Shannon Odell

(366) : 46

2012-02-15T21:09:00.000-05:00

(2/15) Dusk.

(366) : 45

2012-02-14T20:28:00.001-05:00

(2/14) Winter.

(366) : 44

2012-02-13T22:54:00.004-05:00

(2/13) I love Monday evenings because they mean Shelly is in my room for a few hours.

(366) : 43

2012-02-12T21:16:00.004-05:00

(2/12) It was good to be home.

(366) : 42

2012-02-11T11:27:00.001-05:00

(2/11) Sending Andrew off to Navy OCS.

(366) : 41

2012-02-11T11:23:00.002-05:00

(2/10) Home for Andrew's going away party.

(366) : 40

2012-02-09T20:29:00.002-05:00

(2/9) My favorite time of night.

Andrew

2012-02-09T16:20:00.000-05:00

When I grow up and someday have kids, I hope I have a boy first because I want the rest of my children to have a big brother. That says something about my big brother, and I hope it says a lot.

Andrew has been one of my best friends for years. Since we were very young, he and I loved spending time together. I can remember countless soccer games in the front yard, games of Backgammon and Chess, hours roaming the woods, and summers building dams in the creek behind our house. When I was young, I wished I was a boy so that Andrew could have a brother. (Now I'm certain Cameron is the better option.)

In highschool, Andrew was a constant friend and encouragement. We spent countless summer nights in front of the radio, listening to the Orioles game long past our bed time, and always enjoyed sharing music with one another.

More than those little memories, there is one thing that is significant in my mind: Andrew was always there. He is steadfast and faithful, qualities I admire about him. Even when he left for Hillsdale, there were text messages and emails and Facebook posts. When EA and I came to Hillsdale, he was always available for a meal, as a listening ear, or even just a quick hug between classes.

Not only is Andrew faithful in his relationships with his siblings and friends, He is faithful in His pursuit of a relationship with his Savior. He is relentless in his desire to grow, even when he feels like he is failing. I know this dedication will serve him well as he goes into the Navy.

It will be a sacrifice for my family to let him go off to Rhode Island in just a few short days. I'm learning what a sacrifice it is to send a loved one off to the military. It's not that he's disappearing forever, but we are sending him off with the realization that he can't come home whenever he wants. He belongs to someone else, and to an organization greater than any of us. The Navy calls the shots now.

But that's what I love most. It's a good thing to give oneself to something greater, and I am confident that Andrew will thrive, even as he belongs to something he can't change or control. I am confident because the Odell family is also a strong organization. It is a foundational organization. We get older, and learn that we can't belong only to the Odell family. There are other places where we need to learn and grow. But always at the foundation will be the strongest of all earthly ties - a family that will love and pray for and support and cheer him on, wherever the sky and sea take him.

Anchors aweigh, Andrew. I love you.

(366) : 39

2012-02-08T14:36:00.002-05:00

(2/8)

(366) : 38

2012-02-07T16:10:00.000-05:00

(2/7) The best part of Tuesdays.

(366) : 37

2012-02-07T16:09:00.002-05:00

(2/6) This is what happens when it is midnight and you remember you still haven't taken a photo.

Summer 2012 : D.C.

2012-02-05T16:31:00.000-05:00

I want to be a writer.

It's becoming clearer to me, what I want to do with my life. Write. I don't know where, or how, or what kind of job I want as a writer. I want to be a poet like Jane Kenyon, and I want to be a writer like Marilynne Robinson. I love words, and I love the universal ability to communicate with so many different kinds of people. I love helping others discover the beauty of this world.

This summer, I will be in Washington D.C., interning at the Washington Times. Whenever I think of D.C., I think of bleached white buildings, warm sunshine, late afternoon shadows, and Peregrine Espresso in Eastern Market. Soon, my memories will include a 40-hour job, a twice-daily commute, and weekends spent roaming the city sidewalks. I am thrilled to spend my summer there.

More than the city itself, I find myself more and more excited to have free evenings and weekends, and time all to myself. Sometimes it can be a daunting thing, wondering if I will be lonely after just two days in a big city without any close friends. But you should see my reading list - I will never be lonely.

