Branded.

It started in High School. My friend Rose, an exceptional artist, had been doodling on my arm during Biology, when I turned to her and said, "Will you design me a tattoo some day?". She looked at me, a little taken aback, and said "Sure!". So a year later, I had her design my first tattoo--a small cross with the "Proverbs 3" written up the side.

I sat on the design for a while and after Christmas in 2006, Rose, my friend Annemarie, and I made an excursion to the Tattoo Studio. Thus appeared the small black tattoo on my right ankle. And my introduction to the world of body art.

A year and a half later, I found myself living in Senegal for a semester abroad. Shortly after I arrived, I decided I wanted to memorize Romans 8. I kept getting stuck on the verses about Creation, and how ALL of Creation was waiting to be redeemed and reconciled to God. And then I started thinking about Colossians 1. "All things were created by Him and for Him, thing in Heaven and things on Earth." and it's connection to Romans 8.

An image came into my head and started nagging at my mind. It was a picture of a globe, with those words surrounding it. For weeks it lingered in my brain. So I emailed Rose, told her what I was thinking, and asked if she would design it for me. And so she did.

I immediately fell in love with the design, it was exactly what I had imagined. It went up on my wall, as a "some day" tattoo. On the back burner it stayed, stewing, for almost 3 years. Until yesterday.

Working on the design.

Working on me.

Final product

Little did I know that the inspired design of 3 years prior would come to mean more than originally intended. It has evolved to not only serve as a reminder that ALL things were created by God and for Him, but also as a more personal reminder of where I have been and where I am going. It's a reminder of my past--living in Pakistan and Senegal; my present--living in Singapore; and my future--going where ever God leads me.

It isn't done yet...In a few months time text will be added to read "All things were created by Him and for Him; things in Heaven, and things on Earth".

And that is the story of how I got branded.

Flying faster than time

Once again, I have made the flight to go from one side of the world to the other. Flying outside of time from one channel of my life to another. My brain handles the change better than the rest of my body. I see Asian people, I smell Asian smells, I see cars on the left side of the road, and my brain is already halfway there.

It's the rest of my body that has issues. Switching the routine of my body from night to day and day to night is not the easiest. My stomach wants to eat lunch at midnight and doesn't want anything during the day. My whole body suffers from the inevitable fatigue of a new sleeping schedule.

So take the internal battle of my body and mix in some jet-lagged children, and what do you get? A house of chaos. One kid awake and hyper, and the other lethargic and crabby. Ten minutes later, it reverses. Meanwhile, I have hardly enough energy to think about unpacking, let alone to run around playing baseball and shooting rockets.

My foggy brain has a hard time imagining an end to the vicious cycle of jet lag, but having done this many times before, I have to trust that there will be an end as there always has been before.

Questioning the celebration.

Today, I heard the big news. I mean, seriously, who didn't hear the news?

Osama bin Laden is dead.

I was on Facebook, and all of these posts started popping up. People that I haven't seen active on Facebook for a while are all coming out of the cracks to share the news and voice opinions.

There were tones of celebration, of relief, of vengeance. But something didn't feel right to me. Should I really be happy about this news?

I watched President Obama's speech, a very well articulated narrative of the last 10 years. Starting with a retelling of September 11, and then describing how it all went down. Secret mission. Firefight. Death.

And then, back on Facebook (of course), I saw this posted:

"Through violence you may murder the hater,
but you do not murder hate.
In fact, violence merely increases hate.
...So it goes.
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence,
......adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness:
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."
-MLKJr

And I realized why I feel so uneasy about all this.

This day will be marked as a day to begin a new era, one free of a tyrant who caused immeasurable pain and suffering around the globe. But this new era was begun by violence. By death.

And I don't really feel like celebrating. All I can think about is how Osama bin Laden was a human. A person like you and me. Someone who God loves. And I am sad to think that this man never got to experience true love, true joy, and true peace. My heart breaks thinking about how he never got to know the Lord.

Jesus teaches us not to throw the first stone. He teaches us that we are to forgive and love our enemies, not gauge out their eyes as they may have done to us. Jesus experienced the most painful death ever--with the weight of the world on his shoulders. He was betrayed, spat upon, and treated like an enemy. And when he came back, after overcoming death (!), he didn't do so with vengeance or violence. He came back with love and forgiveness.

Violence truly begets violence. How are we ever going to break the cycle if we justify our violent actions by pointing fingers? I am by no means saying that bin Laden was a stand-up guy (although, I have no idea what he was like in real life), nor am I saying that what he's done was right or excusable.

