busted. (or "out of the mouths of babes")

the cast:
a mom, a friend, child 1 and child 2 (both under 10)

the setting:
cruising along in a vehicle on the highway

the conversation:
the mom & the friend are discussing a dating couple's chances of survival. the friend doesn't think they'll make it, the mom does. a few different stories are shared, details discussed, etc. child 1 and child 2 are quiet in the back seat.

the interruption:
child 1, actually sounding like the question has nothing to do with the current conversation: "mom, why do you tell me not to gossip?"
child 2, sounding genuinely perplexed: "Yeah, what is gossip anyway?"
the mom & the friend: dead silence

more dead silence

the friend, realizing there's no way out of this: "well, you know what we've been doing for the past 5 minutes? that's gossip. pretty much a perfect example, actually."

we were so. busted.

trust the Lord to use a child to remind us of our own sin, and the example we set for the little ones around us.

ouch.

they are listening. and absorbing. and learning. we need to be so careful!

Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.
(Psalm 141:3)

I must say...as serious as the issue was, I laughed so hard I cried at how perfect the bust was. it couldn't have been scripted better to shut us both up.

Italy night

Michael and Erika Barone are missionaries on their way to Italy. I've been working with them for the past several months on their printed materials they'll use as they travel on deputation. It's been a fun & challenging process, and I think we came up with some good quality pieces for them to use! other than some printing issues that lots of people won't even notice, I'm pleased with how the different pieces turned out.

The image above is the three banners that we had printed 3 feet high. Another friend built a frame for these to hang from so the Barones can set them up on a table and still travel with them easily.

Last night, the Barones hosted an Italy night at our church. Michael preached and showed their informational DVD, and Erika led the teen choir singing a song in Italian. She's quite a talented music director/musician. And she had just had a baby 4 days before. Amazing woman.

They had Italian food at a reception afterwards...pizzelles (note to self: powdered sugar and black dresses do not mix well), chicken cacciatore, and some pasta and veggies dish. It was the best meal I'd had all week! I think they had about twice as many people show up as they had expected, which was a huge blessing. I don't think the church has been that full on a Sunday night all summer long!

Mike & Erika...I'm excited to see the Lord continue to work in your lives as you start on this journey together. Glad I've been able to be a part of it.

a passion for God

we brainstormed through dozens of possible themes for our missions conference in 2006. there were a lot of good thoughts, a lot of trite phrases, and a lot of promising starts. the more we talked, and as we had further meetings, it looked like "a passion for God" was winning out.

because, really, missions is about our passion for God spilling out as we share the good news with those around us, far and near. the more we get to know who God is, the more we want more people to recognize his amazingness! He is worth it!

so we went with "a passion for God" with several different phrases after that: "for He is worthy" "that all may hear" and so on. this logo came to me more quickly than any other logo ever has. i saw it in my mind, did a couple variations, and we were done. it's still one of my favorites. nothing fancy or complicated, just a basic color scheme and simple lines.


we like to have a little something to give out as reminders in the weeks leading up to a missions conference, so we did some magnets and bookmarks. I won't be ordering magnets from that particular company again, as they barely held themselves on to a surface, let alone even the thinnest piece of paper! color registration was less than stellar also.

the bookmarks were much more successful...we had them printed up as 2-sided postcards cut in half, so there were a total of 4 different sides of bookmarks. i took photos of maps—a world map, and a local map and did a grainy gray treatment on them with our theme verse printed on top. they're quite handy to have around...as bookmarks and as a reminder of who I am and what I'm called to...

2 a.m. thoughts:

i forgot to say DECAF…

cat and mouse

when i arrived at my mom's house last Friday night, Figaro (the only cat my mom has ever put up with for more than a year or so) met me in the driveway and came in the house with me. I put my bag down on the kitchen floor and was chatting away with my mom & stepdad when we noticed Figgy nuzzling my bag. Actually (side note: has anyone noticed how hysterically funny it is to hear a 6-year-old use the word "actually" in conversation?), he wasn't so much nuzzling as just laying his head on my bag as though it was a long-lost friend. a long-lost, very-much-missed friend.

a few minutes later, i remembered what I had in my bag. my mouse. for my laptop.

???

summer in NY

sun? check.
crisp white clouds? check.
wispy white clouds? check.
deep blue lake water? check.
boat? check.
family? check.
turkey, provolone, L, T, O, & strawberry cheesecake for dessert? check.

Couldn’t have ordered up a better day for my Saturday. Slept in at my mom’s place, loaded up the truck and took a drive to Canadarago lake for a few hours on the boat with mom, stepdad, brother & sister-in-law.

It’s almost hard to describe how perfect the day was. I didn’t get too hot or too cold or too hungry or too full or too happy or too sad. Like goldilocks finding the right porridge and bed, I was content. And I didn’t even get woken up by a family of bears after my nap.

