The following is a response to a friends blog titled big faith by my dear friend Ann Dunagan. Thanks for the inspiration
---- --- ----
What a beautiful picture of faith. I am learning right now how to handle my faith, it's delicate like a flower, powerful like a lion, passionate like a dance and at times as confusing as a maze. What does one do when they have passion/vision/dreams/prophetic moments yet they are like that picture of the girl with the rock? TOO big for me to figure out and 'make' happen. Often too big for many to understand or see. What then.... then i must stir up my faith and cry out to the One who gave them to me in the first place... and then stand in FAITH believing He does indeed have a PERFECT PLAN that reaches beyond this moment, this week or even this life; His plan reaches into eternity. And so i stand in Faith. Sometimes my hands are lifted in worship, sometimes the standing turns into kneeling/crying out in prayer and sometimes i just sit in a silent moment and try not to think about it or figure it out.
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." - Hebrews 11:1
We have all heard this verse in sermons, videos, plays... in the bible reading about a month ago. But when we stop to think about it here are the 2 things that come to mind;
#1- faith is a big deal and hard to wrap my head around.
#2- faith goes right along with Hope, and hope is something i can understand and wrap my head around. Hope is something we all have and hold onto. Hope is what the world needs. Hope is the message that makes sense to a world lost in darkness.
and my hope is found in NOTHING less than Jesus blood and righteousness.
uh oh i LOVE that hymn... i could go on for hours... but i'll leave it at that.
thoughts? words of wisdom?
Friday, July 25, 2008
Summer Camp 2008
The Westside-rs
These 5 girls are AMAZING!
This is me on the last day... not sure why my smile is so big?!?!We were getting ready to come HOME!
We were a little "mis-informed" about dress-up night
Jenine got the memo...
The Black Hole
Gross games....
This is Casey.The goal was to get the most Cheetos to stick to the face full of whip cream.
Jenine was in a race to see who could eat half a watermelon faster...
That's the basics folks. We had a great time. Lots of craziness. Lots of God moments. Beautiful Sunsets. Amazing People. And if you ever wondered when the line,
"when heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss"
was going to show up during worship... it has arrived! Not kidding.
more stories to come!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
NEW PHOTOGRPAHY BLOG~
check it out....
http://justsmilesphotography.wordpress.com/
http://justsmilesphotography.wordpress.com/
it's still in the works, but i think overall it's going to be better and easier for people to actually see a lot of my photography in one place!!!!
hooray!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
J&J July 5th 2008
Check out my photography blog for more pics...
Part of my weekend up in WA was capturing moments for Jordan and Jen Williams on their Big Day!
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
so close!
We almost had all the Diacogiannis Kiddos in the same place at the same time... Carissa is still in Argentina and Jeremiah had a work meeting... but here's the rest of us....
L-R= Ben, Josiah, Gregg, Elijah, Josh, Rachel, Hosanna, Me, Sarah, Jacob and Lindsey!
Monday, July 07, 2008
morning sounds..
Beep. this morning i woke up to a text message. i glanced more at the time than the text itself. 9:07.
9:07? for real?
I have been at my parents house for a long weekend and every morning except today i have woken up to the sound of one of my little siblings whispering in my ear.... everyday much earlier than 9:07. As i lay in bed, the sun broke through the red curtains with all the power it could muster, I could hear the birds outside and the quiet hum of the ceiling fan in the living room. I couldn't hear ANY people sounds. I wanted to hope that perhaps they had all slept in, but i knew that they had all gone to bed hours before me and my silence would soon be broken. I grabbed the comforter and pulled it over my head, hoping for a few more moments of sleep. Sure enough the door flew open and i could hear a little person approaching the bed. "cassie?" came the whisper... and then a second little person entered the room, "rachel! come back down stairs, cassie is sleepin'." I rolled over and produced the evidence that i was indeed awake; my half-smile half-yawn, the messing pile of hair and my squeaky voice, "good morning girls." Sarah and Rachel both looked at me, not sure if they had just woken me up, or if i had been awake under there. They starred at me for a moment and both hurried back out of the room and down stairs. I climbed out of bed and went to see where all the other little ones were...
as i walked down the stairs i heard the washing-machine spinning someone's laundry, the shower had just been turned off, and a chorus of little voices was drifting out from underneath the door of "the boys" room. I opened the door slowly and peaked in... six little heads turned to stare. "We're playin' UNO." "what's for breakfast?" "Are you leavin' today?" "Josiah's being rude." and "i want waffles" are just a few of the phrases that turned my half-asleep self into wide awake big sister.
