College, Shoes, and Growing Up

 

I'm pretty sure every modern-day teen has their own quirky dad story. You know, the one that makes you both want to hide in a bush from embarrassment and simultaneously laugh out loud, all the while  making you love your daddy just that much more. 

Well, here is my Dad Story of the week:

My dad decided to wear orange tennis shoes. With a full suit. To the first event where I'd ever meet my potential future college classmates (and husband, as my sister so lovingly pointed out) . 

So. We were walking down the Santa Barbara Pier and I was caught up in the moment. I mean, look at this place! AND IT'S MY FUTURE HOME!!!!! God is so good. 

Anyways, I was totally absorbed in the type of pondering that has led my mom to dub me an Old Soul, and I started staring at my dad walking in front of me. And I just starting putting pieces together, you know? 

My dad is so cool! 

When you are little, your dad is your hero. While he is at work, you imagine that he is some sort of Superhero whose job is equitable to Superman or Pajama Sam. Surely he is the most important man in the world, and every minute of attention that he bestows upon you is like a priceless gift, a memory that will be clutched close as you drift off to sleep that night. 

When you are a middle schooler, your dad is annoying. He's alway's trying to preach to you about some boring and frustrating moral lesson. He doesn't understand your problems (even though he tries), and although you love him, you somehow have lost the connection. 

When you are a high schooler, your dad is your rock. He is the one who listens to all of your deepest questions and answers them patiently and thoughtfully. He is the one that makes sense of the chaos and emotions, and he can always be counted on to speak words of strength and comfort. 

Now I am very nearly a college student (crazy, huh?). Who is my dad to me now? 

Well, I think the answer is summed up in his insane orange tennis shoes. 

My dad stands for something. He always has. He stands for love and loyalty, commitment and dedication, originality and strength, accountability and wisdom. He stands for a different way of doing things, and he does not let himself get dragged down by the struggles of a broken world. He rises up to challenges and never condescends. He is quick to speak but quicker to listen. He urges others to a higher standard of living as Christ has called him to the same. The more I think about it, the more I conclude that I could have very likely have been right when I was a little kid: he really is Superman. Actually, he is better than superman because the "S" emblazoned on his chest most assuredly points to his Savior. In everything he does he strives to honor Lord, and he leads our home with a wisdom that I can only pray to achieve. 

As I grow up and head off to college, I realize the foundation that he has given me. 

And I realized it as I was following in the footsteps of his orange shoes on the Santa Barbara Pier. 

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"As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built." Luke 6:47-48

<3

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

"For You formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it full well." {Ps 139:13-14} 

God is an artist. This world is vibrantly beautiful, and He blesses us through His creation in every breath that we take. He shows His boundless goodness to us in a language that we can understand: the power of the sunrise, a child's beaming smile, the tenderness of a mother's lullaby. • God never ever makes junk. You, my dear friend, are God's beloved, and you are beautifully made in the image of our Savior. ❤️ Never forget that 

//#EatingDisorderAwarenessWeek

http://instagram.com/_emilyann95_

Spotted: LAX Airport

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his Man Card for his daughter." -John 15:13 (Sort of)

"Peace Out, Enjoy Life, Live the Adventure"

Ok, so how many of you guys have heard of Louis Cole?
If you haven't, go check him out. Seriously, do it.
It takes about 21.4 seconds on his Youtube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/FunForLouis/featured) or about half of that time on his Instragram (http://instagram.com/funforlouis) to realize that he is living a crazy cool dream of adventure.

It takes about 49.7 seconds to start feeling totally pumped about life.
I mean, he is a skydiving, cave swimming, white water rafting, spear fishing, snake charming, kangaroo feeding, hot springs exploring, penny board riding, dread lock sporting, sunset marveling, head-over-heels surfing, deep sea diving, tower-repelling, never met a stranger, carpe diem type of man.

Louis Cole, inspiring the world to Live Mas since 2012.

Wow.

It takes about 104.2 seconds to start comparing your Instagram selfies to his. My dramatically captioned artsy photo just don't really stand up to a selfie with a Maori Chief or doing a backflip in front of the Taj Mahal.

