get ready!

A can of worms has opened! My photo button has been pushed and I'm snap-happy! Great timing with fall. It's nice to have met people that appreciate a good photo. "Yeah, I know its a tree; but, look how great it is!" I promise I will try to restrain myself, and try to not exhaust the photo-show. With the way I take pictures, about 5 of 50 actually turn out to be something worth someone's while.

kyle's daughter creates abstract art

revolution story

Some great blogging in my opinion.
His last post is in June though.

zenith in me

Being a woman is not easy, no secret there. Countless pressures from society do nothing to relieve the countless pressures we put upon ourselves. I have been given a new perspective on creation lately, and being created in God's image. Since we are created in His image, and since He is a creator, humans have a natural inclination to create. But what else are we driven towards and by? What about women?
I am reading "Captivating" by John and Stasi Eldredge in which the authors unveil the mystery of a woman's soul. Woah, someone knows how to do that? Logically, they begin with the dawn of time. God goes nuts: light, land, trees, buffalo, eagles, scorpions, tulips, crickets, horses, dolphins...and then a man. Stars sing and angels shout - what a great show! Yet, something is missing, not good; God is not finished. So He puts Adam back to rest, takes a rib, and makes a woman. The author calls Eve the "crown of creation," instructing the reader to go to the nearest window, look out across the earth, and declare that the world is incomplete without her. "Creation has reached a zenith in me" is not an easy concept to grasp.
Shedding light, Eldredge convincingly describes God's feminine tendencies by example of women:
Women are relational, possessing a vast desire and capacity for intimate relationships.
God's greatest desire is to be in relationship with us.
Women long to be sought after, desired.
He longs to be desired, pursued.
We are inviting, tender, merciful (sometimes:only human), fierce, and fiercely devoted.
Sound familiar?

"It is not good for the man to be alone, I shall make him [an ezer kenegdo]" (Gen. 2:18 Alter).
Ezer kenegdo, my new favorite phrase.
Roughly, "help meet," "companion," or "helper." I found it interesting that the only other times "ezer" is used in the Old Testament is in reference to God, needing His help in a life-or-death situation.
Eldredge writes, "God is essential. He wants us to need him - desperately. Eve is essential. She has an irreplaceable role to play. And so you'll see that women are endowed with fierce devotion, an ability to suffer great hardships, [and] a vision to make the world a better place."
"That longing in the heart of a woman to share life together as a great adventure - that comes straight from the heart of God, who also longs for this."

Well, that clears it up pretty well for me! It is comforting to know that these needy, lovey-dovey, sometimes jealous feelings are a part of my disposition; traits acquired not from women I have known, but from God Himself. I am created in His image, and that is why I am how and who I am.

talking heads - the good thing

I will fight; will fight with my heart.
I will fight; will fight with understanding.
In my mind, the weather never changes,
Skill overcomes difficult situations.
A straight line
exists between me and the good
things.
I have found the line and it’s direction is
known to me.
Absolute trust keeps me going in
the right direction.
Any intrusion is met with a heart full of the good thing.
Try to compare what I am presenting.
You will meet with much frustration.
Try to find ... similar situation.
You will always find the same solution.
As the heart finds the good thing, the feeling is multiplied.
Add the will to the strength and it equals
conviction.
As we economise, efficiency is multiplied,
To the extent I am determined the result is the
good thing.
So I say: I have adopted this and made it my own:
Cut back the weakness, reinforce what is strong.