 johnandchels
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Name: Chelsea
Interests: Hmmm, lets see.... travel, peoples and cultures of the world, ethnic food, photography, my husband and daughter, photography, mountains, travel, friends, photography, 24.... oh wait, did I mention that I love photography? Oh yeah, and travel too... don't want to forget that!
Occupation: Wife, mother and photographer.
Industry: Life
Message: message meEmail: email me
Website: visit my website
Member Since:
7/18/2005
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| head on over to the OTHER BLOG to see some of the lastest pics of Adelaide and Sydney....
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| Life.... it just never stops, eh? So here are the cliff notes of our last month or so... along with directionless meanderings.
INDI - she's about 13 weeks or so now. she is getting better. still not my favorite dog... apparently she is John's favorite dog ever. she has him wrapped around her paw. she is pretty cute. she'd be even cuter without the defecating in the house.
 
ADDIE - She is growing up waaaaaay fast. its really been hitting me lately. some fun tidbits about her as of late...
* she is in part-time preschool now. three mornings a week. its fantastic. she loves it. she also had her first class field trip to a pumpkin patch/farm in town. it just ain't right when you are sweating profusely in october picking out pumpkins.
  
 
* she got her first "just because" gift from a boy in her class today. his mom was shocked... i was shocked. he told his mom " i just want to give this to adelaide because, well, girls just like gifts, don't they?" i told his mom to keep drilling that one in over the years for sure.
  
* after reading a little Bible devotional about God looking at our hearts and our attitudes (i.e. the "inside"), i asked her what God saw when He looked inside of her..... she replied: "Food." :)
 
* she has hit the "oh yea, its so fun to change clothes 15 times a day...." stage. oh yea. consequently, we have hit the " mommy is going to take away whatever clothes are left on the ground and not put back after you change " stage. yea!
SYDY - she says "peees," " hi, bye" " NiNi" (Indi).... daddy, momma, ball, sheeewws (shoes), and uh-oh every time i get in the car and don't put on my seatbelt fast enough. i didn't know being the seatbelt police was genetic. (my grandma must be smiling down remembering my ultra hyper seatbelt policing days)
* we kissed the passi bye-bye a couple of days ago. i actually just lost it and she fell asleep for her nap ok so when i found it, i hit it. so far so good. next up this week... moving to the bed and out of the pack and play (i have found her balancing on the top bar a couple of times already.
 
ARIZONA - finally, FINALLY, welcomed some cool air in the mornings and evenings. i can handle triple digits if it would only hit the 70's or 60's each night. its been heavenly. tomorrow it is hitting triple digits again and that is just somewhat depressing. we are hoping to make a couple of trips up north of us in the next two weekends to get at least a teeny taste of fall. i sure miss Golden October in Berlin right about now.... it was always my favorite time there.
PHOTOGRAPHY - has definitely been picking up, which is exciting! i thought my weddings were completed for 2009, but just got a last minute one in Sedona the first week of November. its going to be just gorgeous.
CHURCH - John and I have really been blessed to be able to plug into a church with a growing heart for missions (short term and long term, local and global) and for social justice issues. its really been growing us and challenging us in some amazing ways.
* we have been asked to head up the missions conference/week in the spring... to bring some fresh creativity and vision to it. while that is incredibly intimidating, its also really exciting. so if any of you have some memories of fun, memorable, motivating, challenging missions conference expereinces under your belt, i would love to hear from you about it!
* i am excited to be on the team that is spearheading a ministry to women in the sex industry here in the city. God is really expanding my heart in this area. last month i got the chance to go to LA with two amazing women from church who are also a part of this ministry/outreach. we went to a weekend of training with this organization: Treasures. other than me getting violently sick with allergies/asthma issues, it was an AWESOME weekend with these ladies and all of the others we connected with. we are excited to see what God has in store for us in our own city.
pics from LA trip:
sweet cruiser... no turning radius... almost hit a wall or two. these two ladies? A M A Z I N G women. i had so much fun being the youngster of the group and being with two (cool) moms for a weekend.
 
i got to stroke my love affair with H&M and keep that fire going. oh how i love you H&M.
 
yeah...... ok the smog? completely and totally leveled me allergy and asthma wise. the orange bronco? my dream car. seriously/ i LUV it.
 
FAMILY - seems like one of the ways we continually reconnect and revive as a family is via driving to new places. thankfully, we discovered a gem only 45 minutes away from our house... a river. i love rivers. i love them more than any other body of water (including swimming pools). my idea of heaven includes rivers, the sound of running/rushing water, and wind blowing through the trees. i sure hope there is a place like that there.
 
