Perfect Timing

So I read this right after after I had talked to someone about being broken before God... it is wonderful.
Its from a book called "Hiding in Plain Sight" by Molly Wolf

"The warm, strong force of the Resurrection- God's powerfully, terrifyingly alive love breaking through and sinking into us, as the new year's warmth sinks into this thawing land and water. It swells up under our walls, breaking and tumbling them, as the earth's swell breaks and tumbles a stone wall. We are craked open, gently in thats what God knows we need, less gently perhaps if we're tougher nuts, because it is indeed "the crack in everything" that lets the Light get in.

And the, when we're broken and helpless as babies once again, we find ourselves being tenderly held and released into a new softness and gentleness and trust, where we can be free and loving once more, and truly, resiliently strong, no longer rigid. Paradoxically, the more we allow our walls to be broken, the more we find how little we really needed them. The more we die, the more alive we become. The more we trust, the less reason we have to be fearful."

Enjoy!

Reflection

When you are walking in the light that comes from God, this warm friendly light that cascades over you like pearls, you are free.

It may start out scary becuase when you are in the light, there is nothing to hide... you might not want to see the ugly things you've tried to hide in the shadows. You may think you are too grotesque to stand in the light, naked and exposed.

But...

There is such a feeling of freedom...
You don't have to hide, be embarrassed or ashamed, because God's love is covering you like a robe.
His love doesn't care about your scars; He was scarred so you dont have to see yours in the light. He doesn't care if you're ashamed because He faced embarrassment so you don't have anything to be ashamed of.

You don't have anything to hide in shadow because it is impossible for there to be shadows when there is Ultimate Light.

Step into this light; let it cascade onto you like the opening of window shades.
Let it pour over you like golden water.
Let it free you.
You will feel safe.

Rob Bell

So those of you who know me, most likely know that I love Rob Bell... He brings a new perspective to scripture and the Christian faith and he worked at the same camp I used to go to! (not while I was there infortunatly).. He also went to Wheaton and I love everyone who goes/went to Wheaton so yeah. I could go on and on...

Anyways, his second book, Sex God, is really amazing and if you could please just click on the link and read the first chapter, you will be blown away... I was. Then you should go and buy the book becuase you will not regret it at all...

http://www.sexgodtour.com/SexGod_SampleText.pdf

Hopefully it works, enjoy!

"Questions About Angels"

This is written my Billy Collins, the Poet Laureat of the United States... It is my favorite poem, I hope you enjoy it!

Questions About Angels

Of all the questions you might want to ask
about angels, the only one you ever hear
is how many can dance on the head of a pin.

No curiosity about how they pass the eternal time
besides circling the Throne chanting in latin
or delivering a crust of bread to a hermit on earth
or guiding a boy and girl across a rickety wooden bridge.

Do they fly through God's body and come out singing?
Do they swing like children from the hinges
of the spirit world saying their names backwards and forewards?
Do they sit alone in little gardens changing colors?

What about their sleeping habits, the fabric of their robes,
their diet of unfiltered divine light?
What goes oninside their luminous heads? Is there a wall
these tall presences can look over and see hell?

If an angel fell off a cloud would he leave a hole
in a river and would the hole float along endlessly
filled with the silent letters of every angelic word?

If an agel delivered the mail would he arrive
in a blinding rush of wings or would he just assume
the appearance of the regular mailman and
whistle up the driveway reading the postcards?

No, the medieval theologians control the court.
The only question you ever hear is about
the little dance floor on the head of a pin
where halos are meant to converge and drift invisibly.

It is designed to make us think in millions,
billions, to make us run out of number and collapse
into infinity, but perhaps the answer is simply one:
one female angel dancing alone in her stocking feet,
a small jazz combo working in the background.

She sways like a branch in the wind, her beautiful
eyes closed, and the tall this basist leans over
to glance at his watch becuase she has been dancing
forever, and now it is very late, even for musicians.

The Way It Is

So a few days ago I told this person who's blog I've been reading how much I enjoy reading it via myspace message. I had to ask him not to be creeped out because I was not intending on being creepy at all. He said he wasn't, so that's good.

Something that I've been paranoid about since my family got the internet is the fact that people abuse it and use it for evil, stalking purposes. Why is it that girls can't just enjoy myspace without having to deny friend requests of shirtless thirty-year-olds telling them they have a nice bod?! (I actually had a friend request once by someone who said "nice body, do you look better with clothes on or off?" yuck.) Why do I feel the need to keep making sure that nothing too revealing is on my myspace, facebook, or blog becuase people can't keep there mouse clicks and wandering eyes to themselves? Why should girls be scared (for their lives in some cases) because someone found out what high school they went to?

Am I just feeding it by having a myspace in the first place? Should I know better? Should I rebel and delete all my accounts on everything?

It's natural and I've seen it numerous times, where people using something innocent suffer becuase people misuse, abuse, and take advantage of something that was not intended for the evil thing it has been turned into.

There was a point when I became really paranoid because of some Dateline special or something about internet stalkers and I deleted everything from my myspace that alluded to who I was even remotely. Some of my friends from high school thought it would be funny put comments containing my full name. Needless to say, I basically freaked out. I thought there was someone just waiting to get some tidbit of information about me so they could find me, and that those few hours those comments were up, the stalker person saw them and were already plotting to sneak into my school or home to kidnap me... yes, it was a little overboard, but was it really?

I'm not as paranoid as I once was, but I stil get creeped out by random people friend requesting me, but who wouldn't? My paranoia is worth my safety right?
So, all you stalkers out there just please stop... please find yourself a hobby (that doesn't include the internet).

Deuteronomy 15:10
"Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to."

Ahhh... The Rocket Summer.

