It’s almost been five months since I last wrote on here. In most cases, no excuses for being completely absent, but after a nightmare of a semester in the fall, I hardly had the time to breathe.

I’m not sure how I can really explain why it was so bad, it was a wide mixture of events and situations, but nonetheless, it’s a new semester and a new year; my graduation year.

To start off on the right foot, I’ve become a part time student, only 2 classes for me! Yet, only having two classes hasn’t quite proved the free life yet…I’m hoping I’ll get a hang of it and realize how much of a blessing it is.

The last few weeks, worry has overcome me…in a way I haven’t felt before. But thankfully, this past weekend kinda got me out of that funk and I’m mostly back to my oldself. Number one reason for being in the depths of worry? Not handing it all over to God. Such a simple answer, and such a breadth of freedom, yet so hard to accomplish sometimes.

God makes it easy, yet we continue to confuse the situation and add complexity.

On Saturday, our college small group with my church hosted a five-hour prayer and worship service and it’s exactly what I needed. I needed God and I needed to give in. It was peaceful and joyful. The last 45 min of the service was pure worship and singing…..God is sooooo good. There is no way around it.

I worry about the future, yet I have the creator of the universe planning my life.

I worry about doing mission work, yet it’s God working through me, not myself.

I worry about getting a job and not making money, yet God is just sitting back (probably chuckling at the fact) waiting for me to just “Hey, I can’t do this, will you help me out?”

I worry about homework. Busyness. Projects. Meeting people. A constant to-do list.

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When all God is asking me to do is be happy in His joy and share His glory. He’s asking me to live a simple senior year and enjoy what’s around me while I can. He’s asking me to let it all go and let Him do the work.

I’m sick of being stubborn and worn out.

God, it’s all you. It always was and always will be.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jakecaptive/49915119/sizes/l/in/photostream/

But…..in the past few weeks, the to-do lists have been a little rampant. I’ve packed up, moved from Nashville back to VA, moved back to JMU,accomplished  two weeks of job training and now I’m in the midst of my first week of school in my final year at JMU. And it’s very weird.

Moving from Nashville back to VA was  a whirlwind and moving from home back to JMU wasn’t immune to the whirlwind feeling. On top of that, I’m a senior in college. This is the last year with all my friends and that whole “real world” thing is on the brink.

I’m not sad, I’m not upset, but I’m also not thrilled. I feel like I’m in a weird limbo trying to catch my grasp of reality. But no worries, just give me a couple days and I’ll be back in full swing, blog posts and all. Until then, enjoy my latest favorite worship song by Phil Wickham:

On that note, I wanted to give you a few songs and words that have really taught me a lot this summer.

Last sunday at church, the speaker taught us about living in the mystery of God….and I LOVED the sermon.

God has a plan for you—you hear that all the time, but do you ever believe that and live in that? We feel we have to have control over every aspect in our lives and when something goes wrong, we feel we have to explain it to someone that it was God’s doing…and then you only give God a day or two to explain himself. I think we’ve all done it, something happens, and you immediately proclaim “well, God did it because….” and you wrap it up quickly rather than allowing God’s mystery to reign over you and allow Him to work and teach in your life. Your life is God’s timing, not yours.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sdddpwLxlOI/S7d_bEHyYWI/AAAAAAAAAho/Dw91T4cpMgI/s1600/question_mark2.jpg

By not living in God’s mystery, you leave no room for God to be God.

He also spoke about the difference between being willing and willful, which I had not realized were so very different.

Willing= open to the myster of life, you surrender all because it’s not about you.

Willful= not really open to mystery, “I am totally open to you God, unless it means ____” and it involves a lot of “Yes, but….” You are only willing to allow God to work in certain parts of your life and shut Him out of other parts.

In Colossians, Paul embraced that Christ was the most definining part of his life and that his deepest desire was fulfilled.

Is Christ your deepest desire? With him do you feel fulfilled? Or are there other things that are actually your deepest desire? If they weren’t fulfilled, how happy would you be? Do a self-check….what do you talk about most and think about most……what’s your true priority? Who is your life?

