And now, a few words from Francis Chan:

"It is true that God may have called you to be exactly where you are. But it's absolutely vital to grasp that He didn't call you there so you could settle in and live out your life in comfort and superficial peace. His purposes are not random or arbitrary. If you are still alive on this planet, it's because He has something for you to do."

"A lot of us need to forget about 'God's will for my life'. God cares more about our response to His Spirit's leading today, in this moment, than about what we intend to do next year. In fact, the decisions we make next year will be profoundly affected by the degree to which we submit to the Spirit right now, today."

"I don't want my life to be explainable without the Holy Spirit. I want people to look at my life and know that I couldn't be doing this by my own power. I want to live in such a way that I am desperate for Him to come through. That if He doesn't come through, I am screwed. I don't believe God wants me to live in a way that makes sense from the world's perspective, a way I know I can 'manage'. I believe He is calling me – and all of us – to depend on Him for living in a way that cannot be mimicked or forged. He wants us to walk in step with His Spirit rather than depend solely on the raw talent and knowledge He's given us."

Amen.

Yesterday I kinda hit this 'cannot-stand-to-be-in-the-house-any-longer-cause-I'm-not-getting-anything-done' wall. So this morning I packed up and headed to Panera where I now sit with my hazelnut coffee, ready to tackle another day. Of course I have to sit facing the door, cause it would drive me crazy not to, and I must say, quite an eclectic mix of people have entered this morning. At the table next to me there is a group of Census workers having some type of meeting. They are WAY too excited about life. What exactly do they do anyway? Across the room is some sort of pregnant ladies convention. They are also way excited about life. Moving on...

Today I'm working on building a website for my portfolio. It's basic, but will at least be something. I'm also brainstorming art/craft projects for Ghana (let me know if you have any amazing ideas) and working on a logo.

Headed to Canyon this weekend and looking forward to that. I'm due a 'get-outta-Dallas' trip. (now refraining from the further use of hyphenated phrases, don't worry) Time with Wyatt and Emme, Ghana shots, cooking with Mom, wedding shower, working on my car with Dad, 'frisbone' with Jesse... should be good. Also pretty pumped about taking some ranch pictures and riding. Overdue in both cases.

VISA is in the mail and am officially less than 2 months away from being in Africa. Woohoo! Have I mentioned the excitement level? Perhaps I should be sitting with the Census workers (not to be confused with the Mommy Club) ...

American Idol Finale tonight. Hoping Lee will end up with the win, but don't really care. Crystal's pretty good too and she has awesome hair. For the record, the LOST Finale was 2.5 hours of amazingness. Yes, there were some cheesy Jurassic Park moments, but overall I thoroughly enjoyed the way it concluded. (Ok, everything but the Hurley-Ben duo.) Now that I understand the bulk of it, I want to watch it all again from the beginning. :)

Finished Forgotten God the other day and really enjoyed it. I'll try to get some thoughts up on that before leaving for the weekend. Rachel and I toured The Bridge yesterday afternoon, one of the projects initiated in 2008 by the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance. I've been in several homeless shelters/transition housing, but I must say, this is by far the nicest I've seen. Two thumbs up to the people running that place.

Thought to ponder for the day: "The thing about human life is there's no control group, no way to know how any of us would have turned out if any variables had been changed." –from Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I highly recommend this one, at least the first third of the book. Unfortunately, I didn't get it finished before having to turn it back in to the library, which is what happens when you try to read 4-5 books at one time. Anyway, it's really good, though sometimes crass and always brutally honest. Which is what I appreciate about it, I think.

Eh, better get to work, since I'm not YET getting paid for being a writer. However, when that day comes, I assure you I will have a suitable pseudonym. No need to reveal any further insanity than is already presented here.

Well, I have to admit, Austin is growing on me. Just a little bit.


Katy and I decided to take a random road trip this last weekend to the hill country. Quite a fun adventure to say the least. There was a crazy state trooper, an injured chihuahua, giant flowers and a birthday party – all before we got to Lampasas! I did a pretty terrible job at documenting, save a few shots, but we went out to COTH for the day on Saturday. Ended up sorting donations items of clothing, toiletries, medical supplies, and every other 'odds and ends' item you can possibly imagine. Some pretty classic stuff. Campers will be arriving in just a few short weeks. Check out the camp website here if you'd like to donate materials or finances; they are still putting together all the final summer needs after the dining hall fire.




From Marble Falls we journeyed on to Austin and a cookout at the lake with Luke, Kendra, and Andy. Tejano music and two hot dogs later (yes, I actually ate a hot dog!), we headed back to Kendra's apartment to sleep through some George Clooney goat movie. Breakfast at Rudy's, which I highly recommend, on Sunday morning, then off to find some elusive mountain hike overlooking the lake. Elusive indeed... We gave up the hunt and made it to Zilker Park instead. Due to my previous internet hunting skills, we had a coupon for renting a 2-man kayak for 2 hours for $10. Kicker? Be there by noon. We pulled into the parking lot at 11:54 still in our jeans. It was like Amazing Race for a few short minutes, but we made it. Chased some turtles down on the lake, planned a few life events, and luckily didn't tip over. Good thing, cause in our 'Race' hurry, we forgot the lifejackets on the bank. Hehe. Kayaking complete, it started raining, and we headed downtown.

