So I've dabbled in photography after Grandmother gave me my Nikon D5000 for graduation, and although I love taking the pictures, the editing part takes a lot of patience I don't have! I FINALLY sat down and edited write a few of my favorites taken over the past 3 months and I'd love for you to check them out...
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/album.php?id=7032194&aid=2465061&s=0&hash=247495ad0fc4ae5acc68454254491dc7
(Sorry, but you have to have facebook to see them!)
xoxo, va
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
wow.
"Before the Throne of God Above"
Before the throne of God above
I have a strong, a perfect plea:
A great High Priest, whose name is Love,
Whoever lives and pleads for me.
My name is written on his hands,
my name is written on his heart;
I know that while in heaven he stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart.
When Satan tempts me to despair,
and tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look, and see him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died,
my sinful soul is counted free;
For God, the Just, is satisfied
to look on him and pardon me.
Behold him there, the risen Lamb!
My perfect, spotless Righetousness,
The great unchancgeable I AM,
the King of glory and of GRACE!
One with Himself, I cannot die;
My soul purchased by his blood;
My life is hid in Christ on high,
with Christ, my Savior and my God,
with Christ, my Savior and my God.
There are absolutely no words that I could add to that.
xoxo, va
Before the throne of God above
I have a strong, a perfect plea:
A great High Priest, whose name is Love,
Whoever lives and pleads for me.
My name is written on his hands,
my name is written on his heart;
I know that while in heaven he stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart.
When Satan tempts me to despair,
and tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look, and see him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died,
my sinful soul is counted free;
For God, the Just, is satisfied
to look on him and pardon me.
Behold him there, the risen Lamb!
My perfect, spotless Righetousness,
The great unchancgeable I AM,
the King of glory and of GRACE!
One with Himself, I cannot die;
My soul purchased by his blood;
My life is hid in Christ on high,
with Christ, my Savior and my God,
with Christ, my Savior and my God.
There are absolutely no words that I could add to that.
xoxo, va
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Good, Bad, and Ugly
For the past two weekends I have played tour guide. To my parents first...
And second to my dearest friend Jenna (the best friend title doesn't do her justice, she IS my sister)...
I had mapped out what we were going to do and where I was going to take these people... wanting them to get the full scope of what my new life is all about! It was slightly stressful,because I wanted all of them to have an amazing time. Looking back, I feel I put too much emphasis on doing, instead of emphasis on just enjoying the fact that we were together, after being apart for so long!
It seems silly to me that I put so much emphasis on making both these weekends "perfect"... especially since what God is currently teaching me is the exact opposite, that we are imperfect and flawed because we're humans, and without Him, we're useless! So if I'm imperfect, that means my family and my best friend are also imperfect. But in their imperfections, they are still loved and cherished by the same God who loves and cherishes me! I realized that the importance of being around family and friends is not to have perfect vacations, but to cherish the silly and imperfect quality time!! I mean perfection doesn't make for interesting memories anyway.
So the lessons learned from the past two weekends:
---expect nothing, God's going to surprise you anyway
---boredom is the only thing that would come from "perfect" friendships and family relationships
---perfection doesn't leave good memories.. silliness and craziness do!
---my family lives in a fallen world, and they deal with the same stupid "human issues" that I deal with.....just as they love my many, many, many imperfections, so I must love their's
---We are a family.... good, bad and ugly... and nothing could ever change that.
---I have the world's freaking greatest support system!!
Thank you Jenna, Mom, Dad, and JB for putting up with me and all my imperfections! You guys pretty much rock... just sayin'. :)
"And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with HIS ENTIRE HOUSEHOLD that he had believed in God." Acts 16:32-34
xoxo, va
And second to my dearest friend Jenna (the best friend title doesn't do her justice, she IS my sister)...
I had mapped out what we were going to do and where I was going to take these people... wanting them to get the full scope of what my new life is all about! It was slightly stressful,because I wanted all of them to have an amazing time. Looking back, I feel I put too much emphasis on doing, instead of emphasis on just enjoying the fact that we were together, after being apart for so long!
It seems silly to me that I put so much emphasis on making both these weekends "perfect"... especially since what God is currently teaching me is the exact opposite, that we are imperfect and flawed because we're humans, and without Him, we're useless! So if I'm imperfect, that means my family and my best friend are also imperfect. But in their imperfections, they are still loved and cherished by the same God who loves and cherishes me! I realized that the importance of being around family and friends is not to have perfect vacations, but to cherish the silly and imperfect quality time!! I mean perfection doesn't make for interesting memories anyway.