I am anticipating a city of inspiration, and a summer to discover and write, and edit, and re-write, and discover more. Yesterday I woke up with the realization that I will never run out of things to learn. Even my Constitution reading was fun after I allowed that realization to sink in. I want to write about home, beauty, education, womanhood, domesticity, and the common grace infused in each moment. I want to find inspiration in my nightly meals, in the sidewalk cafes, and in my Sunday morning walk to church. I want to find inspiration in my boss, my job, my coworkers, and in commuters on the train. I want to find inspiration in the blue skies, fireworks over the Capitol dome, and in the little coffee shop down the street.

Maybe when I leave the city in August, I will be a little bit more of a writer. The more I know of life, the more I love it and the more I want others to love it.

And the more I write, the more I want to write, and keep writing.

(366) : 36

2012-02-05T13:26:00.002-05:00

(2/5) Appropriately celebrating the Super Bowl.

(366) : 35

2012-02-04T13:57:00.002-05:00

(2/4) Is it really February?

(366) : 34

2012-02-04T01:32:00.004-05:00

(2/3) My little has a little now. So I'm a grand big! I love it.

Everyday wonder

2012-02-02T16:37:00.000-05:00

I found him - the poet that I always wanted to love. Before I came to college, I didn't like poetry. It was too emotional, and impossible to understand. I think it takes life to love poetry, and maybe my experiences are teaching me to do just that.

I have always wanted to find a poet whose words I could see, and whose images resonated in my mind. Gerard Manley Hopkins is that poet, and he is quickly becoming my daily companion. His poetry is breathtaking and the depth to his language is stunning.

Hopkins loved the created. He loved nature for what it is, and life purely for its existence. In his poetry, he marvels at the world and directs himself to respond to what he sees or knows. Life is suffering, pain, heartbreak, joy, peace, and light. His poetry reflects on the mundane moments of life, and discovers them to be stunning. He loves how life is not at all wonderful, yet totally wonderful.

Beauty exists in and of itself. It is simply waiting for an observer; it is waiting for a beholder. And that is where responsibility comes in. It is our responsibility to see life as wonderful. The early morning clouds, the way the sunshine comes through the cracks in my shade, the icy snow that sparkles under the street lamps - these are all commonplace. They can be easily overlooked. They are ordinary and not at all wonderful. Yet because of the incarnation, they are absolutely wonderful, and I choose to see them as so.

Christ's incarnation permeates everything. In Romans 1, Paul writes that God's "invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made." God is manifest in the created world, and we must see Him.

Hopkins instructs his heart to rise in worship at the glory he witnesses around him. Our "blue-bleak" hearts must be stirred to flame, and there are so many things throughout each day that can ignite the heart that is longing to wonder.

(366) : 33

2012-02-02T16:10:00.000-05:00

(2/2) Andie and I are obsessed with anchors. (Hebrews 6)

(366) : 32

2012-02-01T13:21:00.002-05:00

(2/1) Blue.

(366) : 31

2012-01-31T15:33:00.003-05:00

(1/31) I have been loving the pine trees this winter. And sunshine with Megan Moss.

(366) : 30

2012-01-30T17:51:00.000-05:00

(1/30) My corner.

(366) : 29

2012-01-29T17:29:00.001-05:00

(1/29) Sunday afternoon reading.

(366) : 28

2012-01-28T20:44:00.001-05:00

(1/28) An afternoon at the Kappa Kappa Gamma headquarters. They are located in a stunning old brick house in Columbus.

(366) : 27

2012-01-27T16:22:00.001-05:00

(1/27) I love how the afternoon sunshine fills my room.

