September 21, 2009

Please excuse the jumble of statements that may appear, I want to write, but I have no idea what about. I am writing as it comes. Father, give my words clarity. 

As I am listening to it storm, my heart is comforted. I am reading everyone’s status of how they are tired of all this rain and the flooding that it has caused, but I fear that I am a bit strange when I say, I LOVE IT! Keep it coming Lord! I am taking this rain as a reminder of his faithfulness. This morning, Tom started a series called “Calling All Dreamers.” He mentioned Noah and the ark, and the fact that everyone thought he was crazy, because there was no rain. Noah acted upon his faith and his belief that God would express his devotion and fulfill his promise. 
In my own life, I am waiting for “rain.” I am in what you could call the wilderness stage. I feel the Lord is putting me into this time of struggle. I can’t describe it but Song of Songs and Hosea can!
Song of Songs 5:6,8
“I opened for my lover; but my lover had left; he was gone. 
My heart sank at his departure. I looked for him but did not find him. 
I called him but he did not answer. “
“O daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you- if you find my lover what will you tell him?
Tell Him I am faint with love.”

Hosea 2:14-16, 19-20
“Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth as in the day she came up out of Egypt. “In that day,” declares the Lord, “you will call me ‘my husband;’ you will no longer call me my master.” I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice; in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness and you will acknowledge the Lord.”

I am in this place for a reason. This morning as we looked at Mark 4:13-20, and the different soil/heart. The shallow heart specifically, got me. I just want to jump into everything. In my own timing obviously. When I first started learning about the Holy Spirit and how AWESOME he is, I wanted to jump right into it. I am very passionate, and a little rash and extemporaneous sometimes. In this “shallow heart” stage or season, there is suffering. However, it was such a strong statement, Tom said, If you are going through difficulty he has seen character that he can trust, so that he can use you. He is going to take us into that difficulty, and he is going to shake what can be shaken and use what is unshakable. Yeah! Strong! (He is also calling us into a deeper and more intimate understanding of Him through this suffering! But thats another awesome story!) During ministry time, I was told that God might have small things that he wants for me to receive, before I get the BIG thing! One of these “small things” has been the unfathomable truth that He delights in us! He loves AND likes us! He finds pleasure in us! A few weeks ago, some friends and I were just having time with the Lord! It was awesome! He showed up in a basement in big ways! That night, I felt very distant from him at first, and I was experiencing an array of emotions. Ps. 84:1-2 “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God!” My heart was just aching and longing and he just spoke over me, “You are mine, and thats enough.” WOW! Shut up! Can He get any better?! Since then God has just been reiterating that throughout my life. He has done this with different messages, people, and verses… 
Psalm 139:1-7, 13-14
O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Song of Songs 5:2
“….Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one”

Ephesians 1:3-6
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will- to the praise of his glorious grace which he has freely given us in the One he loves. “
Isaiah 61:3
and provide for those who grieve in Zion— 
to bestow on them a crown of beauty 
instead of ashes, 
the oil of gladness 
instead of mourning, 
and a garment of praise 
instead of a spirit of despair. 
They will be called oaks of righteousness, 
a planting of the LORD 
for the display of his splendor.

During this wilderness time, it has been tiring. I have grown weary. Its been emotional. I am ready to be over it, but now I am not necessarily looking to get out of it, just through it. (Another powerful statement from this morning! Man I am immensely blessed to be where I am!) I am still struggling in the acting on the faith that I will not always be in the wilderness. This is just the beginning. Just like one of my new favorite songs says, “I’ve only just begun to worship him!” He has so much more in store for His kingdom, and I can’t wait to see where he chooses to place me. This is just a season. 
What do I do from here? Keep seeking! 
Ephesians 5:10
(Live as children of light) “and find out what pleases the Lord.”
Just like in Hosea 6:3, where it says, “Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.” As surely as the rain comes, I know He will return. 

Joel 2:12-13, 19, 23
“Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with ALL your hear, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love and he relents from sending calamity.
The Lord will reply to them:
“I am sending you grain, new wine and oil, enough to satisfy you fully; never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations.”
“Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains in righteousness. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.”

August 7, 2009

(Yes, that is a very gross note title, but I have to write what the Lord gave me.)

