Today was a good day

 I like overalls. I like jean jackets. I like denim. Trying on clothes, just for yourself, is so fun. In the change room, I smiled at the person in the mirror staring back at me.

From prompt to paper

 Hello! The prompt was to write a poem of a recipe. 

1 cup of flour
3/4 of vanilla extract
2 dance breaks, which you pair with 1 playlist
3 tsp of orange zest (maybe a bit strange at first, but it compliments the vanilla)
2 eggs for those days when you want to try something new
Hugs. We don't measure those around here.
A prayer. 
Chocolate chunks- to celebrate your body in all its forms. (In case no one told you: chocolate is healthy)
Pick up the phone and call a friend. Emphasis on call. It's a critical step.

Viola! The recipe of a good day. Funny, serious and perfect in my opinion. Now I have to dance....  

Wake Up

I wake up today
and say I am free

I wake up today 
and say I am clean

And this is true,
and you can learn this too,
if you go to Calvary.

And look upon the cross
which bore, 
the sin of you, and I, 
and more.

The sin of all the world was placed,
there on that tree.

And so I wake up today
and say I am free.

Lipstick Story

I've been struggling with my outward appearance for a while now. Others could tell me I was pretty, and I didn't believe them. Not really, anyway. But I'd take the compliment and move on. I tried to work best with what was hanging in my closet and folded in my dresser. I tried to pay more attention to colours and textures and patterns. It's been fun, and has helped me feel confident in what I'm wearing and how I'm presenting myself. I think that's what I wanted: Confidence.  

Over the past four days I have been wearing lipstick and it has given me just that: Confidence. The first time I wore lipstick was four days ago, for Prom. The lipstick is a light shade. I feel like it's not really noticeable- it's something I just do for me. To feel and believe that I am beautiful. It gives me confidence. For Prom, I also got my nails done, which helped me discover that I like having my nails done! I like nail polish and I like wearing lipstick! These things help me to feel beautiful. I like feeling beautiful.

Now, I'm enjoying these things. I like to imagine what might help me feel beautiful in university: lipstick or some other small thing I haven't discovered yet. These harmless, small things have been so nice to experience and experiment with.

Colour of the Day: Green

I went on a walk with my sister today; through some trails nearby, around the pond too. As we walked, we talked and I kept noticing all the nature we were passing through: the moss growing along the bark of a tree, the shoots of green blades sprouting up alongside a bubbling creek, the buds of yet-to-be-seen would-be flowers at the tips of naked branches. 

Once you stop and make an effort to listen to the life around you, realise just how loud the creek and birds really are. The Psalms say that creation glorifies the creator and I believe that because of everything I've seen today. And I can't wait to see it all again tomorrow.    

The Glory of Easter

Jesus is alive!!! 

He has defeated death and the grave! 

He is greater than any idol! 

We are saved by his blood, which was shed on the cross for us all! We are clean!

Because of this, we can do what Hebrews 4:16 says: "So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy and we will find grace to help us when we need it most." 

Oh what a joyful day! What a glorious truth!

Thank you Jesus for your blood!

arms were created for hugs

 Today was a good day. And what made it so was the last few minutes of my last class. 

I was packing up my things and putting my coat on. I had made decent headway on the prompt I chose and felt good about its direction. I asked a nearby friend how her prompt was going as I wrapped my scarf around my neck. 

She told me and I nodded in encouragement. The bell went and she asked if I had to rush off anywhere. I told her I didn't- just had to get to my brother in the parking lot. Then she asked if I could give her a hug. I immediately told her I could and I did right there.

Guys, it felt so good to hug another human. She was the one who asked for the hug, but I needed it too. I didn't want to ask her why, I was just grateful that I could provide her what she needed.  

That's what I'm thankful for today.   

 IT'S A LOVE LETTER

God Knows Me

 Something that's been running through my head recently- God knows me. The all-being creator of the universe knows who I am. He knows every single thing about me. He knows what I've done and he knows what I'll do. He knows me better than I do. He knit me in my mother's womb, he formed me. 

Why does this thought comfort yet terrify me all at once? 

The vastness of God- the unexplainable quanity of GOD- is interested in me? And wants to be my Father? How can that even happen? How does GOD (again, immeasurable, vast, mighty God) come to that conclusion? Of Fathering me? A flawed, angry, creative human being on this earth? 

I AM A HUMAN. HE IS GOD.   

We are nothing alike. Have nothing in common.

Except Jesus Christ. 

God, help me with this. Help me with me. 

I know why God wants a relationship with me. (Because of his love and his Son.)

But- How does this even happen? That's the question: how?

How does a God- THE LIVING GOD- care so much? I can't get around His capacity of love and to love. 

It's overwhelming. 

I'm only four songs in and I am in love with this album ❤

Why My Bible Looks The Way It Does...

 The Bible intimidated me for a while. I knew it was important, but numbers were involved and the pages were thin and the font was small. Nevertheless, I began reading. I knew the stories, but I read them again. I read as much as I could and as much as I wanted to. I started writing things down and keeping notes. I kept reading. I read the Old Testament and fell in love with God and His Promises. I fell in love with Jesus in the New Testament. My Bible looks the way it does because I fell in love with my God.

Exodus: Glorious and beautiful

Verses: Exodus 26:36, 27:16, 28:2, 5, 6, 8, 15

I love this. These verses are about the curtain in the tabernacle, the priestly clothing, all of it. God desired the curtains and the clothing to be beautiful and glorious. (He was telling Moses this.) With regards to the curtain, terminology is used like, "decorate with colourful embroidery" and "use finely woven linen". Certain colours are mentioned: red, scarlet, gold, blue, and purple. 

