shopocalypse?

that's the phrase from a new documentary WHAT WOULD JESUS BUY from morgan spurlock (supersize me). i've been hearing some buzz about it, so i went to the website to check it out. i definitely want to see it, and i think it brings up many valid demons we in america face (especially this time of year!!) -- over consumption, an obsession with consumerism, and debt. and i know there are many of us completely blind and unaware about FAIR TRADE and the reality that a lot of the products we consume are produced in sweatshops and in extremely unfair conditions. i particularly loved the resources page the movie has, and i know i want to strive to buy the way and the things that jesus would -- things that promote peace, love, and hope.

swanky sweaters.

so apparently the cool new thing to do is have tacky/ugly/other-synonomous-words christmas sweater parties. fortunately, my mother has plenty of these that i was able to borrow!! here's a shot from one of the parties...this is my neighborhood fellowship group from midtown...

restless heart.

"OUR HEARTS ARE RESTLESS 'TIL THEY FIND THEIR REST IN THEE" -St. Augustine

i was reminded of this quote recently, and as i was praying today i realized how my heart has NOT been resting in the Lord. i feel restless about my future, about my next steps, about direction. all the while knowing that God is the author of time, and guides all of my steps, and directs my every move...but i have not been truly believing and resting in that lately.

CS Lewis said "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." and John Piper, discussing this concept says "The hunger and the thirst of your life that cannot be satisfied by anything in this world is the constant beckoning of God to remember that you were made for another world, you were made for God."

i know this...that this world is not my home...that God has put eternity in my heart. and i think that's part of the restlessness. that i crave eternity...i crave peace...i crave rest. my soul is hungry and my heart is thirsty for something greater than this place...something bigger than the uncertainty...something mightier than the mundanity of life.

so i'm praying that my heart would find rest in Him...the one for whom i was made.

STILL, SOFT QUIETLY SPOKEN VOICE
THAT PERSISTENTLY CALLS MY NAME
AND QUICKENS MY HEART TO COME, AND I COME

AND I REST IN THE SHELTER OF YOUR LOVE
AND I REST IN THE WONDER OF YOUR GRACE
AND I REST IN THE SHELTER OF YOUR LOVE
AND I REST IN THE WONDER OF YOU

EMBRACED IN THE PROMISE OF YOU
IS REST FOR THE WEARY SOUL
RELEASING ALL THAT IS MINE, I REACH FOR YOU

-skillet "rest"