The other day, I was thinking about what I used to be like spiritually. Just a few months ago, I was comfortable with my religion. I was mainly spiritually numb. The turn around in my life, really began to start when I went to Jesus Culture in June. The Lord really broke me of some chains that night. Chains of tradition, rules, and boundaries. That night the Lord convicted me of being apathetic. I felt as though I had no emotions anymore. I felt like there was this brick wall that was holding me back. I couldn’t cry. I didn’t feel. I can remember the term “dead skin” repeating over and over in my head. So that night I began to pray. And I kept praying for my heart. It had become emotionless, and unmoved. Again, the Holy Spirit kept whispering “dead skin” in my ear. Honestly, it kind of confused me… but I prayed, “Remove this layer of dead skin that surrounds my heart.” Not really sure what it meant. After time, it had just become part of my prayers to ask God for a renewal of my heart and to lose my apathetic spirit. So much that I had almost forgotten about it. 
Then three weeks ago, God really (randomly) called me to fight abortion. I remember I was praying and reflecting on the message I had just heard about “the deception from the enemy.” It was exactly what I needed to hear that morning too. (That was such a good sunday!) Anyways, God interrupted my constant talking and told me to fight abortion. His voice was so clear. So, I thought, “Ok… Whatever. Sounds good. I would love to do that.” I knew God called me to fight it, so I needed to know what I was fighting. So I researched it. Since that Sunday, I have never cried so much in my life. I cry when someone mentions abortion or someone talks about miscarriages. I feel like a weight is on my heart when I think about it. I feel. I cry. A lot. and for a few days, I didn’t understand why. 
I remembered the prayer that I had prayed so often. God had removed that dead skin. I looked up an article on dead skin… as gross as that sounds… but here is what I read: “So, how do dead skin cells impact the skin’s health? As the dead skin cells build up on the surface of the skin, they have the potential to act as a barrier to absorption of nutrients.” He removed that dead skin so that I could absorb what he has for me. So that I can hear what he is calling me to do. So I can feel, not just my feelings, but for others. That I can love others. I can have emotions for others. I am motivated and concerned. 
My prayer now is that I will no longer use apathy as an excuse. That I would go after God’s heart whole-heartedly (with no barriers!). I delight in His presence and to hear his words. I am excited to be a vessel in the Kingdom. I am concerned for the eternity of others. After writing this blog, I have the urge to go out and pray for a bunch of strangers and go on a treasure hunt… and just be crazy weird. Crazy like Jesus. To do what he did, through the power of the Holy Spirit. I had been deceived, that I had no power; Satan had fed me lies that I was powerless. I had believed those lies. My heart has been renewed. My faith- restored. And I say these things that you, my friends would hold me accountable. Don’t let me sink back into my cowardice, or desensitized timidity. I have come to the realization that God isn’t going to use me unless, I jump off the edge in complete and total surrender and abandonment.

Yesterday I sold my car. This was my first car that I had bought. I had it for two years and I loved that car. The car itself wasn’t that grandiose, but I loved the time I spent in that car. I remember the frustration I felt when I first got the car because I was still learning how to drive a stick shift. One afternoon in particular,  I remember being discouraged almost to the point of tears. After two weeks of practicing and my mom forcing me to drive it, I fell in love. I still was a little uneasy about hills and traffic, so I would go the most out of the way detour to avoid both of those things. I can remember the way it first smelled, when I bought it, back in the day when I worked at Chick-fil-a. I remember last summer when Rissa lived with me, and we had some awesome music time. Everytime we got in the car, Ris would either play “Love in this Club,” and “Four Minutes.” Good times. There was another time when dearest Kayla and I went on a fun photography outing, and I locked my keys in the car. So we sat on a freezing bench and got some weird looks.  I used to always carry my laundry in my car because we were trying to sell my house, and even once we sold it, I managed to keep extra clothes or blankets in the trunk. Doss and Kayla will remember the time when we were star gazing and it got too cold out side so we all tried to lay down in the hatchback with the seats folded down. Again… strange looks. 

   My favorite times however, were the alone times that I spent just driving in my car. Its an escape for me; I love to drive. I love my trips to Savannah; in that four hour drive, I can cry out to God or drive silently to listen to what he has to say. There are certain things that I do to relieve stress: cry, drive, organize or do laundry. A combination of both crying and driving, usually wins the toss. Its the best. If you have never done it, try it. 

