I love words. Here are a few written by John Mark McMillan that inspired me this week.  

Do Everything Better - January 14, 2013

  I haven't written in a bit because life has been full. Today I had an hour free to...spend. I hate to kill or waste time when life is full so I decided to spend it in the most relaxing way I could think of after an extra full weekend with some precious young people. The most relaxing and accessable thing I could think of was a stop in at my favorite book store for a latte and some browsing. I think few people go to bookstores to actually buy books these days...at least I don't. But I love browsing book stores; reading a chapter here, a page or two there. Bookstores are a never ending realm of possibilities to me. Books are full of things waiting to be discovered.
  Today I read about the deeper meaning of choosing clothes (I actually get that a little bit but who really spends $XXX.XX on Jeans because they express your personality the best!), what to do on my next visit to Prague and Budapest (I wish!), and a chapter about trying to do everything (how timely God).
  I found that timely chapter while wandering through the Christian book section. I noticed the book because it had a picture of chocolate on the front and was titled "bittersweet". Written by Shauna Niequist, the book is a collection of thoughts and reflections on life's lessons. I only read one chapter but it "happened" to be the right one. God is good like that.
  Shauna (I feel like we're on a first name basis already) shared about her tendency to continually add to her checklist of things to do. Finally one day she wrote on her checklist: {Do Everything Better}. That and a conversation with her husband made her realize that she needed to change something. She was running herself ragged trying to be supermom, superwife, superchristian and an all around superwoman. She dreamed about a life where she wasn't tired all the time. One day Shauna received some advice from a wise woman that lead her to realize that doing the things she loved (and doing them well) meant NOT doing a host of other things. The result of these revelations was another list. Two actually. On one list she wrote the things she did do - things like loving God, caring for her marriage and family, entertaining friends, and (good for me) writing. The other list was things she did NOT do; things like gardening, baking, and making her own baby food.
  I immediately thought of my own very full and sometimes exhausting life. I have a very hard time saying no when there is a need to be filled. I guess I find myself trying to be Jesus. (Problem...um...yes). I honestly feel a little scared. What if I say no to something that I should do? But the opposite is true: what if I say yes to something I shouldn't do? When faced with a need, my first question should be to God. Do you want me to say yes? I'm also want to ask myself: is this something I love, something that makes me come alive? Obviously there are times to do things because they need to be done but if God tells me to say no, I can be confident that He has a plan to fill that need. We serve a God that does all things well; He can be trusted to fill every need. I learned that so practically last summer in Mozambique where I watched God meet need after need. This weekend, I got exhausted doing something I love, something that makes me come alive. I think it's time to look for things that I don't do so I can have more weekends like this one.

The Quest for the Best Coffee

I'm on a quest for the best coffee in town. 

This week I tried a place in our little downtown.

The trip involved parking in a parking garage and my co-pilot decided we should park at the top. 

Facing my fear of heights 

Our city is actually kind of cool from the right angle.

The girl that made me drive to the top of the parking garage...and ride the elevator! 

On to the coffee.

A delightful caramel latte...yum! 

One of my favorite people to get coffee with

Off into the sunset...

Instead of a Show

I heard a song a while back and I wanted the whole world to hear it.
The song is called Instead of a Show by Jon Foreman.
The lyrics are based on Isaiah 1:11-17 and Amos 5:21-24. {Posted with the song at the bottom}

  I was ready to write a post about how the church needs to get it together and get to work. It was then that I realized I had a problem. My friend the Holy Spirit showed me that I was putting on a show too. I wanted everyone to know they  were doing it all wrong because, here is the funny part, I thought I was doing everything right!!

  I was convicted of my self-righteousness and quickly shown that while my heart burns with compassion for those lost in the deepest of darkness, it's filled too often with anything but love for the brothers and sisters I'm surrounded by everyday.

  So I didn't write that post about how everyone else needs to change. I'm just sharing the song and my humbling lesson. I still don't have it figured out. There are still a couple "someones" in my life I'm struggling to love like Jesus does.

