Saturday, July 31, 2010

Vintage Shoot Inspriation

For months I have wanted to do a vintage shoot. I would LOVE to start brushing up on photography in order to be more proficient at it. It really is an art! I love, love, LOVE it. Here is some of my inspiration:

I have some old books I can use

I need to find a lovely parasol like that!
I have a great vintage-looking quilt too
I love the violin!

Guitar. Check!



Don't you just love it! I hope I can test out some of my ideas soon!
I have also been thinking about how to do this with kids as well. Here is some inspiration for that...







Now all I need are some models! Oh yeah, and a better camera...However, that will have to wait until AFTER I get my wisdom teeth pulled, (which is were all my money is going lately.) 

Friday, July 16, 2010

Making changes...

I have realized in these past few days that there are things that need changing in my life. I see things in different light now. God has really opened my eyes and taught me so many things this week. I am ready to change. I am ready to do what he says.

Here are two verses that have impacted me this week:

"Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these things we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction." (1 Timothy 6:6-9)

"Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy...So be ashamed, you also, and bear your disgrace for you have made your sisters appear righteous." (Ezekiel 16:49, 52)

It is so tempting to fall into the materialistic mindset of our culture. Even the church is materialistic! We make a big deal about things that actually matter very little. Why do we spend millions on our buildings? What is the point? It would be very easy to get legalistic here. Things are not inherently bad. It's wonderful that my church can house so many people...but what are we doing with most of our money? What is our focus? Is it us? Is it me? God's word says that we/ I should be content with merely food and clothing. Wanting more that we need is a horrible trap that takes our focus off of God and onto ourselves. I am guilty of it! Man, the verse in Ezekiel really struck me. Here I sit in Barnes and Noble, about to go buy groceries. I have to admit that I am the epitome of that verse. I find that in my heart I have pride, I have excess of food and prosperous ease in my life...AND I don't aid the poor and needy, not even in my own city. I need to change.

As I have been thinking about what I could do to live out the verse in 1 Timothy, several things have popped into my mind:
  1. I can sell my wedding dress to raise money for missions. It is very nice and I could get a pretty penny from selling it.
  2. I can cut back on the "extra" groceries that I buy. (I don't really need snack food, like granola bars and such.) I can also buy less types of cereal. Do I really need 3 different kinds? I could also stop putting creamer in my coffee. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE coffee with creamer in the morning. It would be so hard for me to give up!
  3. I can choose not to buy clothing unless I have an absolute need, including shoes and jewelry.
  4. I could also go through my closet and take out some things to give away to someone in need. How many purses to I need anyway?
  5. I can volunteer at Momma Tina's Mission House, serving food once a week to the homeless and needy.
Those are just a few that I have thought of today. I'm excited to see where God leads us as we seek to radically obey him! It's not really sacrifice when I look at Christ...it's a privilege!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Radical

While Jonathan has been away at camp, I've been reading Radical by David Platt. I have also been listening to some of the podcasts from The Church at Brook Hill, where he pastors. Here are some of my thoughts on what I've been learning/ reading:

There are millions of people in the world that live and die in poverty. "We are not inconvenienced by extreme poverty because those stricken by it are not only poor, but powerless. Millions of them die quietly in relative obscurity, while we comfortably ignore them in our affluence and pretend that they don’t even exist. Can I believe the gospel and turn a deaf ear to the starving and unreached?" (from the podcast The Secret Church: The Gospel, Possesions and Prosperity Part 1)

On the whole, we as Christians give 2% of our income to the church and 2% of that to overseas missions. One statistic read that out of every $100 we earn, we give 5 cents to missions overseas. We spend more money than that on our pets!

My eyes are being opened that this is a problem in our hearts, in my heart! It's not like I haven't been exposed to the poverty of the world. I've seen it. I've been to India, the Philippines, and Mexico. I've heard them say "You Americans are so rich. Why don't you share?" I thought to myself then, "No I'm not wealthy, at least not compared to many people that I know." But the truth of the matter is that if I have clean water, food, shelter and good health, I am incredibly rich! So many people in the world do not have anything close to what I am blessed to have at my fingertips everyday in the US. I don't even think twice about these things! At times I am gripped with compassion, but I get caught up in "my world" here in America and quickly lose my motivation to make a diffence in the lives of the poor and needy.