   I guess the reason why I am so fond of my old car, is because of the time in my life that I had it. Like I said, I had it for about two years and I have changed so much since then. My personality really changed during that time.. I used to be VERY shy and introverted. I have gotten to know myself better. Recently, however, my life has changed radically. Just in the past few months, I have simply embraced my relationship with God.  I can’t help but be thankful for God beckoning me to Him and calling me into His presence. I have gone from longing for a boyfriend, and riches, to longing for the glory of the Lord, and spiritual gifts. I am so excited to keep growing and blossoming into all that God has for me. 

Thats my little rant. I blog every now and then. I got to blog tonight because, I finished my homework for the week today, so I had free time! I was about to not publish this one because it is somewhat pointless, but I spent time on it, so I might as well.

That is the best title I can come up with. 

It makes me laugh, because it reminds me of this Kanye West song featuring John Mayer. There is a video on youtube that goes with it. Makes me think of last summer with Riss. I miss you doll.  

This week was a little Bittersweet. I had some crummy situations present themselves to me, but it didn’t affect me too deeply. The Holy Spirit has truly comforted me in my time of need and the Lord has provided encouragement, thanks to different opportunities and some awesome friends who are willing to listen to the Him. In my ECE 103 class, we were talking about depression. My teacher explained depression as being in certain situations and circumstances, where you know you should be happy but you are not. I find that I am reverse depressed. I find myself in situations where the old me, or the “flesh” me would be gloomy and moody for days, allowing myself to wallow in self pity or facing something where I know I should be sad. Now, I just accept whatever trials I face, and I face it with joy. This may be partially because of my laid back tendency, but this goes against my introverted and melancholy self. That is truly a God thing. The Holy Spirit provides joy!  John 15:11 “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” I find I have so much to be thankful for and I should not dwell on what I do not have. God has opened a new door for me to take, and it is going to be scary. Something new is always difficult, but at the same time, it is thrilling. This “open door” is bittersweet. Bitter to leave something behind, but it is sweet to face something new. Though there may be trials and adversity, I am going to face it with Heavenly Joy. 

I have also been really embracing being a daughter of God! I was just reading some of  Proverbs 31… Inspiration for a woman. I am also just really taking advantage of being single! Yes, I am a girl and I desire that romance, but I will have the rest of my life for that. Just like 1 Corinthians 7:34; it basically says an unmarried woman can devote herself wholly to the Lord, both body and soul, and be concerned of the Lords affairs, while a married woman has to also please her husband. Right now I am focusing all my desires for companionship and love towards the Holy Spirit, who the Lord sent to us. Oh How I grateful I am for the Holy Spirit! Such a comforter!

This past week I have been reading Matthew. It has been awesome! As Christians our goal is to live like Christ, but if you were like me, you don’t really know what that is like. I have learned a lot about Christ and how he lived.

Have any of y’all seen the Vintage Jesus videos? I seriously think that is how most Christians and Non-Christians view Jesus. (If you haven’t seen the videos, they are these short clips of old Bible movies, with voice-overs. It makes Jesus look very weak, timid, legalistic and arrogant. A church made these videos to demonstrate that this isn’t what Jesus is like, but with some comedic relief. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAb8qoXraGw&feature=related  You can take it either way…) Take a look at Matthew. He was not some conservative Christian. He is very blunt in his delivery and does not care what other people think. (I have been clinging to his words that he spoke in Matthew 10:22- “All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”) One of my favorite things to read was Matthew 21:18. Read it. To me it shows both his human-ness and his power, plus the power we possess as Christians through the Holy Spirit. Just read it. So much to be learned in four verses! 

Ok let me just say, I take a lot of time to write blogs. It may take me a few hours or days. In the case of this blog… a few days. And boy, has it been an awesome few days! Man the Lord has been at work! This morning, He confirmed something major at church. Just some awesome testimonies that go right along with my feelings of joy! Its so awesome to have other people in the body who feel the same way you do. Then tonight, my dear friend Timothy spoke at his church. And oh my goodness! Shaka! The Holy Spirit was there! No doubt of that! I prayed for conviction at the beginning of the service, and He gave it to me. (He is always faithful in that way) Through Timothy, He showed me I need to let go of my fear to be all that He has called me to be. I thought he was done and then he dropped the “P” word on me… Pride. That was a bit mind blowing. I had never thought I had pride, but the Lord revealed it to me! He revealed a whole lot more, but I am still letting it sink in. Man the Lord was there speaking to us! 

