in him is the fullness of all things

Thou hast made us for thyself , O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee. -Saint Augustine Short and sweet.

Think back...back to before texting, calling, emailing, and even facebook messaging (goodness, how did we ever get by?). How on earth did we communicate with people that were far away? Well, back in the stone ages was a little something called writing a letter . This year, thanks to the departure of many good friends, I have rediscovered the lost art of chicken scratching a letter to someone. Let me tell you there are few greater joys in life (at least in mine anyways :] ) than receiving a letter in the mail. I am obviously not talking about bills, although those are great reminders of how old we are. I am talking about and honest-to-goodness hey-how-are-you-doing-me?-I-am-doing-well-here's-what's-been-going-on-in-my-life ...-letter. I remember the first letter that I wrote to a friend of my own accord was to one of my best friends, Christopher Brown in his first summer at the Air Force Academy. It was so cool to think that even though he was in a new and unfamiliar place, he w...

You're never giving up on me. Lately I have felt like kind of a roller coaster--spiritually that is. I have been sowing to the flesh, as Paul would say, and as a result I have been reaping from the flesh which is SO much less rewarding than reaping from the spirit. No surprise there. I want to have my cake and eat it too.I want to satisfy my sinful self but I also want to reap spiritual fruits. This is so not how it works. At Real Life last night, I heard a verse that I had heard many times before, but this time it came with fresh meaning. In Proverbs 4:23, Solomon says " Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life ." Everything that I do flows out of the condition of my heart. I know that God wants to change my heart. He wants to do surgery, taking out what is bad and replacing if with what is good. While I want this to happen, it's the "letting go" part that I am having a hard time with. I am having a hard time trusting that what God...

Well hello! Guess what? I am not dead. I have just been so stinkin' busy for the past two months that unfortunately blogging has been pushed down the very bottom of my priority list. Oh, I did think about how many of you I was letting down. I was tortured with the thoughts of you weeping and gnashing your teeth over not knowing what was going on in this life of mine. But dry your tears, my friends! I am back*! So what's new with me? What have I been up to? For starters, remember when I went to San Francisco at the beginning of the summer?(it's ok if you don't. I am not offended.) Well, funny story, my family moved there in September! Well, Milpitas, actually. Was I jealous of all the sun or the lack of rain or the fact that Frisco is just a stone's throw away? Obviously not. That was definitely hard to get adjusted to. Then, for the first time, I found myself living on my own. So I lived in the dorms my freshman year of college so I guess I was on my own then. But m...

... to perfectly put to words the agonizing cry of my heart during this dry, dry summer. O God, I have tasted thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory . I pray Thee, that so I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away." Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered for so long. In Jesus' name. Amen. -A.W. Tozer

The orphan clings to Your hand Singing the song of how he was found The widow rejoices For her oppressors are silenced now You sit at the table with the wounded and the poor You laugh and share stories with the thief and the whore When You could just be silent and leave us here to die Still, You sent Your Son for us You are on our side The runaway falls at Your feet You are what he has searched for The rich man is broken When he stands beneath a sky full of stars You sit at the table with the wounded and the poor You laugh and share stories with the thief and the whore When You could just be silent and leave us here to die Still, You sent Your Son for us You are on our side You sit at the table with the wounded and the poor You laugh and share stories with the thief and the whore When You could just be silent and leave us here to die Still, You sent Your Son for us You are on our side Still, You sent Your Son for us You are on our side

pc ( uc davis ) So I've been thinking a lot about the Israelites--how silly they were, how slow they were to learn, how easily they forgot everything, and how similar I am to them. Kind of sobering BUT it is also reassuring to see how God's love for them endured through all their disobedience and stupidity because I know he will be as long-suffering towards me. I've been thinking about one story in particular--you may know it. It's the one where Moses goes up to the mountain to meet with God as well as to get the 10 commandments. What does he find when he comes back down the mountain? The people have fashioned for themselves a golden cow. Now I don't know exactly what must have been going through his mind but the first thing I would have thought would be a cow?! Of all the animals that you could come up with to make an idol of... you came up with the cow? Not a bear, not a lion, not even an elephant? Heaven knows that a cow doesn't strike terror in the heart o...

