
5.. 4.. 3.. 2.. 1..........

I'm officially in, with a note taking section, an option to see who is sitting in your row, and the ability to chat with others in the same situation. Cool, a chat room only different.

Now comes the live worship, I secretely wish I could skip forward to the sermon, but they will not let me and I'm all of the sudden glad they won't... and my heart is slowly broken.

I imagine people at a house church in China, woshipping together, learning together, in a place where they can't worship God wherever they want, or even in a church.
Do they even have the internet?
The simple things we take for granted, like going to church on Easter Sunday... and having access to the world via one small device that sits in most of our homes.

I am humbled and thankful for lifechurch.tv. If you haven't been... you should check it out, it's wild, and real, and hopefully shows the love of Jesus to those who normally wouldn't step foot on the grounds of church campus.

Apprently church is a big theme on my mind these days, which is curious since I haven't been in a while...

I need LOVE

I love going to the bookstore. I love walking around, watching people, reading magazines, and finding new books. I feel anonymous and peaceful, away from anyone who knows me (besides Shawn who works there... we went to high school together.)

Today, after a conversation with a friend over lunch, I was inspired to check out the new Christian books on political and social issues. Many are common these days with the election so close... As I was gazing, I was surprised to fumble upon many with the common theme, I like Jesus but not the Church.

One was titled, Lord Save Me From Your Followers. A few were about how my generation is appalled by the church. I must say, it is absolutely refreshing to hear these things. I flipped through a few of them, hitting on the issues regarding homosexuality, love, republicans vs. democrats, and how we have deviated from what Jesus did while on earth.

Haven't we though? Are we like Jesus? A lot of people like Jesus, a lot of people hate Christians. How did this happen?

I confess, I am judgmental and not loving to people who condemn Non-Christians, the "fundamentalist" Christians who are unwilling to love the drunks and sexually deviant, those who fail to listen to a Buddhist's story. I hate Christians who don't love people well, who don't follow Jesus' lead when giving us one solitary command, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and with all your strength. And love your neighbor as yourself.

I type that and conviction reigns in my fingers. Why would it be okay for me to not love these Christians? I too am called to love...everyone! I should no more hate that sin in people, than the sin of gluttony in the guy next door. I should show the same grace I show to the prostitute as I do to the judgmental Christian. Lord teach me to love these people who are so hard for me to love. Help me to pour out the grace you have shown me onto those who desperately need to be re-touched by your love, that first love that reminds us of how little we deserve and much you have poured out anyways.

I know this problem is among my generation, we desperately want love. (History must repeat itself.. thanks to the Beatles.. all we need is love, dadadananaan.) We hate the church, because we feel like they are pushing away those who need Jesus the most. Agreed, but how should we approach this?

I urge us to think about what St. Augustine nobly said, "The church is a whore, but she's my mother." The Church has been unfaithful as the bride of Christ, but she is still your mother! The Church is the body of Christ, we are the church. We have to love other Christians, we have to love the church. Look at where she has gotten us! Where would we be without her? We would not know nearly as much about God as we do! We as Christians have been unfaithful to Christ, all of us... those of us who have little 'issues' and those of us who can't walk in somewhere without being pegged as a mess. We are all the unfaithful bride.

My goal, for myself, is to love the Church. To love and pour out grace as quickly on those Christians I love to hate as I do on every sinner I encounter in a bar...

RockstarVille

I’m sitting at the airport currently, typing on my computer, rockin’ my BOSE enormous headphones playing everything from a Rob Bell sermon to the new Lupe Fiasco CD. I can’t help but laugh at myself. With a copy of the newest Vanity Fair in my bag next to my Bible and a book about heaven, I wonder who I am. Where did I come from?

Uncoincidentally, this is a common theme in my life these days, questioning why I live in Chicago, how I got here, and how my life has so oddly been woven together perfectly.

My kids I teach were guessing where I am from the other day, they guessed about every state besides Oklahoma. (It’s not the most thought of state in Chicago by 7 year olds apparently… though I don’t know why.) One girl, Aja, looked at me,

“I know where you from! Rockstar-ville.”

Bingo. I went with it for a while, the kids so badly wanted it to be truth, something so exciting and so revealing. They wanted me to pop out with mad vocals and jump on top of the cafeteria tables and jam out. (Or maybe that's just me...) If I look cute at work, my kids constantly tell me I look like a rock-star. I found out recently that black people are pop stars, and white people are rock-stars… according to Aja that is.

I am so curious that Aja referenced my origins with my appearance. A white girl who dresses funny and has long hair… must be from Rockstar-ville.

But I’m from Oklahoma, and my origins come from somewhere much deeper than Sequoyah Middle School where Hip-Hop saved my life, college where Vanity Fair opened my eyes to the glamour of politics, and Kanakuk that taught me to read the Bible for myself.