 
 
LIFE - it seems to be spinning out of control fast these days. just busy busy. i am thankful for the things that are on my plate... but mindful of boundaries and limits that need to be revisited frequently. i am wanting to get my hands on the book "Not So Fast" by Ann Kroeker. i don't want to run past these days and not even know they were here. i have been finding amazing encouragement/inspiration in this area from some incredible blogs/women/resources lately:
my dear friend, Alyssa, at http://www.xanga.com/resolved2worship
ann at http://www.aholyexperience.com/
beth moore from her "Psalms of Assent" bible study
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| head on over HERE to get a glimpse of a super duper rainy day wedding!!
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| This past Friday, I flew to San Antonio to shoot a wedding in New Braunfels on Saturday. I had just enough time in between landing in SA and the rehearsal at the wedding venue that night to squeeze in a super, super fun family shoot with some of my dear, dear friends. I love this family.... LOVE them! I love hanging with their kids... yeah, for real. I love it when my girls get to play with these kiddos, and I love hanging out talking photography and life with my dear friend Alyssa. So when she said she wanted to hire me to do their yearly family photos, I jumped at it. She basically describes that shooting her family is like shooting a bridal party... with almost everyone under 11 years old. :) It was crazy fun... and Lys just ROCKS putting together outfits, props, and locations. It was also a HUGE assett to have her cousin, Jo, there to jump up and down behind me, read books practically straddling me as I was shooting and ticklying me with Elmo to try to get ALL seven kids looking at one time. And it worked!
You can see a large handful of my favorites over at the FACEBOOK album HERE.
Also, some HERE.
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| read this today and it just wowed me... i, too, have wrestled with this issue and always seem to come back to this very text and this very response that Jon comes to in the end. and he articulates it so much better than i ever could, or have for that matter. its by far the harder road and the narrower road. how many people have i refused spare change because "oh wow, its that scam again? really? do they think i am stupid?" or just out of convenience shook my head and sped off??
I Have Not Always Obeyed This Command
(Author: Jon Bloom) ~ taken from the Desiring God blog today
"Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you" (Matthew 5:42).
I confess, I have not always obeyed this command.I'm a veteran urban-dweller. Having lived in an inner city neighborhood for 18 years, I've encountered many beggers and borrowers. Some I discerned as cons I have called out or waved off. Some I have hired to do work. Others I've given to because I felt the conviction of this text.
I've thought a lot about this command of Jesus over the years. I've discussed it with many. I think I know all the major reasons why not to give when someone asks. You don't want to encourage deception. You don't want to feed a chemical addiction. You don't want to contribute to someone's cycle of poverty. And there are many others.
But still this text unnerves and convicts me.
The reason is that Jesus doesn't give this command in the context of addressing how I can best facilitate transformation in someone else. He is telling me how I should respond to those who are making demands on me, either from explicitly evil motives or just plain out of their difficult situation. He is telling me how I ought to respond even when being taken advantage of.
Do not resist the evil person, he says. Let him slap you twice. (v. 39)
Give him more than he is suing you for. (v. 40)
Do more than he is forcing you to do. (v. 41)
Give to those who ask. (v. 42)
Love your enemy. (v. 44)
Jesus is telling me to actively show kindness and radical generosity toward those who hate me or who are seeking to take advantage of me.
Really, Jesus? Isn't that rewarding sinful, or at least unhealthy, behavior?
Of course, I can think of Biblical examples that illustrate when it seems right to resist or flee an evil person in situations of theft, deception, abuse, persecution, war, etc. So when the Word speaks, I must listen carefully, and I must weigh all of his words.
But from the words Jesus speaks here, I think it applies more often and more broadly than I want it to. He does not let me off the hook easily. He tests my heart with such radical love. And in my heart I see my selfish, unloving impulses that do not want to part with my money, possessions, time, or convenience for needy or evil people. And I have a ready arsenal of noble-sounding rationales that conceal my sin, almost from myself.
What Jesus is calling me to is gospel love. It's the love that drove him to die for me with when I was still a weak, ungodly, sinful enemy of his (Romans 5:6-10). There is something about such over-the-top, radically generous love that is so different from the way the world loves that it reflects the Father's love for sinners. It's why Jesus calls us also to costly love. It is both an expression and picture of the gospel. Pray for me. I have an opportunity in my life right now to obey this command, which is why I'm wrestling with this text again. Pray that I will love the way I have been loved. | | |
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