fabulous friday video goodness: the david video

Rather than a music video, today I have a thought provoking, beautiful video.



After watching, take a second to read about the making of the video and visit the illustrator, Annie Ludes's blog.

worth reading 08.26.11

It's been a busy few weeks, friends. Lauren and Max were in town for two weeks of exploring the city that will become their home. Just three days into their visit, I left town for five days of hot, river soaked days in southern Oregon with my high schoolers. I'm back, and Lauren and Max have left. The house is almost back to normal, although I can't help but notice how much quieter it is without them here. It was two weeks marked by laughter and running back and forth from room to room sharing thoughts and stories and [more than] a few TWSS.*

So, that's a wee life update. Somehow during the wonderful craziness of their visit and my time on the river with all my lovely high schoolers, I managed to find time to read. Here is a far less than comprehensive list of posts I have enjoyed over the last two weeks.

1. I love that I can always tell when Sara's posted on Deeper Story. She has a beautiful way with words, weaving poetry into the every day. Her admonition that we, as Christ-followers, be careful with our words, found me nodding fervently in agreement as I read along.
2. How do our views of modesty shape our identity as men and women? How does modesty influence the development and understanding of our sexuality? Matthew Paul Turner, writing for Relevant Magazine, shared his thoughts on modesty arguing that, "the church is guilty of the same sin as the porn industry."
3. It is easy to sit back and pray God's grace into messy situations, all the while making sure we are a respectable distance from that mess. Alece's reminder that grace doesn't run from evil, it runs towards it hit me hard. Where would we be if Jesus pinched his nose and kept us and our messes at arm's length? What do we communicate about His love and grace if WE pinch our noses, keeping others at arm's length?
4. A reminder for you when life is heavy and threatens to crush, for when you have forgotten who you are and the way your Creator knows you and calls you His own.
5. Your best life, my best life is not now. It is yet to come. Thank you, Max for this reminder.
6. Preston's admission that he may be the very worst theologian is handsomely written. I would argue that he is not, in fact, the very worst theologian. His desire to discover Truth while being comfortable with the ebb and flow of the process is lovely and inspiring.
7. Let me once again celebrate the risk taking and the joy of new relationships. This guy read a post by this girl and after emails, phone calls, and skyping, he decided he needed to meet her. So he bought her a plane ticket and she's going to meet him!

Who am I missing? Who made it on your must read list this week?


*That's what she said.

what is enough?

Twenty-nine students, seven leaders, sleeping bags, pillows, sleeping pads, and tents for all, plus food, games, and firewood. All crammed into five cars and one small U-Haul trailer. Seasoned graduated seniors stood in a group sharing playlists and games they’d brought for the car ride. Incoming freshmen scampered back and forth between parents, each other, and leaders asking various forms of the same question, “when are we leaving?”

Fully packed and ready to go, I went back and forth between church buildings and the car I would drive all week. Shoes and sandals, shorts, sunscreen, bathing suit, more shorts, a sweatshirt, and more sunscreen? Check. My Bible, my journal, a pen, my pillow, and my sleeping pad? Check. Snacks, a water bottle, and directions to the campground? Check.

Feeling one hundred percent prepared as we sat around the campfire that first night my friend, mentor, and the pastor to students looked at each of us and asked, “What is the point? Why are you here?”

I'm posting over at Deeper Story today, and you can read the rest of the post there.

fabulous friday video goodness: everyday i'm shufflin'

As tends to happen on these retreats, there tends to be a theme song. The theme songs seem to be chosen during long car rides as a result of impromptu dance parties. This year we had two theme songs. I can only find a video for one of them. Please to enjoy.