Music Playlist at MixPod.com I hate all your show and pretense the hypocrisy of your praise the hypocrisy of your festivals I hate all your show Away with your noisy worship Away with your noisy hymns I stop up my ears when your singing ‘em I hate all your show Instead let there be a flood of justice An endless procession of righteous living, living Instead let there be a flood of justice Instead of a show your eyes are closed when you’re praying you sing right along with the band you shine up your shoes for services but there’s blood on your hands you turned your back on the homeless and the ones that don’t fit in your plans quit playing religion games there’s blood on your hands Ah! let’s argue this out if your sins are blood red let’s argue this out you’ll be white as the clouds let’s argue this out quit fooling around give love to the ones who can’t love at all give hope to the on...

Oh you know, just fiddle-fartin' around late one night. Sorry about the crappy audio quality :)

"People do not drift toward Holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated." — D.A. Carson

Sometimes, I try and run away from God--not necessarily deliberately, but subconsciously, I guess. I get caught up in a cycle of sin and I think that God is too angry with me and that there is no way that I could possibly face him. Have you ever felt that way? Whenever I find myself in that place, the Lord seems to draw me back with this song. [Luke 15:11-32] In a whirlwind caught away Broken lips have carried you to a place Where you don't know just how you ever got this far away from here Thinking somehow you could cross the point of no return But my love will never end Whatever reason you've been running I just don't care anymore Already forgotten whatever happened with what went wrong I just want you to come home Incarcerated, borrowed shame Freedom was the promise they took away And now you're left with what you find so hard is forgiving yourself I see something far away Could this be the day to take you in these arms and wash all of the wasted days and year...

I am having an incredibly emo moment right now. My Ghanaian black starred brethren have managed to rip my heart out of my chest and crush it to a million pieces.

I love soundtracks. When I hear an awesome melody when watching a movie or TV show, I usually jot down a few lyrics and then go home and Google them. Then, if it's good, I download it. If the rest of the artists work is good, then I will download the whole album! But sometimes what happens is that I don't listen to the whole album, I will just listen to that one song. So when I am listening to my iPod on shuffle, I will hear a song and be like "I have never heard this song in my entire life...how did it get on here?" Then I will see that it is one of songs that I've downloaded without listening too. ALL OF THIS TO SAY...that happened to me today. I was walking to class and on came The Girl by City and C o l o u r and I fell in love which is appropriate because it is a love song, after all .

It was a beautiful let down When I crashed and burned When I found myself alone, unknown and hurt It was a beautiful let down The day I knew That all the riches this world had to offer me Would never do. In a world full of bitter pain and bitter doubt I was trying so hard to fit in, fit in, Until I found out I don't belong here . (Beautiful Letdown, Switchfoot) Sometimes, I am so easily distracted. Have you ever noticed that it's when you are doing something important, like homework, chores, QUIET TIME WITH THE LORD, that all of a sudden your mind gets filled with all these "super important" (not really, though) things that just skip a million levels on the priority ladder? Since when was checking the weather more important than seeking the face of God early in the morning? The answer is never; it's never more important. I just get distracted from what is important. This past weekend, I heard something incredibly profound. A pastor said that as we grow in fa...

That is definitely what I have been these past few weeks...thank you summer school. But, here is a fun questionnaire that I came across on Anna's blog that will help you get to know me better (for those of you that don't know me well already ☺) six names you go by: Eva, Evangeline, Osemudiame(middle name), E, Teryaki (due to it's similar pronunciation with my actual last name, Oriakhi), and Va (coined by the one and only Eric Grabow) three things you're wearing right now: black t-shirt, rock & republic skinny jeans, brown zara cardigan four things you want at this exact moment : a cheap road bike(not cheap like crappy, just inexpensive), new pillows, a nose ring, a new cardigan two things you did yesterday: Went to school(gross, right?), went to the gym two people you last talked to on the phone: Renee Wai and my Pops two things you're going to do tomorrow: Watch the U.S. defeat Ghana (please, Lord!), study three favorite drinks: green tea frappucinn...

Here is the link to one of the most beautiful poems I have ever read. Be blessed.

Tomorrow morning, me and 3 of some of my favorite people will be roadtrippin' it down to the Golden State of California (specifically San Fran) for 3 days. We have no agenda really which is incredibly exciting. We see it as a ripe opportunity to be lead by the Spirit for a few days as we fellowship with people as well as enjoy each other AND God's creation. Ironically, though, it is supposed to be hotter here than it will be in San Francisco which is sort of counter-intuitive but as my dear friend Alexis says, "It's all good!"

...the hot, hot sun :) Dear Friends, Have you met my friend Matt Costa? Well I must regretfully inform you that I will not be the one to introduce you to him because I have not actually made his acquaintance yet. I am however very much acquainted with his sweet ballad-y voice. Here are a few songs that make my mind think sunshiney thoughts in the midst of all this tragic rain. [pc: FLICKr ] oh how I would love to run through this endless field of flowers. Wouldn't you? {unless of course you have allergies...}

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy grace ; Streams of mercy, never ceasing , Call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet, Sung by flaming tongues above. Praise his Name , I’m fixed upon it, Mount of Thy redeeming love . Here I raise my Ebenezer; Hither by Thy help I'm come; And I hope, by Thy good pleasure , Safely to arrive at home . Jesus sought me when a stranger, Wandering from the fold of God; He, to rescue me from danger, Interposed His precious blood . O to grace how great a debtor Daily I’m constrained to be! Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee. Prone to wander , Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love; Here’s my heart , O take and seal it , Seal it for Thy courts above. O that day when freed from sinning, I shall see Thy lovely face ; Clothed then in blood washed linen How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace; Come, my Lord , no longer tarry , Take my ransomed soul away; Send thine angel...

here is a new song that actually isn't new BUT it might be new to you :) The first song is from a band that is called Nevertheless. It's just a beautiful acoustic piece that calms my soul and reminds me of the Father's heart for me. The second band is Mae. I don't know what to say about them other than I ♥ THEM.

The other day my friend Courtney and I were working feverishly hard at Dutch Bros when like, five 90's pop songs came on and we couldn't help but smile. So for today, we are taking a break from new music Wednesday and doing 90's throwback Wednesday! There's a little of everything: pop, country, alternative, r&b...I hope you enjoy! What was/is your favorite era of music? *sorry about the duplicates*

everywhere and every way every moment of the day it is the right time for the Father above He is listening in love and He wants to answer us so let us pray hehe praise the Lord for 90's contemporary christian music. But seriously, prayer is probably one of the most important if not the most important aspect of one's walk with God. Charles Spurgeon even goes as far as to say this: " You are no Christian if you do not pray. A prayerless soul is a Christless soul." More quotes from him later. I have always desired intimacy with God. I wanted to know him better, to feel him closer, yet I was not willing to set aside time (legitimate time) to spend with him. It was a few minutes here, a couple seconds there. Nothing near what He deserves. Then, about 3 weeks ago, my pastor took a break from Proverbs and took a whole Sunday to exhort the church to pray. He talked about how corporate prayer leads to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Then it just hit me: You ca...

Whoops! I forgot to post a new song on Wednesday! I have learned practically a bajillion new songs this week so I don't know which one to choose from...ok! Just picked one. It's kind of a melancholy tune but I like that sometimes :) And besides, this song is pretty appropriate for the seldom sunny-always rainy(except for today) state of Oregon hehe.

So it's monday and everyone is back from Shasta. Even though I am a bit bummed that I wasn't able to go, I am SO EXCITED to hear about lives changed through Jesus Christ. It has been my prayer and the prayer of many that God would move just as strongly in the lives of those who could not be at Shasta as he did in the lives of those that went. Well, so far, God has been faithful to answer this prayer in my life over these past few days. One of the ways was through a teaching from Solid Rock , a Christian church in the Portland area. Several months ago, they did a series on Heaven, a series which I downloaded and listened to. I was listening to the last sermon in the series preached by Phil Comer on judgments and rewards. There was something that he referenced that particularly struck a chord in my heart (and was very convicting to be honest!) In Matthew 12:36, Jesus says that on judgment day people will be held responsible for every idle (careless) word that they have ever spoke...

