Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Icelandic Folk Galore

If you're not familiar with Sigur Rós, they're an incredible group of musicians from Iceland that have a completely unique style and sound. I've been loving their music since 2004 when they released the album "Takk."  I'm also super in love with the solo project produced by lead singer Jónsi.  One thing's for sure, these guys know how to make beautiful music videos. This one, for their song "Hoppipolla," is my favorite video of 2010. Enjoy! 

Friday, December 24, 2010

Merry Christmas!

2-year-old Laken, back in the day!

This Christmas, I'm so blessed to be able to be with my friends and family at home in Texas. I hope that wherever you are, you're surrounded by people who love you and that you're filled with the love that's so freely given by our Father in the person of Jesus Christ! 

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Make A Difference With One Click

Want to make a big difference with a tiny amount of effort? Just watch this video one of our graphic design students, Renee Hong, made about Human Trafficking. YouTube has featured her video on a channel called "Project Awesome." If her video gets the highest view-count, they'll give her outreach team----who are going to Peru to teach art therapy at a safe house for rescued victims of Trafficking----a whole lot of $$$. Share this with everyone you know!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Walk With Me

This is what my walk through town and forrest to the castle looks like every morning (in winter anyway). It takes about half an hour right now because of the massive amount of snow on the path. Watch the fast-speed, 4-minute version of my walk below. 


Sunday, December 5, 2010

Needle & Thread

Hmmm....on this Sunday evening I find myself inspired by the song "Needle & Thread" by Sleeping At Last. It's such a beautiful expression of the fall of man and the way God reconciles everything back to himself.

When the world welcomes us in,  We’re closer to Heaven than we’ll ever know.  They say this place has changed,  But strip away all of the technology   And you will see That we all are hunters,  Hunting for something that will make us okay.   Here we lay alone in hospital beds,  Tracing life in our heads;  But all that is left  Is that this was our entrance and now it’s our exit,  As we find our way home.   All the blood and all the sweat  That we invested to be loved  Follows us into our end,  Where we begin to understand   That we are made of love,  And all the beauty stemming from it.  We are made of love,  And every fracture caused by the lack of it.  “You were a million years of work,”  Said God and His angels, with needle and thread.  They kissed your head and said,   “You’re a good kid and you make us proud.  So just give your best and the rest will come,  And we’ll see you soon.”   All the blood and all the sweat  That we invested to be loved  Follows us into our end,  Where we begin to understand   That maybe Hollywood was right:  When the credits have rolled and the tears have dried,  The answers that we have been dying to find  Are all pieced together and, somehow,   Made perfectly mine.   We are made of love,  And all the beauty stemming from it.  We are made of love,  And every fracture caused by the lack of love.

Awaken To Reality, Arise To Action.

Photo by Chad Strobach
So about a month ago now, YWAM Herrnhut partnered with Not For Sale Campaign in hosting a conference in Hamburg, Germany about the global issue of Human Trafficking. It was incredible! My roommate, Amy, and I  were in charge of "speaker hospitality" for the conference, which meant hanging out behind the scenes with some pretty inspiring people.

We were so blessed by our interactions with people like David Batstone and Mark Wexler, co-founders of Not For Sale Campaign, and Steve Goode, David and Christine Hamilton, Dan Baumann (all from various branches of YWAM), and so many others. I found who they were off stage even more inspiring than the words they were speaking to the audience...which is saying something, because basically everything they said made me want to rush down to the Reeperbahn redlight district and hug a prostitute. Each of them was so gracious and humble toward us and each other. What's more, they were all so full of JOY, in spite of the  heart-wrenching topics they were speaking about. Their attitudes truly said, "Take heart, Jesus has already overcome the world."

Click here to read the article my extremely talented roommate, Amy, wrote about the conference (which was featured on the ywam.org main page this week!).