A Day of Thanks, Contemplation, & Prayer

Thanksgiving does funny things to me.
While being surrounded by my family who simultaneously drives me crazy and makes me happy, I found myself trying to think of what I have to be grateful for. And of course, that’s the point of this day, but this year’s Thanksgiving was slightly different for me than they’ve been in the past. I’ll elaborate:

I woke up this morning and spent the precious early morning hours with a cup of coffee in hand and my prayer journal (aka - secret prayer blog. Sometimes I feel hesitant about such technological of a way of communicating with God, but I highly doubt He minds). Then I went for a run, which was freezing but also refreshing. I ended up being out for close to an hour without realizing it. Arcade Fire just fueled the fire of my run. I find running a really healthy way to clear my mind. I try to sort out my thoughts and give my concerns and fears to God. So I get rid of the junk in my brain as I get rid of the junk in my trunk. Ha!

Moving right along...
Somewhere in the midst of peeling potatoes and having conversations with both my mom and dad, I decided that instead of just thinking how grateful I am for them and the countless blessings I have in my life, I would pray over it.
I’ve become so aware of the power of prayer as of late. Not only am I communicating with the Maker of the universe, but the very act of praying changes me. I hadn’t considered how much prayer actually shapes us. In hindsight, that seems like a pretty obvious effect of prayer, but I really hadn’t pondered it as deeply as I did today.
Sure, I’ve always placed high value on prayer and known that it was really important to my walk and indispensable to me feeling a true sense of God’s reality. But there are so many vital subtleties of prayer that I hadn’t thought in depth about before.
Mainly, my source of enlightenment has been this book:

In it, Paul Miller said something that I found to be a precious reminder to my life. He writes,
“We forget that God is not a genie but a person who wants to shape us in the image of his Son as much as he wants to answer our prayers.”
Not only that, but prayer reminds us of who is in charge. Why do we pray? Because the Author of Life is the one who has power over our lives. When do we pray most? When we feel helpless or out of control.
Coming to grips with my complete lack of sovereignty and God’s complete and total sovereignty is initially an anxiety-inducing thought. But then I rewind my mind and realize that despite my natural proclivity to want to shape my fate, by giving it to God I’m leaving it in infinitely better hands.

So what do I do in order to keep my head on straight and my heart pointed due North? I’ll borrow an analogy from the brilliant Mr. Miller: grow my roots down deep and watch as God unfolds the story before me.
In fact, just ask my favorite author and speaker, Ravi Zacharias. In one of my favorite books of his, The Grand Weaver, he writes,
“I do not believe that one can earnestly seek and find the priceless treasure of God's call without a devout prayer life. That is where God speaks. The purpose of prayer and of God's call in your life is not to make you number one in the world's eyes, but to make him number one in your life. We must be willing to be outshone while shining for God.”

I am so thankful for the life I’ve been given. Every facet of it, good and bad. It’s all been hand woven by God to bring me here, right to this moment.

I am blessed beyond belief.

With a sigh of relief and a heart full of gratitude,
Chrissy Lynn

Dear World,

And by world, I mean the non-existent people who read this blog.
I don't blame you all for not reading this. I never write anything and when I do, it's just ramblings.
But I feel inclined to start again. Who knows if that'll stick or if I'll even have time to write as I desire to.
I'll start by posting this article I wrote for the Broad Street Journal. Here goes:

