It's Never Too Late to Change - Delve

Hi, I make New Years Resolutions on the 26th of January instead of the 1st. This year, I said that I wasn't going to do any New Years Resolutions. In the last few weeks though, I've changed my mind. In fact, I may have made twelve resolutions...

Reading all the beginning of the year blogs and talking to my friends, Andrea and TeeJay, about all the options of the new year made me desire to actually do something. I've ended up combining a few of my favorite New Years Ideas including Jon Acuff's Finish Year with Words of the Year (Up, Grow, Delightful) and Andrea's sister-in-laws Twelve for Twelve - Twelve Resolutions for the year 2012. 

I'm kind of excited about this. I mean, it's all still new. It is still January. I know making a New Years resolution-ish blog post so close to February is a little iffy, but that's okay!


Twelve for Twelve
They are: Books, 5K, Quotes, Blog, Create, Learn, Gratefulness, Minimize, Handmade, Intentionality, No, Word.

1. Finish Year: Books I've Already Started.
I am positive that I am not the only person with a reading problem. I used to devour full books in a day, now I can't even stumble through reading a full book in a year. I have a knack that no matter how much I am enjoying any particular read, I will stop at Chapter 3. Okay, that's being way too lenient. I usually stop after Chapter 1. I made it to the first page of Chapter 4 on Redeeming Love so in my mind, all the books I've ever started that ended up in piles of books on my nightstand or in my car were all immediately jumped to that first page of Chapter 4. This is exactly how I missed a full half of one of the Harry Potter books. (For the record, I figured it out because of the confusion my mind was in during the movie.) For Finish Year: Books, I will attempt to finally finish all those books that got left behind after that first chapter or so.

2. Finish Year: Work Out More - 5K.
I ran a half marathon once. Okay, okay, I sprinted about 5 minutes during a half marathon that I walked. That does seem quite different now that I think about it. My goal is to run a 5K in its entirety by the end of 2012. I'm going to start slow by walking the majority of one next weekend, but we all have to start somewhere.

3. Finish Year: Quote Book.
I started a quote book when I was in high school. This is really just a green journal that I wrote down a few quotes I liked and has now expanded to a huge list including sections of books that challenge, inspire and make me laugh. I want to fill up the whole thing with quotes from the books I read for Finish Year, scriptures that are near to m heart, favorited tweets and other quotes I've heard or seen around Pinterest.

4. Blog More. Regularly. Intentionally.
You agree on this one, right? I wish I had gotten paid this last semester for every time someone asked me when I was going to update again. I don't want this blog to be a place where I update when I feel like I have the time. I want it to be intentional. I stink at journaling because my hand cramps up, but I can type all day plus I have things to say to the world, whether I always believe it or not. Here's to blogging more regularly!

5. Create.
I was really good at favorite-ing food items on Foodgawker last semester. I was really good at adding blogs to the bookmarks on my computer to come back and look at, cook the recipe of, or craft from, etc. Now after having held out for almost a year, I am finally on Pinterest. (You can follow me here.) It's dumb to have all these great ideas and recipes at my fingertips and not utilize any of them. That is what I will strive to do, whether it's a recipe, craft or whatnot as often as I can.

6. Learn.
Confession time. (Although, my whole 12 for 12 may be one big confession really). I have an awesome camera with access to a ton of great resources and I don't utilize these resources nearly enough. I have a desire to speak Spanish even more fluently yet never practice. I want to be able to tell you what wrong with my car but I just never read up on it. I want to be able to do ________, yet I just don't. For all those things I need to practice or learn, this is their spot in my next year. Can't say it will be perfectly done, but I want to at least put forth an effort.

7. Minimize & Organize.
I have a bunch of stuff I don't need or even have the desire to still have as well as things that are silly but I still want to hold on to. Jeans that don't fit? Yeah, it's time to part ways with you. Piles of ticket stubs in drawers? Let's get you in a book or something. Every card I've gotten in my life? The full drawer is nice, but let's find you a better home. I need to give away and declutter. I need to organize and repurpose.

8. Gratefulness.
'Hi I'm American!' seems to be synonymous with 'Hello, I'm ungrateful.' I want to use up a bunch of thank you notes this year not only so I can get new ones, but because there are a ton of people that could use the encouragement, gratitude and even a Sunday funnie in a letter to brighten up their day. I wan to give that to them.

