Dreams, Pt. 2

You could call this a hope for the future!

I want to go to Japan. I don't know how long I'll be there.
It could be a few weeks. It could be a summer. It could be a year.. or years.
I haven't figured that part out.

But this has been a hope of mine for a long time. It's not new.

There has been a change in my long-term hopes list.

The list looks like this.

-graduate from college, major in Advertising!
-before I get a "real job" go intern with The Simple Way
http://www.thesimpleway.org/local/internship-program/
-take what I learn from The Simple Way and put it into practice in Japan!


In a perfect world...

I don't know whether this could be realized or not - but this is a far-fetched sort of plan for the future.
If it's God's will, then it will happen!

Time will tell!


What I learned today:

I am a very silly person. Alarmingly silly, actually!
I need to not only keep soaking up doctrine and truth being poured into me, but continue seek it out. There's so much I want to know!

A Dream Come True

When I was little I wanted to be a lot of things.

I wanted to be a glass-blower at one time.
I wanted to be an artist - along with half the other kids my age
But most of all, I wanted to be an author.

I wanted to be an author so badly, and I was so sure of myself, I thought that at age 18, I would be the world's most successful author.
I wanted to have a book published by 15 ... imagine that

I remember I wanted a lot of things, too. I wanted a house with a hundred floors.


It wasn't so long ago that I had a dream that I got all of those things, I woke up and everything was there. Funny huh, dreaming that all your dreams came true?


But as I grew and reality set in, my dreams changed... fame was more important than the book, a man was more important than the house...

Strange!

And as I matured in faith, my dreams changed again. Simple dreams. Simple groanings of my heart, so basic in nature that I can hardly describe them.

It's true - eternity was placed in the heart of man.

And all those groanings, my heart's hand outstretched, was met and grasped by the Love it was reaching for.Finger by finger, the perfect fit. The perfect remedy. The perfect answer to the desolate question.

Words, even thoughts only paint an image of the joy that overwhelmed me like ... in the words of David Crowder, a hurricane.

Now I can't help but realize, that when I close my eyes at the end of the day, I am living my dream come true. In every regard.

As we pursue God, our desires become more like His desires. And as Scripture says, seek ye first the kingdom, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

God's goodness is being repeated like a beautiful chorus, a catchy song I hear on the radio, it just won't stop echoing in my life. God is good. And then I'm given some new treasure that I don't deserve - over and over again. Grace..... it's overwhelming

don't forget your First Love
and because He loved me... He taught me how to love.
And it is only through Him that I can honestly say

that I really and truly love you, friends

Kitchenstuff

I really enjoy baking. Cooking, not so much.
I'm not very good at either, honestly - I'm kind of a terror in the kitchen...

But me and my sister made some pretty delicious corn casserole for Thanksgiving! (We "forgot" to add cheese. but neither of us are big fans of cheese... it's a twin thing)

And today I made some brownies! I just can't help myself. Baking is just so, so fun, especially the eating of the dough/batter/unfinished baked good.
Granted, it was a Ghiradelli brownie mix, but still! I had to put it together! haha

I'm writing a paper on Martin Luther and his 95 Theses. It's easy for me to write about - and it gets me thinking about corruption and materialism in the modern-day Church.

I'm sure Shane Claiborne has a lot to say about it.

Anyway - I hope all of you are having a fantabulous and lovely holiday.

with love, Rachel

Thanksgiving's Eve

Home for Thanksgiving! My little brother Daniel is getting so tall and grown-up. It boggles my mind!

I took my mom to my two favorite places in Denton: Sukho Thai and Naranja for boba tea!!! I don't know if she enjoyed them as much as I did, but still...

I went shopping at Plato's closet for the first time today.
I got a buncha clothes! and a Sgt. Pepper-esque jacket. Also, since I apparently don't have enough knitted sweaters, I got another one - it's purple.

And, best of all, I got to see my dearly loved friends that I have been missing for a long time.

There's nothing like the embrace of people you cherish

Turn that smile right side up!

The day always turns out to be a strange one when you take too big of a nap.

But this morning I had a critique, and I think it went alright. One of the pieces I turned in was the one on black I posted last time! This is the other one!
It's a curtain... if you can't tell..

