Saturday, October 24, 2009

Let's paint the sky

So I guess nice days inspire making photographs.
My roommates, Danielle, Kate, Julia and friend, Erin and I painted some faces and found a white wall. And so much beauty and simplicity was rediscovered!
Sometimes it seems rediscovery is better than finding something new because you get to realize that this thing was there all along.
I'm going to go back to editing-Danielle's playing of Miley Cyrus can never be ignored.

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Monday, October 5, 2009

A Community of Grace

I feel like this post will be quite random and jumbled, but that is how my brain works most of the time. Here goes-
I got to, what seems like, finally take a weekend away from things. To Garden City I went, with Intervarsity, one of the new groups I've been going to on-campus. I can't remember the last time I've truly felt that relaxed. The salt was thick, the floors were covered with bandaids and my clothes smelled sometimes.
It was great.
Even though the weekend wasn't focused on it, I was drawn to a verse that I've always loved since I read it in the introduction of one of my favorite books, it's Ephesians 5:12-14:

For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said:
"Wake up, O sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you."

I've always found myself drawn to the opposites within Christ; sin and grace, life and death, love and hate, light and dark, the latter especially. I think our society often strays away from certain subjects, certain topics which are best to be avoided-maybe they'll disappear if we speak about them in whispered meetings, or even better, not at all. And yet, in this darkness, we discover light. We discover this light when it exposes the darkest corners of our lives and hope becomes the currency of conversation. Nobody wants to admit it, but it's as if a hush has fallen over the crowd to avoid the reality which burdens so many of us. This death we are living in, sometimes alongside Christ with him trying to wake us, or other times with his absence large and known, is dead, in death in death in death. Living in death. And yet it's so hard to rise and let Christ shine. Let the source which will expose our darkest secrets be from the light source of Christ.
I listened to this awesome song today, once again, makes me wish I were musically inclined for once. Kind of reminded me of The Epochs, too. Here are the lyrics to 'Dance on our Graves' if you gotchaselftwominutes!

I hear something out there calling my name
No matter where I turn it all looks the same
There's sleep at night I just stay up and wait
But the burning in my blood never came
Will I know it?
Will I see it
When you're here
I need you now
I need you more than ever before
I know the man I am is not who I should be
The devil takes my hand says "Child come with me"
My body shivers and aches, I can't break free
Why do the things I hate come so naturally?
When we can see the light when we're going home
We'll dance on out graves with our bodies below
We'll sing along: hallelujah


Oh, and then pictures from this weekend of course. I don't know why I want to do most of them in black and white, but I do. Here goes-


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I don't know why I like this one, but anyone who knows my photography well enough knows that I always photograph hands for some reason.
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And of course, Henry came along. How could anyone leave him at home with that face?
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Group Photo!
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Thursday, September 24, 2009

Mr. Henry Weber

So I got to hang out with Amy and one of the cutest little babies ever. We had lunch in the wonderful, wonderful humid/breezy/slightly sticky Charleston weather and I enjoyed every minute of it. Since schools tarted, I haven't been able to be around babies that often, and you would have no idea what that does to a person! So congrats Amy for making one of the cutest little things ever!

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Tuesday, August 11, 2009

New York

I got to spend some time in the city recently with some friends and with some Jesus. Sorry for the delay in posting-I'm working off a beautiful new mac alongside new photo-editing software. This lovely new change allows me to sit in front of the computer for hours and hours in confusion.
I was working for an organization called Citivision, helping lead a youth team of about thirty kids around the city. The best way to describe what it does is to watch this video which was made right before I arrived.
This week was filled with so much love, old love affirmed and new found love which I still stay in touch with daily. It's a city with so much superfluous wonder, pain, brokeness and love it's often hard to explain to others why I feel so drawn to it.
lovelovelove.

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Park of the lovely team I was blessed with for the week.
Me, Jonathan, Emily, Austin and Malerie



"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

Monday, August 10, 2009

The Murphy Clan

Last Sunday I got to spend some time with four generations of the Murphy family! Karen emailed me and we met up at Alhambre Hall. She was such a large help in directing the family and keeping things under control-thanks Karen!
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"Sometimes you have to watch somebody
love something before you can love it yourself"
-Donald Miller