9. Handmade.
Ever go into a friends house and you can practically see the store layouts of where they got them and which of your other friends also owns it? No? It may just be me and my problem with noticing things at stores right after seeing them at a friends house. It's like individuality has gone out the window with all these brands (Sorry to rag on you Target. You know I love you as I have my fair share of Target buys littering my home). The favorite gifts I've given these last 2 years have been homemade gifts. This is the year I want to try to give as many homemade gifts as possible (although there will be some exceptions!)

10. Intentionality in Relationships.
You can say I'm good at this. You can say I'm terrible at this. Both statements are true. How? I'm really good with being intentional in some relationships and not so intentional in other ones. Why can't I just be intentional in all of them? Its ridiculously hard for sure, but their are definitely some friends that I have allowed to be stranded by the wayside during tough crunch times. (Also, shout out and thank you to all of those whom were more than willing to change our coffee dates into picking out diploma frames, running errands, etc. You know who you are and you are amazing!) This year though, I want to try my best to be fully present during hangouts and opportunities I have with family, friends and strangers. This will be a work in progress, possibly forever.

11. Say No & Relax.
This is for sure going to be the most difficult thing to do. I think it's pretty self explanatory but do more downtime rather than running at 97 miles per hour just because I can. All the running, chaos and last minute plans cause burn out and that's not good to cope with. Why not forgo all that and just rest some before the burn out? Brilliant. This is going to be so hard. 

12. Word.
Delve into the word. This one is also pretty self explanatory, but I really want to get inside the stories of the Bible and really develop not just a relationship with God, but truly a deep intimacy with the scriptures to go alongside of it.

& The one word that sums it all up for me? Delve

 Also, if you've made it this far, enjoy the 2011 Twitter Timeline Review.

The Unphotographed Four. & Midterms!

Four. Four days on my 365 went unphotographed.
This is okay though. I knew that I would miss days starting the project and I decided to not hold it over my head. Missing days happens and it will not be the end of my world. Plus, I usually don't just take one picture most days, so it's not like I'm not getting the practice in.

What did I do these days? I believe for two of the days, I hit the hay exhausted. Three days could be counted this way if you wanted to add in my birthday which I ended up taking a nap and waking up the next day. The other day is lost to the imagination as I do not recall at this moment why it went unphotographed. Plus, without a photograph it is as if that day never happened. Just kidding!

I'll probably upload new pictures in a few days. I'm editing right now and then will probably hit the hay. 22 hours of classes isn't meant for humans.

My planner a few weeks back told me this: "I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once." - Jennifer Yane. So true, so true.

Here's to the next 3 weeks of midterms!: 14 tests, 5 homeworks due (doesn't include individual assignments), 1 photo project, 1 research paper outline/thesis/bibliography (If you know me and how I write, the paper will have to be practically done to get this.), 1 JHigh Girls' Bible Study lead, and 1 youth retreat between weeks 1 and 2. Bring it, Midterms, Bring it!

sixteen. seventeen. eighteen.

sixteen. Taco making. I've talked about this a bit before on the blog. Counselors, youth and Dan preparing tacos to hand out to day laborers to show them Jesus' love.

seventeen. Read the quote. Living it this semester. unseenbeauty:encouragingquotes

eighteen.

Mongooses, Cobras & Dragons

The following items have absolutely nothing to do with each other, they are just two things that I have seen and loved this week. It's Saturday. My Saturday hasn't been completely cohesive, yet it has been threaded together just as this video and this quote aren't cohesive but are held together by the fact they are both about animals. Just go with it...

Fairy Tales are more than true;
not because they tell us that dragons exist,
but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.
-G. K. Chesterton

Floating around in my Mind

I really like youth ministry... maybe too much?
I am not the biggest fan of summer school, but it will soon be over.
I am incredibly behind on photography. Never fear, Stephamiah is next!
I want to blog about a myriad of subjects, but I don't seem to have the time.
Time budgeting will be a huge part of my life over the next few weeks.

I believe humans get a lot done,
not because we're smart,
but because we have thumbs so we can make coffee.
- Flash Rosenberg

Consider the Birds

I struggle with a sin called worry. I struggle with a sin called stress. I struggle with anxiety. Over the last few weeks, Jesus and I've been talking about a beautiful thing He did on the cross. He covered my sins: worry, stress and anxiety when he was nailed to the cross. He gave me freedom to live my life and not be a captive to these things. This is kind of an oversimplified explanation of what this means in my life, which I hope to come back and explore in the future.