I think  I am finally getting to a stopping point. I don’t want to bore anyone. I could keep going on about how good he is… but if you know him you know.

 I got a new camera! So I will take you through my week with pictures!

This week I took a break from Facebook to focus on reading. It was awesome! I never realized how much time I spend on Facebook. I think I may only get on during the weekend. I got to read a lot of Matthew, like I said, and read some of my woman book (“All I Need is Jesus and a Good Pair of Jeans”). I didn’t get to read much of “When Heaven Invades Earth,” unfortunately. I will next week.

Another one of my passions is decorating! I love it! Me and my momma went to IKEA this past Tuesday; Ah I love that place! When I move out or get married, all my furniture and decore will be from IKEA. I LOVE that New York picture! I have had my eye on it for the longest time.

Me and Doss got sushi on Tuesday night; it was delicious. I tried out at new favorite… Shittake Maki. So good.

 I had the pleasure of taking headshots for the lovely Lindsey!

Trish and the stink came into town. This kid is awesome!

This week was the last week of ASP. I am somewhat relieved to have a break from it, but I will miss my kiddos. Can’t wait till next year!

Kayla had a huge get together at her house… it was crazy! So many people! So much fun. Kayla dearest was probably knocked out for two days with all the excitement and people there. She was looking tired, but I am glad she got to be the social butterfly that she is.

Had a good breakfast with my friends and family. Trey was in his element with having all the attention. Have I mentioned I love that kid!? 

Then there was the wedding! I loved getting to be a part of your family and getting to know y’all! Best wishes to you, Chelsea and Russell! 

I promise to blog more! Its such a good way to vent. Happy Memorial Day!

Phew! That year is over; that chapter is closed. Can I just say, I am sort of relieved? What a crazy year! I still cherish all the memories from the past year and still look forward to all God has in store for me in this upcoming year. To catch you up from my last post, after a three year struggle, we sold our house and moved in! We spent Christmas Eve at the new home, of course!

Then there was Christmas… with the Stink. I can’t wait till there are more kids in the family; Christmas isn’t much fun without kids in the mix. It was a good Christmas; plus it was the last Christmas in my old house (sniff, sniff.)

It was a memorable Christmas. I got a lot of stuff for my hope chest: dishes, flatware, cups, and kitchen accessories. Lots of fun!

Then there was New York! Ahhhh… I love that city. This was my third and favorite trip. It was just so much fun to see that amazing city and hangout with your friends in the process. Plus, the place is buzzing with photo opportunities. I have always loved it, and I got to know it much better on this trip.

The Statue of Liberty was amazing! I wish we could have gone inside, but its just as jaw dropping seeing it towering above you. Its such a beautiful symbol, but Lady Liberty, I discovered, is very masculine.

Beth, Beth, Beth. I love her. She is wonderful! I am so glad she went along with having a photoshoot at Ellis Island. Its a beautiful place, and full of history but the architecture is awesome! We had fun!

I loved all the diversity that New York had to offer. The city can be mistaken for rudeness and insensitivity sometimes but if you look past the surface, the people are not as stand offish as they appear.

“Here in these deep city lights, girl could get lost tonight. I’m finding every reason to be gone; nothing here to hold onto. Could I hold onto you?” That Sara Bareilles song was playing on my ipod as we flew home over the city lights of New York. It was an emotionally beautiful moment. So much had been pilling up and this song and the sight I was experiencing brought all that feeling trickling down my face. An overflow of my heart caused by a song and electricity…