Embrace God’s mystery. Embrace Christ as your life.

I’m going to end on that note, and then leave you with these two songs. They’ve really meant a lot to me this summer and the lyrics are wonderful.

Hey everyone– sorry I’ve been absent on here, I’ve been working and enjoying Nashville–more on that later.

In the meantime, check out what I’m doing at my internship at Mocha Club on the Mochaterns’ blog! We’ve been posting about  celebrity sightings, American Idol auditions, sports, photoshoots, you name it! A

So check it out here: http://mochaterns.tumblr.com/

PS–the blog banner on the Mochaterns blog was designed by yours truly, so let me know what you think!

I just wanted to post on here with 2 updates:

1. American Jeremy is Dominican Jeremy until next Saturday

• My Jeremy Cherry is in the Dominican Republic for the next two weeks along with my dear friends from First      Presbyterian in Harrisonburg, VA. Please pray for their safety, open hearts and minds as well as the words to say. Pray that God uses them radically to spread His kingdom.

2. New Daily Photo Series: Straight from the Shutter

• That’s right—amy nicole photography has its very own daily photo series called “straight from the shutter.” Be sure to check out the first two days here: Day 1 and Day 2 –Stay tuned for the daily photo on www.amynicolegwaltney.com

When things get good, I worry. I don’t deserve good things, and I certainly don’t deserve God’s blessings. So, when things are going well, I’m waiting for something really bad to happen, I mean that’s how life goes, right?

Wrong.

That’s what this article is all about: http://stuffchristianslike.net/2010/06/having-faith-like-robert-pattinson/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fornal/420469204/sizes/o/

And this is the line that finally drove the point home for me:

When you doubt God’s goodness, you doubt the very core of who he is.

Why was that so hard for me to figure out? I honestly didn’t even think too much about that concept until I read the article. I prayed about it, I prayed for worries to be eased or for me to open my heart…..but that line sums it up.

The devil doesn’t have to make you hate God. He doesn’t have to get you to do horrifically evil things. Those are neon sins we’d see from a million miles away. One of his greatest tricks is to get you close to God but make you doubt his goodness. To understand God as an idea but remain forever distant from his love. To wait for the punishment or hurt that is sure to come if things go well.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29671464@N02/3141756827/sizes/o/

I don’t think it was a coincidence I read this…and that’s why I love how God teaches us and I love his humor!  And every lesson ends with a las vegas neon sign blinking “Don’t you understand how much I love you?!”

I’m in Virginia enjoying family, friends and sun this weekend, and it’s already amazing! It definitely is a reboost for the summer because I have certainly missed everyone so much! So…that means no blogging for the next few days because I’m going to ignore the computer as much as possible.

But…I did receive an e-mail this morning from someone in the Artist Relationship Department at Mocha Club about one of my photos. If you remember, about a month ago, I took photos of Cadillac Sky and The Civil Wars (click this link to see them!)….and one of the photos of Cadillac Sky is featured as the “Pic Pick of the Week” on Every Step Touring, so you can check it out here: http://everystep.ning.com/

In the meantime…feel free to check out all of the links below to see what’s been going on in the life of Amy Gwaltney as well as some of my favorite links!

My photography: http://www.amynicolegwaltney.com/

My internship: www.mochaclub.org

The interns blog!: http://mochaterns.tumblr.com/

Cadillac Sky: http://cadillacsky.net/

The Civil Wars: http://www.myspace.com/thecivilwars (free album download!)

The very special American Jeremy

Co-workers: Annie Downs    Marisa Van Houten      Mary Catherine

ENJOY!

Sunglass photo link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/drics/3243681005/sizes/m/

It’s been great. hard. lonely. relaxing. fun. new. eye-opening. inspiring….and the list goes on.

Right now, I’m sitting in a fun little coffee shop called Fido. That’s one of the coolest parts about Nashville, all the fun coffee shops. There’s The Frothy Monkey, Fido, Bongo Java, Crema, and more. Usually I choose Frothy Monkey and today it’s Fido, which is in Hillsboro Village, a fun little area near downtown and Vanderbilt.