Augustine

2012-01-26T23:07:00.001-05:00

Most high, most excellent, most potent, most omnipotent; most merciful and most just; most secret and most truly present; most beautiful and most strong; stable, yet not supported; unchangeable, yet changing all things; never new, never old; making all things new, yet bringing old age upon the proud, and they know it not; always working, ever at rest; gathering, yet needing nothing; sustaining, pervading, and protecting; creating, nourishing, and developing; seeking, and yet possessing all things. Thou dost love, but without passion; art jealous, yet free from care; dost repent without remorse; art angry, yet remainest serene. (Confessions)

(366) : 26

2012-01-26T10:12:00.003-05:00

(1/26) Morning.

(366) : 25

2012-01-25T16:49:00.002-05:00

(1/25) Collegian night - the first of many.

(366) : 24

2012-01-24T16:36:00.003-05:00

(1/24) Recovering.

(366) : 23

2012-01-23T17:48:00.002-05:00

(1/23) Sick.

(366) : 22

2012-01-22T15:20:00.000-05:00

(1/22) Sunday afternoon.

Daily Kingdom Work

2012-01-21T23:17:00.001-05:00

I'm growing up, and I feel it. The future is sometimes a harsh reminder that my life is full of the unknown. Over break, I wrestled with my heart, desiring peace but struggling to find it. There were questions of future plans, and the role of desires in my plans. Restlessness was king.

But then I remembered something my mom always told me: you have answers for today, Shannon. Hope is a gentle teacher, filling the soul through remembrance and providing a future confidence. God reminded me again that I need not know how my life will look next year or in two or five years. I can be certain of His call today, and certain of His will for my life today, but only for today - tomorrow will take care of itself. This knowledge is the opposite of paralyzing.

Each morning, peace comes quickly. There is Kingdom work to do in this place, and I am sure that it is the Lord's will for me to embrace it and act. Even this evening reminded me of this. It was a simple evening of babysitting: macaroni and cheese for the older two, cheerios for the baby. A movie, cleanup, two books, pajamas, tooth brushing, bed time. And two hours of much-needed solitude for me. But those little acts were facilitating rich fellowship within my local church. They allowed the Hutchinsons to share a meal with other members of the church, and they built up the body of Christ.

It is kind of God to assure me that there is work for me to do each day. Tomorrow may hold the unexpected or the uninvited. But with each new day hope rises with remembrance of how He has directed my path thus far, and with certainty that He will make clear my steps for tomorrow.

You need not know the future shape

Your life will take,

Nor the days in between.

Fear not.

You have answers for today,

You need nothing more.

Nothing.

The Kingdom, it is here, and it is there.

It is now, and it will be.

There is Kingdom work to be doing,

child.

Don't forget.

There is Kingdom work for you.

Confident in His goodness for this time,

Rising each morning sure of His goodness again.

I know not what tomorrow will hold,

But there is no need.

No need for my human heart to know.

He knows.

(366) : 21

2012-01-21T22:20:00.002-05:00

(1/21) Babysitting.

(366) : 20

2012-01-20T18:25:00.003-05:00

(1/20) Friday field trips with Katy.

(366) : 19

2012-01-19T11:30:00.001-05:00

(1/19) Shelly.

(366) : 18

2012-01-18T18:28:00.000-05:00

(1/18) First day of classes.

(366) : 17

2012-01-17T21:24:00.003-05:00

(1/17) Downtown Hillsdale with Kels.

(366) : 16

2012-01-17T00:24:00.000-05:00

(1/16) Our newest Kappas. And now my long weekend of recruitment is over.

(366) : 15

2012-01-15T23:17:00.003-05:00

(1/15) Winter sky.

(366) : 14

2012-01-14T18:14:00.001-05:00

(1/14) Skit day at Kappa.

Andrew

2012-01-14T18:10:00.002-05:00

We love our future Navy sailor. (Photo by Jamie)

(366) : 13

2012-01-13T18:10:00.004-05:00

(1/13) New recruitment shirts.

(366) : 12

2012-01-12T17:09:00.001-05:00

(1/12) Home to KKG 12.

(366) : 11

2012-01-11T11:46:00.000-05:00

(1/11) I love my cozy little room.

(366) : 10

2012-01-10T16:16:00.004-05:00

(1/10) Chestnut Hill with Morgan and Hannah.

