Souvenir Creativity

"It is more blessed to give than to receive." I've often praised the truthfulness of this age-old proverb, as I am a huge gift-giving person (it's kinda my love language) and take an unnecessary amount of joy in watching someone enjoy the Christmas present I got them. But the more brain power you take to really digest this nugget of wisdom, and the more effort you take putting it into practice, the more you realize: woah.
Getting something is but a small taste of the joy and fulfillment that comes when you give. When you put a bit of your heart, your joy, yourself into something... and that something enriches someone else's life... it's something way bigger.

I feel this way about gift-giving, but also about everything else. It's why I try hard at giving sincere compliments. In a way, I think being an avid reader actually helped this. I have a fairly well-developed vocabulary at this point, which equips me to say you don't just look nice... you look ravishing. You look elegant. You are more uniquely special than a generic, all-encompassing compliment. I love finding the right word for things at all times, and when I find the right one to make someone's day, it's even better.

Conversely, I enjoy thinking up cool compliments (rather than deconstructing others'), so I'm not as good at receiving compliments- something I've tried to work on lately. It sort of discounts a compliment when the person being complimented just brushes it off (like, if you "look awful," why'd I bother?). So I'd like to be as creative at saying thank you as I try to be in giving, so that even when someone gives me something- a gift, a compliment, advice, etc.- I can receive it in a way that blesses them just as much as it did me.

This is totally a Jesus thing. Anytime he was praised, or given a gift, or anything, he immediately used the opportunity to point the attention away from Himself- towards God. Often, He would also honor the gift-giver when the gift was genuine, such as the woman who wiped His feet with perfume. He was selfless at all times. It's something I long to embody as of late.

Don't get me wrong: I don't want to overdo anything, like be overly thoughtful in my gifts to the point of creepiness or say thanks a million times. I just think that being just a bit more creative than the bare minimum can make a huge difference at a tiny cost. In fact, I think that's a pretty good principle to live by.

So don't settle for gift cards, kids. If someone's important to you, find a gift or word that's equally unique.

(No pressure)

Top 6 Favorite Movies

Because I'm weird and I couldn't just pick 5.

1. The Parent Trap(1999)

No, I haven't seen the original. Does it bother me? Not really. I can quote every line, know which scene it is from a single note of the score, point out filming mistakes, and every time I go to anything close to a summer camp, I dress like Hallie in the first scene.

2. Flipped

If you haven't seen it, what are you doing with your life. It's the sweetest depiction of young teenagers in the 50's you've ever seen. Also, great soundtrack and score. There's a part about a sycamore tree that had me weeping because I also love to climb trees. The back and forth narration is perfect. Just see it.

3. Warm Bodies

I thought it would be lame when I went to the movie theater with Matt and Rachel on that fateful spring evening, but oh how wrong we were. The witty humor. The adorably awkward protagonist. The sweet and unique love story. The thought-provoking one-liners that hold monumental truths. The stunning film score (oops, listening to it right now). The incredible soundtrack (Bruce Springsteen! Delta Spirit! Bon Iver!). I watched it so many times that summer that now it signifies that period of my life.

Epic sidenote: I have her jacket. 

4. Rocky series/Jason Bourne series

I grew up on the Rocky movies and Jason Bourne. They always reminds me of my dad. He relishes practically every Rocky scene, and references Bourne if we ever need to do something efficiently and in a hurry. (The best opportunities are always in airports or subways.) When the Rocky movies come on, he just walks around the kitchen smiling and repeating all the great lines. We quote the "Yo Adrian!" line whenever one of us overcomes any sort of challenge. (Example: when I finished applying for college he made me a card with that as the opening line.) Rocky II is definitely my favorite of those, but who can pick the best Bourne movie? (The fourth one doesn't count, by the way.)

5. Stranger Than Fiction

It's my favorite role of Will Ferrell's, and that includes Buddy the Elf. He plays a character that's so unique, and the story is told in such a witty, funny, charming, intelligent way. Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson are sublime. Plus the fact that the soundtrack is basically just a the instrumental versions of a bunch of fantastic Spoon songs, yet somehow they fit perfectly. It has this great storytelling vibe that I just can't get over. I love the twists and turns, and how I can't put my finger on if it's a comedy or drama. I think it's both. And the ending is satisfying and tidy without being too cliche. It's so underrated.

