and i will remove the heart of stone

i haven't posted anything in a really long time! well, i made some art for the ekklesia office. its pretty simple. water color and ink transfer. 36x24".

a challenge to women

I just read this the other day, and its well... challenging. I hope and pray that my life can reflect these qualities. Each of these points are deep, and point women toward devotion to God and security in Christ.

By John Piper

January 1, 1995

1. That all of your life—in whatever calling—be devoted to the glory of God.

2. That the promises of Christ be trusted so fully that peace and joy and strength fill your soul to overflowing.

3. That this fullness of God overflow in daily acts of love so that people might see your good deeds and give glory to your Father in heaven.

4. That you be women of the Book, who love and study and obey the Bible in every area of its teaching. That meditation on Biblical truth be the source of hope and faith. And that you continue to grow in understanding through all the chapters of your life, never thinking that study and growth are only for others.

5. That you be women of prayer, so that the Word of God would open to you; and the power of faith and holiness would descend upon you; and your spiritual influence would increase at home and at church and in the world.

6. That you be women who have a deep grasp of the sovereign grace of God undergirding all these spiritual processes, that you be deep thinkers about the doctrines of grace, and even deeper lovers and believers of these things.

7. That you be totally committed to ministry, whatever your specific role, that you not fritter your time away on soaps or ladies magazines or aimless hobbies, any more than men should fritter theirs away on excessive sports or aimless diddling in the garage. That you redeem the time for Christ and his Kingdom.

8. That, if you are single, you exploit your singleness to the full in devotion to Christ and not be paralyzed by the desire to be married.

9. That, if you are married, you creatively and intelligently and sincerely support the leadership of your husband as deeply as obedience to Christ will allow; that you encourage him in his God-appointed role as head; that you influence him spiritually primarily through your fearless tranquility and holiness and prayer.

10. That, if you have children, you accept responsibility with your husband (or alone if necessary) to raise up children who hope in the triumph of God, sharing with him the teaching and discipline of the children, and giving to the children that special nurturing touch and care that you are uniquely fitted to give.

11. That you not assume that secular employment is a greater challenge or a better use of your life than the countless opportunities of service and witness in the home the neighborhood, the community, the church, and the world. That you not only pose the question: Career vs. full time mom? But that you ask as seriously: Full time career vs. freedom for ministry? That you ask: Which would be greater for the Kingdom— to be in the employ of someone telling you what to do to make his business prosper, or to be God's free agent dreaming your own dream about how your time and your home and your creativity could make God's business prosper? And that in all this you make your choices not on the basis of secular trends or yuppie lifestyle expectations, but on the basis of what will strengthen the family and advance the cause of Christ.

12. That you step back and (with your husband, if you are married) plan the various forms of your life's ministry in chapters. Chapters are divided by various things—age, strength, singleness, marriage, employment choices, children at home, children in college, grandchildren, retirement, etc. No chapter has all the joys. Finite life is a series of tradeoffs. Finding God's will, and living for the glory of Christ to the full in every chapter is what makes it a success, not whether it reads like somebody else's chapter or whether it has in it what chapter five will have.

13. That you develop a wartime mentality and lifestyle; that you never forget that life is short, that billions of people hang in the balance of heaven and hell every day, that the love of money is spiritual suicide, that the goals of upward mobility (nicer clothes, cars, houses, vacations, food, hobbies) are a poor and dangerous substitute for the goals of living for Christ with all your might, and maximizing your joy in ministry to people's needs.

14. That in all your relationships with men you seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in applying the Biblical vision of manhood and womanhood; that you develop a style and demeanor that does justice to the unique role God has given to man to feel responsible for gracious leadership in relation to women—a leadership which involves elements of protection and care and initiative. That you think creatively and with cultural sensitivity (just as he must do) in shaping the style and setting the tone of your interaction with men.

15. That you see Biblical guidelines for what is appropriate and inappropriate for men and women in relation to each other not as arbitrary constraints on freedom but as wise and gracious prescriptions for how to discover the true freedom of God's ideal of complementarity. That you not measure your potential by the few roles withheld but by the countless roles offered.

dropped pedals and tossed garters

these are from a wedding i shot in september. got some good photos of the flower girls. and well, the last one on here is just for fun.

benjamin austin jacoby

this is ben jacoby, he is my step brother. i took his senior photos last weekend, here in eugene, or. it was a fun photo-shoot, and i'm glad we were able to find a couple good locations for photos!

look! new blog header image!

^

creativity under God

Good sermon from a church in LA

Reality LA: Creativity Under God, Tim Chaddick

good insight from mark driscol on addiction

this topic is very relevant to me and my family, and i really

enjoyed mark driscol's teaching on it. for me personally, it has

been a long process attempting to understand addiction, its root,

its grasp, and its effects. i definitely don't fully understand it,

but i appreciate that it had been addressed from a solid biblical

stance. this whole sermon series on Proverbs is really good, you

should listen to it.

oh that i had wings like a dove

i made a new duvet cover and pillow for my bed! i'm a little obsessed with grey right now. i was planning on embroidering on the quilt cover, but it will take some time to do, so for now i just embroidered on the pillow i made.

psalm 55:6 "oh that i had wings like a dove, i would fly away and rest"

grandma young

i shot a wedding this weekend, and here is the bride's grandma.

more photos to come later.

a good word from spurgeon

Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work.