Had breakfast at Jack in the Box again this morning - their breakfast grilled cheese sandwich was fantastic! I asked for no meat and it was just eggs and cheese! Delicious! Even thinking about it is making me hungry again!
(Critique mornings, I usually take more time gathering up my works and sometimes I miss breakfast...)

After my two morning classes I was done for the day, so I took a nap. a very big nap. I guess I needed to catch up on some sleep haha.
That, and I was feeling pretty stressed.

Design isn't really going that well. I am trying my best of course...
I emailed my teacher to ask if there was something I could do, but there isn't anything. So I was very sad and frustrated.. but a good sleep can really help you feel refreshed.

But, on the brighter side:
Drawing is going super-fantastically.
So is Intro to Communication Design!
Honors Classical Argument is tough in different ways, but I think I'm doing well since I got an A on my midterm, and I've been doing all my homework! (I say I think, because she doesn't post grades on blackboard.)

I thought I'd post some old projects from Drawing! Feet and stuff!



Have a lovely day, and if you don't, take a nap =) you'll feel loads better!

Mission: Pedicure

You know, for a Monday, today was pretty swell! haha.

We're doing a card project in design. Right now we're working on my favorite part - the concept - and I'm trying to decide what media to do my cards in...

The drawing workload is so intense! It's a good thing I really enjoy it. =) Design requires so much precision..

The Comm Design Portfolio review is swiftly approaching, along with a slew of other final projects. I just feel like I'm on that bumpy part of the roller coaster, waiting, waiting for the big drop where I'm going to have to just hold on and ride out the madness.
But as far as happenings go, I got my first mani-pedi ever today. Now my nails are buffed, shiny, and .... pink.
...YesIt was 5$ for the whole thing, hands and feet! The BSM put it on, they're raising money for missions! And I thought, if I'm ever going to get one of these "mani-pedi" things, it should be now! for a good cause!

It was really fun! I got my feet massaged and washed and ...lotionized? My feet felt like rose petals after!


This is subtractive work - I started off with black paper and added white conte crayon to it! it was different!

I also went to the girls night briefly! The only thing I love more than argyle is plaid pajama pants! =)

Not long until Thanksgiving, my friends! I will see you soon!

Give and take

Hey-la-lo-ah!

It's good to be back in Denton. I did go home for the weekend!

Aledo seems like such a distant memory. There are some things I can remember really well, but the people I spent time with are off on their own adventures. As am I of course!

I guess the whole world feels like a different place. I like to think that I've changed, and even Denton itself is turning over to winter.
This first semester is a season in itself... a season of learning and soaking up and delighting in the Lord.. I hope that the next season will allow me to repay the people around me for all the kindness they have shown me.

The years, since 2004, have gotten progressively better... Until here, where I am completely befuddled and bewildered as to how every moment could contain so much joy and blessing. What could the future have in store?

I keep in mind, though, that all these things are gifts. It's only through God's grace that I am able to study here. Sometimes I wonder if I, like Job, am being blessed in preparation for some trial. But even if all these wonderful things I write about were taken away, I hope that my faith would be strong enough so that my first response would be to praise God...

I heard a pastor say, "You shouldn't love anything on earth so much that if it were taken away it would impair your ability to worship."
So I enjoy and hold these blessings with open hands.

Thank you, Lord...

Theatricality

How I've missed Sukho Thai!! Had a most terrific lunch there today.

We had another field trip in Drawing. It wasn't super productive, but I did find a concept I really liked.

Me and Elise cooked eggplant today. The recipie called for weird things like mint and garlic and spices, so I was a little unsure of whether I would like it... but it was delicious! We also ate spinach quiche.

This evening, to help children that suffer from abuse, Nathan Miller and the Loverlies played another show! This time it was at the Hydrant, a Christian coffeeshop. I got to try out the ...kahona?? (however you spell it..) Anyway, it's a fabulous percussive instrument. I wish I were better with my hands - djimbe and hand-drums are so cool sounding.

I've been pretty disappointed with Season 2 of Glee. I just kept watching it hoping it would get better. And now, finally, an episode has come with a ray of hope. "The Substitute" was the first really great episode of season 2. The Umbrella/Singin' in the Rain mashup was fantastic!!!

Mr. Schuester is such a theatrical man. I might be inspired enough to do something crazy. Like jumping around, singing showtunes to strangers...

Oh, in celebration of the Harry Potter premiere tonight...