I tried to answer all the questions as i backed out of the room and heading back of the stairs. The pitter-patter of little feet followed me. I told them i needed to shower and then i would figure out breakfast.(i can't function with out a shower and moments to pray about my day) I hadn't even had a chance to brush my hair when the pounding started on bedroom door. "He said i have to eat waffles and i want pancakes." "can we buy syrup?" "let's take a vote."
I got them going on breakfast and escaped for the office to check email and blog updates. I listened as they helped each other set the table and pour the batter. "it's hot, so be careful." "can you get me the plates?" "i want waffles and pancakes" "are the strawberries frozen?"
in a few hours i will be heading back to Bend. I will wake up tomorrow morning in my own house, with my phone vibrating the time, the sun shining through the black curtains and the sounds of the neighbors sprinklers starting off the day. I will lay there and wonder how the weekend went so fast and if all the pictures turned out good. The silence will be loud in my ear and i will turn on my itunes to break things up while i start my day.
The morning sounds are so different here and there. Here life is so evident by the sounds. There i might not have a conversation with another human until 10 or 11. Here "cassie" is as common in my ear as "pink? or No pink?" there.
11:01.
I glance at the clock and the office has now been invaded by 3 little ones. They all want to ask me something... Here i go to answer the morning sounds.
9:07? for real?
I have been at my parents house for a long weekend and every morning except today i have woken up to the sound of one of my little siblings whispering in my ear.... everyday much earlier than 9:07. As i lay in bed, the sun broke through the red curtains with all the power it could muster, I could hear the birds outside and the quiet hum of the ceiling fan in the living room. I couldn't hear ANY people sounds. I wanted to hope that perhaps they had all slept in, but i knew that they had all gone to bed hours before me and my silence would soon be broken. I grabbed the comforter and pulled it over my head, hoping for a few more moments of sleep. Sure enough the door flew open and i could hear a little person approaching the bed. "cassie?" came the whisper... and then a second little person entered the room, "rachel! come back down stairs, cassie is sleepin'." I rolled over and produced the evidence that i was indeed awake; my half-smile half-yawn, the messing pile of hair and my squeaky voice, "good morning girls." Sarah and Rachel both looked at me, not sure if they had just woken me up, or if i had been awake under there. They starred at me for a moment and both hurried back out of the room and down stairs. I climbed out of bed and went to see where all the other little ones were...
as i walked down the stairs i heard the washing-machine spinning someone's laundry, the shower had just been turned off, and a chorus of little voices was drifting out from underneath the door of "the boys" room. I opened the door slowly and peaked in... six little heads turned to stare. "We're playin' UNO." "what's for breakfast?" "Are you leavin' today?" "Josiah's being rude." and "i want waffles" are just a few of the phrases that turned my half-asleep self into wide awake big sister.
I tried to answer all the questions as i backed out of the room and heading back of the stairs. The pitter-patter of little feet followed me. I told them i needed to shower and then i would figure out breakfast.(i can't function with out a shower and moments to pray about my day) I hadn't even had a chance to brush my hair when the pounding started on bedroom door. "He said i have to eat waffles and i want pancakes." "can we buy syrup?" "let's take a vote."
I got them going on breakfast and escaped for the office to check email and blog updates. I listened as they helped each other set the table and pour the batter. "it's hot, so be careful." "can you get me the plates?" "i want waffles and pancakes" "are the strawberries frozen?"
in a few hours i will be heading back to Bend. I will wake up tomorrow morning in my own house, with my phone vibrating the time, the sun shining through the black curtains and the sounds of the neighbors sprinklers starting off the day. I will lay there and wonder how the weekend went so fast and if all the pictures turned out good. The silence will be loud in my ear and i will turn on my itunes to break things up while i start my day.
The morning sounds are so different here and there. Here life is so evident by the sounds. There i might not have a conversation with another human until 10 or 11. Here "cassie" is as common in my ear as "pink? or No pink?" there.
11:01.
I glance at the clock and the office has now been invaded by 3 little ones. They all want to ask me something... Here i go to answer the morning sounds.
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