weekends: are they relaxing or tiring?

sometimes, i feel like i'm more exhausted after the weekend than before...

when i'm not busy socializing,

Sunday after church - lunch & a walk at beautiful Santa Monica

glo got treated to some delicious crab @ Redondo Beach after niners, mandy, and i all lost a bet

i've been spending some time volunteering:

my freakishly strong small group member and i joined my friend's church for some manual labor in TJ (yes, those are overalls...from the 90's. i pulled them out of the back of my closet just for this. being a packrat can sometimes be useful!)

at the start of the day, the roads looked like this (all the sewage and run-off was ending at the parking lot of a church)

after 5 hours, we managed to fill in all the unruly cracks and create a ditch down 2 steep hills, thereby diverting all the unwanted water away from the church parking lot

i use the term "we" lightly b/c this is where i was by 4pm - see me in the background? that's me sitting...totally pooped & not helpful. i over-exerted myself at the beginning and also realized that 5 years does a lot to the body. the last time i was in TJ (helping to build a house), i had much more stamina.

on another Saturday, glo & I went to help at Westside Pregnancy Resource Center. i know i'm crazy for saying this, but i LOVE organizing so rearraging their donated items into a useable set-up was very rewarding. Also, while there, we got to listen to some of the stories of the center (an alternative to Planned Parenthood) - the women who work there deal with bigger triumphs than i ever see on a daily basis but also deeper disappointments too. though the joys are great, the grace they must be ready to give is amazing. unending. what love.

so though i'm thoroughly exhausted after my weekends, it's worth it. they're full. full of friends, full of service... wonder-full. =)

some recent highlights:
-an airport visit to welcome a friend back from China
-lunch with a long-distance friend (i miss you, watermel!)
-the CHURROS at the border coming back from TJ - wow, yummmmmy!
-a heart-warming phone call to the philippines
-my presentation at church about my china trip... i got so many encouraging remarks AND some people want to go with me this summer to work at the orphan camp!!! how exciting is that??