I Am Second

Last Sunday, they showed a video clip from this website I had never heard of before called "I Am Second." It was a clip of Stephen Baldwin telling his story about how Christ changed his life, and it intrigued me. So went I went home, I looked up more.

The site is a collection of videos of different people who have been changed by Jesus. Some are famous, some are not, but each story I watched was amazing. I couldn't stop watching the videos! These stories were incredible and it was so exciting to see how different people from every facet and level of our society have something in common that is so radical, it's life-altering.

It was such a good reminder to me of the power of the Gospel. So often I take these sacred words and Jesus' mission for grated. But here, before me, is living proof that Jesus can literally swoop down and make things new.

I hope glean as much from it as I did.

Sweep the Leg

So! I was introduced to this awesome group on Pandora (love it!!) called No More Kings. Their songs are mostly sort of silly thematically (think They Might Be Giants) and my new favorite song is called "Sweep the Leg." The story: it's a tribute to "The Karate Kid" by telling the story of the defeat of Johnny (the bad guy) from the movie, but from his perspective! What's even funnier is the video features all of the original movie cast playing themselves as has-beens. It's the cleverist thing I've seen in a long time. And the song is catchy!

Watch it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFlQNtL8F9s

Brandi Carlile

Okay, guys. New favorite musical artist (new for me, anyways) = Brandi Carlile.

Seriously, this girl is AMAZING.

Watch this vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq-ZmAYLeB8

I Love This City

So, I'm back in Houston! Had a really restful holiday...perhaps too restful, I kind of didn't want to come back. But...I did. I'm in a new apartment: same complex, different apartment. My other one had a serious roach infestation, and after being awakened at 3am by some sort of creature and its babies squeaking from inside my walls, I decided I needed a change.

Today me and some girls from church went to the Teahouse and I had my first introduction to bubble tea. I have to say, I really enjoyed it. It was different, but delicious. I had fun running some errands around the city, stopping by the local library and eating a late lunch at a local bakery.

I love the city. I love the energy and the cool artsy, misfit vibe of everything. I love the fish tacos, the used book stores, and the bilingual everything.

I feel as though I've been growing farther from God for many months now. I want to get involved in a more structured quiet time. Any Bible study book suggestions?

Advent Prayer

Every year around this time at my house, we say an Advent prayer before supper instead of our normal one. I really like it, so I'm going to share it with all of you:

Come, Lord Jesus!
Come quickly!
Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation, in the darkness and in the light.
Blessed are you in this food and in our sharing.
Blessed are you as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

For the kingdom and the power and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.

Welcome, Advent

So...it's been a while.

Sorry.

Since last we spoke: I've run every other day and kept it up surprisingly well. I went home for Thanksgiving and gave much thanks; it was nice to see family and friends. This semester has been the hardest of my life, no contest.

But it's December. Which is very cool and very scary. It's cool because it means that I'm almost done with the majority of my school work for the rest of my life. It's scary because...I don't have much time left.

It's also very cool that it's Advent. I really like Advent. I've participated in this season since I can remember. I like the anticipation, the ritual, the waiting for Jesus. But my church I attend now doesn't celebrate it (that I know of). Don't get me wrong, I really like my church, it's just different than what I'm used to. But it's a good different.

I'm waiting with great anticipation: for Jesus, for rest, for joy.

5K

So, yesterday me and my fellow genetic counseling students (and our program director too!) participated in a 5k run/walk to raise money for Huntington's disease. For those who don't know, it's a genetic disorder that is similar to ALS in its manifestations. Anyway, they raised a lot of money for the organization so that was cool, but it also opened a world that i have, by choice, never explored: running.

For anyone who has known me long, you know that i HATE running. i will walk fast. i will do elliptical machines, etc. but i hate to run. well...that's kind of changing.

i'm going to try to be a runner. this morning i woke up early and jogged around Hermann Park, this awesomely fabulously huge city park right by my house with lots of fun trails. i wanna keep this up.

i want to be healthy, to have a strong body, to DO something. It's so weird how the thing you used to hate is now the thing you desire. I guess that can be a good or a bad thing. :)

so here's to running. let's see how this pans out.