So the lessons learned from the past two weekends:
---expect nothing, God's going to surprise you anyway
---boredom is the only thing that would come from "perfect" friendships and family relationships
---perfection doesn't leave good memories.. silliness and craziness do!
---my family lives in a fallen world, and they deal with the same stupid "human issues" that I deal with.....just as they love my many, many, many imperfections, so I must love their's
---We are a family.... good, bad and ugly... and nothing could ever change that.
---I have the world's freaking greatest support system!!
Thank you Jenna, Mom, Dad, and JB for putting up with me and all my imperfections! You guys pretty much rock... just sayin'. :)
"And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with HIS ENTIRE HOUSEHOLD that he had believed in God." Acts 16:32-34
xoxo, va
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
ten weeks.
After Bali, I had no time to be nervous about San Diego. I wasn't afraid of what I was walking into. I thought "I'll just move out there for ten weeks, take some really cool pictures, and then graduate, no biggie! It's only ten weeks." Those first couple of weeks I was so excited about working for Auburn Christian Fellowship, I wasn't enjoying what I needed to about California. Sure, I loved the weather, but I felt like I was missing the point of why God brought me out here. My prayers became: Father, there's a reason I am here. That much is certain, but help me to discover why, open my eyes to the reason, and help me to not hurry away this experience, in hopes for the next one!
Driving in my car yesterday, I was overcome with emotion and the tears fell, after thoughts of having to leave this place. I've made a home here. It's comfortable, I have some what of a support system, and I am finally learning my way around! What I thought was going to be ten weeks of transition from Bali to ACF became a journey of spiritual growth, full of depth and realness. God hand placed people in my life to pour into me, to challenge my thought processes, teach me about grace gone wild, and to fill me up! Looking back, I firmly believe that God sent me to San Diego for a head and heart renewal, a type of retreat. I needed to be 2400 miles away from everyone in my life to learn about God and myself. He has taught me so much about who He is, what my eternal husband is all about, and who I am through Him. I feel supercharged spiritually, mentally and physically, in a beautiful way. He emptied me and broke me in Bali, and completely renewed me in San Diego, preparing me for an intense jump into ministry for ten months. I just marvel at how perfect His plan and timing is and giggle at the fact I sometimes think I can handle things better than He can!!
Ten weeks ago I thought I'd be leaving San Diego with only pictures however I am leaving with a full heart, lasting spiritual friendships, a church home, a new best friend, new knowledge of interior design, a new respect for people who work behind a desk, and a new perspective on grace. I thought ten weeks could never change me, but that's all the time He needed.
And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace." Luke 8:48
xoxo, va
Driving in my car yesterday, I was overcome with emotion and the tears fell, after thoughts of having to leave this place. I've made a home here. It's comfortable, I have some what of a support system, and I am finally learning my way around! What I thought was going to be ten weeks of transition from Bali to ACF became a journey of spiritual growth, full of depth and realness. God hand placed people in my life to pour into me, to challenge my thought processes, teach me about grace gone wild, and to fill me up! Looking back, I firmly believe that God sent me to San Diego for a head and heart renewal, a type of retreat. I needed to be 2400 miles away from everyone in my life to learn about God and myself. He has taught me so much about who He is, what my eternal husband is all about, and who I am through Him. I feel supercharged spiritually, mentally and physically, in a beautiful way. He emptied me and broke me in Bali, and completely renewed me in San Diego, preparing me for an intense jump into ministry for ten months. I just marvel at how perfect His plan and timing is and giggle at the fact I sometimes think I can handle things better than He can!!
Ten weeks ago I thought I'd be leaving San Diego with only pictures however I am leaving with a full heart, lasting spiritual friendships, a church home, a new best friend, new knowledge of interior design, a new respect for people who work behind a desk, and a new perspective on grace. I thought ten weeks could never change me, but that's all the time He needed.
And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace." Luke 8:48
xoxo, va
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
"Shhhhhhh!"
