Prom 2012

[For any of you that were wondering, Phebe made my dress again this year.]

Prom this year can be summed up in two words unforgettably remarkable.

My ‘escort’ (Because I am old fashioned like that) was my very good friend Ben. We did all the fun cool prom-like things like boutonnieres and corsages.

We posed for some pictures

And then my mom made me pose for some more.

Then we went out to eat at the Flaming Wok where Ben tried shrimp for the first time. (Yes. I was very excited.)

From there we were chauffeured in my Pop’s oh-so-elegantly-classy mini-van to the Catholic church. (Because where else would homeschoolers have a prom?)

After that, we danced the night away, and had a darn good time doing it.

It was a super awesome special night that will be hard to forget. (Hopefully I won’t get hit on the head by a rock and get amnesia.)

Ben, thanks for making prom so awesome!

Sweet Esther

This is Esther:

Esther has stage 2 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. She is only 16.

Today, she has her first round of chemotherapy. Pray for her…

That she will stay strong physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Pray that others will see unconventional beauty through her sweet smile and her vibrant, loving spirit.

And pray for all of us as we embark on this journey alongside of her and her family.

http://posthope.com/gritsko

What I know to be true

1. I am broken
2. I live in a fallen world
3. My background is less than desirable
4. I am blessed in spite of it
5. I am loved
6. My heart cannot be beautiful by my own efforts
7. I struggle
8. In spite of that I can still be used
9. I am redemption personified
10. I CANNOT be silent. 

I’ve been following a Facebook thread of a very distant acquaintance for nearly 3 hours. In that short span people commented furiously defending their point of view. The comments now number 109.

I won’t go into specifics, but I will say that the comments on this particular Facebook post have literally brought me to tears.

 The hopelessness, the pain, the disregard, and the utter blindness of those who have not discovered Jesus for themselves, and those who have turned away brought me to weeping… It made my heart heavy.

I absolutely ache for these people who so obviously lack, but they as people are so lost, they cannot even begin to seek out what they do not possess.

God,

Let them find you.

To: My Most Favorite Smurf

Oh, meet me in the graveyard

And we’ll count the ones we know

Meet me in the graveyard

And we can drone on about our lives

Because we’re friends

Mutually blessed

And excited to live

Till again we meet

When we’ll walk to the graveyard

And lay down forever

And chat the days and nights away

And we still won’t care what people think

Because we meet our own expectations

And we are who we decide to be

So, meet me in the graveyard

So I can sing with you.

These

These ears

They’re not blind

They smell the poverty around them.

They taste the hunger

And feel the need

~

These Eyes

Oh! These eyes have never been deaf

To that most distinct scent

Of hurt and loss

And hopelessness

~

My senses aren’t numb

To the world’s great lack

I possess awareness

Of what I have

And others don’t

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More than anything, I long to be here:

I long with all my heart to be in all these places, but I know that more than all of that, I want to be where God wants me to be. I don’t know where I will end up, but I do know this.

I am to radiate, to reflect, to spread God’s beautiful light as He refines my heart.

Happy Good Friday/Easter

And now, Oh, Savior

Now we owe you all

Everything we are

Is indebted to you

Yet you keep on giving

~

How, Lord Jesus

Do you only ask for our hearts?

And sweet fellowship

When we do nothing but fail

And ask for Your hand

~

Why, My dear friend

Did you lay down your glory

Did you forfeit a throne

To be the deliverer

Of ungrateful people

~

Thank you, my father

For your love and your kindness

To rescue me from myself

To pull me from my fate –

Death and no resurrection

Sometimes

Sometimes God places us in hard situations to make us realize that we are powerless. Sometimes we have an abundance of things that hit a little too close to home. We have no say in the way things go down. Then we realize we have to make ourselves pliable and usable.

It’s in these times that we look to God and say, “God! I cannot take this. I cannot handle all of this at once!”

It’s also in these times that God looks at us and says, “Exactly.”

Drilled into my head.

When the same verse pops up everywhere all the time, I can automatically say that God may be trying to drill something into my head.

Micah 6:8

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

This verse seems to be everywhere. The way I came across it seemed, to me at least, like a coincidence. But I guess there are no coincidences with God. I basically just opened up my Bible, and there it was. Highlighted and everything. I love when stuff like this happens. It’s exciting.

The world in all its fragility

I wish the world weren’t so fragile

I wish it wasn’t so broken.

I wish we could find a way to glue it

But I know that my wish’ll never come true

We’re too fallen

Too broken

To make sense of the mess

That we’ve all created

I suppose the only thing left

The only thing left to lean on

The only thing we can hold on to

The only thing that might help

The only thing is love.

Scared

Words

Words

Words

All they do

Is spew

Straight from my mouth

Then they travel south

To speak to the floor

Which finds them a bore

I know full well that you hear

But you don’t see my tears

Leaving these streaks — Glistening

Because I know you’re not listening

What purpose can I serve now?

I can see that the soil’s unfit to plow

And all the words I express

Are words — no more, no less

I suppose my words hold no weight

Little matter holds my side of the debate

Won’t you stop shooting me down

To me you listen the way you would a clown

All my

Words

Words

Words

To you are of little meaning

So you don’t see my intervening

As the slightest bit useful

Friend, I’m only being truthful

Fine. Take your secret to the grave

I will no longer try to save

What’s never been mine

Watch me resign

All the words I’ll ever say