Oh how He loves us

He is jealous for me
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy
When all of a sudden
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory
And I realize just how beautiful You are
And how great Your affections are for me

We are His portion and He is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If grace is an ocean, we're all sinking
So Heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest
I don't have time to maintain these regrets
When I think about the way He loves us..

a place that welcomed our mess

I've been a fan of To Write Love On Her Arms since I first heard about it, but haven't done a great job at following everything they're up to; mainly because it's not a community I'm actively involved in.  Sure, I buy a shirt here and there, but it's not like it's a tangible organization I can be a part of here in Cincinnati.  Every now and then I take the time to read their blog and catch up on old posts.  Tonight is one of those times.  And without fail, every time I read something that hits home; that inspires me.  I wanted to share an quote from the first update I read regarding their final weeks on Warped Tour:

We are surrounded by people. We have this chance to have a community, big or small, to “go there” with. The thing is, we have to take the risk of being honest and being known. We have to find that place inside us where we’re ready to challenge ourselves and grow. We have to be willing to know that sometimes someone won’t show up.  Caring about and loving others takes risk and probably more than we have in us most of the time. But I think the more we put out there, we’ll have something returned greater than we could have imagined.

I know that God is the driving force behind this organization, whether Jamie will admit it or not.  (One of his favorite authors, and friend, is Donald Miller...Blue Like Jazz..). I think that's a tactful decision so that it's open to everyone and does not scare off individuals who do not believe in God or hate religion.  But, if I may be so bold, that's exactly what they need.  It's what all of us need: not religion, but God.  The whole premise of TWLOHA is to give people hope; to show them that they are not alone; that their story matters; that we should surround ourselves with community that listens, offers advice, and comforts.  Well, that is God: truth and love.  And the truth is; we are NOT alone.  We only choose to believe and feel that way.  Speaking of choosing, the next update I read had to do with just that:

“The true mark of any writer is in the choices he makes. Having written three words, he must choose a fourth. Having written four, he must choose a fifth. Nothing happens into a good poem; everything must be chosen into it.”

We are the writers, the authors, and the poets of our own story. We have the choice to choose. We can be a people who wish for better things, who hope that our story will be written only by the stars, or we can wake up, dream awake and live out what we deserve to be. We have to choose to live. We have to choose to ask for help when we reach the end of ourselves. You deserve to write that fifth word, even the sixth. Once you write the first six, maybe the following words, the words that define your life and who you will become, may not be so hard to write. You deserve to be given the chance to choose. You deserve the chance to share. When you choose to share, you may just find something magical start to happen in your heart.  

Well that is all I'm going to copy and paste.  You should read some of it for yourself.  There truly are some amazing stories coming out of the work of TWLOHA.

this is better than a love song

My best friend, Lisa, is an awesome, talented, beautiful, intelligent, and strong woman of God. 
This is merely one of the reasons why she is infinitely talented and blessed: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=274822637717
And another: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=121776227717

So I realize she probably won't be winning American Idol.  I don't care.  I don't think she cares.  I'm just in awe of people who have the gull to be themselves and throw all of their heart into something they love; even if they're the only one who appreciates the end product.  It's a quality to be admired, and I've always been jealous of the vulnerability it takes to truly create something beautiful.

i never tire of this face

This adorable little thing gets FOUR shots today.  I couldn't bare go with my brother and watch.  I just want to console her upon return.  I love her to pieces.  This blog could very easily turn into Georgia central, so I apologize in advance if you're not a fan of babies.  I wasn't either, but now I cannot get enough of her.

GO NOLA 2010

So I'm going to be completely lame and just copy what I sent in e-mail form to friends and family recapping my New Orleans trip:

This year I was a bus lead and in charge of making sure everyone was present and accounted for before leaving Cincinnati and at each rest stop.  I brought a bunch of movies along, cards and balls/frisbees to use during our pit stops.   The first year I went to New Orleans, I didn't know anyone on the trip and I wanted to make sure that wasn't the case this year.  Being a bus lead is the easiest way to to that, because instantly, 41 people knew my name and face.  And everyone called me Diesel, which just reminded me how cool my last name is!! :] And rest assured, I did my job well, and no one was left behind.

I was also on the vision team and was actually asked sort of last minute to lead the team for week 2. I had to help with the planning and contacting different sites to set up the screenings. We only had the camp information about a week before leaving for the trip and were playing A LOT of phone tag.  Our schedule was not completely planned out when we left and I was nervous there wasn't going to be enough to do and the volunteers would be frustrated.  Thankfully I had an awesome group who were completely flexible.  A fantastic lady from the first week's trip came on board and helped us through our first day of vision screens, so we felt comfortable with what we were doing.  Our schedule was busy enough so that we weren't having a bunch of down time, but also gave us time to interact with the kids at each individual camp.  And we weren't out sweating our butts off everyday which was nice!!  We screened a total of 644 kids the week I was down there and roughly 160 qualified for the clinic this month.  There were 1300 kids screened between the two weeks combined, which was 200 shy of our goal, but pretty good considering it's the first year we have done this.

I want to thank you again for the support you have given me in order to be a part of this trip.  It really feels great to spend an entire week just serving God and being in a city that has such great hope despite the devastation they have faced.  They are truly thankful for all of prayers and help they have received from volunteers that continually come down to bless the city.  Habitat is the number one builder of homes in New Orleans since Katrina, which receives a good majority of its labor from volunteers.  There is still so much rebuilding that needs to be done, but the people are just glad they haven't been forgotten; that people still care about the city. 

Check out the official recap video:

(I seriously wish Crossroads would get hip to youtube or something that provides an embedded code.) Below you can view a couple video blogs put together by some other volunteers on the trip.

my mom googled him first

Ok, so I'm sorta feeling like a stalker, but I just donated here: Team Lambton
My mom really did google him, which is a huge feat because she can barely operate her e-mail.  She's living in some alternate fantasy and saying I should try to contact Chris.  The donation, to an already great cause, is as far as I would ever come to that.  This isn't Sleepless in Seattle and I'm no Meg Ryan. In all seriousness, the finale gave me goosebumps. As soon as he walked outside and saw that rainbow, I wanted to cry. He saw his mom, and I saw the only physical proof of God any person should need. I refuse to call something that meaningful a coincidence. End of story.

I felt touched by a story and I wanted to share that.  It's got to feel pretty amazing to have an overwhelming amount of support from people all over the world you don't even know. I was genuinely touched by the positivity and love of his family.  I totally quoted his dad on facebook after the hometown date: "love is the only reality." What an amazing man to face such a loss and still count his blessings; still cherish and believe that love is all that matters.

she makes my heart happy.

Being there the first couple seconds after my niece wakes up and seeing her instantly happy, smiling face are the moments I live for. Sometimes I have this weird sense of awe and can't believe she's real. I never knew I'd love being an aunt this much.