Haha! My blog has nothing to do with that song. LOL, but it seemed appropriate since TODAY was the day that I got to go see Eclipse with Cheron!! This was a long time coming for the two of us. This was our reason for summer. This is what we've been waiting for--and it came and went. And I walked away totally encouraged and totally in love with my friend, Cheron. :)
Cheron is extremely crafty and she made us some Eclipse presents!! MY NECKLACE WAS WAY BETTER THAN ALL YOUR TEAM EDWARD/ TEAM JACOB SHIRTS!! (I have to admit, I was a little bit jealous and I felt left out that I didn't have a cool shirt to wear.) However, my shirt would have said something like, "Bella. You are an IDIOT. Just sayin." Haha!!
Isn't it WONDERFUL! Isn't she just awesome! The little note says, "Look after my heart, I have left it with you." (Note from Edward to Bella.) ;) I love having friends who I can relate to, who I can talk to, gush about things like Twilight to, and still bunker down and be real with each other. LOVE it!!
Thank you Cheron!!
PS. DON'T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS MOVIE I had to come back and edit the post to add on about what I thought about the movie. It was great. (In all honesty, to me, the movies can only go UP. I hated Twilight, hated New Moon less... so Eclipse was good. I am now super, super excited and intrigued to see how they are going to keep Breaking Dawn PG-13 for their audiences. Duh, duh duhmmm.)
Anyway, the movie made Edward look like a jerk, but in the book--he is obviously the bigger man. (Figuratively, haha.)
So I just wanted to share this. Haha. Because I have definitely found this new... excitement about who Jesus is in my life and what it means to be his daughter. I am reading this book called Champagne for the Soul by Mike Mason and it is amazing. Short, sweet, to the point.
The question he poses in the beginning of this 90 say experiment in joy is this: If you don't have joy. Ask yourself, what is it that you don't believe about God. (Which I put up as a Status Update on FB this morning.)
Then I was asked, "So... when Christ was sorrowful, or was deeply trouble.. what did he not believe about God?"
Then I answered, "Joy is a constant. Jesus was 'a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering' (Is. 53:3). Does that mean that he wasn't joyful? Did he not rejoice? Of course he did.
Joy is something that kind of lives and breathes brokenness, chaos, darkness.
Joy does not disappear in times of fear. It feeds from it. It is resilient.
Do I believe that Jesus loves me and died for me on the cross. Yes. I have joy in that. Do I rejoice in my sufferings, for sure. Why? Because joy is what is commanded of me. Joy is all I CAN feel in light of what God's given me.
Even in the crap of my life. I can be joyful.
In our sorrow and in our brokenness--I still have joy in the mercy and grace of God and the shed blood of Jesus.
(You should read this book.)
If I didn't have joy. I would be saying that what Jesus did. What God gave me... isn't worthy of the response of joy."
Then they said, "Opinions are opinions."
And I said, "And I am the one who undoubtedly has joy in my life. You can do with it what you want. I know that I have joy & I love it. :)"
To me. It's kind of like... HOW CAN YOU NOT REJOICE!? God is so good. God is so pure. And honorable. And loving. And merciful. And patient.
AH! God is soooo good.
&& Because posts are better with pictures. These are two shoots that I got to do and really--I felt so happy when I shot them because the girls are so adorably cute and the couple is so in love. :) So cute!!
Middle School week is now over. Man. God is good. He is faithful. He is the best planner, author, coordinator ever!! I feel, again, like I have such a privilege and an honor to be a part of this ministry.
Middle School is my 'room for improvement' age group because it is harder for me to relate. It is interesting to see the shift in society from where I was and what was acceptable then, to where students are now. It's a little scary.
Here are some pictures of our Girl's Small Group. :)
It was so amazing to get to know the Head Leaders some more and really have that sense of community with each other the second week. We were back for round two together, we were tired, we were getting sick. It was so cool to see how it was GOD empowering us to do it all and nothing of our own strength.
Below are pictures of: Corn and his wife Joanna, Kristy, a head leader, and Ryan, camp musician. And shots from our last day at the beach, right before the plague of the mosquitos. It was so cool. For 15 minutes, middle schoolers sat still and wrote letters to God.
