i see your face before me

In a world of glitter and glow
In a world of tinsel and show
The unreal from the real thing is hard to know
I discovered somebody who
Could be truly worthy and true
Yes, I met my ideal thing when I met you

hillsong nyc

It's true. Hillsong is expanding to New York City. And with it will come Joel Houston. Perfect timing. Magnificent moment to begin the process of shifting our own lives to New York City. Imagine worshipping at Hillsong New York City on a weekly basis. The City doesn't know what's about to happen, but we do!

tonight's gonna be a good night

It comes as no shock that I'm ecstatic to see Sex and the City 2 tonight with some of the most fabulous ladies in my life! Just let me say as a prerequisite to the viewing of this film that I think you are even more fabulous than any woman that crosses that screen! You all are my embellishments and accessories - the things that make me look and feel my best!

little friday thoughts

Have you ever been so blown away by life that you can't begin to fathom it? It's not that life has dealt me no bad hands or that I've been given a free pass to happiness. I've learned that the secret rests in contentment and generosity. These two things bring about a wealth that cannot be contained in a bank account or on an A-List. I'm so overwhelmed by life and how God has given His contentment to us as a gift to satisfy our longings with His goodness. I'm cherishing these waning moments of Washington. How content I am to see God demonstrate Himself here even as we begin the shift to new lands. In my contentment, I'm praying already for the music and creative industries. I love their place in the Kingdom.

poolside

I will be poolside this weekend. Albeit, completely slathered in SPF and under a huge black floppy hat. I cannot stay away. The heat is beckoning me to the pool waters.

supply and demand

Never underestimate the power of ongoing shopping that keeps your husband happy.

dangerous

I've never wanted a simple life. A white picket fence and a two-car garage. I don't need a set schedule or a husband with a normal occupation. I've been running from that all my life. I've been running into the arms of discomfort for so long. God has always been asking me to trade the comfortable and ordinary for the insane and extraordinary. This reality has completely overtaken me. Saying yes to Jesus will cost me everything. But my life is not my own. I am completely swallowed up in Him.

I've been thinking lately about the cost of saying yes. I tend to focus on the success and victory of following Jesus. And there will be many. But experiencing Christ's death is a cost I cannot avoid if I want to experience the power of His resurrection. Am I willing to say yes regardless of the cost? Though it rob me of everything that I am and all that I have? Am I willing to suffer shame and being misunderstood and resented so that someone else can find a future and a hope? That is Love, and that is the only thing that will rescue a generation despised and neglected. Love is a danger we cannot avoid.

release

Today, a shifting in attitude and circumstance. A complete release and freedom to pursue a new direction. But before the time comes, I'll relax - and continue to pour into my situation that which is in my hand to give. Then my love and I will be off to greater lands.

divine frustration

An ephiphany came to me this weekend that gave me insight into God's heart and spirit for this world. Listening to a Christian friend-artist singing beautiful love songs in a club in New York City filled me with the pleasure of Jesus. It was as if He said, Stop singing about Me! Start singing to Me! Get out of your little Christian world that I didn't even create. Go out into the realm that I did create - the world! There is no sacred and there is no secular. There is only Jesus. Plant yourselves in the middle of the market sqaure. Sing to me there. That's where I want to hear your worship. You don't even have to say My name.

ready

Don't You see we're ready?! Ready for more You and more of what You're calling us to? I'm amazed that you would let us in on Your plan, into the intimacy of Your ways. How we long to serve You and love You dramatically and drastically in ways that never have existed within us before now. Do not delay Your promises!

DUMBO

DUMBO, Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, is a neighborhood in the New York City, New York borough of Brooklyn. It encompasses two sections; one located between the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges, which connect Brooklyn to Manhattan across the East River, and another which continues east from the Manhattan Bridge to the Vinegar Hill area. The DUMBO historic district consists of properties bound by John Street to the north, York Street to the south, Main Street to the west, and Bridge Street to the east.

