tomorrow begins a journey. . .

. . . an endeavor into the world of ministry and sharing, of youth and music, of high ropes and s'mores, and all the lovely things that may or may not grow from being at camp lakeview over the next few months. starting tomorrow i get to work as the summer program director for a wonderful staff and mounds of campers to come.

i'll do my best to post photos as i can throughout the summer... although i'm missing my camera charger at the moment. nevertheless- people to meet, crafts to make, dodgeballs to kill, goofy faces to learn, songs to play, burgers to flip, puddles to stomp in, verses to think on, messes to make, laughs to have, costumes to wear, prayers to keep praying. . .

God's blessings are blooming.

words.

i am a writer. i am a listener and a thinker. i breathe in and speak out. i don't always say what i mean, but i try. and i believe that words can bend life.

God created the whole world by speaking (Genesis 1) and says that our tongues can either be like swords cutting others down or a balm healing up their wounds (Proverbs 12:18).

words take us places. they draw us in and out of... music, thought, literature, relationships, poetry, decisions, emotions... and make impressions--deep or shallow--in the surface and structure of our hearts.

choose words of beauty, then. of healing and love, of meaning and laughter. of learning and wonder.

this is what i hope & pray for... in my songwriting, in my interactions, in the way i breathe. . .

the sun is budding today.

isn't it great when the sun begins to bud after a long, weary winter of stillness and gray? today is pink, and yellow, and blue, white, & green to me.. with a dab of red from my watermelon bird-feeder friend perched on the porch railing. there is lemonade in my jar, cereal in my mug, & music for my fingers.

i've had a lot of opportunities growing recently... with music, after-graduation stuff, camp ministry this summer... a whole smorgasbord of things! more to come on that soon.

i'm working on writing a song right now- based on Psalm 42, verse 8. it was read in a Lent service that i went to last week . i'd like to share it with you:

"By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life."

happy monday to all of you.

red bow shoes.

today is a good day for red bow shoes. i'm spending the day writing music- or at least working to... hoping to put some more tracks down in the studio very soon.

today i would suggest listening to JJ Heller's songs "Not Mine Anyway" and "Back Home" and reading some Scripture.

i baked a bunch of muffins the other day in my magic-maker. it's sometimes the simple things that can bring others welcome and warmth in their hearts.

dresses.

dresses. it's one of the things that excites me most when the sun comes out for the first time after a long, gray winter. i had a giftcard and have been attempting to get a certain dress i found for a wedding this summer. you know... sometimes you just can't find the right one. they have this size and this size and it in this color instead of that one. ladies, you know what i mean- ahh well. there is a neat website i found- modcloth.com- that has quite an arrangement of dresses. i don't recommend all of them, but they do have some cute options out there. i'm not the craftiest of all people, but i saved some of the photos to possibly improvise with and make one or adapt one similar. check it out:

 

 

 

 

awestruck.

so in the midst of trying to study i thought i would share this with you.

Awestruck is a youth festival- ministry with music. this year the festival will be July 15-17. we have some wonderful new bands coming and guest speakers you won't want to miss. this is the fifth year that we have put this on. my good friend, Brandon Grelle,--who is also the director for the festival--worked to put this video together. i can't think of a better way to spend my time... in devotion and fellowship, praise and learning with youth and aults of all ages... coming together with music all for the glory of a God who loves.

in one of my readings today--James Joyce's "Ulysses"--there is a short dialog between two people. the first asks the second whether he is a believer or not. the second answers saying that he cannot fathom the idea of a personal, loving God. -well, neither can i... when i think of the struggles i've had, the doubts i've believed, the pride i've settled for, the selfishness i try to keep. it is miraculous. you could say it keeps us awestruck. and with that sneaky segway- enjoy the video...  

writing.

today was filled with so many great things: watching tennis, helping a friend with wedding decor, catching some sunshine, and playing some tunes.

tonight i worked on rewriting the hymn "Abide With Me"- it's a favorite, and i can't wait to record it in the studio this weekend. it's my first song using... 2 capos! poor Charles (my guitar) has had it for the evening though, so i guess we'll call it a night.

day 1.

i couldn't ask for a better day to start my new blog. . .  with my disc chair on the deck,  the neighbor's hound dog howling a few fences away, stack of books, flower pot full of sharpies, listening to some JJ Heller, & drinking up the sunshine of a warm February day in Nebraska.

writing is an opening of the soul. it's hard to do sometimes. i wrote this poem today for a class. . .

 Shalom

There is a time for all to falter
And stray beneath our skin
To wander in some darkness
To wallow in our sin.

And laughter cannot conceal us
Nor gestures bring us peace
But within a realm of vast dimension
We find stillness in release.

Like children we can come then
Encounter a brushing hand

Like the lost one after he squanders

Divinity breaches soiled plans.

Shadowland, shadowland
I will mirror God’s grace
In the ways that I am carried—
The depths... eternal embrace.

peace. love & wonder. . . as we journey through the bits and pieces. . . all the scraps of this thing called life.

-psalm 37: 4