snow :)

It’s snowing again. Of course, compared to East Coast standards (20inches??), this is a light dusting, but regardless, everything is covered & white, and school is cancelled (again). My favorite thing to do on these days is sit on my couch, read, light some candles, drink some coffee, and basically not do a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g. And I love it because, like I’ve said before, I have a tendency to rush things… get too busy… and not take time to rest, and the snow forces me to just sit here. and listen. and let myself calm down. I feel like snow is God’s way of making everyone slow down. and I’m totally ok with that..

yes, that’s a boy in a cowboy hat, on a bicycle, pulling another kid.

the view from my sweet living room… nothing but white

lamebook

for cale :)

courtesy of King Louie

wild goose chase

I just finished this book: Wild Goose Chase, by Mark Batterson. It has take forever for me to finish it because its not one of those books that you just can’t put down. But that’s not to say its not good… because it is. Batterson challenges the reader to “reclaim the adventure of pursuing God.” It’s very inspiring and thought provoking, and the questions at the end of each chapter make sure that you are actually processessing the material. In fact, there is one particular section I processed over and over again — the part about how “hurry kills everything from compassion to creativity.” If you have that sinking feeling that you’re not living the life you were destined to live… this book at a great kick in the butt. So thanks to Amber Noblit for suggesting this book.

quote

“Whatever has its hooks in you, you will never be free from it until you find something you want more. It’s not about getting rid of desire. It’s about giving ourselves to bigger and better and more powerful desires.”  -Sex God by Rob Bell

thanks callie!

so true

courtesy of Le Love

quaint & cozy

here are all of my little dreams, combined. and this is what i want to have when i grow up…

I’ve decided it’s more fun to dream about quaint and cozy, than to dream big (like enormous houses). I think I might like living in a little cottage… with a field and a stream to play in. And a place to garden… and a place to be creative and make awesome crafts (experiment.. Martha Stewart-style). Sounds perfect.

i have fever… and i just drew this

“If you were perfect, everyone would hate you.That’s why they hated Jesus.”

see what is in front of you

“Hurry kills everything from compassion to creativity. It can make someone who is ordinarily compassionate indifferent to suffering.”

(quote from Wild Goose Chase, by Mark Batterson)

The success of my day is often measure by how much I get done. I live in a hurry. And when I get in a routine of rushing through life (like at the end of every semester..), I start seeing people as interruptions to my pace; hindrances to my to-do list.

But can’t you see it?? If being in a hurry is killing our compassion and creativity, our pace of life turns out to be our worst enemy. We make excuses, we don’t have time (for God, for exercise, for relationships that are actually real and meaningful)… and eventually, we don’t have time to give to anything but our own schedule.

We see earthquakes, floods, and tsunamis, but our hardened hearts look the other way because those people are “too far away,” “someone else will help them,” and “I don’t have time to help everyone…” But think about where we are right now– witnesses to the worst natural disaster in hundreds of years– we have the opportunity to give to something that is far beyond ourselves.

So instead of our pace of life becoming out worst enemy, we can be as busy as ever, but focus on what’s important… what fulfills us.  Slow down and notice the pictures. Don’t rush past them… don’t let your hurry kill your compassion.

¹⁰And if you give yourself to the hungry
And satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
Then your light will rise in darkness
And your gloom will become like midday.
¹¹“And the LORD will continually guide you,
And satisfy your desire in scorched places,
And give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.”

(isaiah 58:10-11)