Craftiness

Simple and easy room projects. I have to credit my craftiness to stumble-upon

I saw this a few months ago and have been
waiting impatiently to actually put this idea
into action. I would say it was quite successful. 

It's really quite easy. All it is is fabric and
cross-stitch rings.

close up

I also painted a wooden table orange to be my night stand. My first furniture project.

Love-sick

Vanity, Vanity, everything is Vanity!

I cannot contain my love for him. Each breath I breath in is His love for me. It's so satisfying, so fulfilling, so good. So each breath I take, I hold it. Because just one breath is almost too much for me to handle. But then, as I hold it, I realize I need more. I need more of his overwhelming, over powering love. So I do it over and over again. Drinking deep. One giant breath. Hold. And then I gasp for more. It repeats, and I cannot stop.    They see me, and they wonder what's wrong. I'm strange they say. But all I am is love-sick.

I want nothing of this world. No human wisdom, no intellectual knowledge, no fame, no fortune, no relationships. I just want Him.

Meaningless, meaningless, everything is meaningless.

Is it okay?

Is it okay that I have absolutely no idea what my future looks like? Wow, things change so fast, I cannot keep up.

I only have two more weeks in Joplin. I'm not ready to leave.

If I were to summarize this summer, I would call it the summer of sitting at the Lord's feet. I'm learning to be like Mary. To have her thirsty spirit for Jesus. Her heart.

" Mary appeared three times in Scripture, in three different episodes of life, and on each occasion she was sitting at the feet of Jesus (Luke 10:39, John11:32, 12:3). This was no accident of writing or editing. The Holy Spirit expressly emphasised this as her way of life. She was always there when Jesus was around, listening and pouring her love out to Him. She was much more than a groupie who hangs around for the thrill of being near a celebrity. She was, rather, someone who could peer into the Savior's heart more clearly than most and understand His emotions." -After God's Own Heart, Mike Bickle

Blessings

         A lot of change has happened within the last month. It all started when my parents were seriously considering the decision to move to Colorado. Being at school, I was disconnected from much of the decision making process, and would get periodic updates every time I talked to them. Being one who doesn’t mind change, and actually anticipates it, I was the most excited about the idea of moving. Ever since junior year, after the Asia Infusion, I have had this dream to be involved with the Great Commission ministries. But since MSU didn’t have that on campus, I thought, I’ll just be involved with whatever the Lord brings to my table, and be content with that… then after college, maybe God will bring me to a place where I’ll be able to partner more closely with the community I’ve just barely tasted, and savored every moment of. 

            However, my first year of college widened my perspective on things a lot. There were so many ministries, so many churches, so many Godly people laying their lives down to serve the Lord using their talents and giftings. I was overwhelmed. What if God has this for my life? What if God has that for my life? I would wonder each time I stepped into a new community. They were all so good.

            Second semester, I met my now really good friend Lea and had the opportunity to go to her home in Joplin one weekend. To make a long story short, after much prayer and thought, I decided to spend the summer there with her. Logically, that was a stupid, spontaneous and just out right strange decision. Common sense told me I should either spend my last summer in Lee’s Summit with old friends before I was separated from them, or I should move to Colorado when my parents did, find a job and begin investing in relationships that would affect the rest of my year there. I did neither. For some strange reason, I felt a magnetic pull towards City Wide ( the ministry center that Lea and I go to). So a week after school was out, I packed up my room, and began my journey to a nowhere Missouri town, just hoping that I was hearing the Lord correctly. 

            A week after my arrival, an F5 tornado hit Joplin right smack down in the heart of the city. I was a block away from it.  If that tornado had touched down just a little sooner, City Wide along with everyone who was there would probably be wiped out considering that it had no basement and front doors made out of glass.  It was by no mistake that our ministry center was untouched, and by no mistake was my work place completely okay. God's logic prevails. I was there by no mistake. A small town that was once nowhere land became the center of the world. I was 15 minutes away from an area missionaries from all over were being sent to. Could it be that the Lord had planned for me to be there? I think so. 

            I am now sitting in my new room in Fort Collins, CO, using my "new" macbook, one in which the “2”, “w”, “s” and “x” key work on the keyboard, now I can type freely. Ah, what a relief! Tomorrow I go back to Joplin for another two months while my parents continue to settle into our new home. God is good. The uncertainty of the Lords desire for my life is continually being replaced with peace and excitement.

I am a Treeeee

(No one reads this. But I still like it. I’m gonna keep it. Remember the rollercoaster of moving and the process of transition.)

It’s done. It’s over now. The branches have been pruned, and now, my tree is ready to grow. I’m a reptile shedding its old skin, and it’s painful. But once that skin is gone, it’s gone. It dissolves into the earth, and it cannot be retrieved: once shiny and crisp, now old and wrinkly. Who would want that back?

Yesterday, He told me to be cut off.
Today, He tells me to remain in Him. Only Him.

John 15

It's going to be beautiful

The initial idea you get before you begin an art project is awesome. 

Exciting, inspired, full of emotion, passion, anticipation.

Your mind has created this awesome picture, but it’s a little vague. When it’s time, to put that abstract idea into action, it’s laborious. Rather than just going with how you feel, you need to stick to that idea you initially had.

It’s time to put those talents into use. 

To finish this painting, you are going to have to use those skills you’ve attained through class, through practice, and through observation. 

Discipline is required.

Commitment is necessary. 

Without these, you will not end with what you initially pictured. 

It will be half done, unfinished, 

or sloppy.

Change. Confirmed.

I've forgotten the joy of creativity. 

The excitement of coming to college, the fun of interacting with people and the business of class has pulled me away from what was once my passion. What if this becomes the norm for my life? No. I won't accept it. 

There's something about music that makes the whole painting experience more emotional, more passionate, more real. Right now, I'm listening to James Morrison, a new artist a friend introduced me. 

There's not enough time. If only I could spend another hour just sitting here, taking this in. But time is ticking, passing by fast. Before I know it, its going to be over. 

It's a lot easier when I can hear my rabbi saying, 

"Follow me now." 

That means I don't have to think so much. It means I follow the steps he's placed in front of me, and focus on one leg and a time, but when I start to rely on what I know he's saying instead of what I can hear him saying, it's a little more difficult. 

Time to do yoga with Lea.