C.S. Lewis

"…the prayers offered in a state of dryness are those which please Him best…"

"Our cause is never in more danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy's will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys"

Screwtape in The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

(If you're not familiar with the screwtape letters, it is a fictional account of an older, more experienced demon giving advice to a less-experienced one on how to keep a Christian from honoring God.)

carried.

I’ve never been a fan of all the tchochke stuff they sell at Christian bookstores. The plaques with parts of verses on them, the bookmarks with butterflies and daisies and “You are Special to God” in a script-y typeface, the stained glass box with a poem on it, a pen with a “Smile, God loves you” stamped along the side, etc. All those cards with names and their meanings and a verse that somehow ties into your name. Cheesy stuff. My middle name means “bound” according to those things. Probably a whole ‘nother post in that.

One of the ubiquitous poems that shows up on everything from lampshades to journal covers is “Footprints.” Oh, the royalties that anonymous person should be reaping from that one! (just checked out the web, and it looks like somebody is trying).

Anyway. Someone recently asked me how I was doing, and I guess my standard “fine” was less than convincing. She pressed a bit further, and I answered that I pretty much feel like this is one of those "one set of footprints" times of life...it feels like I'm walking alone, but really, I'm being carried...

It’s hard to keep in mind “whatsoever things are true…” instead of “whatsoever things I feel…” Because feelings are oh so real, and such a part of us, and so intense and so distracting and so RIGHT THERE right in front of us.

Our minds can easily go down the road that our emotions want us to take…instead of taking the road of what is True. That verse in Philippians has a whole list of what to think on, but I usually don’t have to go past “true” to realize my mind isn’t on that list.

I’m a “worst-case-scenario” girl in my mind. And in a way, it’s a good thing…nothing worse than what I have imagined has ever happened to me! Once I play out the worst-case scenario, and react to that emotionally, I know I can handle whatever reality actually exists! Not that I recommend my methods. It can be a bit traumatic.

So I may feel all alone. I may feel like God is far far away. I may feel shut up in a cold dark room, or stranded in a desert with no caravan. But what is true?

I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.
I will not leave you comfortless.
He careth for you.
Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.

I am carried.

weddings

I started shooting weddings when a friend was really desperate and didn’t want to pay a photographer. I guess everyone’s got to start somewhere. I had to be talked into doing the first three weddings. It just seemed to me way too important a job. You get one chance, one time, one day. There are no rain dates. There are no options if you get to the end of the roll of film when the maid of honor is half-way down the aisle. There’s one chance to get the bride on her daddy’s arm. One chance to catch the look on the groom’s face when he first sees her. One chance to capture the moment of the first kiss as husband and wife. One chance to get the ring bearer flopping down in a heap on the stage.

It was so much pressure. Especially those first few weddings, when I was still shooting film, and was completely paranoid that something was going wrong and I wouldn’t even know it. I had lists and calculations of which pictures I could get and when I would get a chance to change my film or switch cameras.

So here I am, several years later, still doing weddings. Not full time...maybe a few a year. And it’s fun now...not just stressful. It’s an exhilerating stress.

Amy & Bart got married in June at a big barn in the countryside. The weather was amazing, the barn was beautiful and rustic, and the joy of the couple was contagious. It was great to see how God worked to bring Amy & Bart together and the gift of such a great day that He gave them.

Things I loved about this wedding:

I love it that Amy wore a veil over her face...it seems more and more brides are opting out of this, and I miss it. I love that moment when the groom picks up the veil and kisses his bride.

and I love it that her brothers were game to do the cute photo at the bottom...they're sweet guys!

and I love it that Bart was no way, no how, not letting go of his bride once she was proclaimed his! This guy knows what a treasure he has!!

i made a friend last night...

she was about two feet tall with a cloud of fluffy dark curls and cocoa skin. cap’n crunch crumbs dotted her face and mixed with the alligator tears when her daddy left her for the outfield. and there I was, the stranger on the blanket next to her stroller, with my heart wanting to comfort her bewildered grief.

and at first, she was having none of that. I tried a soothing stroke on her ankle. No!

I said Okay. I won’t touch. Can you see your daddy out there? he’s just got to play ball for a bit, then he’ll be back for you. she went from hiding her face from me to a flat-out stare. I told her I’d get a smile out of her by the end of the game. my girlfriends told me she probably wouldn’t warm up to me.

but I just let her cry, looking her way every now and then to let her know I was paying attention, giving her a silly smile to see if I got any response, handing her cup back to her when it fell to the ground. but not coming on too strong.

