Wednesday, June 27, 2012

worship || faith


Everyone has their opinion of worship is. Worship goes beyond the music that's played for about 30 minutes at church. We know that. But this part of worship is SO significant to me. Worshipping with music that speaks to the soul has played a crucial role in the growth of my intimate relationship with the Lord. 

Tomorrow is the 3 day Jesus Culture conference in NY. I'm super excited for this time of refreshing and renewal. I don't believe that anyone should depend on these kinds of conferences to be renewed, but there's also something special when you're with thousands of others worshipping the same god. I'm praying for a deeper encounter with the Lord and for my current status-quo-like faith to be shattered so that I can have faith to do and live the impossible. I want this time of worship to fashion my heart into a Deuteronomy 5:6 heart; a heart that loves freely.

What does worship mean to you? Does music play a significant role in your life and how you relate to God?

Deuteronomy 5:6
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might


Sunday, June 24, 2012

my first time || my life





Ask me what I did this weekend! I've got a lot to share with you.

On Friday my sister, my friend Albert and I photographed Albert's sister's wedding. It was intense and my first time EVER doing a wedding. A lot of people on the internet say that if you've NEVER done it, don't do it without being a second photographer. Well, we're rebels and ignored professional advice and went ahead and OWNED it. Above is a sneak preview of what we shot, but we'll have more up later. I was nervous but once the day got really busy I just got into my photographer zone and did what I could. The bride, Sarah, was incredibly chill and knew how to affirm us as we went about doing our job. She wasn't demanding AT ALL and would squeal with excitement when we showed her sneak previews. Having a really laid back and stress-free bride helps. Plus working with my sister and best friend made it a lot more fun and relaxed. We prayed and encouraged each other throughout the day which helped when things didn't seem to go right. This may not be the last wedding I shoot, but who knows when the three of us will ever do it again. Unless people really like our photos and there's some sick demand for us.... ;)

Saturday, we woke up early and drove a few hours south of Toledo toward Dayton and decided it'd be fun if we spent our Saturday jumping out of a plane. Skydiving is more like falling out of a plane, but still amazing. I can't describe to you how cool skydiving was. I was pretty nervous and out of it before, but as I started to get my harness on excitement started to build up. It's crazy. The most terrifying thing for me was seeing my friend Adam suddenly disappear from the plane. It all happened so fast. First he was sitting in front of me, then suddenly he's moving forward and then the next second he's out the door. It's wild. Then I had to move up and there I was sitting on the edge of the plane with my feet dangling while I was almost 10,000 ft high. My instructor counted down, "3,2,1" and I naturally just fell forward out of the plane. 30 seconds of free falling was unbelievable. I kept screaming, "Oh my God... no way... no way!" My favorite part was after I pulled the parachute and floated down in complete silence. There's nothing like being up in the sky 5,000 ft without any white noise. Pure silence. I loved it. 

This was an amazing weekend of doing things for the very first time... definitely won't be the last! More pictures to come.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

to california and back || travel


Wow, it's been over 2 weeks since my Cali trip. A lot has happened since then so here are some pictures now. It was such a hectic and chaotic trip but also really awesome. It was a good trip of catching up with old friends, meeting new friends, visiting old places and seeing new sights, eating a lot of Mexican food.. more than we really should have (carne asada fries TWICE in San Diego >.<)

Thank you Esteban, Liz, Mark, Sam, Joe, Jake, Paul and Estefania for making this trip awesome. 

Friday, June 15, 2012

love/hate relationship: being single || life

It's a monumental day for me as a recreational blogger. Today I'm blogging over at Ashley's blog, She Smiles, She Writes.

I wrote this a while back actually and somehow I connected with Ashley and it's not published on the world wide web!

I share about my personal thoughts on my love/hate relationship on being single. Go check it out and I hope you're encouraged.

Enjoy!