really, what am i doing???

so we all know i'm not doing 2nd year. we all know that i still make jewelry. but how do i support myself now that i can't reasonably send out letters soliciting money from anyone i've ever met?

i'm doing temp work. i just got a 3.5 week job @ a local human resources company. i volley between answering phones and mailing out my chic little jewelry postcards. now and then, i actually return an email or blog.

i'm also (still) revamping my website. i'm already offering gift certificates that can be purchased right off of the site. i'm also working on a bridal section. i have to get the photos from the brides first... *sigh* i'm getting things ready for a holiday show slated for november 15th. can't recall if i've already announced that or not. i just got the sweetest postcards to promote it. they may very well be my favorite ever. i'll be selling ornaments & wine markers that day @ monica's.

let's see... what else can be said for my evasive posture these days? i still don't answer my phone or texts b/c i have one of those super oldschool ones that does nothing but calls people. it's illegal to talk while you're driving so the only thing to do is put that phone on speakerphone and stuff it into my cleavage. driving used to be the time when i talked to everyone. but since the commute in redding is a fraction of the commute in dallas... there's just not time for that. i've been trying to get a reasonable amount of sleep these days. such a strange thought, i know.

and then there's ministry. my homegroup from last year felt like it was time to take it to the next level so we changed days and moved to a room in the church (was a home group... in the home). i'm on the ministry team as a lead for prophetic ministry. woo hoo. i'm excited b/c i enjoy shaping and building new things. this should be interesting. and as a sidenote, i designed the business cards for the ministry. they turned out lovely, if i say so myself.

overall, my life has gone from macroeconomics to microeconomics. i've gone from seeing things on a grand scheme to beginning to see the bits and pieces and how they all go together. if i recall correctly, i really hated macro b/c it was all so foreign to me. however, i fell in love w/ micro b/c i actually began to how all those pieces and parts snap together and what they're used for. i hate generalizations and, as w/ economics, i had a really hard time figuring out the grand overview of what life looks like in the kingdom of heaven. however, i'm seeing an ease surfacing that i can partially contribute to the way that my brain works, i believe. that's a great revelation, chrystal.

until next time, be expectant and proactive w/ your faith. and by all means, enjoy the process!

xoxo

spring break - a break from the brain

so this week is spring break. no classes all week long. and, for the record, school is almost out. we graduation on may 16 and it's just so close.

i was talking to the honey last night and considering whether 1st year has been all it's cracked up to be. there's been some good times, but i'm finding that there's alot more to it than i initially intended. it's so easy to pick the most outgoing or freely spirit moving people out and be frustrated b/c i'm not @ their level. it's easy to feel like, during the crunch time, that i've not accomplished or grasped everything i was sent her to land. it's even easy to beat myself up for not trying all of the very cool outreaches and classes offered here @ bethel and thus deduct that i've wasted my time this last 9 months.

but last night i realized that we're all in different seasons. i, personally, have been in a deep place of deliverance most of this year w/ god getting @ all of the deeply hidden things that have terrorized relationships, tormented those that i love, and made lunchmeat of my insides b/c i'd not yet been ready to deal w/ some very hard things.

i guess, my point is, 1st year has not looked as i supposed it would look @ all. it's been alot of soaring ups and very low downs. it's been joyful, unbearable, infuriating, and freeing. i say all this b/c recently, i've had a hard time putting this year into perspective. i've heard myself and even listened to some others imply that i hadn't accomplished what i came here to do. the reality is, i had no idea what i came here to do. i knew that god would release some solid connections in my life here and that i would come into a place of expansion. beyond that, my expectations were quite nondescript.

so i feel like my perspective and god's are totally different about 1st year. i think that god is capable of accomplishing all that he has set out to do in me as well as through me. after having some light shed on this incident, i realized that this investment of my time will impact every portion of my life in the days to come. it will affect even the places in the future where my time is to bask brightly and joyously in the fullness of my dreams realized.

i just want to commend anyone that's every sacrificed a chunk of their life out to invest in your future as a child of god. it doesn't ever seem to be what we think it will be, but it's always a fruitful endeaver when you've got the right heart.

be blessed in the year of new beginnings!!

xoxo

the names of god...

i just have to say that god is exactly who he says he is. he proves himself faithful day in and day out and i just have to let someone know. he truly is provider, healer, comforter, lover... i could go on for days w/ the character of god. but suffice it to say, this late @ night, that he is nothing less than what he claims to be... good! and i just can't help but be thankful for his goodness.

if you're feeling defeated right now, hold on a bit longer and let him break through every wall that's held you back in the past seasons. for every gate that's not opened for you, the lord says that he is swinging wide open the gates this year on our behalf! take a deep, sweet breath and let the expectation of heaven saturate your insides tonight. bask in the glories to come and the kindness of a good, good daddy...

much love,
chrys