In the meantime, it's finals week. It's a week where the libraries, coffeeshops, and really any spot on campus gets flooded with people hacking away at a paper on their laptops, readings are being furiously highlighted and many study early into the morning with coffee cups glued to their hands. One common fear binds us all in this. We won't make the necessary grades. We won't do well. We worry, we stress, we give our lives over to anxiety instead of giving it all to God. My WILgroup for ASC has been discussing this a lot lately. Here's some verses that the girls, especially me, are clinging to:

"Look at the ravens. They do not plant or harvest or store food in barns, for God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds! Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And if worry can't accomplish a little thing like that what's the use of worrying over bigger things? ...Don't worry about such things. These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world, but your Father already knows your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need." - Luke 12:24-31

My lovely WILgroup leader, Jana, sent me this the other day on facebook:

"Isaiah 41 starting around verse 21 it talks about idols and at the end it says " Not one of your idols told you this. Not one gave any answer when I asked. See they are all foolish, worthless things. All your idols are as empty as the wind"
-so do not put things above the Lord..those things are of Satan and they are meaningless without God...whatever you do-do it for the Glory of God...so if you are going to study hard to get good grades...do it for HIS glory...not your own..and do not let it consume your thoughts because whatever you think about is what you will care about and what you care about will stir the affections of your heart...I urge you to pray before you study and have the Lord do what he wants with that time..."

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”- Philippians 4:6-7

"For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore... do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own troubles." - Matthew 6:32b-34
^"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:38-39

"I'm leaving you with a gift, peace of mind and heart, and the peace I give isn't fragile like the peace the world gives. So don't be troubled or afraid" - John 14:27

"Come to me all who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest." - Matthew 11:28

"I will never fail you nor forsake you" - Hebrew 13:5

"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." - Galatians 5:1

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." - Joshua 1:9

Freely Loved, Freely Loving

I don't want to discuss immigration anymore after today. Forget the series that never really started. If you want to discuss immigration, one on one, I'd love to sit down with a cup of joe or facebook chat about it all. However, I just wanted to leave you with a quotation from my friend Mikey because I agree with him 110%. This was from our original discussion about immigration way back in October.

“My biggest fear is when I go before the judgment seat of Christ to have been found lacking - that I didn’t go to the least and the last, that I ignored people outside my own door that need Jesus, like illegal immigrants. We’re supposed to love the criminal. Yeah, they’re illegal immigrants, but Jesus still died for them. His grace is sufficient to cover that. Who are you or I to judge them? By feeding them you’re not offering amnesty, you’re offering love - a love that they might not love, but a love that was freely given to us and a love that we must freely give.” - Michael Ryan

What If I...

What if I?
Spread hope and courage, give more than I take, diffuse hatred through love and patience, begin to see others as God sees them, look for beauty all around and within me, reflect on what God has done and is doing, encourage creativity and innovation, practice silence every now and then, live for Jesus instead of me, and invite others in doing so?
-River Bend Youth Camp, July 2007

A picture of where the youth wrote this on a wall or bunk, etc. has been up on one of the tabs on my computer for weeks. I like it a lot.

Need Inspiration? Look No Further.

This posting of links that have impacted me in some way are chock full of the Compassion International bloggers trip to Kenya this past week or so. It's something that I could have easily skipped over and not thought about. I didn't and I hope you won't either.

You can't microwave spiritual formation. That line alone is something I think we all need to hear.

Kenyan for soccer ball. I absolutely loved the Third World Dictionary series from Shaun Groves.

Good Neighbors Don't Pray.

Music of the Masai.

A Father to the Fatherless.

Sight for the Blind.

The parable of the zebra.

Photoshoot on traveling, photography and fun? Yes!

Hobo Living Room. I like pranks. It's a problem.

Wishing the snakes would stop biting. Amen.

& Jeremiah told me to look this up earlier in the week. One of the blogs I follow posted to it as well saying that it was "Stupid Awesome". Agreed.

& Why not share two quotes that have been sitting in a window on my computer all week?

"Maybe the soul is a suitcase that holds the backup plan - a collection of keys and the patience we need to start again. Maybe it’s the thresholds that swallow us whole as we learn to let go, in spite of the dirt on our clothes." - Ryan O’Neal of Sleeping at Last

"If you have a beautiful story, it has to have conflict in it. It has to. We’ve lost touch with that. We are a conflict avoiding culture. One of the things I love about our source text as Christians, the Bible, is that it teaches us not to avoid conflict. It also teaches us that conflict existed before the fall of man, that in paradise there was conflict. It’s not wrong. God wants there to be conflict in your own life." - Donald Miller

Controversy

I hate controversy. Scratch that, I might like controversy a bit more than I wish I did. Sometimes though, I wish everything was just laid out for us in black and white. The world is not set up in that way though as there is a myriad of grey spectrums. However, wouldn't life be boring without those greys?

