Friday again already? Let's be real, it feels like it's been forever. This has been a crazy week but a mostly good one... I'll leave you now with just a few thoughts. Five for Friday!
1) Yesterday I received a beautiful gift-- a pretty book sweetly wrapped in twine. Karen had been reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp and it mirrored a conversation we had last week so perfectly that she thought I might enjoy it. I'm devouring it right now. It's a beautifully written story that talks about living fully right where you are. I love the way she references it as "A dare to an emptier, fuller life." Let that thought soak in for a while.
2) It's game night! Get way excited!
3) I'm getting SO excited about seeing Dave Barnes tomorrow at my favorite concert venue, The Melting Point. I got to see it last year and I'm super excited to see him live again! Plus, my brother and his girlfriend (whom I am excited to meet) are coming in from Nashville for it. She is the manager of Gabriel Kelley is also playing. Apparently he's a good friend of Robert's... so excited.
4) Last night was Image Night for bcm women's ministry and I thought it went beautifully. Our theme was freedom in Christ and the room was decorated with hundreds of little paper birds, playing off Psalm 124:7 "Our soul has gone free like a bird; the net is broken and we are free." The night took a different direction than I thought it would but it was a beautiful time of worship, fellowship, and truth.
5) I said several times last night that Image Night turned into a display of all of my talented friends. God has gifted me with some beautifully talented friends in a lot of different ways. My beautiful friend Kendell lent us some of her gorgeous paintings and Season and Laura led worship. I loved Season's choice to play piano. Hands down my favorite part of the night was when Laura (whom I am blessed to say is my accountability partner!) shared a piece of her story and sang for us this beautiful song that she wrote. Nothing could ever compare to hearing it, but she told me it would be okay to share the words with you guys. I'm closing it out with this. Let this beautiful story of hope and grace rock your world-- it did mine.
She is lost in her own world
A broken hearted little girl
Where does she go from here
Where does she turn
She is tangled in the lies
Of what she needs to be satisfied
Draw her closer Lord
Take her hand
And she falls asleep with tears stuck in her eyes
And she wakes up in the morning and she cries
She walks in sadness through the night
And tells her secrets to the skies
And all her clouded dreams and whys
Clash in her bearing and her light
God wont you hold your little child
And Somewhere along the lines
Her worth was shot and ill defined
Feels like drowning
And her heart fails within
Oh my God do not delay
Heal the sorrow and the pain
Dry her cryin eyes
Hear her prayers
She knows people come and go just as they please
And she relives all her mistakes as she dreams
She walks in sadness through the night
And tells her secrets to the skies
And all her clouded dreams and whys
Clash in her bearing and her light
God wont you hold your little child
For every heart that’s ever been abandoned
Know God’s love will set you free
So walk in beauty through the night
And tell your secrets to the God on high
And leave your worries in the Father’s eyes
And He will fill you with His desires
He’ll never leave His little child.
...so lift your eyes and start to smile.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
shadows
There's nothing quite like a hot cup of soup and some time alone with the Lord between classes and meetings on a cold Monday morning...
Every Sunday night at youth group I get the chance to have some discussion time with the girls after our message and last night was definitely the best night of that so far. It all becomes so worthwhile when one of your favorite kids comes up to you afterward with a look of excitement and says "I think I just figured something out." So encouraging.
Last night flowed beautifully and we talked about John 3 and how Jesus says in verse 17 that he was sent "not to condemn the world, but to save the world". It's sometimes important when working with middle schoolers to take a step back and look at what the word "condemn" means and we had a really great conversation about how Jesus didn't come just to point out our insufficiencies, but to provide a solution for them. That's kind of what takes Christianity out of being a list of do's and don'ts and into being about hope, love, and personal relationships. I think too often we forget the second half of the story... that Jesus didn't come just to condemn us but also to offer us hope, be the solution, and give us life to the full.
That being understood, we moved into John 3:19 where it says this: "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil." Let's pause here. Right now I'm studying a book called One by Priscilla Shirer that focuses on finding Freedom in Christ. I'll unpack that more another day, but for now I will say this: Today Priscilla was talking about the perks of our sin and how we, much like the Israelites in Exodus, aren't willing to leave things behind and rely on God to daily provide for us. We get caught up in the perks of our sin-- the way it feels, the popularity of it, the ease... Thinking through that I was reminded of our conversation last night about how "men loved darkness instead of light". I'll interject here for a quick story.
I have a friend whom I love to pieces but I hate to play games with. He cheats. It's as simple as that. Once last year a bunch of us were playing Murder In the Dark in my apartment. If you've never played, the concept is simple-- you walk around in the dark and the designated killer grabs people's necks, they fall to the floor, someone screams, the lights come on, and we try and figure out who the killer was. In our situation, once you were a dead person you got to go sit on the couch. Now, my apartment has large windows on the front of it so it didn't get quite dark enough to play properly so we enacted a rule that you would just close your eyes which seemed to work pretty well. I was around the third or fourth person to die so I took my spot on the couch alongside my friend who had died earlier in the game. The beauty of being out was that you could see well enough to figure out who the murderer was thanks to the lights outside the window. It was at that point in the game that I realized my friend (who had been out for several rounds) was getting up off of the couch and killing people quietly, both ruining the game and confusing the murderer.