I've been doing the whole Hermione look these days, I think...

Oh, and while I'm thinking about lookalikes, does this girl remind you of anyone?

Her name is Sofia Coppola!

Take care, friends =)

Screwtape and stumbles

After I finished Coffeeshop Gospel, I kind of stopped reading anything outside of textbooks and the Bible, two things that I can't afford not to read.

But The Screwtape Letters might be my new favorite book. I loved it so much that I started and finished it, today.

It sounds like it'd be scary... letters from demons? And to some extent it is unsettling, but mostly, it's funny and enlightening.
I think I did well on a test today. So that's good news.

Aside from that, today wasn't as much fun, but tomorrow has exciting plans! =)

OH - and a friendly reminder...

If you believe, as I do, that Christ Jesus is Lord, and you follow Him, then you are my brother/sister, you are my family, you are always welcome to message/visit me when you are lonely, seeking truth, in need of prayer, anything really.

Actually this applies to everyone - but I wanted to assure my brothers and sisters that I consider them as such.

To you who also pursue truth: don't let me spread false doctrine. If I write something untrue, or say something that isn't true, please tell me. And call me out when I screw up. I really need people to hold me accountable.

One last thing: I came across an old post and I realized that instead of writing the details of my day, recently I just have been writing about new spiritual truths that I want to share. Perhaps that's not interesting to read.... but those things really have become the details of my day - there's less of UNT that I have left to discover, and more and more, I'm finding out there's a lot about God I have yet to discover.

You have my love and affection, dear friends.

Mercy

Today was another fantabulous one. For three reasons.

1. I woke up on time.
2. My design critique went well!
3. Something cool happened this afternoon!

This afternoon (in reference to #3) me and some brothers and sisters gathered outside in a courtyard and just celebrated Jesus. Celebrated the beauty of grace! And it was good. =)

Later me and Maria went on a wild goose chase looking for this restaurant I really wanted to check out! We found it though! If at first you don't succeed...

Man. I am so glad.. so thankful I know the Lord. His very nature is drawing me closer to Him, because He is so good and merciful. I was overwhelmed with this truth when I read 1 Chronicles 21. That whole chapter is a beautiful story.

To sum it up, David shames Israel and sins against God. But he realizes it and says to God, “I have sinned greatly by doing this. Now, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.” (verse 8)

So then Gad, David's seer, tells him he has three possible punishments, three options, and that he gets to choose.

A. Three years of famine
B. Three months of being swept away before enemies
or C. Three days of the sword of the Lord (plagues, the angel of the Lord)

David says "Let me fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is very great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.”

14 So the Lord sent a plague on Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead.
15 And God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But as the angel was doing so, the Lord saw it and was grieved because of the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand.”

... He was GRIEVED! Because of the suffering of man!
And so he had mercy on man even then, before Christ.. We justly deserve punishment, and God is just, but He had mercy and sent a Savior to take our punishment.

The song "Great is Thy Faithfulness" keeps repeating over and over in my mind. It's never been a favorite song of mine... until now. Its lyrics fully describe how I'm feeling...

Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
all I have needed thy hand hath provided;
great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

"Morning by morning new mercies I see" That phrase keeps popping up in my mind throughout the days... each day I learn more about God's good nature. He shuts up the mouths of lions that roar about me, and has even shut up the mouth of the great lion that prowls about, Satan - He overcame death so that we could be with him. Man...... wow....

Anyway - cardboard testimonies are this wednesday, I'll be showing mine again, I can't wait to tell people, "Look what God did!"

thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not;
as thou hast been thou forever will be.
Take care my friends. =)

Loverly

Concert #2 of the weekend. All this musicking is filling my heart to its brim with joy.. and then some.

There were a lot of acts going on, too many to write about, so if you're reading this and you're not included... I still like you.. a lot

I was very happy to join the Loverlies. A buncha people told me I "looked like I was having a good time."
This is very true. I WAS having a good time. It's hard not to smile when you're surrounded by people you love dearly. And the Loverlies are among those people.


I post a lot of blogs, I think. But I like to record the day's events... it helps me drink the moments slowly, like a rich coffee. There are so many good things going on. I always feel overwhelmed with gratitude, and I feel compelled to thank the world for its kindnesses. And if this is my broadcast to it... I want to say thank you. I guess I say things like that often.

