interesting links

In case you didn't already think ballet dancers were awesome, here is more proof.

My sister sent this to me . . . Where do I apply? :)

While looking up videos of Erica Cornejo, I found this one of her brother, Herman Cornejo . . . amazing.

"I’ve remembered about buttercups, stink bugs and the stars." (Despite the second to last paragraph, this article is worth reading.)

This is kind-of adorable :)

Breathe

"It Is Well With My Soul" has been a favorite hymn of mine for quite a while. It became even more personally important this summer at camp. It became even more heart-wrenchingly beautiful this evening as I heard the story of the author. 

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

It is well (it is well),
with my soul (with my soul),
It is well, it is well with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

It is well (it is well),
with my soul (with my soul),
It is well, it is well with my soul.

My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to His cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

It is well (it is well),
with my soul (with my soul),
It is well, it is well with my soul.

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

It is well (it is well),
with my soul (with my soul),
It is well, it is well with my soul.

And Lord haste the day, when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

It is well (it is well),
with my soul (with my soul),
It is well, it is well with my soul.

"The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. . . .
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer." 

~Psalm 19:1,14

marvelous glass

"Notre Dame! The great cathedral of which France is justly proud was naturally the objective of one of my earliest artistic pilgrimages, I may say of the very earliest. The tall columns, whose shafts, composed of little assembled columns, rise clear to the vaults; the admirable proportions of the nave; the choir, the seats of old carved oak, the railings wrought of iron--this harmonious and magnificent pile impressed me deeply. But what enchanted me more than anything else was the marvelous glass of the lateral rose windows, and even more, perhaps, the rays of sunlight that vibrated in the church, in various directions, intensely coloured, as a result of having passed through these sumptuous windows. I quite forgot where I was. I took my handkerchief from my pocket, a white handkerchief, and I waved it in the beams of coloured light . . . ." ~Loie Fuller


How different it is to have personally been to place that you read about in an essay than to be seeing solely through the writer's eyes.

My trip to Europe seems a bit like a dream now, except the moments when I read of places I've seen, paths I've walked upon -- then, it suddenly seems much more real -- for a minute or two, at least. 

p.s. Just in case you were wondering, not even a minute after the events recorded in her quote, Loie Fuller was removed from the cathedral by a security guard. 

"A Day of Grace with Boston Ballet"

I unintentionally came across this picture today and almost started crying. It's definitely a missing-home-kind-of-day. 

Thank you Lord for a unbelievably caring and loving family :) 

I can't wait to see them all again :) 

glimpse of the gospel

In my Middle Eastern Literature class, we talked about the differences between Disney's Aladdin and the original tale (at least as it was written down by Europeans). [Shocking assignment for an American class on Middle Eastern Literature, I know.]

One of the things we discussed is that Americans don't like boundlessness.

The writers of the film (among maaaaannnnyyyy other things) gave a boundary to Aladdin's wishes. Instead of having an unlimited number of wishes Aladdin is granted only 3 in the Disney version.

We don't like concepts we can't fully comprehend and we don't like power that we don't have some level of control over. (We also don't like characters without internal agency.)

But, God is boundless . . . and that is beautiful.

"‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.'" ~Jeremiah 32:17

"The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything." ~Acts 17:24-25

"Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God." ~Psalm 90:2

"Thus says the Lord: 'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord.' " ~Isaiah 66:1-2

"And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together." ~ Colossians 1:17