Tuesday, July 27, 2010

mommyhood


Don't worry guys... i am not with child.

I was looking through facebook today at all my classmates from highschool thinking about how 5 years ago we were getting our senior portraits taken and buying that perfect first day of Senior year outfit. How it seems like yesterday and so far away at the same time!

I noticed how many of my classmates have babies now and how amazing it is to see their little smiling faces and how great a job my friends are doing as parents!

I began to think to myself about the kind of mom I would be...

I think i would be a great mom...
my kids will know what "Cool It" means....
I hope my kids will look like this most days....

I think i will make their baby food...
I will NOT FEED THEM CHEETOS AND HOTDOGS...
I think i will let them get dirty alot...
I will teach them to look people in the eye...
I think i will allow them to express themselves through dancing and art(maybe even on the walls)...
I will let them wear the superman costume for 3 weeks...
They will always have shoes on in walmart...
I will teach them to act appropriately in public settings...
I think we will visit the library alot...
I will let them help cook often...

I know i am not a mommy yet and am quite a way from being there but this is one of those fun things to think about....
I mean it about the Cheetos and Hotdogs.... they won't be banned but we're not having them everyday!
love y'all,
Chelsea Lou

the photo above was taken by Sarah Hinton Photography, Bay Springs, MS
http://sarahhintonphotography.blogspot.com/

Sunday, July 25, 2010

restroom evangelism


So on my way home from a baby sitting job last night i stopped at a very well lit 24 hour gas station to fill up and get a red bull for the drive back, and when i got to the restroom (because everyone knows you should always try!) i met a lady. She was missing a few teeth and had dirty white tennis shoes on... i met her because she hadn't closed the door to her stall and i had to pass her to get to mine.

She then began to tell me about herself. She'd been in prison for a while and didn't even realize she forgot to shut the door until i said excuse me. She was tile layer... did walls, floors, and bathtubs, and she was amazing at what she did. She was the only woman on a work team of about 8 or so that was traveling from west texas to pensacola, FL (where she was from)and she needed a beer because she had "had enough of their sh*t". I talked back and forth with her for a while (mostly listening) thinking, "What do i say to this woman who has told me her whole life story while we are in this dirty bathroom?" So i did as a good southern lady would do and commented on her skills as something worth alot and how i knew road trips are rough especially if your the only female.
After I washed my hands and dried them and told her i had to get back on the road... She then did something that i was shocked by... She apologized for talking to me. I was taken aback but told her not to worry, she wasn't bothering me and i hoped the night got better for her.

As I got back into my nice freshly detailed Hyundai and drove off, I realized how much she needed love and how much she needed God and how ill prepared i was to give either of those to her in the 5 minutes we were together. I realized that those 5 minutes were all that i had and i will never have another chance to see her again... to give her the attention and love that she so desired.
I began to pray for her and after a few minutes God showed me a couple of other instances where i was in the right place at the right time.... or rather HE put me in the right place at the right time to hear people's stories... In wal-mart in anchorage or sitting on the sidewalk in New Orleans. I guess i have a face that screams "tell me your life story!!"... and its an AMAZING gift.

He then showed me that although I can get the stories easily... more like they fall in my lap... that when i get them i don't know what to do with them, I've trained myself so well in long term relationships that this amazing 5 minute opportunity didn't have a climax... it just stopped.

So now... 24 hours later i am asking myself... Why am I not prepared and now, how do i prepare myself? How do i show these people love in a way they have never felt before when i will never see them again?
This will be a long process and I've got a lot of learning to do ... but i can't wait to see the end result!

-Chelsea Lou!!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Perplexed Am I !

So... after a year of pretty much taking a break from too much artsy stuff I am beginning to realize that I am really good at this stuff and... well... it could sell... i just have to make it.

This brings me to a perplexing place. I was planning on finding an afterschool job and working on my art and crafty things in order to get enough to sell at shows or just from home or simply working on the art. There are pros and cons to both which makes it a hard decision to make.

so... i am going to see what you guys think...

here are some facts about work:
>i will only be able to work 3 hours a day at an on campus job (15 hrs a week)
>probably will be getting paid minimum wage
>it will give me a extremely full schedule (9am-5pm) everyday which makes for a tired girl with lots of extracurricular activities and little time to work on much else than school work
>i have a job on game weeks but like i said... it won't be for very many hours
>I don't have a job lined up at this time... i have made some calls but no response yet

facts about the art side:
>i love it
>If i don't work then i'll have at least 3 hours a day to work on getting together a large stash for resale
>It takes money to buy supplies
>i don't have much room in which to do art work.
>i really enjoy it and feel calmer and at home when I can do it
>I have 1 contracted work (thanks to Chelle) already
>I have a boutique owner in Alaska and slidell that is interested in selling my work for a small commission

hmmm... looks like the pros and cons are pretty convincing to my free spirit but not to my responsible and planning for the future side!

