on my nasal health

ok, so if you know me pretty well, you have probably heard me talk rather frequently about my nasal health (or lack thereof). throughout my life, i have been plagued by nasal issues. not only do i experience allergic reactions to most things indoors and outdoors, causing an excess of clear, runny snot to project from my nose, but i also have very small nostrils and very small nasal passages. this causes lots of problems, including but not limited to: snoring, sleeping with my mouth open, not being able to breathe through my nose most of the time or for extended periods of time, frequent nose-blowing, frequent sniffling, and sometimes a nasal-y sounding voice. oh, and sinus headaches.

into this picture of my nasal life, enter my friend megan. megan is wonderful ... she is neat and orderly, proper, mannerly, polite, and clean. and she likes it when the people around her are somewhat similar in nature. well, my sniveling, snotty mess of sinus area doesn't really rub her the right way. it's not a bad thing -- my constant sniffles just bug her (more than some other poeple). so she got me this present for graduation:


yes, believe your eyes. it's a nasal flush pot. you mix up some salt with some lukewarm water, stick the spout up one nostril, breathe through your mouth, tilt your head sideways, and let the water run up one side, through the sinuses, and out the other nostril. it's quite the contraption.

now i cannot lie ... while i was intrigued and impressed by this gift (that i got last may), i have been PETRIFIED of it. i mean, i'm having visions of that brain burn you get when the pool water goes up your nose. not fun. and not worth whatever supposed good effects it might bring. so i haven't touched it. i hadn't even taken it out of the box.

until three days ago.


because three days ago, my other good friend shannon held my hand (well, not literally) through the whole thing.

and it was amazing. AND it was not painful.


i'm hooked. and i can breathe through my nose!!!!!! for the first time ever!!! it's AMAZING. i'm on day three now.


so you should try it. for real.

Your renown -- shaun groves

On this journey home
I will walk Your road
I will not turn 'round
For another

Make my pathway straight
Into heaven's gates
I will not turn 'round
For another

Lord, it's Your renown
Your eternal fame
That I live for now
It's Your name
It's Your name
For Your name

In my heart I'm sure
I'm completely Yours
I will not bow down
For another

Trade my selfishness
For Your holiness
I will not bow down
For another

Lord, it's Your renown
Your eternal fame
That I live for now
It's Your name
It's Your name
For Your name

When my sun goes down
And the dark surrounds
I will not cry out
For another

Lord, it's Your renown
Your eternal fame
That I live for now
It's Your name
It's Your name
For Your name

More of You
Less of me ...

more than words

this post is only titled that because i was trying to think of a title, and that song happened to start playing on my itunes as i sat here. so for what that's worth ;)


but it's apt all the same.


ok, so i look around at my life, and the way i spend my time, and something is off. sometimes i feel like i don't have much control over how my time is spent, but what is happening in actuality is that i just really don't pay much attention to where my time goes. i let it slip away. and i don't like that.

but then i think about how i would like to spend my time, and sometimes i don't know what i would do with free reign. i think i would do a lot of things that i don't do now. in fact, i think i'd like to make a list:

if i could empty my schedule for the next six months, i would:

• write at least one song a week.
• go for a solitary walk in un-civilized terrain 5 days a week.
• have one day a week of solitary time with Jesus (no other people at all for the whole day).
• spend at least 2 hours in uninterrupted prayer every day.
• have a significant conversation with an old friend once a week.
• go through all my possessions (ALL) and sell/trash 75% of them.
• read at least half the bible.
• finish the tee-shirt quilt i started about 8 years ago ....
• not do my hair.
• not wear makeup (not even mascara).
• learn how to play mandolin.
• climb a mountain. maybe in colorado.
• not make a single commitment or promise to anyone. and not let anyone down.
• make no plans for the future.
• read lots of different things.
  
• not watch a lick of TV.
  

i thought i wanted to live a full life. but i don't want a full life that consists of nothing more than a full schedule. i want to live a full life, one that is BIG, with broad horizons and variated landscapes. i want a simple life with a simple schedule that allows for a fuller experience than a full schedule ever could. i want to be able to let my life happen without feeling like it's happening without me, like it's dragging me along. i want to enjoy every moment, every blessing, every breath as the gracious gift that it is. no strings attached.

and i don't want to waste my life.

oh Lord, lead me.

fancy this

so it seems to me that i become more of who i am,
when i see/know/find/experience more of Who Jesus is.

not just a security in my identity.
not just a higher level of self-assurance.
not just a greater sense of comfortability in my own skin.


but i actually become a deeper, fuller, truer version of myself.



and i've been feeling a bit lost lately. a but un-like myself.

but i know the remedy.

