Spaghetti Dreams

Last night after watching a random movie on Netflix about cooking, I decided that I needed to make something exceptionally delicious. I went to the store, picked up a few things then proceeded to create the most delicious spaghetti sauce I've ever put in my mouth.

I like my spaghetti vegetarian. I do not find tomato sauce full of big chunks of meat appetizing. But that's just me. So for my recipe I have a menagerie of delicious veggies and herbs, but I feel like the ingredients are only half of what makes it yummy, the order of how you cook those ingredients is also very important.

I wasn't expecting to write a post about this as I was cooking, so I am going to try and remember everything that went into this sauce. Bear in mind that cooking is not an exact science, so I have left the amounts to be used very vague, I leave it up to you to decide how much of each veggie you want in the sauce.

I suggest using a medium to large Teflon pan to cook your sauce.

Ingredients:

Publix Brand Tomato, Mushroom & Garlic Sauce

1 Clove Garlic (fresh or pre-minced is fine)

Onion

Red Bell Pepper

Mushroom

Vine or Roma Tomato, seeded

Spinach

Garlic Powder

Penzeys Sunny Paris herb mix

Oregano

Brown Sugar

Pecorino Ramano Cheese

Olive Oil

Mince your onions and red bell pepper; make sure they are all relatively the same size so they will cook evenly.

Warm your pan on low heat. When your pan is warm add a few tablespoons of olive oil and let it heat up. When it's warm add your garlic. You can use fresh (chopped obviously) or that kind in a jar (We have some fancy tube of garlic so I used a half-inch squirt from that)-- just make sure you don't burn the garlic. If you burn it your pan was too hot and you should chuck that and start over. 

Stir the garlic into the oil for 30 seconds. This will infuse the oil with the garlic flavor. Next add onions and stir the onions and garlic for a few minutes before you add the red bell pepper, then add the bell pepper. Let these cook together for a few minutes. The onions are cooked when they are see-thru and you will see a noticeable change in the color of the bell pepper when they're cooked.

Next add your tomatos and mushrooms. These two are the most watery of the mix so you want to let the water seep out and evaporate before adding anything else. About five minutes.

Then add your spinach. You can chop it or leave it whole, it's just your preference. I chopped mine because I like small pieces. Your spinach will be cooked when it has significantly decreased in size.

At this point I lightly salt and pepper my veggies, maybe even adding a bit of Oregano and stir the veggies for two minutes more.

Now I add the sauce. The whole jar. Begin stirring the whole pan for a few minutes. At this point you may need to adjust the heat to get your sauce to simmer. Once it simmers, add a spoonful of brown sugar, lots of  Oregano, garlic powder, and if you can manage Penzeys Sunny Paris I really think this made all of the difference in my sauce!

Let your sauce simmer for at least 20 minutes, making sure to stir it well. And keep tasting, as you may want to add more herbs as you go. This is also the time to add a generous helping of the Pecorino Ramono cheese. We have a giant bag of this so I put about as much as I could grab in one handful. 

As your sauce is simmering cook your spaghetti. Don't forget to add salt to the water!

Add in your al dente pasta fresh from the water and stir in with the sauce. This is probably the one mistake I think people make when they're cooking pasta. You need to add your pasta into the sauce immediately! This helps the pasta absorb the flavor of the sauce, and then the pasta won't be gummy.

Scoop up your spaghetti on a plate, sprinkle a bit more Pecorino Ramano on the top and Bon Appetit!

I'm not joking when I say my cat was begging for some of this. It was that good. 

The ingredients listed in Penzeys' Sunny Paris are: purple shallots, chives, green peppercorn, basil, tarragon, chervil, bay leaf, and dill weed. 

If you can't get your hands on anything from Penzy's maybe you can find some of these ingredients to help make your sauce magical. Bonne chance! 

http://www.penzeys.com/

A Look Back at a Magnificent Journey

In 2008 I took a journey to a land known as Moldova. It is a country not very well-known, and its inhabitants are among the poorest in Europe. Around every turn I was met with sights unseen by my eyes before, and never seen since. The purpose of this trip was to document a place called Stella's House, a ministry which has accomplished so much in the years since. Feel free to check them out at www.stellasvoice.org. The work taking place in Moldova in the name of Jesus is astounding. And these people and their love for Jesus and orphans have forever captured my heart.