But in the darkness, nobody had any idea. It wasn't until the light revealed it to me that I had any idea what was going on. Had everyone been able to use that light to see, his cheating would have been ruined. But when the lights came on he looked innocent and was holding secret victories. The point here? We can hide in the dark. When the lights come on, we're often found sitting quietly on the couch looking innocent, having our 'church faces' on, and pretending we've got it all together. That's why John 3 says the men love the dark... it's easy to hide reality in the dark. Though let's be real, nothing is hidden from the Lord anyway.
Having freedom in Christ often means leaving behind the "perks of our sin" in exchange for stepping into the light. When we think about our time in sin, we usually don't think about the hardships it caused us-- we focus on the perks. Why? Because that is what makes us feel good, and we are comfortable with keeping the rest of it pushed into the dark corners. We hide it, even from ourselves. So what is is that we are hiding? The rest of the chapter goes on to say this: "Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." We talked last night about some practical ways that we can begin to step into the light but since I am now running late for my meeting, I will leave you with this: Figure out what it is that you're hiding in the dark that God is calling you to reveal to him in the light and do just that-- Let the Lord know. (It's not like He doesn't already anyway, right?) Pray through it. Find someone to pray through it with. It's the first practical step towards beginning to walk in Freedom in Christ.
Marinate in that thought for a little while... I know I am. My love to you, friends. I'm off to work again.
Every Sunday night at youth group I get the chance to have some discussion time with the girls after our message and last night was definitely the best night of that so far. It all becomes so worthwhile when one of your favorite kids comes up to you afterward with a look of excitement and says "I think I just figured something out." So encouraging.
Last night flowed beautifully and we talked about John 3 and how Jesus says in verse 17 that he was sent "not to condemn the world, but to save the world". It's sometimes important when working with middle schoolers to take a step back and look at what the word "condemn" means and we had a really great conversation about how Jesus didn't come just to point out our insufficiencies, but to provide a solution for them. That's kind of what takes Christianity out of being a list of do's and don'ts and into being about hope, love, and personal relationships. I think too often we forget the second half of the story... that Jesus didn't come just to condemn us but also to offer us hope, be the solution, and give us life to the full.
That being understood, we moved into John 3:19 where it says this: "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil." Let's pause here. Right now I'm studying a book called One by Priscilla Shirer that focuses on finding Freedom in Christ. I'll unpack that more another day, but for now I will say this: Today Priscilla was talking about the perks of our sin and how we, much like the Israelites in Exodus, aren't willing to leave things behind and rely on God to daily provide for us. We get caught up in the perks of our sin-- the way it feels, the popularity of it, the ease... Thinking through that I was reminded of our conversation last night about how "men loved darkness instead of light". I'll interject here for a quick story.
I have a friend whom I love to pieces but I hate to play games with. He cheats. It's as simple as that. Once last year a bunch of us were playing Murder In the Dark in my apartment. If you've never played, the concept is simple-- you walk around in the dark and the designated killer grabs people's necks, they fall to the floor, someone screams, the lights come on, and we try and figure out who the killer was. In our situation, once you were a dead person you got to go sit on the couch. Now, my apartment has large windows on the front of it so it didn't get quite dark enough to play properly so we enacted a rule that you would just close your eyes which seemed to work pretty well. I was around the third or fourth person to die so I took my spot on the couch alongside my friend who had died earlier in the game. The beauty of being out was that you could see well enough to figure out who the murderer was thanks to the lights outside the window. It was at that point in the game that I realized my friend (who had been out for several rounds) was getting up off of the couch and killing people quietly, both ruining the game and confusing the murderer.
But in the darkness, nobody had any idea. It wasn't until the light revealed it to me that I had any idea what was going on. Had everyone been able to use that light to see, his cheating would have been ruined. But when the lights came on he looked innocent and was holding secret victories. The point here? We can hide in the dark. When the lights come on, we're often found sitting quietly on the couch looking innocent, having our 'church faces' on, and pretending we've got it all together. That's why John 3 says the men love the dark... it's easy to hide reality in the dark. Though let's be real, nothing is hidden from the Lord anyway.
