hey everybody,
this is my new blog page for information about the brand new adventure God is taking me on to west virginia.
as God's story is very long, so is the part of it that chronicles my journey logan (not relatively, of course). God has been working in my life to prepare me for this step in my life basically since my life began on this earth. but, that story would be very long (not relatively, of course) and most likely send some of you to sleep early tonight. so i won't start at the beginning.
the summer after my junior year in high school, my youth group went on a missions trip to west hamlin, west virginia through an organization called YouthWorks!. my first summer of college (2005), i found out that one of my friends from that very same youth group was applying for a summer staff position with YouthWorks! and told me i should to. I didn't have anything to do that summer and wanted to do something more fruitful than flipping burgers somewhere, so i did. i come to find out that summer from the girl who interviewed me, and later just so happened to be my area director (read: boss), that if the recruiting department didn't pray over the applications, i probably would not have been hired (read: i was not an ideal candidate). that summer i got placed in chattanooga, tennessee. The next two summers i was placed in logan. i would have never heard of the place had i not been hired the first summer, which was not of my own merit.
after this last summer (2007), i was really struggling hard with what to do after school, and spending two summers in logan had opened my eyes to a lot of the hurt and need going on in the community. i had been toying with the idea of maybe moving there... maybe...
then one day, alissa and i were wandering around nashville handing out lunches to some homeless people and we came upon this guy in a wheel chair (glen) who was with a friend (tc). we had two left so we offered them to them. they were happy to oblige. we were making small talk when glen said to us something along the lines of, "You guys are with God, huh? I can tell." well this caught our attention. we sat with him and his friend and listened as he told us stories of his life and how he relies on God everyday to take care of him. we sat and listened for quite a while, and after maybe half an hour glen turned to me and said, "God just gave me a message for you." i must admit that i was skeptical and a little amused; i wanted to hear what he had to say. he handed me his Bible and told me to open to mark chapter 11, verses 23 and 24, and to read it aloud. i did. and as i did, my attitude changed, because i knew that God was speaking to me. it says,

"Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours."

i knew right away that God wanted me in logan, as it was the desire of my heart to serve his people there. i'm not saying this means if you ask for a purple pony for christmas and really believe in your heart that you'll get it, then you'll find one with a bow on it eating your tree on christmas morning. that's stupid. God can do anything. If the desires of His heart are the desires of your heart, he can manifest your most outrageous dream about fulfilling those desires into reality.
God still speaks today. God still wants to use you in part of His marvelous story. our stories are His story.
i had been praying that God would send someone to take care of His people in logan. He finally showed me i had been praying for myself.

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Captured - 2008

this is my most recent work, it goes along with Vessels (2008) as part of the Light series i am working on. this one can still pull from [2 corinthians 4:7] but leans more toward [matthew 5:14-16].

Garden Tools: Nunchucks, Spear & Throwing Stars - 2008

This is the combined presentation of the previous three pieces (Hoe, Pruning Hook, and Tiller) as a set.

Pruning Hook - 2008; Tiller - 2008

Pruning Hook - 2008

Tiller - 2008

same concept, more pieces!
i seem to be interested in martial arts weaponry... i think because i find the weapons from that time and place to be so creative, and i wish that we could be as creative in our methods toward peace.

Hoe - 2008

this piece is based on two nearly identical sections of scripture from the prophets micah and isaiah:

[1]It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it, [2]and many nations shall come, and say:"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths."For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. [3]He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide for strong nations far away; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore; [4] but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken. [5]For all the peoples walk each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the LORD our God forever and ever.

- [micah 4:1-5]

[2]It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it,[3] and many peoples shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.[4] He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.
[5]O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD.

- [isaiah 2:2-5]

Vessels - 2008

this piece included a happy accident. it wasn't quite coming together as i wanted and i was mounting it to make sure the location was good, it wasn't and the day after i put it up to review, it pulled itself out of the wall and smashed into pieces. I was relieved though, it was one of those things where i didn't want to take it apart because it was almost done, but it really needed it, and i was able to put it back together better, and make it a stronger overall piece.
Vessels is based on [2 corinthians 4:7] which says,

[6]For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. [7]But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

and [Matthew 5:14-16] which says,

[14]"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. [15] Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. [16]In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

Heart, Soul, Mind & Strength - 2007

Heart, Soul, Mind & Strength - 2007

Heart - 2007

Soul - 2007

Mind - 2007

Strength - 2007

- [mark 12:28-30]
- [deuteronomy 6:4-5]