SAVED!

WE DID IT!

Fans of Blue Like Jazz the movie have officially saved it!  I've been closely watching the process/progress of the fundraising for the past 9 days and can only say that I'm completely amazed at how God has lead so many people to step up and help out.  Congratulations to everyone who made it happen.

But...
It's not over yet.  Here's an excerpt from Donald Miller's October 4th post blog explaining what I mean (and remember at this point we had not yet raised the $125,000)...

save blue like jazz!

Many of you have heard about, if not read the bestseller, Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller.  Many of you have also probably heard of his book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years which talks about Don's experiences in writing a screen play for the movie, Blue Like Jazz.  [DISCLAIMER:  I have not yet read A Million Miles in a Thousand Years but it will be arriving in the mail shortly and I assure you it will be DEVOURED.] 

On September 16, Donald Miller wrote a blog informing his fans and the general public that due to some financial/investor issues, the movie would be put on hold indefinitely.  But honestly what kind of fans would we be if we didn't try and do something to help?  That's where Zach Prichard and Jonathan Frazier steps in.  These two guys worked with Donald Miller and Steve Taylor, the director of the film to figure out a solution.  We, the fans, are going to help save the movie.  They started a fundraising campaign through a website called KickStarter where us, the fans, have until October 25 to raise $125,000.  The thing is is that at this very moment, with the campaign just starting September 26, Blue Like Jazz fans have raised $39,819!!!  Incredible, huh?!

Basically, this blog is to ask for you participation in saving this film.  The book changed lives.  Think about what it would do as a film...

To check out KickStarter, watch the short film made by Zach and Jonathan and learn more about the cause, check here.

To read about Don Miller's reaction to the campaign and the "saving" of the movie, check here.

To read an interview with Zach, Jonathan, and my friend Jeff Goins from rethink monthly magazine, check here.

Please, please, PLEASE prayerfully consider giving to this cause!  Only $85,181 to go!

i am madly in love with jesus christ.

This week was my first week of my last year of undergrad.  Basically that just mean I'm a senior.
It's crazy.  CRAZY.

And even though it's just the first week, I'm already really struggling making enough Jesus time during the week.  And I hate that.  I was telling my old youth pastor this week that I wish I could just worship and pray and read all the time.  And then he told me this story of a kid who missed three of his college football games because he lost track of time while doing evangelism. 

But seriously, why don't I allow myself to be more like that?  Because when it comes down to it, maybe my grades won't be as great and maybe my friends won't necessarily understand [which is mostly likely not true because a lot of them have amazing relationships with the Lord themselves] and maybe my parents will be a little disappointed but if Jesus is just calling me to spend time with him, why the heck wouldn't I?  Why would I not want to give the Creator and Savior of the Universe ALL of my time?

I have to say though that even though the distractions of a new school year have been keeping me from spending as much time as I want with the Lord, he still never ceases to amaze me and I'm falling more and more madly in love with him every day.  I was just listening to the Christian radio today and got completely overwhelmed with the Lord's love. 

Also today I was singing during choir rehearsal and we started a new piece called Lux Aeterna.  The arrangement of the text that we are doing is by Brian Schmidt and it is wondrous.  For those of you who don't know, the Lux text is part of the Requiem Mass, close to the end and means "eternal light".  The text is in Latin when sung and translates to,

"May light eternal shine upon them, O Lord.

With thy saints forever, for thou art merciful.

Grant them eternal rest,

And let perpetual light shine upon them.  Amen"

I almost cried multiple times singing this piece.  It is so beautiful and I'm just amazed at how it just reflects the perfect beauty of the Lord.  

I know that this is somewhat of a stream of consciousness sort of entry but really what it boils down to is how I realize more and more everyday my dependency on the Lord and how I want to know him more and more everyday.  Our God is so glorious.  I can't find the words.

[Image: http://browse.deviantart.com/photography/?q=eternal%20light&order=9&offset=24#/d2oebp8]

because there really aren't words.

So I've obviously done a terrible job of keeping up with my blog.
I've been back home for over a week now and honestly it's hard to believe.
Mostly, because I haven't done much.  And yet, I feel like I've been so busy.  A lot of sleeping, catching up with people, enjoying the quiet of my apartment, sorting through my life and just getting excited about school starting up again.

It's funny being back.  It's so weird.  It's weird not living out of a suitcase and being busy 24/7.  It's weird to live in a currently quiet apartment where I can walk around in my pjs for the majority of the day.  It's weird driving my wagon and seeing my best friend.  It's weird being in a comfortable familiar place.