Happy Mothers Day all! Not a single one would be here today if not for a mother so thank God for mothers. One of my all-time favorite blogs to read is Resolved2Worship by Alyssa Ann. I have never met her and she is most likely unaware of my existence but I am certain that she is an example to mothers and daughters ALL OVER of a woman after God's own heart. She has posted 20 things that she wants to tell her daughters when they turn 20 and as one who is at that age, I cant help but bear witness to the truth in her words. Dear Daughter, Today you are twenty. I'm sure by this time, we'll have gone through a whole lot together. I'm sure there will have been good times, and hard times, and really hard times, and hopefully really, really good times too. By this time in your life, well, I'm sure I will have told you the whole story about your daddy and me. How we met, what happened, what we wish we hadn't done, and what we're glad we did. It's an amazing...

love love love love love.

gospel balloons. pc { richelephant } read all about it here ! When the weather gets nice (please Jesus let it be soon!) will anyone do this with me?

My friend Jesse shared this song with our house church last night. I really sense God's heart for me through the words of this song. Behold You have come over the hills upon the mountain To me, You will run. My Beloved, You've captured my heart Behold You have come over the hills upon the mountain To me, You will run. My Beloved, You've captured my heart Won't You dance with me, Oh Lover of my soul, to the song of all songs? With You, I will go You are my Love You are my Fair One The winter has passed and the springtime has come With You, I will go You are my Love You are my Fair One The winter has passed and the springtime has come Won't You dance with me, Oh Lover of my soul, to the song of all songs? Romance me, Oh Lover of my soul to the song of all songs.

{pc: google } I once heard it said that no one stands in front of the ocean and boasts about how much they can bench press. I think the point was that there is something about the vastness of the ocean that leaves us awestruck, almost to the point of speechlessness. This weekend I have the opportunity to take some time away from everything and go to the coast with just my small group girls and the Lord and spend time in prayer and worship in the presence of one of the most beautiful aspects of God's creation and I can't wait. For since the creation of the world God's invisible attributes-his eternal power and divine nature-have been understood and observed by what he made, so that people are without excuse. Romans 1.20 Whether it is rainy or sunny, warm or cold, take some time this weekend to truly relish the Creator and his creation. Blessings.

So you know what this beautiful spring-y weather makes me want to do? run through a field of flowers and listen to some bluegrass. pc: flickr here are some of my favorite twang-a-lang-lang songs: Now get out and enjoy that elusive sunshine!

here is a thought: no one who is guilty celebrates justice. Isn't that right? Justice is never celebrated by the guilty. Rather, mercy is. Our merciful Father sent His only son to bear God's just wrath for a sinful race. Jesus was brutally murdered for us. But he didn't stay that way. He arose in victory that blessed Resurrection Sunday, defeating sin and death once and for all. Now, through faith in the risen Christ we can have eternal life. Now we have right standing before a righteous God. Now we can have peace with God forever. And you know what the best part is? HE IS COMING BACK AGAIN . Be blessed by this song.

I would like to introduce a Kiwi artist whose unique vocals have intrigued me and now I wish to share her with the rest of you. Presenting... Aimez-vous(do you like it)?

...ffic tuesdays! thought I was going to say terrible, didn't you? Soo, I am feeling kind of tired after a long(seriously, I got up at 6!), but fulfilling day of school. So I decided to fill out this questionnaire which I got off of Tara's blog Tada Moments . 1. Did you pass your driver's test on the first try? 2. What is your most embarrassing moment? 3. What TV show would you like to be on- Oprah, Biggest Loser, or What Not to Wear? 4. Would you ever get plastic surgery and what kind? 5. What are your favorite jeans to wear? 1. Yes I did pass it on the first try! I got a 93 on the written and an 85 on the actual driving portion. Probably one of my proudest moments :) 2. ONE of my most embarrassing moments actually took place this year (within the last few months to be truthful). I was sitting on the 4th floor of the library which is one of the quiet floors. As if that wasn't enough, it was in the rotunda area which is the SILENT area of the quiet floor. so NO tal...