(366) : 9

2012-01-09T16:44:00.002-05:00

(1/9) Tea, conversation, and Downton Abbey with Krista.

Krista

2012-01-08T21:06:00.000-05:00

(366) : 8

2012-01-08T14:42:00.003-05:00

(1/8) Afternoon Battleship - the future U.S. Navy officer won both times. Fear not for the future.

(366) : 7

2012-01-07T14:09:00.000-05:00

(1/7) Jane Kenyon's poetry: my newest companion.

An oriole sings from the hedge

and in the hotel kitchen

the chef sweetens cream for pastries.

Far off, lightning and thunder agree

to join us for a few days

here in the valley. How lucky we are

to be holding hands on a porch

in the country. But even this

is not the joy that trembles

under every leaf and tongue.

(Song)

(366) : 6

2012-01-06T15:25:00.002-05:00

(1/6) Dropping EA off at the train station to go to D.C.

Chesterton

2012-01-06T09:39:00.001-05:00


To accept everything is an exercise, to understand everything a strain. The poet only desires exaltation and expansion, a world to stretch himself in. The poet only asks to get his head into the heavens. It is the logician who seeks to get the heavens into his head. And it is his head that splits. (G.K. Chesterton)

Family Photos

2012-01-05T16:53:00.001-05:00

For the first time in about fifteen years, the Odell family has some family photographs! I love them very much, thanks to jamie d photography. View them here!

(366) : 5

2012-01-05T14:42:00.002-05:00

(1/5) An afternoon with my sweet friend Liz.

Black & White

2012-01-04T19:19:00.001-05:00

"I know that there's a meaning to it all,
A little resurrection every time I fall"

Jamie

2012-01-04T16:25:00.000-05:00

I love getting to see Jamie every time I'm home. She is such a good friend to me, and I love sharing life and photography stories with her. I was excited for her to take our family photos yesterday. I can't wait to see how they turned out! (Photo from Jamie)

(366) : 4

2012-01-04T14:31:00.003-05:00

(1/4) Running errands for Mom.

(366) : 3

2012-01-03T20:26:00.000-05:00

(1/3) Today we had family photos taken. Whenever I have to be in front of a camera, I want to be in front of Jamie's.

(366) : 2

2012-01-02T16:17:00.001-05:00

(1/2) Afternoon game of "Masterpiece."

(366) : 1

2012-01-01T14:48:00.001-05:00

(1/1) A sentence a day for five years: I am excited to keep this little memory book.

(366) : Because beauty is strong

2012-01-01T14:46:00.000-05:00

A photo a day for a whole year. That is my project. To discover beauty, to record beauty, and to remember beauty.

And when people cease to believe that there is good and evil
Only beauty will call to them and save them
So that they will still know how to say: this is true and that is false.
(Czeslaw Milosz)

First Snowflakes

2011-12-30T13:24:00.004-05:00

Our cousin Del is from Florida, so this was his first taste of snow. Whether it is the first or thousandth snowfall, snow is magical.

And though the good is weak, beauty is strong

(Czeslaw Milosz)

Bread Baking

2011-12-30T12:30:00.000-05:00

Marilynne Robinson: Gilead

2011-12-29T22:59:00.000-05:00

I think there must also be a pretentious courage that allows us to be brave - that is, to acknowledge that there is more beauty than our eyes can bear, that precious things have been put in our hands and to do nothing to honor them is to do great harm.

Hope

2011-12-21T22:07:00.002-05:00

There is so much of the "already, but not yet" in the incarnation. The great hope that weaves through the Christmas story has been impressed upon me this year.

Reading the 14th century mystics in Dr. Jackson's class this semester, I was reminded again and again that we have everything, yet nothing; we are a part of God's kingdom, yet we await the arrival of it; we are seen as perfect; yet we are not perfect. There are so many fulfilled promises, yet in the same breath those promises are awaiting their total culmination. It's stunning, really, to discover such paradoxes.

For the last month, the idea of hope came to mind often. We have so much hope, I reminded myself again and again. I needed it. But what is hope? What does it look like? God brought answers with the arrival of Advent and remembrance of the incarnation.