I spent my weekend wandering through my 1,000+ photos from my trip, remembering each moment as best I could. Trying to remember the stories behind the places, only wishing I could return for another look. I wanted to revisit them because this trip impacted my life so much, that sometimes you need to go back and remember those things that changed your life.

I was only 18 when these photos were taken. Looking back I really had so much to learn about photography, composition and post-processing but I am also so proud of the photos that have come out of this process. The 18-year-old me did pretty good, and it made me want to continue my journey with photographs, a talent that I often want to give up on. My editing style has changed drastically in four years, and I felt compelled to revisit these photos to help tell a story. As most of my readers are probably friends with me on Facebook, I will redirect you to my photo albums for a broad look at my trip. The photos I am about to share are simply to show a glimpse of the type of world the people of Moldova inhabit. It is riddled with beauty yet strewn with remnants of a once promising yet fallen empire.

The property market in Moldova is certainly interesting. Whoever owns the land builds the shell of a house, like this one, then sells it and that person finishes it out. There are shells like this all over the place.

At a market in the middle of Chisinau, Moldova.

At that same market. Prices for clothing in Moldova are very expensive, due to their poor economy. I loved these shoes and the way they were displayed.

Being in such a strange land, it was a welcomed albiet out of place sight to see a picture that is so iconic of western America.

Bags hanging at a merchant's booth.

I have looked through my photos from Moldova many times, but had never noticed this awesome photo. I love her face, and the fact that she's petting a kitty just makes her look devious.

Yes, this is a puppy drinking beer.

We walked into an antique shop, full of old Soviet medals and helmets.

Only in the former Soviet Union...

Vio holding a helmet from WWII.

We went to some villages to meet with the families of some of the girls in the orphanage. Many of them have family, but their life at home is much worse than living in an orphanage.

A chicken on a pile of wood outside of one of the houses.

I honestly couldn't tell you if this was a house or a barn.

In the house of one of the girls, Dimi. We walked in and an old man (I can't remember if it was her father or grandfather) was doing laundry. This house was very bare. Hardly a roof and floor, with holes in the walls. I couldn't imagine living there in the winter. Last summer the girls and boys from Stella's Voice helped remodel this house.

This is one of my favorite shots from the whole trip. I spotted this family unit walking toward us from a while off. We said hello and were completely ignored by the mother and grandmother, but I will always remember how the child was so curious as to what we were up to.

A shot of a garden in the country.

I honestly do not remember where this was taken. But those are grapevines, and they make some fab-u-lous juice out of it! 

This was such a emotional moment. Constantia, one of the first girls of Stella's House, went to visit her mother. There is such a heart-retching story between Constantia and her mother, but praise God for grace and forgiveness.

We visited a shell of a house, and walked up to the third floor. All of these steps are hand made by artisans, they don't use molds. Taking this picture was probably the scariest moment of my life. They had no rails anywhere and I was hanging off of a ledge.

This was the view from the third floor of the shell house. I honestly think I have never witnessed a more beautiful country.

Another view of the country. I miss it so!

We visited the biggest orphanage in Moldova, where many of the girls in Stella's House are from. This is the ceiling in the lobby. There have been many improvements made to the facilities over the years, but it is still not the best place in the world.

These are the showers in the orphanage. They are in a separate building, one which the orphans must walk to even in the snow, and the water reeked of sulfur.

In one of the rooms of the orphanage. Life in a place where lives often end. Many orphans freeze to death each winter. 

I will never forget this moment. The girl crying in Constantia's arms was just told that she had been selected to live in Stella's House. It was such an honor to witness that moment in this girl's life. 

This is Dingo. She is the most wonderful dog. Albeit, she's a street dog, but she's my Moldovan dog!

A sunset on one of our last evenings there. Even though I came home from this trip exhausted, I left with so much love in my heart. I miss this place so much. It's not magical, it's not even safe, but it holds so much potential for the workings of God and for Him to get all of the glory!