"He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Phillipians 1:6

Sweet Sanctification. God began a good work in me the moment I trusted Him. And daily He is working inside of me, uniting all that I need for a hope and a future with Him.

So who knows where my material self has stemmed from, the vast world we live in contributes daily to my outerwear, but as for my internal make-up... there is one simple answer. God has created me. Not only has he created me perfectly, but he is completely sovereign over everything that I take in daily.

He has set me up for success.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

I finally got into Grad School this week. I feel so blessed to have a God who has worked on me for years to prepare me for my future in Art Therapy, inside and out. God is sovereign, over the insides and outsides of our feeble bodies, working everything for the good of those who love Him.

Grace?

Grace. My Grace is sufficient.

Just when I think I have thought of every dimension of grace, I am humored to find a new one at my pride's expense. I was at work ( I teach after school art to first and second grade kids) and the kids were absolutely frustrating. I was on the brink of grabbing arms and throwing the kids in the snow with no jacket on...seriously. But I made it through the day.

I walked out and headed to the train. All I could think about was... I got frustrated today, I was bad today. I got on the train, and pulled out my book to abstain from burgeoning a downward spiral of hate for myself. In between pages I prayed, and thought... but Lord, this is what I have been praying for! Patience! Help! To be a better teacher!

I got home and shook it off, relieved my roommate basically had dinner ready. I sure could have used a beer... but we only had Budweiser (eh.)

I layed in bed that night and thought to myself... this is it! This is grace. We don't pursue God so we can be better at work, or so we won't have negative emotions. Knowing God does not rid me of being frustrated... But simply lets me know that when I do get frustrated, when I do mess up, He loves me all the same. He forgives me and even loves me in the midst of my cussing out seven year olds in my head. His grace is not confined to the moments after we suck, but it is continuously alive... even we are in our prime of screwing up!

So the beauty of knowing Jesus is not that I will no longer mess up, that my sin will miraculously disappear... but that it is okay when I mess up, because we have a Savior who is empathetic to our struggles. We have a God who died because we are going to mess up and we can rejoice when we do... because we still have Christ, we still have grace.

So let us not handle our frightful humanness with despair, but with rejoicing.

Cheers to being sinners, and having a God who loves us anyways.

Train to Salvation

"Hello to all, I am going to tell you all today about a very important thing in my life, Jesus Christ." A passionate young black man stated with his Bible in hand. He walked up and down the train, preaching about his life, how he used to be in a gang, but now that he is a Christian, he is simply a "Holy Ghost Gangsta." He spoke as if he were in church, a perfectly planned but still Spirit led sermon, on the El.

"Now some people, they say Obama is going to be president," he held his hands high, "and God willing I hope he is!!!"

I hear a faint amen in the background.

"Then they say he will be assassinated, and there will be a huge war on racism. But you know what I say?!" He looks around for a response from his audience, not disappointed at the lack of interest. " I say racism is still alive! But not for me. I don't hate blacks, I don't hate whites. OHHH no. I hate the DEVIL." And on began his 5 minute segment on the power of evil in this world, and how Jesus has already won.

Every word seemed to be a breath of scipture. He knew what he was talking about. He ended with a prayer over all of us, asking God to have mercy on us, for the salvation of our souls. This man had some guts, and I'll admit, I kind of admired him.

"God Bless you sir." An Arabic woman humbly commented. " I was saved by Jesus Christ in 1996. There is nothing more important in your life than to know Jesus. " And on she went with her testimony, and into the gospel, "Going to church, Being a moral person, none of this...nothing will get you to heaven, except belief in Jesus Christ! If you don't know Jesus, you are going to hell."

Bold. Authentic. Reality. (Me being nervous.)

It was so beautiful, to see one bold man, taking the word to the streets, or in this case train, and out of it came the encouraged woman who shared her testimony. It was so real, I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit live and active in that ride, and I know that others did as well... even if they weren't able to pin-point the feeling.

And I thought about good ole Simeon and Anna in the temple. (Luke ch.3)

Simeon was a righteous old dude, who probably seemed a little crazy. He walked around procaliming he would not die until he had seen the Lord's Christ. Moved by the spirit he walks into the temple where Baby Jesus is for his parent's to offer His sacrifice. And Simeon says,
"Soverign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, A light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Isreal."

What?! Everyone probably thought he was crazy. He even walked up to Mary and Joseph and blessed Jesus. Crazy old man.

And there was Anna, who was a very old widow, she lost her husband years ago and has not left the temple since, worshiping night and day, fasting and praying. AKA crazy old woman who never left the temple... had no where to go... and was terribly skinny. She also walked up to Mary and Joseph, and gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the Messiah. She went, and ran around the temple, claiming this baby was the Messiah.