I have to apologize- I have gotten into the mindset that no one cares what I write (which is probably true), so I might as well not write a new post on my blog. And I have been very lazy. But I figured I would fill you in on recent happenings especially since it is close to the end of the year. First off, our house sold. FINALLY! But it is very sad, I love this house and the memories made in it. As I am typing this, I am bundled on the sofa, watching the Christmas lights flicker on the tree and the flames of the fire warm the room. This home is beautiful during Christmas- I love it. However, I really like our new house… Its adorable and has so much character! Secondly, In January I am starting school at North Metro Tech! I’m so excited; I’m a nerd who likes school. Yep. I love learning and being busy. Next semester, I am definitely going to be busy. I am going to school from Monday to Thursday then I will have work, and my nights are usually always busy during the week. Plus I am going to be traveling to Savannah at least twice a month, maybe more. Though I am really sad that Mark, Trish and Trey are leaving, I am pretty excited about driving down there a lot! But I am trying to have a positive outlook on everything. It really makes everything bad when you look negatively on anything that happens to you; that is something that I have been realizing recently. God didn’t have to put me in my situation and bless me with amazing friends and family, but he did. So to end this year (since I probably won’t blog again, based on my past blogging history,) that is how I am setting my outlook on life. 

Seeing as how it has been so long I am going to take you on a tour of the past month or so.

This is Nana. We went to tea one day before Thanksgiving and enjoyed a lot of laughs. She was pretty hilarious this day. I really like hanging out with her, which is sorta new for us. I love her and finally appreciate her.

Me and Trey: This was fun. I rarely get in front of the camera, but I didn’t have many pictures of me and the stink so I figured it wouldn’t hurt just this once.

I did a photoshoot of the Marbut family! They are a beautiful family with a sweet baby boy and a fun loving four year old.

Like I said, I was accepted into North Metro Tech. It is not that great of a school but I am excited. I am getting a degree in Visual Communications which is basically web design and such. If that makes sense. But I had to take a picture to commemorate that exciting moment.

My lovely friends and I have been spending a lot of time together, and recently we went to ru sans and boy was it good! Afterwards we went to Kayla’s house for lunar proximity. We partied like it was 1993. 

Thats the baked California roll, shrimp serviche maki, and pickled cucumber maki. And to clarify, I split this with Elise, I don’t eat that much or spend that much (even though that cost us both $5!)

I recently died my hair red… again. Elise, my best friend and hair stylist, put red low lights in my hair. She did an awesome job! Here is a picture of me and one of the sweetest little girls from work, my red hair really pops in this picture!

This past weekend, me and some cool folks went to see Manchester Orchestra, All Get Out, Kevin Devine, and Dead Confederate in concert. Manchester was awesome! We had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the concert!

I promise I will update soon! I am moving in a few days so I will have pics of that, Christmas and my trip to New York. So be expecting some pictures of this busy and exciting time of year!

 I am enjoying Maverick, a lot! My favorite thing right now is ichat. I love it! I get to talk to my heffa every now and then. And just to clarify “heffa” is one of our many nicknames for each other, so she is not offended when I call her this, and vice versa.

 I am experimenting with an editing program by apple, Aperture 2, I have in the past watched many video tutorials on the program but so far I am not pleased at all! I still have about fifteen days left on the trial period but I do not think I will be purchasing it. I am leaning towards Adobe Photoshop Lightroom but I am not sure.

Speaking of photography, I am trying to find a second job. I want to work at a studio but I don’t want to work at the typical photography studio that specializes in yearbook photos, you know. I am desiring experience and exposure to the world of photography.

Here is a recent pic of the cutest baby ever, aka Trey, my nephew.

   My sister, Trisha, tells me that if I want a good blog that I should post more often. This is me posting more often. I usually think I don’t have anything to say, but once I start typing, the words start coming, which doesn’t make sense, since I am usually not one to say much. I guess people should just read my blog. 

   Ok, one important tid-bit about my life right now, I am now a mac owner. It is a beautiful thing. I never thought I could love a machine so much. I was wrong. After many sleepless nights, tossing and turning over what to name this five pound piece of heaven, I finally came to a conclusion one night while watching my favorite show, Saturday Night Live. Its name is Maverick. Mainly because I bought this jaw-dropping device during the spur of the 2008 Presidential Election. Even though I will unfortunately not be able to vote, I am a fervent supporter of  John McCain and Sarah Palin. I am also a big fan of Tina Fey. So that is why  I named it Maverick. If you don’t understand, try paying attention to the election or at least Saturday Night Live. 

   I am trying to get my photography up and going. So if you know of anyone needing senior pictures, a family shoot, baby pictures, pregnancy pictures… whatever, let me know. Go to my flickr at www.flickr.com/photos/mollyab. I am about to get a good photo editing program so we will see how it goes. I am mainly just working on getting more experience and more work for my portfolio. 

