- Last week in portland for summer. Finishing up three commisioned paintings, one for our dean of students, Ken and Glenda Malmin, who wanted their grandchildren around Jesus. Esti wants a sunset taken from her sisters honeymoon, which I'm being paid five hundred for :) ptl. and Luis wants one with multimedia and texture. I've really ventured out with my work lately, seems to be a hit. City Bible Church may even purchase some I have up in their cafe. Thursday I will be doing at art market on alberta with some granola friends who will be preforming spoken poetry and rap. music of sorts. Selling my artwork has paid off my schooling this semester at Portland Bible College. I went into this semester with almost nothing. I think only eight hundred down out of over four grand. it helps to have a wonderful man who owns up to being a man and pays for dinner and car repairs.

-next week in Vermont, doing more artwork, for Mosaic Burlington. Boyfriend is already there for the summer. instead of three thousand miles away, he's only three hours. He'll be living with my brother for the summer. there's talk that in september I will be flown to Denver Colorado to do another new church plant's artwork for Doug and Donna Lasit. fingers crossed that one goes through.

- Designed my first three tattoos, for some men. When they're finished i will post pictures. For Ferf I did a dead tree with a single leaf that will run up his torso. For Mark I did a arm sleeve of a city of heaven on top of clouds with the hand of God reaching down almost toughing a hand of man reaching up from a grave. and for Matt, a simple clean cut anchor and rope.

- I'm in constant need of learning to receive God's grace. and receive it humbly. Just knowing how messed up and twisted I am as a human, you would think keeps me humble, but it doesn't. I come up short everyday, yet know everyday God loves me despite. Being awoken to my own sin nature, has hit me hard this semester. I feel like the brother of the prodigal son. The son who did everything the father asked of, kept in good company, didn't squander his inheritance, was good. Yet when the prodigal son came home, he felt as though his father owed him something. that his good deeds needed recognition and praise. The fattened calf was being wasted on the son who played in sin, brought shame to his father. I feel like that brother. I am more the most part. But i'm learning nothing is owed to me. I deserve no praise, no recognition. I deserve nothing. My good deeds are all short of Christ. I do the very things i don't want to do. over and over and over again. I do the thing i don't want to. I feel as though sometimes i have cycles of sin and they cannot be broken, even as aware of them I am. In Christ though, He can break that. I have to just trust in Him, trust in His power, not my own. It's a process. We're working on it. I feel like a fool sometimes when I have to ask God to learn to trust in God. Seems funny, eh. All i have, is knowing that He is faithful. That He will fulfill what He has promised to us, that He will renew me.

- Graduated with a Bachelors degree in Theology last week. Tom and I flew my dad out for the occasion. Then we had a banquet, so Ian and I dressed up for it, met up with Tom and my father afterwards to take photos only to be at a downtown fountain that something rigged with soap suds and made the place over fill with bubbles. of course we took the oppurtunity to have fun, put on a show for a crowd of about seventy and beat each other with pool noodles.

















Most amazing.

I applied to become Barrack Obama's white house nanny. It was quite an extensive application.

School started this week. I'm glad to get back into some studies.

I get to write a paper on Human Trafficking. I'm excited tolearn more about it. I got my feet a bit wet last semester learning a little about it...

Like there are 1 million human slaves trafficked through The untited sates a year. Roughly 17,000 live in america as slaves. There are more slaves today then there has ever been in history. This time they are not all black though, many young women from third world nations are captured as sex slaves and forced to preform duties, for pimp slave owners. Some little girls as young as six are preforming oral for men. Young Adult females are forced to have sex, and then are tied back up so that the next time they have sex, they will bleed and seem as if a virgin, so men pay higher rates.

 

sorry no new picture posts yet.

we have been staying in paauilo, where his dad's house is. mind you, his dad lives in the middle of no where, recently the 3mile dirt road drive up to his house has been paved half way. surrounding you is ten foot razor grass, right on the edge of the drive fit for only one car. His dad built his house, and one for his grandmother on the same property. They run off of a generator, a well, solar paneling and one wind mill. They have a greenhouse, and a big garden that provides fresh food. also, there is a koi pond full of koi, nine chickens that run around loose, for fresh eggs and a pond full of cat fish. It's a beautiful place. Surely, there are "green". There is no cell phone reception except one small spot in the house, they havent had a phone in five years. so thats why i have no photos uploaded yet, cause no wireless.

anywho.

we went to beach sixty-nine yesterday. it's only called that because it's the sixty ninth phone pole in, when there where no signs to get to this remote beach. It was beautiful, clear and turqouis water, white sand and one hot boy next to me. then we went to Kona for some shaved ice. It was bigger than my head! we had frozen yogurt inside of it, making it scandonavian shaved ice. Strawberry, mango and lilikoi. mmmmm. i love lilikoi. Ians dad is having me try fresh fruits like white pineapple. so good, but it made my mouth tingle all day from the acids.

today we went to the volcanoe. We did the crater views, then went on a msall hike across some pahoehoe lava to see a new eruption. It was great, i wish we could get closer, but alas we could not. We saw moulten lava spit out and steam up, in huge eruptions. No good photos of it though. I was learning a little about hawaiin beliefs and superstitions, like the godess pele, of the volcanoe, and how it's unruley to take lava rocks with you. We went at night so we could see the lava betta. and this ends another good night.

maloha fo' reading...