And then I discovered, again, what the mystics wanted me to see. We were given hope, hope is here, and we await a future hope - the ultimate and perfect hope. Our hope is full, yet we still eagerly anticipate a fuller understanding, and a perfect sight of hope.

Jesus, God incarnate, is that fulness of hope. Hope came in the form of God incarnate, hope comes to us in salvation, and we have a hope waiting for us in heaven. This little baby, He is a living hope (1 Peter), and a blessed hope (Titus). He gives us a hope that is a steadfast anchor of the soul (Hebrews), He is the hope of glory (Colossians), and He calls us to hope (Ephesians).

The incarnation was a fulfillment of centuries of God's people hoping for a Messiah. Hope was born in a manger, and with that birth, hope came to the world. That hope was sealed with Christ's death and resurrection, and it became a living hope. I know this hope, and it promises me a future hope of eternal glory.

There is so much hope!

O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

Grandma

2011-11-30T22:16:00.001-05:00

She will always be a string of huge freshwater pearls—her faithful companions whenever she dressed up, iridescent and lovely.

Looking at her now, one would never know that she wore those pearls like no woman I have ever known. Classy and talented, kind and composed, artistic and elegant, Grandma Elizabeth Taylor brought beauty and sophistication to everything around her.

The office in her Falls Church, Virginia house was full of letterhead with her little logo and We Cater, Inc. written across the top. My siblings and I would spend hours down there, using her old stationary in the typewriter on her desk. She was a professional caterer. Adventurous, too. She learned how to cook in France, biking across the country and discovering the best sauces and pastry creams. Her piles of recipes are well-loved, stained with oil and coffee.

Trips to Grandma and Grandpa’s house on the Eastern Shore of Virginia meant three things: flounder for breakfast, her stunning chocolate cake with ganache and raspberries, and paella served from her big copper pot. Margaret and the cousins didn’t like the shrimp. The rest of us didn’t care; it meant more for us.

Grandma lived in the kitchen. We would hear the pots banging together, or her chopping away at the thirty cloves of garlic that she put in everything. “You can never have too much garlic.” Sometimes there would be an occasional “Ow!” yelled across the house when she forgot that the pan she had just taken out of the oven was—surprisingly—still incredibly hot. Whether it was a Buche de Noel at Christmastime, or a simple chicken salad sandwich, Grandma’s hands created the most beautiful meals.

She was good with her hands, not only julienning green beans in seconds but also using pencil and watercolor to capture life. EA and I would try hard to pull Grandma away from the stove to the dining room table to draw “ladies” for us. She would draw us a stylish lady, decked out in the newest Nordstrom fashions, or a shopping lady with a trench coat and grocery bags overflowing with vegetables. They were always fashionable and sophisticated—the way I pictured Grandma when she was young.

She cared about aesthetics—Mom learned that from Grandma. And I am trying to learn it, too. It might add a few more minutes to the preparation, but a plate of coordinated colors is a way they love others. Those hours in the kitchen every day were out of love.

Now she doesn’t know that I am her granddaughter. Alzheimer’s is taking her quickly. She spends her days wandering around the few places she is allowed to be without a nurse, complaining about the weather and how cold it always is. But there is still something of the woman she used to be. She greets each resident politely, and always asks us if we had lunch yet and if she can make us something. Her calloused hands are just as I remember them when they would be covered in burns and band-aids from her kitchen escapades.

And she still loves beautiful things. Every time I wear my pearls, I think of Grandma and her pearls. I hope that I can cook and draw and love others like she did. And I hope that someday I can live up to those pearls.

Thanksgiving Day Football

2011-11-29T00:44:00.003-05:00

With Bond, Trevor and Dakota - such wonderful friends.

I am glad we got to spend Thanksgiving together.