This is The Rocket Summer.... his name is Bryce and he played almost every instrument on this album. He is a Christian and his music never fails to life my spirits and as cheesy as it sounds, make me feel better! I'm so happy that he is getting more publicity because he deserves it.

Family

So this is one of my favorite pictures of my brother and I... there are so many funny things about it...



Enjoy!

Once again..

...bored in my Thursday classessssss. The book Im referring to is Praise Habit by David Crowder fyi.

My book is done. I don't think I've been as enlightened by a book since middle school. I was honestly sad because it was done. For lack of a better description, books for me are like movies that keep going and are only interrupted by real life. I love the fact that I can be sad when a book is done because it was filling me. I laughed out loud a number of times (and successfully weirded out those behind me in my sociology class), and I cried.

My day was going down hill and I just wanted to go to sleep, but I didn't was to sleep with a bad taste in my mouth and feeling in my heart so even though I was exhausted, I read just a few pages.... and I am so happy I did. The words I was reading were perfect for what I was experiencing. The hope that was filling me up was so intense and wonderful that I cried.

"Read again how the psalmist attempts description of the indescribable mercies and savings of God. Read as He calls us to someplace above the gray, through the clouds to a place where the king of creation cradles the widows and the orphans and the fallen, where the blind see and goodness is champion. This is our God. There is no love greater or more beautiful. I would stop you in the street to tell you this."

This chapter (including the previous sentences) helped me put life into focus, helped me realize that even though I felt like it at the time, I am not alone and God does raise me out of the grey clouds time and time and time again. So many times, countless times. I could write thousands of notebook pages telling times God and His words lifted me out of the depth, of the black. Time again I slip out, back to the night, I just can't seem to hold on to that but that's part of the beauty his grace. He is patient. He knows I will keep falling, and He is there, waiting... patiently... forever. It fills me and warms me to hear this. I know it, I find it out again and again, and I want to hold on to this feeling forever. I want to share it, scream it out so everyone can feel their hearts full because it is the most beautifully peaceful feeling. Like the Relient K song "When I go down, I go down hard...I lift my eyes to you, I won't look very far cause you'll be there with open arms, to lift me up again."

Thank you for your peace, your saving, your grace, your patience, your love, your forever love. Please give me hope to last in those times when I am falling. Thank you for waiting there with open arms.

Random like a Nandom

This is what Athens looks like in early fall.... stunning.

-I thought my $200 retainer was lost but found it in the sink the next morning (it is clear and hard to find and have lost it before)

-I am reading a really really uplifting book, I am learning a lot…. It’s called Praise Habit by David Crowder, good stuff.

-It feels like the 1,000 lb weights have come off my shoulders and were replaced with 10lb ones.

-The Rocket Summer… everyone needs to find him.

-People value my opinion sometimes.

-This pen I found is fun to write and draw with.

-Old friends are good to talk to.

-My roommate is fun to live with.

-This electric piano in my dorm has this setting that sounds like a string quartet and one that sounds like a piano with a choir and it’s beautiful, and I am a nerd.

-I am the only girl in my Technical Basis of Recording class.

-A puppy chewed my flip-flop and I smile when I look at it.

-Tie dye is great. I don’t know why I never realized this.

-My face isn’t sunburned/peeling anymore (yes!).

-Running is getting easier.

-It is fall now, humid, but fall, and that is exciting.

-If we close the blind in our room, we sleep much better but it is harder to wake-up.

-The fire alarm went off three times in two days
1. Was in the shower, had to come out in my HOT PINK BATHROBE!
2. Wasn’t there
3. Was in bed because it was 1 AM.

- I want to meet the author/creator of www.burningbuilding.com Isaac Marion. He is creative and funny and musical and I want to be his best friend. So Isaac, if you're reading... I'm sorry if this is embarrassing, but lets be friends!

-Chocolate soy milk is good for you and tasty.

-I know the meaning of life.

-In my TCOM class, we learned that the originally intended greeting for cell phones was “ahoy.”

-I think it is time to retire a pair of my jeans but I really don’t want to. They fit like a glove.

-I think I am secretly a hippie.

-Live music is awesome. I am so in awe and can feel the presence of God in a very real way.

-I cannot wait until The Office starts…

-I am realizing now that I appreciate having a futon in my room. Last year was so much less comfortable. I am thoroughly enjoying having one.

-Time flies when you doodle.

Digress

The ramblings that are a product of being bored in my Media Analysis and Criticism class are as follows...

I know alot about useless things and not enough about "important" things like history and whatnot.
I get bored because time moves by slow when I'm sitting down so I think.
I usually need to be moving; people ask if I'm nervous, twitchy, on drugs (well they don't ask that but they probably think it).
I have strong opinions about things that matter to me and not enough opinions about politics.
I will tell you if I don't agree with you for the most part, unless you're an important adult or someone I'm trying to impress or ignore.
I'd like to think I have hope. Sometimes I do, but when I'm crowded by my schedule, when things are looming, when I have weigh on my shoulders, it is hard to. I'm working on that.
I always have something around my wrist.
I want to get a tattoo but I guess I'm afraid of what people will think, or maybe I'm afraid of infection... maybe they are the same thing.
Life is Good.
I am blessed.
I sometimes seem cold but I really generally like everyone.
I will find the good in you if you dont shove your bad in my face upon first impression, but I will forgive you.
Everyone should fall in love with music, it will help hold them together.
Sometimes there are moments when everything fits, when time/life slots into place and there is perfection. Your heart beats with the rhythm of it and it is right... the definiton of right. It is even. It is pure and good and there is only one explanation. The maker of All Things Good is in those moments. He is right there beside you orchestrating them, becuase He enjoys the peace that has found it's way into your breath at that perfect moment... because He is love... and His love is Perfect.