Motto.

There's nothing I hold onto.

Summer Reading List.

I always create these lists and then never stick to them, or sadly enough replace them with Summer Movies To See, but this summer I have no excuse. I have the books and the time and the need for some intellectual stimulation. Here it goes:

Because I read This Present Darkness and it was extremely eye-opening to the spiritual realm around us (not to mention one of those books you just can't seem to put down.)

Because I studied Dietrich Bonhoeffer in my World Civilizations class last semester and he easily made my top 10 most inspirational people list.

Because I think I read it when I was in middle school but I truly did not appreciate it. I think it deserves to be read again with with new-found urgency.

Because a mentor read some meaty passages from it and I need something to chew on over the dry summer months.

Heavenly.

Favorite album at the moment. So uplifting. So true. So raw.

I'm looking forward to listening to this over and over again while road-tripping from California to Colorado. Perfect music to meditate on His face throughout the summer spent amidst His creation and beauty.

Upcoming adventure.

My wanderlust is finally getting answered! In about a week I'm flying to the Dominican Republic to write the stories and photograph the people. I. Can't. Wait.

Psalm 1.

I want to be like a tree planted by the stream of living water.

Some friends and I went to Pasadena this weekend for a conference and, even though it was cloudy, spring had sprung in full force with beautiful tall trees. Something is growing.

We found a great coffee place full of knick-knacks and treasures.










My favorites.

Movement.

This is what God is doing right now. This is His heart for the nations. This is the movement.

Saint Augustine.

"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page."

History lesson.

From Big Tent revivals to Holy Ghost parties.

Bottom photo by Carter Moore.

Reviv(al)e.

The elements of revival are prayer, tea, and more prayer.

Zinzendorf.

Have you ever heard of this guy? If ever you need a hero to look up to, he would be it. Any of the Moravians would fit the bill. He started a 100 year long prayer meeting in Herrnhut, Germany, and saw God move in revival simply because of his obedience to seek the face of God. Count Zinzendorf is my hero, along with William Wilberforce, but he's a different story.

Send her.

My dear friend Maggie is advancing His Kingdom. If you feel led to, send her some help!

My prayer.

Clouds.

"You were made and set here to give voice to this, your own astonishment." Annie Dillard

"You paint the skies for me to see."

The clouds this week have been absolutely incredible. This doesn't happen in SoCal very often. The sky in Colorado always declared His beauty. Something that I took for granted.

Some things that made me smile this week.

Using these.


The colors. Talk about a proud smirk.

Who is the cutest?

Watching Gilmore Girls season 4 for the millionth time and catching, for the first time, Rory reading Atonement in episode 2. (It's not in this clip by the way.)

The beautiful Australian shepherd in Leap Year. (Not in this clip either.)


Awakening.

One of these.

I saw one of these today. And I saw the whole thing. And it was beautiful. Aw, the treasures God gives us so that He can show us how much He loves us.

Life is wonderful.

Majestic.

It is just so beautiful being at home again. I don't know how I ever left this place. I don't know how I'll ever return to SoCal. Being back at New Life seriously feels like a warm hug around my heart. Familiar faces, comforting worship, encountering the power of God unlike anything I've found at school. Being here at home is a breath of fresh air, literally and metaphorically. The crisp, cool air is revitalizing and rejuvenating.

But I know that God is calling me to a life that lives contentedly wherever I am.

So I need to get out of this comfort-seeking mindset and into one that's up for whatever God is leading me to do. The lifestyle I have chosen, trusting God with every part of my life, is the most exciting and epic lifestyle I could possibly live. He calls me to do crazy and exciting things even though I might be terrified to do them. All that matters is that I stir up the courage it requires. God has me where I am right now for a reason and I should just go at it no matter how hopeless it seems from my perspective.

Here's something for the Beatles lovers.

This is a lovely song by The Civil Wars.

Crazy.

Life is crazy.

It pulls you back and forth, forwards and backwards, and all the while your mind is trying to make sense of it all, but the reality is that we are extremely limited in our points of view, and we rarely know what God has in mind as He orchestrates the whole thing.

The only thing I can do is cling to Him.

Hephzibah.

My delight is in her.

Mmmm hmmm.

James 1:27

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep them from being polluted by the world."

The Girl (#2)

I don't care what you think about Jesus Culture or Bethel. This is a sweet song.