The sacred ordinary

2011-11-20T20:16:00.002-05:00

This morning in church, three year old Isabel was on my lap talking when she was supposed to be quiet, pulling on my necklace, and asking me where mommy was. The bread and the wine came to me and I realized I was not paying attention to what the pastor was saying. I was focusing more on keeping them away from her little hands and asking her to be quiet than on the body and blood of Jesus Christ. I had just a few seconds to pray before it was interrupted by her hand trying to grab the little plastic cup of wine.

And it struck me - this is so much of motherhood. The days are full of correcting little ones, making peanut butter and jellies, talking about Dora the Explorer and why they cannot watch another movie, doing five loads of laundry, cleaning up toys, and going to bed each night more exhausted than the last.

And this is much of life. In times when each minute overwhelms us, He is still giving Himself to us. Even when we have only a few seconds between the childrens’ whispers to meditate on His body, He is still present and renewing Himself in us. The bread and the wine remind us of Him. In the midst of busyness, even as other things are clamoring for our attention, He is there, sanctifying and redeeming.

Just two seconds after I finished the wine, Isabel was off trying to steal everyone’s cups. I barely had a chance to swallow, let alone dwell upon our dying Lord. But perhaps that’s where faith comes in. I take the cup in faith, knowing that God gives Himself to those who seek Him. And He does not give Himself in proportion to my seeking, or according to how many minutes I could spend in church dwelling on His sacrifice. He gives Himself above and beyond my needs, more than I could ever ask or imagine. He meets me in the everyday moments, and dwells there. His body and blood is present minutely, refreshing and renewing amidst the daily craziness.

Someday, when I have children talking my ear off in church-and even tonight-I want to remember this. I want to remember that He is here, providing and forgiving, reminding me of an eternal hope kept in heaven for me.

The Monday Morning Club

2011-11-20T14:38:00.001-05:00

I love living in the Kappa house. There is always someone around to talk to, laugh with, and study with. On Monday mornings, Katy, Kathryn and I spend hours struggling over what to wear and talking about life. It seems we never run out of things to say. I enjoy having a home to live in, with a real hallway, living room, kitchen, and bedroom.

Fall Break in Cincinnati

2011-10-18T00:37:00.002-04:00

Wesley, Hannah and Betsy

With Hannah

Wesley, Trevor, Hannah, Zach and Betsy, Mrs. Howard and Hudson

Sisters

2011-10-15T20:59:00.002-04:00

I have a little!

2011-10-12T00:12:00.001-04:00

In my sorority, each girl has a "big sister," someone older who helps them as they enter Kappa. My big has been such a blessing to me, and now I have a little! Shannon is the greatest - I have been praying that she would be my little for months now. I am so blessed to have her.

My roommate got a little too!

The family - Kelsey, Renee, and ShanSquared

Home

2011-10-09T17:24:00.001-04:00

Hillsdale County Fair

2011-09-27T22:16:00.003-04:00

UP! at Kappa Kappa Gamma

2011-09-17T12:54:00.001-04:00

This is my home this year. I love it so much.

Together Again

2011-09-02T21:45:00.000-04:00

Kappa Kappa Gamma 12

2011-09-02T21:42:00.000-04:00

I so love my bright little room. Jamie, the paper hearts are my favorite.

A Virginia Beach Weekend

2011-08-22T20:33:00.001-04:00

The Odell girls spent a wonderful weekend together at the beach.

A Dinner Party

2011-08-13T21:25:00.000-04:00

With our dear friends Zach and Betsy.

Bookshelves

2011-08-08T14:13:00.000-04:00

I would like these in my house.

Braid

2011-07-24T21:24:00.004-04:00

D.C. from the Holga

2011-07-21T20:50:00.000-04:00

Reagan National Airport.

Christ Church in Alexandria, where Mom and Dad got married.

A D.C. 4th of July

2011-07-05T22:04:00.001-04:00

EA and I have a wonderful time in D.C. with our friends over the weekend of the 4th.

Old town Alexandria.

We went to the cutest Republican picnic hosted by the Fairfax County Republicans on the 4th. There were so many eccentric and wonderful people there, all decked out in their red, white, and blue.

We met the Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. He's suing the federal government, and he graduated from University of Virginia in Mom's graduating class, and he's a homeschool dad.