-Psalm 92:4

Do you believe that your sins are forgiven and that Christ has made a full atonement for them? Then what a joyful Christian you ought to be! How you should live above the common trials and troubles of the world! Since sin is forgiven, can it matter what happens to me now? Luther said, "Smite, Lord, smite, for my sin is forgiven; if Thou hast forgiven me, smite as hard as Thou wilt." In a similar spirit you may say, "Send sickness, poverty, losses, crosses, persecution; send what You will, for You have forgiven me, and my soul is glad." Christian, if you are thus saved, while you are glad, be grateful and loving. Cling to the cross that took you sin away; serve Him who served you. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service" (Rom 12:1). Do not let your zeal evaporate in some little exuberant outburst of song. Show your love in expressive ways. Love the brethren of HIm who loved you. If there is a Mephibosheth anywhere who is lame or halt, help him for Jonathan's sake. If there is a poor tried believer, weep with him and bear his cross for the sake of Him who wept for you and carried your sins. Since your are thus forgiven freely for Christ's sake, go and tell to others the joyful news of pardoning mercy. Do not be content with this unspeakable blessing for yourself alone, but publish abroad the story of the Cross. Holy gladness and holy boldness will make you a good preacher, and all the world will be a pulpit for you to preach in. Cheerful holiness is the most forcible of sermons, but the Lord must give it to you. Seek it this morning before you go into the world. When it is the Lords work in which we rejoice, we do not to be afraid of being too glad.

maya elizabeth reynoldson

here are my first ever baby portraits... we didn't have much time or space. this is my cousin katie and her daughter maya. we snuck away from my other cousin's birthday party to get some photos done. babies make weird faces. maya is 3 months old.

my teeth are going to fall out

today, i skipped my dentist appointment. i was supposed to be in tacoma by 11:00am, but instead, i caught up on sleep and didn't leave eugene until about 11:30 after running some errands. my brother's friend, daren, made us dinner. he barbecued hamburgers. i thought they were joking, it was weird. i've been cleaning out my bedroom at my mom's house. its quite the process, and i don't think it will ever be complete. but i've made a good start and have a box or two of treasures/junk to bring back to eugene with me. the itinerary for the rest of the weekend includes a birthday party for my cousin in seattle and an excursion to mars hill church with benjamin.

elderly extravaganza

this evening, we all dressed up like old people and ate breakfast together. it was just about the best idea that tatum and i have ever had. i strongly encourage others to have similar parties, it was highly entertaining. we're hoping to reconvene in about 50 years.

also, tatum is leaving for mexico tomorrow. she thought that her flight was at noon, but she's come to find that she leaves from portland at 6:00am. we will be leaving from our house at about 1:30am so she can make it to mexico.

::the harts::

27 june 2009












more will be up on my flickr site soon...

idependence

i had a great 4th of july... i really like these people

train time

today i rode the train from tacoma to eugene. actually, i had to get on the bus in portland, but my train was late so i missed the bus. so amtrack put me and some fellow train-riders in a taxi.
but, photoshop kept me busy while i was on the train. here is the result of my efforts...

actions

i'm in tacoma, and i don't have a whole lot to do here. so for the past few hours i've been playing with photoshop actions and downloading some from the internet. this is my favorite so far. the rest are just color adjustments and such.
this is a photo of my brother, dad, grandpa, and me! taken at my grandpa's house, he lives on the beach.

"just pray about it"

about two weeks ago, two mormon boys came to my house. their names are matthew and taylor. we chatted about the trinity and christ's eternality, and i invited them back for an "interfaith discussion". and well, it was interesting. for all those who may be interested in watching a video on joseph smith's early life, please let me know, because they let us keep the dvd. basically, these mormon boys know nothing and couldn't answer any of my questions. they contradicted themselves multiple times, took verses from the bible out of context (which was expected). a few minutes after they showed us the video they decided that they were taking up too much of our time and so they left.
also, fun fact: mormon missionaries cannot go swimming, for safety purposes. but daniel, the non-elder who decided to tag along, was more than willing to float the river with us!

next

ok, so i know that i haven't "walked" yet, but i am done with college. this morning, at approximately 11:14am, i walked out of my art history final. as i walked down the hallway it slowly dawned on me exactly what just happened. ok, i'm actually still not sure about exactly is taking place. i'm done with college, i don't have a complete understanding of the meaning of that statement, but i like how it sounds and i like that i don't know what comes next.
this is what a college graduate looks like:



tomorrow all of my family will come here and we will start a weekend of over-exaggerated celebrations. i'm looking forward to it.

the final episode

bird nest installation

this is my final project for my screen printing class...