Please check out Stellas Voice for more information on this ministry if you've never heard of it. Every year more and more lives are changed. Orphans becoming children of God, experiencing the love of a Father for the first time, being pulled out of darkness and singing His praises!

Clark's

        It was my dad's birthday on Sunday, and in true Jimi Zink fashion he chose to have his birthday dinner at probably the most interesting restaurant in Jacksonville. And I decided it would be the perfect opportunity to blog about some local fare!

           For those of you who are Jacksonvillians but have never been to Clark's Fish Camp, you need to get there as soon as you possibly can. And take me with you. For people who do not live in Jacksonville, this is a must-see place if you're going to be coming through the area. It's been around for years, and literally started out as a shack for fishermen eventually expanded to be the best kept secrets in the middle of nowhere. I've been going since I was a little kid, but it's still an exciting place to visit after all of these years.

       Aside from the actual building, which for the most part feels like a giant dock with plywood floors and just happens to also have a ceiling, the decor is the least expected element of Clark's. This ain't Red Lobster. We're on a whole different level here. Now, I was slightly disappointed on this visit because they did some renovations on the shack due to part of it flooding, so some of their stuff was destroyed. But the new additions were pretty interesting as well. I'm not going to give away the details of what makes this place so unique, the pictures speak for themselves.

       You'll have to bear with me, the photos are not in any sort of order because I uploaded them using the Blogger app on my phone.

We sat on the porch/dock since it was a lovely evening. The majority of the lighting at this place is done with twinkle lights. And that's not the tackiest thing here either...

One of the newest additions was a giant fish tank that you literally have to walk 35 feet around and up a ramp to get to the bathrooms on the other side.

There was one seagull, then my dad threw food at him and he summoned all of his seagull friends to the party.

My shoes didn't quite belong. 

(This one I posted on Instagram, you can see most of my Instagram photos by following me on Twitter. Or if you have an iPhone follow me on Instagram: BachelJinks )

They redid their bathrooms, and PTL they somewhat tried to make it pretty. 

Their stools outside on the porch. Well-used and very authentic.

Now we come to the fun part...Clark's is COVERED with taxidermy animals. And not just the usual ones you would see, but every animal imaginable! This giraffe is one of their new additions, I had no clue you could buy a stuffed giraffe!

This is one of the first ones you see as you enter the seating areas. Whoever made it obviously didn't know that male lions don't hunt.

Just a racoon. But it looks like it's taking a dump. heh

There are hundreds of animals in this place. There's a special room just for the birds (which include a stuffed Emu), a giant snake (which you can kind of see in the lion photo) as well as all of the hoofed animals you never knew existed. I have no clue how long it has taken them to amass their collection, but from the looks of it they'll keep expanding until they have them all. (Anyone else wish they had a dinosaur?) 

The fish tank I mentioned earlier? It also had a 5' gator inside of it...

Yeah, it's a tiger. But what I really love is the guy behind the tiger on the right! 

Aside from their fried pickles, which are the best I've ever had anywhere, they also have very exotic items on their menu, such as alligator, kangaroo, shark and ostrich. I've never tried any of them, mostly because I'm afraid of strange meat, but I'm sure it's delicious.

Some of the decorations on the outside. I honestly feel like I could have taken 40 more pictures, but pictures do not really do it justice. It's definitely a place that needs to be experienced. But get there early, there's always a long wait! 

And if you sit out on the porch/dock, you can have a wonderful view of the sun as it goes down over Julington Creek. 

All photos were taken with an iPhone 4S and edited using Snapseed or Instagram.

Thanks for reading!

The Taco Heard Round The World

I took a special trip to my local Taco Bell today to test out a certain new release that has been making many-a-taco-lover drool with anticipation: The Doritos Locos Tacos.

Let me begin with this: I don't like crunchy tacos. They're always messy. They always fall apart. I don't eat food that makes me look like a fool. But I decided to forego all of my worries for the sake of science! (This is science, right?)

