Luma.... SWEET music to your ears

So, we all know how I feel about bands from the UK....hmm...no? Well, lets just say that they make me sing...A LOT! Well, do I have a treat for you my friends!!! You see, there is this band from Scotland...that has to be about the best UK band.....yep, that's right....pretty strong statement to make, but hey, what can I say, besides THEY ROCK..and you should definitely have a listen to them. The name of the band is Luma and you can check them out by clicking HERE. Get rid of any outside distractions and prepare yourselves to be impressed, or at least pleasantly pleased (ok, so I totally just wanted to say pleasently pleased...can you blame me?) Anyways....LISTEN TO THEM and enjoy the fantastic vocals of the one and only Derek McAlpine, your ears will be thanking you...I promise. :-)

Ok...have you listened? No?...go do it!!HERE! NOW!!!

Ok, now that you've listened and positively enjoyed Luma. You must do one more thing. You must exercise your new found love for them by going to this link HERE . And voting for them. If they get the most votes, then they will be able to come to the US and play!! Come on, don't you want to be patriotic like that??? Giving such a gift to the US by helping Luma pay us a visit? You'd also be helping out a band that is very dear to me....look at you...being all giving....you can't lose with this one! Oh, and one more thing...the page you go to in order to vote sometimes doesn't load (due to all the traffic from Luma voters no doubt). If you experience this, please just try it again. Thank you sooooo much all you Luma fans, and if you are interested in learning more about them, besides the fact that they are AWESOME. Just visit their website again, and I bet if you contacted them, they would even respond, and it would actually be them, and not someone that works for them!!! How sweet is that? Just about as sweet as listening to the song "California" while driving down the 101 surrounded by green-ness. Hmm..don't know that song you say? Yet another reason to experience Luma. Alright, I'll stop rambling now, can't help it...they make me sing. Have a blessed day and a FANTASTIC holiday weekend!!!! Ciao!!!

Congrats Jon!!!!

Congrats to my bother-in-law Jon, for receiving his masters in Spiritual Formation/Educational Ministry from Wheaton College!!!! YAY!!!!! That's my beautiful sister standing next to him in the pic. Just thought I'd do some bragging about my fantastic family. I love you two, and am so proud of you for what you have experienced/accomplished the last two years. I look forward to where the Lord directs you next, and will definitely be meeting you in my prayers!!!! I love you!!!!

a worthy companion

So, my friend Jake gave me this quote a while back and I thought it a worthy companion to my post from earlier today (that's right...two in one day!!!). I love this quote...thanks for sharing Jake!!!!! :-) May you all be blessed with Thomas Merton's words as I was.

"My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone."
~Thomas Merton

"All that is gold does not glitter; not all those that wander are lost"

So, I've decided to follow in the footsteps of my favorite hobbit Bilbo (yep, I've so been caught up in Middle Earth for the last month). Bilbo left his comfortable lifestyle he loved so much, and headed off on an adventure because it was what had been chosen for him. Although he did not feel up for the task, in the end it was quite clear that the adventure could not have happened without him. Well, I am about to leave my "comfort" and head off on an adventure of my own...although I might not face dragons, giant spiders, trolls, and forest elves....it is quite possible that similar "creatures" will bring themselves across my path. Yes, voy a chile in August. And it won't be for a super long time (dos meses), but really, I already exist in my adventure, and this is yet another path that I must follow to continue on. I am excited for the Lord to carry me....excited to see what dragons and spiders exist in His will for me. I love our Lord so much and am so excited to follow His lead. I will fill you in more later as to the details, but until then....I love you so much and appreciate so much your prayers and support. It is as Tolkien said "I am in fact a hobbit, in all but size."

"The road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began
Now far ahead the road has gone
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it within eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.

