Quote-ables...for His steadfast love endures forever!

Last night I was at a Bible study with some of my favorite college girls, picking apart a couple Psalms with highlighters. At the beginning of the summer we each shared our favorite Psalm and then in the following weeks we began to study 2 at a time, each Monday night. Last night we worked through Psalm 131 (Ally's fave) and Psalm 136 Courtney's fave!) highlighters in hand, underlining verbs and tenses and pronouns and...other things that stood out to us.

They are both wonderful Psalms ('tis the Bible, after-all!), and I would encourage you to take a look at both of them, but today I want to specifically share a little about 136.

For those of you familiar with the Psalms, that is the one where the author (it is an "orphan psalm," meaning the author is unknown) reminds us that the Lord's "steadfast love endures forever" 26 times, once in every verse. It is a Psalm of confidence in God. There are two parts to each verse: the first is where the Psalmist declares something about who God is or what He has so faithfully done, followed by the repetitive reminder of His steadfast and enduring love.

At first glance, it looks to be rather redundant. "Yes, yes, I know. His love endures forever...you said that already like 20 times!" Why keep saying it?

Because we need to hear it! Over and over and over again.

If the repeating line was taken out of the Psalm we would be left with 26 still very good verses. But we realized that the line that repeats itself over and over is almost like 26 little "selahs" (a term used in the Psalms after really power-packed verses that tells you to stop, pause for a moment, and think on what you just read) Without that line we would probably skim right over and miss what the Psalm is really all about. Why is he telling us about God making the heavens, spreading the earth out over the waters, drowning Pharaoh in the Red Sea, and killing kings Og and Sihon? It seems like it goes from describing God as sovereign and very artistic Creator to seemingly violent Deliverer. WHY?

Because all of those things are a picture of his unending, never-failing, all-knowing, perfectly timed love that is in ever situation and is at work in all of our lives!

I looked up 'steadfast' and 'endures' on Dictionary.com and here is what it pulled up as definition of those two powerful words:

 

stead·fast [sted-fast, -fahst, -fuhst] –adjective

1.fixed in direction; steadily directed: a steadfast gaze.

2.firm in purpose, resolution, faith, attachment, etc., as a person: a steadfast friend.

3.unwavering, as resolution, faith, adherence, etc.

4.firmly established, as an institution or a state of affairs.

5.firmly fixed in place or position.

 

en·dure  /ɛnˈdʊər, -ˈdyʊər/ Show Spelled [en-door, -dyoor]  verb

1.to hold out against; sustain without impairment or yielding; undergo

2.to bear without resistance or with patience; tolerate

3. to admit of; allow; bear

4.to continue to exist; last

5.to support adverse force or influence of any kind; suffer without yielding; suffer patiently

6.to have or gain continued or lasting acknowledgment or recognition, as of worth, merit or greatness

 

In summary, God's love is firmly established and unwavering and it will continue to last without yielding!

We decided, as we looked at the Psalm and the things that the psalmist was declaring God's love to be in, that we should do the same in our own lives. We even went as far as saying that we should write down what we did all day and follow each little statement with the line "for His steadfast love endures forever."

Example:

I got up today and made coffee,
For His steadfast love endures forever.
 *(I got up! I live in a house in which I have coffee, a coffee maker, and ease of making it!)

I braided my hair,
for His steadfast love endures forever.
*(I have hair. And two arms with which I can braid!)

I sat down at the computer and wrote this blog post,
for His steadfast love endures forever!
*(I have a beautiful room, nice computer, the ability to form words and use them for influence on this blog!)

Okay, I admit, maybe that is overkill. That might just be taking things a liiiiitttle too far. But...do you see what I am saying? God is at work in everything, even when we don't see it. His plan is PERFECT even when it doesn't make sense to us. We should choose to be thankful and glorify Him for the things that He has done, is doing and will do, because He so faithfully loves us!

Take a look at Psalm 136. Then take a look at your life, or even just your day today, and thank God for His faithfulness!

...FOR HIS STEADFAST LOVE ENDURES FOREVER!!!!!

Fanastical lettering from Daily Drop Cap!

What is that you ask? That is my name.
In fantastical drop cap, blocked out letters!

I discovered this awesome site (off of a very inspiring blog called How about Orange) called Daily Drop Cap.
Everyday a new and exciting FANCY LETTER goes up for use. You are supposed to use them as the first letter of blog posts, like the fancyshmancy letters in old books, but one letter just wasn't enough for me, so I went for my whole name. I love the burning candle "I" and the orange and black "K". Do you have a favorite? You should spell out your name with these. Too awesome to pass up! Have fun!

Another 22nd birthday.

Remember the post about me, a 22nd birthday party and a tutu? Good times. Well this week I attended another birthday party for a turning 22 years old friend. And not just any old friend, my Soul Sister (her birthday is my half- birthday and vice versa. So, according to her, that makes us Soul Sisters) Sarah Louise. Who is a mermaid, princess, artist and all-around good time.

So obviously any old party wouldn't do. So she threw a princess/tea party, because "the thought of it filled her with happiness." Tiaras were mandatory.

Now, if you know me, I am anything but a princess/mermaid kinda girl. Don't do glitter, don't do pink, don't do girly, and definitely don't do princess parties with tiaras. But, as I love my dear 'Weeze' I went. On the agreement that (as it was my HALF birthday) I could dress semi-piratical (which turned out more pirate/princess/punk) and still wear the tiara. (She agreed to this. She is happy whenever she can bring even a liiiiitttle girliness out of me. She calls me Isabella KissesandHugs.)

I was a pirate. Everyone else was a princess. And we had a 22nd birthday party and it was most fabulous.

Silly birthday card. You can't tell in the picture, but it glitters because I added in some sparkly nail polish over-top the marker. And yes, I even OWN a tiara (or 3...) because of Irish Dance. Painful beast, but for the love of Sarah Louise I wore it all night!

 Some princess in a tree house. Makes sense, right? No...but it was fun squeezing like 11 people into it, wondering if the floor would hold over 1,100 pounds...and it DID!

 This was the "you had better put these pictures up on facebook (which I don't use really) or your blog" face from the chief princess. Look. I obeyed. You happy Weeze? 

Me and my soul sister on a swing...being emo or something for some reason. "Look sad! We can make an emo band and this can be our cover!"

Me, the Soul Sister, and my actual (but also not really...) sister Emikel.

So they say "now lets see how many princesses the hammock can hold!" I sit down first. And promptly the hammock rises up in mutiny and I end up on my butt in the grass. Still not sure what went wrong. I am a pirate and am totally pro at hammocking...?

Princesses who were more successful at hammocking than I...

Princess Weeze showing off her Disney Princess Spaghetti-O's from Princess Lydia.

Up-close proof of the tiara wearing. Yeah. I did it. With a skull shirt, skull earrings, (fantastic) red peasant skirt, and studded leather belt and shoes. Yup. I did. 
Oh and did I mention I parked my car down the road and walked to her house... I think everyone who walked by wanted to be my friend or something. Oh good times.

22nd birthdays are just so fun (or seem to be with my friends). Who's next? What other girly costumes might I end up in for the sake of celebrations? Only time will tell...

Now you've got purple polka dots...

For the past 2 weeks I have been driving my younger sister and cousin back and forth, 4 days a week, to a summer acting program about 15 minutes from my house. It is incredibly boring driving the same route twice a day, but there is one specific spot on the ride that makes me smile. On the side of the road (which happens to be the road where my best friend lived when I was little, where some of my most favoritest family lives now, and where my favorite little, old stone house EVER is) sits this little piece of adorableness.

 Yup. That is right. 

It is a POLKA-DOTTED CAR. Literally. Not even some do-it-yourself decals; custom paint job! Cute, vintage thing. A tiny, 2 door-ed Honda from 1971. And it is for sale (price not listed...)!

I don't need a car, don't have the money to buy one, and would never be girl enough to drive something white and polka-dotted, but it was worth a road-side photo stop so I could share it with you.

Advice from my man MLKjr.

"Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love." 

-Martin Luther King Jr.

* I really liked this. Martin Luther King Jr. is someone who I have a lot of respect for and the more and more I learn of him the more and more I seem to like him. Everyone knows the "I have a dream..." speech, but he said some REALLY amazing stuff out side of that. He has to be one of the best communicators...and radicals...ever. I like him. I like him alotalot.

