Anyone? Anyone???

I just wonder...

Is anyone even reading this blog? Typically, I get no comments, and it makes me wonder if I am spending all this time on the computer doing this blog with no audience. Hummmmm... that would be BAD!

If you're out there and are reading, SEND ME A COMMENT!
Click on the little word that says "comment" below this blog and let me know you're there.

Thanks for reading if you're out there!

on the outside

There's something strange that happens to you when you're in a hospital locked up for several days. It's this strange sensation when you get 'out.'like being let out of prison. At first, I didn't know what to do. I was like, "Oh yeah. This is what my life was all about." I don't recommend hospitalization if you can avoid it, but the flip side of it is that this hospital stay made me completely STOP my life for several days and just BE. Be alone with my baby. Be alone with my thoughts. Be alone, shut away from traffic, from radio, from noise, from my hectic life, schedule, and my 'to do' list. And just BE alone with the three things most important in my life. God, James, and Hannah.

It was therapeutic.
It was revolutionary in my future approach to life.

Here's the deal. Being AWAY from things made me see how insignificant most things are. It made me see that I can live without a LOT of things that are in my life. Mostly by default, but some of these things make my life more stressful. Street signs blaring advertisements, resteraunt logos enticing you to their establishment. Cars going going going. Hussle and bustle and worry and care that are mostly man made and self-inflicted. Going to the hospital and being trapped there for several days made me acutely aware of how much time I waste on things that don't matter. It also made me see that so much will continue to go on, whether I am here or not.

One thing I know is this. The point to life is not to fill our time with things to DO. Going here and there and rushing around doing our life is not the point. That's the punk's innocent distractions.

This week, I learned to cling to the Lord. I had to. I was worried about Hannah and felt completely helpless because there was nothing I could do. The one thing I could do was to pray and cry out to God like David did.

Psalm 63
A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.

1 O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.

3 Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.

4 I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.

5 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

6 On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.

7 Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.

8 My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.

9 They who seek my life will be destroyed;
they will go down to the depths of the earth.

10 They will be given over to the sword
and become food for jackals.

11 But the king will rejoice in God;
all who swear by God's name will praise him,
while the mouths of liars will be silenced.


Now that I'm back on the outside, I want to make my life more simple. Less confusion. Less busy-ness. There's more to it than just that. Everything else is filler.

See the Morning, part three

Each day I have to cross the train tracks to get to work. Regularly, I see trains of all shapes, types, colors, and sizes. I used to like trains. They interest me. Where are they going? What are they carrying? Why do they go so slowly when I'm in a rush?!


Now that I have lived in an area where I have to cross train tracks (and typically get stopped by at least four trains a week), I'm much less interested in them. I'm more bothered by them. They slow me down and make me late. But this one peaked my interest. I guess it did because I wasn't in any kind of mad dash to get to work. The colors, the contrast between them and the sky, and even the graffiti interested me.
I'm learning that there's even beauty in the things that slow me down and make me late.

See the Morning, part two

More pictures from Saturday as I pursued the morning and all the beauty that it holds. The funny thing about driving to work on a weekend is how much less stressful it is. Too bad I can't figure out how to channel that peace that's only found on an early Saturday or Sunday morning and bottle it to use during the week.



There's something I find peaceful about an old building, such as an old barn. There's history behind those walls, and it peaks my interest as to who has worked there and for how many generations it has stood. The sad thing is that usually, I don't have enough time to enjoy the scenery because I'm too busy looking at the traffic in front of me to notice how peaceful my morning drive really is.

See the Morning

I recently purchased the new Chris Tomlin project called "See the Morning." Inspired by the title, I got up early Saturday morning, bundled up the baby, and headed out with the Canon to find the morning. I decided that I'd like to show you what my drive to work looks like.


Sunrise, seen at the end of my street as I head to work each morning.


After starting my photography hobby, I have come to the realization that we can all find the beauty in the mundane. A simple drive to work, for instance. You might only see stop signs, traffic lights, and cars. But if you look through the lens of a camera- figuratively speaking- all of a sudden, there is beauty surrounding you. Case in point, my drive from Broussard to Ridge each morning. Below is what I see each morning:


The sugarcane field near my subdivision.


More to come... check back in a day or two. And ride with me to work as we seek to find the beauty in the morning.

overflow.

overflow:

o·ver·flow: to flow or run over the top, brim, or banks; To be filled beyond capacity; To have a boundless supply; be superabundant.
To spread or cover over; flood; To cause to fill beyond capacity.
The act of overflowing. Something that flows over; an excess.
(American Heritage Dictionary)

Christ's idea of overflowing:

"May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you." 1 Thessalonians 3:12

This verse is our choir's key verse for this season. The goal of this is to show the audience that we have such love for the Father and for each other that it literally spills over into the congregation, drawing them closer to the Lord in the process. We know that time spent in the word produces a harvest in our own lives. But I'm learning that time spent with other Christians within a ministry where you serve together can produce friendships that go beyond the casual and into the significance of the eternal. My heart's desire is that this year, our bonds within our ministry at East Bayou will be so evident that the unchurched can sense this passion we have for the Lord, and then desire it for themselves. If we accomplish this, I feel that God will be honored by all we do. Afterall, our church's mission is to reach the lost for Christ and to build them up into believers. Our ministry falls under that mission, and with overflowing love for each other and for the Lord, we will reach many for His kingdom. Whoa... to think that something as simple as that can have lasting effects on others.... awesome.