chasing natalie


I never know what to say in these things... I love Christ, my daughter, my two cats Jack and Bob, my job: making websites for churches and non-profits. I'm trying to learn how to play the guitar. I live near the beach but I don't have a view. I love the work Compassion International is doing and I try and support their efforts as God allows me. I'd love to be a photojournalist for a relief organization one day and travel the world taking pictures and documenting what's going on for others to see and get involved. James 1:27 says that 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.

LINKS

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

Sponsor a child online through Compassion's Christian child sponsorship ministry. Search for a child by age, gender, country, birthday, special needs and more.

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

I had chills the whole time watching this.

The Story of Stuff. The most fascinating thing I’ve seen on YouTube lately, but not for the reasons you think. Agree or disagree with this video, you can’t deny that it evokes some type of emotion in you. Weather you think it’s right or far out in left field, it has to make you think. I didn’t hear anything new in this video. I don’t think I learned anything new, but it did get me to think about something new.

I understand a little about the battle between the left and the right, the democrat and the republican, the environmentalist and the consumerist, the socialist and the capitalist, but not enough to sound intelligent.

What I do understand a little more though is the internal battle we all face, the questions that are always looming in our minds. The battle between right and wrong. Are we honoring God? Is this the best use of my resources? Are we teaching good values to our children? Are we on the right path? Will we look back 50 years from now and say… “we saw the signs” and did nothing or too little?

Why do we fight messages like this? Are we too afraid of what our answer will be? That we like the way we live right now, and we don’t really want to have to worry about who it’s affecting?

Are we afraid of anything that threatens our way of life? Do we think propaganda that tells us our spending habits are wrong is just rubbish?

I live in smaller house than most (in America), I wear secondhand clothes and recycle. Does that somehow make me more conscientious than the person who lives in a bigger house, drives a gas guzzler, wears the latest fashions and never thinks about the effects their consumerism has on the rest of the world? I don’t think so. I’m willing to bet that the small sacrifices I make, that I think make a difference, don’t really matter at all.

And that’s what this video got me to think about. That it’s not a battle between the person who thinks they’re doing their part to be green against the person who really could care less.

I think it’s more about a global conscience of humanity stopping the machine for just a minute and all of us asking “Is this right?” or “Is this wrong?” and being strong enough to face up to whatever answer we come up with. Then having the faith to look sin square in the face and say enough is enough… we’re not going to live in this limbo any longer. We’re tired of wondering if we’re making some terrible mistake… we need to know… for certain, that what we’re doing is right.

Can anyone say that for 100% certainty? That the way we live our lives today is totally completely God honoring? No, we can’t.

And why can’t we? Would it be so terrible to stop, think and ask the tough questions? Make small changes, make big changes, grow a couple of cajones and face up to the fact that we’re all riding a tidal wave without a life preserver.

I wonder what will happen to our precious planet and it’s resources? I wonder if we’ll ever stop the machine? Or, if we’re all so afraid that if we do, life as we know it will cease to exist, we’ll cease to exist? Or, one day will our race eventually drown in this sea of uncertainty?

Tagged: the story of stuffannie leonardConsumerismcapitalism

Hannah Montana

Just finished watching the Hannah Montana movie with my daughter. We enjoyed it. It made me think about the double lives we all live. The person we are on the inside who desperately wants to be on the outside. The facade we portray on the outside who desperately wants to run and hide.

Can any of us truly be who we want to be? Is it everyone around us that wants to hold us back? Or is it just our fears and insecurities?

I think it takes an effort to be who you truly feel you were meant to be. It shouldn’t have to be that way, but sometimes it feels like it’s harder to chase who you really are than it is to just fake it and pretend to be the person you think everyone wants you to be.

Just some random thoughts I had after watching a movie with my preteen, that made me question in my mind why some of us (me) settle for the 2nd rate versions of who we could be, if we (I) would only have courage and faith to chase the real (fill in your name here)… natalie

Tagged: Hannah Montana

This made me smile so much, I almost cried tears of joy! Thanks @DarylBakke

Tagged: Steve HarveyJesus Christ

At this time last year

One of my favorite things about blogs is that if you’re ever curious about what your life looked like a year ago, it’s easy to go back in time and relive it… albeit through posts.

Last year at this time…

My car broke down on my daughter’s first day of school.

This pastor made some phone calls for me and helped me save what little sanity I had left.

We were all deciding who we wanted for the next president of the US.

I was resolving to give-up on ever expanding my horizons professionally.

I didn’t know it at the time, but a few weeks later I was about to make a humongous decision that would affect my life in incredible ways.

My daughter didn’t know it, but she was about to have her most unfavorite school year to date.

I was thousands and thousands of dollars in debt.

I felt lost and hurt with relationships I couldn’t control or didn’t understand why they had to be so difficult.

I abused caffeine and had terrible insomnia.

I also had the flu.

I listened to Joss Stone too much.

:)

A lot can change in a year. A lot can change for the better in a year.

One thing that didn’t change was Jesus’s love for me and my family. He’s still answering prayers left and right. He’s still here for me.

So I should only have good thoughts about turning 35 tomorrow… right? It’s going to be another year of good things, good changes…

Thank you Jesus!

Tagged: life

Scenes from our walk on the beach today.

Tagged: beachphotossandredondo

HI LARIOUS! If you’re a fan of David Crowder Band you have to watch this! Just what I needed to see tonight! Thanks @terracecrawford for the link.

Tagged: David Crowder BandTwitterYouTube

Awesome song stuck in my head this afternoon

Tagged: alabaster jargateway worship

Just setting up my tent, I feel like I’m at a gigantic family reunion. Here’s one last view of the sunset.

Just setting up my tent, I feel like I’m at a gigantic family reunion. Here’s one last view of the sunset.

The view tonight

The view tonight