(A side note, I also got to use a 17-35/2.8 for these shots. I was pretty excited!! Thanks to Robert for letting me use it!! Seriously, photographers are the coolest people, we just share. It's an amazing community, where I feel comfortable giving up my 5DMKII for a day, and he let's me take his 17-35 for a day...and a half. Haha.)
And here are some shots from Cinque Terre! The first one is of City 2, Manarola, and the second shot is from City 4, Vernazza. Where I also picked up some artwork for the house, which is pretty awesome--and where there is the BEST pizza I've had in Italy, or the world, thus far. I love it. Amazing crispy center, and fluffy crust. Delicious.
Meet my Six Pack of Beer: Brian, Judy, Katie, Claire, Mary and Johnny Beer. They are from Michigan and they are standing in as the... caretakers of the Hospitality House here in Vicenza. What a BLESSING they have been! I am so excited that I got to get to know them and be a part of their lives, and that they got to be a part of mine. Amazing family. They give me so much hope and such a great example of family done right. ;)
Everyone who encounters the Beers falls in love with them and they are just--amazing God-loving people. And super talented! Katie and Claire play piano, Swing dance, sing... Mary is an amazing dancer, Johnny is so full of energy and he just lights up a room, Judy and Brian are--ugh, you look at them, then look at their kids and think, "THEY CREATED THIS!? They raised and cultivated all of this!?" It's really mind blowing.
Judy home-school(s)(ed) all four kids and it has really given me a whole new outlook and perspective on how I want to raise my non-existent, but promised, children. Haha. I cannot wait.
I think Judy and Brian should right a book on Life. I would read it. Over and over. And over again.
Here they are...!!
We went to Venezia! After a long, long, trying day. God gave us an adventure this day, but if I had to experience crazy God sighting, I am glad it was with the Beers and not by myself. Haha.
But we made it to Venice.
I feel so bad. I am so bored with Venice, all my pictures look exactly the same when I go to Venice. So someone give me a challenge for the next time I go down there... hmm... gears turning.
I will be out and about for another week of Beach Break! I am so excited to see what God will do with the Middle Schoolers this week. Keep them in your prayers!!
So. I've been gone for a week!! Where, you ask!? Camp Darby, down south with Club Beyond! It was so amazing to be a part of God's purpose. A few months ago, I was listening as someone told me this truth: GOD DOESN'T HAVE TO USE US. He can do things all on His own. But he allows us the privilege and the honor to work for Him and to serve Him. I am so grateful for that small role in the big scheme of things.
There is so much to talk about and gush over, but I just want to take the time to thank each and every one of the students who went to Beach Break this week: Maya Swinehart, Katie McKeever, Maya Zaborek, Raven and Megan Espinoza, Brenda Sanchez, Asya Miller, Oliana Reyter, Anna Meyers, Tori Werner, Sierra George, Arden and Tyler Holderby, Saige and Shane Martinez, Jarra and Nathan Woods, Brian Johnston, Earl Denmon, Jose Echieveria, Eddie Ramos, Ramsey Marsee, and Nick Angyal.
I have never had a Youth Group experience because I was saved as a senior in high school and that was pretty much it. Haha. I didn't have the opportunity to hear the Gospel the way that these kids got to. I got to open up and make myself vulnerable to reveal what God has done in my life, my failures, my fears, and my faults all laid out in front of a few students. It was so weird because sometimes I have to play teacher with them. So breaking down my walls and barriers was so important to me.
I've never sang so much in my life. Haha.
God--I am so glad to have been invited to the party. I am so glad I get to call Jesus, my Lord. I got to see Him work and the way He softens hearts. '
I will leave it at that for tonight. We are going back on Monday to do it all over again with our Middle Schoolers--till then, please pray for the Young Life Work Crew, for the High Schoolers who just got back home, that they find encouragement in the overflowing love Jesus has for them, that they know that they are a new creation, with a new purpose. Pray for the Middle Schoolers, that their hearts are prepared for what God can, and will do next week. Pray for the leaders, who are driving up to places like Germany tonight to pick up kids and hop right back on the bus and come back with a new batch of kids.
And pray for the soldiers deployed to war. Their families are here at home while they fight a war. I ask for a specific pray for the soldiers of the 173rd ABCT. I really, really, just want to ask that they are really good at what they do, and that God's watching over them all. I pray that His glory is shown when Christians can be a light in such a dark place.