It takes about 105.1 seconds to start planning your next trip.
I mean, how could you not? 592,287 people on Youtube hang on his every post. Through him, we vicariously get to travel to Brazil and Australian and Kenya and England and India and Norway and on and on and on and on.

It makes you wonder if it's possible. Could I possibly leave everything and just travel the world for a year? Two years? Forever?

The world is an awfully large place. People always say that the world is shrinking because of the internet, but I think the exact opposite is true. By being exposed to these crazy Youtube videos, I am inspired to live a life of adventure and exploration.

That doesn't even necessarily mean leaving my own city, though. It means that I live to the fullest every single day no matter where I am or how much money I've been given or how many friends I have or how healthy I am. Life doesn't wait until tomorrow. It starts today.

I choose to live life to the fullest today, tomorrow, and every day following that for the rest of my life.

And, maybe someday, I too will travel the world like Louis. But, more importantly, maybe I will be able to inspire someone else to seize each and every day with every bit of enthusiasm and energy they have for the glory of the Lord.

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"Today is a gift. That is why it is called the present." -Master Oogway

"Wherever you are, be all there! Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God." -Jim Elliot

"There is no passion to be found in playing small- in settling for a life that is less than the on you are capable of living." -Nelson Mandela

"We were made to be courageous." -Casting Crowns

Shine Bright like His Diamond

So, this weekend my sister and I embarked on the dreaded "Swimsuit Shopping Spree of Self-Loathing." You know, the one where you try on the "on trend" fabric-the-width-of-your-pinky bathing suits and stare at your i-think-brownies-and-pad-thai-are-delicious-yolo-i-live-in-Washington-with-the-pasty-vampires body and immediately determine to eat only negative four almonds and work out 23,070,129,421 hours a day.

Oh, so you've gone on this spree, too?

Sheesh! Something is unhealthy in this story, and I don't think it's my body. 
I'm talking about this insane body image that we have built up in our minds (You know, the ones where we look like that emaciated dog rescued from the abusive home on Animal Cops: Houston). 

It's a little frightening. Actually, it's a lot frightening. 

There is so much more to you than what you look like in a swimsuit, but that seems to be the time that it is easiest to forget that. Never am I more self-focused than on Swimsuit Shopping Spree Day, and it is that day that I always end up feeling the worst about myself. 
A coincidence? I think not. 
The instant I turn from focusing on what God's Ideal Me looks like, the instant I start feeling like cuddling up with my cats with my best friends Tom and Jerry. 
Even (no, especially) on days like the SSSofSL, I need to remember who I really should be trying to look like. 
Let me give you a hint: It's not the model on the cover of the magazine checkout. No, it's Someone much more beautiful, whose beauty radiates from Himself in such nearly inconceivable brilliance that you would have to be hidden in the cleft of a rock in order to not die from the sheer glory of His face (Exodus 33). 

Oh, did you guess it? 
That's right, shine bright like His diamond. 
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"Models, even male models — how small they've gotten! It looks great for clothes, but it's not what you want in real life. Why do we have to keep looking at ourselves and measuring?" - Demi Moore

"God made a very obvious choice when he made me voluptuous; why would I go against what he decided for me? My limbs work, so I'm not going to complain about the way my body is shaped." -Drew Barrymore

"How much time have I wasted on diets and what I look like? Take your time and your talent and figure out what you have to contribute to this world. And get over what the heck your butt looks like in those jeans!" -America Ferreira

Come, Thou Fount

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing has always been my favorite worship song. 

Always.

The line "Let thy goodness, Lord, like a fetter bind my wandering heart to Thee." has always given me chills. 

Always. 

My prayer has always been that God would bind me to Him, because I know that I am not always strong enough to reach for Him when I need Him most. He is always faithful to grasp me to his heart, even when I am too stubborn to even cry out for His help. 

Do you know what a "fetter" is? It is a chain. It is involuntary and inescapable. And I pray that God ensnares me in his fetter of love. I want to be His servant for the rest of my life, because being a servant to Him is the ultimate freedom. 

But lately, a few more lines of this hymn have caught my attention, "Tune my heart to sing Thy grace" being one of them.

