Showing posts with label laurel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label laurel. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 23

seeing what is hidden

you know what?
peace can come at very very strange times. like right now, in the midst of a lot of upheaval...i am feeling a measure of peace i have not felt in...goodness...almost a year...??

the only annoying thing is that because i am so ridiculously emotional and sometimes hopelessly irrational, the peace ebbs in and out...but it is getting better. i know tears are not finished...yet that is just what it is to be colleen.

yesterday i met in bittersweetness with a dear friend. sitting at a Starbucks on the shores of Laguna we danced around the proverbial elephant for nearly 4 hours. "life is still weird" he said, with his head in his hand. at one point i shared with him something Amy Carmichael wrote:

"Our God does satisfy. i think sometimes He has to draw us into strange experiences in order that we shall prove Him to the uttermost, for some purpose out of sight.
For what is He preparing us? It is all hidden, we have only hints in the Gospels and in Revelation. 'His servants shall serve Him'--where? how? But this we do know: never a pang of disappointment or loneliness or pain (there are many kinds of pangs) but may be turned to minister towards a perfecting of power to serve--first here on earth, then Otherwhere."
~Candles in the Dark
Our discussion turned to the goal of God's preparation for our lives, and he asked what we could possibly be prepared for that would be used in heaven...instead of here...
i said in all honesty that i didn't know. we have no idea what is in store for us. the effort it takes to try and forget the representations, both visual and lyrical, that have influenced us concerning our afterlife over the centuries--Baroque churches, El Greco, Dante, even our beloved Clive Staples--makes it nearly impossible to believe in something about which "eye has not seen nor ear has heard".
but it think it is worth the headache.

The wedding is just over 2 weeks away. The house is overflowing with chaos, fellowship, short tempers, laughter, smiles, frustration, exhaustion and love. even in this case, sometimes the "goal" of all this activity can seem hidden, despite how obvious it is. we just sometimes forget to remember it...and instead focus what really will have no importance whatsoever once August 8th is come and gone.

Grandpa Floyd said in his message on Sunday that God often appears weak...He doesn't force us to do anything.
However, Satan does...and so seems to have the upper hand.

God's seeming weakness is our opportunity to allow Him Lordship by our constant submission to His hand. Trusting Him is an active thing. our relationship with Jesus is called a "walk" because it takes movement on our part. i forget that even waiting on God is an active thing...requiring trust and stepping out...


even if it's in blindness...


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Friday, July 4

just some things that have been going on lately...

So, back on June 20th Laurel made Sarah and i go shopping with her at Bebe. She also made me take pictures of her trying on ridiculous outfits that she thought were sooooo cute. i was like "whatever Laurel, i love you so i'm going to humor you". and THEN she was like "colleen! put the pictures on your blog so everyone can see all the great clothes i bought!" a few days ago she came up to me and said "Dude, colleen, why aren't the pictures up yet??" and i was like "wow, Laurel, chill. i'll get to it." so here they are. sheesh.



i had to pay her $5 to not buy this shirt




these i took a couple of days later, after church at Sharkey's.



party at a friend's last weekend...
Elektra and me...Megan, Edan, Elizabeth, Elektra, Jen, Matt, Mallory, Nick, me, Myles (that's so i don't forget who they are when i look at this someday)
for anyone wondering, no i am not inebriated.
Laurel, Chad, Bobby, Brittany, Laura (i accidentally typed 'Laurel' at first) and Thad all swimming...
pwned!!



after Chad's near-tragic accident this week, dad drew this:

admiring the handiwork...
As of last night at 11:30 i have a new baby cousin, Gwenyth June, 4 lbs 11oz. She is tiny, but healthy...i can't wait to see her!!! Congratulations to Ginger and Joey!

happy 4th


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Tuesday, July 1

good and bad news...

Good news is:

Chad's Alive!!

Bad news:

we need a new window.

definitely never a dull moment around here these days.
there are a lot of people helping out...

Bettina

Laurel

...

Yaaay for fixing up the house for the wedding and all the excitement that goes with it!

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Friday, June 13

i painted today

so that's pretty fantastic.

Laurel.


Me.

Dad painting.

Chad at the home-made salad bar

Puppies getting big.



last night i got to see Tiffany Elizabeth and Red, drink some wine, peruse illustration magazines, look at weird things, and watch Harold and Maude...which was excellent (suddenly Wes Anderson makes a little more sense), but totally depressed me.



Tiffany is a bit obsessed with Bud Cort




those two are just unspeakably cute.

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i sat on a bench at the beach this evening eating butternut squash soup and watching the sun set. some people were throwing the frisbee around not too far from me. i had to toss it back to them twice. it was beautiful. the air was cool, the colors were amazing. i read a little bit. i'm almost half way through The Count of Monte Cristo. and Amy Carmichael is awesome. (speaking of which, Kallista, i have a book i want to give you. maybe two.)
it was a little lonely, too. nothing like sitting by the shore on a lovely summer evening to make you wish there was someone next to you...

so, here's the low-down. i have decided that my life is out of my hands. i should have done this 25 years ago. i'll probably try to yank it back the moment i wake up in the morning, but it's a start.

i think maybe i'll paint just a little more before i leave. then it's time to PAAAARTY!!!!!
just kidding.
sort of.

;)



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Thursday, June 12

shenanigans

Laurel and Chad are here, and on Saturday Laura and Thad came over. we got their names mixed up a lot.
my mom got us all to sit down for a while to wire jars (lanterns for the wedding).

and then, to Sarah's dismay, Alec tried to steal Chad from Laurel. and Laura experienced a sudden fascination for stomachs. Laurel and Thad thought it was all well and good.



then they posed for prom pictures. zoom into the second one for some pretty awesome faces...


and no evening is complete without a little telepictionary!





i dare you to try and guess what we are reacting to in these next 4 pictures...




general fun-ness...







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