VACATION 1

Hi guys, this is Vevy. :D (okay...duh)
Well, I have 5 minutes to say hi on here and then i hafta go...I'm using a library computer.
We're on VACATION!
We left our house sunday at 4, and we had safe travels to my grandparents house in South Carolina. We're driving 2 rental cars, one bright blue, one white, Jeep Patriots. We're just hanging out with cousins and grandparents. Please pray for my grandparents, cause my grandad has a lot of health issues, but my great-grandmother also lives with them, and she's 90 and has developing Alzheimers, so my Grandma has the weight of taking care of both of them. We're all helping out how we can, but the situation can use a lot of prayer. It's hard to see my Great-Grandmother (granny) like this. Her mind's always been very sharp and she always had great stories to tell about growing up in the depression and WWII and factory work and lots of family history, but now she can barely remember names.

I miss you guys all a ton, I'll ttys!
Bye!

Tale of a blessing

Let me preface this post by saying that I love Emily Dickinson's poetry, its rythm is very pleasing, and much of it is deep and I love how she says things with very precise words that go perfectly in the verse. :D

So the other day I went up to a theatre nearby to get my ticket to go see The Dark Knight. (for Saturday) My dad let me drive up there (I have my permit now), but once we got there at about 9:45 AM we went in and found that the box office doesn't actually open until 10:30. Thankfully there is a Barnes and Noble nearby and so we hopped back in the car and drove on over there. I walked in and paused next to a table loaded with Barnes and Noble's signature collection of hardback classics. What should my hand pause on? Why it's a book of the collected poems of Emily Dickinson!!! How exciting. I flip through it happily, when suddenly the fact comes to my attention that these books are all on a table because they are all on sale! So i pop open the cover to see the price there inscribed: $7.95. Ooh, this is actually cheap for a book! I realized. Then I looked at the sales percentage. 30% off, with a subtext of 10% off for members. Providentially my dad happens to be a member of this illustrious store. :D So I hopped over to where my dad was, and showed him the very good price on the book i'd found and added "She's my favorite poet!", along with some pleading eyes that i'm sure completely won him over, because he smiled and said, sure, you can get it. We weren't leaving right away and as I browsed--book tightly clutched in hand--it occurred to me that I had a Barnes & Noble card in my wallet...although i didn't know the balance on said card. So i gave it to my dad as ahe stood in the checkout line. He came an handed me my book, and said that there had been $5 on it. Pretty much exactly what i needed to pay for the remnant of my book. :D Praise God for free Emily Dickinson books! :D

Here are 2 of my favorite poems of hers.

LXXXIII

Not one by Heaven defrauded stay

Although He seem to steal,

He restitutes in some sweet way.

Secreted in His will.

XXXII

Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,

And sings the tune without the words,

And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;

And sore must be the storm

That couold abash the little bird

That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,

And on the strangest sea;

Yet, never, in extremity,

It asked a crumb of me.

Praise to Jesus Christ

This is my favorite chapel song from School. :D
I really wish i could find the chords to it. :P



You were left, despised, forsaken
man of sorrows, grief unspoken
to the cross our sins you carried
struck by God so it was finished there

Pierced alone for our transgressions
crushed for our iniquities
we like sheep have gone astray
for our debt the price you paid

Praise to Jesus Christ in heaven
you in love for us were given
God's great mercy coming through you
Lamb of God who takes away our sins

Holy God was pleased to crush you
as the guiltless sacrifice
raised in power you give salvation
God's good pleasure prospers in your hand

Final Lord of all creation
heaven and earth will sing your praises
Lion of Judah, lamb of slaughter
of your worthy name we'll always sing

Friend Photoshoot

A few weeks ago my good friends Esther, Rachel and Charis came over from their homes about 2 hours away, to stay with me for the week because Esther's brother, and Charis' dad were taking the Summerim class at the Seminary. The first day we all did our makeup and hair and then i took a photoshoot of the girls. :) Photography is one of my favorite things, and this was a very fun shoot. Here are a few of my favorites from the shoot.

Birthday parties, bike trip, and other summer happenings

Hello all, I'm sorry, i've been somewhat absent from the land of blogging for some while. :) And yes, i am fully aware of the fact that a few videos and song lyrics do not count as a true post. 5 could perhaps equal about one real post, but at that point you're already pretty tired of the shallowness, and the purpose is rather defeated. Anyway, i digress.

Our church has an overflow of toddlers who all seem to have turned 1,2,3 or something in the month-point-five that i've been back. I love candid photos of kids, and i got some good shots of TJ and one of Luke at one party.

Another thing i've been doing is coaching Volleyball for our youth group summer ministry. Basically in the summer, instead of normal youth group meetings, we have a volleyball tournament put on by our church. It's about half kids from our church and half kids who come out from the community, and friends of the church kids from school. They have one practice a week and the tournament night on Friday. I played as a student for the last 4 years and it's very exciting to be on the coaching end of it now. It is a very Gospel oriented ministry, with a Bible study every practice and a very clear presentation of the Gospel through the word for about 45 minutes between matches on Tournament nights. God has used it greatly in the past 20 something years we've had it, many of those who now serve in our church and even in the actual ministry were saved through coming out to the volleyball ministry and summer camp. So I'm really looking forward to all that, and the culmination of the entire thing in SUMMER CAMP, which will be completely awesome. :D
I'm helping coach my siblings' team, Supersonic, which was my team under several names for the last 4 years. Here's a few pictures of our practice times.

I've been hanging out with my friends from the college group here at my church, COV (Christ Our Vision). Saturday we caravaned down to Monterey and those of us who didn't bring bikes rented them there. It was so much fun, we biked part of the 17 mile drive, stopped for lunch on a lovely beach, walked around a bit, and then biked back to Cannery row ad spent the afternoon walking around a bit. Click on the below picture to go to an album of pictures from the day.

And thus ends my tale (for today) of the college student and the summer...
Tune in again soon for new stories, and please pray for my summer ministry and for my continued growth. :)
<3 you all.

I'm voting for Batman. :D

I'm a big Batman Fan...:D I'm voting for Batman.

www.batmanforpresident.com

Beautiful Song

If you've been reading my blog long, you've probably noticed that I love poetry and song lyrics. Especially the ones that have great meaning but are still very much poetic. Here's a beautiful one for ya of the Celtic Worship cd. I love Celtic music too . :D

Stones and Sea lyrics

In the beginning,
I was counting the stones on the seashore,
Looking for the precious ones.
Among the stones, I found many pretty things
While the sea rolled on beside me all the time.

Time moved on.
I had collected many stones 'til I tired of them,
And I think they tired of me.
Some were lovely, but I was never satisfied,
And the sea rolled on beside me all the time.

And the wind rose, east and cold.
Whisp'ring sweetly to my soul.
And it said "Look you fool,
You are missing precious things:
Raise your eyes and look towards the sea."

So I looked:
It was as if I saw the sea for the first time,
And it's power captured me.
All the time I had wasted seeking stones,
I had missed the rolling glory of the sea.

And the sea
Devoured a mighty swathe of heart, overwhelmed me
In a way I couldn't know,
And the price for the love of greater things
Was surrender to the great and cruel sea.

And it stole me, and I feared the aching sea,
It consumed me, drowned my mind.
The wind said "Look, you fool,
No matter what you do,
You can't contain the ocean like a stone."