Of Chores and Lonliness

Well, Ryan was out of town this weekend, so I decided to visit a different church, just for fun. When Mom was visiting me before the wedding, we pulled into the parking lot of First Presbyterian Church in Mt. Vernon while I had to take a phone call. I decided to give the church a shot this morning.

First of all, what with being out of town nearly every weekend, I had not been to church in the last month. It was wonderful to spend time worshipping with other believers. Central Christian Church, where we attend, is incredibly contemporary in their worship style and I feel like we rarely sing hymns there. It was wonderful to sing a simple hymn in church again. The congregation is small, and mostly elderly, but I saw a few young faces around me. It seems like it would be a nice, tight-knit kind of community to be a part of.

I had a hard time this morning. I've been hitting a bit of a wall. I spent the 7 months before the wedding in adrelaine mode. Then I moved here, and I've spent the last 5 weeks doing nothing but unpacking boxes that I moved here, unpacking wedding presents, writting thank you cards, dealing with wedding pictures (which means doing everything from developing disposable cameras, to uploading pictures from various people to one place, to getting those printed, both for me and for others, and putting those pictures into albums), and getting my name and address changed on my plethora of accounts. Now that most of that's done, my attention is turning to home improvement and landscaping.
(I bought a bunch of flowers today and bought a shepherd's hook to hang them with. They're something nice to look at out my window.)

The last month has involved small tasks and chores all day long. Besides the items mentioned above, there's the everyday tasks of doing laundry, washing dishes, etc. I feel overwhelmed with tedium. The wall is this: I am growing weary of all these small tasks of everyday life. Where is the meaning in unpacking boxes? Is it even worth it? I work and work and work and feel like there is nothing to show for it, just more tasks yet to be done. The garage still isn't empty, the "gift" room still has items in it, the pictures aren't all in albums yet, etc. etc.

I realized today that one reason I've kept busy is because the moment I stop is the moment I realize that I don't have any close friends in this town besides Ryan. I knew that fact would hit me eventually, and with Ryan being gone, I became aware of a lonliness today. I know that friends will come with time, but today I just wished I were back in Dallas, and could go to Irving Bible Church, and have dinner with my friends afterwards. It's frustrating feeling like I have to make new friends when all I keep thinking is, "But I have perfectly good friends already! They're just in a different city."

God works in the absences of our life, so perhaps the most holy thing I can do is dwell a little on the emptiness and thank Him for being the One that fills me up.