friday photos: 2011.12

friday, march 18

typical natalie.

saturday, march 19

farmer's market.

sunday, march 20

grillin'.

monday, march 21

hippie bible = 4th completed book of 2011.

tuesday, march 22

sam and stacy singing at a pub in east nashville.

wednesday, march 23

rachel decided it was a good idea to stick this post-it to her big toe.

thursday, march 24

i love the way the morning sun pours into my living room.

woman vs. transmission

i had plans for tuesday. i was going to get to work at 7:30, go to the park on my lunch break and read for a bit. then i was going to get off work at 4, go to the library, fill my car with gas, get my hair cut, meet my roommates for pizza, then go see our friends cori, erin, and sam sing at the village pub in east nashville. as i was rounding the corner to get to the office parking lot, my transmission failed. as a result, my day turned out quite different. i spent my lunch break paying a towing charge, left work at 4:30, deanna and i picked her kid up from daycare, and then i took her car and got home at 6, just in time to eat cereal for dinner and then i did end up going to village pub.

sometimes plans change. sometimes things happen that are beyond our control. but there is one thing that is in our control, and that is how we react to life. for example, in this situation, i can be angry that my car isn't working. or i can choose to remember that god is in control and that it's much better that way, and i can choose to live in that peace. and i can thank him for my struggles, for the reminder that he is sovereign, i can choose to trust in him to work this situation out, and i can choose to write in run-on sentences.

wednesday wisdom #16

"there came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."

- anais nin

equinox

the city comes alive this time of year. as temperatures and daffodils rise, people come out of hibernation and start filling the parks with blankets and kites. we're officially two days into spring, but here in nashville it's been spring-like for a couple of weeks now. every year i can't help but think of how the changing of seasons in nature seem to always reflect the changes of seasons in life. there are changes i've talked about making in the past, and i'm finally starting to make the right decisions to see those changes take root. i'm hoping they will begin to blossom.

friday photos: 2011.11

friday, march 11

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saturday, march 12

72* and sunny = a day at the park, napping under a tree.

sunday, march 13

dinner of champions.

monday, march 14

in honor of the tragedy that hit japan, a photo of my japanese fan from my japanese roommate.

tuesday, march 15

roommate made a lemon meringue pie.

wednesday, march 16

preparing for small group by making lasagna and re-listening to the sermon.

thursday, march 17

st. patrick's day. green grass. blue skies.

friday photos: 2011.10

friday, march 4

finished book #3 of 2011.

saturday, march 5

found this little gem in a massive spring cleaning session.

sunday, march 6

keeping up with my bible reading plan.

monday, march 7

just another day at the office.

tuesday, march 8

kopecky family band

wednesday, march 9

cuttin' leaves.

thursday, march 10

my bedroom has been awesomefied, thanks to surface inspired.

the upper room

i sat in the orange chair in what we called "the upper room". looking out the window, i found myself mesmerized by the slow and steady falling snow. flakes bigger than i have ever seen before, which is saying something having spent all of my 18 years in michigan. i knew this place was special, a holy ground of sorts. a place where my soul felt free, felt peace. a peace i have felt in no other place. i didn't know what the future would hold, what adventures lay beyond my high school years.

five years later i returned to that room. a room which had previously represented peace now brought confusion. i sat in that orange chair again and poured my heart out on paper. the snowflakes replaced by raindrops, a relief from the heat of the august afternoon. everything i thought i had been working towards was falling apart. or so it seemed. i know now that it was a gift. protecting me from a future i didn't know i didn't want.

another five years has come and gone. i haven't seen that orange chair since. i long for it though. for the familiarity. for it's comfort. even in the confusion that room brought comfort. physically of course, but mostly emotionally. i often wonder if i will ever return to that place. but then i'm reminded it's not the room that matters. it never has mattered. what made that room so special was the community surrounding me. the great cloud of witnesses along my path, helping me to fight my battles.

and then i remember i still have that community. the face are different, as are the stories behind them. but an evolving story needs evolving and changing characters. new faces with new stories to help fight new battles in new places. here's to the next five years.