Wait. God was sending a baby to rescue the world?"But it's too wonderful!" Mary said and felt her heart beating hard. "How can it be true?""Is anything too wonderful for God?" Gabriel asked.So Mary trusted God more than what her eyes could see. And she believed. "I am God's servant," she said. "Whatever God says, I will do."[The Nativity, from Luke 1-2]This baby would be like that bright star shining in the sky that night. A Light to light up the whole world. Chasing away darkness. Helping people to see.And the darker the night got, the brighter the star would shine...[The Story of the Shepherds, from Luke 2]
Almost there. Only one night of Wesley, one Muffin Club, one Spanish test, one trip to the tire store, one football game, and maybe a few mini-adventures with friends to go before I'm on the road to the Bluegrass State. It is time.
If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore; and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown! But every night come out these envoys of beauty, and light the universe with their admonishing smile... [Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature]
_________
Look at the stars, see how they shine. [Coldplay, "Yellow"]
After the keen still days of September, the October sun filled the world with mellow warmth. Before Kit’s eyes a miracle took place, for which she was totally unprepared… No one had ever told her about autumn in New England. The excitement of it beat in her blood. Every morning she woke with a new confidence and buoyancy she could not explain. In October, any wonderful unexpected thing might be possible. As the days grew shorter and colder, this new sense of expectancy increased and her heightened awareness seemed to give new significance to every common thing around her.
One thing I remember clearly - I got a massive splinter from holding this giant Delta. Worth it.
Better luck with the letters this time.
Sponsorship was hard, but Emily is the best, God is faithful, and reading the list absolutely rocks.
Few people will ever realize the full significance of this photograph.
6:00 – wake up to bright sun, roll over and fall back asleep
8:00 – wake up, for real this time
8:23 – eat strawberry yogurt and a cinnamon raisin bagel
8:37 – begin kayaking
9:45 – return to house, eat breakfast for the second time
10:41 – begin laying out on the dock and reading
12:08 – go inside and grab lunch to take it back to the dock
2:10 – go for a swim
2:21 – decide the water is too cold for casual swimming
2:22 – continue laying out and reading
4:45 – take a nap on the hammock
5:57 – eat dinner on the picnic table
7:12 – wander around with cell phone trying to get service and 3G for internet
8:19 – go kayaking with Laura, take pictures of sunset
9:30 – sit at fire and roast s’mores
10:44 – grab sweatshirt and flashlight and stargaze from the dock
11:37 – get in bed, read a section of Psalm 119, drift to sleep, prepare to do the same thing all over again the next day
Day in and day out, this is pretty much how life at Songo Pond goes. Of course, all kinds of places and things to do are right around the corner…hiking trails, outlet malls, rivers, quaint New England towns, etc. We have plenty of other adventures, but more about them another time. Because when the weather is nice, I find myself more than content to simply stay.
In this house
With this view
Let's be real. Could you ever bring yourself to leave?
and in that moment of glorious surrender,was the moment You broke the chains in melifted out of the ashes, i am found in the aftermath[Hillsong UNITED, Aftermath/aerial view of Wednesday night]
This, ladies and gentlemen, is the greatest game ever. Officially known as Ticket to Ride, it is more affectionately referred to as the Train Game, and several nights have been set aside specifically to play it so far this summer. What better way to spend a rainy evening than by building railroads from Seattle to LA and by fighting with friends over access to Montreal? (You think I'm exaggerating, don't you? It's ok. I thought Laura's friends were exaggerating too. Confirmed. They're not. Buy the game, catch the obsession, then call me up to come play.)As we have taken the circle as the symbol of reason and madness, we may very well take the cross as the symbol at once of mystery and of health. Buddhism is centripetal, but Christianity is centrifugal: it breaks out. For the circle is perfect and infinite in its nature; but it is fixed forever in its size; it can never be larger or smaller. But the cross, though it has at its heart a collision and a contradiction, can extend its four arms forever without altering its shape. Because it has a paradox in its center it can grow without changing. The circle returns upon itself and is bound. The cross opens its arms to the four winds; it is a signpost for free travelers. [G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy, Chapter 2]
"Are you not thirsty?" said the Lion.To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life..." [Revelation 21:6]
"I'm dying of thirst," said Jill.
