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| Ocean and Sun Rays |
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| Ladies and Tree |
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| Skipping Rope |
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| From Above |
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| Dockside |
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| Fence Baby |
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| Rest from the Rickshaw |
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| What's for dinner? |
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| A shared lunch |
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| A dash of red on a dreary day |
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Photos courtesy of http://www.garlap.com
Thursday, August 25, 2011
photo love, china style
Photos courtesy of http://www.garlap.com
Friday, June 3, 2011
isaiah 43 and a new path
I have really not written in a long time, which is a shame! I think a lot has happened in my heart since last December.
This spring and summer, I have developed a new interest and passion: I want to go serve overseas in China teaching English. Of course, I want to discern this calling--I plan to wait and go next year. I have already started looking into a program to go with, and they have been very helpful and caring. I think that I have picked the right group. :)
At the beginning of the summer, I opened the Word to Isaiah 43, and broke out in spontaneous worship. I worshiped God because of who He is--a Mighty Redeemer, who gathers his children that have been scattered. He is ever-present, holding our hands as we pass through difficulty. He never leaves us. We are honored and precious in His sight. We are His witnesses--who else will tell those that are blind and deaf that they have a Healer, a Redeemer, a Lord?
My favorite part is this:
"Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert." Isaiah 43:18-19
I am believing this to be true for me--later in the passage it says that Israel has not called upon the Lord, and we have made Him weary with our sins. I think this past year was not good, and I have made many mistakes. But for His own sake I think the Lord blots out my sin (v.25)--praise to the Lord Jesus! I pray that it is true that He is doing a new thing.
If anyone reads this, please pray for me that the Lord will be working anew in me this coming year. I want to go where He wants me to go, and if this idea to go to China is my own fabrication, let it be sooner rather than later that I let go of it, and pursue instead what He wants. But if it is from God, that I would pursue Him with all abandon and joyfully accept the calling He has put before me.
This spring and summer, I have developed a new interest and passion: I want to go serve overseas in China teaching English. Of course, I want to discern this calling--I plan to wait and go next year. I have already started looking into a program to go with, and they have been very helpful and caring. I think that I have picked the right group. :)
At the beginning of the summer, I opened the Word to Isaiah 43, and broke out in spontaneous worship. I worshiped God because of who He is--a Mighty Redeemer, who gathers his children that have been scattered. He is ever-present, holding our hands as we pass through difficulty. He never leaves us. We are honored and precious in His sight. We are His witnesses--who else will tell those that are blind and deaf that they have a Healer, a Redeemer, a Lord?
My favorite part is this:
"Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert." Isaiah 43:18-19
I am believing this to be true for me--later in the passage it says that Israel has not called upon the Lord, and we have made Him weary with our sins. I think this past year was not good, and I have made many mistakes. But for His own sake I think the Lord blots out my sin (v.25)--praise to the Lord Jesus! I pray that it is true that He is doing a new thing.
If anyone reads this, please pray for me that the Lord will be working anew in me this coming year. I want to go where He wants me to go, and if this idea to go to China is my own fabrication, let it be sooner rather than later that I let go of it, and pursue instead what He wants. But if it is from God, that I would pursue Him with all abandon and joyfully accept the calling He has put before me.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
music i've enjoyed, as of late
there have been a few groups that i've liked lately, and i haven't posted music on my blog in quite a while!
i can't stop playing this song by The Tallest Man on Earth, "King of Spain". it's so fast and the guitar work is strummy and complicated, and his voice is grainy and Dylan-esque. i'm not a big Dylan fan or anything, but i'm impressed. check out his album: The Wild Hunt
another group, who has put their EP online for freeeez is Painted Palms. they have a really chill style. my favorite song is called "Water Hymn" but this one is pretty cool too: the title track "Canopy".
and the last group (that i've been hearing songs by them here and there all year) is Washed Out. check out this video:
i hope to see them when they come to Club Downunder in the spring!
i can't stop playing this song by The Tallest Man on Earth, "King of Spain". it's so fast and the guitar work is strummy and complicated, and his voice is grainy and Dylan-esque. i'm not a big Dylan fan or anything, but i'm impressed. check out his album: The Wild Hunt
another group, who has put their EP online for freeeez is Painted Palms. they have a really chill style. my favorite song is called "Water Hymn" but this one is pretty cool too: the title track "Canopy".
and the last group (that i've been hearing songs by them here and there all year) is Washed Out. check out this video:
i hope to see them when they come to Club Downunder in the spring!
