my friends are talented.

(you can find the background on this post here and here.)
today's post is dedicated to my cousin ("and not to mention my best friend")...
- lauren ashley tredoux.

a photo i took of lauren, fall of 2011. (see more here.)

this girl.
she has creativity oozing out of her.
she is so-incredibly artistic.
from sketches, to paintings, to photography, to poetry.
she's got a gift.
i have told her so many countless times that she needs to publish her poetry one day...and that if she doesn't, i will for her.
cause she's just ridiculous.
the diction she uses is impeccable--like perfect. (according to my preferences.)
her ideas are so raw...not only can you feel her experiences with her, but it's like you are experiencing them yourself.
her expression is expressive in itself.
the essence of transparency.

here is one of my favorite poems of her's, preceding a few of my favorite photographs she's taken...

Sungod.
the sun it aches me
pulls me into sea
weed of flowers far beyond my
reach of recovering illusive hopes that led
to my disease.
pull me out
and see my bones cry out
I am no longer daughter
I am dried out.
Hear me Father, let my cup
runneth over.
Hold me tighter
bind my pieces of dust off the floor.
I am not above this.
Crippling cancer weaves itself into
my thorns, choking berries of life
that juice my core.
the sun it aches me to what was once
before (I hear it calling).
the sun it aches
my wounds into healing (I hear it calling).
Holy heat bursts me from my cold; holy heat
bursts every blood cell into worship
thawed.
I am on fire,
they cannot see my wounds burdered
with love.
Father be my breath that motivates these lungs.
Drink me water when I cannot drink myself.
Pour me over with wine that I may be restored.
Feed me your hands, your heart, your thorns
Your sun breaks through my aching parts,
“Don’t be afraid of light, my rays bring you life”

i just love her poems.
i can read them over & over & over again and get something new-and different-and inspiring-and enthralling from each one every single time.
i am immensely envious of her God-given talent.

to pour her very soul into words so descriptive and precisely placed that they can make me laugh-and cry-and cringe-and smile...that is no doubt a gift.

her tumblr has many more poetic gems; check it out.

(she also went to europe last fall, and pretty much all of her photos there were amazing...so instead of weeding through the hundreds of those, i stuck with these beauts.)

-and no, this is not an april fools joke. (hahaha.)

days 27 & 28: what's for dinner...??

the 21days of prayer & fasting, leading up to Mission Church's OFFICIAL KICKOFF Sunday gathering, has officially concluded.
(you can find out more about the fast here & here.)

the kickoff was awesome.
jonathan's message was awesome.
*hurley & the band's worship was awesome.
my announcements were awesome. (haha. just kidding.)
and we even had 95 people in attendance!!
granted...everything didn't go as perfectly smooth as maybe we would've liked, buuut...hey--it was our first sunday. :)
i'm so-incredibly excited for this church...what God has in store for it, for us, for the lives we touch.

DANIEL FAST!!
(here's what i predominantly ate on the daniel fast, that i also managed to snap a photo of...)

1. oatmeal with strawberries & pecans.
2. grits.
3. salad with tomatoes and vinaigrette dressing.
4. grilled zucchini.
5. plain, lightly salted rice cake with peanut butter & bananas.
6. apple chips.
7. oatmeal with pecans.
8. strawberries.
9. oatmeal with bananas.
10. sliced tomatoes with sliced avocados, balsamic vinegar & sea salt.
   (the best.) 
11. oatmeal with strawberries & pecans.
12. vegan, banana "ice cream".
   (i will share this recipe later.)
13. smoothie.
   (one banana, one c blueberries, 1/2 c water, and a handful of pecans.)
14. homemade tomato soup.
   (i'll be sure to share this recipe sometime.)
15. corn.
16. oatmeal with strawberries & blueberries.
   (i ate a lot of oatmeal. hahaha. just about every breakfast.)

i am thankful for this fast, the reminder to spend more time in prayer, the realizations had, and the ways God revealed Himself to me.
but i'll be honest...pizza never tasted so good.

*you can find hurley's music here & here...and if you come see us here. do it.

my friends are talented.

this might be my favorite segment.

it's just so true.

and warms my heart so much.

(you can find the background on it here.)

today's post is dedicated to my dear-dear friend, stefanie morgan.

stef and i grew up together at college church of the nazarene.

we've spent looootsss and looootsss of time together, from caravans to wigby, to His kids choir, to holiday parties, to retreats, to church camps, to mission trips...and not to mention nearly every sunday.

then come second semester, freshman year of high school, she went back to her roots and joined me at blue valley.

this was definitely a blessing. (for many reasons.) most everyone at church went to the same three schools...or at least had one other person. i had had no one for almost ten years, and i always yearned for that affirmation and accountability. just to be able to make eye-contact with a person, knowing you share a deeper bond and more-significant meaning for life than those many searching-high school kids. (not that we had it all figured out as adolescents, but you catch my drift, right??)

stef and i both did choir throughout high school, and were privileged to be in its traveling show choir, chambers. we went all over the kc metro area, LA, and NYC. (stef also got to go to orlando because she made it the year before me. but i'm getting ahead of myself; i'll show you how amazing she is in a minute here.) stef almost always got the solos in our kids' choir, she was on the praise & worship team in junior/senior high, she almost always got the lead in our high school musicals, she almost always got the solos in our choir/chambers numbers, and she always did ridiculously well at competitions...we always knew we could count on her to get a 1.

since the age of ten, stef had incessantly impressed me with her musical ability, (she's an amazing pianist, as well,) but i don't think it was until our spring show, senior year of high school had i heard her sing and play a song she had written. the song was "love won't."...which i'm pretty sure is still, to this day, my favorite. (i know you'll think that is funny, stef. but it's true!!)

she not only has the raw musical talent and ability, but she has the passion, and emotion, and ability to relate that song writers long for and need.

stef recently wrote this song and performed it at the uptown arts bar for "MBird's writer's showcase". (sadly, i could not attend this time around...but i have had the privilege of attending similar performances.)

source.

you can listen & watch her in these videos too!! (courtesy of: kathleen dunn.)

Black and White. (circa 2008.)

Rainy Days. (circa 2008.)

she also has her own etsy account: unlock the creativity. check it out!! (i tollld you...talented.)

God has blessed me with stef's friendship and her ability to inspire and brighten up any-and many-of my days.

my friends are talented.

So. i'll let yall in on the know...

the people i know are really talented.
like really.
friends and family.
it's ridiculous really.
musicians, writers, athletes, artists, actors, photographers, chefs, designers, models, caregivers, comedians, theologians, philosophers, geniuses.
i love it. they truly inspire me.
i love how many different and unique gifts God allows people to have...and how differently each individual chooses to use them for His glory. it's just amazing to me the daily run-in with such the variety.

i'm not quite sure how to embed this, (so if somebody knows, hit me up,) but this is ross wooten's video of kelly & jordan-her man, singin their pretty-little hearts out on a song that jordan wrote. i lived with kelly for two years in college in a suite of six girls altogether; yes, living with five other girls can get a little crazy at times...but you get to know those people better than you ever could otherwise. you emote on such a deeper level. and you learn so much.
i loved those four years. i got to live with some of my very-best friends, and i wouldn't trade that time for the world. :) now we are at that stage in our lives where everyone is getting married, (and literally everyone is getting married,) so we won't ever live together again, but i am so thankful for that quality time and all those little moments--and i am so incredibly blessed to have them all in my life. they have helped mold me into the person i am today.
there is no doubt God knew what He was doin that day my cousin-lauren and i "randomly" got placed in spindle 205.