"Then drink," said the Lion...
"Will you promise not to--do anything to me, if I do come?" said Jill.
"I make no promise," said the Lion.
Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer.
"Do you eat girls?" she said.
"I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms," said the Lion. It didn't say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.
"I daren't come and drink," said Jill.
"Then you will die of thirst," said the Lion.
"Oh dear!" said Jill, coming another step nearer. "I suppose I must go and look for another stream then."
"There is no other stream," said the Lion.
It never occurred to Jill to disbelieve the Lion - no one who had seen his stern face could do that - and her mind suddenly made itself up. It was the worst thing she had ever had to do, but she went forward to the stream, knelt down, and began scooping up water in her hand.
It was the coldest, most refreshing water she had ever tasted.
[note to self/others...procrastinating in Spanish = more problematic than procrastinating in English. proyecto final took me an eternity even if it was about fútbol.][PART TWO: fun-filled weekend]
[PART THREE: everything else]Ministry Center Video Tour from The Francis Asbury Society on Vimeo.
Suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. [Luke 15:8-10]I'm searching for a notebook so I can make a good grade on a final. How much more so does our Heavenly Father seek after His lost children?
You will seek Me and you will find Me when you seek Me with all of your heart. [Jeremiah 29:13]I have sought after this notebook all week. How does that match up to how I am seeking after the Father?
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness. Broad, wholesome, charitable views cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth. [Mark Twain]Travel quote #2:
The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say. [J.R.R. Tolkien]
"spring fever: n. a feeling of restlessness, excitement, or laziness brought on by the coming of spring."Also known as what I am experiencing right now. My ability to concentrate is directly related to how sunny it is outside, and how green the grass is, and how many flowers are blooming. Currently, the sky is especially blue, the grass is especially green, and the tulips all over campus are especially beautiful. How exactly am I supposed to focus locked inside a classroom studying the Trail of Tears, Francisco Franco, Women in Literature, or Renaissance artists? (Ok, I might can make an exception for the Renaissance artists. Michelangelo is quite inspiring and lately I'm hooked on not only his art but his poetry...) Needless to say, I take that question - "how am I supposed to focus?" - and come to the only possible conclusion I can find. I'm not.
"For me, to live is Christ, to die is gain." [Philippians 1:21]I've heard this verse a thousand times, and I've really started to grasp the significance of it many of those times. But I realized the power of this verse again this weekend at Statewide thanks to Kristian Stanfill. In the midst of his singing, which by the way was excellent, he shared how this verse has been impacting his life lately. All week I keep coming back to Kristian's - or, essentially, Paul's - passionate words...
Tuesday was election day for ASB candidates. I ended up being the campaign manager for Taylor McGraw, who has been one of my friends since freshmen year. As you can imagine, the past two weeks have been packed with work to do, and Monday and Tuesday were especially chaotic. Lucky for us, all of the hard work paid off! Taylor won with 50.46% of the vote. How crazy is that?! Every vote counts. 
Picture on the front page of the Daily Mississippian on Wednesday morning.
Our campaign team, minus Tyler and Lennie.One of my favorite things is the overwhelming sense of accomplishment you feel after all is said and done, and you see the people you experienced this with again. Example: the morning after bid day when I saw Emily at breakfast. You can never quite look at people the same way again after something like this, knowing that you did it, and you did it together. That's how Tuesday night was when we all met up again, and it's been the same yesterday and today anytime I run into any of them. All of the candidates ran great races, and most were extremely close. But for now, we can't help but be excited that Taylor came out on top!