Everyday I'm shufflin'.

fabulous friday video goodness: wata wata

There is always a song or two that becomes the theme song for my family's annual girls beach trip. This year it was my adorable niece Ashby who picked our theme song. We'd all be enjoying dinner, or hanging out watching the sun set, or on the back deck laying out in the sunshine. She would pad up to you with her tiny, tan bare feet and look up at you and ask, "wata?" No matter how warm the sun was, or how pretty the sunset, no matter how good dinner was or how many dishes still needed to be washed, we would stop what we were doing and have a dance party. Her request was "wata" which is Ashby for "Waka Waka." But really she was asking to hear two songs, both of which happen to be World Cup theme songs. So, in honor of CB11 and my sweet little niece, here are two fun videos. Do me, yourself, and little Ashby a favor and have yourself a little dance party while you're listening to them.

worth reading 08.12.11

Amid the whirlwind of returning from vacation, preparing to leave for our annual high school youth group rafting trip, catching up with friends, and running around like a chicken with her head cut off because I get to give Lauren a REAL hug TODAY, I managed to read through some of the blogs I missed while on vacation. People may say that summer is a time full of lazy days, but I think the authors on this week's list missed the memo about taking it easy. Holy smokes...

1. A few of the bloggers whose words I read and hearts I love had the opportunity to go to Bolivia with World Vision. Their posts have been amazing. Nish's re-entry post hit me hard as I imagined her in the supermarket in southern Oregon overwhelmed by choice, seeing the world through a new filter. I watched tearfully through Joy's eyes as she learned Wilfrem's story and the difference his World Vision sponsor made in his life and the life of his family. And my heart echos Elizabeth Esther's cries, Father forgive me for I did not know.
2. I have the privilege of being friends with AND doing ministry with this first amazing woman. She has a beautiful, honest heart for the Lord, and isn't afraid of loving big in the midst of mess. Her thoughts on grace are lovely and soul soothing. As an added bonus, Lindsay is also a major threat on the ultimate frisbee field.
3. I read Jon Acuff's Serious Wednesday Post on the the search for joy. His words have me considering what things I have used / am using as joy props. "Because I already have a savior. That role has been filled."
4. As I've been packing for five days in hot, sunny, beautiful southern Oregon, I come back to the question of the appropriateness of what I'll be wearing. I loved the conversation Ally started earlier this week, and her follow up post. It is a hard topic, and one that both frustrates and challenges me. Read what she has to say, and add your thoughts to the discussion.
5. Alright. Preston Yancey is killing it. Again. Dude's bombing around the UK and still finds time to speak truth into darkness. He wrote a guest post for the Good Women Project about what a woman's role is in a man's fight against porn. My dear sisters, be encouraged, because "pornography has nothing to do with the real, present woman in the equation." My dear brothers you "have a Savior. The only way a man overcomes pornography is by wrestling through it with Jesus." Be encouraged, your Savior fights for you.
6. After months of traveling and a love that has taken her across the country, Lauren processes her Los Angeles induced identity crisis. More than who you think you should be, more than who you think you are, who does God say you are?
7. Holy. Smokes. This post ROCKED ME. As I cut and paste the link into this post I am sitting at my desk asking myself, and really asking God, why I don't have certain things. "The question is: how can I glorify God with what I do have? Not, how can I get what I want, but how can I enhance God's reputation as a great king by what I do with what he gave me?" Lord, let this be my heart.
8. Forgiveness. Not for myself, but for others. This post of Joy's spoke hard Truth to my heart this week. "When I can forgive my persecutors and desire for God to forgive them without giving them their due…then I have truly forgiven." WHAT? Fo' realz this is good stuff.
9. While Joy was gallivanting about England, her friend Erin put together a guest post for her. As I read it I thought, "oh my heart, I know exactly how you feel," while I was reminded that TRUST is what He asks of me, and He is worthy of my trust. All the time. Always.

more faithful than the morning

The sky burned red and gold, clear and fuzzy all at once. Maybe it was my early morning eyes. Maybe it was Him whispering, “Good morning, beloved.”

It’s been so cold here this summer. Empty hands and quiet houses full of only the noises I make.

I’ve spent the summer missing other noises and familiar hands.

I’ve spent the summer longing for different noises and new hands.

But this morning, when the sky was on fire and it seemed like He and I were the only two awake, I felt His faithfulness wrap me up, pull me closer.

This morning when the sun shone bright, shades of spun honey and molten lava all at once, I remembered that I am the one who changes, that I am the one who is inconsistent.

He stands steadfast, ever faithful.

More faithful than the morning.