What Orphans Taught Me About Love

👉🏼 Side Story: the boy in the photo is named Angel. The last day we were at the orphanage he sought me out to give me a hand written letter saying how thankful he was that I came and how much he loved me. I cried. A lot. I hope that one day I may get to see Angel again.

3 Years ago I made a trip to Mixco, Guatemala that significantly impacted my life. I made the trip to help serve at an orphanage (Miguel Miguel Magone Guatemala) in the only ways I knew how. I combed out the hair of baby dolls, I played, I photographed and filmed, and I loved.

Work Play Love is an incredible non-profit that helps to support this orphanage and I could not be more thankful to have had the opportunity to serve with them.

Below you can read the testimonial I wrote a few years back.

If you or someone you know is interested in loving on some children and amazing staff members please consider joining or sharing this organization.

"Learning About Love in Guatemala" - Work. Play. Love.

Dream A Little ... Dream A Lot

I'll just put it out there right off the bat – I think I've been given way too many dreams for this short little life I will live. I could give you an on-going list of dreams, but I don't think that is what this post is for.

My dream is to live. My dream is to cast visions without limitation. My dream is to take action. My dream is to do my best to live purposefully and not out of reaction. My dream is to find community everywhere I go. My dream is to know who I am. My dream is to know who God is. All of these things make up the dry mix of a beautiful cake with many layers and detail.

Photo Property of Oh Honey Bakes [@ohhoneybakes]

A new friend of mine recently asked me, "If you could ask any question other than the typical small talk questions...what would ask?" The answer I gave him was that of a question I have been asked many times over the past several years: "If you had no limitations...if money, time, and all of those details were of no consequence or worry...what would you do? What would be the dream?" A persons answer to this question can say a lot about them. This summer, I was stumped as this question was asked of me. Honestly...I had put dreaming aside in 2009. "What's practical? What does "the reality" of being an adult tell me is possible?" Stupid. We weren't created to settle. We weren't created to dream and then set those dreams on fire and cast the ashes out on seas of impossibility. Whether it's a simple dream, or an extravagant one, they all have worth, they all have purpose.

Dreaming doesn't end here in the early stages of life. I pray, dear Lord, that I dream until the day I die. I pray that in every new season a new dream emerges. So this week, I've added one to the lot. This is one of those dreams that I'm not so sure about. It's one that I'm not quite sure on how it fits into this timeline of mine. If I were to write down all of my dreams you would be sure to find themes and threads. Some of these would make sense to slap down on a storyboard, but then others seem a bit disjointed. Granted, these dreams are from many different seasons and walks of life. So of course the dream of 10 year old me may not exactly coincide with the later dream of 20 year old me. Dreams take shape. Dreams come and dreams go. Dreams give purpose and motivate us to make the most of the one life we've been given.

Photo Courtesy of Noah Shaffer [@that.barefoot.dude]

Seems that this age I am living is prime dreaming time. It's a time of exploration. It's a time of question. It's a time of seeking answers and making choices. It's a time when the world seems to be an open book. That is...this age can be ALL of that...if I...or if you, let it. So dream a little or dream a lot, but I encourage the latter. Don't become overwhelmed when you do and dreams continue to be birthed like bunnies in springtime.

& with that, I leave you with the following to chew on:

Perhaps the purpose of dreaming is not to run after every dream, but to condition our minds and our spirits to be active in dreaming. You'll know which ones to chase, and I hope you will.

Self Portrait Captured By Kelli Marie 

Dreaming the Dreamers Dream,

Gabrielle

Double Post Day? Say What?

Yes. That's right folks. Two posts in one day! Say it ain't so. But it is...so don't say that. Speaking of music, if you read my last post. You ever feel like you could just spend the afternoon or evening laying on the floor with music spinning. It's a very real way of feeling for me. I remember specifically 2 years ago on a warm Texas spring day processing some heartbreak. I will always love City & Colour for the way it fills me and helps me to process emotion. I opened my window, laid on my bed, stared up at my ceiling fan and processed specific parts of the previous 7 years. There was a lot of letting go. There were a lot of dead and dying dreams...hopes. Seasons were changing. They always were. It was a slow change but came to a significant climax. I'm thankful for the ability to process. A lot of my processing is no longer talking through pain but feeling through it, letting it go, and deciding to grow from it. Maybe it's this stormy tornado weather that has me feeling like I just need to go spin some vinyl, open my windows to smell the rain, and lay on my bed in silence. Sounds like a dream to me right now. 