Having freedom in Christ often means leaving behind the "perks of our sin" in exchange for stepping into the light. When we think about our time in sin, we usually don't think about the hardships it caused us-- we focus on the perks. Why? Because that is what makes us feel good, and we are comfortable with keeping the rest of it pushed into the dark corners. We hide it, even from ourselves. So what is is that we are hiding? The rest of the chapter goes on to say this: "Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." We talked last night about some practical ways that we can begin to step into the light but since I am now running late for my meeting, I will leave you with this: Figure out what it is that you're hiding in the dark that God is calling you to reveal to him in the light and do just that-- Let the Lord know. (It's not like He doesn't already anyway, right?) Pray through it. Find someone to pray through it with. It's the first practical step towards beginning to walk in Freedom in Christ.
Marinate in that thought for a little while... I know I am. My love to you, friends. I'm off to work again.
Friday, January 21, 2011
five for friday
Time again for the weekly Five for Friday? I think so. It's been a long and crazy week with classes starting back and I'm looking forward to the rest of this afternoon and tomorrow where all I have on my schedule is smoothies, gymnastic meets, a haircut, and a lot of doing nothing. I should probably throw some homework into that mix...
five thoughts for the week!
1. I have the best, most selfless parents in the entire world. Really. Over Christmas break I was reminded of this when they graciously hosted me and all my camp friends for the week of Passion. My mom is all about the details-- making sure everybody has everything they could ever possibly need-- and I loved watching my dad take interest in everyone's lives. He told me later that one morning at breakfast my friend Fausto told him "you guys are just like Laura... but different." I hope and pray that's true. The reason this week that I was so reminded of their love for me and for the Lord (despite their constant reminders) is this: I called my mom yesterday to chat about life and to ask her for prayer. She's my best friend, after all. A good friend of mine has a family member in the hospital near my house and upon finding out, my mom immediately offered to go sit with them, take them brownies, or even just go take them a Coke to break up the monotony of sitting in the hospital. While I didn't let her do that right then, it is more than precious to me that she is so willing to serve and even to serve people she doesn't know. She called me at least four times throughout the rest of the day wanting updates and such. In fact she just called me again as I was typing this. Gosh she's incredible. I'm grateful to have parents that love the Lord the way they do and I hope and pray that Fausto was right-- I want to be just like her one day.
2. A long week sometimes calls for you to do things to make yourself smile, even if it just means fun pajama pants and the constant playing of chill music. Two thoughts on this one: If you've never checked out noisetrade, you should get on it. Also, Target is one of my favorite places on earth. Sometimes my roommate Anna and I partake in what we call "target therapy".
five thoughts for the week!
1. I have the best, most selfless parents in the entire world. Really. Over Christmas break I was reminded of this when they graciously hosted me and all my camp friends for the week of Passion. My mom is all about the details-- making sure everybody has everything they could ever possibly need-- and I loved watching my dad take interest in everyone's lives. He told me later that one morning at breakfast my friend Fausto told him "you guys are just like Laura... but different." I hope and pray that's true. The reason this week that I was so reminded of their love for me and for the Lord (despite their constant reminders) is this: I called my mom yesterday to chat about life and to ask her for prayer. She's my best friend, after all. A good friend of mine has a family member in the hospital near my house and upon finding out, my mom immediately offered to go sit with them, take them brownies, or even just go take them a Coke to break up the monotony of sitting in the hospital. While I didn't let her do that right then, it is more than precious to me that she is so willing to serve and even to serve people she doesn't know. She called me at least four times throughout the rest of the day wanting updates and such. In fact she just called me again as I was typing this. Gosh she's incredible. I'm grateful to have parents that love the Lord the way they do and I hope and pray that Fausto was right-- I want to be just like her one day.
2. A long week sometimes calls for you to do things to make yourself smile, even if it just means fun pajama pants and the constant playing of chill music. Two thoughts on this one: If you've never checked out noisetrade, you should get on it. Also, Target is one of my favorite places on earth. Sometimes my roommate Anna and I partake in what we call "target therapy".
3. I'm getting super excited about Image Night coming up next Thursday. If you don't know, Image Night is an event put on by the uga bcm women's ministry twice a year and is a great time for girls to just worship together. I am more than excited about the way the Lord laid the theme of this on my heart, showed me an incredible verse, and gave us the perfect speaker who just so happens to have a passion for our topic and miiiiiight even have my theme verse tatooed on her back. Just saying. Also, if you know me then you know I love to decorate and Karen and I are getting pretty excited about what the evening will look like. My sweet friend Kendell is even lending us some of her artwork! If you're a girl in Athens, you should come check it out for sure. I can't wait to see what the Lord does with it.
"Our soul has been set free like a bird; the net is broken and we are free." --psalm 124:7
4. I'm getting wayyyyy excited about camp things! I have a skype date with the wonderful Mary Carlisle this afternoon and I'm also thrilled for my good friend Daniel who recently found out the Lord has granted him the opportunity to be a camp pastor this summer. I know he's going to do a great job! I'm also getting super excited about director weekend in March (even though it's way far away) for several reasons. First, I get to spend a few days with some amazing people, second, I get to talk about camp all weekend, third, I get to find out who's on my team, and fourth, I get to fly there. I'm kind of obsessed with airports. I've only gotten to fly alone once before (and the circumstances didn't lend to me enjoying it to it's full) but I'm pumped about it. There's just something about navigating the Atlanta airport that makes me feel like a success... Also, look at my cool friend Katie and Daniel being amazing on this logo. So fun.
5. Five... five is a stretch. I'd like to say something profound and spiritual to close this out but I'll leave you with this: I learned this week how to pick a lock. I'm actually kind of proud of this. My roommate accidentally locked her bedroom door (not the first time we've dealt with this around here... though this time it didn't end with the door frame in pieces.) and her poor little dog had been locked inside all day. After trying every technique in the book, I called a friend who told me how to pick a lock. I tried it. It worked. We all screamed. Then the dog peed everywhere. It was awesome. So this is a shout out to friends who are willing to tell you how to pick locks-- thanks :)
Blessings, friends! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
beautiful, beautiful.
oh my... Today is one of those days where I have a million thoughts to write about and struggle to pick just one. I've been wanting to blog all week but I admit that it's been one of those weeks where even finding time to shower was a blessing. I'm afraid my semester might look too much like that... There are a lot of downsides to early morning classes (a lot of them.) but the upside is that I'm enjoying being done so early each day. So for this afternoon, I'm relishing in sweet music, pajama pants, Chickfila sweet tea, and some quiet time to rest and think. Homework, meetings, and calendars can wait a little longer today. Bliss.
The Lord has been doing a lot in my heart this past week. And I don't believe that every piece of that is meant to be shared (it can be a precious lesson to learn that thee are aspects of our relationship with the Lord are meant to be kept intimate) but I offer up His teachings to me to inspire thoughts in everyone else. Last Sunday at church, our pastor, Chip, spoke on this thought: "Sometimes the things we think are holding us up are actually holding us back." Hmm... think through that for a few. As we walked through the story of the rich young ruler in Luke 18, the Lord began to slowly reveal to me some things that I am being called to leave behind this semester. Jesus commanded the rich young ruler to go and sell all of his belongings and come follow Him. We see this concept repeatedly in scripture-- the concept of leaving it all behind to come and follow Jesus.
I've been called on a very specific journey to come and follow Jesus and serve this semester and that is already beginning to require some sacrifices, just as I expected it to. There are some things, however that I'm having to let go of that I never expected to. And I think it's a great thing... I am pleased to think that while I am not thrilled to leave behind a few of the things that I feel help "hold me up", I am more than willing to let them take a backseat to continue to pursue the journey that Jesus has called me to. When all the things I'm letting go of get boiled down, they are all selfish ambitions. I'm not saying that they are bad things, but at the deep heart of the issue who is really receiving glory in my life? Do you ever sit down and just want it to be about you for even just five minutes? I love the beautiful reality check that isn't ever really supposed to be about me... I'm well aware that the Lord is far more than enough, and the thought of having absolutely nothing to fall back on but Him excites me from deep within.
My beautiful friend Laura (I promise I'm not speaking in third person here...) and I have decided to keep one another accountable this semester and be constantly in prayer for one another. As iron sharpens iron, right? We met yesterday for the first time and my soul is so pleased and excited to have a friend in a similar life position as myself to talk about the Lord's goodness with. So much of our conversation yesterday was a mutual encouragement-- it is so key in life to have people to help build you up that you may go out and serve.
I'm enjoying the beauty of today. The Lord is good. He is good on our best days and our worst.
The Lord has been doing a lot in my heart this past week. And I don't believe that every piece of that is meant to be shared (it can be a precious lesson to learn that thee are aspects of our relationship with the Lord are meant to be kept intimate) but I offer up His teachings to me to inspire thoughts in everyone else. Last Sunday at church, our pastor, Chip, spoke on this thought: "Sometimes the things we think are holding us up are actually holding us back." Hmm... think through that for a few. As we walked through the story of the rich young ruler in Luke 18, the Lord began to slowly reveal to me some things that I am being called to leave behind this semester. Jesus commanded the rich young ruler to go and sell all of his belongings and come follow Him. We see this concept repeatedly in scripture-- the concept of leaving it all behind to come and follow Jesus.
I've been called on a very specific journey to come and follow Jesus and serve this semester and that is already beginning to require some sacrifices, just as I expected it to. There are some things, however that I'm having to let go of that I never expected to. And I think it's a great thing... I am pleased to think that while I am not thrilled to leave behind a few of the things that I feel help "hold me up", I am more than willing to let them take a backseat to continue to pursue the journey that Jesus has called me to. When all the things I'm letting go of get boiled down, they are all selfish ambitions. I'm not saying that they are bad things, but at the deep heart of the issue who is really receiving glory in my life? Do you ever sit down and just want it to be about you for even just five minutes? I love the beautiful reality check that isn't ever really supposed to be about me... I'm well aware that the Lord is far more than enough, and the thought of having absolutely nothing to fall back on but Him excites me from deep within.
My beautiful friend Laura (I promise I'm not speaking in third person here...) and I have decided to keep one another accountable this semester and be constantly in prayer for one another. As iron sharpens iron, right? We met yesterday for the first time and my soul is so pleased and excited to have a friend in a similar life position as myself to talk about the Lord's goodness with. So much of our conversation yesterday was a mutual encouragement-- it is so key in life to have people to help build you up that you may go out and serve.
I'm enjoying the beauty of today. The Lord is good. He is good on our best days and our worst.
Friday, January 14, 2011
five for friday
I'm aiming to take up a new blogging habit-- five for Friday. What does that mean? It means that every Friday I'm going to aim to share a few (and by a few I mean five...) mostly random thoughts from the week. Go!
1. You can tell I'm stressed out when my room is spotlessly clean. I think it makes me feel like I've got my life all together... I laid awake in the dark last night with my head swimming with all the work and responsibilities I have willingly taken on this semester and I am already overwhelmed. The real problem here is that my calendar is full, I'm overwhelmed, and I haven't even started my classes yet. With all the snow days and delayed openings of school, I have missed an entire week of class... good thing Monday is yet another holiday! I'm trying to do as much frontloading as possible to get a jump on the semester but when it boils down to it, I have filled my life with great and wonderful commitments but am terrified that I am going to run myself ragged trying to accomplish them. My current feelings on this? I need a hero. Or a team of personal encouragers. And I'm never going to have time to have a life. The heart of it is, however, that I always have to remember that there is more time in the day than I think there is going to be. Leave it in the Lord's hands... He will provide daily breath. How am I handling my stress today? By putting my calendaring, emailing, and phone calls aside for an hour and sitting on the couch writing letters. mmm, so sweet.
2. The Lord has placed these two concepts out of James 1 on my heart this week:
"My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." and... "Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." Now, I've never been one to get angry or yell at people or anything of the type... really. But I think in being stressed out, I need to remember to actively choose to live on the Word. I have to listen. Speak slowly. Keep a tight reign on my tongue. I have a good friend who would be quick to tell you that when I get tired, I get easily frustrated. Lucky him, I have somehow selected him as the person who always gets to hear about it. I tend to release my frustrations by laughing when I shouldn't... saying things I shouldn't. There are a few key people that I say things about that I shouldn't, no matter how amusing. But don't we all do that? Doesn't make it right. Time to reassess my heart. The thought of not being polluted by the world is one that the Lord has laid heavily on my heart for years and I'm continuing to pray through how exactly to do that. My precious roommate Anna and I have a new tv rule-- if nothing good is on, turn it off. I think that's going to help.
3. I need a haircut. Once I get that idea in my head I am not but annoyed until I get one. My sweet friend Sarah has recommended me to the lady who cuts her hair out of her house. I miss getting my hair cut at home... our precious friend Wanda used to cut my hair in her basement studio. Unfortunately her eye sight isn't what it used to be...
4. I'm a chronic blog stalker. That is what I do with my free time... and the time that I should be being productive. My favorite things to stalk are photography blogs, interior design blogs, and blogs of all you people out there who make cute things. And mommy blogs. That makes me weird, doesn't it? I think so.
5. The Lord is at work this semester in my life. I cannot wait to see what things He creates through women's ministry and through youth ministry. I am fired up and excited, can you tell? :)
1. You can tell I'm stressed out when my room is spotlessly clean. I think it makes me feel like I've got my life all together... I laid awake in the dark last night with my head swimming with all the work and responsibilities I have willingly taken on this semester and I am already overwhelmed. The real problem here is that my calendar is full, I'm overwhelmed, and I haven't even started my classes yet. With all the snow days and delayed openings of school, I have missed an entire week of class... good thing Monday is yet another holiday! I'm trying to do as much frontloading as possible to get a jump on the semester but when it boils down to it, I have filled my life with great and wonderful commitments but am terrified that I am going to run myself ragged trying to accomplish them. My current feelings on this? I need a hero. Or a team of personal encouragers. And I'm never going to have time to have a life. The heart of it is, however, that I always have to remember that there is more time in the day than I think there is going to be. Leave it in the Lord's hands... He will provide daily breath. How am I handling my stress today? By putting my calendaring, emailing, and phone calls aside for an hour and sitting on the couch writing letters. mmm, so sweet.
2. The Lord has placed these two concepts out of James 1 on my heart this week:
"My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." and... "Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." Now, I've never been one to get angry or yell at people or anything of the type... really. But I think in being stressed out, I need to remember to actively choose to live on the Word. I have to listen. Speak slowly. Keep a tight reign on my tongue. I have a good friend who would be quick to tell you that when I get tired, I get easily frustrated. Lucky him, I have somehow selected him as the person who always gets to hear about it. I tend to release my frustrations by laughing when I shouldn't... saying things I shouldn't. There are a few key people that I say things about that I shouldn't, no matter how amusing. But don't we all do that? Doesn't make it right. Time to reassess my heart. The thought of not being polluted by the world is one that the Lord has laid heavily on my heart for years and I'm continuing to pray through how exactly to do that. My precious roommate Anna and I have a new tv rule-- if nothing good is on, turn it off. I think that's going to help.
3. I need a haircut. Once I get that idea in my head I am not but annoyed until I get one. My sweet friend Sarah has recommended me to the lady who cuts her hair out of her house. I miss getting my hair cut at home... our precious friend Wanda used to cut my hair in her basement studio. Unfortunately her eye sight isn't what it used to be...
4. I'm a chronic blog stalker. That is what I do with my free time... and the time that I should be being productive. My favorite things to stalk are photography blogs, interior design blogs, and blogs of all you people out there who make cute things. And mommy blogs. That makes me weird, doesn't it? I think so.
5. The Lord is at work this semester in my life. I cannot wait to see what things He creates through women's ministry and through youth ministry. I am fired up and excited, can you tell? :)
I love this photo from the Do Something Now booth at Passion-- the colors as well as the loving notes written from the heart and posted for everyone to see. My roommates have been helping me with a great project for BCM Image Night and it kind of reminds me of this... more to come on that one later! I wouldn't want to give anything away...
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
snow school
Today is day two of our extended Christmas break and school has already been canceled again for tomorrow! The roommates and I have had a great time so far-- making breakfast, watching tons of Lifetime movies, and sledding in the snow. Yesterday all of the neighborhood was out sledding and building ramps and igloos. I love how everyone comes together in the snow! We were out for a few hours, came in and warmed up, and later walked with the boys across the street up to the loop and went sledding by the entry ramp. We ended the night watching football in our pj's... today we did it all over again. Bring on tomorrow!
Here are a few of the 300 images I got while sledding yesterday:
Good morning, neighborhood!
the back porch
I love this image of our front doors because of the fact that our neighbors are our very best friends.
Stop signs make surprisingly great sleds
Loving my roommates getting crazy air...
This one says it all...
Favorite image of the morning, hands down. I almost got run over in the process...
Monday, January 10, 2011
comin down...
So many random thoughts to share tonight... I wonder if I can make them connect somehow. I think instead of trying, I will share with you a few current life truths:
life truth: When they say six inches, they aren't kidding. It's been snowing here for about two hours and there is already over four inches stuck to the ground. Insanity! Tomorrow should be the first day back to school but it's canceled (praaaaaise the Lord) and I cannot wait to play all day with the roommates. Tomorrow has been declared Pineview Fun Day including snowmen, sledding, and hocho. Wonderful. We have already had epic midnight sledding adventures with the entire neighborhood-- it's beautiful how everyone comes together in the snow on baking sheets, pool floats, and sleds. I saw some insane air...
life truth: The Lord provides exciting opportunities. Today was my first unofficial day at River Hills Church and I really enjoyed it. I ended up in the preschool somehow but I loved every second of it... children are so precious to me. I spent the rest of the afternoon eating wonderful mexican food and planning for youth that night (slash watching youtube videos with Will... same thing, right?)
life truth: You should always think twice about working with your best friend. It doesn't work in all situations, but I think it's going to play out beautifully for me. It is rare in life to find people you fit well with and serving alongside them can be such a blessing. Feels a bit like summer time...
life truth: God brings things full circle. Tonight Will preached on the life of Peter and the scriptures lined up almost perfectly with day 3 of CentriKid material from last summer. I enjoyed talking with the girls and pulling back out some of the thoughts I've processed over the past few months. It was beautiful.
life truth: Sometimes new friends can be a blessing. Need I say more? I'm enjoying a few new friends I've made in the past few weeks and it is such a breathe of fresh air. The Lord has blessed me with some wonderful encouragers.
life truth: Reading for pleasure is a whole different species than reading for school. I'm reading through Peter Greer's book The Poor Will Be Glad and it is absolutely rocking my world. It has such a cool perspective on missions (not to mention some wonderful photography!) and I really enjoyed listening to him talk the other day at Passion.
life truth: Sometimes I forget everything I was going to blog about. I was in the midst of writing this when Will called me to come sledding and an hour later as I pick this back up, it has all gone out of my head. Oh well, hopefully I will post some wonderful snow pics tomorrow. Until then, friends! Cinnamon roll time!
life truth: When they say six inches, they aren't kidding. It's been snowing here for about two hours and there is already over four inches stuck to the ground. Insanity! Tomorrow should be the first day back to school but it's canceled (praaaaaise the Lord) and I cannot wait to play all day with the roommates. Tomorrow has been declared Pineview Fun Day including snowmen, sledding, and hocho. Wonderful. We have already had epic midnight sledding adventures with the entire neighborhood-- it's beautiful how everyone comes together in the snow on baking sheets, pool floats, and sleds. I saw some insane air...
life truth: The Lord provides exciting opportunities. Today was my first unofficial day at River Hills Church and I really enjoyed it. I ended up in the preschool somehow but I loved every second of it... children are so precious to me. I spent the rest of the afternoon eating wonderful mexican food and planning for youth that night (slash watching youtube videos with Will... same thing, right?)
life truth: You should always think twice about working with your best friend. It doesn't work in all situations, but I think it's going to play out beautifully for me. It is rare in life to find people you fit well with and serving alongside them can be such a blessing. Feels a bit like summer time...
life truth: God brings things full circle. Tonight Will preached on the life of Peter and the scriptures lined up almost perfectly with day 3 of CentriKid material from last summer. I enjoyed talking with the girls and pulling back out some of the thoughts I've processed over the past few months. It was beautiful.
life truth: Sometimes new friends can be a blessing. Need I say more? I'm enjoying a few new friends I've made in the past few weeks and it is such a breathe of fresh air. The Lord has blessed me with some wonderful encouragers.
life truth: Reading for pleasure is a whole different species than reading for school. I'm reading through Peter Greer's book The Poor Will Be Glad and it is absolutely rocking my world. It has such a cool perspective on missions (not to mention some wonderful photography!) and I really enjoyed listening to him talk the other day at Passion.
life truth: Sometimes I forget everything I was going to blog about. I was in the midst of writing this when Will called me to come sledding and an hour later as I pick this back up, it has all gone out of my head. Oh well, hopefully I will post some wonderful snow pics tomorrow. Until then, friends! Cinnamon roll time!
A lovely cell phone pic of the front porch... this is going to be great.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
2011.
The past week has been so packed and busy and also been such an incredibly special time for me! Nineteen members of my CentriKid team from last summer flew, drove, and carpooled in to my town from all over the place for New Years and seventeen of us spent the week at the Passion 2011 Conference in Atlanta afterward. I will say this about getting to be back with CK1-- never before have I seen a group of people jump so quickly right back into being a family. My heart is happy when we are together and I realized that I really am a lot more of myself when I’m with them. We laugh together, use ridiculous accents, make fun of one another, lift each other up, take tons of bad pictures, and probably annoy everyone in public.
One thing that was really precious to me about going with this group to Passion is that it was one of the first times I have gotten to see these people pour their hearts out to the Lord in worship on a grown up scale. We work together with kids all summer and worship in that way but because of the way our particular summer ran, we didn’t get the opportunity for a lot of time together in deep spiritual teaching. Don’t mistake what I’m saying-- there is unspeakable value in both but it was beautiful to be together as adults in a worship setting.
I cried more watching them leave Atlanta than I did watching them leave Nashville so many months ago. I think it’s the unshakable thought that we might not ever all be back together like this again... I have learned this though: true friends are the ones you have made for life, and I am blessed by the Lord to have these people in my life always. mmm.
But now onto what’s really important...
The Lord moved in unthinkable, ineffable, indescribable ways this week as 22,000 college students came together to praise His name and delve further into His word. I sit humbled at the fact that my notes from the week include names like Louie Giglio, Chris Tomlin, Beth Moore, David Platt, Redman, Crowder, Andy Stanley, Francis Chan, John Piper.... but all that is so irrelevant and at the end of the day the only name that matters is the name of Jesus. It makes my heart soar that each of those people worked together in agreeance with that thought-- and inspired all of us as students to live out that way also.
I walk away from the week with a lot of different truths held tightly in my hand and scribbled abruptly across the pages of my journal. I'll leave you with just one of those today that I'm marinating in and trying to grab hold of... it's a lot to think about.
Piper started off by asking us this question: Do you feel more loved by God because He makes much of you or because He enables you to make much of Him?
...What? The more I soak that in and the more I question who is truly at the bottom of my joy, the more I wonder this: do I worship the Lord for all that He does for me, or do I worship Him out of great gladness that He allows us to praise His beautiful name? I was hit hard during community group one night by the thought of this-- Philippians 2:6-7 says this in reference to Christ: "...being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness." That says a lot of things to me about Christ coming to earth in human form to bring God glory but my new thought behind it is this: he made himself nothing by choosing to look like me. How humbling is that? Puts it in perspective a little, doesn't it? I walk around so often knowing that I am valued by God (because we are!) and taking that beyond the limits of what I should. We are loved, friends, and we are held of utmost value to the Lord but in comparison to Him, may we never forget that we truly are nothing. We are here solely for the sake of bringing Him praise and bringing Him glory-- He is the reason we sing, the reason we live, not because of all He has done and will continue to find joy in doing for us, but because He designed us to cry out His praises simply for who He is. The earth cries out His glory-- how much beauty He finds in seeing His children do the same. Ephesians 1:6 talks about how He has saved us and adopted us into His family "to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves." He did it because He loves us, yes, but moreover He did it to the praise of His glorious grace. Just a thought that I'm chewing over today...
