svo hljótt

I lean against you, in calm
Everything stood still, and you

You sang to me so quietly
You sang to me so quietly

In the moonlight I see you, hunched over
In the moonlight you turn into blue dusk

I thank you for the hope you have gave me
I thank you for the hope..

I wrote a poem to winter this morning,

and she replied tonight with some snowflakes.

happy girl,

happy happy girl.

Holgsta

LII.

To learn the transport by the pain,

As blind men learn the sun;

To die of thirst, suspecting

That brooks in meadows run;

To stay the homesick, homesick feet

Upon a foreign shore

Haunted by native lands, the while,

And blue, beloved air —

This is the sovereign anguish,

This, the signal woe!

These are the patient laureates

Whose voices, trained below,

Ascend in ceaseless carol,

Inaudible, indeed,

To us, the duller scholars

Of the mysterious bard!

- Emily Dickinson-

What is thy only comfort in life and death?

That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Savior Jesus Christ; who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.

-from the Heidelberg Catechism-

Tsarah, deep Tsarah

Remember how I used to complain that Greek would be the death of me?

Yeah, well Hebrew is a completely different story.



I don't know what possessed me to take it,
considering that languages and I don't seem to get along really well.
I guess the masochist in me
thought it would be really really cool to learn Hebrew.
I mean, I had just passed (miraculously) a full year of Greek, and if I could survive that,
well then certainly I could thrive in Hebrew.



Not so, my friends.
See that little word up there?
distress//trouble
in Hebrew it reads tsarah.
And man, am I in it.
My last test grade was shocking.
grrrr. not only was I frustrated, but I was also embarrassed.
I really respect my Hebrew teacher, so after a grade like that, I was pretty dissappointed.
So I sent him an email, expressing my frustrations,
and his reply was really encouraging.
But I'm learning what it means to ask for help,
even if it exposes things I would rather hide.



shalom chaverim, l'hitra'ot.

You Have Me

Always faithful
Always good

"To be a responsible person is to find one's role in the building of shalom,

the re-webbing of God, humanity and all creation in
justice,
harmony,
fulfillment and delight.
To be a responsible person is to find one's own role and then,
funded by the grace of God,
to fill this role
and
delight in it."


this is my DP dress, Betsy.

isn't it awful that I'm already considering cheating?

Things on the brain:
Lithuania
and the
Elijah Project.
[too many projects?]
How to Trust God 101.

Frost & "October"

O hushed October morning mild



Thy leaves have ripened to the fall



Tomorrow's wind, if it be wild

Should waste them all

a few things:

1) in case you didn't hear it from everyone else, fall is here! hooray!

2) Sorry my blogs are scant, but my schedule is extremely busy. today is the first day since school started that I haven't had any other obligations beside classes and homework so I finally get to take some time to write.

3) I haven't gotten my camera yet, but once I do there will be pictures galore on here!

4)The Dress Project is coming up! This is the main reason why I wanted to blog today. For those of you who don't know what the dress project is, you can read about it here and here. The rule is simple: you wear one dress everyday for one month. The reason for doing it varies from person to person. Last year I think one of the main reasons for doing the project was to make a statement. I was in a completely new environment and felt the need to be bold. I also saw it as a challenge, and an experience. This year, my motivations are a little different. I still see the project as a challenge to be creative, as a step towards consuming less, and as a statement of individuality, but this year I also see it as a chance to back away from frivoulous feeling and look at my life, to examine the things that are most important. As part of the project, I've begun a list of things I can and can't live without, and I hope that whatever it is I learn from this year's experience will prompt change in the way I live both as an individual and as a member of a community.
these are some of my outfits from last year:

I really encourage you to try it out for yourself. It doesn't have to be a full month. Some of my friends did it for a week. Hopefully this gives you an idea of what the Dress Project is all about. Check out the Facebook page and let me know if you're participating so we can do it together! I'm going to try to document this year on the blog, but I'm not making any promises!

5) I'm listening to the Little Women Soundtrack and drinking some hot choc-o-lot =]

tomatoes

These are some tomatoes I was able to take home after working with the Food Project Thursday morning.

I'm so excited to get more involved!

Now I'm off to Lake Winnipesaukee for the weekend!

Thee, Thou, and Thine

"Hello!"
from Massachusetts

to the mountains and back again [unfortunately]

we fish with flies

we wear big smiles

we use our feet

we adventure to meadows with creeks

we praise Him for His beauty and His majesty that is displayed in His creation.

Psa 126:1 A Song Ascents

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like

those who dream.

Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said

among the nations, "The Lord has done great things for them."

The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad.

Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negeb!

Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!

He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with

him.

currently listening: Come Thou Fount -Fernando Ortega-

Decisions/Choices

I have a dilemma:

buy a bike (at school) or buy a camera.

input? opinions? help?

update: 7/14/10

yes, i do realize i have a mustache. no, im not considering shaving it off.

i got my holga!

remember this post?

well, i added her to my wishlist and voila! the most wonderful birthday present!

i cant wait to try out my little holganator when a surprise comes this weekend.

isn't she just precious?

p.s. sorry for the serious lackidge of posts lately...when my life gets interesting, they'll be more frequent. i promish =]

"you ate an apple, and i ate a pear."

"All i could see from where i stood

was three long mountains and a wood;

I turned and looked another way,

And saw three islands in a bay.

So with my eyes I traced the line

Of the horizon, thin and fine,

straight around 'til I was come

Back to where I'd started from..."

i fell in love with edna st. vincent millay's work while in an airport.

i was with a friend, waiting to board a plane home after a two week trip in the Adirondack's, when i picked up a collection of the major american poets that i had bought for $2 on a street in Cambridge.

the above passage is from "Renascence."

I think it caught my eye because the first two lines described my point of view from the last two weeks, but reading it now, I'm struck by what the Lord is continually teaching me.

oh goodness, i can be so blind sometimes.

if i tried to explain what i mean, how the poem correlates with my present, it wouldn't make much sense.

but anyways, i was writing a letter tonight to a La Vida friend and found God continually teaching me, again.

um, let me go back a little farther. La Vida is kind of the outdoor education program at my school. It was originally developed through Young Life, and the current director brought it to my school and now its become part of the core curriculum. It is a two week program based in the Adirondack's, and is kind of a camping trip, but way more hardcore. We pee in the woods, we eat food off the ground, we don't shower for two weeks....that sort of thing. Anyways, it was an absolutely incredible, life-changing experience. It gave me time to reflect on this past year, my first year away from home and in college, and I've realized how God has kind of brought me right back to where I've started from, and here is the beginning of a new season.

I wish i could make this more exciting with pictures, but I've only taken a few "test" pictures with my film camera, and so far nothing to report. But im sure as the summer stretches on, you may get a glimpse here and there. =]

Fragrance in the night

its spring here in Massachusetts.


tonight my heart sang
"I am strong in the strength of the LORD"



and as i walked backed to my room, i was utterly amazed at the rich fragrance that seeped from the flowers on the nearby trees.
i wish i could share spring time with you here.
it brings a joy. a very lovely joy.