Sunday, April 17, 2016

The People of Rwanda - A Photographic Collection

Lately I've been exploring new genres of writing. I'm in the process of compiling a series of sketches which capture the beauty of Rwanda. In order to adequately describe the country and the culture, I am spending a lot of time observing my surroundings. This post, unlike others, is comprised of recent photos I took while walking through a small village. And hopefully soon I'll have a collection of small stories to share.









































Saturday, April 9, 2016

Same Story, Same Song, New Perspective

I’m tired of my story. It seems I can’t move on and experience new things. God has been teaching me about joy, peace, love, and thanksgiving for a long time. I think I’m learning and growing, but if I’m learning and growing, why are we still going over the same things? My blog posts seem to sing the same song: life is hard, here’s a surface level example, here is what God is showing me, stay tuned for more. I’m frustrated because I have nothing new to say. As a writer, I care about my readers and I want to present new things. People don’t like to read the same thing over and over. Sure, sometimes I have some fun and ridiculous stories to throw in here and there, but then it always goes back to my same old song.

Upon a closer look, perhaps He is still teaching me about these things because I am not done learning them. These traits aren’t the kind of things that are learned in a month or even a year. It’s a life-long task. But does that mean that all my posts need to have the same tone?

And maybe this is just the type of blog that I write – a blog not about Grace, but about grace. I could share fun stories and give daily happenings, but with my own self-promoting words, those stories are empty and shallow. There is so much more to say when I talk about God and His grace, joy, peace, love, and thanksgiving.

I guess what I’m trying to say is if God has you singing the same old song, then sing it with all your heart. God has you singing a song! (It’s all about how you say it, right?) I will write about joy, peace, love, and thanksgiving until He gives me a new song. When you hear a song for the first time you don’t know it very well. It takes a lot of practice before you’re able to get it all (singing, instrumental, what have you). Same goes with God’s song: I have to keep practicing this one until I know it, until it’s a part of me, until I can play it in my sleep. I can know joy, peace, love, and thanksgiving in the new and in the same old-same old. And I can pray that He throws some exiting stories and happenings in there to keep my song lively and fresh.