Do you play an instrument? Tuning can take a long time, especially if the instrument has been neglected for a while. Tuning is a process, and not everyone can do it well. For example, my grandma is 100% tone-deaf. I love her to pieces, but believe me when I tell you that you do not want her tuning your heart. 
Tuning is also sensitive. Even a hair out of tune, and the sound grates upon the ears. God is the "author and perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2). Perfecter! He does not stop with "decently average" or "sufficiently close to quality." No! We are being perfected! We are the clay in His hands, and He is shaping us to understand the boundless depths of His grace. 

With each tweak of of heart, we are able to comprehend His goodness a tinsy bit more. Therefore, don't fight His handiwork! He is the greatest musician in all of time and space.  

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Come thou fount of every blessing

Tune my heart to sing Thy grace

Streams of mercy never ceasing

Call for songs of loudest praise

Teach me some melodious sonnet

Sung by flaming tongues above

I'll praise the Mount I'm fixed upon it

Mount of Thy redeeming love

Here I raise my Ebenezer

Hither by Thy help I come

Oh, and I hope by Thy good pleasure

Safely to arrive at home

Oh Jesus, sought me when a stranger

Wandering from the fold of God

He, to rescue me from danger

Interposed His precious blood

Ode to grace, how great a debtor

Daily I'm constrained to be

And let Thy goodness like a fetter

Bind my wandering heart to Thee

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it

Prone to leave the God I love

Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it

Seal it for Thy courts above

The Sign of Three

MRS HUDSON (excitedly): So – it’s the big day, then!
SHERLOCK (taking a sip of tea): What big day?
MRS HUDSON: The wedding! John and Mary getting married!
SHERLOCK: Two people who currently live together are about to attend church, have a party, go on a short holiday and then carry on living together. What’s big about that?
MRS HUDSON: It changes people, marriage.
SHERLOCK: Mmm, no it doesn’t.

(From Sherlock Season 3 Episode 2)

I love this scene because it touches on something deep within our culture, something that our culture is starting to question: 

What is the point of marriage? 

I really ask that honestly. Why get married? Is it because it is the "right thing to do?" Is it because it makes financial sense? Is it because you are finally convinced that this person could make you happy for the rest of your life? 

If the answer to the above questions is "yes," then I believe that your reasons are tragically insufficient. 

Gen. 2:18, 21-24

"The Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him'...and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, 'This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man.' For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." 

It makes sense that Sherlock was so disenchanted at the prospect of marriage. For John and Mary, the gift had already been ruined, the check already cashed. They jumped ahead of God's timing and therefore the triumph of marriage is somewhat foregone for them. That is not to say that God cannot work through their choices, but they have also sacrificed something inestimably precious. 

Marriage is a picture of Christ and His bride, the Church (Ephesians 5:22-23). It is a picture of the glorious relationship between the Savior of mankind and His people, and it portrays the beauty and the truth of the eternal relationship we have with God. When we enter into matrimony as pure and virtuous, we are offering up a sacrifice to God. We are saying, "I value Your ways above mine, and I am honoring You with all that I am." This is a blessing not only to God but also to your spouse. 

So, while the "sign of three" in the case of Mary and John is a child, a Christian marriage has a very different "sign of three." The third person should always be the Holy Spirit, for only by loving Him more than your spouse can your marriage truly prosper. 

A Modern Dr. T. J. Eckleburg

"Eyes wide open:"
-(1a) full of wonder or astonishment
-(1b)having child-like simplicity, trust, or innocence
-(2)watchful and alert; to be fully aware of what's going on around you
-(3) a song by Australian musician Gotye 


How many times have I heard this expression used? "I should have know better, I mean, I walked into the relationship with eyes wide open." "I'll need to keep my eyes wide open: I know this is dangerous and could burn me." "I wish I would have kept my eyes open. Maybe then I wouldn't be in this situation now." "My mother warned me to keep my eyes wide open..." etc, etc, etc. 
Why do we, as a culture, feel the need to reiterate this piece of advice? And, if it's so important, why does it seem to so often go unheeded? 
We are being called a generation of sleepers- a zombie horde smothered by technology, disconnect, and over scheduling. Our eyes are down on the pavement, numbly counting the cracks that we step over on our way from work to the next item on our checklist.