Soooo... Let me hear what you guys think...

p.s. Everyone that comments (on either side) i will make something for you... like i said... i really like doing this stuff

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

sweet summertime

















so on this night in july when i can't sleep at all (due to the steroids prescribed for my back) i have been thinking ...
thinking about summer...

thinking about how as kids we love summer... it meant a break from the ordinary... no school no homework no drama with classmates... Summer meant change and as kids any idea of change from the ordinary excites us...
now i am looking at what will be probably my last summer break... i have a little over a month left and i'm ready to get back to the ordinary... but i am slowly realizing that the ordinary is not the same as it was when i left my haven at 401b ... the change that awaits me at "ordinary" is quite big... probably the biggest change that i have ever experienced at once... thats a big deal...

now don't get me wrong i love the idea of summer time... lazy days in the sun .. but some of the biggest changes in my life have happened over summer break... making it hard to say that i actually love summer...
i look forward to the days when change comes slowly... when I don't have to stop my life in one place and come back in 3 months to find everything is different and only a few things remain constant
i'm not sure what i am getting at but there it is...
from the mind of chelsea lou

Sunday, July 18, 2010

i know there is a plan... but what is it?

So Coming home early from Alaska early was a tough decision to make but after I gave it to God he gave me such perfect peace about it. Now after 3 days of complete rest and very little if any relief I'm getting restless... I want to do something... I want to see what this plan is that God has for me here because its beginning to get to me. Several other things have happened that keep adding stress and making it harder to just rest and get well.
I know he has a plan and I know that I have nothing without him. I just can't see it yet.... and i want to so badly... i want to be in his will so badly .... but right now... i can't clearly see what that is right now.

maybe it is to rest
maybe he is teaching me to totally an completely rely on him
there are so many maybes right now

Friday, July 16, 2010

God's Event planning...

Isn't it funny how God has been planning something for weeks and you keep getting frustrated with him until you realize... He's had a perfect plan for me all along.

Well this is exactly what has happened over the last few weeks...
and I am so Glad it did...

As many of you know I had to make a tough decision to come home from Alaska early to get some rest and seek further treatment for my back. God had planned it all for this specific week for at least 2 weeks prior.
  • I was sad that I only had a helpers position at VBS in Girdwood, but HE knew that if I had a position of leadership there that I would not have made the decision based on my needs but my commitments.
  • I was having a hard time getting to know my team there, and was just starting to feel part of the team but He used this to make it easier because were I more emotionally invested in the team my commitments would have overcome my needs.
  • I was having a great time meeting people but a hard time getting to a deeper level with them, making it easier to do what He needed me to do rather than what I thought He wanted me to do there.
  • I made a commitment to him to stay off the computer and facebook for a while making me rely totally on HIM to make this decision because I wasn't able to talk to my goto people that help my make my decisions.
Its been a rollercoaster of a week... and I still have much to see of what else God did during these past few days.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

in christ alone

last verse of this amazing song that i will be singing in the morning when i start my week long fast from the computer:


No Guilt in life, no fear in death
this is the power of christ in me.
FROM LIFE'S FIRST CRY TO FINAL BREATH
JESUS COMMANDS MY DESTINY
No Power of hell, NO SCHEME OF MAN
Can ever pluck me from HIS hand
Till he returns or calls me home
Here in the power or christ I'll stand!

Talk to you guys next saturday!
Pray for me!
-Chels

Thursday, July 8, 2010

When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will flow with peace.















This quote by Jimi Hendrix caught my eye in the church on sunday at the tie dye service for forest fair. While we were sitting in the service listening to pastor Jim give his sermon this came to my mind....
All of the amazing quotes about changing the world with love are true... all the things that the young people during the 60's were searching for really could have changed the world.
They were searching for love ... but they were misled and thought love meant sex and good feelings that you get from other people.
But WE know that GOD is the only source of lasting true love and that feelings fade and people hurt each other... even with the best of intentions because we are human.
The thing that is sad and amazing at the same time is that those people who were searching for love over 40 years ago are still searching for it. They are still looking for love in the things that are not God.
The young people today are continuing to look for the love that their parents and grandparents never found. And the thing is that they are looking in the same places.... sex, money, drugs, and feelings. They are in need of someone to introduce them to the only source of love...
GOD IS LOVE (1john 4:8)

Pray for those who were made to introduce their peers to the ONE who created love.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

these hands

These hands have driven thousands of miles...
these hands have pulled many weeds...
these hands have rolled alot of hair...
these hands have crocheted millions of stitches...
these hands have held 3 month old orphans with chicken pox until they slept...
these hands have played bass guitar...
these hands have removed graffiti...
these hands have been decorated with Henna...
these hands have mastered a Mac...
these hands have sold tires...
these hands are ready to paint....
these hands have dropped many cell phones...
These hands have dyed t-shirts...
these hands have waited on some of the most affluent people in Mississippi...
these hands love to get dirty...
these hands have treed many sentences...
These hands sometimes don't do all their research...
these hands have taught english...
these hands have been lifted before God....
these hands need to pray...
these hands need to hold someone else's....
these hands were made to travel..
these hands were made to hold a child...
these hands were made to feed the hungry...
These hands were made by the one who uses them for his own good...
These hands are perfect for this girl...