A Plea From My Inner Tree-Hugging Hippie

Living in Philadelphia can do some crazy things to you. After you get over the initial excitement of being in a new, bustling city, there’s a tendency to get overwhelmed. The first time you decide to take on the city alone, get off at the wrong subway stop and have a mini-panic-attack. Or perhaps you decided to go for a walk to clear your mind and be alone - but wait, there is nowhere to be alone! Some of these aspects of city life can be overwhelming.
I frequently find myself missing the low-key lifestyle of home (and Grantham). I despair over the lack of (clean) leaf piles to jump in. I long for open grassy meadows to run barefoot in until it gets dark and our friendly firefly friends come out to play. I suppose watching Lord of the Rings to admire the Shire in all its grandeur doesn’t help. But I digress. I have no nature trails to walk, no stars to gaze at after dark, and no forest critters to delight in. Granted, there are squirrels here, but they appear to have lost their minds. My point is: there are precious parts of the rural lifestyle that you just don’t get in Philly.
Don’t get me wrong, Philadelphia is incredible and exciting to live in. But I can’t deny that my heart longs for nature, and when the day comes that I can be home again, my inner tree-hugging hippie will emerge content and grateful. In the mean time, there are sights to see and experiences to soak up. I have only a short month left in this concrete jungle and I, for one, won’t waste it wishing I was somewhere else. On that note, I end this rant with a tiny love letter to nature: I miss you.Youda youda best. Don’t forget me while I’m away. We’ll be together again soon.

With all the love in my city-dwelling heart,
Chrissy Gelok

After years with a crown on my head, I've grown overfed, unconcerned and comfortably numb.
Kept busy indulging in the pleasures of the wealthy.
(Someone make me afraid of what I’ve become!)
At the first sign of possible sorrow, I turned my heels and ran.
(Oh, I’ll never learn.)
My life is a cup of sugar I’ve borrowed before time began and forgot to return.


Thank you Aaron Weiss.

Love,
Chrissy

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Love is patient
Love is kind
It does not envy
It does not boast
It is not proud
It is not rude
It is not self-seeking
It is not easily angered
It keeps no record of wrongs
Love does not delight in evil
But rejoices with the truth
It always protects
Always hopes
Always perseveres
Love never fails.

Dragonfly Across an Ancient Sky

Today I heard the most breathtaking music; it's a band called Helios. I'd heard of them before but never had the chance to sit down and have a good listen. The song Dragonfly Across an Ancient Sky gave me chills. I just wanted to float up and up and up... Needless to say, I adored it.

Music like this makes me so present in the moment I'm in. Instead of thinking about all the complexities and uncertainties and fears I have about my life, I just enjoy the beautiful noise that surrounds me. That's just one incredible quality music has that I love.
And I don't just want music that's catchy and gets stuck in your head. That kind of thing is done every day. Don't get me wrong, I take that for what it's worth as well (for instance, I greatly enjoy listening to Drake). But on a deeper level, I want music that makes me feel; I want to be moved. Bands like Mogwai, Sigur Ros, This Will Destroy You, Hammock, and Explosions in the Sky have the unmatched ability to do this for me. They are truly gifted.

If I could compose songs with beauty that was even close to what they produce, I would be ecstatic.
Maybe one day... For now, I'll leave them to be remarkably talented and leave myself to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Eat Pray Love

Today was a good day. So much substance.
By that I mean, I had a lot of time to think, to assess my life and my priorities, and to read about faith and God and love.
This was one of those days where even though I didn't hang out with anyone, I felt grateful for the friends and family I've been given.

While cleaning my room and bathroom I just kind of talked to God about everything I could possibly think of. I don't know whether to call it prayer or ranting or a conversation or what. But for this purpose I'll call it prayer. God's probably the only one who would want to hear all the craziness that goes on in my mind (because it's endless and complicated).

I thought a lot about the books I've been reading lately and how they make me check myself (before I wreck myself [ha]). But really... These books are exactly what I need this summer to work on growing and evolving and becoming a better person.
For instance, Jason gave me a book a few months ago that has been helping me learn how to love people like Jesus loved people. It's called Love Walked Among Us

What I like most about it is how much it shakes me out of my comfort zone. It's so easy to just look out for myself and my needs. It's much safer to do only that as well. But is it really the kind of life I've committed myself to when I first called myself a Christian? If I'm honest, then no.
Being a Christian (an honest, serious one) isn't easy. It's a life of self-sacrafice and self-giving love. The whole point is that we are supposed to be Christ's hands and feet in this world, healing the hurting and restoring the broken. When I read this book, it makes me ask myself, am I loving like Jesus did? Am I living a life of selfless love?
Not always... But I'm trying. And I'll continue to try and grow in this area.