I took this picture in India last year. These people lived right next to the missionary's house, and this isn't even the worst of the living conditions that I saw there. Somehow this family was able to send the oldest boy to school. So many other children are not so lucky.

The question remains: how can I live in such affluence while so many had no food, water, clothes or shelter…even my own brothers and sisters in Christ? Why do I waste money on things I don’t need? Do I need more clothes? Can’t I live without the little “extras” that I like to have? I am ashamed to say that I have such a materialistic mind-set. Much of what I have written about on this blog has been about me, my things, what I want or what I have. This should not be so. It goes against the true meaning of being a Christian. I am meant to exhibit the glory of God, not to make much of myself.

The fact is that the Bible says more about money than faith and prayer, heaven and hell combined! There are 2300 verses about it! The Bible is too clear…what it says is not necessarily easy though. So now I am at a cross-road. Am I willing to obey God’s word even if it cost me dearly, even if it goes against everything I've learned from my affluent culture? Am I willing to be radical for Christ? Am I willing to give up my selfish desires for how to spend my money in order to reach a poor and dying world for Christ?

I pray God will show me where to go from here. "What if the reason we have breath is because we have been saved for a global mission? And what if anything less than passionate involvement in global mission is actually selling God short by frustrating the very purpose for which he created us." (excerpt from Radical) The cost of staying in the bubble of my culture's affluence is very great. If I stay here, I will waste my life and the people I should be reaching may go unreached. I have made my faith comfortable, but Jesus calls us to RADICAL faith. He said "take up your cross and follow me." Jesus is someone worth losing everything for, worth giving up everything for. He gives all. He asks all. I have a Master that demands radical obedience and a mission that warrents radical urgency. How can I sit here and waste my life? I say I believe in him. Will I act on what he says? Will I risk it all for his glory?

We are called as Christians to proclaim the glory of God to the ends of the earth. Will I?

Friday, July 9, 2010

Home Alone

All alone. All week. I don't really like the sound of that. Unfortunately, that is where I find myself starting this Monday. My hubby is going to Daytona for HS camp, and most of my friends are either out of town or busy all week. Boo. I am not a fan of being alone, especially at night. However, I am choosing to make the most of all this "me time."

For starters I bought two books that I've been wanting to read. The first is Radical by David Platt.


I've heard that it is very spiritually challenging. The last book I finished was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which is not a practical book to say the least. (Which by the way, the series was very good! I had to catch up on some of the pop culture that I missed when I was younger.)

The next book is Forgotten God by Francis Chan. I read his book Crazy Love not too long ago, and it was amazing. His new book is about the Holy Spirit. I'm very much looking forward to this book!


I have also determined to deep clean while my husband is gone. There are a few things I've put off for several weeks, such as mopping. Sounds fun huh? At least it will keep me busy.


Last but not least, I am planning on watching The Blind Side. I heard that it is a really inspiring movie.


I might possibly go and get a mani/pedi. I've only ever had two, but it is very relaxing. Who knows, maybe I will just have a blast at home by myself. (I'm trying to be optimistic, although to little avail.)

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Dinner for Four

Right now I have a very whetted appetite! You know why? I'm having my very first dinner party (as a newly-wed), that's why! I am beyond ecstatic! I love to cook, but a lot of nights I just whip up something fast because we are so busy. I started talking about having a dinner party even before we got back from the honeymoon. Needless to say, I've been thinking about what I should cook all day! So many delectable ideas have been running through my head. After much ado, I resolved to go with a healthy option for the main meal and something sinfully decadent for dessert. Hopefully everything will turn out as delicious as I am imagining.

Since there will be men in attendance (including my husband), there must be meat. I am perfectly fine without eating meat at meal times, but my hubby likes it so I make it. Thus, tomorrow night we will be having:

Pork tenderloin

Roasted herb potatoes

Fresh green beans with sea salt

And Jonathan's favorite: Sister Schubert's Yeast Rolls

For dessert, we are either having:
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Or Apple Crisp with Caramel Sauce

As of right now I am leaning towards the apple crisp. I adore anything with caramel! I really can't wait to start cooking. I will have to share some cooking secrets for this meal after we see how it turns out!

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails