Early Mornings

My body has fallen into the routine of getting up by five, so this is considered sleeping in for me. -.-

This week was the most difficult one in a while, struggled with just about everything I've been working so hard to change.  My body feels weak, physically spent.  Emotionally drained, and spiritually struggling.  I was clearing out my inbox and came across this one email from Kat, and thought I'd share it.

---

feesh<3 

i came across this facebook status and it reminded me of the trials that life often throws at us but we do have hope in our Maker :) i hope you find encouragement in it.

“And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver” – Malachi 3:3

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.  One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work.  She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.  As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up, He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.  The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot then she thought again about the verse that says: “He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.”  She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.  The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire.  If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment.  Then she asked the silversmith, “How do you know when the silver is fully refined?”  He smiled at her and answered, “Oh, that’s easy–when I see my image in it.”

---

Such an encouragement to read Kat, even months later :)  In the process of being tested, refined, He is right there.  All the world seems to fall away when your eyes are on Jesus.

On another note, really enjoying the weather cool-down!  Autumn and winter are my favorite seasons.  Pretty much because of the weather...haha kidding, but I could go on about winter and Christmastime.  Eager for Christmastime this year.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace

Owned.

Easy, queasy

It's 11 AM, sitting in a heap of feathers and fabric playing Bizarre Love Triangle on repeat.  80's music is the bomb!  My stomach however, is not feeling too hot.

Made blueberry banana pancakes for the brother this morning, felt like old times.  Chris is home for about a week, then back to New York to finish up his last year at SUNY.  It's nice having someone else at home.  Ever since he left I've felt like an only child, surrounded by the eerie quiet of the empty house.

Life is going great, really great.  It's crazy how everything starts falling into place as you put your trust back into the Lord.  And not in the way you anticipate either.  Recently He's been teaching me to care more about the things that really matter, and less about the things that don't.  I'm at the place in my walk where I'm re-learning what it means to be right with God, to walk alongside Him without expectations or hidden agendas, without doubt.  I've been awakened, gently, from this previous year of being stagnant in my faith, by a Sovereign God whose love is steadfast, His grace unyielding.  I'm doing things I haven't done in years.  I feel refreshed.

(Wish I could say the same about my stomach)

---

You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, 
because he trusts in You.
Isaiah 26:3

King Kong and Family

---

Spent yesterday afternoon in Laguna Beach photographing this lovely family.
Two kids and one on the way!  Christine is seven months pregnant, can you tell? :)

Christmas in September

Thoughts along the way

---

I've been thinking about cities, and people, and the people living within those cities.  How different things would be had we ended up, or started, somewhere else.  After living in Orange County for four years, the scenery gets a little bland.  Everything's clean, green, perfect.  It's nice being back in a big city where things aren't so perfect all the time.

Woke up by five this morning, ate a quick bowl of cheerios, and headed out to a school in Oceanside.  It's really not so bad once you get used to the sleeping schedule.  Plus I love driving, so this job is a perfect fit for me.  God is so abundant in His blessings!  Still amazed that He hooked a sister up.  Ye-yeah.

Mornings are beautiful, I wish I started waking up sooner.  It was still dark when I left the house, hard to see in the dense fog.  Mornings are beautiful because they're all about the light.  The way the light falls, the amount of light that falls, determines what your eyes see.  By noon, you get the hard shadows and everything's a bright California white until sunset.

Waking up while the rest of the world is still sleeping gets you thinking.

So back to the cities, and the people.

I am but one person living within a city of three million, and even smaller is this city compared to the continent, compared to the world, to the universe, and to our infinite God.  It isn't until I realized how small I was did I realize how big He is.  The light that pours in when you feel the darkest, the most broken, is often the most beautiful because it's the beginning to the light that slowly, but surely, pours into your life as you seek Him.  Slowly, but surely, I think, is how He's been working lately.

God is seldom early, but He's never, ever late.

---

Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. 
Isaiah 58:8