After another visit from her daddy while his team was up to bat, she was my best friend. I don’t even remember the point of actual transition from distrust to surrender. but she climbed down from her stroller, standing on the ground with her feet between the footrest and the seat and seemed to decide that I was okay. she’d throw her toy, and I would catch it, she would grab my hands and squeal with delight as she swung my arms back and forth, speaking her personal brand of girlish glee. I had to keep one hand on the stroller to keep it from falling backward and taking her with it...unbalanced by the bags hanging from the handles. she eventually disentangled herself altogether and climbed on me to chase her toy. somehow, I had won her trust.

there’s something about winning the favor of a little child that I can’t even explain. but if you’ve been there, you know what I mean. the sullen glare of the beginning of the game was replaced with her forehead pressed to mine as she giggled and giggled and then turned and snuggled into my lap. bliss.

It is hard to trust strangers. Even in a safe setting, I tend to mistrust people's motives in being friendly. I'm glad I didn't give up on getting a smile out of my new friend. And I'm glad not everyone gives up on getting a smile out of me.

12 years old again

i think the last time i went berry picking was when i was a kid. once i realized that in my mom's mind, berry picking meant getting to the berry patch by eight in the morning, i lost interest. summer meant getting to sleep in! i had no desire to get up with the birds—even if it did mean dewy-fresh strawberries. i figured either way, i'd get to eat the berries...mom was going anyway.

today i went berry picking at the extremely reasonable time of 2:20 ish in the afternoon. perfect! it was a great day for it—blue sky, fluffy clouds, in the 70s, cool breezes to counteract the bit of humidity. my kind of day. we picked quickly and got a decent bunch of red raspberries, blueberries & black raspberries in an hour and a half. we pulled up to pay for them as the first rain drops fell. i think i read somewhere that the Lord cares about the little stuff!

okay, but black raspberries are where the title of this post comes from! when i popped that first perfectly ripe, glossy black berry in my mouth today, i was 12 years old again, standing at the side of my house on Sunset Avenue, popping perfect berries into my mouth right off the bush. every summer, it became part of the day to meander around, checking out the berry bushes we had to see how many ripe ones we could find. we didn't bother with containers all that often. not too many years later, we had the neighbor kids helping themselves, so it was tough to get to the berries before they did (they, of course, were early risers).

but today, i could almost smell the water sizzling on the cement during one of our wild water wars—i could see the wood of our front porch railings supporting our rambling bush. and i could for sure taste that perfect sweetness that nothing added could improve.

raccoons and missionaries

so, today I thought I'd write a post just so that I could begin a third post in a row with the word "so." I believe this originated with my friend Jen Elmo (who is no longer Jen Elmo, but Jen Corey!), as she would often completely change the subject of conversation while making it sound like it was what we'd been talking about all along by starting with "so..."

for example: say we'd been talking right along about where we were going to go to dinner. at some point in the discussion of Japanese vs. Thai vs. Indian, Jenny would say something like this: "…so, I have a nest of baby raccoons living in my attic." or some other such totally unrelated item that felt like it should have been preceded with something more dramatic than "so." This was not an exact transcript of a particular conversation, but we have eaten Japanese, Thai & Indian food together (I think?) and she did, at one point, have a family of raccoons living in her attic.

you've probably figured out that the image above has nothing to do with raccoons or Thai food. it's part of a project I've been working on with Michael and Erika for a several months now to help them out with their deputation process. I've known them for several years now, designed their wedding invitations, and have been going through the process of creating a brochure, prayer card, letterhead and some banners for them to use as they travel around raising support for heading off to Italy in the hopefully near future.

It's fun working with them, as Michael usually has a pretty clear idea of what he wants, and I just need to figure out how to make it work. It's been a learning process all along for both of us as decisions are made about which printers to use, which pieces to focus our efforts on first, etc. I have had to try to get a bit better with managing my time wisely so I can get these pieces out the door after working my normal 9-5 job. I wish I could spend much more of my time doing projects like this for missionaries...it seems like it may actually make an impact on the world for good...more so than the woodworking tools catalog I've been doing at my full-time job.

faces vs. flowers

so, i actually decided to start this blog so I'd have a place to put the graphics projects and photography that I'm doing.

the photo above is one of my favorites from the last wedding i did. I'm maybe a little odd in that usually my favorite photos are of things, rather than people. Perhaps because I still have so far to go in setting people at ease and arranging them just right. Perhaps because I'm not exactly an extrovert, and I don't have to make small talk with flowers and rocks and falling down buildings. I like to capture the little details that may otherwise be forgotten.

pop tarts are the enemy

so this morning, for the second time this week, I caved in to the convenience of the vending machine brown sugar and cinnamon pop tart breakfast. It usually takes two hits of the slot toaster to get these babies the nice caramel brown I like. And it's usually a bit tricky getting them out of the slots without some minor pain.

Today, however, my second tart adhered itself to my thumb, blistering my skin, filling me with throbbing pain, and rendering my left hand unusable except for hitchhiking attempts. I almost went to the Doctor, the pain was so bad. Several ice-soaked paper towels, hours of elevation, and ibuprofen tablets later, I'm able to carry on without tears.

Just thought I'd start off this new blog with something really random. I'm sure Christina will try to find some spiritual application for me.