But I think today it hit me.  I miss the craziness of my summer.  I miss Philadelphia and I miss our groups and I miss seeing Jesus burn bright in their faces.  I miss Team Philly and watching them grow in the amazing gifts God has given them.  I miss Maddy's crazy organizational skills, I miss Melissa's profound, wise words, I miss Doug's energy and his jokes, I miss Marcus and Cathy and Ramiyah and our feeling of family.  I miss Wyoming Ave Baptist Church.  I miss the Dominican Republic and all my bug bites and my sweet kids running around like crazies.  I miss worshiping with my whole being, feeling the tangible presence of the Lord filling the room.  I miss the incredible connection to the Kingdom. 

It's so hard being home.  It's so wonderful and amazing and oh so bittersweet.  My heart is so full and yet aches so much all at the same time.  I feel like I'm searching for those faces of the people I met this summer, looking for someone who shared everything I went through, who understands.  I get so overwhelmed when people say, "So tell me about Philly!" or "Give me a snapshot of your summer."  It's impossible.  There are times were I just want to yell at them.  This summer can not be summed up in a little paragraph or "snapshot".  It's this amazing series of events that build on one another, starting from the very beginning when I landed in Atlanta, Georgia until my pop picked me up from Alexandria, Virginia. 

I have been convicted, I have grown, I have seen the Lord, I have watched Him work, I have seen Him wreck and change and transform lives, and I have watched Him do in it mine.  I have been blessed, I have been humbled and I have been tremendously loved.

I wish I could really explain.  I wish there was some way to fully share the amazing workings of the Lord this summer.  I want you see it, feel it, experience it.  But all I can say is the Lord is amazing and I'm so thankful for His amazing provision and all He has done this summer.  It was more than I could have ever asked for.

PS- If you haven't been keeping up with me this summer, this blog- http://aiminphilly.wordpress.com/- will clue you into what I was up to for 3ish months.

republica dominicana. [post #1]

So.  Two weeks in Dominican Republic.  My mind is still spinning from everything God taught me there.  I've decided that instead of giving you a huge general summary, I'm going to break up my two weeks into different entries to give you a better understanding of the things our First Pres group did while there.

Today I'm going to familiarize you with our base and my site in El Callejon.

26 of us set out from Reagan Airport on July 12 and arrived on the Students International base in Jarabacoa later that night.  This is what base looked like.

 The building in the picture above in the main building where we ate all of our meals and the upstairs is offices and meeting areas for the SI staff.

These were the "dorms" we stayed in.  Each building had two rooms that housed about 10 people each.  They also included bathrooms and showers.

There was also the "Chapel" where our groups met for morning worship, devotions and Bible study.  It's also where our guys spent a lot of time playing Polish/ping pong.

song(s) of the day #19: barlowgirl's love and war.

Okay, so here's part deux of BarlowGirl's Love and War album.

The second song that I've been listening to like crazy is "Sing Me a Love Song".

Yesterday was actually a really rough day for me.  Some things were happening at home and all I wanted was to be there.  For the most part, I was inconsolable.  During debrief and worship last night, I had a pounding headache and Marcus encouraged me to go lay down at the house.  I finally went, and the first thing I did was put this song on.  Check out the lyrics:

Sing Me a Love Song- BarlowGirl 
The tension is thick in the air
Making it hard to see
I fear what is to come
And what will become of me
I say a prayer help me not run away
Will you please hold me

And sing me a love song again
Say the words that heal my heart
sing me a love song and then
Let your words remind me who I am

You've never failed me before
Why do I feel betrayed
If I close my heart to you now
The darkness would have its way
I crave your voice help me not fall away
Will you please hold me

'Cause you are all I need
And all that I want is you with me
You are all I need
And all that I want is you with me

[Image: http://browse.deviantart.com/photography/?q=brokenhearted&order=9&offset=96#/d14cy63] 

song(s) of the day #18: barlowgirl's love and war.

It's nice to be back on my blog again!
I was looking at my blog archives and realized how I've been slacking a lot this year.  I'd really like to refocus and come back full force this summer, so I'll definitely be needing your encouragement.

But I wanted to take some time and write about a song(s) of the day that I've been listening intently to recently.  A while ago, one of my best friends gave me BarlowGirl's album, Love and War.  I was really excited about a couple of the songs on the album that were current radio hits but I didn't venture too much into the rest of the CD.  For some reason this past week, I have been listening to this CD incessantly.  [And I just decided that I'm going to make this particular blog a two or three part-er so bear with me.]  The first song on the album that really caught my attention was their song "Open Heavens". 

[http://browse.deviantart.com/photography/?q=hands%20raised&order=9&offset=72#/d2c64n3]