I just started reading a new, blogosphere renowned blogger this past week and what a week to start reading! Ragamuffin Soul this week dived into an area that most people wouldn't even want to be a bystander in: Homosexuality and the Church. He has addressed this over two days and I encourage you to read them starting with If A Fat Man Can Lead Church, then heading on If A Fat Man Can Lead Church - Ragamuffin Soul's Reply to and ending with his Welcome to Gay and Lesbian Church Leadership Week.

I'm not going to address my opinion's on this issue, if you want to discuss, there's hundreds of comments on Ragamuffin Soul's page for you to pore through. I will say that I fully agree with the following quotation I have painstakingly taken from the video on that last blog though:

"I'm going to sprint towards the things that everyone else in my faith is sprinting from because that's what Christ would have done. ... Dave Gibbons in his book, The Monkey and the Fish, puts it so beautifully in referring to Mark chapter 12 when Jesus was talking about the 2 greatest commandments 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind.' and 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' Dave Gibbons said that the literal, cultural understanding during Jesus' day when he said to love your neighbor as yourself meant to find the person most unlike yourself and relentlessly pursue them in Christ's love. How are we doing that today? In our life? In our faith? In our church? How are we relentlessly pursuing the people most unlike ourselves in Christ's love?" - Andrew Marin

Daring

"Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary." -Cecil Beaton

The Shift in Global Christianity

Last night, I attended a lecture on the The Shift in Global Christianity. I had originally wanted to go, decided against it and then one of my professors emailed me about the extra credit opportunity of attending and writing a summary of this very lecture. I will probably be posting all of my notes on here soon in a very non-cohesive way. In the mean time feel free to be enlightened/challenged by my summary of the lecture that just brushes what's bouncing around in my brain:

I usually hate being given factoids comprised of numbers. When Dr. Jenkins started spitting out at statistics, at first I was weary but this quickly changed. He started spitting out these astounding numbers of how the demographics of Christianity is shifting. In 1900, 1/3 of of the worlds' inhabitants subscribe to Christianity. 80-85% of the Christian population was in North America and Europe. In 2050 the projection of this will still be 1/3 of the world's inhabitants subscribing to Christianity, however, only 25% of the population will be in North America and Europe.

This is a huge demographic shift for Christianity away from ancient lands of Christianity. Where is it going? Africa, Latin America and Asia is where they will be residing, otherwise known as the global south. The big question that Dr. Jenkins seemed to be answering was why? In the future, there will be a larger proportion of people to be living in the world and the demographics will be distributed differently was the short vague answer.

However, there was another answer, a powerful gripping answer that those living in poverty (typically seen to be those located in the global south) have a different take on reading the bible in today's world as well as having a different conversion process. One of the African theologians who I was unable to jot down a name said that “If any African can't identify with their old testament, then they've lost their Africanness.”

Jenkins goes on to talk about the many hymns (upwards of thousands) that we don't know because they are in Swahili and other languages that we do not know. There are 16,000 hymns in the Dinka language alone. It was interesting to hear how the Psalms related the Bible to their actual lives as lions would leave the entrails behind in one of the hymns demonstrated during the presentation. He spoke of how whoever wrote Psalm 126 knew famine and that's what the African people can relate to. They can relate to a widow tearing up her whole house searching for a coin. Reading the bible with a global perspective changed what we otherwise would have thought what the bible was saying to us.

Two other major changes will be that the majority of the world's Christians will be chiefly a poor society. The other being that they will live in a very different spiritual universe than Europe or US, a more charismatic one which believes firmly in healing and exorcisms. Also, instead of the U.S. and Europe sending missionaries to places such as Nigeria, they instead will be sending missionaries to us.

This is going to be a very scary thing for the traditional churches in the U.S. and Europe. The closing remarks were Jenkins talking to a woman who feared the counter current movement of right now saying instead to “Look south. Don't want to? Don't worry, it'll come to you.”

Forever Steal My Heart

When words become unclear,
I shall focus with photographs.
When images become inadequate,
I shall be content with silence.

~Ansel Adams

Ever since my sophomore year of high school, I have been an Ansel Adams fan. There's something about black and white photography that I think will forever steal my heart.

A photograph is an instrument of love and revelation
that must see beneath the surfaces and record the qualities
of nature and humanity which live in all things.
~Ansel Adams

After going on a photoshoot with my friend Calli, who was an excellent companion and gorgeous model, there must be hundreds of photographs that don't make the mark of what I want. However, Ansel Adams made me smile about that:

Twelve significant photographs
in any one year is a good crop.
~Ansel Adams