World Market was the next stop, followed by Title 9. (This is one of about 3 stores in which I will spend my lottery winnings someday. Just so you know.) A stop at Sheplar's to try on cowboy boots rounded out our Austin experience, and we headed to Round Rock via chocolate milkshakes. After turning left on Donnell instead of right, we finally made it to Mike & Abby's to see their new addition, Motley. Cute, cute puppy! We tried to take her back to Dallas but met fierce resistance. Made it back to Big D just in time to grab dinner (and coffee for me) and go see a late showing of Robin Hood. Thanks, Mark F. for the tickets! The jury is still out on Costner vs. Crowe, but it was highly enjoyable.

Thus ended our adventure. Good thing we're already plotting another.

Jimmy Eat World.
Starbucks (ONLY because I had a free drink coupon).
Pictures to edit.
Stuff to design.
Bags to pack.
Emails to return.
Phone calls to make.
I think I do my best work on Friday...

I just finished reading Francis Chan's Forgotten God about the Holy Spirit. Although I liked his first book Crazy Love better, this one certainly had a lot to offer. My favorite part of the book was a quote from the introduction. Before he even delves into the chapters of the book, Chan makes this statement:

"I refuse to live the remainder of my life where I am right now, stagnating at this point. Don’t get me wrong: God has already done so much in my life, and I am grateful for it. I’m just convinced there’s more. There’s more of the Spirit and more of God than any of us is experiencing. I want to go there – not just intellectually, but in life, with everything that I am."

Even as I read through the following pages of the book, I kept returning to those words on the first few pages. I love the audacity of such a remark, the freedom with which he makes such a bold claim. I love that Chan's words are really resonating in my life right now.

I want so much more than where I'm at right now. Not because I think I deserve more or long for more in an earthly manner (although sometimes guilty of that as well), but because I truly believe that where I am now isn't 'it'. I truly believe God has more work for me to do, more people for me to reach, more adventure for me to discover, more in store for me than where I find myself at the time being. And more likely than not, it'll be quite unconventional, but I SO want to go there and cannot wait to see what more He brings my way.

Perhaps further thoughts on this book to come...

A mother is a person who, seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie. ~Tenneva Jordan

However, if that pie was served with ice cream...!

Happy Mother's Day to a loving, selfless, and faithful friend. Proud to call you 'Mom' today and always. Grateful for each day I have you in my life!


************

And Happy Birthday to Dad, protector and patient teacher. Blessed indeed.

* wake up at the crack of dawn
* drive to Love Field in the pouring rain
* depart for Corpus Christi via Houston
* arrive in CC and pick up our sea foam green Ford Focus


* drive to Mustang Island and walk out on a jetty



* hang out at the beach for a few hours



* decide that the beach ball isn’t the best option in the wind
* pack up and hit the “showers”
* head toward the nearest Whataburger


* turn in the keys to our seasick-colored ride
* hop a plane back to Houston
* hang out in the Life is Good store due to a Dallas delay



* sit in the very back row during the flight to Dallas
* arrive back at the house after a fun day
* resolve to not be in the sun again for a long time



Thank you Amber for letting us be your “Southwest Buddies” for the day!

So, I really do have some posts in the works, just not taking the time for them right now. Higher priorities I suppose. In the meantime, here are some words of wisdom for your day. I recently read (in about 30 minutes) Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can’t Avoid by Lemony Snicket. If you've never read Mr. Snicket, well, you should. But only if you can appreciate really weird humor and unfortunate events of the highest magnitude. Anyway, his latest book is one comprised of random quotes and sayings, a few tidbits on life, if you will. Below are my favorites. Enjoy!

*An old cowboy song celebrates home on the range, where deer and antelope play, but anyone who has seen deer and antelope knows that when they are frolicking they scarcely look where they are flinging their hooves, which is why cowboys have been pummeled almost to extinction.

*Just because something is traditional is no reason to do it, of course. Piracy, for example, is a tradition that has been carried on for hundreds of years, but that doesn’t mean we should all attack ships and steal their gold.

*There are those who say that life is like a book, with chapters for each event in your life and a limited number of pages on which you can spend your time. But I prefer to think that a book is like a life, particularly a good one, which is well worth staying up all night to finish.

*Waiting is one of life’s hardships.

*There are some who say that sitting at home reading is the equivalent of travel, because the experiences described in the book are more or less the same as the experiences one might have on a voyage, and there are those who say that there is no substitute for venturing out into the world. My own opinion is that it is best to travel extensively but to read the entire time, hardly glancing up to look out of the window of the airplane, train, or hired camel.

*Love can change a person the way a parent can change a baby – awkwardly, and often with a great deal of mess.

*It is so rare in this world to meet a trustworthy person who truly wants to help you, and finding such a person can make you feel warm and safe, even if you are in the middle of a windy valley high up in the mountains.

*Taking one’s chances is like taking a bath, because sometimes you end up feeling comfortable and warm, and sometimes there is something terrible lurking around that you cannot see until it is too late and you can do nothing else but scream and cling to a plastic duck.