#oneword {twenty13}

Grab a nice hot cup of coffee {or tea if that is your preferences}, and join me in discussing twenty13. This idea first popped up over at beauty in humble places, but since then I've seen it several times over the bloggy and interwebs world. The idea is to pick one word to encompass your goals and resolutions for twenty13. I had to ponder and research this for a bit, but I settled on a word that I believe matches my current aspirations.

• to bring to a fine or pure state; free from impurities
• to purify from what is coarse, vulgar, or debasing; make elegant or cultured
• to become pure
• "I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'The Lord is our God.' Zechariah 13:9b."

Why refine?

Because it is transforming from our human state of thinking and acting, into a Christ-like state. 

Because it is denying our cross and taking His.

Because it is becoming who we are truly meant to be.

When I went to Pinterest for some visual inspiration, I ended up looking at a lot of pictures of ballerinas {bear with me}. To perform ballet is to train your body to do something that is not easy or natural. It takes dedication and time. The same could be said for Christianity. It is not within our human nature to be unselfish, but through training and practice, we can be refined.

{see the entire twenty13 board here}

There it is then. So simple and yet so weighty. In twenty13, I resolve to be . . . refined.

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Advance

Our youth and young adults headed off this past weekend for a wonderful retreat filled with so much truth and fellowship. These events really solidify the big picture and the priorities in life. Here are some shots of the weekend.

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Empty

Brother encouraged me to post more writing on my blog. I admit my style is pictures and not many words.
Today, however, . . . is words.

There are a collections of buildings in our town. They are empty. They have been boarded up and sitting there for at least a year {if not longer}. They were deemed unsafe in the middle of the night. Although there has been a lot of talk as to what is going to happen with the buildings and land, so far, nothing has happened {This is not a rant on our municipality. I happen to really like our municipality. There is a metaphor in this}.

When I walked by the empty apartments today, I was struck with their relativity to life. Sometimes, I stand there . . . empty. Sometimes, I don't fill up with life and let good things happen. Yet at the same time, I don't tear down the bad parts and rebuild. Sometimes, I am just stagnant.

And that's not good. Because I'm not doing anything. I either need to continuously fill myself with the good, pure, and true things of this world. Or I need to tear down the bad, gross, and wrong things and start anew.

I don't ever want to be empty. That's not life. That's not purpose. That's just standing there through every season neither moving nor growing.

In the end, it takes activity in order to avoid being empty.

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Can You Get Any Weirder?

So once our Girls Group starts up again, we will be doing the series Weird by Craig Groeschel. Our young adults group did it last year, so I've heard good things about it! I'm really excited too, because I get the opportunity to take the lead in this study, something I've not yet done in the group {and that was a run-on sentence . . . }.

To prepare, I've started reading the book ahead of time, and my goodness, there is some good stuff in there.
Check it out.

• "You have enough time to do everything God wants you to do {p. 26}."
• "Too many good {or acceptable} things quickly overwhelm the most important things in life {p. 31}.
• "You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment {p. 37}." - Henry David Thoreau

I'll keep you updated on this study, and let's get weird {is that weird to say?}.

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Friday's Letters

Check out this picture I took on Saturday night. 

This is what happens when I actually brush my hair.

Brother said I looked like "that red-headed girl from Brave", which prompted me
to go around in a Scottish accent saying, "I'll be shooting for me own hand".

Anyways, today I am participating in Friday's Letters featured by Ashley from Adventures of Newlyweds. I've been wanting to do this for awhile now, so here goes . . . .

Dear Labour Day Weekend: You were a wonderful time that prepared me to go back to school. Dear Once Upon A Time DVD Series: You are an amazing solution to a show that doesn't begin until October 30th. I am learning so much that I didn't pick up the first time around :) Dear Autumn: You are my favourite season. I love boots and scarves and hot chocolate and falling leaves and crisp mornings and pumpkin spice lattes and coziness. Dear Flaxee: YOU ARE GETTING MARRIED TOMORROW! How awesome is that? I am so excited to see you start this new chapter of your life. Dear First Week of School: You have been a lot less scary than I originally mentally prepared myself for. I have a really good feeling about this year. Dear Traveling: Please be nice to me. This is a record fast trip for me, and I don't do well being rushed. Dear Young Adults Group: I love just being around all of you. That is all. Dear Tuition: My bank account and you don't get along very well. In the future, please refrain from robbing me. Dear Blog: I am starting to get in the swing of things without the 365 photo a day challenge. I think posting every other day {with a few extras} is working out quite nicely for us. Dear Meal Planning: I want to figure out how to incorporate you into my life. Dear Lord: Thank you for grace.

So excited to read some of the other Friday's Letters. Happy weekend! I'm off to Crowsnest Pass ♥

  
 

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Two Hundred & Twenty-Seven Days...

...until the end of THIRD year {the picture was taken yesterday}. I mean, what?!?!?!? I still remember sitting in Indonesia wrestling with this decision with God over whether or not nursing was my calling, and now I'm over halfway done. I am so thankful for where I am and ready to face the year one day at a time.

A Few Facts

• I am in the classroom setting until December, and then in the hospital from January-April.
• My rotations this year include Mental Health and Medicine/Surgery.
• My shadow day in ICU will have big implications for the future.
• I am in a class of twenty-seven.
• I am excited ;)

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1,000 Things

Awhile ago, I mentioned in an update blog post that a new feature coming to A Silver Snapshot would be the 1,000 Things To Be Thankful For Challenge. Well, I am happy to announce that this challenge is underway, and I am loving it {kudos to Michaela Noelle Designs for the idea}.

This challenge is based out of the verse 1 Thessalonians 5:18. 

" . . . give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."

The Lord has really been challenging me lately on topics such as positivity, thankfulness, and contentedness. So look for random updates on this challenge in the future!

So if you noticed, #15 talks about Erin's blog Sweetness Itself. This girl is absolutely amazing, and I have found quite a friend and inspiration through the blogging world. She does weekly blog posts about things to be thankful for and last week I sent her a picture of my list. Check out the blog post!

What are you thankful for today?

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Dear World . . .

Here are my thoughts on this end-of-summer-Saturday-morning . . .

• I miss posting on my blog everyday. Yes, yes I do. I thought I would be relieved and thankful for the break, but really it just makes me feel like I am forgetting to do something. I'm not sure what the remedy to the situation is.
• I have been spending a lot of time thinking about the past. Maybe it's because of our whole family being together again for the past two weeks. Or maybe it's because I saw Mr. R.'s memorial video. Either way, many memories have resurfaced over the past couple of days.
• People ask me if I'm excited to go back to school, and I don't know how to reply. It's not that I'm not excited, but I wouldn't say I'm excited . . . Help?
• Everyone needs to listen to Come to Me by The Loft Sessions. We did it at The Experience last night. When I listen to it, I think of the words "violent love". Does that make sense? I know it's an oxymoron, but no other word describes the passion with which the song is sung.
• I feel like this year is a game-changer. And I'm not even sure what that means.
• The house is very quiet now. I enjoy the quiet, and I enjoy the full house. So which do I prefer? I have no sweet clue.
• Have you watched The Hunger Games yet? Because I did. And convinced Dad to watch as well. Still slightly obsessed with the movie. Once my DVD copy comes in the mail from Amazon I'll be watching it again. How many days until Catching Fire?
• So in the past few months of swimming lessons, I have {a} been kicked in the eye, {b} gotten serenaded by a 3 year old singing Big Green Tractor, {c} been bitten in the shoulder, {d} been asked where my bed is by a 3 year old {she thought I slept at the pool}, and {d} received four hand-drawn pictures. Verdict: A successful summer of teaching :)

No. 363 - This Is Our City Part 10

Yay, not only is the 365 Photo A Day Challenge coming to an end in TWO days,

but this also marks the end to the This Is Our City Challenge. I started this challenge as a way to document ownership of the beauty and potential of Fort McMurray. I love where I live and I wanted to share that love, whatever it looked liked. This final installment is a bit different though.

At the end of July, the youth and young adults of MGA got together at Borealis Park to celebrate the Lord and worship in the midst of our city. It was an amazing and challenging night. But it will never be more powerful to sing "Oh no, we won't stay silent/Shout it out from the rooftops singing/We're not ashamed, not ashamed of You, Jesus" as it is to sing it outside. We are here. This is our city.
{Part 9, Part 8, Part 7, Part 6, Part 5, Part 4, Part 3, Part 2, Part 1}

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No. 360 - This Is Our City Part 9

Last week, my friends and I had the opportunity to go up to Abram's Land in Timberlea. This is the area of land that will have the future McMurray Gospel Assembly on it, among other things. We sang worship songs, prayed, and just experienced the Lord. He was definitely there . . . I especially noticed in the wind.
This land is an important part of the future of our city.

{Part 8, Part 7, Part 6, Part 5, Part 4, Part 3, Part 2, Part 1} 

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No. 332 - We Found God In A Hopeless Place

Is the title too much? Sorry. I am writing this at 5:30 in the morning, so you can't ask for much.

It's been a while since I've written what I call a "God post" or "faith post" or whatever. Just wanted to share a little of where God has been taking me in my life lately.

More than ever, He's been saying You can't do this without me. Life lately has been all about being humble and surrendering. It's been about speaking the truth and acting on it. It's been about giving up my own desires and plans for the ones He has for me.

Not easy.

Here are a couple of verses that have found there way into my journal lately.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Romans 5:1-2.

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sigh.

Ephesians 1:4.

So, as evidenced in the above Scripture, truth and humility are what is going on in my life right now,
and through that, I am rediscovering God every day.

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No. 291 - YC 2012 Recap

Well, I am alive {sorta}. Sleep deprived and without a voice {not due to screaming but due to actually getting sick}, but I survived. The weekend was full of noise, music, shopping, and God. Here are a few snapshots of YC Alberta 2012.

Switchfoot

Tim Hughes

Ben Cantelon

The two speakers were my favourite, and the concept of surrender will continue to be processed long past when YC ended.
Of course, the shopping wasn't that bad either :P

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No. 280 - I Love Me

Don't worry, the title of this post wasn't to "toot my own horn" or tell you all how wonderful I am.

Let me explain.

Everyone person in this world deserves love and respect, but the hardest person to dole this out to is ourselves. It's because we have a front row seat to every screw-up and every mistake. Unfortunately, this paints a very altered perspective of ourselves in terms of value. So basically, we have to get over ourselves in order to value ourselves.

Today, the challenge is to stop looking at yourself through your own eyes and through the world's eyes. 

To quote Prince of Egypt, you must look at yourself through heaven's eyes.

Today, I bought myself flowers. 

This was to appreciate life and to . . . ahem . . . smell the roses.
This was how I looked at myself through heaven's eyes today.

So, what do you say? Want to join the dance?

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No. 262 - Crazy Love Complete

Our Girls Group finally completed Crazy Love by Francis Chan this past Thursday (I've talked about this process here and here). Haha, it's taken us long enough but that's just how we roll. Also, it really allowed time for the material to sink in and (hopefully) manifest itself in my life. Here is some review.

• I learned about living in the present and concentrating on each day and what God would have me do today.
• I learned about being a lover, a risk taker, a friend of all, a crazy one, humble, a server, a giver, a sojourner, engrossed, an unguarded one, rooted, dedicated, and a sacrificer.
• I learned that "We never grow closer to God when we just live life; it takes deliberate pursuit and attentiveness" (pg. 170). 

I highly recommend this book,
but I especially recommend taking time to go through it in order to really mull over what it is saying.

"My suggestion as you think, make decisions, and discern how God would have you live is to ask yourself, 
'Is this the most loving way to do life? Am I loving my neighbour and my God by living where I live, 
by driving what I drive, by talking how I talk?'"

-Francis Chan, Chapter 10: The Crux of the Matter-

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No. 241 - Easter 2012

Today has been such an amazing day so far. 

Here are some pictures.

A beautiful Easter Sunday morning breakfast.

Then, I went to the Easter Sunday morning service at our church. 

It was amazing, and here are some pictures of the production that Dad and Isaac were in.

I cried at this part.

Here I am with the two fabulous actors!

Then our family had Easter dinner, which was absolutely delicious.

He is Risen!

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