  We probably all struggle with pride. We all get stuck in our little worlds, thinking we have it figured out and we are doing it right. In reality, we all need to just get off our soapbox and get our hands dirty.

I hate all your show and pretense
The hypocrisy of your praise
The hypocrisy of your festivals
I hate all your show
Away with your noisy worship
Away with your noisy hymns
I stomp on my ears when you're singing 'em
I hate all your show

Instead let there be a flood of justice
An endless procession of righteous living, living
Instead let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show

Your eyes are closed when you're praying
You sing right along with the band
You shine up your shoes for services
There's blood on your hands
You turned your back on the homeless
And the ones that don't fit in your plan
Quit playing religion games
There's blood on your hands

Instead let there be a flood of justice
An endless procession of righteous living, living
Instead let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show
I hate all your show

Let's argue this out
If your sins are blood red
Let's argue this out
You'll be one of the clouds
Let's argue this out
Quit fooling around
Give love to the ones who can't love at all
Give hope to the ones who got no hope at all
Stand up for the ones who can't stand at all, all
I hate all your show
I hate all your show
I hate all your show
I hate all your show

Instead let there be a flood of justice
An endless procession of righteous living, living
Instead let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show
I hate all your show

Friday Thoughts...just one

  It's Friday again and I've been thinking...again. In my last Friday Thoughts post, I shared about my ache to do MORE about the needs in the world around me. Today I'm still thinking along those lines. I've been fighting off the feeling of being overwhelmed this week as I see the amount of need. There are literally millions of people living in poverty. Millions more boys, girls and women are trapped as sex slaves.

  Today I read an article about the millions (200 million estimated) of baby girls dying in places like India and China, solely due to the fact that they are girls. I cried out to Jesus and asked why. I hear these things and I want to buy a plane ticket or call an adoption agency - something rash and crazy but something none the less! But I don't have the finances to buy a plane ticket right now. I am by no stretch of the imagination in any place to adopt. Even if I could do those things, there is no physical way I could help all of the millions. The need is way bigger than me or my solutions.

  So what is a girl to do?

  First, pray. Sometimes I think we minimize the value and power of prayer. But our prayers, no matter how feeble reach the One who is the very opposite of feeble. When we pray, we partner with the creator of Heaven and Earth, the One who can help all of the millions.

  Second, I can stop for the one. The ministry I spent my summer with in Mozambique, carries this as one of their core messages. In Luke 10 Jesus calls us all to love our neighbor. Our neighbors are the ones closest to us, the ones in front of us. The good Samaritan stopped for the one he encountered on the road. Jesus ended that story with a command to go and do the same. Every single person on the planet has unparalleled value to the Creator. Since I'm called to carry His heart, I am called to stop for the one He puts in front of me. This is what I can do. My heart still breaks for the masses of precious ones but I won't minimize the value of what I can do for the ones God puts in front of me. This isn't a solution for the millions but it's a start.

  Who is the one He is asking you to stop for today?

autumn leaves and lessons

I'm enjoying the lovely colors of autumn with my camera right now. I always forget how lovely this season is and through September I'm usually depressed that it's no longer summer. Then October comes and I'm delighted with the colors on the trees, the hot cider, cozy evenings and I'm reconciled to autumn.

brilliant leaves & orange nail polish

fall photo shoot with two real photographers

favorite shoes.

and again

delightful pomegranates

God has also been teaching me some new lessons in this season. One of them is faith and standing firm when things don't feel like they are going right or the way I think they should. These pictures kind of sum up the lesson for me.

All in all - I am enjoying this beautiful season of life.

Faces from Mozambique...ch.5

Here is my final post of pictures from my summer in Mozambique. These are a few more pics of the kidos I hung out with every Wednesday while their Mamas sewed.

  This is my friend Maria. She was the bossiest little lady in our group; she was constantly telling the other kids, and me, what to do. It was especially funny because I never understood a thing she was saying.

Maria loves to swing. She would sit on the swing and scream "ACUNIA!" {white person} until I came to push her. 

Here are a few more of my sweet friends.

::LOVE::

Taking pictures was our favorite!