a monkey, among other things

     I love Sunday nights.  I love the anticipation of a day off--sometimes even more than the day off itself, if that makes any sense.  I love staying up late and knowing that I do not have to work tomorrow at all.  I mean, let's be honest, I stay up late every other night of the week also, but not with that sweet knowledge of a day to myself looming ahead.  

    And you know what made this sunday even better?  Well, I only had one show today (instead of my usual two).  I finished working at 3:05 this afternoon and do not have to work again until 7:00 on Tuesday evening.  Woo-hoo, let the games begin!  So, what did this crazy girl do as soon as she had her own version of the weekend?  Went right on over to church.  

   I finally got to go to Mosaic, a pretty cool church here in L.A. that I have been hearing so much about from Jason and Darby.  Jase picked me up and we went to their service downtown, at the Mayan Theatre (Jenna, you would fit right it).  The theatre was beautiful, with all this ancient Mayan-looking architecture.  Actually, it kind of reminded me of the Revenge of the Mummy ride at Universal Studios (minus the actual mummy, of course).  When we walked in, there were two disc jockeys making some beats right in front of us.  There were fog machines and all sorts of colored lights, giving the place a kind of rock-show vibe.  And it was hot.  Not sexy-hot, but why-doesn't-Los-Angeles-believe-in-air-conditioning? hot.  It was ok, though; considering where I am living, I am used to it.  The music was good--no songs that I knew, but still I enjoyed worshipping.  However, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Irwin McMannus speak.  He is doing this series called Practical Wisdom, and so he opened it to a question and answer session.  I kept wracking my brain for a question to ask, but really couldn't think of anything.  One thing that did stand out to me, though, was his encouragement for us to live in such a way that we take risks.  He said that if we don't do this now, while we are still young, it is only going to get more difficult as we enter the next phases of life.  With greater risk comes greater potential for fulfillment, greater reliance on a God who can plan my life a whole lot better than I ever could.  

      After the service, Jase and I went to Santa Monica and got some steak.  Nobody ever words it like that, do they?  That makes it sound like a sit-down steak dinner is on parr with grabbing hot dogs from a street vendor, or something.  Well, we sat down to a nice steak dinner.  Unfortunately, I tried to squeeze a particularly slippery lemon and watched it fly out of my hand and land under the table of a couple deep in conversation to my left.  Jase and I laughed later as we saw the couple get up, see the lemon under their feet and look around the restaurant--as if they were gonna find a lemon tree growing over the head.  

   And one of the best parts of the night had to be when I shook the hand of a little monkey on the 3rd Street Promenade.  Really, to just hear about it does no justice.  There is a grumpy man who has somehow gotten a hold of an incredibly cute monkey who is dressed in a cowboy hat, a flowered shirt, and a vest with pockets (the monkey, not the man).  He is trained to shake your hand when you give him a dollar.  And only if you give him a dollar--somebody tried to get a handshake from him after just handing him a quarter, but the monkey took the change and turned briskly right around.  Smart monkey, he doesn't come cheap.  I walk up to the monkey with a dollar in hand and the monkey took my dollar, stuffed it into his already stuffed pocket, tipped his hat to me, and then grabbed my hand and shook it.  I laughed so hard!  There's nothing like the feel a little leathery and slightly furry hand--complete with slender fingers--wrapping around mine and giving it a little tug.  I loved it.  

   It was a lovely Sunday.  A little show, a little church, a little steak, and a little monkey.  It doesn't get much better than that, I think.