Apparently the weekends are a little busier at coffee shops than I expected as I walked in to a line that wrapped around the barista bar to the bathrooms, but they have Sat/Sun brunch here, so I guess that adds to the business. Though I spend quite a bit of alone time, it’s great to be able to pop into a fun little coffee shop to do my quiet time, reading, photo editing, etc.

Fido was pretty loud this morning, so that was challenging for quite time, but it’s so cool to be in my own little world with the Lord as life is happening around me. I just finished up reading Acts, and I loved it. It’s amazing reading through the corageous acts of Paul and his company. In Acts 18:9, Paul decides to leave Corinth due to some abuse/opposition, yet the Lord speaks to him saying

Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.

….then Paul stays for at least a year and half after that. A year and a half! After he was set on leaving! It’s s cool seeing God’s plans against ours.

I’ll admit it’s a little challenging with all of the geography and random names, but it got me thinking…who do those random names come to be and come to do? Where did they travel? Who did they minister to? They may not have been Paul duplicates, but they were every-day believers like you and I. They may have changed just as many lives through Christ….even if they changed just one, that was their purpose, to bring Christ into someone’s life. Their stories may not be in the Bible, but their stories of lives through Christ are just as inspiring.  It’s kind of cool to think that every single day you and I have that exact same chance to impact someone’s life through Christ…no matter where we are.

Honestly, sometimes I get caught up in the “I wish I were doing____________” or “I wish I were in ____________ with ____________ doing mission work.”  But I’m being so selfish! I’m in Nashville right now and that’s where God led me and wants me. Every day is a new chance to do something and be a disciple. Though I’m in the same place all summer, and often I complain of being alone, I’ve had the chance to read and really get a handle on my quiet time, which is so exciting. I get so caught up in school sometimes and honestly don’t always make time, but it’s been so refreshing to just dive in the Word without time constraints.

Anyway….sorry this post is  a little scattered, but I just wanted to write a little bit and give a little update. I’m thinking after a little more reading, some window shopping and ice cream at Sweet CeCe’s for lunch is in store!

Also! Last week, I got to hang out with Mrs.Katie Howard and we found some cute little vintage shops and a little market to explore. She got herself some rockin’ vintage cowboy boots and I got a nice vintage dress that I pulled right off the manakin. And of course my camera follows me everywhere, so be sure to check out the photos from our day, as well as some other Nashville photos, here: http://www.amynicolegwaltney.com/2010/06/26/nashville-views-and-vintage-views/

]]> http://speaktomeinriddles.wordpress.com/2010/06/26/nashville-updates/feed/ 1 summer2-3 speakinriddles summer2-3 duo4 summer-25 http://speaktomeinriddles.wordpress.com/2010/06/21/sideshow-living-at-the-butterfly-circus/ http://speaktomeinriddles.wordpress.com/2010/06/21/sideshow-living-at-the-butterfly-circus/#comments Mon, 21 Jun 2010 20:21:38 +0000 Amy http://speaktomeinriddles.wordpress.com/?p=469 Read more]]> Well, before I begin, I want to give you a little warning.

2 p.m runs=not a good idea.

I know, I know, that’s pretty obvious on a summer day, but I suppose I’m stubborn. Nothing like a run in the heat of the day….I only made it three miles and my legs felt heavier than ever. O well, I’m recovering by sitting under the fan and hopefully I at least get a mini tan out of the deal.

Anyway…I wanted to share with you a little film we watched in church a couple weeks ago. Why haven’t I written about it until now? good question, and I wish I had an answer. I’ve been busy but I’ve been lazy, so I’m not entirely sure there’s  a good excuse.

It’s called “The Butterfly Circus”

I’m not going to ruin it for you, because I recommend watching it. I know it’s 20 minutes long, but come back if you don’t have the twenty minutes right now. Twenty minutes is a lot these days I realize, but I think you’ll enjoy it.

