the interior life

“

there is a ‘yawning chasm between statements of noble principle and the reality of political action under the pressures of winning and losing power struggles - or perhaps under the weight of sheer indifference to human suffering’

—

David P. Forsythe in Human Rights in International Relations

This quote pretty much sums up what I studied in my undergrad. And now I see that it’s going to be an on-going theme in grad school.

First week of my Master’s is almost done!

Tags: human rights school readings international relations

“

To deprive me of food is definitely the best way to paralyze my thinking capabilities.

—

Fatema Mernissi in Scheherazade Goes West — commenting on eating disorders and the Western vs. Eastern suppression of women.

Is there a difference between the veil in the East and the deprivation of food/eating disorders/body images issues in the West? Yes.

— It’s good to be back in school again.

Tags: readings school

Taken in Ibiza, Spain.

Tags: photography photoshop europe spain ibiza

Get your feet wet!

I’ve been thinking about what it means to be led by the Spirit and the phrase “riding the waves…”

I went to Elora Gorge a few weekends ago and realized that in order to have fun and join what everyone else was doing, I had to take off my sandals and get my feet wet. I couldn’t just stay on a rock and expect to enjoy my time there.

This past weekend we went to Wasaga beach. I was feeling a bit sick but decided to still swim. The waves weren’t crazy or anything, but as we went deeper, my cousin was a bit nervous because they got kind of high at one point. I had this revelation that if I want to ride God’s waves and follow what He’s doing and where He’s going, then I have to stay calm and just go with it. You don’t know what each wave will be like, how high or how mellow it’ll be. We’re not supposed to know or understand everything. But it can be pretty exciting when you stay calm, jump when you need to, and trust that you’re not going to drown.

Tags: photography photoshop revelation

Journey of a World Changer: Day 6

The new mindset of a world changer is … “nothing is impossible.”

“I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.’” (Matthew 17:20)

Invading the realm of impossibilities is what I want to become an expert in. If my Father in Heaven can do it, so can I! No more settling for what I can humanly achieve, but it’s time to dream big and expect the impossible to be possible.

Journey of a World Changer: Day 1 - You are a world changer!

I’ve began the devotional “Journey of a World Changer” by Banning Liebscher from Jesus Culture. The subtitle says,40 days to ignite a life that transforms the world. Sounds perfect for me. To stay on top of doing the devotional I’m hoping to daily write something on my Tumblr, just to process and express some thoughts.

World changers arefearlessandpowerful. They know they are citizens of Heaven whose passion is to make a difference in the earth. (page 24)

Esther in the Bible had the revelation that she was intentionally placed in the palace and with the king “for such a time as this.” It’s easy to think that we’re just one small and insignificant person in a world full of six-plus-billion people. Then again, when I think about how the world was changed and shaped by certain individuals… it’s another perspective: one person can change the world. It sounds pretty idealistic right? As I’m growing and being established in my true identity (Kris Vallotton’s Supernatural Ways of Royalty) as a daughter of God and as royalty - I’m beginning to dream bigger and know my place in this world isn’t just to live a mundane life.

I don’t know exactly what to expect for this 40-day devotional, but I’m excited! Just as God was faithful in revealing and establishing important things during the Daniel Fast this past July, I know that this time of going through this book will be really good too :)

Tags: world changer jesus culture banning liebscher devotional

Reblogged from [Building A Foundation]

Europe Trip Part One: Madrid & Barcelona

It’s hard to believe I was in Europe just in May. So much happened during and after the trip, I don’t think I was able to process much of it.

Getting to Madrid was kind of crazy. Amanda and I flew from Toronto to New York, then we had to transfer to Newark airport in New Jersey. Then we were finally off to Madrid. I used to be so excited to fly but now… I’m really tired of planes. There’s not much excitement when I take off and land now. I think we were on a total of 9 planes for this trip, and maybe like.. 9-10 airports.

Rather than talking forever about what it was like, hopefully the pictures can explain how beautiful both Madrid and Barcelona are. They’re both so different, yet really amazing cities.

Part dos will be about IBIZA! Haha!

Tags: Spain Madrid Barcelona photography

a rare kind of day

It’s been a pretty crazy summer so far. But a good crazy.

The non-stop traveling and revealing of God’s goodness and love has really blown me away, I’m so thankful for each experience and trip, and the people I’ve spent time along the way.

Today… is maybe the first day where I’ve had nothing to do. No work. No meetings. No mentoring. No church. Nothing. (well, except the message I’m preparing for tomorrow’s service). So other than that I’ve been relaxing, napping, watching sermons, listening to music, reading through the Word, cooking, chatting with my mom, talking to friends online, and realizing that these kind of days are so rare.

It’s almost the end of July, and then there’ll be one month left before school starts again in September. I want to soak in each day before I’m back in school and hopefully I can get some things done on my summer list of things to do:

Read 5 books (I’m at 2/5 right now)
Re-do my room (going to IKEA tomorrow for a new bed and other things)
Cook (I’ve been doing that a lot these days because of the Daniel Fast. I’m on Day 6)
Re-learn guitar (I… doubt this is going to happen. But who knows, maybe in August)
Learn how to make cinemagraphs (hopefully I have time to do this!)

Those are the things I can remember for now.

So far, this summer has really been amazing :)

Tags: summer2012

HELLO.

Wow, I haven’t posted on Tumblr forever. I think I gave up on the blogging world, but I’m going to try going at this again. I have a blogspot blog too… and even bought a domain name but have been too lazy to work on that blog.

This summer so far has been really amazing. I could do multiple posts on the places I’ve been to and amazing experiences I’ve had in Spain, Italy, Portugal, California, Ohio, New York… but that’ll be for another time. Instead, I want to share how God… is doing some crazy and amazing things in my life and those around me whom I really love! It’s an exciting season of newness, as God is pouring out a new wine and transforming me to be His child and to be radically undone in His presence. It’s awesome :)

First, going to the Jesus Culture Conference last weekend was crazy! I knew that it was going to be good… but I didn’t know that it was be THAT good! I still can’t gather all the words to describe what happened and why it was life changing. It was honestly the presence of God that awed and amazed me. I mean, I’ve grown up going to conference after conference, retreat after retreat, and of course I had times of breakthrough and healing but this conference honestly took my relationship with God to a whole new level. I’ve never had so much fun in worship and hearing sermons by pastors (especially Bishop T.D. Jakes - dude… it was cuhrazyyy). Also, seeing close friends, family, and our church members be released into new levels of freedom. And that’s exactly what I prayed for: new levels of freedom! I could go on for a while about the points and amazing words of wisdom and revelation that we received at the conference, but overall… I’m just falling in love with Jesus and expecting that the power and authority I have in Him will manifest in my life and around me as I usher in the Kingdom! It’s… really exciting :)

He’s also ridding me of the doubt that exists in my heart when it comes to praying and expecting the impossible to be achieved. This past weekend we had a garage sale fundraiser for 2 mission trips our church is supporting. In my head I wasn’t sure how much we were going to raise, and the weather reports were saying it was going to rain. But we prayed and prepared for the garage sale, and somehow God showed up! We raised $1000.00 and we were able to meet many people in our neighbourhood and just bless them. God’s pressing in and going beyond my human understanding of how He moves and works - and revealing that the supernatural is natural - and that I can be part of bringing the Kingdom here on earth.

I have other things to share about what happened today, but I’ll write about this next time!

Tags: life photography community church God is Good

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