life lately.

of course it's been a while. it seems blogging for me is one of those once a season type things. update on the past, what 3 months, according to picture highlights.

i worked at kanakuk. naturally the only pictures i took were on 24s (time off).

whit and me trying on fedoras in banana

susie whit and i at a precious coffee shop in hollister, mo

hey families welcome to kauai

 while i was kamp i had my 22nd birthday, how can i be this old? my sweet friend judson got this man winder to play at our favorite coffeeshop. total surprise. so fun. 

winder himself 

whit judson and me

speaking of birthdays...my dad built me this amazing cabinet. from nothing. i showed him some pictures on pinterest, drew a little idea out and this is what i got. my dad is great. 

 i moved into a house with my besties. we just laugh all day and never get anything done. whoopsie. 

sometimes we go little crazy and make all of pioneer woman's recipes. like this mac and cheese i made the other night. yes please. 

 and we hike pinnacle.

and we stack our hammocks in our backyard and spend the afternoon reading. 

 then i go visit my favorite girlies three (gracie was asleep when we took this picture) how big and beautiful are they?!

i started nannying a family with two girls. we spend our days going to dance, the library, and the park. 

not too bad. 

xoxo, me

reclaiming adoption

Our union with Christ is indissoluble, unceasing, and determinative at all times and in all places. There is never the smallest fraction of a fraction of a second when we are not living and moving and having our being in union with Jesus. For the believer, union with Christ is everything.

This is a quote from Dan Cruver's book, Reclaiming Adoption. Dan was at an orphan care conference I went to earlier this month where he talked about the theological reason for adoption shown through the trinity. It's all about who we, as believers, are in Christ. The book is about the theology of adoption, who we are through the adoption as sons into the Lord's family, and how to live missionally in God's adoptive love. This book is great. I'm only halfway through the book at this point, it is just so rich and so true. Even if adoption isnt on your radar at all you should read this book. Simply said, it helps believers get a better handle on our identity and mission as children of God.

create.

the desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. no matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before. everyone can create. you don’t need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty. creation brings satisfaction and fulfillment. we develop ourselves and others when we take organized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty.

dieter f uchtdorf

p.s. guess i'm on a quote kick lately. 

quote

So if the work you are creating demands completion before you can find fulfillment, it’s doubtful the creation will be finished, and perhaps more doubtful it will be any good when it’s done. You’ll labor through it, pushing it up a hill like a broken cart. But if you can love the actual work, not the finished product, you’re on to something. If you have a rhythm, if you get up every morning and work for a few hours, and you like the getting up and the work, and you don’t think about how great it will be when it’s done, but rather how great it is every day that you get to get up and do the work, your creation will be tremendous. Don’t think about the finished product. Stop rewarding yourself with something that doesn’t exist, and may never exist. Instead, think about how delightful it is you get to do this, you get to make this, and how delightful it will be to get up and do it again tomorrow.


donald miller

jcrew inspiration

inspired by this tank...

i made a fall/winter long sleeved version. 

now  i wish i would have done a fun printed fabric for the flowers, but i just used old leggings because i wasn't sure how it would turn out.

in honor of movember

via Autumn Scrivner on Pinterest

us.movember.com

blessed

i am too blessed. the Lord has just continued to bless me over and over again in so many ways. i have felt so loved and humbled by His grace in the past couple of weeks-- i know this encouragement is completely from the Lord.

i have been given this lovely community of friends through k-life (a youth ministry i am involved in) who truly seek after God fully and desperately--which is challenging and encouraging all at once. recently some of the other leaders and i have been going through david platt's book, radical. (you've got to read this book!) it is convicting, it is true, and it is heartbreaking. the "american church" is so far from the biblical church it's painful.

as a result of discussion about this book, collectively we are convicted about how easy, acceptable, and sometimes even encouraged it is to stay surface level and not be honest about our lives in the christian world. and we are trying to change that. listen--it is hard to be honest! it is incredibly difficult to share deeply and openly about struggles. about convictions. about hurts. and even about praises. BUT there is no condemnation in Christ. none. and that is exactly where joy and peace begins. and that is where i am comforted and blessed to be once again shown grace even when i absolutely do not deserve it.

the Lord is good.