new love.

I'm going to say something. Well, I'm going to type it. If you know me, brace yourself. These words have never come from my mouth, or out my fingers by strokes on the keyboard. I have never dreamed of this feeling, or anticipated this passion. Past teachers would rejoice at these words and wonder why it couldn't have happened sooner. Current teachers wish I would pay better attention in their class instead of to this new love-affair. I am so excited to announce.


I LOVE READING!


I cannot stop. I stay up late, I tune out the real world, I neglect my homework, I turn of the TV (big one right there), I make continual visits to the library. Who am I!? Well, Christy Ritchie is a reader, and in case you hadn't noticed, I am also a writer. What a life!


Reading, Writing, Refreshed,
Christy.

My memories took me back here...

     When we arrived in Vietnam and I was amazed. This country is like no where I have ever been before. The first picture below is a prime example of the extreme contrast that lay at the base of this country. In the window you see designer clothes in a high fashion boutique, on the sidewalk are nice scooters parked directly next to antique bicycles and walking along the road, a modern women in linen clothing caring a basket on her head and groceries in the bags to her side. Never would I have expected to see these things all in such close proximity. The world is nothing like what I envisioned from my desk, in my comfortable room, with my electricity and my electronics. It's much more complex and far from comfortable.

     We all just want to understand each other. We want to know everything about how the other lives. Instead, all we get is a picture and many exchanged giggles. Laughter was our mode of communication this day, and it worked pretty well.

     I love this picture. In the midst of the chaos, this couple leisurely rides their bikes down the road the girl holding the hand of her partner, without a care in the world.

These are only a few of the everyday sights I saw in Vietman, but it is a remarkable country full of deep longing and many things I will never be able to comprehend.

This is the Good News!

Now I won't deny
The worst you could say about me
But I'm not defined
By mistakes that I've made
Because God says of me

I am not who I was
I am being remade
I am new
I am chosen and holy
And I'm dearly loved
I am new

Who I thought I was
And who I thought I had to be
I had to give them both up
Cause neither were willing
To ever believe

I am not who I was
I am being remade
I am new
I am chosen and holy
And I'm dearly loved
I am new

Too long I have lived
In the shadows of shame
Believing that there
Was no way I could change
But the one who is making everything new
Doesn't see me the way that I do
He doesn't see me the way that I do

I am not who I was
I am being remade
I am new
I am chosen and holy
And I'm dearly loved
I am new

I am not who I was
I am being remade 

I am new
Dead to the old man 

I'm coming alive
I am new

Forgiven beloved
Hidden in Christ
Made in the image of the Giver of Life
Righteous and holy
Reborn and remade
Accepted and worthy this is our new name

This is who we are now...

Now I won't deny
The worst you could say about me
But I'm not defined

If you are in Christ, this is who you are!! What a relief and an outstanding joy to know who we really are and to tell ourselves that all those bad things inside of us have no place. With God, we can rebuke the demons and sin inside of us and tell them that they have no home inside us! What power! I pray that today you thank God for who you are and for who he is. What a loving God we serve.

Overflowing! Praising! NEW!

-Christy.

another day, another adventure.

The list could go on and on of new experiences I had this past week and things I discovered about myself, but for now I will list a few and tell you a little about each one.

new experiences:

-driving to a state 24 hours away that i have never been to and know nobody that lives there.

          My best friends and I loaded up the car last Friday night and headed out bright and early Saturday morning to the great state of Utah. We had no idea what to expect and only hoped for the best. Along the way we saw tumble-weeds, insane rock formations, house sized boats being transported down the road, and quiet a few mile-markers.

-camping for more than one night.

         We camped for a total of 4 nights at the incredible Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park in Utah and I highly reccomend that campsite to anyone and everyone who travels that way. Apart from waking up freezing and to the sound of yapping coyotes it was a great camping experience.

-climbing to the top of a mountain.

          I'm not sure how this happened, but before we knew it we were slowly shimming our way along a very narrow cliff holding on for dear life to the chain attached to a very big rock (mountain). The top seemed like it only got further and further away as each step developed a fear of imminent death. Overall though, very fun and thrilling adventure.

self discovery:

-i love taking care of people.

