A Meal.

(via)

"I mean it’s weird. What’s the basis of Christianity? It’s really a meal, it’s communion right? It’s the Eucharist. That’s it, it’s the sharing a meal with your neighbours and what is that meal? It’s the body and blood of Christ. Basically God offering himself up to you as nutrition. Haha, that’s pretty weird. It’s pretty weird if you think about that, that’s the basis of your faith. You know, God is supplying a kind of refreshment and food for a meal. Everything else is just accessories and it’s vital of course, baptism and marriage, and there’s always the sacraments and praying and the Holy Spirit and all this stuff but really fundamentally it’s just about a meal."
:: Sufjan Stevens (The Quietus Interview)

My Christmas Playlist

is all about these guys this season:

Christmas Cocoa

I felt inspired by this Cocoa in a Jar on Pinterest... So I put my own spin on it for my colleagues and friends this Christmas.

It's a good gift when you already own most of the ingredients :)

Layers: Powdered Milk, Cocoa, Sugar, Chocolate Chips, Peppermint Bark, Candy Canes

Add some stamping to the lid...

Tie some yarn and write a blurb.

IN HIM THERE IS LIFE.

AND LIFE TO THE FULL.

H-P Chi

On Saturday, Betsy and I had the chance to volunteer with an organization called Help-Portrait - a group of photographers coming together to service the local community with the gift of a family Christmas photo. The best part? Seeing faces light up all around the room as they observed themselves in photo form. What a brilliant gift to give this season!

Feeling Festive

I awoke Friday morning to a dusting of snow across our street... Then I was 20 minutes late to work due to many [almost a bit dangerous] stops for photo-ops...

How is it that every year snow is just as surprising and beautiful as the last?!

Home on Newport.

Scraping the car... It all begins.

At work, our generous parents baked a room full of Christmas cookies for us! I may or may not have eaten 5 for lunch because, turns out, I can't say No to a cookie.

Fave? peanut butter hershey kiss cookies.

The whole weekend topped off with a cookie party with sweet friends.

Oh Christmas season... cookies, snow, friendships... What's not to love?!

Creating Space.

Morning walks help create space in my life to rest in His Glory.

While this could easily be a season busied with activities and schedules, I am reminded to intentionally provide space to embrace Advent. To slow down. To rest in God's joy and peace. To remember simplicity. And the LIGHT that came into the world.

In This Season.

I love thinking about where I might be next year... what might change, evolve, transform... the person I am becoming and where this road might take me.

I hope for adventures - for risk-taking moments where I trust He is in control and I am not. I pray for opportunities for greater Trust to walk blindly where He has led. I want eyes to spot His Faithfulness in my life - to see His Provision in a way I never knew possible. To live more radically, to give more generously, to believe more boldly, and to act more often from Love than anything else. To look back and see how He has heard my prayer, and led me in a way only HE knew was best.

{via} 

Sometimes I am fearful that life feels too comfortable... where am I being challenged for real faith to rise up? On a daily basis, what risks do I take? Only with great risk comes great reward. That is how life is lived as an adventure in the face of mediocrity... to live radically, not comfortably.

I hope to step outside of comfort and into what's foreign; to see how He will grow me as I meet challenges and triumphs. I want to dream Bigger dreams of what might be possible, and believe He will bring me to the dreams He has placed on my heart. I want to chase after what He puts in front of me with courage and strength - even when it fights logic. In the season that feels like I've arrived at the dream, there's more...! I want to seek out the bigger idea, grander picture, vision of more life to be lived... and the next step to take to get there.

All this is on my heart for this season, for 2012, and for daily life. 

Lily Christmas.

Between Sufjan Christmas jams, an unreasonable amount of Christmas lights, homemade burlap stockings, and an unexpected 8ft tree delivery... The Lily has officially gone Christmas.

Visions of Christmas around our home:

 

As Betsy and I were hanging our stockings (made with scissors and packing tape... don't be fooled), we were thinking back to this time last year. Something about holidays seems to stream back memories of life a year ago - surfacing the questions that have been answered, the ideas put into play, and the unexpected avenues taken along the way. We remembered when it felt like a distant thought to live together in this city we love. And only a few hours later, the dream materialized - with an added roommate and a home. How thankful we both are.... How Faithful is the One who knows our needs and gives beyond what we deserve.

