My New Favorite Place...

Coffee shops and I sure do get along well...

I have allowed my affections to wander. I have set up rivals. I have grieved Him. Sweetest and dearest of all beloveds, I have treated Thee as an unfaithful wife treats her husband. Oh, my cruel sins, my cruel self. What can I do? Tears are a poor show of my repentance, my whole heart boils with indignation at myself. Wretch that I am, to treat my Lord, my All in All, my exceeding great joy, as though He were a stranger. Jesus, Thou forgivest freely, but this is not enough, prevent my unfaithfulness in the future. Kiss away these tears, and then purge my heart and bind it with sevenfold cords to Thyself, never to wander more.
-Charles Spurgeon

Texture

This past Friday, I taught Robby a lesson in finding natural textures. Here are some shots I took last week to illustrate my points... :) A few of them aren't "natural", but are still effective.

This is thy hour O Soul, thy free flight into the wordless,
Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson done,
Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the
themes thou lovest best,
Night, sleep, death and the stars.
-Walt Whitman

Am I dreaming such absurdities
I'm flying, and you're here with me
We fingerpaint the sky
Chase constellations sliding by
Connect their dots and dance on tightropes in between
We twirl and laugh about these crazy things we dream
And then I kiss you
And I wake myself
Still laughing

It's daybreak, and the whole world's new
The sun smiles, but where are you?
Wish I could hold you again
Nothing a daydream cannot mend
You smile and promise me you'll always be around
I whisper hallelu's and sing your name out loud
But no one hears me
Well, at least for now
I'm smiling

You can't write such a comedy
Without some conspiracy
Inside there's mutiny and mayhem
My secrets all want you to know them
I shed a tear because this love can never be
But as the saying goes it doesn't hurt to dream
As long as you know
That I find it all
So amusing
-Amusing by Chris Rice

Inspired

...or perhaps motivated... I can't decide which. I'm viewing other's work on Etsy, and trying to get a better idea of who I am as a photographer, and how I want to showcase my work. Everyone has a personal style, and at times, I feel as though I am only mimicking what others perceive to be creative. Oh well. I'll get it. Sometime.

We're in a fast-paced culture, but trying to get word out about an uprising attempt at a business is a slower process than I had ever anticipated. It seems that I don't have enough time, but maybe I'm just using that as an excuse.

Goodness. Now that I've drowned you with my anxieties, let's move on to a lighter subject. :) Brittany and I went school book shopping today. It's amazing what the Lord does through the process of discipleship. We began almost a year ago, sitting across the table from one another, sharing with not so many words the intricacies of life... It's become one of the best parts of my week to hang out with her. :)

So, I'm ashamed. Downright ashamed of my lack of writing for the past few weeks...er... months? Goodness. It's an odd time for me to write, given it's a Sunday, but oh well. Perhaps I'm overly ambitious, but I'd like to visit the blog world more often. It's a beautiful Sunday, so why not start today? Sitting here, typing on my computer, I can hear the chimes singing outside. The wind is rushing through the vibrant branches outside my window, and making them dance with delight. Glorious weather, if you ask me...

Church was amazing today... as always. Pastor Jim finished Ephesians with a commission to put on our armor, faithfully finish the race that has been set before us, and to model our lives and hearts after the sinful, yet repentant David. It left me wondering what the cry of my heart really is, aside from lies and facades. I would love to say that my deepest thoughts and most heartfelt longings are centered around the gospel of Christ... but, that's simply not the case. The "affairs of everyday life" steal my attention, and leave me restless, and tired. What do I have left to give the Father when my time and energy is expended on things that are useless in light of the Kingdom? It's easy to write say all of this without changing a thing, but because of the grace of my Lord, I pray that He would not allow me to remain stagnant, but instead, will poke and prod me until I'm forced to change. Jesus, I want my heart to be connected with Yours. Rearrange my thoughts and desires...

Well, I have to get acclimated to writing more often on here... but for now, it's time for the Sunday nap.

Just a note before I leave... a class was canceled for fall quarter, and in turn, I will have to attend school another quarter beyond what was expected. I was pretty irritated, to say the least. Well, that was my only class on Friday, and it was scheduled in the morning. After it was canceled, I began to make plans to fill up all of the free Fridays that I'll have in the next few months, but just as I thought my plans were "set in stone", the Lord changed things up a bit. There was an announcement at church today about extra needed help out at the stables on Friday mornings. I guess the saying "If you want God to laugh, tell Him your plans" stands true...