hmm, well after an eternity of inactivity, I AM BACK! These past few weeks have been somewhat crazy, you know, with finals and studying for finals. oh the woes of being a college student. But, Alas! Spring is here and its sunny , which according to the weather forecast is not going to be the case starting tomorrow and lasting a long time. So, carpe diem, yes? I have been thinking a lot about heaven lately and just reflecting on how my view of heaven has changed so much over the last few years. I used to not be super excited about heaven simply because it sounded kind of boring. I mean, eternity is long time, right? I remember thinking about the return of Christ with the mindset of "it would be cool if Jesus came back BUT I want to get married first" or "I want to have kids first." I think that these thoughts stemmed from an ignorance or perhaps a lack of knowledge of what heaven would be like. Although it is impossible for one to fully describe what heaven is like w...

What do I mean by this. Well, a wise man (Solomon!)once said that "life and death lie in the power of the tongue" There is an incredible amount of power in your testimony. God has done such a unique work in your life but I don't believe that it's supposed to stop with you. One way that the enemy tries to isolate us is just by making us think that we are the only ones struggling with________ and that isolation can be instrumental in keeping us in that cycle of sin. I think that God brings us through certain things because he knows that by us sharing them it will be an encouragement and a blessing to somebody else and even give them the courage to share what they've been through or even ask for prayer for what they are struggling with. Sometime I will share my whole testimony but seeing as I'm supposed to be sleeping/or doing homework, I gotta make this short. My 2nd pastor(basically), Matt Chandler of The Village Church in Flower Mound, TX encourages the memb...

I love playing games. I love making up games to play with certain people. I love playing fun games with fun people . But there are some instances where it is ABSOLUTELY not ok to play games. It is not ok to play games with your teacher when they are lecturing. Or with your parents when they are grounding you. Or with God...ever. But I totally play games with God, like all the time. I'm pretty sure that we all do. And these games are not fun but we play them in order to stay in our own comfort zone, but in the end they only lead us farther away from the Lord. Game # 1: Create our own Jesus. Have you ever heard from Christians or otherwise the following statement or variations of: Jesus would not ask me to do________because he wants me to be happy and that would not be conducive to my happiness therefore he would not really want me to do that. Unfortunately, this Jesus does not exist, but sometimes we re-create our own Jesus. We mistake God's love for us as meaning that because ...

Aren't you glad that God doesn't love some future version of you? That He didn't choose you thinking "I'll pick her to be my child, clean her up so she doesn't sin as much, then I'll show her my unconditional love." Because that's probably what I would do if I were God. Or I would tell mankind "you're not good enough right now, but come see me in a few years when you have cleaned up your act a bit and then we'll talk." I think that some people have that mindset of God. I'll admit, I did for a really long time. I thought that I had to follow a checklist of things: don't cuss, don't drink, and don't have sex. Do all of these things and you can earn God's love! I was really religious. I thought that God was this giant policeman in the sky waiting for me to screw up so he could unleash his wrath on me. There is a huge difference between religion and Christianity. With religion, you must obey in order to gain Chris...

First of all, I thought that this was adorable: HOW WOULD YOU MAKE A MARRIAGE WORK? Tell your wife that she looks pretty even if she looks like a truck. - Rick, age 10 Valentine's Day used to be my favorite holiday, not because of how romantic it was or because I had a special someone to share it with. No, Valentine's Day was my favorite holiday because in elementary school it was a day that meant I could enjoy copious amounts of candy, courtesy of my classmates.(You might wonder, what about Halloween? Well that was a holiday that we did not celebrate in our family and therefore I never got to reap the "benefits" of trick-or-treating.)You remember, everyone in the class bought those bulk cheesy one-line Valentine's cards for the entire class and attached some kind of sweet heart-shaped chocolate or something. My 2nd grade Valentine's day was particularly memorable because I had 40(yes, 40) kids in my class so that meant 40 different Valentine's! Anyways,...