A Cousin's Southern Wedding

   Disclaimer: I got 3 and a half hours of sleep and have been up 18 hours so far. I just ate a TON of sugar so I'm so ready for this next hour of writing. (If you get confused at all during the next whirlwind of words, just read this paragraph again and you'll get it.)

Karis and Bennett at a dance.

    I met my cousin Karis when she was born. I was a month old. We were very different in looks but as we grew up, we fed off each other's love for animals, dress up, and Jesus. We splashed in the creek, rode horses with friends, sang our hearts out in 80's bridesmaid dresses, and listened intently to wisdom. Karis was lots more level headed then me and I was delighted to find someone who would help me out with my yearly loss of my dorm keys at camp. 3 summers of, "Uh Karis, I just lost my dorm key for the whole week of Worldview. Can I borrow your key again?" (We shared a dorm). Thankfully I never lost her keys. She was always there to help someone out except when it came to Aggravation, the board game of our family. Karis would move out of her way to send someone back to home. It was almost unbelievable to see her go out of her way not to help but to hinder. Because in real life, she was nothing like that! If you want the spicy side of Karis, play Aggravation with her. Be warned: you'll be aggravated all right;))) (I'm teasing)

    Last week, we traveled 12 hours to reach Columbus, Georgia. Since our cousin's are Army kids, we've got to hear about their adventures in various states. This time we actually got to visit in person. Destination: Ft. Benning in the humid deep south. We had run-ins with giant cockroaches and a copperhead snake poised to strike. But we didn't go to see the wild creatures though it was pretty cool. We went to see Karis get married which was so much cooler! I was a bridesmaid along with four other lovely girls. None of us had ever been part of the bridal party before so it was a new experience for all of us to unfold together. Karis was a beautiful bride and Bennett will make a great cousin-in-law. 

   We spent the last day without Karis (or Bennett) for Necia's birthday. The picture is not complete. But in a way it is. One by one, cousin's will get picked off. Sadness. But I'm excited to do a selfie at the end. (haha teasing)

Left to Right: Faith, Bennett, Karis, Necia. Rehearsal Night.

Had to add this Pic. Faith and I on Karis's scavenger hunt. Found the mural!

If you're wondering why I don't have wedding pictures it's because it takes awhile to edit and make them look perfecto!

    

It's a Wrap

    Two days till freedom. The words reverberate, filled with importance. But when I think deeper, I find that freedom is not the right word. Let me explain.
   
    I worked as a cashier and porter at Chipotle for 8 months. The pay was minimum and sometimes customers weren't exactly friendly. Some were too friendly. Once, when I reached my hand out for the money, the man shook it instead. I think my expression added 5 years of joviality to his life. I liked working there though. I liked working hard. In conversations with my friends there, I'd ask them if they like working when it's busy or slow. Invariably, the answer is busy. When we had slow days, the time draggggged. I triple check my drinks, knowing already I hadn't sold any. Fun fact: since the virus, Chipotle has made even more money than they used to. Look up their stocks. It's amazing. Anyway, when we were busy, it was a challenge. Like a game. Except you also earned money and got to meet a lot of cool people. I quit tomorrow. I wanted summer vacation and am going to travel. But I won't be travelling all summer. There will still be days where I can forsee myself thinking, how will I get through this slow day?

    I said two days till freedom. Thursday - Chipotle will be done. Friday - Art classes end. My second semester of art was moved to Zoom in March. It was weird but it worked. Art takes a long time to even finish one project. It is slow but you make headway bit by bit and months down the road and soon, a beautiful butterfly emerges. When you're close to your canvas creating, everything is in your face. Art teachers always say to back up from time to time, look at it from a normal distance and understand only the artist or a critic will get micro close to your work. Enjoy the privilege of being able to understand your art process magnified close while at the same time being willing to look at it from the spectator's role. That was a whole chunk of words right there but let's move on.

    Art school will be done in two days, Chipotle in one. I'm finishing two major events and celebrating freedom? I think the word is completion. The fast job of Chipotle and the slow work of art are completed. Completion of something doesn't necessarily mean freedom from it. You can complete a homework assignment but later have it turned back to you with a bad grade. Even though you completed it, your teacher was the one in charge, not you. And in the long run, that is a good thing. I believe though these days have been completed, I don't think I'm entirely free from what I chose. God is my teacher and He can bring up instances from these months to help teach me in the years to come. Through that process, I am freed by His grace. He is the freedom I seek in my completion.

A Duck's Worst Nightmare

Yup those are teeth. Found in my backyard. So interesting!