Points of Interest
The area has emerged as one of New York City's premier arts districts, with a cluster of for-profit art galleries and such not-for-profit institutions as the St. Ann's Warehouse and the A.I.R. Gallery. Chef Jacques Torres opened a chocolate factory in DUMBO in December 2000. Other culinary businesses in the area include Grimaldi's, the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, the River Café, and, in the One Old Fulton Street building, Pete's Downtown Restaurant. All of these businesses cluster in Fulton Landing, which is also home to Bargemusic, a floating venue for classical music. The first public space in the neighborhood was Fulton Ferry, followed by Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park. Brooklyn Bridge Park, a joint state/city venture presently under development, was launched in 2006.

Transportation
The New York Water Taxi company runs a water ferry from the Fulton Slip at Fulton Landing. New York City Subway stations are located at York Street (F train) on the IND Sixth Avenue Line, and High Street – Brooklyn Bridge (A C trains) on the IND Eighth Avenue Line. Bus service is provided by the B25, B67, B69, and B75. A convenient staircase connects the Brooklyn Bridge walkway to Washington Street, one of DUMBO's main streets.

35 years

Today is my parent's 35th wedding anniversary. May 17, 1975, Janesville, Wisconsin. Two unsuspecting teenagers unaware of the high cost of marrying one another and subsequently devoting their lives to being doorkeepers of His House. Today is a milestone in their story, the great love story between the Three of them. Their best years are to come. They are more moldable, more fluid than they've ever been.

white

White in the summer is so fresh.

WAHM

Let me be very clear: I do not want to work when my children arrive. To further refine my thought, let me say that I do not want to work in an office away from my children when they arrive. So I've started to pray for God to open my eyes, build my confidence, unleash my creativity and pursue what's pursuing me - out of my home. It's time to think bigger thoughts and leave safe pasture. Such an amazing thought that God would want us to live closely to Him through family and creativity.

P.S. I'm thankful that the son in the above picture will most likely look nothing like the son I'll have with Rico one day.

chef

I love cooking for my husband. It's come as such a surprise to me. I find it to be a secret joy and pleasure.

three legs

Becoming one with another human is like running a three legged race. It's wonderful to tape your leg to his and become alive with to his proximity. It's exhilarating to together take your mark at the starting line. It is, however, a completely noval thing to begin to move together in harmony as your wills combine with force. Marriage has been a transition and a process. I love every minute of it. Soon we'll be moving in sync and with speed. I'm sure it's amusing for God to watch as His children learn to live and move and breathe and meld their wills to each others and to His.

He will

In the depths of Ethiopia, she received a word for us the week before our wedding day: Genesis 12:1-2. The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

She emphasized that He would do this, in His way and in His time. We don't need to create the plan or organize any part of it. Our focus is to recognize His leading when it arrives.

around us

Around Us - Jonsi

I see the walls and see them fall
You break through them all
I see you crawl, now you stand tall
Grow and grow till tall

mrs. rock

There is no way to begin an adequate summary of my thoughts and feelings about getting married. My only insight is that the wedding was more than I could have hoped for because all I wanted was Jesus to make Himself comfortable and present and known. For now, I will include a list of memorable moments of May 1st.

- giving the paintings to my bridesmaids, my uncle, Miata and Christina. I had the best time hearing Jesus give me inspiration for each one of you
- spending my last single-girl, intimate moments with my close friends at home over lingerie and sexual references
- listening to Your Love is Extravagant in the car with Laurie and Kyle and being moved to tears by God's obsession with me
- unexpectedly losing all of my emotions again on Moving Forward by Israel as Christina did my make-up. I was so impressed that she never told me to hold it together. She just wiped up behind me and started over again. Incredible sensitivity and devotion to worship and her craft.
- Tara's spontaneous prayer for our marriage
- Laurie reading to me during the car ride to the church
- seeing my parents waiting outside as we arrived at the church
- walking down the aisle to the rhythm of Rico's smile
- Rico whispering to me over and over again during the ceremony
- worship
- communion
- worshipping during communion
- Tifani and Kevin singing
- the vows and rings
- two becoming one

"Rico and your union will destroy the powers of darkness everywhere that you go! That's the word I got for you. I got this picture of the two of you together in a city coming in contact with people and their lives being changed by your union; people being drawn to you by God and salvation coming to many, many, many through the two of you!" -TL

The meaning of Allen is Rock.