no, i didn't write this, but i can at least pray it

Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee;
Take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing always, only, for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be filled with messages from Thee.

Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect, and use every power as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will, and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal throne.

Take my love, my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store;
Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.

-"Take My Life and Let It Be" by Frances R. Havergal

ICHTHUS

well the festival is over. it was an interesting year - there was sun, dust, rain, mud, lightning, and snow. Yes,... SNOW. What is wrong with Kentucky? It's 1 week from MAY... why the heck is it 35 degrees and SNOWING?! Needless to say, that was the only moment that it was sort of miserable. Jo and I decided to leave early on Saturday, around 8:45pm. We didn't really care to see Michael W. Smith anyway... lol. The sad thing was that Audio Adrenaline got cancelled Friday night due to the hour long+ storm that swept through. Other than that, weekend was loads of fun. Great music, great messages, great fellowship. Bands Jo and/or I made a point to check out included:
/Sanctus Real /Mali /Skillet /Newsboys /Charlie Hall /Relient K /Tait /By the Tree /Todd Agnew /Watermark /Selah /Chasing Victory /Hawk Nelson /Insyderz /Roper / The Elms /

so not too shabby.

and to share some good lyrics from a group I got to listen to, Roper (for all you FIF fans...), check it out below. (www.roperisdumb.com)

"Quicksilver"
On Friday night I came awake like an alarm clock
Some shaking junkie's begging out on the sidewalk
And I could not allow my eyes
to meet his deep fear that my soul may still betray me
As if my will had always kept me steady
as if I hadn't caved in already

[Chorus:]
Quicksilver, quicksilver
Shadows dodge and fade
something less than why we're made

This vacant emptiness,
this hollow is eating
stabs through my side like thorns, so defeating
The glint of gold, sparks of silver, shining
the slightest breath of why we're pining
We take the crumbs like our hearts are at peace
We are far too easily pleased

I need this burning inside me
this brilliant aura, this electricity
I'm being haunted by spectres of what might be
of imperfections, of nearness to beauty
As life butchers, so sweet yet so sickening
we have betrayed, for each tiny flickering

countdown.

a swingin experience

i had an interesting experience saturday night.

once upon a time, i learned how to dance, thanks to some very great partners (my debt to brett, anton, and joseph primarily for that!) So after missing those monthly waltzes at st john's, i went in search of swing dance venues in lexington (albeit without any learned partners). i came across a swing group at the university of ky and decided to recruit unassuming and innocent friends to tag along... (what were they thinking!) the venue was supposed to be a combined effort of two college campuses: both uk and transylvania, a college also in downtown lexington. so we showed up.

first bad sign: it was being held in a gymnasium no larger than the one at st. john's.
second bad sign: upon entering about 15 people were spotted, comprised of 2 kids that looked like they were in middle school and everyone else was over the age of 55.
oh my.

we stuck around for lessons from mike and mary (or was it mork and mindy?), and it was amusing (and simple for me) to say the least. Here I was, dancing with old men and high school students. There was this one fella who was quite a good dancer. Upon asking him, "do you go to UK?" his response was "no, I go to lexington christian [high school]" -- ahh, the truth comes out. In fact, the entire night, i failed to find ONE student from EITHER the university of ky or transylvania. i felt a bit deceived, after all, wasn't this sponsored by college campuses?? well, it's not like my friends or I were students either, but... we're not high schoolers and we're not senior citizens.

conversations on the dance floor went like this:
"have you and your wife been dancing long?"
"where do you plan on going to college?"
"do you speak english?"

and their responses or conversation starters were like:
"I was a dancer back in the day, but that was a long time ago."
"There's a nice young fella I'd like to hook you up with"
"I don't know what I'm doing"
"heh heh heh"

yea, it was a riot. I did "dance the night away" - until 10:30pm, bedtime for middle schoolers and elderly alike. My feet were tired, and my one relief was having 2 girls and 1 guy my age, people I recruited to come from my church, to dance with and teach a few moves to. The guy from church learned to dance in Texas, so he had no idea how to do the 6 beat steps, but he knew how to spin. and he was wearing a cowboy hat and boots, and was the heartthrob of a hispanic 6th grader. oh, it was a riot indeed.

so was it worth it? absolutely. it was fun, but even more, it was funny. kudos to my five friends for being such great sports about it, and not minding dancing with 60 year old men and 16 year old boys. and, i must confess, i did learn something new- the foxtrot. yipee!
Plus, who wouldn't pay the $5 just to watch 4-ft tall elderly hispanic couples with no rhythm dancing together?

peek-a-boo

peek-a-boo
Originally uploaded by krisde.

even alyosha likes sunroofs