Practicing for another upcoming wedding!

Here's just some pictures of my life when I'm not working. And of course the duck murder mystery later on. Enjoy:)

Archie.

On a walk. Lewisville Park.

What a Dad to take his daughter up sledding when she's been asking all winter.

Sledding through a tunnel gives a surge of adrenaline with the possibility you could get stuck!

Baby ducks

Why did we get baby ducks when we already have 6 ducks? Well what happened was everyone went to the beach except me. I had to work the few days my family was gone. In the morning, my grandma let the ducks out of their cage to discover one had been mutilated and killed. Two others had gaping wounds on the back of their heads. She's like, "Call Mom and Dad!" And I'm thinking, oh no that would ruin their vacation. So I told her no. The next morning, Grandma goes to the cage again and again there's a dead duck. Now she's like really, "CALL MOM AND DAD!!!" And I'm still like, "Yea???" Then, "Ok suuuure...before you lose your voice." My family came back home that day, thankfully for Grandma's sanity, and we turned over the wooden pen. We had guessed a raccoon or opossum but no one was prepared for what shot out of the abyss. A dark musky smelling mink sped through the grass into the woods. Rowan had his gun ready and took some shots but it was too fast. From the looks of things, it looked like the mink had just taken up residency during the time the family was gone. Gave Grandma and I a nice little murder mystery to work on. Anyway, seeing how we were short two ducks, we got four more. Two extra just in case the mink comes back.....

But don't worry, we got them a new shelter so the mink won't ever be able to come from under their cage and drag them to a morbid death. Also Grandma will be happy.

The shadow of Pearl and I.

Mom, Grant, and Shasta on a walk.

Above is a picture of a Venetian themed tea that we are doing at the tea house I work at! The owner hand painted all these masks and is selling them at Sweet Peas Tea Room. She is so creative!

Well there's my randomness for the day. Now I'm going to practice my piano, harp, and art...bye!

Choice

     Today was a beautiful day. It was rainy and cold and cloudy but somehow everything was alive. Since it was a Saturday, I'm usually working but I had off so I was on my own schedule. The night before, I told myself I was going to read 5 chapters of the Bible every hour till dinner. If I have a goal like that the night before...I (usually) end up doing it. I could choose to lie around but what a waste of a day! I choose to delve into learning and whoa I just learned again today: God is good. Reading through Leviticus than Numbers, I'm so thankful for Jesus. So glad we don't have to memorize those laws or be unclean constantly.

     The nice thing about going over the Bible in a huge chunk is that you see the repetition. I noticed that whenever the Israelites came to Moses with a question, he always inquired of God FIRST. God is always with us so we can follow Moses' example of always looking to God first. Often we don't do and when that happens, things can go wrong fast. It's good to be in prayer about certain things you're unsure of. If you don't know, God has an answer! You choose in the end, but God allows certain people/events to come into your life to sway you in the direction He has for you. The big word is CHOICE. God gave us free will. Time and time again the Israelites complain and time and time again they are struck down. Will they ever learn? we think. The Israelites in the wilderness is only a tiny picture of the whole story of God's love and faithfulness. And the coolest thing ever is that we copy that story with our own creative stories. The Bible is a model for the shortened format of struggle/climax/resolution.

     I love stories. I love to hear people's stories about how they came to know God (testimonies). I love my mom telling funny stories of the past. I love fantasy books that pull you into a whole new world of possibilities. I've tried to write my own books but they usually don't have an ending. I have too many ideas! I'm in awe that God picked one overarching story for us of the fall, a Saviour, and hope and then is weaving all our stories together throughout generations with the messy word of choice mixed into there. To choose between right and wrong.

The story of today was one little droplet to add to my own life of stories. I went for a walk. Mom had told me of a place in our marsh that was clear enough to ice skate. It's supposed to be cold next week? We'll see. Anyway, God gave me so many birds on my walk. What I mean by that - they were everywhere! I delighted in their calls and the ability to name them. I saw a kingfisher, red tailed hawk, towhee, scrub jay, stellar jay, chickadees, song sparrow, nuthatches, and a downy woodpecker. I made the choice to walk in the rain and cold. I didn't like my choice at first. But through Mom's nudging and my knowing once-I-get-out-there-I-love-it, I chose to go. Think of all the sights I would have missed. My ears hurt afterward from the wind but it was worth it. Birds now and ice skating in the future. Hope.