We passed the Kappa house at George Washington University.

We watched the D.C. fireworks from the roof of an apartment building. It was a perfect view.

Spurgeon

2011-06-28T21:07:00.001-04:00

The last few entries in Spurgeon's Morning and Evening have been so wonderful.

Beloved, it is not office, it is earnestness; it is not position, it is grace which will enable us to glorify God. God is most surely glorified in that cobbler’s stall, where the godly worker, as he plies the awl, sings of the Saviour’s love, aye, glorified far more than in many a prebendal stall where official religiousness performs its scanty duties.

Remember, therefore, it is not thy hold of Christ that saves thee—it is Christ; it is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee—it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrument—it is Christ’s blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to thy hand with which thou art grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to thy hope, but to Jesus, the source of thy hope; look not to thy faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of thy faith.

Read this morning's post here and yesterday evening's posts here.

Groundbreaking

2011-06-26T22:48:00.002-04:00

Tonight we got to celebrate God's faithfulness to Crossway Church at the groundbreaking for our new building. It was such a beautiful night together.

Bond

2011-06-26T15:42:00.002-04:00

Coffee and Crepes

2011-06-25T23:54:00.001-04:00

With one of my dearest friends from Hillsdale. I am so thankful she had the chance to stop in Pennsylvania for a day.

Saturday Night Dessert

2011-06-25T21:49:00.002-04:00

Sour cherry pie.

Friday

2011-06-24T13:54:00.000-04:00

A beautiful thunderstorm outside, this song playing inside.

I brought my camera to work today, and was glad to have it.

Milkshakes and Summer Evenings

2011-06-23T14:19:00.001-04:00

Jamie is one of the highlights about coming home for the summer.

Something I just love about Crossway is the wealth of relationships that grow between people of different ages.

Jamie is a wife and a mother, but she will drive into the city to sit on the sidewalk at a little cafe with me. And talk for hours.

She is wise, encouraging, and honest with me about her own struggles. Even though we are at different places in our lives, I am blessed by her honesty and humility in sharing with me.

Jamie is a woman who seeks to trust God with her whole heart, leaning on His perfect power and mercy instead of her own understanding.

I am beyond grateful for her example and friendship.

(I stole this photo from her.)

Youth Camp: Blue Team

2011-06-23T14:15:00.001-04:00

I loved being a counselor again this year at youth camp.

Every single one of these kids blessed me so much over the four days.

They were honest, humble, encouraging, enthusiastic, and thrilled to all be together.
It was so exciting to realize that before the foundation of the world, God planned for us to be together at Youth Camp 2011.

I'm so thankful He did.

Summer Nights

2011-06-20T22:40:00.000-04:00

Youth Camp 2011

2011-06-18T21:22:00.000-04:00

We got to hear the Gospel, sing the Gospel, live the Gospel and love the Gospel. I couldn't have asked for a better few days.

From Krista's Camera

2011-06-14T12:10:00.000-04:00

Garden Bounty

2011-06-12T18:35:00.002-04:00

The Grand Unveiling

2011-06-10T23:20:00.000-04:00

Cameron finished his final school project today, so in order to celebrate we had a little cocktail party.

Harvard-educated snob and the press.

He's called a rock star.

Brownie

2011-06-08T20:21:00.004-04:00

Summer

2011-06-02T16:14:00.000-04:00

God knows what I need.

2011-05-26T10:10:00.005-04:00

Cast thy burden upon the Lord and he shall sustain thee. -Psalm 55:2

I am in summer school taking one semester of Chemistry in three weeks. I can't express how hopeless I have felt the last few days about this class. Few things make sense, and I am struggling to do the problems. Spurgeon's morning entry convicted me so much, and was exactly what I needed to hear.

Care, even though exercised upon legitimate objects, if carried to excess, has in it the nature of sin. The precept to avoid anxious care is earnestly inculcated by our Saviour, again and again; it is reiterated by the apostles; and it is one which cannot be neglected without involving transgression: for the very essence of anxious care is the imagining that we are wiser than God, and the thrusting ourselves into his place to do for him that which he has undertaken to do for us. We attempt to think of that which we fancy he will forget; we labour to take upon ourselves our weary burden, as if he were unable or unwilling to take it for us. Now this disobedience to his plain precept, this unbelief in his Word, this presumption in intruding upon his province, is all sinful. Yet more than this, anxious care often leads to acts of sin. He who cannot calmly leave his affairs in God's hand, but will carry his own burden, is very likely to be tempted to use wrong means to help himself. This sin leads to a forsaking of God as our counsellor, and resorting instead to human wisdom. This is going to the "broken cistern" instead of to the "fountain;" a sin which was laid against Israel of old. Anxiety makes us doubt God's lovingkindness, and thus our love to him grows cold; we feel mistrust, and thus grieve the Spirit of God, so that our prayers become hindered, our consistent example marred, and our life one of self-seeking. Thus want of confidence in God leads us to wander far from him; but if through simple faith in his promise, we cast each burden as it comes upon him, and are "careful for nothing" because he undertakes to care for us, it will keep us close to him, and strengthen us against much temptation. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee."

Hillsdale, I love you.

2011-05-13T15:24:00.003-04:00

When you’re young and in school, the question always is: what did you learn today? Or, what did you learn this year?

I’ve been thinking about that question while packing up my room. Although I have learned about Bastiat’s theory of a just law, the dates of Jonathan Edwards’ birth and death, how to write a good nut graph, and how to make a London Fog, there is something so much deeper happening.

I realize more and more everyday how much this place is softening, humbling, me. I am learning what a gentle and quiet spirit looks like, learning how to humbly encourage others, how to gently confront. I am discovering the paradoxical beauty of reality as it truly is - full of suffering and pain, but also stunningly gorgeous. I am learning that humility is quiet service, honesty and vulnerability with friends, and words that build up instead of tear down. I’m discovering that I actually might like poetry, that there are few things better for the soul than a half an hour of silence, and how pleasant bird song is - it helps you wake up after very little sleep the night before.

This place is so much more than the books, the papers, and the classes. It is the beauty that flows through them into our real lives. Here we learn how to think humbly, and how to walk wisely. We discover that there is more to this world than ourselves, so much more than our egos and our grades. There are people to love and serve, places to throw all of our effort into, and new truths to be discovered.

At Hillsdale, we learn the beauty in the ordinary. After a long winter, there is nothing like a green blade of grass, or the first warm rays of sunshine. We love the brick sidewalks, the contrast of the white clock tower against the blue sky, and the comfort of a friend’s presence, even when there’s nothing to say. No one minds having a class in the basement at three in the afternoon when we are surrounded by friends and taught by a professor who has nothing but encouragement and kindness towards his students.

The longer I am here, the more I love this place. The more it feels like home. I have always been scared of being mailable, of being affected by things. But it hurts to say goodbye this year, and it hurts because I am learning how to treasure these things. I am discovering how precious life here is, and I am letting it sink in. Deeply.

Without my knowledge, I am being softened. And it’s a good, good thing.

Summer

2011-05-11T08:58:00.001-04:00

Yet the summer which was to change everything was coming nearer every day. When boys and girls are growing up, life can't stand still, not even in the quietest of country towns; and they have to grow up, whether they will or no.

(Cather)

Evening Song

2011-05-06T19:22:00.003-04:00

Dear love, what thing of all things that be

Is ever worth one thought from you or me,
Save only love,
Save only love?

The days so short, the nights so quick to flee,
The world so wide, so deep and dark the sea,
So dark the sea;
So far the suns and every listless star,
Beyond their light - Ah! dear, who knows how far,
Who knows how far?

One thing of all the dim things I know is true,
The heart within me knows, and tells it you,
And tells it you.

So blind is life, so long at last is sleep,
And none but love to bid us laugh or weep,
And none but love,
And none but love.
(Willa Cather)

Reading Day Picnic

2011-05-04T22:50:00.002-04:00