The Wind of God

The Wind of God - Kate Austin

It has been a busy week for me. Work has been rough and I'm physically and mentally worn out. It has been one of those weeks when you feel so drained that you try to offer up a prayer every minute just to make it through the rest of the day. Those days remind me just how much I must rely on the Lord. It's sad that it takes a difficult situation or even just a hard day to open our eyes to the deep need of our hearts...the need for our Savior to take our brokenness and make it into something beautiful. I am a profoundly broken woman with many scars to carry. I rely too much on the encouraging words and opinions of others to sustain my ego and my mask of self-righteousness is a heavy burden I too often choose to carry.


O God may my brokenness be an avenue for you to show your glory and may my faults remind me of my desperate need for you. I have done nothing good on my own. Any gifts or goodness others may see in me is nothing but your gracious hand upon this unworthy vessel. Forgive me for choosing to wear my mask instead of allowing your grace to shine through my inadequacies. I am nothing without you.

"Dear Christ, make one that which we are and that which we appear to be. Be Lord of naked faces." - Calvin Miller

More on Lydia...

Eric and Ashleigh have posted a video of Lydia on youtube so they could share more of this wonderful miracle with friends and family. I can't help but praise God when I see this video!! How beautiful and what a perfect picture of what Christ has done with us!! Enjoy.

News

Wow, the past couple of weeks have been incredibly busy for me and even now things don't seem to be slowing down. However, I thought I would at least give an update on where we are as far as housing plans. We went and saw a few new options on Tuesday but unfortunately they didn't work out. For our last stop of the day Jon and I decided to go by Stonemill Village and check out their one bedroom apartments. After looking over the apartment and talking Jon and I decided to go for it. So we have now put down our deposit for an apartment!! Our move in date is scheduled for the week of July 20th and we have to be out of our current apartment on July 31st. So thankfully everything worked out. Now we have the stress of moving...ugh. We would covet your prayers as we try to prepare for moving. Working 3rd shift brings some added complications to that whole process. God has been so gracious to remind us of his faithfulness during these transitions. I just need to continue to remember that when things get stressful!

Here is some more exciting news...the puppies are here!! Bella had six puppies on June 22nd. There were four girls and two boys. Three of the females are blacks and the other female is a fawn (brown). The two boys are merle and harlequin. Hopefully in a few weeks Jon and I will travel out there to pick our puppy. We should get to take ours home sometime in August, once they reach the 8 week mark. We'll keep you posted as things come together. So for now here are some pictures to tide you over.

Bella

The fawn (isn't she the most adorable little thing ever...too bad she won't stay this size for long)

This little boy is a merle...our favorite color!! I don't know if I could have one of these big guys in our apartment but we'll see.

This other little boy is the harlequin.

Lydia!!!

Congratulations to Eric and Ashleigh and the rest of the Sanzone family!! You finally have your Lydia and she is beautiful! Praise God!!

Transitions

Jon and I are going through a lot of transitions right now and to be completely honest...I'm stressed out. I haven't been sleeping well and that alone has messed up my schedule and added even more stress to my life. This has been a time when I know I need to steady myself on Christ but it's so difficult. Tonight, at work, I've spent a good deal of my time praying and asking God to give me the strength I need to have more faith. I feel meager holding up my hands to the Lord with this tiny mustard seed of faith. In the grand scheme of things I know this dilemma is far from life changing but it still weighs heavy on my heart and I would appreciate your prayers concerning this particular need. I almost feel silly asking for prayer since I know others are facing much more difficult situations but if you feel led please partner with us in prayer.

We need a place to live. Monday we will put in our 30 day notice to our apartment complex and as of right now we have no place to live once those 30 days expire. The thought of moving forward without any safety net is terrifying and all of the worst possible things that could happen have been running through my mind. Please pray along with us that the Lord would provide a 1-2 bedroom apartment, within our price range that allows dogs. Seems simple enough right? We've been looking for quiet some time with no luck.

So God...I believe, help my unbelief.

Thoughts on Art

Moses- Michelangelo

I don't pretend to know everything there is to know about art but I certainly do appreciate it. What I find interesting in a piece of artwork brings me to search and learn more about. So I investigate, and read as much as I can. This particular statue is one I've been interested in for quite some time.

Michelangelo's works are some of my favorite. His paintings are beautiful (for example just look at the Sistine Chapel) but for me his sculptures are awe inspiring. Take this one of Moses. The intricacies of the fabric folded around his legs, the way his beard is brushed off to the side, and what about the beauty of the human form? One would hardly know that this was made out of stone. But does anyone else notice something...something different..?

Yes, Moses has horns. Odd, isn't it? I found the explanation to this very interesting. Apparently it is believed that this representation came from Exodus 34:29-35. In the passage we read about Moses coming down from Mount Sinai and that his "face was radiant" because he had spoken with the Lord. Through misrepresentation and an error in translation at the time of Michelangelo, artists began to depict Moses in numerous sculptures and paintings with horns on the top of his head. If you're interested you can read more about this at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses#Horned_Moses.

Here are a few other useless facts that I happen to find fascinating (yes, yes I know I'm a huge dork):

- Moses is the centerpiece of the tomb of Pope Julius II.
- If you notice Moses' torso, shoulders, and arms are larger, making them slightly disproportionate to the rest of the body. His face also has an overly dramatic expression. The reason for this is that when the statue was originally commissioned Moses was going to be placed on the upper part of the monument, where it would have been viewed from below.
- The face of Moses is also very similar to the face of God portrayed on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

(http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/michelangelo-sculptures10.htm)

What's been on my heart...

"O God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only Savior, the Prince of Peace: Give us grace seriously to lay to heart the great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions; take away all hatred and prejudice, and whatever else may hinder us from godly union and concord; that, as there is but one Body and one Spirit, one hope of our calling, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of us all, so we may be all of one heart and of one soul, united in one holy bond of truth and peace, of faith and charity, and may with one mind and one mouth glorify thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

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"O God, by whom the meek are guided in judgment, and light riseth up in darkness for the godly: Grant us, in all our doubts and uncertainties, the grace to ask what thou wouldest have us to do, that the Spirit of wisdom may save us from all false choices, and that in thy light we may seel ight, and in thy straight path may not stumble; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
(The Book of Common Prayer)