We had a County Fair and the students got to pie us in the face if they got enough tickets. I got pied TWICE. Haha. "Just means they love you," Laura says. Haha!
I also learned a NEW worship song this week! I love it!! I love that God has the time to listen to me. :) God bless you guys!! I am praying for a revival for the Vicenza Community and for the entire Church--I feel it. I feel something big coming. God is soooooo good at writing stories!!!
I cannot wait for this event!!! Come by students!! We are going to have LOTS of fun!! Watch the video here. Two teams. Five weeks of physical competition. We get points based on the games and team spirit.
AH! I am so excited!!! Can't wait! We kick off Wednesday, June 28!! Pick up Registration packets at the Luau Wednesday after school!
&& One of my overused quotes, haha!
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:1-2, NIV)
Christmas? This week I have been so encouraged. I all the sudden felt the need to celebrate Christmas. Haha. I want mas ('more' in Espanol) of Christ. ;) Por favor. I just want the world to look around today and think about how awesome God is. How good Jesus is. I had a student ask today, "So... Jesus' only purpose was to come here and die for us?" --Yep. "That sucks." --Not for us!
Yes. Jesus, from before the foundation of the Earth was always intended to come and die for our sins and take our place on the Cross. Why??
Because we suck. We sin. We are selfish. We do our thing without any regard to what it means. But God is merciful, patient, loving, and kind and is waiting for us to come to our senses. Haha!! I just want more and more of Christ. I want the world to pay more attention.
BREAK IT DOWN. This week I got to talk about why/how we are the salt and light of the world. Something happened in today's Christianity that we throw out all these 'Christian terms' that don't have that much weight anymore. People either assume they know what it means, or they don't care to know what we are talking about.
This is why I love working in youth ministry.
When I was a teenager, I as overly opinionated. I asked a lot of questions, most of the time just to stump people and prove that I was right. Haha!! Working with my students now, I get to be on the opposite end. I get to answer questions and I have to do it in a way that leaves no question unanswered, no stone unturned and do it in a way that they understand fully--who Jesus is. No big words. No overused Christian vocabulary. Just real, true, love.
For me there is a big contrast in the way other Christians talk and the way I talk. (Haha!) I hope that my audience can take me seriously when I say, "Jesus has my back" Sometimes I wonder if I am taking myself seriously enough. Or if my students take me seriously. I hope so. Because I don't want to prove anything other than God's love and Jesus' sacrifice and our role in the grand scheme of things. I just say what I know.
CLAYTON'S STORY. Last year, I watched this video. I learned about Clayton McDonald and what he did for a generation. It gets me every time I push play. His example--a type of Timothy, someone that wasn't scared to stand up and talk. To stand up and tell it how it is, and just love.
I've learned to never shut up. Clayton taught me that I may know where I am going when I die, but there are lots and lots of people who haven't given it a thought, who don't know. Or even think they know.
I would not want to live through my life and let the opportunity to talk about Jesus and the beauty of hope. (I can't wait to meet him in heaven and tell him, 'You rock. &&Thanks.')
Just watch it. Pray about it. And let's revolutionize the way we love. The way we walk. The way we talk. The way we preach. Just... the way we live.
(Romans 1:6) It amazes me how much God calls after me and yearns for me. We, mere humans, were made to fellowship with God. && He calls after us and chases us, and I LOVE that he wants me. Loves me.
As a photographer, I was told to start blogging. But when I sat down and wrote out a list of things I would write about, maybe 2% of it had anything to do with photography. (Maybe 5%)
The rest of the list had things about how God's worked in my life, how God works in the world today, how to encourage young women and wives (very Titus 2, oriented), and how to motivate and cultivate a kind of lifestyle that is worthy of our calling.
Bottom line, in my first video blog, I talked about my peresonal brand, developing my personal brand, who I am, who YOU see that I am all over the internet. The package: I want to be known as a Christian who happens to be a photographer, not a photographer who happens to be Christian.
So this is the byproduct of that list. A little bit of everything, but all of me. I pray that the Holy Spirit be present in this. That somewhere, some day, someone will take from what God's given me and use it.
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