Photo by Luke Rieke (February Snowpocalypse 2015)

F a s t C a r

I adore this song. I have a few memories attached to it. The feeling of weightlessness and peace. The feeling of excitement of the unexpected ahead. I'm feeling pretty nostalgic these days. I'm challenged to dream again. I'm dreaming further and farther. I'm embracing the now and savoring it because I know that soon, this chapter will write off, and I'll be on to the next. 

If there are any memories I can keep...can I keep these?

#MondayMood :: Traveling Song // Ryn Weaver

This is my Monday mood. It was a long and exhausting weekend. You ever have so much feeling that words just cease? So many thoughts that not one sentence would be good enough to begin the retelling. Some days, that's me. Today is one of those days where music speaks more than words. Something that feels as deeply as I do. Something that communicates. Something that soothes. I love the way that music can do this. Makes me want to write a song. Perhaps I will.

Also, Ryn is the girl. Fer Real.

Oh father time...
That meter maid who lends one lively winking eye
We dance a borrowed jig while hiding from the fine
Oh, what I wouldn't spend to lend you mine

Nobody knows where they are going
Oh, how we try to wrap our minds
Over the edge of all our "knowings",
Be it a bang of the divine
Tip of my iceberg blues are showing
I've never been on for goodbyes...
So, till I meet you there, I'm singing
A traveling song to ease the ride and so you know

Everywhere I roam
I'll see you on the road

Oh, I take it in vain,
All the plans and moves that we made!
Half a heart is aching to grow.
Soulmates aren't just lovers, you know.
I know.
I know your eyes are the rain.
Just a soul that's changing it's shape.
I'll be laughing all of the way...
Thinking 'bout the days.

Nobody knows where they are going
Oh, how we try to wrap our minds
Over the edge of all our "knowings",
Be it a bang of the divine
Tip of my iceberg blues are showing
I've never been one for goodbyes...
So, till I meet you there, I'm singing
A traveling song to ease the ride and so you know

Everywhere I roam
I'll see you on the road

So, farewell to my friend.

He who taught me to love like a beast and to feast like the queen that he fed turtle soup! 

Little boy from Paris to the states, check the facts. That was Magical Max.

He was black sheep. and mischief. and love for his craft.

And he told me that I was Apollo 13 on that very last day. He said "shoot for your dreams, little girl. To the stars!" Well, I'm taking you with me now, this one is ours. 

And I know what you'd say, you'd say, "On with the show!"

So on we go...

"I'm Possible" by Jeremy Cowart

South Africa Calls To Her

South Africa is calling her back. Or, it may just be that plane ticket she bought several months ago that is calling her to hop on board that plane. Around this time last year a spent the weekend in The Burg (Lynchburg) with my dear Jo. I will never forget the Saturday that we got to spend together that winter. We at mexican food and didn't mind when the waiters flirted with us even though they were probably just trying to get a good tip. We grabbed Starbies and took a little overcast drive to the Lynchburg airport. We sat there for quite a while watching the planes take off and land engaging in soul bearing conversation without distraction. The Come Away album by Jesus Culture will always remind me of that afternoon. I remember the way the air smelled and the peaceful gloom of the skies. I remember how real that moment felt. How we talked of the birthing of dreams. We talked about our similar and unique passions. We talked about faith and insecurity. The challenge presented with endless possibility. I remember how my heart sighed to be in fellowship with such a driven, passionate and faithful woman.

Since then, Jordan has taken on a new and exciting challenge. She's currently living in Plettenberg Bay in the Western Cape of South Africa. She has committed a year to living there to serve with a non-profit that is pioneering an orphanage, anti-trafficking work, and photography/videography communication. She has taken on a lot of responsibility and roles while being there and as a friend I could not be more proud of or excited for her. I am continually encouraged and inspired by her steps of faith as she surrenders and humbles herself in this adventure.

I had the privilege of seeing her while she was in the states when she came to visit Virginia Beach. We did what I think has sort of become a "thing" for us to do. Take a drive, park the car where we can overlook something and talk. No coffee this time but we had just made one bangin' breakfast. We sat in Norfolk overlooking the bay and caught up some more before we went back to my house and spent a good bit of time in the car and in my room getting into a little deeper discussion on life. I wish I could have spent so many more hours with her because I think we could have just kept talking. She's such a free spirit and one that you just want to be in the presence of. She's wise and understanding and shows her crazy a little bit here and there which I wholeheartedly jump in on. Don't you worry. We get a little weird. Haha.

All of this to day that South Africa has such a precious human residing in the cape. She is moving mountains...or...making waves. Whatever the metaphor, she's chasing not only a dream and a hearts desire but she's chasing the Lord, and I am so honored to know her.

Below is a little information on what she is doing in South Africa: