"When we look through the eyes of Jesus, we see new things in people.

In the murderers, we see our own hatred.

In the addicts, we see our own addictions.

In the saints, we catch glimpses of our own holiness.

We can see our own brokenness, our own violence, our own ability to destroy, and we can see our own sacredness, our own capacity to love and forgive. When we realize that we are both wretched and beautiful, we are freed up to see others in the same way…

When we have new eyes, we can look into the eyes of those we don’t even like and see the One we love. We can see God’s image in everyone we encounter. As Henri Nouwen puts it, 'In the face of the oppressed I recognize my own face, and in the hands of the oppressor, I recognize my own hands. Their flesh is my flesh, their blood is my blood, their pain is my pain, their smile is my smile.'

We are made of the same dust. We cry the same tears. No one is beyond redemption."

-Shane Claiborne, the Irresistible Revolution

"Stuff your eyes with wonder ... live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories."

- Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

I am so excited for the two week adventure on which I'm about to embark. I pray that we don't break down in the middle of the desert and that all of us get along and can grow together & as individuals.

It's going to be wonderful.

This is such a perfect example of the average American consumer's ignorance.

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."

- Marcel Proust

I wish that I was half as interesting as I was in Vienna, haha. It was so much easier to be entertaining when my mind was constantly being stimulated and I was fascinated with the world around me.

These days, I've been watching (and re-watching) True Blood and eating too much Taco Bell and wondering why I'm not magically getting thin.

As of today, however, I only have two more weeks in Chattanooga! I'm leaving for my road trip then, and I'm really excited to start that adventure. From there I'm going straight back to Lipscomb, and so I'm stressing out about getting everything ready for the next few months (essentially) in such a short amount of time!

It's also only one week until my birthday month (and birthday week) so I am excited! Still 12? Maybe. :)

I'll be dead before you put a gun in my brothers' hands.

I really love my ugly dog. I consider her a so-ugly-she's-cute dog, but Clay disagrees. To each his own. Her name's Lucy and when she wakes up her beard is always crooked.

Today I learned that I've been saying a phrase wrong my entire life. I'm pretty sure this happens to everyone at some point, and I'm grateful that at least it's only this one thing that I've always said incorrectly. For some reason I thought the phrase was "for all intensive purposes" ... but alas, I was wrong. It's "for all intents and purposes". Who knew? :)

I'm rekindling my love for Brand New. It had never gone away by any means, I just hadn't paid enough attention to it lately. But Mr. Lacey, I missed you.

"If you were coming in the fall, I'd brush the summer by..."

Today was a wonderful day. I went on a platonic lunch date with Zack Jones & realized I've missed him way too much over the past two years. It's weird how college can make you grow apart from your best friends from home extremely unintentionally. We even went to the mall afterward and SHOPPED which really is a struggle for me, apparently, and I'm blowing my road trip money. But it was really fun and I just needed to hang out with an old friend.

We walked around downtown Chattanooga, too, by the art museum and the aquarium fountains. I adore that part of town - if I ever live in Chattanooga again, I hope I can live down there. It's so beautiful and it feels alive. I hope I can always live somewhere with a constant buzz of energy.

Then I called Jordan Lewis & talked to her on the phone for nearly an hour. It was so great and I don't even like talking on the phone! I've just really missed my friends this summer and I loved being able to talk to her about life & God & worries & excitement for the future. It keeps me excited about being alive.

But Nashville, I cannot wait to see you again.

EDIT

Okay, this is how great my day was - today, I found out that two of my dear friends have been saying some pretty hurtful and gossipy things behind my back, but all of the positives so made up for it that this is the first time I've even THOUGHT about that in a good 12 hours.

That's what I call a successfully joyful day - when the good so overwhelms the bad that you practically forget about it.