word of mouth.

my dear college roommate, dondi, has started a darling blog/shop called Dondalee's. she is hosting a giveaway today which you can find here. enjoy!

just a little something.

hmm.

seven months since my last post.

i'm not entirely convinced that i'm "back" in terms of blogging yet, but as i was brewing some java this morning, my little mug collection made me think of yellow songbird's "around the house" link up party today and i thought i'd participate.

the green and white emma mugs are from pottery barn and were a wedding gift given to jared and me (okay, mostly me). the "a" mug is from anthropologie (i can't even think about anthropologie without butterflies of happiness fluttering about inside me), but more importantly, from my sweet friend mrs. meredith martin espey who married her love, charlie, on june 17th. the lovely mug was part of our  bridesmaid gift. meredith's wedding was so special to be a part of - the ceremony was sweet and sacred, and the reception was a true celebration. it was a lovely day altogether and i am thrilled that meredith and charlie's long distance days are over!

well, i'm off to figure out why my computer keeps changing my settings from "U.S." to "Spanish" or "Irish."

happy saturday!

we are all human

This weekend, I participated in a twitter campaign through We Are All Human, a project started by fans of Bethany Joy Galeotti. We Are All Human is seeking to raise funds for Love146, a non-profit organization that has been close to my heart for a few years now. Love146 fights for "Abolition and Restoration! [They] combat child sex slavery & exploitation with the unexpected and restore survivors with excellence." The statistics regarding human trafficking and child slavery are staggering, but the modern day abolitionists at Love146 are choosing to fight back rather than shake their heads at a crisis that, to many, seems too big to conquer. My heart feels like it's going to leap right out of my chest every time I talk or write about this organization, including last night when I composed 210 tweets until 11:59pm (which would have been at least 212 by midnight if Twitter hadn't said "wow, that's enough" and shut me down!) with the hashtag "WeAreAllHuman" since each tweet with that hashtag would motivate some extremely generous donors to send another ten cents Love146's way. The twitter campaign raised $1870 and the donors decided to "round up" to $2000! The money will specifically benefit the Round Home that Love146 has constructed, a "safehome... designed to facilitate the restoration and holistic health of every child entering its doors." The home, true to its name, is physically round - no rough edges, no dark corners, no hidden isolation. Little girls are given a place to be little girls again.

I'm so glad that I got to be a part of We Are All Human's mission, which, by the way, doesn't stop now! The goal is to raise $10,000 by December 31st through Crowd Rise. As of now, $7,098 has been raised (including the $2000 from last night). I don't need to give a sales pitch, Love146 speaks for itself.

I'm also so glad that I got to be a part of using Twitter for good. I recently read an article by Mark Driscoll about receiving, redeeming and rejecting various aspects of our culture, and while I don't think Twitter is inherently bad or good, I think it was absolutely redeemed for something incredibly beautiful last night.

Christ has purchased us out of slavery - praise Him for the chance to be a part of the great, Triune work of ultimate redemption.

"Good tidings of great joy" indeed!

calm down, sister.

i allow blogging to make me way too uptight.

my life has been a continuous trial and error experiment of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, the wrong thing at the right time, the right thing at the wrong time, and, occasionally, the right thing at the right time (you'll notice that the above equation results in a one in four success rate, hence the nervousness to blog). in attempts to speak in truth and kindness, with love and meaning, i've realized that for some seasons of my life, i'll simply have to be quiet. however, i'm also realizing that sometimes dreaming out loud can be truthful, kind, loving, meaningful. i'm also realizing that my words don't have to be perfect or my line of thinking completely refined (as though it ever could be) in order for others to benefit from it. so, off i go...

what fun it would be to:
record an audio book
sing and play a song or two in a studio with my universally talented husband
have a house with a room that has song lyrics, verses, and poem stanzas written on the walls

that's all.

perhaps, someday.

in the light.

i've been captivated//haunted by 1 john recently...

now this is the gospel message we have heard from him and announce to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. if we say we have fellowship with him and yet keep on walking in the darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth. but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. if we say we do not bear the guilt of sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness. if we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. 1john1:5-10

"no darkness at all"
((our God is not a God of shifting shadows, hidden corners, clouded secrets))

((indeed, you are my lamp, Lord. the Lord illumines the darkness around me - 2sam22:29))

((light enables the eyes to see clearly, to perceive shape, color, form, dimension))

((darkness veils, light reveals truth))

"if we say we have not sinned...his word is not in us."

((how backwards from the way i often think, embracing the delusion that i can hide my sin and try to fix it myself. yet refusing to acknowledge my sin as sin means his word is not in me...))
 
"walk in the light"

((imagine: the room of my heart - dark, several light switches on the wall. reading the Word - a light switch flickers on. embracing community - a second follows suit. praying, aligning my heart with God's - a third switch suddenly points upward. serving, loving, hoping, kingdom living...light cannot help but fill the room. sin can hardly find a dark corner or crack in the wall to enter by, and should it somehow break through, it is quickly overwhelmed by the light.))

walk in the light. have fellowship. confess. 

for He is faithful and righteous to forgive.