The Road goes ever on and on
Out from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
Let others follow it who can!
Let them a journey new begin,
But I at last with weary feet
Will turn towards the lighted inn,
My evening-rest and sleep to meet."
~"composed" by Bilbo quoted by Frodo in Lord of the Rings by Tolkien.

ps.Looks like there's going to be a lot of "Fake Plastic Trees" (Radiohead....it's my adventure song, for those of you who don't know) for me in the coming months. oh, and thanks for putting up with my book nerdiness. ;-)

Awareness

I was walking yesterday, and I was reminded of just how much we can let things in our life take away from enjoying the present. Lately I have been really trying to focus on the goodness of the moment that the Lord provides, and when I was walking I was trying to notice the beautiful things about where I was right then. Walking with Rico, looking at the beautiful green hills and pretty flowers (San Luis really is a beautiful place), and then enjoying all the random animals (people's pets) that I always meet on my walks ( I have to pet like every single one...luckily Rico's used to it). :-) It really was sweet...so much sweeter than when I used to take walks and think about my life and where it is going and what I am falling behind in. I hate wasting moments...not fun. Anyways, afterwards, I was happy. I was happy because I like enjoying life moment by moment. God is so wonderful in how He meets us where we are.

We have morning prayer and devotions at my work, and on Monday the person who led them played a song about how we are all going to die, and we should live each day as if we really believe that. This has obviously been a topic thrown at me quite a bit lately, but I like it. Oh, and living for the moment does not mean being reckless and disregarding all your responsibiIities. I simply think it's a matter of awareness and appreciation and really feeling the moment (and this includes pain also). So simple, yet complicated at the same time. Anyways, enough of my words. I am going to end this blog with Kyle Lake's words on the topic of enjoying God's moment by moment gifts. I read recently this little excerpt below and loved it. It is from the last sermon by Kyle. Maybe you heard about his tragic story. He was the young pastor of a church in Waco, TX who was electricuted when he was about to do baptism at his church in Oct of 2005. He left behind a wife, and three beautiful young children. I can't even imagine how they must be grieving, please keep his family and his congregation in your prayers.Just think, he's looking upon the face of Jesus right now....now that's what I call a wonderful moment. Read and give praise to our Maker.

Excerpted from Kyle Lake's Final Sermon on Oct 30, 2005

At the end of Garden State, Andrew Largeman has undergone a transformation. For the first time in his life, he's realized a sense of homesicknesses that he's felt for so many years--that he's been running from. He's prevented himself from feeling, but what Sam does is that she gives him permission to be himself. To experience the here and now in a relationship of honesty and vulnerability. In grieving the death of his mom. In the comfort, warmth and messiness of friendship.

And here I think God is saying to each of us, "Abandon your plans of escape. And Be where you are. Plant gardens and LIVE and live well." I don't know what your planting gardens may look like, but let me end there by trying to provide a glimpse into what that may be like:

Live. And live well.
Breathe. Breathe in and breathe deeply. Be PRESENT. Do not be past. Do not be future. Be now.
On a crystal-clear, breezy, 70-degree day, roll down the windows and FEEL the wind against your skin. Feel the warmth of the sun.
If you run, then allow those first few breaths on a cool autumn day to freeze your lungs and do not just be alarmed, be ALIVE.
Get knee-deep in a novel and lose track of time.
If you bike, pedal HARD...and if you crash, then crash well.
Feel the satifaction of a job well done--a paper well-written, a project thoroughly completed, a play well-performed.
If you must wipe the snot from your 3-year old's nose, don't be disgusted if the Kleenex didn't catch it all....because soon he'll be wiping his own.
If you've recently experienced loss, then GRIEVE. And grieve well.
At the table with friends and family, LAUGH. If you're eating and laughing at the same time, then might as well laugh until you puke. And if you eat, then SMELL. The aromas are not impediments to your day. Steak on the grill, coffe beans freshly ground, cookies in the oven. And TASTE. Taste every ounce of flavor. Taste every ounce of friendship. Taste every ounce of life. Because it is most definitely a gift.
~Kyle Lake 1972-2005

(i borrowed your pic lara...hope you don't mind) :-)