42 Reasons Why 2013 Was Great:

1. God healed my scoliosis

2. Began learning how to cook

3. A customer from work bought me an amp

4. Got to be pictured in a fun magazine with my friends

5. Went through and completed yet another round of physical therapy, but for the FIRST TIME through without struggling with depression

6. Finally had a classy, vintage-inspired bathing suit custom made for me

7. Got to mentor a pregnant 17-year-old from a youth shelter

8. Went to Colorado

9.  Stood in the snowfall on top of Pike's Peak

10. Explored the Garden Of the Gods

11. Didn't die by the May tornadoes whilst driving through the eye of the storms

12. Sam came home from England

13. Reached year 9 of surviving brain trauma

14. Got the privilege of being a bridesmaid in my dear friends' gorgeous wedding

15. Was the first band to ever play at the Blue Whale national landmark, which apparently opened the door to regular music events now happening there

16. Played my first out of state show

17. Saw MuteMath live

18. Eliza got engaged

19. Cliff jumped and floated down the Illinois River again

20. Got to be a part of the Make a Wish program for a day

21. Spent more time with Jes

22. Rode in a hot air balloon

23. Crash landed in a hot air balloon

24. Found my kitten, Shyamalan

25. Finally released my first and long-time-worked-on album

26. Turned 21

27. Rode an elephant

28. Got back with being involved in feeding the homeless with Mission Tulsa

29. Went to the fair with friends and rode some hilarious rides

30. Rode a horse through the woods

31. Went zip-lining for the first time AND with old ladies

32. Got licked by a giraffe

33. Played with lion cubs

34. Held hands with a monkey

35. Wore the world's greatest costume for Halloween

36. Began taking my self-defense classes

37. Played a show with The Rocketboys

38. Started sponsoring Sylvia

39. Brother Rabbit was featured in 2 newspapers and an online radio station, had albums for sale in 4 stores, and sold roughly under 100 records

40. Got to hold 8 worship services in the Tulsa County Jail

41. Had a lot of much needed bonding time with my beloved band mates

42. Experienced a heck of a lot of emotional healing and also dove in even further into this extraordinary adventure with my Creator

 

Because you can't just be thankful for one thing

A list I compiled of random things in my life as of lately that I am grateful for:


1. Having dinner with my family

2. Eating pancakes at James' with my band mates

3. When Jes makes me tea

4. The moments when Eliza and I are laughing so hard we fear death could even be on the horizon

5. Thursdays

6. Reading my Bible and coming across highlighted text, underlines, and notes I had written in that I forgot about, offering me insight of things I had been learning at the time

7. Parties at Jake and Taylor's house (whilst also listening to vinyl)

8. Huddles with my band before sets

9. The opportunity to portray emotion and people's stories through my photographs

10. Coming home to find a bunch of people at my house (especially when Jeff and Lindsay are in there somewhere)

11. Having deep Jesus conversations with my grandpa

12. Meeting interesting people every day at work

13. Helping/seeing young girls come to know their worth

14. Getting massages

15. When it's close to payday

16. Days when Eliza and I hang out just the two of us

17. The way Gabe tells stories

18. When my co-workers compliment my hair, dress, or lipstick

19. Playing hide and seek in the dark with my brothers

20. Having long, deep conversations with Tye

21. Sleeping at Olivia's house

22. theCrossing

23. How crazy my dad is of my mum

24. The fact that I get to see my chiropractor twice a week for free

25. Praying for strangers

26. Caleb's many laughs

27. Buying people Christmas presents

28. Going to Muskogee with Eliza for the weekend to see Keifton

29. Mentoring kids who need help or an older sibling in their life

30. Colby Roof

31. Meeting other pilgrims in any various,  random setting

32. Mom and Susie days

33. Spending time with Hannah, even if it's sometimes just eating lunch together

34. Movie nights with Sam and Micah

35. Having deep, philosophical conversations with James

36. Helping the "unlovely" realize their incredible value

37. The ability to create

(Photo by Ann Street Studio Photography)

"...And let your living spill over into thanksgiving." - Colossians 2:7 

The blanket that saved my life

Condemnation made its way to me. He was wearing a black suit and hat. He stopped walking when he was right in front of me and stared at me in the face; he was much, much bigger than I. With one hand, he removed the hat from his head and with the other he proceeded to do what I had been dreading all my life up til this point--Condemnation lifted a hand and pointed at me; not past me, not in my general direction, not at the cold, dreary ground...but at me.