Monday, December 13, 2010
grad photos with spence
michelle spencer is my roommate, and she just graduated this past saturday. she was kind enough to let me take some photos of her for a graduation present. these are the results!michelle is such a jewel. i'm not sure i totally captured her bubbly personality...but she was a joy to work with. and above all, she is a huge blessing as a roommate. i cherish our friendship, and am so proud of her!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
photo shoot with KD part 1
here are some of my favorite shots from a photo shoot that I had with Kathy yesterday! the one above is my favorite of all of them.we were having the hardest time finding somewhere to shoot! we were by ourselves and we kept coming up to secluded areas where there were creepy looking fellows either lurking by the lake or coming out of the woods randomly. and then, kathy's car ran out of gas, haha. so it was a little rough getting started. but she was a great subject (as much as she'd like to refute it) and we had a blast!
sunburst
shy
b&w on the fence
on the dock
smile :)
playing in the leaves
kathy leaping!
canopy road
slide
slide again!
swing!
leaf
balance
Friday, October 22, 2010
profile of the lukewarm
this is a chapter i just finished reading in Francis Chan's Crazy Love. it was so convicting.
it was about what it looks like to be a lukewarm Christian. these are some that were specifically hard-hitting:
1) "lukewarm people give money to charities and to the church as long as it does not impinge on their standard of living." p.69
--"Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, "Truly, I tell you,this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on." Luke 21:1-4
2) "lukewarm people don't really want to be saved from their sin; they only want to be saved from the penalty of their sin. they don't genuinely hate sin and aren't truly sorry for it; they're merely sorry because God is going to punish them. lukewarm people don't really believe that the life Jesus offers is better than the old sinful one." p.70
--"I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." John 10:10b
--"What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?" Romans 6:1-2
3) lukewarm people are moved by stories about people who do radical things for Christ, yet they do not act.
--"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." James 1:22
--"So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin." James 4:17
4) lukewarm people say they love Jesus, and He is, indeed, a part of their lives. but only a part. they give Him a section of their time, their money, their thoughts, but He isn't allowed to control their lives." p.72
--"As they were going along the road, someone said to him, 'I will follow you wherever you go.'" And Jesus said to him, 'Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. To another he said, 'Follow me.' But he said, 'Lord, let me first go and bury my father.' And Jesus said to him, 'Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.' Yet another said, 'I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.' Jesus said to him, 'No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.'" Luke 9:57-62
another thing he said really REALLY hit me in the gut:
"I think most American churchgoers are the soil that chokes the seed because of all the thorns. Thorns are anything that distracts us from God. When we want God and a bunch of other stuff, then that means we have thorns in our soil. A relationship with God simply cannot grow when money, sins, activities, favorite sports teams, addictions, or commitments are piled on top of it." p. 67
today has been a hard day where i just felt like that's exactly what i've been doing: piling things, activities, relationships, sins, etc etc on top of my soil, so that my relationship with God can't grow. i just keep remembering that saying "you are what you do". i can keep talking about the things that i want to do, but how do i really spend my time? it hit me hard. i need Jesus. i am failing at faith, letting the things of the world choke it out. Jesus forgive me. it is only by your drawing me unto yourself that i will be found faithful.
it was about what it looks like to be a lukewarm Christian. these are some that were specifically hard-hitting:
1) "lukewarm people give money to charities and to the church as long as it does not impinge on their standard of living." p.69
--"Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, "Truly, I tell you,this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on." Luke 21:1-4
2) "lukewarm people don't really want to be saved from their sin; they only want to be saved from the penalty of their sin. they don't genuinely hate sin and aren't truly sorry for it; they're merely sorry because God is going to punish them. lukewarm people don't really believe that the life Jesus offers is better than the old sinful one." p.70
--"I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." John 10:10b
--"What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?" Romans 6:1-2
3) lukewarm people are moved by stories about people who do radical things for Christ, yet they do not act.
--"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." James 1:22
--"So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin." James 4:17
4) lukewarm people say they love Jesus, and He is, indeed, a part of their lives. but only a part. they give Him a section of their time, their money, their thoughts, but He isn't allowed to control their lives." p.72
--"As they were going along the road, someone said to him, 'I will follow you wherever you go.'" And Jesus said to him, 'Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. To another he said, 'Follow me.' But he said, 'Lord, let me first go and bury my father.' And Jesus said to him, 'Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.' Yet another said, 'I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.' Jesus said to him, 'No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.'" Luke 9:57-62
another thing he said really REALLY hit me in the gut:
"I think most American churchgoers are the soil that chokes the seed because of all the thorns. Thorns are anything that distracts us from God. When we want God and a bunch of other stuff, then that means we have thorns in our soil. A relationship with God simply cannot grow when money, sins, activities, favorite sports teams, addictions, or commitments are piled on top of it." p. 67
today has been a hard day where i just felt like that's exactly what i've been doing: piling things, activities, relationships, sins, etc etc on top of my soil, so that my relationship with God can't grow. i just keep remembering that saying "you are what you do". i can keep talking about the things that i want to do, but how do i really spend my time? it hit me hard. i need Jesus. i am failing at faith, letting the things of the world choke it out. Jesus forgive me. it is only by your drawing me unto yourself that i will be found faithful.
Jesus, come be the gardener of my heart. uproot the thorns of this world that are in my heart; thorns of sin that are deeply rooted. i long to be faithful, but i don't think i've counted the cost. i must be willing to give it all up, everything that tries to set itself higher than Christ.
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