I ordered my taco, feeling rather silly as I said the name, as well as ordering a backup gordita just in case this taco was nasty. This taco is available in regular or supreme. I got the supreme taco, because when given a chance I will always order the fancy version of food. I also didn't change the beef to chicken like I would normally do because I wanted the full effect of this taco as it was meant to be eaten. 

I brought my taco home, sat down, opened the package, took a picture, shared it with the world of Instagram and Twitter then poured on a little mild sauce. Not only was the shell disproportioned, but after the first bite I found myself being welcomed by a mound of sour cream. The last time I checked they use some sort of magical squirty contraption to put sour cream on a taco, why then was there a blob as if it had be haphazardly plopped into the shell? I blame my taco bell location for this one, but it did not help my experience of this taco. I also was cursing the crunchy shell the entire time. It lived up to my crunchy annoying expectations.

After my last bite of this taco I reminisced on the food I had just consumed. The main problem I had was the actual flavor. It lacked the overwhelming flavor of Doritos, which I didn't expect. I thought my mouth was going to be drop-kicked with flavor, but this did not happen. It was salty, kind of boring, it was missing something. A special sauce? Baja maybe? Nacho cheese? I really wasn't too impressed. There might have been a chance that this could have been the most delicious taco in the world, but at the end of it I was just glad it was over. I also really didn't enjoy having my hands covered in Dorito dust at the end. I know some folks enjoy that aspect, but to me it just made this already messy taco even messier. 

Now I come to the real problem with this taco: Its name. They're called Doritos Locos Tacos. Which is fine. They're tacos. They're made of Doritos. We can then deduce that these tacos are locos (crazy). But what happens when I just want one? Do I order a Doritos Locos Tacos? Or do I change it to a Dorito Loco Taco? Do they automatically assume their creation is so delicious that people will order two? I almost feel compelled to purchase two because the singular form is in question. And that's probably what they want too. Nice try, Taco Bell, but this chick won't be so easily ensnared by your feeble attempts at making more money. 

Now that they've created one Dorito taco, where does it end? Will they have other flavors of Doritos made into taco form? As if the Doritos company itself wasn't going crazy with making new flavors, now they have an entirely different market of crazy taco-loving people who will probably eat whatever they dish out. If I ever want to try these flavor combinations again I'll just sprinkle Doritos on my soft taco and call it a day.

                                                                     Transition

After a rather enthusiastic response to my last chart, I have decided to make it a regular happening. I can't guarantee that it will happen every post, because sometimes I just don't have the time to create a chart from scratch, but it will be happening!

Here is my chart describing the flavors I experienced while eating my Doritos Locos Tacos. (aka my Dorito Loco Taco) 

I hope this review was helpful. I probably won't be eating another one of these tacos anytime soon, but I won't stop anyone from trying one. Please, form your own taco opinions, and enjoy!

Follow me on Instagram! @BachelJinks

Good Job, Women

         March is Women's History Month. What do Women do to celebrate? Write "I love all of the women in my life" as their Facebook status? Clean the house? Make dinner? Wear a dress? 

         I am doing none of those things. I ate Chik-Fil-A* for dinner after class this evening. I am wearing the farthest thing from a dress. I am certainly not cleaning or doing laundry.  I'm drinking coffee at 10 and blogging. Cue coffee rant!

       When did I become such a coffee drinker? There must've been a moment at some point in the last two months where I became okay with almost black coffee. When I first started drinking coffee I was one of those "I don't even want to taste the coffee in this glorified hot chocolate" people. Now? Give me plain coffee with some Sugar in the Raw and I'm good. Cream? PAH. I literally almost laughed in the face of the Starbucks barista this evening when he asked me if I wanted room for cream in my coffee. What? Who does that?