For some reason, it won’t allow me to embed the video so click here to see it:

The Butterfly Circus

Here are a few key points I wrote down during the sermon/discussion of the film to get you thinking after you watch:

Sideshow Living

• Your view of yourself is your ultimate reality.
• Will’s view of himself kept him in the sideshow……what’s keeping you in the sideshow?
• What would cause you to leave the sideshow?
• Are you spitting at God as Will did? Why aren’t you dancing?
• Psalm 139—You are fearfully and wonderfully made.

There is nothing inspiring about amazing perfections on display

Leave the sideshow way of life…..YOU are magnificent.

One of the other activities we did was volunteer with a local group that serves the homeless on Monday nights. The site is called People Loving Nashville, but it’s honestly a group of people in which social circles collided and decided to make a difference.  Our group met and served some awesome people, and I don’t think we will ever forget that night. A couple of us girls even posed as TLC, Destiny’s Child and Beyonce to sing and joke around with one of the guys there…definitely a moment you can’t forget.

And I certainly haven’t forgotten. I got the chance to come back this summer, and volunteer with the group was one of the things I’ve been wanting to do since I’ve been here, it’s just taken some time to settle in and get my life here together. But, last night I had the opportunity to join the group. I guess I was a little eager because the site said 3:30 pm and I was there at 3:28…and well…no one was there. Considering it was about 90 degrees and the weather channel said it felt like 98, I quickly walked back to my car to sit in the AC. After about 15 minutes, I decided to walk back, and yet again, the door was locked…but there was no way I was going home, so I walked around the block while chatting with my madre. After my little walk, I checked back, the door was still locked, and I was confused, but thankfully I saw the door cracked open on the side of the building. I didn’t really know where it led to, but I figured it was worth a try, and thankfully I was in the right place!

Only a few people were there early to cook and prepare, but we got all the food going. It was amazing seeing all the food that was donated, and since Trader Joe’s donated so much food, my incentive to go there is even higher than it already was. A gourmet chef donated some chinese dishes and a bakery donated elegantly decorated cakes and to-die-for brownies. We washed, cut, baked, cooked, and boiled. I touched my fair-share of rotten lettuce to get to the better romaine hearts and we found cheese that funked but the entire kitchen. More people began arriving throughout the afternoon, and we lined up in rows to box 150 dinners before 6:30. Apparently I’m not very graceful because scooping out Chinese Orange Chicken and Green beans created a little sprinkling mess in front of me. The boxing went quickly before we circled up for prayer/devotion before heading out.

I was excited, yet nervous for handing out the food. I was worried about finding the words to start conversations and I didn’t want to be awkward. The line streched out of people anticipating meals, and familiar faces scattered the crowd….which was difficult. I was happy to see they had survived the flood and happy to see they’re still making it, but it still meant that they had been on the streets since the last time I saw them…

The man we sang to was there, and it was exciting to reconnect, and he was just as happy as ever. I met some new friends, one whose name was Chris Scott; he’s a songwriter and couldn’t be more proud of the songs he has published in the homeless newspaper they sell around town.

And then I saw Glen. If you read my blog when I first came back from Nashvile, I’m talking about the same Glen, if not, you can read about him here. Glen is a handicapped man who lost half of his right leg due to a staph infection and gets around by wheelchair. A group of us met him while we were here back in March, and his joy was contagious. He enjoyed the cup of coffee Laura bought him and we just chatted about basketball and his life. When I knew I was going back to Nashville, I hoped and prayed that I would run into him sometime, because honestly, for all I knew, the flood waters could have taken his life.

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I was tired. I wasn’t feeling well. And it was hot….I thought about just going next week, but if I hadn’t gone….how would I have seen Glen? I didn’t get to talk to him because a group was talking to him and I got a little caught up in talking with new people I met, but it definitely was an answered prayer to see he was still alive. It was an all day ordeal to help out, and I loved every moment. It’s sad that we need reminders of the important things in life because we get caught up and take advantage of all the simple necessities and love in our life…but Monday was great. I definitely think talking with the people I met gave us more than we gave them, and it’s a reminder of hope and a reminder of God, and I can’t wait until next week.