As often as I say thank you, as often as I say "I'm blessed" and as often as I say that I'm loving life here, I mean it with the same conviction as the first few entries.

If nothing else I hope you know that. If you're reading this blog, for whatever reason, you cared enough about me to read it, and I want you to know I love you. And I want you to take delight in every moment. Drink it in. Drink it slowly. Your very existence is a voice in the choir of creation... sing with passion.

Join me - dance with me, laugh with me, because you are my brother or sister, and let's celebrate!! for God is good and grace is ours.

Darcy, North of Autumn, and Seryn show!

The legendary Denton bands are as good as the stories say.

Darcy, North of Autumn, and Seryn are musical champions! It was a really fun concert.
Seryn was AMAZING. Crazy good stuff. They transitioned really well from song to song. And their drummer was fantastic - he kept moving from instrument to instrument.
I might overuse the word crazy in my description, but that's the word that keeps coming to mind. Crazy beats.
They harmonized really well, it reminded me of Fleet Foxes, or Frontier Ruckus.
North of Autumn sounded a bit like Kings of Leon or Gavin Degraw. I didn't really like their style so much, but they played well, and their first song was fantastic! The rest were good too. But not my cup of java..
Gosh! I don't even like java, haha.
I may be a little biased, because I know two of the people in Darcy, but their music sounds the most like what I would listen to. Their style is so, for lack of a better word, cute... it made me think of Owl City (they used a xylophone)

I love that kind of thing!

There's another concert tonight, gosh I love live music!

Rain is romantic

It's hard to walk alone in the rain without wondering if there will ever be a boy to share an umbrella with me.

But it's hard to imagine a happier place to be than where I am now... I couldn't ask for more.

So often I'm tempted by memories of kisses and companionship. Maybe one day a godly man will sweep me off my feet. But for now... I just want to fall more and more in love with Jesus

Wonderment

Lately it's become very evident that I'm meant to be exactly and precisely here. I find myself overwhelmed with the desire to worship. By the wonder of it all.

It's the happiest wonderment I've ever known. God, why do You love me so much? Why are You giving me all these things I don't deserve? Why when I ask for breadcrust, You set before me a feast?

I feel strongly that I'm just MEANT to be here. Specific needs, weak points that needed to be challenged and refined... God's meeting me at every angle. Moving and working in every breath.

I stumble and I'm not always a great 'shining light' in places of darkness.... but I desire to be strong enough to shine and transform hateful things into beautiful things, to turn rebellion into reconciliation.
And that, of course, is what I hope for most of all..
That the people I meet are brought closer to Jesus through my living.

I love you my precious brothers and sisters. So much.

The Wind is Blowing

You know what I keep re-learning?

That if we ask, we shall recieve... God provides us with what we need.

I keep thinking, I'm going to have to get through this on my own, or this is just something I need to adapt to, but God shows me that there's no way that I can! And He makes a way!

Old afflictions suddenly dissolved. Deep aches in my heart were filled with love and peace and I am completely satisfied.

We give our lives and our hearts to God, and He takes all of us, even our darkest parts, so that He can sculpt us into holiness.

But ahh! I want God to shine from my actions. Every day my footsteps should write out the Gospel. I hear "godly woman" and this image pops up in my head of what I've always wanted to look like. And step by step, God is correcting me... so that one day I might finally look like that godly woman

A friend of mine said that the Hebrew word for Holy Spirit is also the word they use for "wind"
But when I feel the tug of the Spirit, I realize that's what it feels like. A strong wind.
The wind is blowing here in Denton, God is moving, greater things are yet to come, greater things are still to be done in this city!

Boba Fett Tea

I feel totally renewed and refreshed.
Everything is beautiful.

The stress has just been ironed out of the fabric of my mind.
Like it was a puddle and someone dropped a Shamwow on it, and sucked all that stress away.

I am learning patience and self-control.

Today was just lovely though. Everything went so well.
Obviously, life isn't all smiles, we live in a fallen world, but sometimes I get so caught up in these unbelievably happy circumstances that I have moments of thinking that life "couldn't be better."

I'm grateful. I'm so blessed.

I hope that my scary goals in the future turn out ok in the end. I am trying to keep my eyes on what I can do today, and not worry about the future that I have no control over.

