mercy, grace, justice.

My letter to Norway family:

I have been trying to post things on Facebook to let people know to pray.

Andreas is listening to Norwegian news through internet. It is very sad and frustrating that all this is happening there in Norway. (reference to: The bombing and shooting in Oslo, Norway.)

One family member in Norway posted the other day:

"Mercy: not getting what we deserve ♥ Grace: getting good things that we don`t deserve ♥ "

That crossed my mind as I prayed earlier today as I thought about grace, mercy, justice. I was pondering how such evil attacks can happen all over the world in attempt to cause fear and done with such hate. Sometimes it seems like an endless, hopeless situation when you think about how many countries and lives are affected. The thought almost crossed my mind of,

"God, how can this still continue to happen without justice?"

Then I felt God saying that,

"The people who act out in these ways, their justice is coming."

And I as I thought I realized in the smaller picture here on earth when the situations are so close, we feel there is no justice for those who do evil and only attack other people for "no reason". BUT in the BIG picture God will take his vengeance and justice. AND HIS VENGEANCE & JUSTICE is a greater punishment than the pain/evil which a human being has caused in their sin. I would not want to be on the receiving end of God's justice.... It is not up to human beings to bring God's vengeance, in Romans it says "vengeance is mine". People who take "vengeance" in God's name are - unfortunately - off their rocker, and although it's hard to not be discouraged we have to know: God's justice to them is coming. (People acting in self-protection/defense is different, from people taking "vengeance" into their own hands.)

I think it makes God very disappointed in humanity, when people are attacked, especially when the purpose is maybe to only cause fear and done with such hate. (Neither fear nor hate is of God.) To people who attack with evil purpose in their hearts, I can actually understand why God would "once upon a time" flood the entire earth. Imagine the entire world filled with those type of people.... How GRACE-FULL God is to promise not to flood the entire earth again.

I think while on this earth, I can only take complete peace in that God is Lord, and he is Righteous even when everything else seems evil. That He will comfort those who need it and without doubt one day He will bring justice to those who act unjust.

Pray for God's justice in this world. Pray for Norway. Pray even for yourself, that you will be reminded not to be put in the category of people who act in hate and fear. Pray this scripture over the world, countries/people attacked, and yourself

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

Ode to Passion

To March.

To Parade.

To petition the passerby.

To Raise a Flag.

To Rise and stand.

To be unmoved by unsettlement.

Never give up to the upper hand.

Never give in to the inner hopelessness.

Never surrender to the easier road.

Resisting.

Riot.

Roaring.

Rightfully standing for the One.

Let His gentle whisper that beckons your deepest being and passion become an awakening cry for all the peoples of the earth to hear.

Ode to Passion for our King we need to sing you louder.

Outstanding Students

Here are a few pics from our time during the program.

YOU CAN SEE MORE!

By checking out the link to our studio's webpage where you'll see our lovely faces representing the May 2011 Outstanding Student Award for BDC's Training Program.

This was a little "field trip" to Lincoln Center for a behind the scenes peak of: NYC BALLET COMPNAY at work! We were given a tour of the theater, heard random trivia about the company, and yes! watched an on-stage rehearsal.

Autumn Dones' piece "One Day" taking the stage at tech rehearsal for the big

Broadway Dance Center Showcase.

Stephanie Brooks' piece "Relentless" at M.O.V.E.:

a show with a cause (raising awareness for autism).

Us "Relentless" characters just after performing at Project Dance NY LIVE.

This here: a pic during the first month of the training program with

fellow program students...OH HOW TIME FLIES!

Please check out the link - honoring Andreas and my "good studentness" at BDC and see more:

Broadway Dance Center Student Life

I can hear the rhythm

"He's not a baby in the manger in anymore, He's not a broke man on the cross. He didn't stay in the grave and He's not staying in Heaven forever!"

Exciting and scary at the same time. I didn't watch the whole vid that this person put together but the song and lyrics are powerful!! I just posted the vid so you could at least hear this song. (the artist is Misty Edwards)

Where is your heart?

oxford american dictionary:

a hollow muscular organ that pumps the blood through the circulatory system by rythmic contraction and dilation.

since when, since when did we begin to refer to this hollow muscular organ, as being the center of our emotions, moral, and "love".

and who took the image from:

to:

further more, i want to believe the best in people. however no matter how "pretty" we try to make our heart appear to be "...out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander." (matthew 15:19)

of course "The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. (luke 6:45)"

however, this heart game, it truly comes across as a sketchy see-saw that you attempt to seek balance on but so easily, often get DROPPED (you know exactly the feeling of getting dropped when you used to play on the see-saw...)

