Mountaintops and Valleys. And Plateaus.

I've always thought that life goes through times you feel like you're on a mountaintop, and times you feel like you're in a valley. The valleys are definitely not fun, but I always know that they can't last forever, and soon there will be another mountain to climb.

It's a pretty basic life philosophy that keeps me encouraged when I'm feeling low. But lately I've discovered there are more geographical features than just mountains and valleys. There are also plateaus.

An Anxious Adventurer

It was 4 in the morning when I finally decided I might as well just get up and go. I hadn't slept much, due to anxious excitement (and the fact that an air mattress in your friend's living room just isn't the most luxurious).

So up I got and off I went to the airport. I was actually driving myself to the airport, which was a first. I am such a big girl. ;) Well it took a couple times around to find the parking lot that I wanted, and I did almost return my car to the rentals, but I managed to park the car, hop a shuttle, and reach the airport with plenty of time for my 6 am flight.

Despite the fact that I was in fact, right on time, my boarding pass placed me in the last boarding zone, and my very humble patient attitude placed me at the very end of that line. I was the last one on the plane. Except for the two women who came running in at the last minute. But for all dramatic purposes, I was the last one on the plane.

And my suitcase wouldn't fit.

Reminiscing On My Senior Show

Slightly more than a year ago, some of you may recall a post with some pictures and poems from my senior art show at IWU!

Opening reception of my senior show!

I have some terribly exciting news regarding said photographs, which are palladium platinum prints. Palladium is a very old method of developing photos; they are incredibly expensive, time consuming, and beautiful. They also need to be properly framed, which brings me to my next order of business.

My Palladium Platinum photos in their new homes!

Mama helped me buy new (BIGGER) frames, glass, and double mats, to proudly display my work the way it deserves! Man, they look SOOOO good in person! Come visit me and see!

But seeing my work like this reminds me to think about what the original purpose of my artwork was. These 5 pictures are meant to create a sanctuary: a space where the demands of time fade away, worries are irrelevant, and we simply sit in God's presence.

They remind us of the journey that we are continuously along, from the mountaintop to the valley. Mountaintop, overjoyed experiences will come; inevitably dark, depressing times will follow. But if we DO take that time to just sit in God's presence, those times DO NOT have to wear on us. God will lead us through.

So I invite you--come sit. Be still. And bask in the presence of the God of the Universe.

Keeping to the Call

Is anyone else like me? Does anybody else expect that if you follow God's so-called "calling" on your life, the road should get easier?

I totally understand that it won't be easy at first. Where would be the faith in that? But after a few months, don't you think it should get easier? If you are obedient to God, he should reward you, bless you, and make all your dreams come true.

But that's not true.

And that shouldn't be true.

Things Can't Stay the Same

"...every person has to leave, has to change like seasons; they have to or they die...Everybody has to change or they expire." -Donald Miller, Through Painted Deserts

Change can be fun, but not when you're perfectly happy in your current situation. Sometimes we choose to change, because we are bored or have been so long in one situation we feel we might "expire." But sometimes change is just thrust upon us, and we have no choice.

One Good Deed

"One good deed is not enough to redeem a man of a lifetime of wickedness."
"Though it seems enough to condemn him."

Indeed. But what is enough to redeem a man? Because in human terms, there was no way for Jack Sparrow to ever turn his life around from being a pirate. I'm not sure that he wanted to, but if these were real people, and not characters in a movie, is there any possible way for a man who was a pirate to be forgiven and start over? Would anyone give him a second chance?

Snow White...she was a little bit different than Captain Jack (although I admit, I find the Captain a much more entertaining character). She was pure, kind-hearted, always caring for others. For her entire life, which, because of the curse, was a lot longer than the average lifetime, she was good. Always giving of herself to others.

Except once.

And once was all it took.