" Consequences are bound to the choices you make. You can have your choice but you cannot choose the consequences." -Ravi Zacharias 

Step by Step

     Life is a busy thing. I used to think I was so busy back when I was 3. Mom had me reading Little House in the Prairie and speaking Spanish numbers and signing the alphabet by the time I turned 4. I knew my address, phone number, and could tell you how good frosting tastes depending on how much milk you add. From there, Mom eased off and I started violin at 5 and piano at 6. Harp I couldn't start till I turned 10 because my fingers were too small. I got baptized at 12 and went on a mission trip at 14 which started a chain of one mission trip a year for the past 5 years now. Not because I had to but because the opportunity presented itself, each time in a different way. God provides opportunities constantly. We just have to decide whether to take that step.

     When I came back from Capernwray, end of June, I had almost 3 months of total rest. It was uncanny. I came back ready to begin life again and God put me on hold. I'd been going, going, going ever since I was little and Capernwray had been my last goal, my finale of school and everything I dreamed about. July, August and half of September went by. Literally everything that I had planned to do when I got back (which was not a ton) fell through and I was left with myself and I. And God. He woke me up in August to actually seeing and enjoying the brilliant plan he had for me at this time. To rest. There are many ways to rest. I rested by playing Christmas songs on the harp, reading His word, praying, going on walks, spending time with my family, and seeing friends. That still left a lot of time though after going through the list. It drove my brain crazy but it was good. I settled. And then....I got a job. And started a very Christian:) art school. And got another job. And started taking singing lessons for fun on top of piano lessons. While still playing the harp because I have 2 hour long events I play at (it's at a tea house!). In the past 2 months, God has helped me take each step. Slowly getting back into the life of being busy while still having time for Him. It's not always easy. But it reminds me of a song, David Crowder, "Waves of Mercy".

Every step I take 

I take for you 

You make me move 

Jesus

Every step I take

 I take for you

Another step I've taken again is working on my audio drama from 2017. Right now it's in the works of adding sound effects. Tonight Dad came rushing into the office. "Who's screaming?" He demanded. Since I had been listening to different females horrifying screams for the past 3 minutes, I was surprised he hadn't burst in sooner. Great protection. 

Well, it's late. 9:30 p.m. is late for me. If I keep writing, I think this will turn into less sense than the mush it already is. And you know if I keep writing, I'll write something really dumb.

Hahaha, speaking of that... my boss had me label the dumpster broom and dust pan and she printed out on nice laminated labels - "dumbster". Notice the b instead of the p? Big difference. I had to think of something really sad at that moment or I would have burst out laughing. Though she would have probably thought it funny too...I don't know her that well. Goodnight!

Shine Your Light

    

    My grandma was recently relating to me her troubles with texts. She has a flip phone still so of course it takes a while compared to our modern I-phones but she is more able to cope with it. However, she was a little exasperated when I talked to her because someone had been asking her questions via text which she had taken a couple hours to think over before responding. 

    "What kind of questions?" I asked. 

    "Oh just everyday questions, but they threw me off guard," she laughed. 

    What she said didn't make sense. How could normal polite questions befuddle you? But then it got me thinking. I used to be that way. When I had a few precious contacts in my phone, I thought of a text as a letter, something to be considered on both sides when actually, a text is often used as a thought, sometimes even partial and flippant. You could be asking a question out of curiosity, mere politeness, a bridge to another question, etc. The receiver can make their answer calculated or quickly make up an answer that doesn't provide a ton of details. Ma Glo was slightly confused with the questions because she didn't know in what context to answer them. Were they actually caring - like, did they want to know her whole history of how her day was going? 

While Grandmas still have a full set of attention span brain cells (mostly), we are a generation of attention span deficiency - thought provoked, yes, but only for a second. I deal with this often myself as I jump from one thing to the next in rapid succession.  Messages often zip through our phones and computers constantly as we send out fragments of thoughts through the air to end up miles away. 

In 1986, the Telegraph UK magazine estimated we sent out – mainly by post, telephone and fax – around two and a half pages of newspaper each day. By 2007, this estimate had increased to six full newspapers thanks to email, digital photography, Twitter and social network sites. Twelve years later, Pintrest, Instagram, and Snapchat have all joined the ranks. How many newspapers does your brain give out now? I assume more than six. Unfortunately, no one has time to do the math. 

One site I visited showed a study in 2018 has calculated that on average, Americans send and receive about 94 text messages per day. To check out this interesting article, head to: https://www.textrequest.com/blog/how-many-texts-people-send-per-day/ While this is only in the text sphere, imagine how much information we give out between all our connections with the world. We need to be mindful that we are the light of the world according to Matthew 5:14. As candle bearers of God's flame, we have a very important responsibility to hold to the Word with truth. If we send messages or pictures that do not show the light of Christ then we are not being good stewards of the light He has entrusted in us. When we are solely focused on God alone, then He will be able to send out emanating powerful beams for others to see even through hardship. But if we are self-focused, his light will be faded for we are putting our own dusty filter over his purity. 

