[oops.]

I just remembered... I PROMISED I was gonna get pictures of my project up! And I failed epicly at that... but they're still coming. My grandma actually took the pictures, so I keep forgetting to get them from her. The good news is that by now I have one or two other projects I completed since then, hahaha. This week (SCHOOL week...since last tuesday until tomorrow...yeah.. I gauge my weeks a little differently than other people.)  has been really busy, but there's a quotes post coming up soon as well :)

This was my face at the beginning of the week....

This is my face halfway through it....

And THIS is what it will be when it's over :D

[peace]

Fear. This is something that most of us experience, some more than others. Some of us carry it around with us, unable to shake it off. Some rarely experience it.

I can point to two times in my life when I have 'lived in fear.' This is a terrible, terrible, experience. The fear grips you and will not let go. It's lurking in the background all the time, jumping towards every sentence you hear, putting it's negative twist on it. It will not be reasoned with. It performs acrobatics in your mind, imbedding itself ever deeper, whether you choose to think about it or push it down, hoping it will go away. 

I got to the point where I couldn't stand it anymore. And then, I realized.... I don't have to carry this burden. So I gave my fear, my future to God. And He took the fear, the burden, the worry all away from me. 

The second time it only took me a couple of days before I realized what was going on and decided to give it to God again. He is so powerful, more powerful than fear, more powerful than Satan. I am stunned by the power that He has over fear, and so grateful for the ability we have to give it to Him. We don't have to languish under it, we have a choice. And I pray that next time I fear, His voice will tell me to give it to Him, right away. He gives me an unspeakable peace in the face of scary things. Praise His name!

"Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28

This photo conveys peace to me because these people convey peace to me.

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

[sunset shoot]

Reading photo ONE. I'm gonna be doing more of these. Probably also involving horses. :D

FLARE :D

Hair, haha.

Meg has such pretty reflective eyes.

Horseylove.

Muah!

This one was a close second.....actually it might be my favorite. I CAN'T PICK! Sam looks like a little prairie girl in this :)

[four/fiftytwo]
1.28.12

I really like this one too.

Sam has such a pretty/delicate profile.

[repentance]

HonzaNedvěd: Repentance

Weary to despair and lonely as a cloud,

Trapped, where next?, someone please say where next,

It is hard to run away from yourself wherever you go.

The toughest nights are under the roof of stars,

When you’re not in the mood to go home and surrender to be

seduced and deceived by your own self. 

A stone can petrify but it needs to know why,

And you may reverse the river stream when a reason exists,

Even the snow may fall in the sun when God in Heaven decides so,

The mere cause shall justify the end result,

And the awareness that there is nothing but life, 

And that life is just a given gracious gift for a time.

Ch: Not outrage nor jealousy, nor words alike to these,

Nor desires that you want to bring to life,

Nor love is the reason to leave your path,

Who seeks a healing shade in the noon-day glow,

May they first cry out the river of their own sins,

And then humbly turn, hands clasped, to the stars. 

And silently ask, it is possible anywhere,

In temples it tends to look self-righteous,

[And ask a man by name, the name of truth and his own,]

And may he bear repentance to the full extent,

It is faith that is conscience and the conscience is paradise,

And no one is pure, only some people are less. 

Ch: Not outrage nor jealousy, nor words alike to these,

Nor desires that you want to bring to life,

Nor love is the reason to leave your path,

Who seeks a healing shade in the noon-day glow,

May they first cry out the river of their own sins,

And then humbly turn, hands clasped, to the stars.

Translation: Samantha and Michal  June 10, 2011

This is such a beautiful expression of the author's soul.

Below are the Slovak lyrics:

Honza Nedvěd: Pokání

Znavenej na dně a jako kůl sám

už v koutě kam dál no řekněte kam

před sebou utíkat těžko se kamkoliv dá.

