en route.

well, i am en route to my home in crowley lake, but had to stop off in bishop and get a frozen chai latte from the looney bean and pic up my dog lydia from the doctor. so here i am waiting for her to get done and thought i would post.

the drive today was good. for the first four hours i just drove and thought. and at times, talked to myself. haha. no music. just me, my jetta, and 395. then i listened to a sermon from my pastor Britt Merrick. and then i rocked out to some rob thomas and rich price. and before i knew it, i was in bishop. i usually hate the drive but it was not too bad this time.

so bishop is a funny place. for those of you who have been here, or grew up in the area, you know just what i am talking about. quirky indeed. so i have been here for a few hours in the local hot spot, the looney bean, and have been amused and compelled to laugh-out-loud several times. let's see here...I had the junior high girl practicing her dance rountine in the line. I had a table of dred-locked, mountain folk at the table in front of me. and had the high school girls gossiping about the latest break-up at school. i found myself eaves-dropping and chuckling a bit inside. high school is a funny thang. oh and i almost forgot about the conversation about "interior landscaping" at the table next to me. haha. i didn't know such thing existed. i mean i we have plants inside sometimes. but i didn't know that we could hire interior landscapers to adorn our interiors with foliage. good to know i suppose if i am ever compelled to have some plants in my house or dorm room and think i can't pick them out and place them on my own...

so i am off to get my lydia. poor thing. don't fret! she is okay but had to have her infected ears cleaned out. gross, i know, but it had to be done. it is hereditary, which is a totaly bumber cuz she always has it and sometimes it gets super bad. we call her munge-eared baby. haha. it happens i guess.

alright...until next time...blessings.

reality check.

i had the privilage a few weeks ago to head up to camp whittier in the santa ynez mountains with a bunch of westmont's first year students. it was such a sweet time. we laughed. we climbed, zip-lined, hiked and play with trantulas. we prayed, listened, and talked. we learned. and we came together to worship our creator together. we got a reality check. it was so encouraging to be around all that spunk and zeal (as if i am old and decripet at the age of 21). i was so blessed by the weekend. click here for a slideshow of my favorite photographs from the weekend.

i hope to get some pics up soon, but i don't have a solid internet connection right now. so in the meantime, here is a little antecdote about something the Lord showed me during my quiet time on sunday morning...

I wrestled my way through the underbrush, as fallen oak leaves cracked and crunched beneath my sneakers in pursuit of a place to be alone and to be in nature. I sat for a few moments perched on a small rock on the banks of a waterless creek. I noticed a faint breath of wind as the leaves in the tree tops quivered. One detached itself from the life-giving tree branch and swirled its deadly way to the ground whose surface was coated with the corpses of many a fallen leaf. I picked it up. I explored it with eye and hand and nose and then sat perplexed by its simplicity and by its complexity all at the same time. So I thought about the leaf and journaled a bit and distracted myself with thoughts of mind.

“Stop writing. Get in the creek bed. Being on the banks is not enough. Lay down on the rocks. Be quiet. Listen. Be still and close your eyes.”

I said, “but Lord, there is no water. It’s dry.”

So attention was thus promptly turned to the creek bed. It was small, and it was dry. It seems as if no water had filled to its banks in several weeks if not several months. I was compelled to climb down into it. Then I sprawled myself out in the middle of the creek bed on the cobbled stone and piles of fallen leaves. It was awfully uncomfortable, though the interspersed pillows of leaves provided some comfort. I laid there a while and gazed at the leaf-laden branches of tree and the deep blue sky above. I heard the birds chattering with each other and frolicking about the playground above.

“The water will come my son. Wait and be patient. It will come and then you will be ready. Just wait and be still. It will come.”

I do not like to wait. I want to know now. I want the water to come now. What good is a creek without water? How sad is that? So lifeless. So boring. So dry and barren. Well, that is what I thought initially. But now is see it differently. The creek bed as waiting—waiting to be filled with the life-giving waters. Waiting for its purpose to be fulfilled, to be carried out and realized. It just waited. It had no choice really, yet it "knows" that water will come eventually. It does every year. The waters come and bring life to the valleys. Something that is dry and still for a season is literally swimming with life in another. I thought more about the stillness of the creek. Although life was abundant in the forest around it, there was nonetheless as overwhelming and holistic sense of stillness. This was intriguing. How can there be life, movement and growth in the stillness? Is not that contrary to the very definition of the word? Perhaps it is more than just a physical lack of movement, but it is a state of spiritual, mental or internal being. It is a choice, an action. It takes the work of the mind, the heart, the body and the soul. It is a state of being. Oh, there is so much to learn about stillness from nature; I am full of awe and amazement right now.

liane.

liane koh is one of my favorite people in the world. seriously! i have the honor of seeing her every day because we have three classes together. and everytime i see her my heart smiles. you see, li is one of the sweetest people i know. she is tender and loving at every moment and knows what encouraging words to say and when to say them.

the other day we had dinner. and i learned so much about who she is and i was even more blown away. she is such a rich person and she has taught me so much and i am so blessed by our friendship.

so the other day, she taught me how to play this fun and challenging (for me anyways) game that she played as a kid in Singapore. it was a cultural and humorous experience. it requires lots of hand eye coordination. i was terrible at it. but she was gracious and paitient with my and by the end of the hour long sesh i was getting much better and made it to the last round. it was a blast. i loved it. one of the best moments of my senior year.

i wish that everyone could meet this woman because she is so incredible. she has changed my life and i am SO grateful for her. just thought you all should know about her.

black is for sunday.

the war rages on. the children are still commuting. the acholi people still displaced. the movement continues. but there is hope for a future in uganda and much work is being done both here in the united states and in uganda to end the war. invisible children is rocking it. you have got to check out the lastest braclet campaign video, sunday. so powerful. so necessary for everyone to see. to learn more click here you can buy all the braclets here

i went to the screening of this new film here at westmont and it was both emotional and encouraging. so many people where there and so many hearts were compelled to take action. i am so looking forward to seeing how the Lord uses the ministry this year at westmont. so excited. i am so blessed to have taken part my freshman and sophomore years.

jshipleyphotography.com is live

wooo. i finally got my site up and am so stoaked about it. check it out. thanks to all the peeps at BIGfolio. what a great experience i fully recommend them to anyone.