Went and had my first "boba tea" ..
No, not like Boba Fett!

Boba tea is like tea with milk and little balls in it called bobas, in America we sometimes call it "bubble tea" it's the best!!
My new favorite drink!

A diagram of the tea:

and the boba itself!


CHECK THIS OUT!!!!!!

It's a list of kind things to do for others! Really nice ideas!

http://www.helpothers.org/ideas.php?op=deck-ideas#clubs

Field Trip!

GUESS WHAT?!

I made an A on my Honors Midterm!

HIP HIP HOORAY!!!! =)))))))

Today in Drawing I (decidedly my favorite class) we took a field trip to the Elm Fork Museum and they were gracious enough to let us draw their specimens!! They had all kinds of animals for us to draw!

So because I haven't posted much artwork in....
Long time! Here are the animal sketches!





AAAND here is my fractured space project, I did in in blue monochrome because I was inspired by Picasso's Blue period style, I wanted it to look kinda like that...


Today was a good day =)

Gladness

You ever find yourself in the company of people so wonderful, you could be doing anything with them, and you would be happy?

Not just wonderful. I say that so much.

But people that build you up?
People that make you feel good when you're around them?
People that inspire and encourage you, and treat you with kindness?

When you're with those people...Doesn't it just fill your heart with gladness?

How did I ever get so lucky, that I could come here, and learn so many wonderful things about art and human communication, but also learn about the kingdom of heaven, alongside these friends?

I'm about to get started on the coolest project I've ever been assigned, ever. It gives us a lot of freedom and I can't wait to get cracking.
But also I need to finish a different project for Honors Argument. That will come first.

I hope that my entries don't mislead you into thinking I'm neglecting my studies. I just find that writing about cutting up strips of paper is boring... and I am excited about art, but even more excited about how God is moving!

I wrote a poem of gladness the other day.
And then I translated it into Polish (thanks Google translate)
And when I translated it back, I liked it better

~

How I love Your law,
Your Word and Your presence!
I delight in Your splendor;
Your commandments are just.

I take joy that my name
Is found in Your book.
My sin earns me death,
Instead You give your life

Glory to my Savior.

Precious

I've been getting so much sleep and relaxation since this week's design project was a bit of a breeze.

It was a color scheme thing, and you couldn't really work on it outside of class, and we had a break in Drawing as well, so all I had to do today was really just glue paper down and that was the end of that.

I do have a lot on my mind, but at the same time, I have a chance to slow down...

It's the long term things that really bug me. Like the portfolio review.....

Encouraging news! I made a good grade on my Comm Design test!

And I am doing well in Drawing!

Design is the tricky one and I'm doing all I can to improve! It's just ... tricky, because that's the class "design"ed to weed us out ;)You know what I realized? I watched Land Before Time tonight, and of course it made me cry, I knew it would, but I realized that I love so many things in this life, so many people I care for, but some things just cut me to the heart with affection. I just want to weep with happiness that I get to experience them and hold them in my heart.
I have so much treasures inside, so many happinesses and so much light and love that has been poured into me by family and friends. Good memories and kind words.

Anyway. I got to talk to a lot of old friends tonight, which was really fantastic, and I can't wait to make more new friends tomorrow. =)

Have a wonderful day. Love you all.

Have a Merry Halloween!

This was the BEST Halloween of my whole life.
(No offense to my lovely family. The past Halloweens have been wondrous.)

BUT... I can really say that I couldn't have imagined a better way to spend Halloween night....

Me and a bunch of my brothers and sisters dressed up as Christmas carolers and sang carols on Fry Street!!

(We dressed like Dickens characters!)

Our "standard" was Angels We Have Heard On High. =)

We sang in Jupiter House, another small coffee shop, and outside of KUSH.

We sang on the square, on the street... by the major Dentonite nightlife.

It was just so wonderful to turn a night celebrating darkness and fear into a night celebrating the birth of our Lord!!!
We sang praise and adoration! And we had a lot of people join us! Gumby and the Blues Brothers came and danced with us haha!

(I was so happy to see a Gumby, by the way.)

My heart is bursting with joy. Not only because I had such a wonderful Halloween, but because I have been shown so much grace and kindness, and once again, I have to express my gratitude at how blessed I am to be surrounded by such light and joy and doctrine.

Happy All Saint's Day!

Love XOXOXO