cardboard stories

went to Austin this past weekend at the last minute and had a great time! nice to get away and kind of the last hurrah for my siblings and I to hang out before my brother moves to Alaska this summer.

Went to The Stone for church and it was great as always! Click on Cardboard stories to see the video they showed.

This is the meaning of the resurrection! Jesus really changes lives!

Cardboard Stories from The Austin Stone on Vimeo.

 

in the arctic!

http://www.klondikecontest.com/finalist.aspx

So I stumbled on this video…actually doing research for a project I’m working on! I think it’s absolutely hilarious/brillant/makes me want a Klondike bar. Apparantly this guy enters online video contests for a living! He wins free trips then shoots upcoming contest entries while he’s on that trip. He’s been to 6 continents on someone else’s dime as prizes for winning these contests.

 

stuck in my head!

first I want to apologize…but I’ve been working on a project and this song has been stuck in my head all day! so I thought I’d let others share in the “fun.”

 

creature comfort

I’m so excited! I’m headed home tomorrow. Life’s been kinda weird since Thanksgiving, but I’m so happy to spend some family time. Our extended family is far away (another coast or across an ocean), so it’s usually the 5 of us, and I have a feeling this will be the last Christmas with the 5 of us for a while.

I think there’s comfort in the familiar. Obviously, my family is familiar, the house where I (mostly) grew up, friends I haven’t seen in forever will be around too. I’m hoping Mari and I can go for a run and it’s not too freezing cold. The past few years we’ve had pretty much the same running pace which is difficult for me. I’m not much of a ‘running buddy’ person because it’s so hard to find a comporably paced person, but who better than your little sis!

Anyway, back to comfort in the familiar. For some reason in my life as soon as I get comfortable with a place it seems like time to leave. That was great for a while, but like the last post said I think it’s getting time to establish some roots. Trust people enough to be open and vulnerable. I love the home my parents have created for us, but eventually it’s time for me to create my own.

It’s good to be rooted, but I think it’s also good to continually take risks and push yourself to become better, do better, live better, etc. I think that may be something I’ll work on. Looking for ways to strive for the best and not settle for something just because it’s familiar. It may be harder to attain or get whatever that is, but maybe it’s just that much more worth it.

So I hope you live fearlessly, passionately, and with the courage to go after what you’ve been waiting for!

 

faith

I think from time to time, as I think of it, I want to write about people who have been in my life who have been an inspiration.  My life is kind of boring, and rather than boring you with what I ate for lunch today or if I worked out, hopefully it will be a little more meaningful.

When I was a kid there was a lady at our church who would babysit us from time to time.  Her name was Faith.  Faith always had these Chinese candies that are fruit flavored and paper-thin.  You eat one sheet at a time and as a 5-year-old it was so fun!

Faith would tell us Bible stories, probably sing songs (honestly I don’t remember much), and since our grandparents both lived either across an ocean or on the other coast, she was like a grandmother to me.  SUch a sweet countenance.

Faith and her husband (forgot his name, biblical though maybe Peter??) moved to the sSates from China.  Somehow they were able to leave,and thank goodness, because her husband spent several years in jail there for being a Christian.  At the time I had no idea but when I found out about it, it made persecution so much more real because now the persecuted Chinese had a face and a name.  As you would probably guess, Faith and (husband’s name!) weren’t their real names, but as many immigrants do, went by a more western (and this case biblical) name after moving to the States.

There are certainly so many people like this sweet couple.  But something about her countenance has stuck with me all these years, even though I haven’t seen her in about two decades.

I hope I never have to go through the persecution they did, and if I do I pray for the strength to endure.  But regardless I hope to have the poise, impact and legacy people like her have on others.  It seems to take a lifetime. 

You can bury yourself in stuff, in career advancement, in cosmetic procedures.  But I hope when I do have a family, I can relay what’s been sown in me.