The devil tries to imitate Christ's light as warned in 2 Corinthians 11:14. Think of a tanning salon versus the sun. The sun is Christ. It warms the earth and us. Powerful and bright, it can hurt our skin if we're not careful. But it still is the sustainer of life on our planet. Without it, we would wither away. However, the tanning salon was made to copy the sun for the sole purpose of enhancing the UV radiation rays onto our skin. It does not cause life to grow. In fact, it roasts our skin to a rich shade of brown to look like we've been in the sun for our whole life. Over time, if a person continues to us tanning salons, it will lead to skin cancer, premature aging, eye damage, immune system suppression, etc. The devil takes something good like the sun's rays and twists them to work for his own devious purposes. People go to him for their "tan" because it works better and faster. But the consequences are not worth the risk. 

Out of the many texts, posts, stories, etc. that come from our creative brains, remember to take time to think this week. Are we allowing the devil to roast someone's heart, to cause anger or hurt through what we advocate for? At the same time, are we consciously mindful of how we demonstrate Jesus to others? Do we  need to reduce our overload of newspapers to others in order love sincerely? Let Jesus shine through you out of love, not obligation. 

“For to speak the truth, there are but few that care thus to spend their time, but choose rather to be speaking of things to no profit.” 
― John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress

Splash of Summer

SO last time I wrote was getting back from New Zealand. And now it's been a little more than a month and a lot has happened. 3 weeks after I got back from NZ, my family headed to Iceland for 3 days then Scotland.

 Iceland was so crazy! Dad had booked tours for our two full days there - the first one was 8 hours long but the second one was 15 hours long. Most of it was spent in the 15 passenger van. But the parts where we got to stretch our legs and hike was beautiful! Glaciers, Icebergs, Waterfalls, you name it. Oh and did I mention Icelandic horses? Purest breed - they are not allowed back onto the island once they have left. No other horse breed has had the honor of stepping onto this cold viking land. Also, Iceland only has 300,000 people but shows off 10,000 waterfalls!

They took us up to the hills of Iceland and let us gallop around on their calm and gently horses of ice. 

Black sand beach made from rocks.

It was freezing and rainy at Diamond beach. 

Then 10 days in Scotland - where modern people live in a culture steeped full in legend and ruins. Our first stop was in Loch Lomond. Here we stayed in a castle backed by public gardens. We went on bike rides, explored the thriving plants, and created a haunted video starring us as the victims one dark night. After the castle, we drove to Edinburgh (pronounced Ed-in-burrow). We no longer each had a bedroom to ourself but instead slept on little beds and couches in a flat high above the city. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there! We didn't use a car but walked about 7 miles a day to the different sights and shops. After Edinburgh, we drove 2 hours to a beach and then to a little town called Lundie. Here we went on lots of walks and browsed antique stores. The last day, we went to the biggest grocery store we'd found in Scotland so far (about the size of a Safeway!) and found a huge gluten free aisle. They are so good with gluten freers here! All the cafes and restaurants have gluten free food and it's way better tasting than in America.

We hiked admist sheep till we reached mass amounts of heather.

This is the castle we stayed in! And yes, there was a tower room and a terrace on the roof and a spiral staircase and a dining room table that fit 18 people and chandeliers and sheep skins and everything you could want in a Scottish Castle.

Dress up at Scone Palace.

We were home for a full day before heading off to La Pine, Oregon to spend some much needed time with the cousins. We went to Crater Lake and took a boat ride to Wizard Island. My phone chartered off the wall ratings of how many "floors" we hiked in a reasonably small amount of miles. We dove into the icy water which felt so refreshing after the hot hike. The next day, we rented a giant paddle board at Twin Lakes and did a full out war of who could stay on the thing the longest with everyone else jumping on it and trying to out-balance each other. The last war was the most epic. Everyone got up and started (you weren't allowed to touch each other) but before it really got going, Dad just ran and swept everyone off in one fell swoop. Daaaaad! 




All in all, it's been a really good summer. Looking forward to some more hot days, berries and whipped cream, friends to laugh with, and hikes to walk on. Lets go. 

Our Paddle Boat

 Icelandic Scenery:

Ahem....unedited.

Whoops, rule of thirds disappeared in this fog.

Geyser.