details.

My roommate, Shelley, and I just took the shortest "vacation" imaginable. But it was great. We drove to South Carolina on Monday night/Tuesday, stayed 2 days with her parents, who live near Hilton Head, and drove back Friday. All day Friday. Here are the highlights.

I think all the trees that were supposed to be in the Midwest mistakenly got dumped in Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Driving through the Smoky Mountains was probably one of the best parts of the trip; miles and miles of green as far as you can see, fading to a blue haze in the distance.

The ocean is an awe-inspiring thing, even when you're there on a day the weather sucks. We decided to go to the beach on Thursday, but of course Thursday dawned overcast. We were determined, though, so we packed up and headed to Hilton Head Island for the beach. Even though we left with less of a tan than we had hoped, a little chilly, and covered with sand due to the extreme wind, I count it as a good day. There is nothing like the feeling of walking a beach, the sand squishing between your toes, the tide coming in and the water a pleasantly warm temperature swirling around your ankles.

We ate at a Jazz Club on Thursday night, which was possibly one of the most fun things I've done in weeks, maybe months. I hope everyone appreciates the skill level that jazz musicians have achieved. It was incredible. They played a 2-hour set before taking a break.

And on the drive home yesterday, I was bound and determined to stop at a Chick-Fil-A, since I love it, they serve sweet tea, and Shelley had never eaten there. Even though we had to go to a mall food court, it was worth the effort.

And I mustn't leave out the fact that I read aloud several chapters from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to Shelley while she drove. We are getting ready for the new movie and the new book, so since she hadn't finished book 6 yet, we were speeding the process along. Reading aloud is really fun. It made me realize how much I skip over when I'm reading silently, because it took forever to get through each chapter. And sadly, I can't do a British accent, so I'm afraid my version was less than authentic.

Of course, with much time to think come many new thoughts about life, my life in particular. These are still being processed and saved for another post. But God is beckoning me to let Him hold my heart for now, safe in the palm of His hand, and that His beauty is what restores my sanity.

Currently reading:
The Namesake--Jhumpa Lahiri
Orthodoxy--G.K. Chesterton

thoughts on art.

I am an artist. I've known this for a long time, and a lot of you who know me would probably say you've known that for a long time too, but sometimes I forget.

I forget that artists are some of the luckiest people in the world.

I forget that a lot of people don't get art. A lot of people don't appreciate it or understand it, and therefore dislike it.

That makes me sad.

Art is one of the most beautiful things about life. I just spent the last 3 days at the Willow Creek Arts Conference. Their title this year? Hallelujah....What's Right with the World.

How appropriate.

Because not only are artists the sensitive, soul-searching types...we also can be cynics. I don't like to think of myself as a cynic. I would love to be able to say that I'm an optimist. But I'm not. And living in a world that disregards art makes being an artist discouraging at times. Being an artist who is trying to convey that art is not just about beauty, it's about God's beauty....is suffocating at times. Because the world, on the whole, doesn't get that.

And I don't get how you could NOT get that.

How can you look at a tree and not see the hand of God? Have you ever really looked at a tree? Try it. Look at a tree in winter. I love trees in winter (one of the few things I enjoy about the cold season). All the branches are exposed, revealing the intricacies of this plant that grew from a single seed. I love trees in spring, when the leaves are just starting to emerge. I love trees in summer when the leaves have burst forth, bright and full and a thousand different shades of the color commonly known as green. I love trees in the fall, stripped of their chlorophyll, revealing the colors that lie hidden underneath.

How could you not see God in that?

How can you look at a waterfall, a rainbow, a thunderstorm, a mountain range, a desert, an ocean, a child's smile, a budding rose, the summer stars, a sunset, a dance, a painting, and not see beauty? And at the heart of that beauty, the essence of our Creator?

Call me crazy, because that's how I see the world. God is most present to me in the works of His hands. And the works of His hands are one of the biggest things RIGHT with the world. Definitely the biggest thing right with MY world.

It's been a trying few weeks. Life has this way of throwing things at you that you don't expect, and sometimes can't accept. No one expects heartbreak, but it catches up to all of us eventually.

Eventually is probably my least favorite word at the moment. Everyone always says that things will work out eventually, or that you will be OK eventually, or that they will do this or that eventually.....my friend Bob soothed my heart when he wished for me that he could make eventually be yesterday. Because then the eventual healing of my heartache would have already happened.

But the gut-wrenching beauty of this world....while it brings me to the verge of tears, a place I have been quite frequently since June 1st, it reminds me of my Love. And my Love reminds me that I am His artist. And that He created this beauty. For me. In my heartache, He gives me the devastating beauty of the world.

I love the song ALWAYS by Hillsong United for this reason....

Did You rise the sun for me?
Or paint a million stars that I might know Your majesty?
Is Your voice upon the wind?
Is everything I've known marked with my Maker's fingerprints?...

Can I feel You in the rain?
Abandon all I am to have You capture me again
Let the earth resound with praise
Can You hear as all creation lives to glorify one name?....