Lack of Sleep and Falling in love at a Coffee Shop

I just feel like rambling... last night I was up until 4am. It certainly wasn't planned. I needed to get a paper written for my class through Moody Bible Institute. Busyness kept pushing the paper back until about 10pm last night when I was finally able to sit un-distracted and hammer it out. I got done about 2am and then when I got to my apartment my neighbor's baby was crying keeping me from any hope of sleep (walls are paper thin). After some time of tossing and turning I got up to talk to Ashley for a little while because she was at the hospital working her routine night shift, a total downer when the love of your life is on the opposite side of the world (not literally but on the other side of the world of consciousness; awake when I am sleeping and sleeping when I am awake). At about 4am I was finally able to get my eyes to stay shut and I dozed off for what seemed a minute before my alarm started going off.

Needless to say, I am exhausted and dragging... so in this sleep deprived hallucinating state I am making some observations that might not be made in a sober state of mind. First off, God demands sleep. Not in His book of the Law (at least not that I am aware of). But, He did create us to need sleep by nature. I am a mess when I don't get a solid 8. And, the nights that I get 8 hours of sleep are peppered sporadically throughout the year. I need more sleep.

Maybe it is my state of mind but I also realized over the past couple days that I feel like one of those nerdy kids that reads inordinate amounts of fiction. You know the kid that can't keep his glasses anywhere near the top of the nose but constantly has to push them back up either with the index finger or by crinkling his nose. The kid is brilliant but can barely have a conversation with a human. That is what happened to me yesterday... Twice. I sit at my desk all day and read and write and plan and when technology intrudes with a phone call I realize that I can barely escape from my stupor to have an intelligible conversation. It is awkward to put it gently. So, I am hoping that I can stay a part of this world and not levitate to some parallel universe where people aren't human but communicate with books and stanzas and some dungeons and dragons language.

So, instead of having one of my coworkers find me sleeping on my keyboard I peaced out this afternoon. I went to the coffee shop and just tried to soak up the real world for a minute. As I was driving I was blessed by the beauty of creation and the piercing rays of sunshine that finally made their way to Beloit in March (apparently the rays are generally busy elsewhere this time of year and if they feel like it they might grace us with their presence, but don't count on it because they are busy). It was incredible. I sat at Pleasant Street Coffee and let the jam being played over their CD player penetrate my ear canals and make me want to dance while I peered out the window. It was good for the soul. I fell in love with Jesus all over again as I experienced Him at a coffee shop. It was like being jolted to life by a defibrillator. I was able to gasp for air and appreciate His creation.

The conclusion of the matter: Life is meant to be lived, it is meant to be enjoyed and cherished, hobbies are healthy, homework is heavy, people are important, coffee is good for the soul, and life isn't meant to be lived in an office.