         The way I budgeted for the trip and planned it, my friends each payed my their part of the trip at the beginning and I took care of all reservations, gas, and food along the way. The thing I loved most about this was that when we'd stop for lunch, I just loved letting my friends order whatever they wanted and being able to pick up the bill at the end, I also loved getting to have to responsibility to check in to new locations and have the plan for the day laid out ahead of time (remember, i love planning).

-christian music is a great blessing and keeps me focused.

          Doing quiet a bit of driving on this trip, I also got to listen to quiet a bit of music. I love christian music and most of the music on my iPod is of that genre, so I loved getting to have so much continuous time to be on the road and soak up all the things that God has revealed to the different artists. A few time one of my friends would choose to play different music, whether it was rap, pop, country, whatever, and I would notice that my heart would become distracted, and my mood was more easily swayed. What a influence the things we expose our ears to can have on our attitude.

-God made nature to entertain us.

          There is no way I could drive through and look at all the different landscapes without giggling and thinking to myself, "God is so creative!" Every hike, every drive, even our campsite had a different style of God's magnificent creation and it just begged to be enjoyed and delighted in.

Well, that's a short overview of some of the many many things God is allowing me to experience and discovery. I hope and pray that you take the time as well to reflect on what God is trying to show you in your every-day life.

Delighted, adventerous, and smiling.

-Christy

Planning is an Obsession.

I'll sit for hours on Realtor.com. I'll watch HGTV from daybreak to dawn. I'll re-plan my schedule for upcoming semesters every week. I'll research places I hope to live over and over again. I'll go to multiple job websites looking for jobs that make me excited and hopeful for years to come. I'll stalk multiple photography blogs to get excited about upcoming photography shoots. I'll plan trips, flight, hotel, car and activities, that I don't plan on going on until years from now.

Why do I do these things? None of them being me any immediate results or help me accomplish the things I need done today.

I'm not looking for a house. I'm not redesigning someones room. I've already planned my schedule. I have no idea where I want to live. I am no where near needing a job. I don't own my own photography studio, yet. I'm not going on any big trips.

The reason I do these things is because for me, planning is an obsession. I can plan elaborate road trips, grand parties, the house I want to live in all the way down to the neighborhood, crime rate, closest schools, accessibility of parks, closest mountains and lakes, and if it has a laundry room.

The downfall of my planning obsession is that very rarely can I follow through. I make workout plans, they never make it past my notebook. I make detailed schedule of homework completion, I check one assignment off the list. I make mental promises to eat a salad every day and drink more water, I look at the salad line and go get pizza and a glass of sweet tea instead. Up until this year, this is the attitude that ruled my life. However, two-thousand and eleven is different. I do not give up. I am motivated. I am worth keeping promises to myself.

Have you ever realized how big our God is? Oh, he's big, and he's powerful, and he can do anything he wants. He wants me to use my obsession with planning to change lives, but first, my own.

Commit to yourself that you WON'T give up. God made you and you are not worth giving up on.

Determined, full, and dancing in His presence.

-Christy.

Simplehearted.

The guidelines are simple, so simple that they were summarized in to ONE word. There is a word that is meant to direct all our thinking, all our actions, and all of our relationships. The only thing we asked to do is Love.

"The LORD protects the simple-hearted; when I was in great need, he saved me." Psalm 116:6

All of the amenities and technology we use were created for us to make our lives more simple. Why then do they complicate things so much? Intellectuals are praised and simple thinkers are cast aside. After reading this passage in the Psalms, I started to wonder about the benefits and difficulties of practicing being "simple-hearted."

When there is only one goal for our lives, to love, I guess it should be easy to be "simple-hearted." I am going to consider trying this state of heart in my life and I invite you to join me.

Life is so simple when Love is our nature.

Contemplative, Encouraged, and Peaceful,

Christy.

Wisdom.

"But where can wisdom be found?
Where does understanding dwell?
Mon does not comprehend its worth
it cannot be found in the land of the living.
The deep says 'It is not in me'
the seas says 'It is not with me.'
It cannot be bought with the finest gold,
nor can its price be weighed in silver.


God understands the way to it
and he alone knows where it dwells,
for he views the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.
When he established the force of the wind
and measured out the waters,
when he made a decree for the rain
and a path for the thunderstorm.
then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;
he confirmed it and tested it.


And he said to man, 
'The fear of the Lord --
that is wisdom,
and the shun evil
is understanding.'"
Job 28:12-15, 23-28