Pause

Here's an article I just read & loved! This quote from the article stuck with me:

"A journalist once asked the Trappist monk, Thomas Merton to diagnose the leading spiritual disease of our time and he gave a curious, one-word reply: ‘Efficiency’."

Hmmm...

P.S. The picture of the ocean is just a bonus.

this guy

See this guy*? He is wonderful. Why, you ask? Because this afternoon he bought me a plane ticket to go to Minnesota in June. Why does that make him wonderful? Because he knew that I wanted to go to my sister's sister-in-law Katie's wedding for the chance to not only see her become wedded into nuptial bliss, but to also spend some quality time with my family, who will all be there. That is why he is wonderful, and generous, and loving, and self-sacrificing, and...many other things.

*A note about the picture: this was taken immediately after Andrew finished the book The Great Divorce. His reactions to things are so fun to experience. He loved this book & after he finished I heard him laughing and exclaiming & I just happened to have my camera handy & snapped this photo. Another reason that makes him wonderful: he has great taste in books.

on the side

Know how people are known for something but then they do something completely different on the side? Like my friend John. He works at a credit union (credit unions are still dear to my heart, yes I mean you SCFCU, R.I.P.), is engaged to my very talented & beautiful friend Kristin, and on the side he makes cakes. Cakes like this:

And there's my friend Jenni. She is an indispensable friend and counselor to teenagers, an avid crafter, and she crochets ninja action figures of Burn Pattern on the side. What a girl! Fruit of Jenni's labor/Cory & Josh action figures below:

Can't forget my husband. He's a college student in his last term at school, a worship leader at our church, and on the side, he's in (at least one) progressive rock band. Did I get that right babe? Progressive rock with a hardcore edge? Anyway, he screams in some of the songs & it's really impressive and gravelly. The band is called Without a Poet. Here's a photo of them at their first show last week (thanks Kaylene for taking awesome pictures for me!) :

What do I do on the side? Things like make bread, devour cookbooks as if they were food themselves, make crafts, the usual. One other thing (Finally! The crux of this post is coming!) is something called Campus America. I'm the stand-in state coordinator for Oregon, fumbling through the process of encouraging students in Oregon to pray & be part of an unbroken year of prayer in the U.S. during 2010. We've got three colleges/universities on board already, which I am very thankful for. I recently started another blog devoted to Campus Oregon & updates or background on what's happening, so we'll see where that goes. If you're interested in taking a peek, click here, and leave a comment to encourage me with it! :) It's in very early stages but I hope to keep adding to it, so keep checking it out. If you know Oregonian students who might be interested in it, tell them about it, or if you know students from out of state who'd have a heart for prayer in their universities, click on the Campus America pic below.

There you go. It's fun to think what you do on the side could play an instrumental part in your future. I'm expecting as much for my husband's music & hoping I can be a blessing to Campus Oregon, fumbling as I am.

Psalm

a surprise discovered

surprising but welcome
hope and excitement and apprehension
mixed signals
now is the time to praise
hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest

faint lines
waiting and waiting
praying
receiving prayer
counting the days
studying and hearing stories
getting advice

confusion and limbo
preparing ourselves
blank
shock. grief. sobs. hope gone.
whispering
"we trust You. we trust You. we trust You..."
confirmation it's over
finished before really beginning
but it's time to praise
hosanna...hosanna...
hallelujah

a name decided: Psalm
yes now is the time to praise
support and empathy received
hugs that make me tear up
uncertain future
grieving but must still hope
moody but working on it
and it is time to praise

Why so downcast O my soul, why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.
Psalm 42:11

these are some things we've been doing lately

Since I've been lacking with my own words lately, here are some pictures of some things we've been doing in the last couple of weeks.

I've been reading plays like "The Miracle Worker" (about Helen Keller) while we waited for a baby to be born.

Here's the handsome family! Andrew (another one!) & Laryn with their baby girl Lyric.

Andrew getting some baby time.

I (while Andrew had a barbecue with the guys) helped my friend Coralie throw a green themed tea party the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day.

My friend John made the shamrock cake. Chocolate mint with ganache filling
and it was vegan too!

We have eaten broiled grapefruit.

We've worn green for St. Patrick's Day.

We visited IKEA.

Spent some quality time at Powell's Books in Portland with my cousin Brianna & Aunt Sue. Breezy & I are here in the cookbook section.

And enjoyed a delicious dinner on St. Patrick's Day with our visiting relatives. It was such a fun time! I'm so thankful for visiting family, and for spring breaks that make visits like this one possible.

Also been thinking about how I can encourage my man with his music. I'm attempting to be more vocal about this & to demonstrate with my actions that I can gladly make room in our lives for him to create & pursue his dream. Working on it. Last night Andrew helped his friend Josh by playing in his band for a show last night. During & after the time they were performing, two people we respect very much (yay Ray & Becki!) came up to me & said what a great bass player Andrew is, how there's something about his bass playing that stands out from other bassists. I think so too, but it's not only with his playing of the bass. It's also with his singing, his guitar playing, his songwriting, his screamo-ing, his roaring.
He was meant for this.

sabbath sentiment

"This is my Sunday closet," she said, showing him shelves filled with picture-books, paint boxes, architectural blocks, little diaries, and materials for letter-writing. "I want my boys to love Sunday, to find it a peaceful pleasant day, when they can rest from common study and play, yet enjoy quiet pleasures, and learn, in simple ways, lessons more important than any taught in school. Do you understand me?" she asked, watching Nat's attentive face.

"You mean to be good?" he said, after hesitating a minute.

"Yes; to be good, and to love to be good. It is hard work sometimes, I know very well; but we all help one another and so we get on."

--Jo (March) Bhaer speaking to Nat, the new boy at her Plumfield school
Excerpt from Little Men by Louisa May Alcott

Hope you had a pleasant, good Sabbath!

braving the Beauty through prayer for colleges

Thursday Feb 25th is the collegiate day of prayer, a day set aside for focused prayer for our university & college campuses, for reawakening of the God-honoring foundations many of our colleges were established upon. That's flowery language for: colleges-liked God in the beginning, now not so much, let's get there again!

For more info on what the heck this is about, visit www.collegiatedayofprayer.org. Register to let them know you're praying.

Will you join me in braving the Beauty by praying too?

Thanks for reading!