The best thing that has ever happened to me occurred then. No one gave me a million dollars, Friday and Saturday didn't become the only days of the week, I didn't wake up on the beach in New Zealand--Someone handed me a blanket saying, "Take this." While sitting baffled and lost in a state of confusion, I then somehow still made the best decision I have ever and will ever make in my entire life. I took the blanket.

The moment I received this strange and unexplainable gift, the Man that offered it to me proceeded to spread it out with His hands and cover my entire body with it. I suddenly didn't feel cold anymore. But the Man didn't leave after He had covered me. He stayed right beside me, extending his arms across me with this warm, cotton quilt. I heard Him say to Condemnation, "This one is Mine." It was then that I recognized this Man from stories I had heard growing up, I had seen glimpses of Him in people that loved others unconditionally and said it was because "He first loved us," but now I was looking right at Him with my own eyes, and all that I had been missing my whole life was right here. His name is ישוע, but I've most commonly heard Him referred to as Jesus.

I learned then that everything has a name, and from inside the blanket I noticed the lettering that I had been ignoring that was stitched into the cotton quilt. It spelled out G-R-A-C-E.

But Condemnation... I forgot about my warmth immediately and poked my head out of the blanket to see if the man in the black suit and hat was still there. And he was! He was still standing over me, holding his hat in one hand and pointing at me with the other. He looked so frightening. The moment my eyes reconnected with him, I felt an unpleasant lump form in my throat. He wanted me more than he did before. And now, not only was he still standing over me, but he was shouting ugly and terrible things. Spit spewed out of his mouth when he hollered.

And though he was frightening, and awful, and convincing, and standing so close to me... he never touched me.

If I stayed under the blanket, he couldn't.

But even though my body was covered and Condemnation couldn't take me anymore, my head was stilling poking out and I was looking at him, hearing him, believing him.

Jesus, still beside me and covering with the blanket, said, "Look to Me. Focus on what I have to say in this present moment and what I have planned for you in your bright and glorious future. Focus on Me and you will not see him."

Receiving Grace saved me, but did not spare me from lies, pointed fingers, accusations, temptations, troubles, or sickness. That is our daily choice-- not whether or not we want them, but what we're going to do in the duration of them. Even after we begin to build a relationship with this magnificent Saviour, the world is still ugly. Wake up, brothers and sisters! Every day we have choices to make, are we going to stare at Condemnation and let his spit and slander splash against our faces? Are we going to let Doubt make a home inside our ears? Are we going to repeat the deception we've been told?

Or are we going to choose to look away and focus our attention on Jesus and what we know is true? It is in the overcoming that the miraculous happens. Leave your worries at the future and come home to the present.

Today, I am choosing to abound in Grace instead of Deception.

Tomorrow, I'm going to choose it again.

The Abandoned Journal: Ghost Village

I decided to begin sharing a tiny morsel of my obsession with abandoned places and things by using my blog to post some of my adventures amongst them, for all of my fellow explorers out there and those on the internet hungry for a good discovery or history lesson.

Place: Palio Hora village

Location: Kythira Island, Greece

Approx. year built: 1500

Approx. year abandoned: 1537

History: "Palio Hora is a place of legend and history. Hidden by a magnificent gorge, legend holds that the pirate Barbarossa had to capture and torture the villagers in order to find out where it was. Beside the ruins of the fort is a terrible 330ft abyss, where mothers threw their children before leaping themselves to avoid being sold into slavery by Barbarossa. It's known as Kakia Langada (bad gorge) for that reason. You can walk the gorge of Palio Hora in five hours; the Kakia Langada beach will be your reward." (Source: http://www.greek-islands.us/kithira/)