What are we teaching our children when we celebrate a death like this one? That this death and this violence is okay and something to be celebrated, but the death that happens in our own communities isn't? Since when has any death become socially acceptable?

Jesus didn't put footnotes in his instructions saying "Love your enemy (except when they do something really really bad and make you really really mad, and then it's okay to kill them and be happy about it)" or "I'd prefer you not to throw the first stone, but here's an approved list of misdeeds that are just evil enough that will allow you to throw that stone guilt-free".


Maybe we should think twice before we celebrate violence and death. Otherwise, where is there room for love and forgiveness?

A very Good Friday, indeed.

Happy Holy week! In honor of Good Friday and Easter, a couple my friends (and fellow photographers) and I put together a photo exhibit. Here is an electronic version of the real thing, for your enjoyment.

Artist Commentary:

In Romans 5, Paul says that when sin entered this world, so did death. Death came to all men because all have sinned. These two concepts are intertwined, you can’t have one without the other. And the lives we live on this Earth are steeped in both.

Sin has an amazing grip on our lives, from things that we do and say, things we experience, to things we feel. Feelings of anger, loneliness, inner turmoil, hate, sorrow, captivity, and brokenness are all consequences of sin. In the same way that physical death ends physical life, these feelings and emotions put to death emotional and spiritual life.

THIS is the power of the Jesus. That He, who was void of sin, gave Himself over to the ultimate consequence of sin. He died so that we may have life. He destroyed the enemy that we try to fight powerlessly every day. And now, death has no power over us, no matter how much we deserve it.

He has given us peace, hope, love, joy, and community. He has set us free. He has made us whole. He has brought us back to life and is allowing us to live it to the fullest.

And this is the idea behind this exhibit--death as we know it before Christ and life as we know it after Christ. Thank you so much, Renny, Sarah Mae, Jon, Bryce, and Abby for offering your beautifully emotional selves for this project. And thank you Amy and Izzy for letting me break the teapot.

Peace in Christ,
Amy

 "Broken vs. Whole"

 "Anger, Sorrow, and Loneliness"

"Peace, Joy, and Community"

"Captive vs. Free"

Just me and the boys.

I was home this afternoon babysitting the Monkey and the Mouse. There was a thunderstorm, which normally rocks Monkey's boat pretty hard, but this time just meant we had some good snuggle time. I had my camera to take pictures of the rain, and ended up with a whole series of pictures like the following:

Sunday afternoon jaunt

It's been a while since I've gone on an independent adventure of the exploring/walking/photo-taking kind. So I was very happy to fill my otherwise empty afternoon with an excursion to Arab Street. It's a neighborhood that is exactly what it sounds like: Arab. There are mosques, tons of little stores with carpets, fabrics, and lots of Middle-Eastern-esque items, and lots of restaurants and hookah bars.

It was very hot and very sunny and very beautiful. But I will let the pictures speak for themselves:

Doesn't that building in the background look like it belongs in Gotham City?

Making the most of the commute

Today as I was riding the train to go take pictures around town, I was playing with a Rubik's Cube. Ever since I got one for Christmas when I was in middle school, I've gone through phases of taking it with me wherever I go. It's compact and entertaining, so when one finds oneself in a situation where they are waiting for something (i.e. a bus or train), it's easy to whip out and dispel boredom.

I didn't bring my Cube with me to Singapore, but Caleb has one and I borrowed it today for my train ride. I got on the train, pulled it out, and started twisting and turning.

The first time I solved it (I'm averaging 2 and a half minutes), I noticed a lady smile as she was watching me. Then I realized that normally, all you see on the train is a whole bunch of zombified people trudging through their daily commute staring vacantly with their headphones on. That or fingers typing furiously into little pocket sized gadgets. It's certainly not every day that you see a white girl playing with a brightly colored cube.

After the second time I solved it, I noticed a man watching me. He caught my eye and asked if he could have a go. Of course, why not? I handed it over, and his hands started moving the layers back and forth quickly and methodically. Three minutes later, it was done and he handed it back.

I couldn't help but smile. It was such a ridiculous situation--two strangers interacting with each other over a toy on the Singapore MRT. I solved it one or two more times, and the same man suggested we do a race. As the train pulled into the next station, he took the Cube and started as soon as the doors shut. The goal was to finish by the time the doors opened at the next station (~2 min).

I watched in awe as he turned the last layer just in time. Then it was my turn and I am sad to say I wasn't as successful. He was very gracious and we had a quick little conversation about it. When he got off the train, we exchanged "Have a nice day!"s, and that was that.

I spent the rest of my train ride today solving my Cube, hoping that it would cause some smiles and a little bit of entertainment for my fellow commuters.