I've decided instead of a picture you just need to see the opening scene.

6. The Fugitive

I can't really think of another one that I get as excited over when I see it on TV. I'm a sucker for good murder mysteries, and this one is so well done. Plus the fact that Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones play so well together. My dad loves to quote this one a lot, too. All activity halts if this comes on TV.

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And since I'm feeling generous: my Top 6 Film Scores.

1. Parent Trap




(What's playing in my head when I'm dashing anywhere in a hurry)

2. Warm Bodies



3. Saving Mr. Banks



4. The Lovely Bones



5. Flipped



(I think you have to have it on iTunes to hear it, sorry)

6. Finding Nemo

Flannels and Lattes and Humility

I just read an article called "Killing Christian Hipster" and am choosing to write about it pronto, because convictions are flying from my heart about it.

Basically, there's this trend going around in certain Christian circles known on Twitter as the "Evangelical Hipster," and to be honest, I'm totally becoming one. I have a solid black journal that I use to journal and doodle lyrics to Hillsong United in. My wardrobe consists of beanies and flannels. I've had some sick fellowship in coffeeshops and hiking trails. My bible is full of underlinings and margin annotations and whatnot. I have a playlist on Spotify entitled "Into the Wilderness." I'm currently obsessed with Oswald Chambers' insights. Gordon College is absolutely filled to the brim with Christian hipsters, and if we're being real with each other, that's kinda why I felt at home there when I visited.

*looks down at self*
Guys. I'm wearing glasses and TOMS. Right. Now.

It's happened. And try as I might, I can't change my style or simply stop liking certain songs... or lattes. But what hit me in the article was the idea that we make this quirky, Christian brand of cool our little safety bubble, rather than relying on Christ alone to be our foundation.

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"What if Jesus called you to kill the cool? What if Jesus called you to minister in a place where you couldn’t post Instagram photos with cute kids? What if Jesus called you to a church home where the pastor’s sermons weren’t available as podcasts? What if the body of believers Christ surrounded you with were unschooled ordinary men and not a sanctified version of Mumford and Sons? What if being a follower of Jesus meant you had less or no Twitter followers?"
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Something I've noticed (or rather, God's pointed out to me) about myself recently is I get way too wrapped up in the masses' approval of me. Or not even me, really- my image. I'll spend an hour taking a hundred selfies that look like I was just in the middle of doing something, selecting and editing one, and then posting it at a time when I think I'm most likely to get the most likes. I'm completely serious. It's tough for me to even admit that, but recently my opinion of myself has often hinged on the public's approval of my cute face or witty tweets. 

At the same time, my bible studies lately have often been geared towards killing selfish impulses or self-centered motivations in our spiritual lives. It's so amazing. The more I learn about denying all worldly pleasures for God's Will alone, the more my own selfish desires pop up all over the place and assert themselves. I'm not sure if it's the enemy trying to stall any growth or just the Lord pointing out flaws that have always been there. Either way, it's incredibly humbling. The article was just another reminder. 

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"Jesus doesn’t need your cool for His kingdom. He doesn’t need us to be famous to make Himself famous. Jesus works beautifully through our brokenness and completely through our surrender."
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I'm realizing more and more that what I need is hardly the perfect social media profile, or even coffee-making skills or hip prayer lingo or any of the things most of my spiritual role models display on the outside. I need something far greater than those peripheral impressions. 

I need the Lord. And that's it. 

So I can go to a thousand bible studies run out of someone's wood-furnished living room with acoustic, harmonized worship and flannel-wearing lumberjacks, but when I've sung Oceans for the 57th time and filled up a a hundred Moleskin journals and posted dozens of pictures of mission trip VBS on my Instagram, I'm still a sinner.

It's only when I've stripped everything about me to this single need... for Christ and His Will... that He can even begin to work. That's convicting as well. But guys. Jesus doesn't need our cool for His kingdom... so no pressure. If any of you have ever portaged a canoe (which I did two weeks ago... my poor shoulders), it's like the moment when you put it down and dunk your dripping-with-sweat face into the lake. Cool, beautiful relief. 

Seeing Simply

I'd rather be blind than deaf.

Yes, it'd be a tragic loss to miss out on sunrises and photography and the beauty of people and places and things. But more tragic than the loss of music and laughter and whispers and shouts and communication in general? I'm not sure.