Nejtěžší noci jsou pod střechou hvězd,

když domů se nechce, když se necháš svést

Sám sebou a co si si namlouváš a namluvit dáš.

I kámen se ustrne, ale musí mít proč

i řeky proud obrátíš, když důvod je

i sníh v slunci padá, když rozhodne na nebi Bůh

jen příčina následkem věci má být

a vědomí že není nic nežli žít

a že život je jen na chvíli půjčený milostný dar.

R: Ne hněv nebo závist ani jiné z těch slov

ani touhy co navíc chceš k životu mít

ani láska ta není důvodem odejít z cesti

kdo v poledním žáru hledá hojivý stín

ať vykřičí napřed řeku svých vlastních vin

a pak obrátí ke hvězdám pokorně u dlaně dlaň.

A poprosí mlčky, to kdekoliv jde

v chrámech jen svádí to k divadlu vést

ať poprosí člověka jménem, jménem pravdy a svým

a ať snese pokání po samý kraj

to víra je svědomí a svědomí ráj

a nikdo není čistý, jen někteří lidé snad míň.

R: Ne hněv nebo závist ani jiné z těch slov

ani touhy co navíc chceš k životu mít

ani láska ta není důvodem odejít z cesti

kdo v poledním žáru hledá hojivý stín

ať vykřičí napřed řeku svých vlastních vin

a pak obrátí ke hvězdám pokorně u dlaně dlaň.

It's extremely hard to study when you have a Billy Joel song firmly planted in your tiny mind. Especially when you're studying early church fathers. Yeah. (ftw, btw) ;) I think the moniker Mr. C gave me is very appropriate (The Class Charismatic) because I am thoroughly enjoying this year. It's my favorite Great Books year ever. Haha. No, seriously, everything we've read so far has been sooo much fun and so great!

There have been so many beautiful sunsets lately. This one I stitched together in post; it's three photos put together.

~Sejna

[three/fiftytwo]

[three/fiftytwo]
It's like... two minutes into sunday. Lol.
And I like this more than I thought I would.
I'm thinking about creating a stand alone page (up by the guestbook and about me page) with my fifty twos on it. And maybe posting the weekly photo there only, or also as a proper post on the blog? Thoughts?

 

[response paragraph]

This is my response paragraph for this week's assignment in Great Books. We're reading Josephus right now, The Jewish War. It's a really great book. Just a note: the Zealots was a gang of Jews that grabbed power in the city, and just went hog wild there. The atrocities that went on in there were soo bad, a lot of the Jews deserted to the Romans, gave themselves up as slaves to get away from what was going on in the city. The only problem with that is that you were risking your life just by trying to leave the city, if you were caught leaving, they would kill you and leave your body outside the city walls. It was a bloodbath, extreme internal dissension. 

{response paragraph}

I was really struck this week by the disintegration of things in Jerusalem. It was so easy, nobody resisted. I think there were many people who opposed it, but for some reason didn't do anything publicly. They just let it happen. They gave power to the evil men through "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." This quote is often attributed to Thomas Burke, but in reality the author is unknown. However, it very accurately describes the conditions there in Jerusalem. Ananus gives a very moving speech to the same affect, shortly after the Zealots seized the Temple, saying, "You are plundered without a protest, beaten without a murmur, witnesses of murder without one audible groan.....Wasn't it you who shut your eyes when the gang was first formed-a mere handful then-encouraged its growth by your silence, and by standing idly by while they were arming turned those arms against yourselves?.....you yourselves built every one of the steps by which these sacrilegious wretches have climbed so insolently; do not grumble if they have reached the top." What I've taken away from this? Don't stand by and watch evil form. Not in your country, not in your heart, your personal life. Don't feed a bad habit or a sinful activity by ignoring it. Deal with it, confess it, kill it.

My best friend and me.