   Last weekend Me, Trish and Mark (and Trey) of course headed to savannah. On this visit we went to look at houses and go to Canvas core group (http://www.savannahcanvas.com.) Markus spoke on journey, and the importance of journey groups. He referenced Acts 2:42, which emphasizes the importance of fellowship, eating together and praying together. That is one thing that i will miss once i move to savannah, is my journey/small group. My best friends are my small group. I have some of the greatest friends. Though Jesus is my everything and I am soley dependent on him (at least i try to be most of the time…), I still thrive for those relationships. Its funny when I think about how the group has changed in the past four years. I first started going with Emma and it was just six of us at the time. Then I told my best friend Kayla she should come… and after about three or four months she did. But it has grown and at the same time gotten smaller but it is just nice to have some girls to talk to and keep each other accountable. My youth group is amazing too. Sunday night,  Mark brought attention to the fact that we should eat together and I love to eat.. so I really agree with this. Every sunday night after Reckless we always go out to eat and though I shouldn’t always do it because of my shrinking bank account and my growing waistline, I cannot tell you how many relationships have been accumulated or strengthened in this time. Its just fun and I think too many times we focus on just going to church and thats it. But as christians we just need time to hangout and socialize. I tend to undermine journey groups too much sometimes and recently I have been missing my journey group and I have been busy but there shouldn’t be an excuse. I have noticed in the last month or so that I have been absent from journey group, God has been a little absent in my life too. I just wanted to continue and be grateful for the amazing group of friends that God has given me and to step up and not only do what God has told us to do but just enjoy the time I have with other Christians.

   Ironically, I have to admit that I missed journey group this week. I have been sick and in need of some family time. Some times it is just also good to rest. Last night Kayla and I, along with some other folks from Genesis, went to Beth Hallel (http://www.bethhallel.org/) for Erev Shabbat. And Rabbi Kevin spoke on “rest.” Though, I am not converting to Judaism anytime soon, I still felt that his message applied to me. Being sick will make you stop. I am not one to sleep in, but on both Thursday and Friday, I slept until 10 and it felt amazing. I felt 95% cured from my cold just because I had gotten about eleven hours of sleep. Its such a simple solution too. Anyways, this synagogue was really cool. It is a messianic jewish synagogue, which means that they believe in Christ and that he is the Messiah. Almost half of the service was in Hebrew, which sounded very foreign but amazing. Of course, most was translated but it was just neat to see the my roots as a Christian and to participate in a service like that of which Christ would have been in, chanting the same verses and excerpts of the Torah. As much as I adore my church, I think a lot of churches have lost that reverance that I saw last night at Beth Hallel. I believe we sometimes become to comfortable and casual in God’s house. I’m not trying to condemn modern or contemporary churches, but I am just saying it was nice to step back and remember that God is present and ready to be praised and glorified in these holy places. For instance, they had a tradition, the opening of the Ark ( I believe that is what it was called.) Two ushers come and open the doors of this wardrobe-looking-thing, and it has two velvet curtains that drape the three Torahs that they have, two of which were Holocaust survivors (a bit of cool trivia for you.) Each covered with symbolic items such as the breastplate with the 12 tribes symbols, and the crowns and shawls with bells and pomegranates. Today I have just been researching Judaism and different religions. I am really interested in learning about other religions now. I am just rambling now. It was just an awesome experience to worship with fellow believers in a way that maybe we are not as used to as Christians, but I would suggest you (whoever is reading this) go and just remember we are ONE body meant to serve ONE God (or G-D as the Jews would write it. Ok, I’m sorry I will stop with the Jewish culture trivia right now.)

And you can also go listen to Mark’s message on iTunes. Just type in Canvas Church in the iTunes search bar and look under podcasts!

So I spent all day looking at a bunch of photographer’s sites and they all titled their blogs like mine. I found it would be funny seeing as how they are my family, it sounds so professional. And it should, I was paid for this shoot, paid in dinner which is perfectly fine with me. I will work for food anyday. Anyways, these folks are not only family but my best friends. And this kid… lets just say I am obsessed with him. He is the cutest baby I have ever seen and the coolest. He has so much personality for an almost three month old baby. He was especially cute tonight because he was just wide awake, taking in everything as we were walking through Marietta Square.

This is really gross, but I just couldn’t resist.