san francisco & thanks!

i'm psyched that i got to finally see san fran!!! i had been praying 2 things all this month.

the first was that i'd be able to drive again by spring break. the other was that i'd be able to go, @ least for the day, out of town on a roadtrip so it would actually feel like spring break. both have come true. i'm finally driving again, thank god!!! then god just connected me w/ an amazing friend that invited me to join her on her daytrip to san fran earlier today (all expenses paid, yo!). it was great. see???





feel free to check the rest of the photos of the day @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrystalyn/ and check out today's date. you'll also find a comprehensive album of pretty much everything i've photographically documented since i came here. you'll see good friends, the honey, roadtrips, and holidays.

while i'm @ it, i just want to thank everyone that's contributed financially so that i can get to my next place. it's SO appreciated. and honestly, your contributions have completely shifted the way i view god. thanks again for being a part of what god is doing in me to break off that poverty spirit. i am much obliged.

xoox

a new thing

so i was talking to an old friend today that i only chat w/ about twice a year or so. in that time, i got to talk out a little something that i felt like i needed to share.

as you might have noticed (i'm sure all the photos of jewelry along the left margin tipped you off), i make prophetic jewelry. in the 3 or so years that i've been doing it, i've been discouraged time and time again by the lack of response i've received as a whole. now there have been many wonderful people that have supported me (and i thank you all so much), but still i was unable to move forward in it as more than just a side hobby. i realized today that, despite my lack of understanding through this journey, god has had a very good plan for my creativity.

it seems as though there were many thing holding me back (fear of failure, rejection, success, ect) and i was so unable to maintain the needed confidence every time i began to break through into a new level. well, today i'm saying it's lifted!!!! the lack of confidence that i do good work, that i make a valued product, or that god doesn't have my back in this endeavor. today, i'm fully aware that much breakthrough of the mind has come about in this last nine months and i am finally expectant in my ability to move forward in the world of creativity.

i can just see, today, how my vision has been clarified and how little about me it is. today, i know that god will pour favor upon me b/c i'm releasing the kingdom around me and through my art. i just see how imperative it is for the fashion industry and creative arts to begin to ravage heaven for the anointed ideas and designs that have been crafted for such a time as this.

if you are an artist or even if you have creative tendencies, begin to tug on god's sleeve for the release of heavenly inspired ideas and designs in this season. he desires to inundate the world w/ beautiful and glory coated treasures in the coming days. allow yourself to be one that he uses to do so...

happy building,
chrystal

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

job hunting & easter break

please pray for me right now as i'm on the mad lookout for a job. i've got a bit less than 2 months left of school and i need something now. however, i'd love for my job to be something that i can do now w/ my current hours and then transition into full time once summer rolls around.

i've had breakthrough in that i've been on a few interviews, but the schedule seems to be the perpetual issue (i'm only available in the mornings and all day on mondays & saturdays). even still, i know that god has something for me. please just pray that it will be released!!!

on a much brighter note, today is our last day of school before spring break. we've got a week off plus tomorrow which is good friday. i'd really love for a few bits of daunting circumstances to pan out so that i can enjoy a bit of the area. i'm hardcore contending for breakthrough right now as i know everyone is.

much love,
xoox