Would you believe her?! I don't know if I would...

But God used these unlikely characters, to speak through them. Luke tells us the Holy Spirit was upon them! Noone else noticed Jesus as the Son of God that day in the temple. Not the Rabbis, not the main religous people... just crazy old Simeon and Anna.

As the El was approaching my stop, I grew more and more fond of these two unlikely characters being used by God. Some might doubt their validity... train preachers, I don't know...but I say, check out the gospels... God used some wacky people to tell of his business. Why wouldn't He still?

And I got off the train, feeling more blessed than ever... phoning my friends to share the great story of Salvation I had heard on my way to work...

"Miss Rachel, do you have a husband?" Keonte asked me in the middle of class.

" Nope, not yet." I begrudgingly stated, knowing how the class of 7 year olds was going to respond.

"Miss Rachel, You need a MAN to PROtect you....Well, do you go to church?" I was on the spotlight. All eyes on me...

"Yes, I do go to church," deep down I apologized, for not being a regular church-goer, but how was I to tell 7 year old Keonte I loved Jesus and hadn't yet found my love for the church?

"Well that's good! Atleast we know you've got the LORD protectin you!"

I'm glad someone gets it...

I am so worried I have not done enough for my application for Grad School. I have applied to start a Masters Program in the fall for Art Therapy. I have sent in all of my required documents, and the interview is in two weeks. Everything that is required of me somehow does not feel like enough. Why? Why do I feel the need to be doing more?

Isn't that much like our walk with God sometimes? All that He asks of us is to simply believe (much like turning in my application.) done. That is all that is required of me. So why don't I believe that God's requirements are enough? I have read the checklist multiple times:

Believe.

Check.

Why do we make it into more than it is? Why do we add checks? So we can mark them off and see progress? We search for good things to do in hopes of earning God's favor. You know what God thinks about our righteous acts? They are like dirty rags. Filthy vomit-soaked towels from the night before. Sucks, huh? That no matter how good our acts are, they aren't good enough. Or... AWEsome, that nothing we do can make Jesus love us less. That he loves our righteous acts as much as our messy thoughts and actions. Beautiful. Unworthy.

I rack my brain for things I can do to "finish" my application. But, It is finished.

Salvation is here. I have believed. I still believe. I am believing.

I need to rest in that. Rest in the waiting room and enjoy today.
That is my job also as a believer. To do all that is required, and wait. Rest in the fact that salvation is already gauranteed. I'm in. Congratulations, University of Heaven is glad to welcome you to our program!

Let us rejoice in not having to do anything, in the fact that Grace has decided we are a good applicant for the program.

Somehow we have a distorted view of the gospel.

Distortion: God Loves me, Therefore I am Great.

Reality: How Great is He?

Tonight, I will rest in the Father's promise, That I suck and am loved for it.

Sweet.

God Bless you Mr. Walker

God? ( Said like Madonna at the beginning of Like a Virgin.)

I had a frustrating day. I work with some crazy first and second graders after school, and let's just say... they called me mean and told me they hated me, it's fine. So I went home, and hopped on a bus towards the gym, hopeful of forgetting my tragic day... instead I forgot my wallet. Awesome. Chicago Public Transportaion at rush hour... gone... Money, Credit Card, Transit Card, Best Buy card (most important), and ID. I had to call Julie to pick me up, or else I was walking home. Before I did, I caught another bus and gave him my information.

I go home, frustrated, and open a beer-- because that's what people do when they have a bad day, right? *it didn't make me feel better, I cancelled my credit card and figured out how to retreive a new ID in a new state.

I wake up, feeling refreshed. It's a new day, right? My wallet may be gone, but my spirit's still here, darn it.

I call the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority). Did you find a glittery red sparkle wallet with black stars? Yep. What? They found it. I walk in to go pick it up and the knew who I was the minute I walked in... must have been the glitter wallet that set me off.

Not only did they find my wallet, no money was gone and there was a note inside. Daniel Walker found your wallet, along with his phone number. Naturally I call, leave him a message with some cheesy, overtly euphoric comments.

Two days later, I get a text. Heya rachel. So glad you got your wallet back! I was a bit worried. If you'd like to, my band is playing the empty bottle thursday. You should come!

God?

What are the odds, in a city this big, during rush hour, someone turned in my wallet, with nothing gone. This world is okay sometimes, isn't it. What if he was my night in shining armor? Too much like a Romantic Comedy? Maybe... but you have to wonder...

So now I sit here, Wednesday night... wondering if I should go meet this Daniel Walker. See his band. Or maybe I should just google him...