Puzzles and Pieces and NYC

CI'm sitting in the parking lot of my favorite sushi restaurant in town waiting on some friends to join me. I don't know if it's my cold or the changing season but nostalgia is heavy on my heart right now. As I write this, a song lyric is screaming in my head-"I think I've finally got it figured out, everyone needs someone they can keep around." (canopy climbers)
I've never been one to get emotional when a friend leaves because I've always known that there is possibility to see them again. But this time feels different. I think I've grown in the aspect of relationships this past year(and I know I have more to grow) but damn this hurts. Everything about this town is them. They are my past, and my present, and I can't imagine not having them in my future. It's enough to make me want to beg on the streets to make the $800 a month I would need to join them in the big apple. I know it's not my time to go yet, but I wish it were.

There is a season for everything. God better have something big planned for me this year. I know He has my best interests at heart but I'm still going to miss this little family that I've made. Hillary, Annie, Brian, Grace(who already left me;), and now Emily, you are the best brightest parts of my life and I WILL see you again. Soon. I love you guys more than you know and I can't wait to see what your lives will become.

Cheers to making a new family and new experiences.

"Some things are for a lifetime, and some things are forever."

I have made this comment a few times in the past week and it seems to really resonate with people. (I'm not trying to sound cool I promise:) So I thought I should just put down my thoughts about it, and why it's been running around my head.

Some things are for a lifetime: like marriage, children, careers, houses(sometimes;), basically everything we build while we are alive only lasts a lifetime. ONLY. In the spectrum of eternity our lives are 'but a vapor'. We get what, 80 years if we're lucky? It seems like a long time when you're 15, but at 24, the time is ticking!
I feel like we tend to focus so hard on physical things, and I don't just mean like money and stuff, I mean feelings. And emotions. I don't mean to discount them, I am just trying to get a broader view of things. We let our emotions decide what we eat, where we go, who we spend time with, ect... Let me reiterate, this is NOT a bad thing! God gave us emotions for a reason.
- Let me tell a story, there is a girl I know who is getting to know a man who has a daughter. My friend, who has been saving herself for marriage has had to rethink any potential with him because of that. This is noble of her, but I began to think, things like that are only for a lifetime...

Somethings are forever: the work we do for the Kingdom of God has lasting effects. Forever. Whether you are leading a Sunday school class, Pastoring a church, or having a great relationship with Jesus that people can see just shine out of you. When you live your life to please God, that is what lasts forever. And if you marry a man who already has a daughter, yet together you are able to do more work for the Kingdom-which is the better?

Now I know there are lots of variables that play into all of this, but this is just a broad explanation of what I've been thinking about. What do YOU think?

Matthew 6:20 "Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal."

TOKEN SINGLE GIRL

So I know this is supposed to be an art blog, but I’m not having much time for many crafty things. I’m definitely a bi-polar artist.

So now it is for thoughts.
First on my mind, my brother found a blog that a girl wrote about a Proverbs 32 man. About what a real man should look like. And basically, he should be like Jesus. Yay! Like we didn’t know that.

Next on my mind is a twitter account that I found from a teenage girl I have known for a long time. Her entire account is dedicated to her future spouse. (#tmfs)
As I read some of the things she said it made me sad. Only because I hope she has other goals.

And then my thoughts ran around my head for a few days and this is what I came up with.

What if marriage weren’t the goal?
Since we were the smallest of children, little girls are led to believe that they will someday find their prince. Or future spouse. And we dream about all the things we will do together. We see other peoples lives and can’t wait till we find ‘the one’. This is all well and good, but as we get older and ‘the one’ seems not to be able to find us, we get discouraged.

I myself have gone through all these things. One day I looked back on my life and had the thought, “what if I had lived a life that didn’t revolve around marriage?”(or the lack thereof)
What would I have done different? How many more things would I have accomplished?
What adventures could have been had by not waiting for a man to join me on them?
I am not discounting marriage at all. I believe God wants us to want to marry, but I also think, what if you died tomorrow and you went to heaven, and they played you a movie of your life(which I think might happen ;), and most of it is spent worrying about or looking for a future spouse? What a waste!

Now to explain the title, TOKEN SINGLE GIRL. At the church I attend, my friend and I are what I feel the “Token Single Girls” whenever we get prayed for, you know there is going to be something about a future husband in the prayer. But one day, I was prayed for to have a partner. A partner in life to help me further the Kingdom of God. BAM! When that was prayed it’s like a tons of bricks turned into mud and slushed all over me. (great mental picture huh?) Since I was about 21 years old I decided that “only the deepest of love can entice me into matrimony” (Elizabeth Bennett, Pride and Prejudice) Truly the reason I want to marry is so that together, me and my husband could do more for the Kingdom than we could alone.

Two is better than one. But I’m not going to worry about when and how it will happen. [Okay I say that but then my lady hormones might kick in and I’ll start dreaming again.] But till then I’m going to try to be who God wants me to be, and apparently right now that’s single. And iiiiiiiiiiiii like it  (but anytime he wants to change that I’ll be cool with it)

"If music be the food of love, play on." - PLATO

A few weekends ago I went to Nashville, TN with some friends of mine to record a small album.
We went not expecting anything at all, and what we found was perfect.
3 full days of listening to the same 6 songs, perfecting every tiny detail, and eating lots of fast food.

I am completely impressed with the musicians I went with (and met there). Never in my life have I felt people understand the music of my mind like they did.

