recently, i went on a run in virginia beach, va. a great run. the kind of run where i weep in the middle of a particularly speedy stretch; not because i'm in pain, but because my soul is poignantly touched with the beauty of Him, and i've no way to adaquately express my love.
my run was not at the beach. it was just to a neighborhood near the apartment i was staying at...beautiful view (this pic is of the park). the name of the park is : mount trashmore. sounds like a funny name huh? well, the really funny part is it's not just a name. the park is really an old trash dumpground renovated into a beautiful community park. it started me thinking...
He can make something out of nothing...in fact, He quite often takes our bruise, depraved selves and turns them into royalty. He takes this 'ugly wart frog' and turns me into a pretty, pretty princess. He took a ball of dirt and made Adam. He daily takes my failings and turns them into a tapestry that glorifies Him. our Father is breathtaking. i can't get enough of Him these days...He's made my heart to constantly want Him. i find He's more than enough. my soul's alive dear friends! love and miss all of you! praying for so many of you by name this evening and all of you by His Spirit...
annetta
p.s.
wow. it's been awhile. a disclaimer, i've been on a 4 week road trip...i'll find myself settled in a home soon...pray for direction~!
Friday, July 27, 2007
Friday, July 6, 2007
Road Trip
ok. so many of you know of M6, a mission trip i took with TWood last summer. well, a friend and i are about to embark on a 3 week version of that...and we think it's gonna go right down the east coast.
we're starting with a night with friends in BHam, AL, then to see my sis in NYC...she's working for the Philharmonic and is gonna hire us for a few days. then i have cousins in Providence RI (45 minutes from Boston) and my friend's mom is moving from Virginia Beach...and i'm singing in a wedding (ADRIENNE!) in Charleston SC at the end of the month...
those are the loose plans. but my friend (Sandrine) and i are holding them loosely in our hands. i can't WAIT to see where He takes us...and we're preparing this week for the crazy journey starting Thursday...incidentally, that's the day after my 28th bday...what a coming of age trip eh?!?
anywho.. any prayers are coveted. we're listening and i pray this is lifechanging..for us as well as many others!
p.s. the album should be done right about the time we get back...wahoo!
we're starting with a night with friends in BHam, AL, then to see my sis in NYC...she's working for the Philharmonic and is gonna hire us for a few days. then i have cousins in Providence RI (45 minutes from Boston) and my friend's mom is moving from Virginia Beach...and i'm singing in a wedding (ADRIENNE!) in Charleston SC at the end of the month...
those are the loose plans. but my friend (Sandrine) and i are holding them loosely in our hands. i can't WAIT to see where He takes us...and we're preparing this week for the crazy journey starting Thursday...incidentally, that's the day after my 28th bday...what a coming of age trip eh?!?
anywho.. any prayers are coveted. we're listening and i pray this is lifechanging..for us as well as many others!
p.s. the album should be done right about the time we get back...wahoo!
go red
it's raining outside.
there's always been something about rain...makes me think.
this week, i've been contemplating growing up. i guess it's normal to contemplate that as i was at a family reunion right outside the city of Crown Point...the city i spent the first 12 years of my life in. i saw the lady that used to babysit me, my childhood bff and the younger kid next door who's now grown and owns his own business. the whole time i talked with the lady who babysat me, she just kept saying, "SHUT UP! SHUT UP! YOU'RE SO HUGE!".
it made me feel like i'm either pudgy or just really grown up.
so growing up. for awhile now that little rebellious streak of mine has been directed towards anything that scents of legalism. if someone said that wearing red is the only thing holy, i would throw out all shirts with the slightest hue of red and wear only black. i mean, who can dictate God's color preferences?!? and who's to say that red really is my color anyway? who's to say that i'm not a GREEN kinda' girl...
ok ok. i get it that my rebellious response is not only childish, but it's tacky. but the thing that really struck home in my heart was as i was thinking about Romans 12:2A,
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..."
i've been working on that whole conformed thing for a while...and thought i was working on the transformed thing. but as i look at Him, i think, it's not that wearing anything but red is necessarily wrong, it's just that wearing red is the BEST thing...it's the way He created me to live. and it's not even about a normal life that's really good and looks great alongside the next nonChristian's life. rather, the transformed life is so amazingly removed, that non Christians recognize it as the way they ache to live.
let me try saying this again...it's not the color red. it's not that legalistic people are always right...it's just that, they're usually onto something...they are usually sensing out a few guidelines that make this a life lived best.
the black and blue wearers of the world know that red is really their color. and it's really my color. i just don't tell those wearing blue that blue doesn't become them... :)
so. i'm pushing ahead today. not to 'not wear black' but to wear red in such a way that all will know that He is indeed alive.
grace and peace,
annetta
there's always been something about rain...makes me think.
this week, i've been contemplating growing up. i guess it's normal to contemplate that as i was at a family reunion right outside the city of Crown Point...the city i spent the first 12 years of my life in. i saw the lady that used to babysit me, my childhood bff and the younger kid next door who's now grown and owns his own business. the whole time i talked with the lady who babysat me, she just kept saying, "SHUT UP! SHUT UP! YOU'RE SO HUGE!".
it made me feel like i'm either pudgy or just really grown up.
so growing up. for awhile now that little rebellious streak of mine has been directed towards anything that scents of legalism. if someone said that wearing red is the only thing holy, i would throw out all shirts with the slightest hue of red and wear only black. i mean, who can dictate God's color preferences?!? and who's to say that red really is my color anyway? who's to say that i'm not a GREEN kinda' girl...
ok ok. i get it that my rebellious response is not only childish, but it's tacky. but the thing that really struck home in my heart was as i was thinking about Romans 12:2A,
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..."
i've been working on that whole conformed thing for a while...and thought i was working on the transformed thing. but as i look at Him, i think, it's not that wearing anything but red is necessarily wrong, it's just that wearing red is the BEST thing...it's the way He created me to live. and it's not even about a normal life that's really good and looks great alongside the next nonChristian's life. rather, the transformed life is so amazingly removed, that non Christians recognize it as the way they ache to live.
let me try saying this again...it's not the color red. it's not that legalistic people are always right...it's just that, they're usually onto something...they are usually sensing out a few guidelines that make this a life lived best.
the black and blue wearers of the world know that red is really their color. and it's really my color. i just don't tell those wearing blue that blue doesn't become them... :)
so. i'm pushing ahead today. not to 'not wear black' but to wear red in such a way that all will know that He is indeed alive.
grace and peace,
annetta
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Extraordinarily Ordinary
it really IS all about the journey.
lately, i've been head-over-heels involved in a project. and not a project that needs just a little "tweaking" as Tom Hanks so eloquently says to Meg Ryan in my favorite movie. rather, this project is crazy involved. and it's a 'jump-off-the-diving-board-into-the-deepend' kinda' involved. except, that jump also involves jumping without knowing if there's water first.
i'd always thought moments of faith were preceeded by flashes of light and booming "james earl jones" voices. but my experience says, that it's a lack thereof.
no voice. no lightning. no big talking-picture story.
it's as if you're in a really windy place, and for a moment, the wind dies down. and there's that eerie silence. although not so eerie. and not so silent unless i make room for that silence.
doesn't make sense huh?
let me try again. faith is...
ordinary. everyday. constantly. moment-by-moment. in the dull. in the humdrum.
in my unfallen, blood-of-Christ-covered state, it's natural. all-the-while, it's supernatural.
in the end...it's...well, it's glorious. all-the-while, it seems, normal.
here's to a life lived as purposed...in a perpetual, ordinary, extraordinary freefall.
lately, i've been head-over-heels involved in a project. and not a project that needs just a little "tweaking" as Tom Hanks so eloquently says to Meg Ryan in my favorite movie. rather, this project is crazy involved. and it's a 'jump-off-the-diving-board-into-the-deepend' kinda' involved. except, that jump also involves jumping without knowing if there's water first.
i'd always thought moments of faith were preceeded by flashes of light and booming "james earl jones" voices. but my experience says, that it's a lack thereof.
no voice. no lightning. no big talking-picture story.
it's as if you're in a really windy place, and for a moment, the wind dies down. and there's that eerie silence. although not so eerie. and not so silent unless i make room for that silence.
doesn't make sense huh?
let me try again. faith is...
ordinary. everyday. constantly. moment-by-moment. in the dull. in the humdrum.
in my unfallen, blood-of-Christ-covered state, it's natural. all-the-while, it's supernatural.
in the end...it's...well, it's glorious. all-the-while, it seems, normal.
here's to a life lived as purposed...in a perpetual, ordinary, extraordinary freefall.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Glorious Waiting Room
waiting. a gloriously divine activity. frustrating. drives me crazy. but gloriously divine. it's not coincidence that in my current divine waiting room, sunsets have become a moment where my soul rests. i think they're His waiting room for me. anticipation has always been such a fun part of an event for me. and now...in the silence. i think waiting is a divine activity. not only do i happen to be in waiting periods quite frequently, but they always seem to be divinely appointed. maybe i'm not picking up what i'm supposed to be learning eh?
but. in this waiting, there is always one of two things for me.
either He speaks much and i am filled to overflowing.
or
He speaks little...
and i'm left to walk in the dark, holding onto the hope He has promised and the vision He has originated and ordained.
today, i was a bit woebegone, mourning the loss of His voice in my life...and my realization that His Voice was so silent was only after the activity in my life became still...my activity...and i can't see His activity at present. but i believe it is goin nuts under the surface. His plans are glorious and moving...in my 'woebegone' sate, i read these quotes:
The answer to our prayer may be coming, although we may not discern
its approach. a seed that is underground during winter, although
hidden and seemingly dead and lost, is nevertheless taking root for a
later spring and harvest. - bickersteth
delayed answers to prayer are not only trials of faith, they also give
us opportunities to honor God through our steadfast confidence in Him
even when facing the apparent denial of our request. - spurgeon
oh me of little faith! that i would see the invisible...for when He SEEMS still, He's moving quite quickly. His timing is perfect. and He is really good at growing the roots of a plant before letting it jump forth from the ground. this waiting is not unique to me...seems as if everyone lives in it. doesn't make it easier to realize it's a communal, silent waiting room. not much fellowship goin on there. BUT...it does allow me to borrow prayers...here's one from Shane B:
i will run when i cannot walk
i will sing when there is no song
i will pray when there is no prayer
i will listen when i cannot hear
sitting in the waiting room of silence
waiting for that still soft voice i know
offering my words up to the rooftop to Your heart
trusting that this closet's where You are
Lord i know if i change my mind
You will change my heart in time
Sovereign Lord this time's from You
so i sit in the waiting room of silence
cause its all about You
i will fight when i cannot feel
i will trust when You don't seem real
i will tell when i cannot speak
i will step when i cannot see
even the waiting is glorious when done at rest.
love y'all. praying His Presence in your life today...esp for those prepping camp twood. missin ya this year...but have you lifted up in His hand!
but. in this waiting, there is always one of two things for me.
either He speaks much and i am filled to overflowing.
or
He speaks little...
and i'm left to walk in the dark, holding onto the hope He has promised and the vision He has originated and ordained.
