Currently...

...listening to Imogen Heap's album Ellipse and loving basically every track.

...reading This Star Won't Go Out by Esther Grace Earl and her parents. Esther battled cancer for several years, was active in the Nerdfighter community, and wrote pages and pages in her journals. After she passed away in 2010, her parents published her journals, along with other stories and notes from friends and family. While The Fault In Our Stars is not written about Esther, John Green dedicated it to her and was inspired - in more ways than just his book - by Esther. 

TSWGO organization

...watching "Doctor Who" Season 8, Episode 3 tonight with Samara! I'm excited to see the interaction between Clara and Robin Hood :) And before tonight's episode, I will probably watch at least one episode of "Wonderfalls," a quirky one-season show with Lee Pace. Yes, I'm obsessed, but how can I not be?

via

...working on a DIY project for a table lamp. I'm excited to share the finished product soon :)

...drinking lots of water. Feeling slightly dehydrated and I want to nip that in the bud. 

...wondering if I should have taken my sister up on her invitation to go to Wild Waves for one of the last nice days of the summer. She called this morning and I opted out - does that make me old?? Probably, but at least I own it, right?

...anticipating some packages in the mail. I ordered some clothing from Amazon and some sheets from Macys yesterday {thanks be unto whoever invented online shopping}, and both orders should be in here in a week-ish. {I think the fact that I'm excited for new sheets is confirmation that I'm old.}

...looking forward to a friend's birthday celebration tomorrow. Brunch, relaxation, and picnics in the park are all on the docket, and I'm thinking about making some sangria :)

...thinking that I should exercise and shower in order to fully appreciate this wonderful weekend.

Linking up with Bailey Jean today for Day Six of her Blog-tember challenge. Thanks for the prompt, Bailey!

Christmas is Coming!

But the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary will be here first!!! People.... Saturday....this Saturday.

I love my church and meetings and stuff, but when I heard that our congregation meeting was cancelled this week, I almost jumped out of my seat with joy. We will surely finish Season 7 was my first and unholy thought. {I regret nothing.} EDIT: Just got an email prompting me to buy tickets for the showing on Monday. Done and done; like a true fangirl, I got up early the morning tickets went on sale.

But to stick with the topic suggested from the title, Christmas is fast approaching. It seems especially fast this year, and while I know that part of it is that I'm getting old {depending on who you ask, of course}, I think a big part of the seemingly rapid pace towards Christmas is the fact that I'm not counting down the days to going home before the holiday. You guys, this is the first time in 3 years that I don't have to get on an airplane before I can be home for Christmas. If the angels weren't already singing, I would tell them to start!

The challenging aspect is that Christmas shopping has yet to happen. I take that back. I've bought one gift. Yikes.

After reading Jen Hatmaker's book 7, I've been thinking about Christmas in a different light. I mean, we all know that Christmas is not about gifts or stuff, but about God's story of redemption unfolding on earth. Yet...we still buy each other gifts. I think reading 7 messed with me more than I admitted to myself, because I can't think of Christmas in terms of stuff anymore.

It's hard, because I don't want to be a Scrooge at Christmas. But I don't want to just be a consumer {purchaser} of stuff. If I'm going to buy something, I want it to be meaningful, and not just in the "how did you know this was what I wanted!?" way.

So what I'm considering for gifts this year is buying from organizations who are doing something for the least among us, organizations that {the majority} are non-profit and that need donations or purchases from people whose basic needs are met. Um, that would be me. So here are a few that I would like to present to you.

Jen writes about Open Arms, an organization in Austin that employs refugees at a living wage.

Davi writes about Love-Water.org that provides clean water to countries that suffer diseased water.

Love146 works to end child trafficking; Not4Sale also fights human trafficking and slavery.

Save the Storks offers free ultrasounds to women planning an abortion.

I'm sure there are hundreds of other organizations that are also accomplishing great things for those in need; these are just a few that are either recommended by trustworthy people and/or work for causes that are on my heart. If you know of other organizations that are employing people so they can be free {like Amazima - store here} or if the organization is working for a cause {like Bound4Life - store here}, please let me know.

And because she's amazing, Jen Rossum shared this guest post regarding budgeting and planning for Christmas shopping. Please ignore the fact that I ignored the third step about not starting in November. Ahem. At least you've got several weeks to go. {Fangirl comment: But there are only FOUR DAYS until Doctor Who!}

Water

Hey, readers, Now, this may sound a bit cheesy, or green, or earthy, or something weird, but it's not. This is a call up, a new perspective, a different way of looking at things.

I'll admit, I first heard this idea on the Disney channel, and I don't entirely agree with why they are doing what they're doing, but I do agree with the what, and I think that we Christian, Kingdom people can do something. Disney channel suggested that we focus on conserving water, just a drop at a time. They mentioned turning off the faucet while brushing our teeth or washing the dishes. Just by turning off the faucet for a few seconds will eventually add up to thousands of gallons of water saved.

Now I don't want to judge or condemn Disney by saying that they're doing something wrong, or their motives are all messed up, because I don't know that they are. And the thing is, they are doing something.

So I would like to challenge you, my readers, to save some water. But not for the express purpose of "saving the planet." Here's the thing: we own the planet! We were told to take dominion over it {check out the first few chapters of Genesis!}, but we are also told to steward it. I have to check myself sometimes, because I get so anti-tree-hugger that I think, augh! I'll just go use whatever I want, because it's mine anyway!

But that's not true. God has called us to rule and subdue, yes, and also to steward. That means multiply, and add to, not waste just because we've been given possession of it. I hope that this challenges you, readers, and gets you thinking about how you can be a better steward of the earth, not because the earth is fabulous {although I think it is}, but because God has given it to us to steward and take care of, and saving water when we brush our teeth is one way we can do that.