DIY Christmas craft... Trees in mason jars. Intended to look like this.

Surprise Tree Delivery via Mom & Paul. Unclear if it would fit... (it did.)

In Grateful Chorus

{via}

Truly HE taught us to love one another
HIS law is love and HIS gospel is peace
Chains shall HE break for the slave is our brother
And in HIS name all oppression shall cease
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise HIS holy name.- O Holy Night -

Ancient hymns are filled with LIFE. 

We can try to rephrase & redefine... 

but there's nothing like Truth spoken from days of old.

Bringing in the Season.

"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting. 


Therefore He shall give them up, until the time that she who is in labor has given birth; then the remnant of His brethren shall return to the children of Israel.


And He shall stand and feed His flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord His God; and they shall abide, for now He shall be great to the ends of the earth;


And this One shall be peace."


Micah 5:2-5

Heart of Thanks.

"Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations..."
Deuteronomy 7:9

thankful for foundational friendships.
friends who know me inside and out... and still love me.
thankful for family. brothers to live and laugh with.
thankful for notes and encouragements that have helped shape the knowledge of my true identity.

homemade thank you's.

When I come home, I am always reminded of my journey. How God has shaped and molded and changed me year after year. Holiday to holiday. High school to college to 20's. Each season marked different. And yet He is Unchanging. Thank you God.

Kindergarten Thanksgiving

There's nothing like embracing the season when you're celebrating alongside five year olds. As they hear these stories of our country for the first time, I am reminded of the purpose of Thanksgiving... A group of men and women in search of religious freedom, and their plight to the New World. A feast to honor God and thank Him for all the ways He provided for them with the harvest. In many ways, our country was built by these people - we have the freedom of religion and worship here because they took the first steps.

placemats for the feast.

How easy it is to forget the true story that is the heart of what we celebrate.

paper mache turkeys... oh my. quite a fun mess.

It's not just the hand turkeys, Pilgrim costumes, pasta necklaces, rhymes and games... part of why I love teaching so much is because for me the season comes alive through the story. I know this Thanksgiving it certainly did... and I am so so thankful. 

storyacting at our Feast.

Sometimes it takes a Kindergarten perspective to truly know a story for what it is.

of Peace.

"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts..."

:: Colossians 3:15

Why am I so quick to live in chaos and being overwhelmed and lists and to-do's?

There is so much life to take hold of each day that surpasses the "things" that need to get done. Or the pressing decisions that create burdens on my heart.

His peace is deep and wide and gentle and rich... and it is for me. My mind knows it, and so often I don't live in it. His Peace is greater than stillness and quietness of heart in mornings spent in His Presence, it is the place I can speak & breathe from in every moment of every day. It is staying connected to the Vine, my Maker, the One who knows me better than I know myself as the day rolls in and out.

He is the Prince of Peace, the Creator of the peace that transcends all understanding - and from there springs LIFE. Why would I choose anything else...?

"We are too full to be truly still - full of distractions, preoccupations, plans, worries, regrets, things that need to be rehearsed, and things that need to be reviewed. Our inner world is a churning cauldron - endless motion and endless noise... It is inner solitude that is essential - not simply a place where we are alone but a place where we can be present to our self. Inner solitude is a state of peaceful being with my self... The one whose name is 'I Am' and whose existence makes possible our own invites us to a knowing that can be found only in stillness. This stillness is letting go of striving.  It is being present to our selves and to God. It is a state of being, not simply an achievement of doing or not-doing." 

::Soulful Spirituality:: David G Benner

Bragging Rights

swag & flo

It's hard to describe just how much I love having Daniel back in Chicago.

He constantly inspires me with his "no fear" mentality and faith to follow where he feels led, the way he loves and listens to people & makes them feel important, and his love for God that steps outside of comfort and into radical.