Job 33:31 "Pay attention, O Job, listen to me; be silent and I will speak." (ESV)
I don't like to be silent, I don't like to sit in silence, and I sure as heck don't have the patience to do either for long periods of time. My A.D.D. tendencies get in the way, and I can't focus when things are quiet. This is probably why I never studied well in the library! However, God calls us to be silent sometimes, He doesn't just ask politely. Over and over in the Bible are stories of people who heard God.... in moments of SILENCE!! Hmm, okay God, I think I'm on to something here. :)
"The man gazed at her in SILENCE to learn whether the LORD had prospered his journey or not." Genesis 24:21
"A form was before my eyes; there was SILENCE, then I heard a voice..." Job 4:16
"When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was SILENCE in heaven for about half an hour." Revelations 8:1
God teaches people things in silence, He reveals Himself in silence, and by asking us to have moments of silence, I feel He's really asking us to slow down and spend time with Him! When we sit in silence, we have to face reality. We face the reality that we are a broken, beat down, ragamuffin of a person who struggles to keep our head above water in this fallen world. To understand God's love for us and to allow Him to heal us, we must understand that without Him we are absolutely nothing, we are totally broken, and to put it "lightly", we're a mess. So we're required to sit in silence, to face the impostor. (**See note at bottom) When we face our impostor, we're able to call it out when things go wrong, getting to a point where we don't let sin define who we are. Being able to call the impostor out and come to a point of brokenness, allows God to swoop in and heal our battle scars and fill us with His goodness. Brennan Manning quotes Sister Barbara Fiand in his book "Abba's Child": "Wholeness is brokenness owned and thereby healed." God can't heal us if the impostor is in the way, and pointing our the impostor requires acknowledgment of our brokenness!
xoxo, VA
**IMPOSTOR: the person that Satan wants us to believe we are. The impostor IS the person we are without the Holy Spirit living in us and without God's love. The impostor is selfish, lustful, prideful, rebellious, drunk, self conscious, money hungry, self doubting, worthless, useless, good for nothing, uncompassionate, unforgiving, regretful, lonely, lost, helpless, etc. These are words that I use to describe my impostor. Luckily, this person isn't who I really am, who I REALLY am is a child of the Father, a princess of the King, and a bride of Jesus Christ.
I don't like to be silent, I don't like to sit in silence, and I sure as heck don't have the patience to do either for long periods of time. My A.D.D. tendencies get in the way, and I can't focus when things are quiet. This is probably why I never studied well in the library! However, God calls us to be silent sometimes, He doesn't just ask politely. Over and over in the Bible are stories of people who heard God.... in moments of SILENCE!! Hmm, okay God, I think I'm on to something here. :)
"The man gazed at her in SILENCE to learn whether the LORD had prospered his journey or not." Genesis 24:21
"A form was before my eyes; there was SILENCE, then I heard a voice..." Job 4:16
"When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was SILENCE in heaven for about half an hour." Revelations 8:1
God teaches people things in silence, He reveals Himself in silence, and by asking us to have moments of silence, I feel He's really asking us to slow down and spend time with Him! When we sit in silence, we have to face reality. We face the reality that we are a broken, beat down, ragamuffin of a person who struggles to keep our head above water in this fallen world. To understand God's love for us and to allow Him to heal us, we must understand that without Him we are absolutely nothing, we are totally broken, and to put it "lightly", we're a mess. So we're required to sit in silence, to face the impostor. (**See note at bottom) When we face our impostor, we're able to call it out when things go wrong, getting to a point where we don't let sin define who we are. Being able to call the impostor out and come to a point of brokenness, allows God to swoop in and heal our battle scars and fill us with His goodness. Brennan Manning quotes Sister Barbara Fiand in his book "Abba's Child": "Wholeness is brokenness owned and thereby healed." God can't heal us if the impostor is in the way, and pointing our the impostor requires acknowledgment of our brokenness!
xoxo, VA
**IMPOSTOR: the person that Satan wants us to believe we are. The impostor IS the person we are without the Holy Spirit living in us and without God's love. The impostor is selfish, lustful, prideful, rebellious, drunk, self conscious, money hungry, self doubting, worthless, useless, good for nothing, uncompassionate, unforgiving, regretful, lonely, lost, helpless, etc. These are words that I use to describe my impostor. Luckily, this person isn't who I really am, who I REALLY am is a child of the Father, a princess of the King, and a bride of Jesus Christ.
Monday, July 5, 2010
PICTURES!
I finally made an album that has all my pictures from Bali! You're welcome to take a look, even though I have not had the time to put captions on them all. Beware though... there are over 600 of them!! :) Just follow the link below....
and enjoy!
xoxo, va
and enjoy!
xoxo, va
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