Looking for me?

I got married and changed me name. It's time to change my blog host.

Find me at RachelMeese.com!

Strippers wear white too

A bride: a woman preparing for marriage. She represents the universal Christian Church which awaits the groom. 

CC image courtesy of Quinn Dombrowski on Flickr

But wait, brides are crazy. They complain, break down, and can't make decisions.

Yet it's such a coveted and celebrated position! Young girls, bridesmaids, and mothers delight and rejoice in helping prepare the bride; each dreams of or reflects on the own special day. 

So what is the disconnect? The bride preparing for the groom (prefiguring the Church awaiting Christ), the stressed bridezilla, and the celebrated bride... Each is seperate, yet they are one. 

In my years of participating in Christianity, celebrating with friends for their wedding day, selling wedding dresses to women and now being a bride, I have learned something: the bride is dirty.  

A bride is celebrated because she embodies the hope of redemption.

CC image courtesy of Diego V on Flickr

When I sold wedding dresses, a tall thin red head came in one afternoon. With tatoos on her back, I helped her into a pink and green embroidered white roushed strapless dress. It thought it was hideous; she loved it. I asked how high she wanted her heels; I'll never forget what she said: "Honey, I used to be a stripper. Nothing is too high for me."

She, of a socially taboo profession, chose to accept the position of being a bride.

I cannot think of a better parallel for what Christ offers to his bride. 

As a bride, I feel like this dirty thing and completely unworthy of love. As a Christian, I feel the same way. 

John chose to love, accept, and ask me to marry him. I chose to say yes. He loved me first. 

CC image courtesy of Corey Balazowich on Flickr

 

In Christianity, it is similar. I learn that it is Christ who draws me to Himself and prepares me for marriage; it is he who readies and waits for His Church. May my wedding be used for such a purpose to display this.

It is Christ who gives peace and strength for each day and decision. I wasn't made to be a bridezilla. 

And It is Christ who shows himself through community and celebrates his bride being prepared. All of this help, encouraging words, and sisterly support reflects the love of Christ. 

And I see now that it is Christ who cleans my heart. He takes me, an unworthy and dirty girl. He cleans me, and he offers hope and redemption, and he dresses me in white. 

CC image courtesy of Andrew Sweeney on Flickr

A evening alone

When I was a child, I chopped the bark off a tree with a tomahawk. I have no idea why I had access to a tomahawk.

The rumors are true

I've been traveling... i've been everywhere (and half a dozen other places not pictured)

Switzerland

Georgia

Michigan

New York City

Medellin, Colombia

The Dalles, Oregon

Santiago, Chile

Multnomah Falls, Oregon

Boston, Massachusetts

In all my grand adventures, there is none but Christ.

for once, the rumors are true.

One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,

to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD

and to seek him in his temple.  Psalm 27:4

I lack nothing.

Life Together

there is much beauty to be found and much grace to be given.

Relationships remind me that it is natural to want more, to want a holistic alignment. 

It’s natural to seek good, to build upon it, and to want to a pure and wholly good harvest.

Unless the Lord builds the house,
the workers labor in vain. 

Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.  Psalm 127:1

In singleness I forgot how good relationship is, how much it whispers Christ. Christ is the undercurrent of community. It’s in the DNA of my relational body. To ignore this is to cut off a member of my body and let it bleed out, or to deprive my white blood cells of nutrients while I in my own strength I try to fight the cancer in the world.

I wish singleness held no bitterness and that relationships weren’t idolized. I wish singleness would be celebrated. So I'm throwing myself a party, and everyone is invited. I like how, for me, marriage holds the same amount of mystery as the Gospel; both are certain and both are mysterious. Singleness and marriage, Christ is in each. And therefore both are good.

in all things, Christ is essential.

Cartoons

 What would the third cartoon look like?

draw if for me now?

change in the wind

I went to my favorite childhood park today. 
It’s been, perhaps, a year since I visited it. I have many memories there. 
I stopped to watch the sunset, to carve sacred moment.
The playground has completely changed; it’s been redone entirely. 
Nothing about it was familiar. I did not enter. 
As planned I made my way to a sun-lit bench, felt the warmth of the sun, and dwelt. 

Somethings in life get totally redone.

Others get revisited. 

Truths are worth revisiting.

One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving. Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done. psalm 62: 11-12

 i truly have nothing but the Lord. Only you, O Lord.     Oh! to breathe El Aire De Tu Casa!

My castle is only a mirage; it is a mere tower in a child's playground proven real by the truth of sunsets. 

plainly and without complications,

holdfast

What if God speaks with the sunset saying,

 “This is the world I created. It’s awesome. I give you permission to walk it and see my work”?

Do you feel small? I do.

5 days.

4 cities.

3 continents

2 cool to be real

1 excited girl.

And this is the verse I hold: Romans 12: 9-21

And Colossians 2:6-7

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

the journey’s not over yet.

Holdfast,

Rach

El fin

Chau, mi Medellin!

a day off (ferris bueller)

Im amazed. A few minutes on a bus ride can change everything. A simple response to "whats your family like" can lead into something much greater. Things run deep here. Its refreshing to know that.

Today I am sick (I was sick yesterday too, actually.) But we went on an adventure anyway.

I want to make the most of my last days... kinda like Jesus did (...?). Anyway. 

We did nothing spectacular, but we did it together.

It was an absolutely beautiful day.

Love,