This evening, I'll share a little exerpt once again from A Circle of Quiet by Madeleine L'Engle. Simply enjoy the beauty of the written words.

Then the path becomes full of tussocks and hummocks; my legs are etched by the thorns of blackberry brambles and wild roses. Earlier this summer the laurel burst from snow into fire, and a few weeks later we found a field of sweet wild strawberris. And then there are blueberry bushes, not very many, but a few, taller than I am and, to me, infinitely beautiful.

The burning bush: somehow I visualize it as much like one of these blueberry bushes, The bush burned, was alive with flame and was not consumed. Why? Isn't it because, as a bush, it was perfect? It was exactly as a bush is meant to be. A bush certainly doesn't have the opportunity for prideful and selfish choices, for self-destruction, that we human beings do. It is. It is a pure example of ontology. Ecology-ontology-the words fascinate me...Ontology: the word about the essence of things; the word about being.

I go to the brook because I get out of being, out of hte essential. So I'm not like the bush, then. I put all my prickliness, selfishness, in-turnedness, onto my isness; we all tent to, and when we burn, this part of us is consumed. When I go past the tallest blueberry bush...I think that the part of us that has to be burned away is something like the deadwood on the bush; it has to go, to be burned in the terrible fire of reality, until there is nothing left but our ontological selves; what we are meant to be.

I go to the brook and my tensions and frustrations are lost as I spend a happy hour sitting right in the water and trying to clear it of the cloggig debris left by a fallen tree.

I think about this concept a lot. My isness. Just being here. Is that really enough? Am I loved no matter how much deadwood I'm dragging along my path? Am I loved enough that the deadwood would be pruned and burned away. Would God really care that much to help me be more alive, more fruitful, more me?

Everytime I 'fail' a bit, I'm forced to deal with this truth once again. I am God's child and he has established peace for me. All that I have accomplished He has done for me. (Isaiah 26)

Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart. -Unknown

These are pictures of a yarn I just purchased to make a fall scarf. It may take me a little time to get it done, but there's something about knitting that reminds me of my ontology. The simplicity of creating something that is not an assignment, reminds me of who I am as a person in some way. I thought it was quite fitting that the name of this hand-spun yarn is Magic Berries.

Have a peaceful day friends.

Katherine is a lovely girl
She likes to twirl
She rocks my world

Katherine is a silly twin
She like to laugh
and play and grin

Katherine turns 25 today
Everyone say...
"Hip, Hip, Hooray!!!"

The spacious moments in life are few and far between some seasons. By spacious moments I mean those times when you are fully present in the moment you are in. Undistracted by the clock, stressful circumstances and overwhelming demands of others. Those moments when you can just be. The times I don't have to be Lindsay the successful or Lindsay the efficient or Lindsay the productive. The times I can just be Lindsay. Just me. That's enough.

I've found that the process of creating pulls me into those moments quicker than anything else. Today, I'm sharing a couple of photos of my latest creation. I found this pattern on a blog I read frequently called Soulemama (The link to the pattern is on the left side of the screen) This was a really fun project to make. It took me about two hours and there were very few things I had to stop and figure out. When it comes to sewing, give me simplicity. I'm very limited in this set of skills.

I love this project for two reasons. It is something I've finished in the midst of crazy school and it allows me to keep creating a little bit at a time. Now I can take my notecards and stamps with me wherever I go. If I have a moment here and there, I can take a time to breathe a little deeper and write a note of thanks or encouragement. It helps me create a few more of the spacious moments in my days.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we would walk in them. -Ephesians 2:10

I've been thinking about the reality of God today. Why do I have a sure foundation I can trust in? Why do I have peace that I don't understand. Why can everything seem to get confusing, but my heart is still happy? I read this today in Beth Moore's Breaking Free Bible study that gives me some understanding.

Either Christ can satisfy us and meet our deepest needs, or God's Word is deceptive. In the days before I began to enjoy the fullness of Christ, I somehow knew God's Word was true and that the problem rested with me; but, for the life of me, I couldn't figure out what the problem was. I served Him. I even had a love for Him, however immature, but I still fought an emptiness that kept me looking for love and acceptance in all the wrong places.
Never once in my youth did I hear clear teaching about the Spirit-filled life. Perhaps this is the reason why I refuse to shut up about it now. Satan knows the Holy Spirit is the key to abundant, liberated life, so he has done everything in his power to cast confusion and fear around the subject. Let's boil a few things down to the basics.

God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth. -John 4:24

God is love.Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. -1 John 4:16

God's essence or His state of existence is Spirit...Just as surely as God is Spirit, God is love. Love is not only something God does, love is something God is. God would have to stop being in order to stop loving. Again, our temptation is to humanize God, because we are limited to love as a verb. With God, love is first a noun. It's what and who He is.

God is who He is. No one can change that. I can count on Him when I can't count on anyone else. I will always have everything I need.

This is the reality I'm living in. Deep, raw, whole and full of light.

Finding fullness
Knowing peace
Giving thanks
Leaping for joy
Understanding complexities
Daring to live

I found another gem in the Bible today. So much life. So much truth. So much goodness.

I'm leaving you well and whole. That's my parting gift to you. Peace. I don't leave you the way you're used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don't be upset. Don't be distraught. -Jesus

Sometimes I struggle with knowing the reality of peace. But Jesus talked about it here and John wrote it down in the gospel book he's famous for writing. Jesus said I won't be left feeling abandoned. No matter how many academic tests, life trials or storms come along, I will not be moved. My soul has found a sure foundation.

I'm going to get back to my exam review. Love you friends.

Lyrics from a song on my ipod study playlist by the Dixie Chicks.

I hope, for more love, more joy and laughter
I hope, we'll have more than we'll ever need
I hope, we'll have more happy ever after
I hope, we can all live more fearlessly
And we can lose all the pain and misery
I hope, I hope

I've been hoping for a lot of things lately.
Hoping for good friendships.
Hoping for good marriages for my friends.
Hoping for an A on the next anatomy exam.
Hoping for the leaves to turn really vibrant reds and oranges soon.
Hoping for good, restful holidays to come after the hustle of this semester.

I hope. Now you hope.

And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Romans 5:5

Here is a glimpse into my life. Powerpoints, sticky notes, highlighters and whiteboards. It's like an office supply expo.

This morning I flipped to Romans 8 and here's what I found...

This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?" God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what's coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we're certainly going to go through the good times with him!

That's why I don't think there's any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what's coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.

And so this morning, I'm listening to Him. Taking this to heart and rejoicing that life is beautiful because He is working in it.
Figure 1. Green denotes ulnar nerve. Yellow denotes median nerve.

I have a happy heart and colored hands.
Happy Saturday friends.

Hi friends.

I've been spending my time trying to get my nose in the books. Little things here and there keep getting in the way, but when I do get to the books I will be studying the human hand and all it's inner workings. My professor began class today with this little clip. Good music and who doesn't love a good puppet show?