Snapshot of July.

Alright, my friends. The last month of my life (July...parts of August as well...) have been just crazy. And not a lot of blogging has gone to document it, other than a couple Costa Rica posts. So, today I am going to try and get you up to speed with my life by giving you little snapshots of what has been going on.

Ready, set, GO!

 Well...at the beginning of the month I went to Costa Rica. I think you are all aware of this... there will be more pictures to come when they hand out the disk of the thousands of pictures that the 5 photographers took during the trip. As I was always behind the big, fancy camera belonging to Merge Ahead, I hardly took any on my own dinky little digital. Classic plane shot...

 I discovered KIWI gelato. In Costa Rica. Oh. My. Goodness. I am an Italian at heart (and in blood) and gelato is a favorite of mine (though I don't like ice cream?). And I have to say, these Costa Ricans are on to something here. Italians! Catch on! Make green and sour gelato!!!!

During the Costa Rica trip (with the help of the AMAZING Jeff Crandall) I discovered just how much I love photography.  It is going to be my new artistic pursuit. Until I get me a REAL camera, I have been messing around with my mom's Nikon D40. Couple shots of my incredibly adorable little sister "lil' Squish", in an incredibly ridiculous outfit, making the most incredibly incredible faces.

I went and spent a day at the Bronx Zoo, in New York, with my family. I think it was like the busiest, and maybe hot and humid-est, day of the year. Crowds EVERYWHERE. Long lines. And sweltering. Not quite the trip we had planned out, but still fun none the less. And I got to play photographer (and child -watcher) all day!

I bought a fantastic suede backpack for $9 at Savers. Oh HAPPY DAY! I love the thing. I have now officially given up on purses and will be using this soft and fuzzy beast. I think I have to. It is in my blood. I have very vivid memories of a childhood filled with my mom and Kiss relatives carrying leather backpacks. Now I am legit! YES!

 I had a bonfire with my amazing friends before summer tries to end on us. We played a whoooolllle lot of soccer with my younger siblings (and whole lot is an understatement), played instruments, burned stuff, ate the stuff we burned. And over all had fun.

At the bonfire we also had cake. Very special cake in which we stuck SPARKLERS!!! You see, it wasn't just any old bonfiring (?) cake, it was a cake for my friend JoJo (http://bringonthesuck.blogspot.com) who leaves this Monday for the Air Force, where he will be working with things that explode... 
We are uber proud of him and will miss him greatly for the 4 years he will be Air Forcin'. He is in our prayers (See! It says so! Right on that amazing cake!!) and should be in your too!


Skillet, Whispers in the Dark from MyNameisNotKing on Vimeo.
 I went to go see my favorite band, Skillet open for Creed. Videoed (badly) my favorite song. Horrid quality. Horrid sound. And it is sideways. But somehow, it is worth it to me.... Skillet is just so amazing. John Cooper has a wonderful raspy voice. And their drummer is a GIRL! And she sings at the same time! And wears a dress with black buckling boots! I mean, how cool can you get!? I'll be honest and say I wish I was her...

 Went on a mall adventure and tried on lots of fake glasses with my favorite 16 year old, Mopeeps. 

 House sat for a week for 2 incessantly licky Boston Terriers by the names of Ozzy and Boaz (didn't take this picture. Source.)

 And last, but certainly not least, I purchased some suspenders. Call me crazy, but I love 'em. I have stuck my thumbs under them and snapped them at least 15 times today. It is like a party of elasticiness that holds up pants. Too fun!

 So. There ya go. July and the beginning of August, in photos with itty bitty captions. Good times.

Uh oh...?

...Please ignore the fact my blog is hideously ugly now.

Apparently the site I had been using as a background provider is experiencing a fair amount of trouble with all their backgrounds and is fighting with photo bucket...so... I have no background until this issue is worked out. Hopefully soon. Otherwise I will be force to create my own background and it won't be even one eighth as cool as the red and black damask one I had previously....

I apologize for the ugliness. Be patient. The hope is that we get things back to normal soon!