Lake Cushman from Caleb & Shawn on Vimeo.
This weekend my pal Haley and I took a drive to the lovely twin cities area to see our friend Regan. It was a blast! not to mention::
sweet time with Afton and Anna a fancy date to a fancy place realizing prayer is more important than whatever else you were prioritizing slow sunday morning Adam joined me in the feminine hygiene aisle at Target. Check. here's to a great week, friends! Make it worth something. Tonight was good, and quiet, and small, and we talked about things that are hard to talk about and asked questions that are too big to answer. there are a lot of those questions, aren't there? There's a lot of things we don't exactly understand, a lot that hurts, and a lot that makes life feel like some big game. But I'm here to tell you life is not a game, friends. It's just not. It's so much more than that.
It's 30 degree weather that feels like a summer day. It's seeing Syd for approximately 30 minutes and though I wish there was more, it sustained me It's making music with other people It's conversations with people you really love a lot that make you love them more It's holding babies in the morning and holding your friends at night It's crappy dorm breakfast with a side of not-so-crappy coffee spent with one you love It's quiet colors and soft light It's also bright sunlight and the desire to go onward It's talking about the future and realizing it scares you a lot less than it used to It's realizing that its okay if you are still scared It's knowing that grace gets deeper the more you trust It's trusting that the Lord will fight for you and sustain you, always It's living in response to that ^ It's moving and breathing and touching and feeling and being. It's a beautiful world we live in, friends. I do declare. I feel like happiness is a word that I'm often afraid to use. Like I'm supposed to say "joyful" instead, or some other word that holds a deeper meaning. But how great is it, to be happy? I love it! And today I have just felt full of it. This whole weekend, in fact. And honestly, I could do a little dance and jump around because it is such a beautiful, light, lovely feeling. Thank you Jesus for that. Here's some happy things. so thankful for the place that I live, the people I know, and the God that I serve. He is faithful now and always.
Hi there friend!
I'm so sorry that I've been away an awfully long time. To be completely honest I wasn't altogether sure what to blog about these last couple of weeks, as life has been pretty crazy and sad and hard and I've felt pretty dry and unable to muster any creative energy. But here I am! On a sunday mornin, spending it moving slowly and enjoying every minute of that. I will do my best to be a more active poster, if not for anyone else but myself. (Although if anyone reads this, it's for you too, I suppose :) ) That's all I got for you this morning! Spend this Sunday with someone you love! I know I'm gonna! ^^ this was what I woke up to today ^^this was my walk home today ^^ this is a picture of a slow morning ^^ this is a hipster with flannel pants
I know that living off of memories can be a dangerous thing. But I also think there is a lot of value in remembering the times that God has been faithful to you and savoring those memories. Because the same God that was faithful then is faithful now. If there is one time in my life that I can place a finger on God's faithfulness, it was on our trip to Pine Ridge, SD, last March. I can't stop thinking about it lately. I miss it. It's where I met Jenna. Ariel led worship tonight and I sobbed remembering how she led that whole week. Every time I look at the stars, which is a lot, I'm think about stargazing in the field. (And about how Ariel laid in between Adam and me the whole time.) Sarah taught me how to rest there. Young Life night with the kids. That one always sticks in my memory. Falling asleep to the sound of the guys laughing in the next room was one of my favorite things. Hearing so many stories from the native people there was beautiful and so very painful. Wounded Knee. Sign language. Honestly, a lot of what my heart is aching for and remembering is the ways that I learned about how God tangibly loves his people there. And there was about 23948 other factors that impacted my heart that week, and are the causes of why I think of Pine Ridge as such a remarkable time in my life. But I know that my life is significantly different because of my interactions with Latan on the basketball court, because Jenna and I learned that a milky way bar can be eaten with the wrapper on, and because there is beauty in pain and sometimes you just have to swing dance with kiddos who suffer from pain and injustice bigger than they understand to remember that God is good and he that he is always, always faithful. #tbt
hey friends! So I'm part of Cabaret show that UWEC puts on every year, and this year, me and my friends decided to be part of a small act. We covered one of Pentatonix original songs, Run To You, a beautiful song. It would mean a lot to me if you'd give this a listen! ps we recorded in a stairwell so it's all natural, concrete sound! Enjoy! You know how we sort of use the term "called," loosely? Like this: "God called me to this place," or "I feel called to do such and such." Well I've been wrestling with that lately, because I think it's hard to know if you're called some place or not. I really do. For me at least. Last night I was having a conversation with someone about being called to a certain place, or to a group of people. And then a horrible thought entered my mind. Do you think God un-calls us if we are doing a bad job? And I thought about that and cried about that and let it fester in my heart the way that everyone says you're not supposed to. But my pal Adam cleared some stuff up for me. He explained that God knows what he is doing before we do (duh- but that was something I think I had sort of forgotten.) And he reminded me that just because we may not stay forever in the same place we are called to, that does not mean that we are being un-called. It means that God is calling us somewhere else. He said, "God doesn't work in a backwards motion. He is always moving us forward." And I think he is right. But as I struggle with knowing where I am supposed to be next year, I can't help but wish God would just plaster his plans for me on a billboard or leave me a voicemail explaining every detail. But God doesn't speak to us that way, most of the time, does he? And partially, I think that is because it causes us to seek him out more. I think part of the reason God is less clear than we would like in his plans for us is because he knows that we are drawn to him by seeking out his words and his thoughts. And for me, it's working. I'm not much closer to knowing where I am "called," for next year, exactly, but I was reading a little 2nd Timothy this morning and came across this and thought, wow God, I see what you're doing there: "..but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his on purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.." WHAT. Help! I've found my calling! And it's a holy calling! And I don't know what that means! And why does God pick US for a holy calling? These things I don't know. But really all I'm searching for these days is discernment to understand more of God. And here, I have gotten a step closer. It may not be a direct answer to my present question of where the heck do I go, but it does teach me that I am called. And I am given a holy calling, and so are all of us. And I'm praisin Jesus for that because if you really think about it, we're not really worth a holy calling. We mess up and we're not even close to being as holy as we will be when we're dancin' in heaven before God, the holy of holies. BUT, God knows that. And he calls us anyway. (ps- I know these are incoherent, rambled, and slightly confusing thoughts. But I don't think we have to be coherent all the time. Learning requires a little bit of disheveled-ness.)
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