Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Just-a-ponderin'

Been doin' some pondering lately.
about perseverance. about forgiveness. about perfection.

Perseverance: 
running The Race.  seeking the Kingdom.  loving the King.
Forgiveness:
failure. brokeness. picking up the pieces.  Trying.Again.
Perfection:
never content. keeps me moving. seeking to be better.

So many things about the Christian Life are enriching, beautiful, awe-inspiring. 
The other day I was delving into one of my favorite books of all time, Mere Christianity.  Lewis was talking about chastity in his chapter on Sexual Morality.  ickkk.  Quite the sticky subject in current culture...well, even in Lewis' day too.  But what I love about this chapter, this book, is that so much of it goes beyond the surface.  I love to sit, and ponder...to "chew" on the nuggets that saturate this book, this chapter especially. 

So in regards to my ponderings:

Perseverance:
"It is wonderful what you can do when you have to."  I love this. 
When Dad and I go backpacking during the summers, so much of our time is spent on "haves" and not "wants".  Eating, hiking, filtering water, building a fire.  These things that are often "wants" in daily life, become essential to survival out on the trail.  You have to eat.  You have to build a fire to cook.  You have to.  You will not survive if you don't.  How would our lives change if we embraced the Christian life by this outlook?  Chastity is no longer an option.  Honesty is a necessity.  Generosity becomes an obsession.  Loving others is vital to life. 

Forgiveness:
"After each failure, aks forgiveness, pick yourself up, and Try Again.  Very often, what God first helps us towards is not the virtue itself but just this power of always trying again."  What a beautiful, simplified picture of the Christian life!  I love it.  I love that our God is so big that our failures do not define us.  I love that the power of the Cross is so strong that 2000 years later we still get forgiveness freely, and profoundly, by simply asking. 

Perfection:
In conjuncture with forgiveness, Lewis states, "we learn that we cannot trust ourselves even in our best moments, but that we need not despair even in our worst, for our failures are forgiven.  The only fatal thing is to sit down content with anything less than perfection."  Never, ever, under any circumstance, let Satan tempt me with complacency.  Perfection, in Jesus.  Seeking always to be made better, to grow.  To change.  To deepen who I am in Christ.  To more fully, more faithfully be His.  Why?  Because "virtue, even attempted [but failed] virtue brings Light." 

And I want to add to the Sonshine.

On a different note, have you heard about myoneword.org?  It's a movement in the Christian community to choose one word for the year, instead of achieving any New Year's resolutions.  Well, I'm struggling to come up with one word...I'm a female, we thrive on wordiness! =)
So instead, I have chosen one verse for the year. 

I leave you with this:


Monday, January 25, 2010

Whatcha-ma-call-it

I love the little things that add extra sunshine to life:
♥ pictures
♥ polka dots
♥ the color Yellow
♥ sprinkles...and lots of 'em

And then of course, there's one of my favorites:  Hobby Lobby.

Yep, few things get my engine revvin' like a trip to HobLob.

Since I don't have class on Fridays, I decided to take a fun-filled trip to that wonderful crafting and decorating paradise.  I bought some cute Valentine's day scrapbooking paper, some ribbon (I don't think I can leave that store without buying at least one deal of ribbon...*sigh), and a candy dish for V Day. 

And then, in the 66% off home decorating clearance aisle, I found a picture frame lazy-susan dealy-ma-whopper .  But it was hideous.  I'm talkin' ugly orange-colored just-stepped-outta-the-70s awfulness.  But it was 7 bucks, and it was beggin' for some lovin' so I picked her up, along with a can of white spray paint (Krlyon and I are good friends and I had a 40% off coupon for it) and headed home. 

And I *may* have been so excited to give this little thinga-ma-jig some TLC that I completely forgot to take a before picture...which is probably for the better b/c it was so hideous it would have broken my brand new Canon Rebel.

This thing is pretty nifty because it has little mini albums on top to add more photos:


And here is a teensy glimps of her former not-so-charming days of orange tackiness.  Just imagine the entire thing covered in this...


I had a hard time deciding what color to paint her, so I settled on good ol' fashioned white, that way she could make it through all decorating seasons.  But I knew I wanted some color b/c bright colors make me happy, so I opted for scrapbook paper backgrounds and black n white photos in the frames. 

And just for fun, I took a shot of these cute Valentine's dice that sit on my coffee table.  They're kinda silly, but alot of fun never-the-less.



Oh, and one more thing.  I know you are sitting on the edge of your seat wondering what the problem was with my printer from the other day...
Well, as it turns out, a printer has to be PLUGGED IN!  Who knew???
Not my most shining moment, but I did get a good laugh at my own expense when I finally realized what the problem was. 
Ahh, one more techonology crisis solved.  All in a days work, my friends. 

Blessings!
♥ michelle

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Rebel love!


Yowza!

I graduated from my beloved Baylor University in May.
                                         Sic 'Em Bears!

Mom and Dad didn't know what to get me for graduation.
But half a year later, they came through. In a BIG way!

I'm talking HUGE!!!!

Yep folks, I got a brand spankin' new Canon REBEL T1i!!!

The necessary self portrait of course
And yes, I'm wearing quite the outfit:
Christmas up top
Candy-stripe pjs on bottom
In case you didn't know, I am THE Official Mistletoe Tester
I promise I really did graduate from the esteemed Baylor U

It came in this ginormous box with lots, and lots of goodies. Like a second lens. And photo editing for dummies. (Apparently they didn't get the memo that I had GRADUATED...and hence, am no longer a dummy. Sheesh.)

So I proceeded to take pics. Tons and tons of pics. And here are a few of the gems:



Artsty Fartsy Christmas Ornament



Again with the artsy fartsy shenanigans



Got to play with this cutie at the annual Pollard Christmas Extravaganza


Dad bought Mom some flowers for her b-day, and I just HAD to document them



And finally the BIG Finale:





No I did not take this pic.

But it just cracks me up!
Seriously, laugh-out-loud funny!
Anywho, that's it for my Christmas photography adventures.

For now anyway.
I have get back to the important things in life like birthday cake ice cream & sprinkles. And figuring out why my printer will NOT turn on!!! (Technology and I do not get along. At all.)

And I promise not to wait 2 months before posting again. If you're lucky, it might even be sometime this week. But only if this printer cooperates. :D