The other book I'm reading is so insightful (but CS Lewis always is). It's called The Four Loves

This one is an amazing exploration of the nature of love. But it's different from the other one because it breaks down human love into Affection, Friendship, Eros (erotic love), and Charity and then expounds upon each one. This book just completely tickles my fancy. I love this kind of stuff. I find myself shaking my head in agreement and reaching for my blue highlighter every other page. CS Lewis has such a way of analyzing things and then putting his observations into exquisitely worded literature. I can't get enough of his writing.

Overall, days like these remind me of whats important and just help me organize (everything from my thoughts to my room).
I'm thankful for these days :)

can you cut? i can cut.

You can scoop out my brain
shape it into an ear and
then tell me your pain



<3

Aloha!

Oh hey world.
I'm in Hawaii. Maui to be exact. It's unbelievably beautiful here:


This trip so far has been a lot of things for me:
Fun.
Exciting.
Relaxing.
Stressful.
Resolving.
Etc...

I've done things I've never done before, like go surfing,
go on a helicopter over two Hawaiian islands (which included amazing waterfalls),
and drive to the top of a mountain where we saw an enormous volcanic crater.

I miss my friends a lot though.
But that's always the case when I go on vacation :)

My beach/pool music has been as follows (in order of prevalence):
Drake. I'm seriously obsessed with the man haha.


Owen


and as always,
mewithoutYou


Well, I'm off to this restaurant called Longboards on the beach for some din din. G'bye now!

<3

Planks and Stones

Planks and Stones
by Chrissy Gelok

When your plans unfold the way you expected,
solidly planted on the life you’ve erected,
will you foolishly boast how your path’s void of rocks,
or know that your feet may be tripped by a fox
covered in wool from a lamb while the moonlight is dim,
(he’d love nothing more than to feast on your limbs)
Red riding hood, look! Or you might be devoured;
Exposed by a canine and pronounced a coward.

Will you look down your nose at your brother’s rags, tattered?
Or consider at all how much he’s been battered?
While you cordially sip on your Earl Grey tea,
look up from your chair and catch a glimpse of the sea
of tumultuous waves throwing travelers under;
Will you sound the alarms? Or self-righteously wonder
how they got in so deep, how they sunk so low...
Don’t you see they’ve got needles inside their blood-flow?

When your mother is found in alduteress’ clothes
Will you hold her hand, or add to the blows?
Will you scold her and beat her for the “life she chose?”
Only notice the thorns, and ignore the rose?
Will you remember her smile, and the stories she told?
Or will you rip off her garments, expose her to the cold?
The demons that have made their home in her womb-
Will you exorcize them or pour salt on her wounds?

Don’t taste only sugar and expect me to ignore
the fact that some can’t even taste anymore.
Don’t condescend your sister with your saddle placed high.
If you could just see the plank in your eye...
Don’t throw rocks at glass homes and invite me to join you.
There are other perspectives than the lens that you look through.
The only word I can lend before that rock’s thrown:
“Let he without sin cast the first stone”

Radiohead? Radiohead!

My question this morning is this:
How can you not like Radiohead?!
Maybe my Thom York obsession is reaching its peak, but nevertheless, Radiohead is one of the most incredible bands I've ever had the pleasure of gracing my ears with.

What's that you say? You want to see more pictures of Thom Yorke? Alright, if you insist.

Here he is with some chocolate all over him... I'm uh, not sure why.


And here's him with a silly face (because even Thom Yorke knows how to have fun)


Last, but not least, if you've ever wondered what it would be like to take a bath with Thom Yorke, it's kinda like this:

blogging? sure, why not

Hola, mis compadres.
I've decided to give this whole blogging thing a shot.
Partially because I truly love writing so this type of thing would be a nice outlet for creativity
& also because it's summer, which means I'm jobless, often bored, and desperately in need of something to do with my time.

I suppose I'll post things like poetry, photos, my random thoughts (which are many), and whatever else I feel like contributing to internet-land.
As for now, it's gorgeous out so I'm off to read some David Sedaris and drink iced tea on the deck.

ps - I'm obsessed with Thom Yorke's Eraser right now so I'll be listening to that, too.

Check out this awesome illustration of Thom Yorke by an artist named Stefan Venbroek: