He is faithful

Hello all!

So I'm back from a mini trip, which is why I've been incognito - sort of - that and trying to catch up on work stuff.

We went to Washington, D.C., which is far from my favorite place, but we did see some amazing things while there, and I had several good experiences that I'm going to share with you.

First, the obligatory hair geekery - I used a shampoo for the first time in a month on the trip, mainly because we were sharing a house with all of my husband's family members and I didn't want to hog the hot water with my CO washing method, so I bought a V05 shampoo - not the one I wanted - and used that.  I definitely felt the effects of the detergent soaps and my hair was a little more "sticky", I'm guessing my hair follicles opening up a little bit more than with the conditioner, but when it dried it behaved just fine. I will - hopefully - be able to find a nicer shampoo than the one I used there, I think it was their body/volume/balanced option - can't remember - and I just didn't care for the smell.  I might revisit my Giovanni shampoos to see if those work better, and I'll use them to clarify about once a month.

Here are the results of my hair with CO only and a clarifying shampoo (This is about two weeks after the trip, so keep that in mind.  It's soooo shiny today!:

Okay! Onto the more fun stuff:
So in D.C. we visit the Nature and Science Museum, Air and Space Museum, Asian Art Museum, Spy Museum, Library of Congress, Botanical Garden, The Castle, Arlington, The National Cathedral and I think that was it...oh and we also saw some of the Saint Patrick's Day Parade, which lasted all....day.  It was crazy trying to cross the street to get to the different museums.

Here are some of the photos of the various places we saw:

Botanical Gardens

Library of Congress

Diamonds are forever

Cathedral

Capitol

I wanted to save the reason for the title for my blog for last, because it was by far the most profound and lasting thing that I experienced on our way out to D.C.  For those of you who know me, I have a petrifying fear of flying...I can't stand it, I go into conniptions, and, before you suggest it, Valium doesn't work.  (The last time I flew and I took Valium I went into a laughing fit at our gate and the flipped out on the plane.  Not cool.)

I considered going to the doctor for quite some time because I thought I could take this pill that kills your anxiety, but keeps you alert at the same time, which is preferable because if I'm knocked out, then how on earth would I be able to know if we are dying?? I don't want to go onto a plane and fall asleep because of a drug knowing that there is the possibility I won't wake up.  I just don't like that at all.

So anyways...after struggling with the idea of medication for a few weeks I realized that I needed to do this without the aid of a pill.  Why? Because fear is not becoming of a Child of Christ, and to indulge in my fears and seek the comforts of the world to fix it just wasn't right for me.  I'm NOT saying that people who use medication to help them fly or through any other situation are doing the wrong thing, but what I am saying is that I felt the absolute conviction that it wasn't right for me.  God very distinctly gave me the impression that I was not to do this through chemical means, but rather through spiritual.  What did that mean?  Pray my butt off, that's what it meant.

So I did...I prayed, and prayed, and prayed, and the first two flights were glorious.  No bumps, easy landings, it was incredibly soothing - I even fell asleep on them!

So going into our last two flights - we had layovers for both journeys to and from home - I knew that I would be comforted.  Which I was, only this time I was being comforted through a CRAP LOAD OF TURBULENCE!!! Good heavens it was terrible!!! I'm pretty sure the pilot had something to do with it, especially when we were landing and he attempted with the plane what I would guess a bucking bronco might attempt when trying to unseat his rider.

But get this...throughout the entire thing I didn't feel a single ounce of anxiety!  I still, out of habit, grabbed the seat in front of me and I still got those stomach in my throat feelings, but so did everyone else because our plane felt like it was skidding on ice.

Our final flight home was much less bumpy and our landing was great, but seriously, guys I cannot express to you the absolute calm I felt through all of them.  My adrenaline was up a little bit on the very first flight, and I can't help that, but the fear and the anxiety and the dread and the knowing with absolute certainty I was going to die in a fiery plane crash just. wasn't. there. Praise. God!  It was awesome.

I know that, had I gone to the doctor and gotten a pill, I could have probably gotten something that would have helped, but that doesn't change the fact that I did what I'm certain God asked of me, and He gave me what I needed, which was entire peace.  I experience peace with the acceptance that if anything did happen, then I knew where I was going anyway, regardless if I got there in a big metal tomb with wings or of old age.  It didn't matter, I would be going to the same place.  It was so nice.

So, just a lovely moment of thanks and praise to God, my Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit for blessing me with this experience.  It's hard to describe this without sounding like - possibly - a dorky, crazy, Jesus freak, but at the end of the day, that's what I am.  Exactly what I am, and I hope that you understand a least a little bit of the encouragement that I'm trying to convey.

That's all for now, I hope you have a lovely day, and I hope to share more with you soon.