This if from New Years when we stayed with Bre and Lyssa's family. My family was waiting in the car for Sam and I to finish up packing to leave, and I came downstairs to this sight!! Hahahahaha... I can't decide who looks goofier. Nathaniel has my winter stuff on, and Gabe donned Samantha's. This picture just cracks me up. They had already taken them off when Sam came down, but we were still laughing about it, and when she asked what was so funny, Gabe(?) said, "You'll know when you see the picture..." haha
Annyway. Figured I might as well post it :)

Today I was helping the kids get ready for church, and I happened to be combing Micah's hair. There was a spot in the top back that kept sticking up, and I was like, "MICAH. Have you been training your hair to stand up?!?" and at first he was like, "Huh...?" so I went on, saying, "I can just see you now, telling it, "Stand up! Good boy!" and giving it treats... I can't believe you would do such a thing." Giggling now, he protests, "I didn't do that!" Crossing my arms and giving him the "yeah right" eyeballs, I said, "Micah, come on. There's no way it could have learned that all on it's own. Somebody had to teach it." Micah, "Well, then it was Sylvia! While I was sleeping!!" "Uh huh, and how do you know that?" "I SAW her!!" "You saw her while you were sleeping?" Micah and I laughed and I finally got some gel to teach that hair to lay down. I said, "Now I have to unlearn your hair everything you've taught it and teach it to lay down!" Haha.

I love my siblings. :D

[lol]

Somebody on flickr said to me today, "There are honestly no girls like you in the city." 


Made. My. Day. 

 

[2/52]

2/52
1.13.11

"The tabernacle, in ancient times, was a mysterious representation of certain eternal concepts that Israel was not yet equipped to understand. The priests were the stewards of those mysteries. Likewise, the husband as priest in his home is charged with the guarding of mysteries. It's his business to remember what marriage represents-the heavenly union of Christ and His Bride-and to pay attention to the everyday means of living this out with the woman God gave him.
Often the attempt will seem so laughable, such a travesty, so ludicrously unlike what it stands for, that both will wonder how God could possibly have laid such a solemn task at their door. If the toast is burning, the phone ringing, the baby pouring milk down the mother's back, and the husband frantically trying to find his briefcase in time to make the car pool, he will not at the moment feel much like a "trustee of the mysteries." But he is one nevertheless. "No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God," the writer to the Hebrews says.
You wouldn't choose it for yourself, but if you remember that you're called by God to the work, and if you witness to that calling in the home you establish, it will be a saving, even a life-transfiguring, reality."
-Elizabeth Elliot.
This is from the book I posted about a week or so ago, called "Taking Flight." I highly recommend it.
I finished The Chronicles of Amber a couple days ago and it's a good thing too!! I seriously could not put it down, especially at the end. It's a great series of books, very complex and interesting. Easy to read, but well written. Now I'm "only" reading TWO books outside of school/devotions. Ha. Both of which are worthy of being read. :D I'll post about them later on.

-Shaina

[horseback riding+snow+earl grey]

A cute little guy I drew on my hand the other day....

Yep, Josh came riding again! I rode Ginger and we had no trouble this time :)

It's incredibly hard to take pictures on horseback, haha. No, Ginger really isn't that fat.

Halfway through the ride, we climbed a tree!! I didn't climb very high, cause the horses were getting restless and I wanted to keep an eye on them, but Sam and Josh climbed quite high!

This reminds me of Winnie the Pooh, haha, the one where Tigger and Roo climb a tree.

I told them to make the "Columbus pose" haha.

Riding back.. I love the evening light.

This morning I woke up and it was snowing!! I've always wanted to take a snow*ing* picture, so I rushed out without any breakfast/makeup and took pictures for a while. I had no gloves on and my hands got sooo cold, haha.

As I was walking back to the house, grandma called out to me, "You have an audience!!" Apparently they had been watching me quite intently for a while :)

I love Earl Grey tea. This wonderful organic brand has a very distinct difference, while still being Earl Grey. I find it a very nice change every once in a while.