today, i was a bit woebegone, mourning the loss of His voice in my life...and my realization that His Voice was so silent was only after the activity in my life became still...my activity...and i can't see His activity at present. but i believe it is goin nuts under the surface. His plans are glorious and moving...in my 'woebegone' sate, i read these quotes:
The answer to our prayer may be coming, although we may not discern
its approach. a seed that is underground during winter, although
hidden and seemingly dead and lost, is nevertheless taking root for a
later spring and harvest. - bickersteth
delayed answers to prayer are not only trials of faith, they also give
us opportunities to honor God through our steadfast confidence in Him
even when facing the apparent denial of our request. - spurgeon
oh me of little faith! that i would see the invisible...for when He SEEMS still, He's moving quite quickly. His timing is perfect. and He is really good at growing the roots of a plant before letting it jump forth from the ground. this waiting is not unique to me...seems as if everyone lives in it. doesn't make it easier to realize it's a communal, silent waiting room. not much fellowship goin on there. BUT...it does allow me to borrow prayers...here's one from Shane B:
i will run when i cannot walk
i will sing when there is no song
i will pray when there is no prayer
i will listen when i cannot hear
sitting in the waiting room of silence
waiting for that still soft voice i know
offering my words up to the rooftop to Your heart
trusting that this closet's where You are
Lord i know if i change my mind
You will change my heart in time
Sovereign Lord this time's from You
so i sit in the waiting room of silence
cause its all about You
i will fight when i cannot feel
i will trust when You don't seem real
i will tell when i cannot speak
i will step when i cannot see
even the waiting is glorious when done at rest.
love y'all. praying His Presence in your life today...esp for those prepping camp twood. missin ya this year...but have you lifted up in His hand!
Friday, June 8, 2007
crash-n-burn
it's been really weird this past week. life was so crazy and non-stop and all-consuming.
and now. well, now i'm back to waiting.
weird how these days go by much slower than the more active ones. but He has provided ways for me to have space to sit and think on Him. to listen. that's been pretty amazing. the way He carves moments out when i think there are none to be had.
i had a great talk with my dad. and one thing that became poignantly clear was my loneliness. it's funny, but as i walk through this newest adventure, the only person 'on the line' is me. i'm the only one that the death of this vision, the crash-n-burn, of this will effect. thus, it's a lonely space i fill. i walk and move and breath and obey what and where i think He's leading. but at the same time, there's no one else in the hot spot with me. it surely purifies motives. and it surely pushes me to Him as nothing else.
but it's still lonely.
seems i'm the only one out here. and that's ok today. because i look and listen and realize that He's right there with me...speaking His love for me.
so i walk in His love today. i walk in hope. and faith.
knowing that green pastures are coming...where i'll live in beautiful, messy community.
praying His new home for me will come soon,
annetta
and now. well, now i'm back to waiting.
weird how these days go by much slower than the more active ones. but He has provided ways for me to have space to sit and think on Him. to listen. that's been pretty amazing. the way He carves moments out when i think there are none to be had.
i had a great talk with my dad. and one thing that became poignantly clear was my loneliness. it's funny, but as i walk through this newest adventure, the only person 'on the line' is me. i'm the only one that the death of this vision, the crash-n-burn, of this will effect. thus, it's a lonely space i fill. i walk and move and breath and obey what and where i think He's leading. but at the same time, there's no one else in the hot spot with me. it surely purifies motives. and it surely pushes me to Him as nothing else.
but it's still lonely.
seems i'm the only one out here. and that's ok today. because i look and listen and realize that He's right there with me...speaking His love for me.
so i walk in His love today. i walk in hope. and faith.
knowing that green pastures are coming...where i'll live in beautiful, messy community.
praying His new home for me will come soon,
annetta
Saturday, May 19, 2007
hiatus
hey all!
i know i've been a little random in my postings as of late...if you want to subscribe to my blog, where you don't have to keep checking and rechecking, send your email address to me at: annettabox@gmail.com i'll include you on this little notifier thing...OR simply enter your email address in the subscription box to your right...not sure if that worx, but we'll find out eh?
thanks for keepin up with it...
a
i know i've been a little random in my postings as of late...if you want to subscribe to my blog, where you don't have to keep checking and rechecking, send your email address to me at: annettabox@gmail.com i'll include you on this little notifier thing...OR simply enter your email address in the subscription box to your right...not sure if that worx, but we'll find out eh?
thanks for keepin up with it...
a
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