       I overheard a lot of conversations this evening that did not please me. In fact, they made me downright sad. The first was as I was walking out of the art building at my college. It's not a community college anymore, but believe me, it still behaves like one. And the people that roll throughout the art department are scary. Now, in the hallways of this building there are a plethora of giant cork boards and the teachers make it a habit to display their class' projects on these boards. It's also not uncommon to have the class in the halls critiquing each others' work. This is the scene where I found myself this evening. There was a class at the very end of the hall critiquing one particular piece. I'm assuming this piece was slightly religious because the words the man were using to describe the piece peaked my attention. As I walked toward them I listened in. Unfortunately, I have a terrible auditory memory, so I do not remember what the man was saying, but I do remember what the next woman said that made me terribly sad. She said "So that basically means live it up and then ask for forgiveness later, right?" No. NO. People really believe that. PEOPLE REALLY BELIEVE THAT. Not only did I feel sadness, but I felt the overwhelming sadness from God's own heart. He loves His children so much and they are so blinded that they have ignored Him completely and live however they want. How can a person really believe that they can just "ask for forgiveness later" when we are not promised tomorrow nor do we know the day or the hour of Jesus' return? "Later" may never come. 

        The second conversation I heard was one less spiritual and much more pathetic. I went to Starbucks this evening, because I'm a crazy coffee lady, and as I was waiting in line two rather crude and puerile young ladies walked in the line behind me. Unfortunately, the service at the counter was terrible and all three baristas pretty much ignored the fact that there was a line for a good two minutes. Normally, this wouldn't have bothered me too much, but due to the fact that these young "ladies" were behind me made it almost unbearable. I really don't enjoy cussing, especially when it's flippant. I believe there are much more colorful words that can be used in one's vocabulary (like flippant!). Not only were these girls doing their best sailor impressions, their conversation was also terrible and, for lack of a better word, stupid. I could be nice and say "uneducated" but I'm not going to do that. Aside from being rude to each other, I saw no benefit in the words that were coming out of their mouths. They weren't saying anything productive or important, just spewing words as they entered their brain. As I was walking out, they were arguing over whether Uruguay was a country or a city. I literally said "WOW" as I walked through the doors back to my car.  

       Now, in case you thought that whole speech was rather unforgiving, I'll have you know I spilled hot coffee on myself as I was getting into my car. That brought me down off of my high horse real quick-like. 

       Most bloggers would probably have posted something about women in their life that inspire them/said something cool that they want to frame over their toilet/raised them and taught them how to "be a woman", but I apparently decided to complain about strange women that disappointed me tonight. Whatevs. 

       There is one thing I decided on as my mind wandered about this post on my drive to class this evening. I am a combination of many different women. See chart below. 

I'm only going to offer a short explanation into this chart, so pay attention:

1. The Raptor- This week someone called me a "sneaky sneakster" and I have been known to compare my cunning to that of this animal. 

2. That chick- This chick kicked butt and was super smart. Enough said. 

3. Diane Keaton- She wears exactly what she wants, and is completely happy doing it. Who else could pull off a tuxedo?

4. Katharine Hepburn- She's everything a strong beautiful woman ought to be.

5. Tina Fey- I want to go to there.

6. Gladys Zink- My grandmother and the coolest one at that. 

I hope you enjoyed this random woman post. I leave you with this gem:

(Don't watch this if you don't like SNL/lack a sense of humor/can't handle a little almost-cussing)

A Song on Women's Herstory
(Thanks to my friend, Karla over at Casual Bedlam for reminding me of an old favorite)

*I always feel compelled to spell Chik-Fil-A exactly how they spell it. Even though it's so darn annoying to type.

A Return From Obscurity

Hello! It's been a while. Okay, it's been a long time. Many days. Many weeks. Too long!

Did you miss me? Have you been longing, pining for my return to Blogdom? (I made up Blogdom just now. It's a pretend country where blogging is the primary form of communication. AKA the future)

I'm not going to dish out a long list of excuses for why it's been over a month since my last post. I have been well aware of how ridiculous it is that I had not posted one thing during this time. The only reason I have to give is this: During the month of February I was doing a Daniel Fast. I felt called to do this fast for the entire month, and to not only do the eating part, but to also evaluate parts of my life where I was being distracted from righteousness. Blogging was one of those things where I was trying too hard and needed to re-evaluate my heart toward it.

So I took off for the month. I decided that it would be okay since it was for a good cause. As of yesterday, I am back on! I still have so many things to write about, pictures to take, video tutorials to make I couldn't just give up now!

