you're the God of this city.

today at church we sang one of my absolute favorite songs, God of this city. it was all i could do to keep from letting the happy tears flow [though they definitely let loose later in the message - invasions has been an incredible series!] as i thought of so many places the lyrics remind me of - my hometown of mountain view, my college abode in shawnee, the edmond/oklahoma city communities i've invested in these last two years, and istanbul. this city captured my heart in just two short weeks back in 2005. my vision is there, my dreams are with the turks, and a little piece of me remained there as our plane took off of the soil. as i copy and paste these lyrics, let me also leave with you one of my favorite photographs from that trip. my former youth minister's wife peeked her camera around the corner of this tiny street in an instanbul neighborhood and snapped a precious piece of time as we prayerwalked. He is the God of this city, and such bigger things than we can envision are already in preparation - for istanbul, for oklahoma city, for your hometown and mine. let's join in and be a part of what He's doing.

You're the God of this city

You're the King of these people

You're the Lord of this nation

You are

You're the Light in this darkness

You're the Hope to the hopeless

You're the Peace to the restless

You are

there is no one like our God

there is no one like our God

for greater things have yet to come

and greater things are still to be done in this city

greater things are still to come

and greater things are still to be done in this city

the farewell tour.

okay addison, i'm copying some of your creativity today! slipping into another january is always an exciting, unknown moment. and, being my retrospective self, i'd like to pass along a few things that made this year what it was. i have a whole new appreciation for the past twelve months after looking back at this list. =)

• began my second semester of college with a break-up i thought would surely kill me
• took my first class in the honors program at obu
• maintained a 4.0
• initiated my last year as an official teen in february
• experienced further heartbreak from my first love
• attended the memorial service of his precious little cousin on my birthday
• realized i had the most loving and supportive friends and family [once again] as a result of my darkest hour
• spent priceless weekends with family who had been on the west coast for far too long :]
• had a good ole red dirt night at a randy rogers band concert with my best hometown friends
• initiated into the phi eta sigma national honor society
• continued serving with switch at lifechurch.tv and discovered amazing ministry opportunities
• went on a mission trip to eureka springs with my switch kids
• helped construct a kickin' gravel driveway on said mission trip =)
• drove to phoenix with my sister, niece, and mom, and watched my sweet cousin marry his soulmate under palm trees
• got published in the bison
• played on a few slot machines with my mom and her best friend from college, hehehe
• experienced a medical scare that tested me financially and spiritually
• watched my brother successfully run his second full marathon - complete with hand-painted signs and loud cheers at almost every mile marker =)
• received scholarships that were blissfully unexpected
• watched a dear friend from back home graduate and accomplish great things
• craved an apology which i was sure would fix everything
• served as a team leader for the first time at super summer
• received the apology i had been craving, and remained unsatisfied
• lived in edmond for a summer
• became a member of the lifechurch.tv prayer team
• saw another close friend marry the sweetest girl in all of texas
• worked at a new place may through august and met splendid new people
• began doing on-stage activities at switch
• witnessed the greatest fireworks show of my life on independence day
• served as a sponsor for the first time at falls creek
• went to the mountain view-gotebo free fair and saw many old friends
• started serving at fuse
• began my third semester of college
• caught the domestic bug
• started teaching conversation classes with the international students at obu
• became the switch what's next coordinator
• began a new job at the wellness center
• went on a retreat with sweet friends and opened up my heart
• participated in my first race for the cure with my family
• spent fall break with my mom on a girls' trip to branson
• published in the bison again
• voted in my first presidential election
• learned how to play texas-hold-'em
• learned my sister is pregnant again!
• survived my first semester of western civ with an a
• realized i won't find happiness if i won't let go
• rekindled an old, dear friendship
• wrote a blues song =)
• learned a few french phrases
• maintained a 4.0 again
• discovered a love for the food network
• played the heck out of hungry hungry hippos with my precious nieces

life in a northern town.

ah hey ma ma ma heyyyy ah
life in a northern town…

couldn’t tell ya why that song’s in my head, but it’s fixed there nonetheless! i’m spending a few days of fall break with my sweet mama in branson, home of gorgeous foliage, winding hills, and a population of rampaging, retired tourists. yes, i said it: america’s elderly have all seemed to follow us here on their charter busses this week, and they’re on a mission to experience this town with full force. so, word to the wise: if a group of older women in matching pantsuits walk toward you in a determined manner, do not - i repeat - do not impede their path to the jim stafford gift shop. phew. i’m exhausted just thinking about it.
we’ve had a wonderful time just relaxing, looking through antique shops, and lolly-gagging downtown. we conned someone into taking this picture of us down by the lake at an area called “the landing” today. ain’t them leaves pretty?




oh, and i couldn’t help but capture this from a hotel marquee on the yellow route. i’m gonna go ahead and interpret these words as being all one needs in life to be happy. =) [although, i'd definitely place biscuits and gravy above wireless internet, thank you.]

fall break for an obu student isn’t without homework, however, and i’ve spent all of tonight poured over books and “scholarly articles” for my upcoming civ paper on iconoclasm in the byzantine empire. don’t be fooled by the luscious vocabulary of my previous sentence - i have no idea what i’m doing. but i have spit out an outline for myself [and dr. sanders], which should make this whole history thing a bit simpler. do you like history? does it bore or excite you to discover things about the past? tonight, i’m just not sure which of those applies to me. hehe.

no cussing in holy city!

funny faces, how i love thee.

yesterday was spent with a few of my great loves in the mountains of my upbringing, and i cannot imagine any better saturday. sometimes i wonder if i will ever be able to stay gone from my hometown longer than a few months. it's pretty difficult to resist a meers burger and the wichita's, even in the middle of istanbul or some other exotic place.

as a kid who began the first pages of countless journals with a short, corny autobiography, i can think of no introduction to explain it all these days. because, truth be told, i'm just now starting to have the desire to search and figure it all out for myself. in high school i devoted many an hour to writing online, but college has depleted a great deal of that composing fervor. so who knows, maybe between cramming for civ tests and keeping up with my frantic schedule, this little blog will reclaim its rightful spot in my life. i love sitting down to read over all my old notebooks and scraps of reflection, and i realize how foolish it would be to skip over such an important segment of life by not taking a few minutes to jot some things down. do you ever wish you could chronicle all those moments to one day relive them?

these kids are my world.