:D

"for those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son ... and these whome He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified."

romans eight : twenty-nine and thirty

hope

"Sunday’s sermon was about Hope. Hope is not the same as optimism, the pastor pointed out. Optimism has its place, but it is at its core the name given to a way of looking at things. The glass is either half full or half empty–our opinion of it doesn’t change the amount of water in the cup. Sure, it changes our disposition, and of course an optimistic one is the better of the two. But Hope goes deeper. Hope gives thanks that there is such a thing as water, and remembers that whether the glass is empty or full, there is a greater story being told. If there is water in the glass, then somewhere beneath the earth, in cathedral caverns where no eye has yet seen, a clear river courses. I may cry out in pain or sorrow (which seems to me anything but optimistic), and yet have hope, though I cling to it feebly."

...

"Finally, Frodo bids his friends goodbye at the Grey Havens. I didn’t pause it this time, but as soon as the film was over I talked with Jamie about the wound that we all carry. Just like Frodo, we have wounds that are too deep to heal this side of that grey rain curtain; the wounds of the Fall, of our daily sin, of our loneliness and selfishness and tendency to believe the lie over the Truth. I ache to board that ship and sail away to those white shores and that far green country.

Hope holds me up. It’s what I cling to, and all I ever want to cling to.

“We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” (Romans)

Lord, give us patience."

--andrew peterson--

[the whole post]

the glory of Christ: a reminder

then i turned to see the voice that was speaking to me.

i saw one like a son of man,
clothed in a robe reaching to the feet,
and girded across His chest with a golden sash.

His head and His hair were white
like white wool,
like snow;

and His eyes were like a flame of fire.

His feet were like burnished bronze,
when it has been made to glow in a furnace,

and His voice was like the sound of many waters.

in His right hand He held seven stars,
and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword;

and His face ...

His face was like the sun
shining in its strength.




when i saw Him...

when i saw Him...

when i saw Him

i fell at His feet like a dead man.




and He placed His right hand on me, saying,

"Do not be afraid;

I am the first

and the last,

and the living One;

I was dead, and behold,

I am alive forevermore,

and I have the keys of death and of Hades."


revelation one : twelve - eighteen

i like anna nalick

you're all here for the very same reason

cuz you can't jump the track
we're like cars on a cable

and life's like an hourglass
glued to the table

no one can find the rewind button, now
so cradle your head in your hands

and breathe.
just breathe.

the day off

i am really looking forward to today! first of all, it started out in the BEST WAY EVER--i woke up on my own the moment before my alarm went off :D it's so silly, but that just sets my day off right. and now, i don't have to go to work ... i love these days in the middle of the week when i don't have to work. i'm getting my hair cut at aveda, and my friend emily from work is going to do it! then my madre is coming down for the day. we had a really good time together the last time i was home (last weekend) and i'm hoping we get to have some more quality time.

but what really makes this day so wonderful and glorious is that i am covered by the grace of God. He is forever at work in my heart, whether or not i see it. His Word is forever true, and it is forever piercing my soul and putting in me a hunger for more of Him. when i turn to the Word, the world begins to make sense. priorities fall into place. my heart is at peace. i can live abundantly, and i begin to look a little more like Jesus.

and what is more wonderful than that?

so here's to another wonderful day. :)



"like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted of the kindness of the Lord ... for He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. for you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls."

--first peter two: two & three, twenty-four & twenty-five--

one of those songs.

i seem to have this thing that i do, where i pretend like i don't really like a lot of that "christian" music ... you know, the stuff on k-love or star 88.3. i pretend like i have a more discerning musical palate, and that catchy stuff with the corny lyrics just isn't up to par.

but then i hear a song or two ... full of those cheesy musical hooks and all the 'corniness' of any legit ccm ... and it catches the spirit of my heart. and i start to sing along, and i realize that i really mean it.

and suddenly i find that i get really excited every time the song comes on the radio :D

well, no more pretending.


this is one of those songs. and matthew west (the singer) is giving a free concert in fort wayne at noon on friday. anyone up for a trip with me? ;)

I’m the one with two left feet
Standing on a lonely street
I can’t even walk a straight line
And every time you look at me
I’m spinning like an autumn leaf
Bound to hit bottom sometime

Where would I be without someone to save me
Someone who won’t let me fall

You are everything that I live for
Everything that I can’t believe is happening
You’re standing right in front of me
With arms wide open
All I know is Every day is filled with hope
You are everything that I believe for
And I can’t help but breathe you in
and Breathe again
Feeling all this life within
Every single beat of my heart

I’m the one with big mistakes
Big regrets and bigger breaks
Than I'd ever care to confess
Oh but, You’re the one who looks at me
And sees what I was meant to be
More than just a beautiful mess

Where would I be without someone to save me
Someone who won’t let me fall

You are everything that I live for
Everything that I can’t believe is happening
You’re standing right in front of me
With arms wide open
All I know is Every day is filled with hope
You are everything that I believe for
And I can’t help but breathe you in
Breathe again
Feeling all this life within
Every single beat of my heart

You’re everything good in my life
Everything honest and true
And all of those stars hanging up in the sky
Could never shine brighter than You

You are everything that I live for
Everything that I can’t believe is happening
You’re standing right in front of me
With arms wide open
All I know is
Every day is filled with hope
You are everything that I believe for
And I can’t help but breathe you in
Breathe again
Feeling all this life within
Every single beat of my heart
You are
You are
Jesus, You are
You are everything

:D

the review ... i like it too :D

to put it simply, i'm copying.


two-thousand seven, so lived by rachel lynn bell:

--jan--
heard a calling. got confirmation. worked my last days as a youth coordinator. saw jars and d.webb and don miller with l.haff in holland. got sicker than i've been in years, and spent several days on the couch instead of in class. talked a lot with my parents about life.

--feb--
trusted the Lord. a lot. correction: learned how to trust the Lord. a lot. and researched grad schools. got accepted for the internship with cru.

--mar--
continued to get ridiculously behind in classes. let a lot of people down, and learned how to be OK with that. wrote a lot of papers. spring-breaked in the apartment with e.w. road-tripped to stl to see the bulldogs in the sweet sixteen. started reading john.

--apr--
saw the Lord raise my very first supporter. turned twenty-two with meggie becca. had a memorable (studying-filled) birthday with a birthday cookie message and leftover dough (the BEST). went to training for the cru internship. started reading job.

--may--
went to thursday at d-ton's for the last time as a student. turned in a lot of late work. got a 4.0 for the semester. switched my primary and secondary majors around. graduated. felt a little heart-broken. and grateful. played in some weddings. had a strangely awkward encounter with an old ... friend. moved into a new house.

--jun--
mda-camped it. and avoided support raising. started support raising. late. wrote a song. learned about endurance. went to a wedding. started reading hebrews. and read colossians a few times one morning.

--jul--
went to philly with my cousin's band. saw erica and it was amazing. got really discouraged. took a beating from the Word of God. struggled with life. answered the xanga question of the day.

--aug--
asked for support online as the deadline neared. learned humility. well, actually, was humiliated/humbled. wondered if i really trusted God. had a sneaking suspicion that i didn't. bible ripped again. felt a little slippery, and a lot immature. doubted. leaned on a few people pretty heavily. read jonah.

--sep--
heard some much-needed words from the Lord. wrote a new song. disengaged from a lot of my friendships. started this blog. started watching pushing daisies. wrote another new song. waited on the Lord. followed Him in a new [scary] direction. failed at some things in the eyes of the world. started reading isaiah.

--oct--
learned and remembered sweet things in psalm 16. went to plymouth with russ and jessica to see dave. started working at starbucks. fall retreat-ed. cried for G-dub, both for my sorrow and for his joy. found some awesome music. found my heart breaking for things happening in ministry. watched my life spiral out of control. shared the gospel of grace in a very new way. read jonah again.

--nov--
read the great divorce. had a very short thanksgiving. missed my family. didn't blog. didn't read blogs. went to a wedding. saw my RIC and it was amazing. didn't read much of my bible. and was consequently much worse for the wear. had a lot of yats. got new tires.

--dec--
started reading revelation, among other things here and there. read some steinbeck. failed a life in a lot of ways. let a lot of people down. didn't sleep enough. saw a lot of old friends and it was good. had a two-day christmas break. started to apply for teach for america. worked/attended christmas conference. had the desire to join staff for the first time ever. and maybe .... heard another call. again.

just like full circle.


i'm looking forward in 08 to:

-direction and passion
-more gospel sharing
-more Word of God reading
-finding identity in Christ
-hiding my life in Christ
-glorifying God by being really, really satisfied in Him
-good song writing
-the wedding of my dearest friend
-the return of another dearest friend
-more Jesus than ever before


well that's about all, folks. :) God is good.