As for this post, I don't have a specific purpose for it. But I will write a few things that I got out of a month of fasting and praying. Also some funny things. Come on, I can't be serious all the time. (Boooooring)

So here it is, my advice for doing a Daniel Fast:

1. Before deciding to start a Daniel Fast, seriously consider the cost. And by cost I mean your grocery bill will easily double each week. And it makes you want to cry a little.

2. Choose the areas where you are going to be extremely strict, and those areas where you're okay to bend a little. I knew from the beginning I was cutting out all caffeine, sugar and meat. I knew that those were the main areas where I would struggle, thus making the fast worth it if I could successfully avoid them. I also allowed Sundays to be my (sort of) cheat day. On Sundays I allowed myself some dairy, and wasn't entirely focused on whether the bread was whole grain.

3. Be prepared to eat a lot of mexican food. I wasn't ready for this one. The last time I did a Daniel Fast I was in Master's Commission and I ate my version of fried rice (what felt like) 24/7. This go around, I had bean burritos coming out of my ears.

4. Choose a book or two to read. I enjoy reading. In fact, I have stacks of books that I want to read. I normally read fiction. I enjoy dystopia stories such as George Orwell's 1984. When it comes to reading books about faith or righteousness, I struggle. It feels like I'm reading a textbook and I rarely finish books under that category. I chose to read AW Tozer's The Pursuit of God and I'm glad I did. This book has given me so much strength and so much to ponder. I am also taking suggestions for the next Tozer book I should read. (Leave a comment of your favorite!)

5. Get ready for an onslaught of chocolate to be thrown at you. Quite literally. People were trying to give me chocolate left and right. Why is it that the moment you decide you're not going to do something the opportunity presents itself twenty times a day? The devil is a poophead in that regard. PTL* for grace and the strength He gives us to overcome temptations!

5.1. Plan your fast according to a schedule that doesn't coincide with any holiday where chocolate is commonplace. People will use any holiday they can as an excuse to eat chocolate, of this I am sure (just like men use the 4th of July as an excuse to eat a hamburger, a steak, and a bratworst). My fast occurred during Valentine's Day. Not only am I single, but I couldn't drown my feelings in a reese's cup for the occasion. En Français le boo!

6. Be prepared for everyone to ask you "Are you still fasting?" I heard this question quite often. There was also "Are you still Danieling?" and "Let's go get some ice cream...oh wait you can't have any" and "Oh you can totally eat this, it's made with [such and such an ingredient that is not Daniel fast appropriate]". Next time can I just hide under a rock? Never leave my bedroom? Dislocate myself from society altogether? Seriously, if I could have just been in a cabin by myself for 29 days reading Tozer and worshipping I would have been one happy girl.

7. Get acquainted with your toilet, you're gonna be seeing it a lot. Without going into the details, just know that this fast will get you on a regular schedule to...do...doo...

8. Get fancy with the spices. I would not have made it through this fast without the knowledge of how to make boring food taste like a party in my mouth through the use of herbs and spices. I created some pretty fantastic hummus and a wonderful sauce to compliment my tomato and cucumber sandwiches.

9. You will get annoyed with eating, on those days just don't eat. On many occasions trying to find something to eat or having to prepare food to bring to work just became a chore, on those days I just drank some juice and left it at that. It's a fast, it's okay to not eat.

10. Be well aware of the real reason you're fasting. If you're doing a fast but  your gaze isn't on the Father, then you're not fasting for the right reason. Before this fast I knew the Lord was calling me to work on a lot of problems in my life. From thoughts, worries, bad habits and a poor use of my time, He was calling me to fast to refine me. I feel so much change in my heart coming out of the other end of this fast.


And now that this fast is over, I am overjoyed to drink coffee again. That was probably the hardest part!

I leave you with a couple of excerpts from The Pursuit of God  that really grabbed hold of my heart:

"All our loves long we might talk of Jesus, and yet we should never come to an end of the sweet things that might be said of Him. Eternity will not be long enough to learn all He is, or to praise Him for all He has done, but then, that matters not; for we shall always be with Him, and we desire nothing more."

"A generation of Christians reared among push buttons and automatic machines is impatient of slower and less direct methods of reaching their goals. We have been trying to apply machine age methods to our relations with God. We read our :' chapter, have our short devotions and rush away, hoping to make up for our deep inward bankruptcy by attending another gospel meeting or listening to another thrilling story told by a religious adventurer lately returned from afar.

The tragic results of this spirit are all about us. Shallow lives, hollow religious philosophies, the preponderance of the element of fun in gospel meetings, the glorification of men, trust in religious externalities, quasi-religious fellowships, salesmanship methods, the mistaking of dynamic personality for the power of the Spirit: these and such as these are the symptoms of an evil disease, a deep and serious malady of the soul."

" We have within us the ability to know Him if we will but respond to His overtures" (an introduction to something more substantial)

"I would emphasize this one committal, this one great volitional act which establishes the heart's intention to gaze forever upon Jesus. God takes this intention for our choice and makes what allowances He must for the thousand distractions which beset us in this evil world. He knows that we have set the direction of our hearts toward Jesus, and we can know it too, and comfort ourselves with the knowledge that a habit of soul is forming which will become after a while a sort of spiritual reflex requiring no more conscious effort on our part."




*PTL = Praise The Lord. You can also add a BTD (Bind the devil) in front of your PTL if you should so desire. 

Let's Talk

Let's be honest, if I weren't a child of the Most High God, I would probably be a crazy hipster. Every now and then I can feel myself going down that path of "I liked that before it was cool". This happened to me in the 5th grade, when I decided I wanted a charm bracelet, and about 6 of my fellow classmates followed suit. Any normal child would think "cool, I've got influence among my peers" but I wasn't a normal child (I liken myself to Liz Lemon from 30 Rock, and this goes for my childhood too). I felt like I had been copied, like other girls thought they could rock the charm bracelet better than I could. So, I stopped wearing mine.

Completely irrational, I know. Nowadays I appreciate it more if someone likes my style and wants to emulate it. I suppose being an adult has a large part to do with that. 

I may not be a hipster, though I do enjoy some of the things hipsters enjoy (Fleet Foxes, anyone?), I spent the better part of 2010 making fun of hipsters. One of the idiosyncrasies of a hipster is their love for irony. I'm not necessarily the  most ironic person, but my life in the past few days has been nothing but irony. Most of it coming from scripture I've been studying lining up with random (or at least seemingly random) occurances in my life.

I've been in a state of transition for a while now. I know the calling that the Lord has placed on my life, and I'm just trying to get there. I'm working, going to school, doing freelance jobs and just trying to find my place in adulthood. God has been so faithful to me through this season in my life. I feel that each step that I'm taking, though they may be small, is all falling in line with the promises God has made to me. 

The past few weeks have been interesting. Not only have I joined a gym, but I've been dealing with commitments, losing friendships, and a general state of ennui. But through it, in my diligence to seek the things that the Lord has for me, I have kept my peace. Yes, it's taken prayer, by me and my friends. It's taken scripture, declaring The Word over my life. It's taken times of complete abandon, opening my heart in worship to Jesus and letting his love completely overtake me. It's taken a change in my daily routine, and through that a call to fasting, prayer and a deeper study of who Jesus is. 

I'm not at a low point in my life, but I feel at times that I am stuck. The Lord has told me many times that this is a season of learning. A time not only to be in school, earning a degree, but a time to deepen my understanding of the things of God. I didn't know that I had grown so much in the last two years, until I talked with my friend a few nights ago about some of the things I've been feeling. She pointed out the wisdom I was using in the situation, although I hadn't seen it, she was right. It always seems that you don't realize the growth you've made until you look back at how you were compared to how you are now. 

I will remain trusting in God now more than ever, because he has always been faithful. I would be a fool not to trust him in every situation. And I am sure the irony will keep on flowing, it would be too ironic for it not to now.

"Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised" 

Hebrews 11:11

This song has been resounding in my heart for a few months now, I recommend Jon Thurlow's music to everyone! (He can be seen every week leading sets with IHOP KC)