I am always learning from him.

And still feel jealous that he seemed to get all the charm&flirt genes in our family...

City Escape

Last year, Lindsay and I went on a random & epic camping trip that defined a fun new friendship. 

She was my inspiration behind searching for a Lakeview apartment, and showed me how livable this city can be.

tent life.

We never would've guessed that a year later I would live just a few blocks away from Linds, take advantage of all her restaurant groupons leading to local neighborhood hole-in-the-walls, and introduce me to unchartered city destinations (Chinatown, Lincoln Square...)

wilderness.

So, to commemorate the journey, we decided it was time for another fall camping trip.

Good thing we are awesome at keeping company of professional campers and benefitted from their apple pie treats over the fire, eggs & bacon & french press coffee breakfasts, s'more roasts, and even their headlamps while pitching a tent at 10pm :)

It was so nice to enjoy a closeup glimpse at fall amidst new friends as a reminder of just how much I love this season.

A Tune for Fall.

Last year, I was introduced to Gregory via my hip brother Michael.

saw him play last night at a cozy venue in Evanston called SPACE with Daniel + friends.

What a talent. And perfect for fall.

I Miss It.

I am learning to love where I'm at presently. And I do - more than I ever thought possible. But, I can't help but miss it sometimes.

The Spanish. The ninos. The sea. The daily challenges of being a foreigner in a new city.

The endless travel possibilities.

Teaching English...

 using what I know I'm created to do 

in another place that's not America.

Santander. My other home.

Spain. 

It will always be on my heart.

Perhaps a return sometime soon.

For now - there are so many ESL opportunities heeere.

I love giving the gift of language.

As a way to partner with new people & cultures.

 It is empowering and life-changing.

Weekend in Wheaton.

... because sometimes you just need to retreat to the burbs. 

thankful for dear britters and the cozy home she has created.
and the hospitality she extends to those in her life.

Listening.

Would I hear the cries of this city.
The voices. The needs.

And would my heart be stirred.

when I think about the voices of this city - these are my thoughts.

I am encouraged by a conference at the Greater Chicago Church a few weekends back to listen.

He is here all around.
What is HE doing HERE.

Fall Eats.

I love how each season has its own food.

Here are a few favorite indulgences this fall.

apple turnovers. tomato soup. chipotle pumpkin salsa. chicken chili.

yummmm.

PS: October.

October, you feel like you just started. And yet, you are almost over. Where did you go?!

Apple picking. Apple treats. Apples everywhere.

It's our tradition to go each year.

And my very favorite fall delight. 

(Although it was an unusually warm day when we went...)

And a bushel of fun it was, indeed.

Home Life.

Remember a time in life when hanging with family was the last possible option for a weekend night... and only if there was a free meal or movie involved?!

And now... I would choose my family over anything in the whole entire world. A weekend with everyone all together is something I soak in and long for when it's all over.

Daniel spotted in yard.

Micks + zucchinis from her garden!

Last weekend, we celebrated my mom & Paul's recent marriage - and what a treat it was to spend a long weekend with BOTH brothers - plus Michael's sweet girlfriend, Jillian. Family meals, apple picking, fall walks, pumpkins, Farmer's Market... so much love to go around. Not enough time! When I'm home, everything in the world feels right... I love walking in to the smells of homemade food, new music via Mikey (film technology media imax major) on the speaks, the warmth & comfort that only home provides, and the peace of a retreat to the suburbs.

Family Breakfast

en route to apple picking

MIKEY BEAR. what's not to love?!

 It feels restful and right to be home... and I know this is something my mom is devoted to providing for us forever. Sometimes I imagine myself as a middle-aged woman driving home - because there's nothing like it. Nothing can ever be what home consistently is. I didn't know what it would be like to live within 30 mins of home - and now I can't imagine living anywhere else. (Plus where would I do my laundry?!)

everything fall.

my Daniel.

Seriously looking forward to a restful Thanksgiving week with turkey & wine & football with everyone again soon. I know already one thing on my thankful list this year: Daniel returning to Chicago!

Family is one thing I will always be thankful for.