...one...two...three..four...five...six...

We do not have our eyes wide open. We are not full of wonder and excitement when we see the incredible blade of grass crashing through the layers of concrete like a tiny green hulk. We are not filled with astonishment when we drive by a park in the middle of winter and still see a group of red-nosed children bundled up in a calico assortment of warmth playing tag and braving the elements for the love of the sport. We are not fully aware of what's going on around us when we peck out a meaningless text as we cross a busy street. We are not watchful to see if our actions hurt others because we are too consumed with our own fatigue and disinterest. 
We do not have our eyes wide open. 
How can I live a life with eyes wide open, full of childish wonder and expectation of the miraculous? Life is too beautiful and too precious to miss even one second. I want to be awake! 

I do not believe it is a fault in our natures but instead in the demands of our culture. Everyone knows that when you spread cream cheese too thinly on a bagal that it's hardly worth eating. The same is true for life. If we spread ourselves too thin, then our life is hardly worth living. 



“Wherever you are, be all there! Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God.” -Jim Elliot 


So, as we plan our schedules, we need to be prayerful. How can I have a life that both allows me to do the most and also get the most out of everything I do? 

Vale La Pena

I believe that one of the most incredible experiences you can have in this life is to wrap yourself in another culture, and I mean really envelop yourself in it. Breathe it in deep until its essence coils around your bones and makes your brain hum. Soak it up until your tongue sings with the sweetness of their idioms and the tears that squeeze out from belly-aching laughter sizzle on the pavement with the burning passion of new understanding. 

It's beautiful. 

To lose yourself in the torrential tornado of a thousand new ideas is to find a little piece of humanity within yourself that you'd never noticed before. 

But it comes at a cost. 

As humans, we are bound by the limits of time and space and consciousness. 
Our bodies are confined to one location at a time, and while we are in one place we will forever desire to be in another with that new fleck of discovered humanity.
We are limited by time, only able to visit one place at a time or learn one language at a time or make one new friend at at time,
And we are limited by consciousness. No matter how desperately we love someone, we cannot think of them all the time. And the more people you love, the more people that jostle for your attention in a finite world.  

That is the price of falling in love with a thousand fragments of a scattered world. We are not Enough to gather them all. But, from the pieces we do manage to clutch tightly to our hearts, we are able to extrapolate an image of what we are missing. 

That is where imagination proves itself to be God's greatest gift. 

"I am in love with cities I've never been to and people I've never met."

With every piece of the puzzle we collect, the more we realize the cosmic infinity of our universe. 

"Wonder is the beginning of wisdom." -Socrates

Wonder is the cure to the mundane, and God, as the creator of the universe, has surely proven Himself wondrous. 

"Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone works wonders. And blessed be His glorious name forever; and may the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen." – Psalm 72:18-19

God, creator of earth and the cosmos and all the heavens, how vast is your imagination! You have filled the earth with the abundance of your richness, and I count my experiences with your creation as my greatest treasures. Even though my mortal consciousness is not big enough to hold the world, I know that Yours is. You've got the whole world in your hands, so I am content with my jars of sand. 

"Vale la pena"

Just A Girl with Ideas

Who am I?

Who am I that others should listen to what I have to say?
Who am I that others should ask for my advice?
Who am I to be thought of as smart, artistic, or talented?

I am just a girl with ideas. 
But you know what?

Ideas are powerful.
They have the power to topple nations or destroy them.
They have the power to innovate.
They have the power to create.
They have the power to initiate change. 

"Be the change you wish to see in the world."

I wish to be a change; a positive change; a catalytic change.

"Jesus said to him, 'Get up, take up your bed, and walk.'" -John 5:8

We were dead men, but God gave us an idea. 
Do you know what that idea was?

That I am worth dying for.

Think about that.

How does that thought change the way you live your life?

I hope it changes everything about the way you are living.
I'm just a girl with ideas, but these ideas bring life and inspiration and purpose:

You are worth dying for. I hope I can help show you that.



John 3:16
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."