Here's what this tells me: God wants beauty. He creates and desires beauty. He delights in the beautiful and glorious!!! He filled people with the skills required to carry out the work- the craftsmen "whom he had filled with the Spirit of Wisdom". God gave them the gift of making beautiful things!! God delights and desires glorious beauty.    

Pottery & The Potter

 Hello world!

Today I started throwing on the wheel after not throwing for years. I had two attempts; the second much better than the first. By the second throw, my hands were covered in mud and my arms were getting a work out. 

To throw, you exercise your core and arms. You're steadying your arms by supporting them against your knees and applying pressure with both hands. The left is pressing on the side while the right hand is pressing on the top of the clay. You're bending over the wheel as you're pressing on the clay to form the base. Once the base is formed, you form a hole in the centre with both thumbs. Then, you pull the borders of the pot or vase or bowl up, and apply even pressure from both the inside and outside of the clay as you pull up, being careful to maintain a medium speed on the wheel. When you throw, through the whole process you should maintain a fast-to-medium speed. Do not go too slow. It's also important to keep the clay wet as well.   

And as I was bending over the wheel, my hands covered in wet clay, I was thinking about the process, what the clay felt like as it formed under my fingers, and how God calls himself a potter, and us the clay.  Jeremiah 18:1-6, "The LORD gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, 'Go down to the potter's shop, and I will speak to you there.' So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over. Then the LORD gave me this message: 'O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand'." And, Isaiah 64:8 says, "And yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand". 

I love this so much. God took the time and labor to create each one of us. 

Merciful God

"I will say to the prisoners, 'Come out in freedom', and to those in darkness, "Come into the light'. They will be my sheep, grazing in green pastures and on hills that were previously bare. They will neither hunger nor thirst. The searing sun will not reach them anymore. For the LORD in his mercy will lead them; and he will lead them beside cool waters. And I will make my mountains into level paths for them. The highways will be raised above the valleys. See, my people will return from far away, from the lands to the north to the west, and from as far south as Egypt." ~ Isaiah 49:9-12

"Our lives are like water spilled out on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God does not just sweep life away; instead, he devises ways to bring us back  when we have been separated from him." ~ 2 Samuel 14:14 

In a Philosophy class........

 In a Philosophy class, all conversations will point to God. I like when God is mentioned in the class- because then I get to talk about Him and it's like talking about an old friend that I loved, and still loved, the company of.

Current Fixation: Astronauts

 When I was younger, I considered being an astronaut, but that was before I realized how much math was involved. So I'm not going to be an astronaut in the future, but I have a fascination with them. So as I drink a C drink with Wall E playing in the background, I'll tell you why......

I think one of the things that gives our human species our humanity is the ability and pull toward the unknown- exploring the world above or below us. I think NASA's missions are interesting: Friendship 7, Apollo 13, and the Moon Landing, among many others. (Missions that can be classified under Human Spaceflight.) The spaceships look cool and mechanical. I like the idea of the astronauts orbiting back around and getting to go back home.     

In the beginning...

 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth....." Genesis 1:1

God is the God of creativity. He is the God who creates. Right from the start we get an idea of who God-all-powerful, death defeating, world changing, loving, just, merciful, Judge of the world, Yahweh, eternal, and forever enthroned above- is. We are his people and bear His image, thus we have a desire to create as well. Humans like to create things (some good, some bad.) Think about it- paintings, writing, Minecraft worlds, movies, TV scripts, crocheting, singing, dancing..... God created the whole world and every single little thing in it. Flowers. Stars!! Dirt. Grass. Water. Weather. Trees. Monkeys!! Dogs!! There's no end to it all- everything in the ocean (from bacteria to whales) and everything in the sky.

Next time you want to create something- do it!! CREATE!! MAKE THINGS!! CREATE THINGS UNIQUELY TO YOURSELF. (Because God creates too.)

rainbows in the grass

 I was watering the grass and rainbows shimmered beneath the water of the hose. They weren't big but they were there- still glorifyingly beautiful. It was magical because 1) people think that they can only see rainbows when their in the sky (the rainbows, not the people) but rainbows can actually be found in the dirt (with all its colours), and 2) the rainbows serve as a reminder to God never to flood the earth again (Genesis), and I think that shows who God is- putting a beautiful reminder that covers east and west in the sky with all their colours to remind himself to never again flood the earth. I think that is a very beautiful and magical thing that (maybe) some people forget about when they think of God.     

Queen at 10 in the morning....

 You know what the vibe? Blasting Queen's Greatest Hits on your vinyl record while you make chocolate muffins and your brother and sister is singing "Bohemian Rhapsody" off key and while you mix the dry ingredients with the wet, and your brother is dancing to "Bicycle Race" and you and him boogie to "Under Pressure" before the muffins even go into the oven and then side two starts and you're spooning the batter into the tin tray and it's just you and "Someone To Love" and now it's "Keep Yourself Alive" and this is what life is all about. Guitar riffs, drums, and muffins and Queen.

the water and the waves

I was sitting by the lake earlier and I was looking at the waves which were lazily slapping the rocks below us. I was enamored by the waves and their appearance and it occurred to me that in Genesis, when God made the water, he knew what he wanted it to look like. He knew he wanted it to look like that- fluid, blue, deep, green, and so shiny when the sun hit it. He knew the sounds he wanted the water to make as it went against the rocks and the sound of the water pulling back.