word

click on this image to go to the art house co-op's website.
whether you are an artist, or just a hobby doodler I really suggest you check this out. it's quite neat. there are deadlines however, so you better hop on the train soon!

a blog for june, july and a little bit of august

well hello all you people,

I pray all is good and dandy in your lives.
so over the past (almost) two months a lot has gone down in my life. such as:

returning back to texas (to my family!) from norway (this picture was taken in norway, not texas! if you were to wear a coat of any of these thicknesses currently in texas, it would be because you want to die. particularly from heatstroke...)

moving into the new house my family bought while I was in norway! come and visit, for real time.

and going on outreach with arts with a mission (awam) to run performing arts summer camps for inner-city youth in the cities of chicago (june 28th- july2nd)

and dallas (july 6th-11th)

on the way to chicago I got to stop in effingham illinois see my friend aminta from my dts

and while in chicago I got to spend my grandpas birthday with him and a great deal of my family stemming from himalso while in chicago I reached the milestone of my 19th year on the 30th of june

the camps in both cities were amazing, and God was so faithful to come and reveal himself in new and beautiful ways. I have been working with both of these camps every summer since 2004, and it is always so inspiring when you can see God working in and through the campers, and to see their growth not just in that week of camp, but also from year to year as returning campers.
now as summer draws to a close, my plans are to be preparing for and working with the final arts with a mission performing arts camp of this summer, that will be running here in tyler the first week of august.

please be praying that God will breakthrough in the lives of each and every participant, and that every expectation will be exceeded by his awesomeness.

thank you for your friendship and support as I follow the call Jesus has for my life.

india til now. the last many months

howdy partners.
I’m trying to get back into my texan habbit seeing how I’ll be joining texas society again in A WEEK! from this moment. and although in reality I would never use the words howdy or partner in a serious manner of greeting, I am over-preparing myself for the return culture shock.
here's a picture of me on the 17th of may (norwegian independence day) proving just how much I miss texas... (looks like I'm riding an invisible horse)
as most of you know, I spent the months of both march and april in India.

(which is the reason why I didn't post anything those months... sorry for not doing this sooner) and due to the safety of the people I worked with during my time in india I don’t feel comfortable writing about everything I did during my time there.
but I do want to say that the Lord is stirring something up in the heart of india and it's people. it was such a blessing and privilege to be part of bringing His kingdom to this earth. I want to thank all of you who joined with me in prayer and really were a part of what God was able to do through me in india.


so to the now… I am back in norway, and have been since april 26th. I have been completing my lecture phase of dts, and will be graduating on the 31st of this very month of may! woo hoo! the time here in norway has been one of new journeys and discoveries with my Jesus.

the most recent thought I've been thinking on is "unity in diversity"
you see my school here is built up by a very diverse and multi-talented group of people from 12 different contries around this world on which we live. but despite the diversity to be found among us there is a unity that is rare and really wonderful and this has got me thinking, "ok then, what is it that makes us unified? what is it that helps us bind together, to run together, to push together closer to the heart of Jesus?" and what I've found is that this unity comes from an ACCEPTANCE of our diversity. we accept who we are, and encourage others in who they are. in this way we never conform to anything, but instead push ourselves to grow in an upwards motion. towards the light that gives us life.

so I want to start a movement. a movement of acceptance. not tolerace, but true blue acceptance. acceptance from a place of selfless love. and in order to accept others, we first have to accept ourselves.

PEACE IS MORE THAN JUST THE ABSENCE OF WAR.
ACCEPTANCE IS THE KEY TO FINDING THE UNITY IN OUR DIVERSITY.
Acceptance of self
Acceptance of others
Acceptance of life
Acceptance of love

so get out there and stop judging, start loving. be the change this world needs and stop thinking that obama's teleprompters are gonna do it, cause their really just machines ;)

food for thought

hey pals, time for an update? why yes, I believe that it is...
so here we go. first, let me start with the lyrics of a recurring song in my life. brought up again last week by teacher peter helms for you to ponder. this lovely song is brought to you by the beautiful and remarkable beatles in June of 1967.

there's nothing you can do that can't be done.
nothing you can sing that can't be sung.
nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game
it's easy.
there's nothing you can make that can't be made.
no one you can save that can't be saved.
nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you
in time - it's easy.

all you need is love, all you need is love,
all you need is love, love, love is all you need.
love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love.
all you need is love, all you need is love,
all you need is love, love, love is all you need.

there's nothing you can know that isn't known.
nothing you can see that isn't shown.
nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be.
it's easy.

wow. as high as lennon probably was when he wrote that song there is so much truth that we can learn from it...
1 John 4:8
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 John 4:16
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
eat up that thought food...


now on to what's happening over here in norway. well, last friday I had my first ever art exhibit.

you can see more pictures on my facebook: in my photo section.

that night was also my friend meredith's birthday

so we went to sing karaoke to celebrate. when we arrived there were 2 18 year olds sitting at the table nearest the entrance. seeing we were a large group of internationals they got curious and asked where we were from, and what we were doing in norway... what an opportunity eh? so we told them. this stemmed into a long conversation on the nature and character and reality of God. ha, so here we are, a group of international students speaking truth and life to two hammered norwegian teens. and despite the fact that they were both very drunk we were able to have an amazing conversation with both of them. later on in the evening we ran into them again in a kebab restaurant where we continued our conversations, and even got to pray for one of their vision. he has had problems from birth with his eye sight, and was so excited to have us pray for him. God is so cool. we ended up spending our entire evening with them singing karaoke and dancing and talking about jesus. even though neither of them were christians it didn't stop them from being totally open to what he had to say and share with them. please pray for these two boys, god is really working and doing something in both of their lives.

and now some very exciting news! 5 days from now (the 28th) I will be beginning my journey to india! I will be with my team there for 2 months! traveling through 7 different cities. I am so excited about everything that is going to happen during the time I get to spend there! I have a newsletter that I would be happy to send you. you can email me by clicking the link in my profile. (you get to my profile by clicking the link under my picture at the top of the page)
here is a picture of the team I will be traveling with to india:


comments are much appreciated. takk (thank you) for reading!

eh-hem

why, hello friendlies. I hope to find you all well and jolly. this week I write to you from a bus station in molde (pronounced mold-eh), norway.
To start off today’s entry I thought I’d give you this collection of words that I wrote a few years ago, that my mother stumbled upon and sent to me yesterday.

arise awaken
come out of the sheet you have been hiding under
the thunder outside is a sign of the rain he is pouring out upon us
don’t be afraid
the rain is to fill you
it shall not harm you
do, do come out from the walls you have built around yourself
they, those walls, they are what harm you, not the rain
stop listening to the voices telling you - no
or that you can never make it
because you can
the Lord loves you
even though you, and I, have screwed up and are viewed beyond love
he still loves you
this is not SMALL
this is HUGE
the king, the Lord of the universe, loves you
he wants you to come away with him
he wants you to marry him
be confident. walk with your eyes up!
you are royalty
you are his princess with a palace all your own
decked out and wonderful!
built specially for you
so come out from under your sheets!


This next week here at dts is going to be a mini outreach with my visual art track. We will be heading to a town called elnesvågen for the week. we will be working in 2 public junior high schools teaching art classes, as well as attending and working with other classes and having cultural exchanges with them. We will also be working with a local youth club, teaching workshops and being jesus to youth who may not be able to experience him very often. As well as a youth group, encouraging them, and bringing more of the fire of jesus to inspire them to burn harder and further for Christ.

Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to, with the team I will be going to India with, go to a local high school here in Ålesund. to meet and get to know high schoolers in the area. And, like I mentioned earlier, be jesus to those who don’t get to experience who he really is on a regular basis. We had a wonderful response and each of us got into really great conversations with all sorts of people, in all sorts of social groups. On the Thursday of the week we held a movie night at the base to hang out with them in a social setting apart from their school, so that we could create more lasting relationships with them.

Over 12 people came to the movie night.

And then on Saturday my whole school went to the local mall and the music track played songs, dancers danced, painters painted.
and for the kids?

face painting and balloon animal making. I myself made balloons out the wazoo. But thing is, animal balloon making is’nt complete without being dressed like a pirate, so…

(of course, I had to jump on this opportunity)

yep, well, I'm done.