La Chureca Is Holy Ground

Tonight at Disciple, we spoke about the part in Exodus where God speaks to Moses in the burning bush. Moses takes off his sandals because he is on holy ground and hides his face in reverence. Laurinda, our pastor and leader of the study, asked us if there has ever been a time we were on holy ground. Tongue-tied is the only way I can describe that moment as I saw the faces of those that I passed by in La Chureca, the city dump in Managua, Nicaragua, the faces of those that I spoke with, tarped houses for and generally enjoyed. Our team claimed La Chureca in the name of the Lord as his holy ground. Tonight, as Laurinda spoke about holy ground and us being on it, I began to read part of Exodus as if the Lord was speaking directly about La Chureca in the passage.

The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in [La Chureca, the city dump in Managua, Nicaragua]. I have heard them crying out because of [the situation they are in], and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the [oppressors] and to bring them up out of that land [known as La Chureca] into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey ... And now the cry of the [Churecans] has reached me, and I have seen the way the [government] are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you ... to bring my people the [ones I adore] out of [that filth and grime]." - Exodus 3:7-10 NIV

God said, "I've taken a good, long look at the affliction of my people in [La Chureca, the city dump in Managua, Nicaragua]. I've heard their cries for deliverance from [the situation they are in]; I know all about their pain. And now I have come down to help them, pry them loose from the grip of [those who oppress them], get them out of that [dump] and bring them to a good land with wide-open spaces, a land lush with milk and honey ... "The [Churecan] cry for help has come to me, and I've seen for myself how cruelly they're being treated by the [government]. It's time for you to go back: I'm sending you ... to bring my people, the [ones that I adore], out of [the dump]."- Exodus 3:7-10 Message

The Lord is crying out for his beloved people who are living in this filth, grime and oppression as the world turns, having the knowledge of this and yet living life as if it is not a reality but just a fact of life.Wake up, for it is real and Jesus Christ desires to redeem his beloved people of La Chureca.

Great Mornings Start With Photography

I woke up to go get my senior portraits done at A&M today. Loved the photographer they had! He's from Columbia and got his start on photography when he moved to the U.S. with his dad over 20 years ago. It was fun to just talk to him about Spanish and Photography. He let me in on a few secrets on how to fully get into the field and emphasized the necessity of experience. Definitely could use some more of that. It was a wonderful chat and a great start to an extremely hectic day.

& Clyde has absolutely nothing to do with anything,
but he's cute and probably one of my best photography subjects.

Bad Bull

At Texas A&M, when something's bad it's called "bad bull" Well, let me introduce you to something that I would consider to be bad bull. Skechers has decided to become social justice friendly and sell shoes in order to give another person shoes. Sound familiar? No? What about TOMS Shoes? Does that ring a bell? I hope it does. The Skechers shoes are called Bobs and are a direct rip off of the alpargata style of shoe from Argentina that TOMS has made famous.

I'm excited that Skechers has decided to branch out and become more inclined to social justice issues, I'm just not thrilled they decided to do this with ripping off someone elses' idea.

I found this not so fun fact out thanks to Brad Ruggles' blog where he shed some light on the truth of the issue and provided several links. If you go explore it, be sure to read the comments as they are rather insightful.

Praying to one day have TOMS if they ever fit me...

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

Not My Typical Blog Post

There's a crispness in the air that one can just feel as October creeps towards us. For the last few nights, I've gotten home with a chill in the air, a feeling that my fleece will become a permanent piece of my everyday wardrobe soon and a pumpkin spice latte on my mind. (I've never had one, but I really enjoy the smell.) Another thing fall makes me think of is the countless football games I've gone over the years to see my friends play or watch a game with my friends.

Most of my friends know I'm not a huge football fan. I don't go to many sports event period. I do however enjoy going from time to time. I went to the Aggies football game a couple of weeks ago with Elley, our new student director at the church. That game was simply delightful. For those that don't know, Elley is from Kentucky and still learning about Aggieland, which made the game even more enjoyable.

I'm pretty sure no one expected me to write about football this morning. For those of you who don't know, I have a twin sister with down syndrome. Her name is Lori. Lori isn't a big sports girl herself and certainly would never play football, but I saw an article on yahoo the other day that warmed my heart. This is the story of Ike, a boy with downs, and his Varsity football touchdown. Watch the video and read his story. This brought tears to my eyes this morning as it is simply beautiful. These are the football stories I enjoy.

Stephamiah!

Get ready for a photography intensive blog! After months of not having all the pictures edited from Stephanie and Jeremiah's wedding, I have finished! This was such a fun wedding and I'm incredibly happy for these two friends of mine. First, the rehearsal!

Excitement was in the air!

Maybe some nervous butterflies too?

Some preciousness....

And some fun dancing down the aisle after the rehearsal...

The next day started out with some getting ready and being silly
before the wedding commenced!
(Pictures are in no particular order, because I've got to make it to youth soon!)

Something To Really "LIKE"!

For those of you who are not yet aware, I am a youth counselor at A&M UMC. I also love photography and missions. When you put this all together, there's this unique mathematical equation:

youth counselor + love for missions + photography
= joye photography missions fundraising!

Through my photography, I want to express God's creativity in the world around me, as well as introduce the world to things that often go unseen. joyephotography is not a business. It may one day be one, but right now God doesn't have joyephotography or myself in that place. Who knows what he has as far as the future, but for the moment this is not.

Having said this, I am a youth counselor at A&M UMC in College Station, Texas. We are currently trying to raise funds for our Spring Break Youth Mission Trip. All of my photography "proceeds" for the moment will be going directly to this mission trip, either to fund students to get there or for supplies once we are there.

If you'd like a photo session*, I would love to shoot one with you. It doesn't matter what kind of session it is! Portraits, engagements, bridals, weddings, friends, families, kids, newborns, every day life moments, events, sports, retreats, etc. *Each photo session is for a $50 minimum donation for the A&M UMC Spring Break Youth Mission Trip! Get excited! :)

joyephotography is now on facebook if you would like to "like joyephotography" or invite a friend, a dozen friends, or all of your facebook friends to support this cause and get some neat pictures made in the process.