chasing natalie

I had chills the whole time watching this.

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:38:07 -0400

I had chills the whole time watching this.

The Story of Stuff. The most fascinating thing I’ve seen...

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:32:00 -0400

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?

Hannah Montana

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 19:02:00 -0400

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

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

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:17:00 -0400

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

At this time last year

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:34:00 -0400

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!

Scenes from our walk on the beach today.

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 16:59:23 -0400

Scenes from our walk on the beach today.

HI LARIOUS! If you’re a fan of David Crowder Band you have...

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 01:40:06 -0400

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.

Awesome song stuck in my head this afternoon

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 18:43:14 -0400

Awesome song stuck in my head this afternoon

Just setting up my tent, I feel like I’m at a gigantic...

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 23:56:04 -0400

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

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 23:38:22 -0400

The view tonight

Happy campers

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:00:57 -0400

Happy campers

Just a cool photo taken after a really big craft project at...

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:59:54 -0400

Just a cool photo taken after a really big craft project at camp.

The Firebowl. This is where we have most of our camp meetings....

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 23:20:00 -0400

The Firebowl.

This is where we have most of our camp meetings. It’s where we all eat lunch. It’s where opening and closing ceremonies take place. It’s where all the camp anncouncements are made, all the songs are sung and skits are played. It’s the firebowl… I imagine it’s called the firebowl because at one time they used to have a lot of fires there. I just know it as my favorite place to take pictures at camp every year.

Des Moines 50th Birthday Parade

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 01:57:39 -0400

Des Moines 50th Birthday Parade

What I made today.

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:18:43 -0400

What I made today.

Just some logos I made today.

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:25:00 -0400

Just some logos I made today.

New church experience

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 17:34:21 -0400

It was great. The worship was beautiful and interactive, the message was creative and inspired. The service programming was smooth and the environments were warm and welcoming.

Service starts out with a couple of lively worship songs for the whole family and the kids are prayed over and they go into their own service in a huge gym for games, small group and then communion.

In the main services the body is lively and totally engaged in the message and in worship. Communion happens near the end.

The large lobby was beautifully decorated and it had a nice little bookstore.

The volunteer staff was friendly and helpful. They had all the usual pamphlets and bulletins you’d expect, but what I appreciated was the relaxed atmosphere, no hard selling of events or too long awkward greetings.

All in all it was a wonderful experience.

The whole time I just kept thanking God for bringing me there. He was faithful to answer my prayers and I felt His enduring love in everything they did.

Thank you northwest foursquare for a wonderful Sunday!

Blogging etiquette

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:15:09 -0400

Have you ever felt like you wanted to blog about something so bad but you weren’t sure how to approach the subject? How it would make others feel? How it would make you look in the eyes of the blogosphere?

About right now you’re thinking, who the heck cares, just spit it out woman! :)

How much of a happy face are we obligated to put on in our tweets and in our posts?

How deep can we get with the total strangers that read these pages?

I just wonder how many peeps and tweets out there struggle with issues they feel no one else will understand?

I’m pretty introverted so the chances of me opening up in this medium is unlikely, but I was wondering if there was anyone else out there that felt like they wanted to get something off their chest, but just wasn’t sure how to go about doing it safely…

If there is, just know my thoughts are with you, you’re not alone, and one day maybe it will feel safe to open up in tweets and posts about stuff that’s really bothering us the most.

Do answered prayers = added responsibility?

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:21:00 -0400

I was thinking today about a prayer I asked God to answer a long time ago. He answered it in amazing ways and I’ll forever be grateful.

But I wonder if sometimes those answered prayers come with added responsibility?

I had just gotten off the phone with a family member that God stepped in a long time ago to heal my relationship with.

The conversation didn’t go smoothly and when it ended, I had this thought… God answered my prayer years ago to bring peace in that relationship, and it’s up to me if I choose to maintain that blessing or cast it aside and lose it.

Thankfully I think the Holy Spirit stepped in and I decided to not take that blessing for granted and take responsibility to maintain that gift of peace God gave me. But it did make me start to wonder if added responsibility came with all answered prayers?

What other answered prayers have I taken for granted and let fall by the wayside without a second thought as to what God may be hoping from me or expecting from me?

I was thinking about all the avenues of life and our responsibility in each of those areas.

For instance, what if a person who owned a company prayed to God for good and faithful employees and God decided to answer their prayers by you working there?

Maybe you thought it was all about God answering your prayers, maybe He was answering both, now do both of those individuals have an obligation to God to live up to His expectations of a good employer and a good employee?

And what about the parent who prays to God for a child of their own or for a chance to be a parent to a child they’ve been separated from?

Are there added expectations if that prayer is answered to be the best possible parent you can be to show your gratitude to God for answering that prayer? I think so.

I’m not talking about life or death prayers, somehow it doesn’t seem like God’s character to expect something extraordinary from someone who prayers a heartfelt prayer for the life of someone to be spared.

It just seems like there’s lots of opportunity in our busy days to take all of our answered prayers for granted and never do anything extraordinary or even ordinary to show God how grateful we are for His faithfulness.

I think I’m going to look around at my life over the next couple of days and try and see the extraordinary blessings that surround me and try and show a little more gratitude. Maybe I can do that through humility or generosity or patience. I’m not sure yet, but I’ll know it when I see it and I’ll try to do something extraordinary to say thank you God for hearing my prayer and answering it!

What do you think? Does God bless us with answered prayers expecting nothing in return? Or do you think it’s up to us to show our gratitude through faithfulness, random acts of kindness and wholeheartedly trying to share our blessing with others less fortunate?

Or is it both?

chasing natalie

I had chills the whole time watching this.

The Story of Stuff. The most fascinating thing I’ve seen...

Hannah Montana

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

At this time last year

Scenes from our walk on the beach today.

HI LARIOUS! If you’re a fan of David Crowder Band you have...

Awesome song stuck in my head this afternoon

Just setting up my tent, I feel like I’m at a gigantic...

The view tonight

Happy campers

Just a cool photo taken after a really big craft project at...

The Firebowl. This is where we have most of our camp meetings....

more Des Moines 50th Birthday Parade slideshow

Des Moines 50th Birthday Parade

What I made today.

Just some logos I made today.

New church experience

Blogging etiquette

Do answered prayers = added responsibility?