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wrote this about a month ago and never got around to posting, so now I am!
 

It's a bit hard to know where to start.

I have grown up in the same neighborhood my whole life. I have lived in three houses within one block from each other. My dad is a house builder and so he built two of the houses we have lived in.  When I was nine years old I loved to tell people I was moving because I'd wait for them to ask "where to?" and I'd reply "Next door!" Yes we did move in next door! This is the house I have been at for ten years. I have dearly loved this house. I was thinking about how it's been such a place of growth for me. I think on all the times of tears, joys, laughs, adventures, challenges, and all the blessings. 

Memories of my house.

• When we first moved into the house my brother made a HUGE cardboard fort for me in the living room with all our kitchen cabinet boxes. It was AMAZING! 

• All the hundreds of crafts that I made at this house :) all the small paint markings on my carpet

(Shh!! ;) )

• many many movie nights with my family and friends (Pride and prejudice with my dad)

• FOOD! Saturday morning crepes and Sunday roast after church

• the beautiful birds singing in the morning and the frogs chirping from the woods at night

• Apple trees and grape vines

•  My room with its big window looking out into the beautiful sunny sky!

I am so thankful for this house! Though this house is not my own. It is God's. All I have is his. And soon now he is going to bless another family with this home. Our house has been up on the market off and on and finally two days ago it sold.  My parents will be moving while I am in South Africa this summer, so I have 4 more days in my home.

 My backyard! (You can see my old house next door!)

 I enjoyed a bit of time in my backyard yesterday with some watermelon haha :)

We are downsizing into a smaller house! But it will be difficult not coming home to this house. But it's made me remember that this earth is not my home. 

"All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.  If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." Hebrews 11: 13-16

Photos.

 

 

Life.

Did you ever stop to think about the gift of life?
It springs up under our feet
It beats inside of us
 
Did you ever stop to be amazed at how little green plants grow up from the ground?
Have you ever stopped to be in awe at how each breath is so precious?


  God loves to create. to form. to design.


 

  

















"Praise the Lord from the earth,
   you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
 lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
   stormy winds that do his bidding,
 you mountains and all hills,
   fruit trees and all cedars,
 wild animals and all cattle,
   small creatures and flying birds,
 kings of the earth and all nations,
   you princes and all rulers on earth,
 young men and women,
   old men and children.

  Let them praise the name of the Lord,
   for his name alone is exalted;
   his splendor is above the earth and the heavens. "

-Psalm 148

Beautiful things.

"I wonder if my life could really change at all, all this earth, could all that is lost ever be found? could a garden come up from this ground, at all? You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of the dust, you make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of us. All around, hope is springing up from this old ground out of chaos life is being found, in you"

To be still

Oh the thoughts that have been on my mind. Recently it's been go, go, go and I haven't had time to stop and be still. I have hated this.  If you know me, I am a BIG advocate for taking time to be still.  Sadly our culture is incredibly wrapped around schedule and time. We hardly even stop to take a breather. Our culture likes to be busy and I think at times we are even scared to be still.

People don't like to be still for many reasons, some people don't want to be still because that means dealing with things on their heart- pains, troubles, etc. Other people just don't know how to or people just don't have the time. I have dealt with all of these.

Any and all of you out there I encourage you, I plead with you, stop and be still today. It's worth it!

You can be still and do many things, but when I talk about being still I mean take time to open your heart up! God wants you to open up your whole heart to him. How can a relationship work when we just take God on the go like fast food.  Also when I talk about being still I  mean thinking, pondering, and dwelling on the Lord. Let his grace invade your heart, let his power shape your mind etc.

What being still sometimes looks like to me:
Sometimes I sit and ponder and look at His Word and other times I just write down prayers to God, though usually my time includes art. I have realized that I communicate through creating. I pull out my paint, pencils, guitar, journal, camera, or music and just let God open my heart as I create. So sometimes my communicating my heart to God or dwelling on who He is is through my art.  Just today I was thinking of how this is similar to David in the Bible. I thought, wow David was an artist. He wrote his heart out in the Psalms and declared who God was at the same time. Never had thought of it quite like that.

Take time to be consistently still.
-It makes me think of the Sabbath and how God intended us to take a WHOLE day off. 


---Now this is the point where I take my own advice and go and be still....
 

The List: #2 A night of music

Item #2; A night of music

My best friend and I accomplished our second thing on the list of things to do before I leave for the summer. I am a lover of music and two of my favorite artists came to town. I was THRILLED to find this out. So a few nights ago we had a night full of listening to the most beautiful of music. I could not have asked for a better night. It was a time of worship, creativity, and beauty.  Words can not describe how wonderful it was.  Music opens up things inside of me that nothing else will. It truly was a blessing and I'm so thankful I got to experience it with my dear friend.

The List: #1 A Day at the Lake

#1 A Day at the Lake


My best friend and I are creating a list. This list is going to be full of activates and adventures that we must do before I leave for four and a half months.  See the thing is we've never been apart from each other more than three weeks and usually we spend our whole summers together...So we decided that these next 2 months are going to be full of accomplishing the things on "the list"!  On March 15th we accomplished our first task: A Day at the Lake.

This is where we encountered the "spider infestation" (as my friend would call it).

May I remind you that it is March?! It was 80 oF!!

We wrote something similar in the sand when we were at the lake in Junior High

Orange popsicles!!

We moved to find a place away from the spiders, haha. We found this log and moved it over for a perfect place to sit!

I know it's no ocean, but this lake has to be my favorite place!

Oh how beautiful!!