Besides, I've heard that there's this kind of awareness that comes with not seeing. It's a combination of a  loss of body-consciousness (that in my opinion, would be vastly freeing) and an intuition of other's feelings by touch or the amount of tension in the air. When you can't see, you can't see what others physically look like. All superficial judgements disappear. But even better, you can't see what you look like. It doesn't matter if your hair isn't perfect or if you're making some goofy grin that puts your emotions all over your face. At least, it doesn't matter to you.

I think it'd be even easier to really see that way.

That's why I love being in the dark. Where you can't communicate with vague facial expressions or body gestures. You have to give voice to your thoughts in perfect clarity. Or, you don't have to say anything at all. You can speak and listen with the way your heart beats, the way you breathe, the way the thoughts trail through your head in all that empty blackness.

Ironically, as the days continue to be brighter and hotter, I have this small craving for pitch black spaces. The cool, silent, simple emptiness of perfect darkness, where movement can be scarce and words can be even scarcer.

Bald Eagles and Bugs

If anyone's wondering why I haven't posted in two weeks or so (or maybe no one reads this and actually I'm being silly...or whatever), it's because I've just spent the last 12 days fighting mosquitos and sore muscles in the Adirondack mountains with some of the most awesome girls I've yet to meet in an outdoor education program with my college called La Vida.

The experiences and spiritual epiphanies are far too meaningful to sum up in a blog post (which I knew even before I embarked), so I decided to write down one thing every day that summed up the day's challenges. I put them in the form of packing tips, so if any of you lovely readers (imaginary or otherwise) decide to try a survival expedition of your own, you'll be well-prepared.

Day 1: Invest in a small camping pillow!
(My neck became rather sore after resting on hard ground or a rolled up piece of clothing at night)

Day 2: Headlamps are invaluable. 
(vs. flashlights, which are not hands-free)

Day 3: Quick-drying clothes ONLY.
(When it pours for the first 48 hours and even the sleeping bag inside your tent is damp, you want your t-shirts and cargo pants to be dry after only 30 minutes on a line)

Day 4: Sneakers should be narrow with excellent tread.
(If you're rock-climbing, whether or not your toe can fit into that minuscule crack makes all the difference.)

Day 5: Bring thick, high-SPF sunscreen AND a face stick. Oh, and a sturdy 32 oz. water bottle. 
(Apparently the tips of your ears can, in fact, get burned when you're in a canoe.)

Day 6: Your bug spray should coat you well and have the potency to kill anything within 5 feet of you.
(Spray it on any exposed skin. Wipe it on your face. Spray it on the brim of your hat. Spray it on your thermal underwear, which they will bite through. It won't keep them from biting you, but it'll repel them... for a while. Also: sleep with a bug net over your head if you have to. *shudder*)

Day 7: Bring layers that cover your arms without heating you up too much (aka bug protection), and ones that zip are easier than pullovers. Also, the bug spray thing again. 
(Bonus: Mosquitos can't bite through a raincoat!)

Day 8: You need 3 pairs of shoes: hiking boots, water shoes, and easy slip-on ones that will ALWAYS be dry.
(If you're too lazy to lace up the boots all the time, you can wear socks around a campsite, but they will get filthy and you can still step on twigs.)

Day 9: Shorts should have liners, and bandanas work better than bobby pins.
(When you only have room for 4 pairs of underwear, you need ways to cheat. And a bandana tied like a headband is actually kind of cute- and the only accessory you'll probably do.)

Day 10: There is no such thing as too many pairs of socks.
(If you walk around the forest in them or a surprise thunderstorm shows up right as you put those great blue ones on, you'll be glad.)

Day 11: Your sleeping bag better be warm AND waterproof.
(Apparently, a tarp stretched across some trees is not foolproof protection when it decides to pour for two solid hours right before bed. Also: rain in the mountains is not refreshing, but freezing.)

Day 12: Never underestimate how cold it can get in the morning. Bring gloves AND a hat, even in the summer. Sleep in them if you have to.
(You think just because it's July 4th it won't be 45 degrees? Haha. Think again.)

Jokes aside, it was an amazing trip, regardless of uncomfortable weather/bug/clothing conditions. How can you focus on something silly like the sweaty smell of your dri-fit shirt when you're looking at this?