I was so touched and humbled this week to look around and see that many people my age stretching out their hands and lifting their voices high in worship to the Lord. One of my favorite parts was when the song God of This City was being sung (or shouted, rather) in different languages across the room. I couldn't break free of the thought that this is what Heaven is going to sound like... all of creation sweetly praising His name.
One more thought and I will leave this marathon blog post: Over the past few years of my life, the Lord has really been at work in my heart as far as missions. Now, I'm not quite ready to pack up my life, but I know that the Lord has plans for me somehow and has given me a heart for the nations. This week we had the opportunity to be a part of Do Something Now and the poor, Ramen Noodle eating college students of the world together gave over $1.1 million dollars for the name of Jesus to be spread across the nations. Take that in for a second... wow. This money goes to help orphans, get clean water, end sex trafficking, and a host of other causes. I'm leaving you now with just a few shots I got that touched my heart at the Do Something Now exhibit. Thanks for reading, guys.
pictures of students who have donated to help end sex trafficking
One thing that was really precious to me about going with this group to Passion is that it was one of the first times I have gotten to see these people pour their hearts out to the Lord in worship on a grown up scale. We work together with kids all summer and worship in that way but because of the way our particular summer ran, we didn’t get the opportunity for a lot of time together in deep spiritual teaching. Don’t mistake what I’m saying-- there is unspeakable value in both but it was beautiful to be together as adults in a worship setting.
I cried more watching them leave Atlanta than I did watching them leave Nashville so many months ago. I think it’s the unshakable thought that we might not ever all be back together like this again... I have learned this though: true friends are the ones you have made for life, and I am blessed by the Lord to have these people in my life always. mmm.
But now onto what’s really important...
The Lord moved in unthinkable, ineffable, indescribable ways this week as 22,000 college students came together to praise His name and delve further into His word. I sit humbled at the fact that my notes from the week include names like Louie Giglio, Chris Tomlin, Beth Moore, David Platt, Redman, Crowder, Andy Stanley, Francis Chan, John Piper.... but all that is so irrelevant and at the end of the day the only name that matters is the name of Jesus. It makes my heart soar that each of those people worked together in agreeance with that thought-- and inspired all of us as students to live out that way also.
I walk away from the week with a lot of different truths held tightly in my hand and scribbled abruptly across the pages of my journal. I'll leave you with just one of those today that I'm marinating in and trying to grab hold of... it's a lot to think about.
Piper started off by asking us this question: Do you feel more loved by God because He makes much of you or because He enables you to make much of Him?
...What? The more I soak that in and the more I question who is truly at the bottom of my joy, the more I wonder this: do I worship the Lord for all that He does for me, or do I worship Him out of great gladness that He allows us to praise His beautiful name? I was hit hard during community group one night by the thought of this-- Philippians 2:6-7 says this in reference to Christ: "...being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness." That says a lot of things to me about Christ coming to earth in human form to bring God glory but my new thought behind it is this: he made himself nothing by choosing to look like me. How humbling is that? Puts it in perspective a little, doesn't it? I walk around so often knowing that I am valued by God (because we are!) and taking that beyond the limits of what I should. We are loved, friends, and we are held of utmost value to the Lord but in comparison to Him, may we never forget that we truly are nothing. We are here solely for the sake of bringing Him praise and bringing Him glory-- He is the reason we sing, the reason we live, not because of all He has done and will continue to find joy in doing for us, but because He designed us to cry out His praises simply for who He is. The earth cries out His glory-- how much beauty He finds in seeing His children do the same. Ephesians 1:6 talks about how He has saved us and adopted us into His family "to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves." He did it because He loves us, yes, but moreover He did it to the praise of His glorious grace. Just a thought that I'm chewing over today...
I was so touched and humbled this week to look around and see that many people my age stretching out their hands and lifting their voices high in worship to the Lord. One of my favorite parts was when the song God of This City was being sung (or shouted, rather) in different languages across the room. I couldn't break free of the thought that this is what Heaven is going to sound like... all of creation sweetly praising His name.
One more thought and I will leave this marathon blog post: Over the past few years of my life, the Lord has really been at work in my heart as far as missions. Now, I'm not quite ready to pack up my life, but I know that the Lord has plans for me somehow and has given me a heart for the nations. This week we had the opportunity to be a part of Do Something Now and the poor, Ramen Noodle eating college students of the world together gave over $1.1 million dollars for the name of Jesus to be spread across the nations. Take that in for a second... wow. This money goes to help orphans, get clean water, end sex trafficking, and a host of other causes. I'm leaving you now with just a few shots I got that touched my heart at the Do Something Now exhibit. Thanks for reading, guys.
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