I've always been a fan of music, from a young age singing Point of Grace songs, and old school musicals. I have finally realized that no matter what happens, whether I get married and have 20 kids, or stay single and become the next Taylor Swift- I will ALWAYS write music. It is the first thing I do when I need to get an emotion out. (and we all know emotions never leave us girls;)

So no matter what life holds for me, I know I have been given a great gift.



Music is my FAVORITE form of art.

I Only Paint When It Snows

The past few weeks have consisted of two full days of just snow. It was fun at the beginning, then just became a nuisance. SO instead of vegging out, I decided to pretend I was a painter.

A bunch of months ago, my friend Lisa gave me this half painting. Someone else had given it to her, and knowing my love for The Beatles (specifically Paul McCartney) she gave to me. I am no painter, but I can color! Thanks to my roommates for the paints and color suggestions!

BEFORE:



12 or more hours LATER:



It looks way cooler in person! what did you do with YOUR snow days?

Cross Stitch

So I've been crazy obsessed with cross stitching. yes, I'm 80. But I have to keep my hands busy and I like to create. Or else I go crazy. I made this particular cross stitch for my roomate, Rachel LeeAnn Schwartz. She had brain surgery last year. They are having an art show/silent auction to raise money for her tomorrow at the Art Church. I told Rachel that I wasn't a painter, but that I would make a cross stitch!
So she told me to make one with this quote she wrote:


Words are another one of my favorite forms of art.

Jesus, Hummus, Galilee, and sweet Jewish shop owners.

Where to begin? I just got home from an incredible trip to Israel. I didn't have the desire to go until about 3 months ago, then God opened the door for me go and I jumped right through! I am still trying to process all that I saw and all that I did.

I went there to find Jesus more tangible, but what I found was a HUGE God who is bigger than I expected and better than I ever thought imaginable.

From the moment we flew into Tel Aviv we hit the ground running. Onto the bus and onto touring! I'm just going to highlight a few things that meant a lot to me.
The moment I saw the Sea of Galilee I was completely in awe. First of all it was smaller than I expected. My heart was trying to comprehend that JESUS. MY JESUS sailed on THAT sea. THAT sea. I am still in awe.
The first full day we were there we went to the Valley of the Doves which was a pathway between Nazareth and Galilee that Jesus walked many times with His disciples. We weren't aloud to walk the path but the moment I saw it, my heart jumped. How was I supposed to feel? It was so surreal.

Another thing that stood out to me was the Jordan River. Pastor Craig(of the the group I was with) baptized me, and a few of my new friends. The water was FREEZING. But it was very sentimental for me.

Another defining moment for me was at the Western/Wailing Wall. To see all those people fervently praying for the coming of the Messiah. Yet they have rejected He who already came.

Our tour guide, Munzer, told us that there are only two places we were going (amongst the million things we did) that he was POSITIVE Jesus was at.
One was the teaching steps. It was crazy! Right in front of the Beautiful Gate. You could only see half of it because the Muslims covered up the other half. It was incredible to be there. I wish we could have spent longer just soaking it in.

We went to a place called the Nazareth Village which was a replica of what an original village would be like. We were worried that it would be super cheesy but it ended up being one of our favorite places! An amazing tour guide named Roni made the experience so surreal, while we were in a small temple, he prayed for us. Wheww girl I felt the Spirit in that room!

Another place they were sure Jesus was at was the dungeon in Caiaphas' house where they kept Jesus overnight before He was crucified. I could barely think straight. It was dark, it was deep, with just a small hole at the top where they lowered him down. Our group gathered there and read psalms 88. There were crosses on the walls that were made by the rock. not by any human hand. Oh what a great God we know that would put Himself in that position just for His children.

Every night I ate hummus. Hummus and veggies and pita bread. Everyday for lunch (except once when we ate pizza on the Via Dolorosa) I ate a filafal. I adore filafals!

Before I left for this trip, a wonderful friend of mine told me that God was going to guide my steps. I clung onto that the whole time and boy howdy was she right! I felt his guidance every moment of that trip which was something I had not experienced before.
One afternoon, Jo, Becky, Roseanne, Cy and I went wondering around Jerusalem looking for the place that Jo used to live. And we found it! about a block away from our hotel! It was a student center when Jo lived there but now it is a house of prayer. I never wanted to leave. It was incredible. They had a room upstairs that was specific for prayer. I wish I could explain to you what it was like! I wish you could have been there with me to experience it.

The theme in my heart during the trip was that God was showing me that I humanize Him too much. That I don't see Him for who He is, but what I think and expect Him to be. I saw more of His power and Glory in the way He became human and the way He was God. The Bible has come incredibly alive to me. Everything now has a picture in my head, and everything connects better.

The last afternoon we were there we got to go out on our own, so we walked through the old city of Jerusalem and shopped a little and soaked in the culture. A sweet Jewish shop owner gave me a free bracelet! I was pleasantly surprised that the Israelis have a very good sense of humor that I can understand:)

I am SO blessed that I went with the group I went with. I was amazed at their genuineness, and kindness. I'm going to miss the nightly Nertz/wine events( in which I would be ready for bed by 9:00 ;)
Here are a few of my favorite things that i collected. the oil lamp we got in Nazareth. the mug i got in a shop in jerusalem. the bracelet is the one the sweet shop owner gave me.




Travel is another one of my favorite forms of art. Shalom.

Happy New Year!

I found this at the flea market. I have big plans for this dress!

THIS IS BEFORE:

AND AFTER:

It was fun way to ring in the new year:)