Regardless of how often or easily it can happen...it's always a surprise. Hello? Quite possibly the reason behind that sudden DROP, is because we are not putting our FULL heart in God as we've been told and instead choose to play some weird balance games.

We are told to put our full heart in God, but we choose to put it in stuff, situations, people (friends, family, and lovers), places, homes, etc. and we get dropped in many different forms. It only hurts our own self.

I guess...i just wish we could all get it together, get over ourselves (me included), and all place our hearts - the core of everything we are - fully in Him. Our hopes, dreams, ideas, creativity, talents, minds, thinking patterns, our whole selves in Him. That way we don't have to deal with fear of man. Then, we could all get on with it and live our lives to the fullest.

I'm nothing spectacular, but much of my life I have felt I've struggled against other's comparing themselves to me, and when that happens I cease functioning correctly. I shut down. Healthy, fun competition, bring it on. Full out comparison...no no no. I have over and over again: run away. Has it ever made me feel better about myself...I don't think so...in fact I usually come out asking the question "Why me??" more and more. I want to live my life to the fullest and not think about offending any one else, because they are trying to play a balance game with me. Don't you? Just live, you and God. That's romance. :) I think we can all do it.

That's why I am trying to start a new initiative within myself, that when I feel people around me are trying to play a balancing/comparison game with me, I won't any longer run. No more retreating, but confrontation: healthy, God-fearing, not man-fearing, battle. Because my battle is "not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, I may be able to stand my ground, and after I have done everything, I will stand."

I think it's a battle we all need to engage in, for ourselves and for others. We need to fight for our own hearts, and for the hearts of others. To all place them in the right hands, and not the hands of each other.

Where is your heart?

A wise proverb

¹⁸ The path of the righteous is like the morning sun,
shining ever brighter till the full light of day.
¹⁹ But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know what makes them stumble.

I was reading through Proverbs the other day on my commute into the city. This passage leaped out at me.
"This sounds pretty cliche. ...but the same time it's rich in meaning and substance."

Oh you book of Wisdom, Proverbs, you make me question. Do I feel like my daily decisions are leading to a brighter day?
If not...why not? Where am I not seeking God?

His wisdom and understanding is infinite.

Within the book of Proverbs you often hear mention of "laziness"...maybe not for you...but for me I think it's laziness that is atleast part of the gateway to lack of pursuit to Godly wisdom in all matters. Not to "over spiritualize" (at the same not being fearful of overspirtualizing), we must fight ourselves and maybe some fear of others and pursue Godliness with "all our heart, all our mind, and all our strength"!

If you have ever or even now believe there is no rhyme, reason, wisdom to the Kingdom of Heaven for the followers of Christ then you've been duped into deep darkness that will only cause great and regretful stumbling in your life and thereafter. In our heart of hearts, we know what we need to do. We know that we need to and we know how to pursue God with all of our heart, mind, soul. So let's just do it.

Sadie Hawkins Miette McFly

Sadie (meaning): Princess

Hawkins: In honor of Relient K's "Sadie Hawkins" song.

Miette (meaning): Little one/pearl

McFly: In honor of the movie "Back To The Future"

Since she was the runt of her litter, originally I was going to name her simply Sadie Miette ("Little Princess"), but pop culture was so influential, I had to throw in the "Hawkins" and the "McFly". That's the story behind the choosing of the name. (Who knew that??)

Sadie was puppy to Amber, the Golden Retriever my family got my mom one Mother's Day. When Amber had to be put down just over a year or two ago (because of a tumor), it kind of felt like Amber's legacy lived on through Sadie.

Sounds a bit silly talking about "legacy", when referring to a dog, I know. It is. But on the same note if you've never owned a good dog than I don't expect you to relate to the experience. And that's Ok. :)

Sadie was put down over this past weekend, due to multiple health reasons. However no matter how many "health reasons" she was suffering through at the end, multiply that by about a billion and that's how good of a dog she was.

She was EXTREMELY goofy, scared of things like laundry hampers, trash cans, and so much more (regardless of her acting "tough"). I sometimes called her "Sweet Sadie", because that was pretty much her personality.

She was "legally" my dog, but when I moved out in 2005, one of my mom's first statements to me - in love of course - was "You can't take Sadie..." From then on she was my mom's/my dad's dog. :) (my dad will say more the latter than anything else).

This is not meant to be sad or "serious". Simply since I have a blog, I have the time, and we had a good dog, I thought I'd just make a little eulogy. If you have your own family dog or family pet, take some time after reading this to give it a treat, a tap on the head, or some sort of pet-owner-love. :)

Pet dogs are such a unique creation by God. "Man's best friend" :)

Proverbs 12:10

"The righteous care for the needs of their animals..."