Dancing With My Thoughts...

Dudes...Dudettes....

I wanted to blog about something so I decided to blog about last night's Worship Band practice, the experience. I am so blessed to be part of that group. God reaalllly showed up last  night. That must seem weird to read. " How does God show up?" one may ask. Well, God's presence is so obvious sometimes. Think  of it as a heat. There's a radiator in the room and then heat just starts oozing out of it. and when you walk into that room, you feel the heat. It can't be ignored. That's what the presence of God feels like to me. We are the radiator and God's Holy Spirit is the heat. When God lives in us (because we asked Him to, we said to him, You first- me last) He can just come out of us and fill a place. It's something supernatural. And when you truly lay down your desires and just want to thank Him and kneel before Him like one would do before a King, He really moves in you and around you. His love is intoxicating (in a awesome way). Even though there isn't literally a smell in the room, He's like a fragrance. Imagine your favorite smell, a smell that calms you...that's what God is to me. 

Well, that's what God was doing last night with us. It is so awesome to see your friends show their love for God with the talents that were given to them. And I pray that we never lose that. And when a group does that act of love together it really brings them closer... giving us unity. Reminds us that we are there for God and His love and to want more of Him on this Earth. 

I don't have enough words. But there is a song that describes how I feel about God. And if  you guys are ever interested in listening to it, its by Rick Pino, and the song is "Your Love is Like"

Well, I'd love to go on about what God is like to me but I have class in a few. I just wanted to write a bit about Him. It brings me back in focus. I was getting carried away with depressing thoughts. Losing my grip on what God tells me about me and letting lies of never being good enough enter in. but NO!!! 

It's a constant fight. It's a good race. And I'll continue fighting the good fight. 

My final thought is that I hope you know God in your own intimate way. I pray you want that and that when you do, your eyes are open to see Him move, like the heat from the radiator. ;)

Shalom!

Ashley "Random" Pinto

These are 25 random things about me.


1. Í've trying to learn how to play guitar for almost two years now.
2. My shoes MUST match my outfit.
3. My friend Angie and I have something of a demo. We call ourselves "Oh! Elsa"
4. I want to be your kids' crazy high school english teacher.
5. Never tried any drugs.
6. I hate cigarette smoke.
7. I love the smell of gasoline.
8. I don't know the times table as much as I should.... I hate math.
9. I love family time. Even if it's boring.
10. My favorite show is LOST!
11. I love my church and all the people that are part of it. They make me smile.Since day one, I knew I found a place where I could be me and be loved just the way I am.
12. I love the Subject-o-matique feature on yahoo mail.
13. I dont want to have a routine life. "
14. I should be doing homework right now.
15. I want an iphone but I'll survive.
16. I love my siblings' doggie. Freckels =]
17.I love making random home videos.
18. I love hearing stories about God's power and how He's plans for us play out.
19. I am firm believer that you can't say that Chick Flicks suck. Even if they are low budget, it's a Chick Flick!!! Most likely will make me cry.
20. I like a good cry. Happy ones are fun! haha
21. I love dictionary.com
22. The Breakfast Club is one of my favorite movies.
23. I love Jane Austen novels
24. I sometimes wish I could have lived in the 19th century.
25. I will pray for you if you want...seriously...and im not being sarcastic

I'm From the Heart

The following is a poem I wrote for an assignment. It was for a class in this semester. We had to write a poem about what we are from. I had written one like this in high school. So I incorporated things from my high school version into my new and updated version. Felt like sharing this with all the ciber peeps, whoever you are!


I’m From the Heart.

I am from where I sit up straight and “não se canta á mesa”
From a tiny bedroom that I love to hate and hate to love
I am from where the girls with the pretty folklore dresses dance to an accordion and screaming lady
I am from where Jesus is in our heart and on our walls
I am from a place where vegetarians don’t exist, where codfish can be cooked 101 different ways
I am from summers spent at the homeland
I am from where you make wine in your own backyard
I am from a place where the air seems pure, a place of cold beaches

I am from Sunday’s best, afternoon family lunch, and hardy meals.
I am from sneaking into Sandy’s room, playing with make-up, and listening to secrets.
I am from trying to make my siblings laugh.
From study hard and go to college.
I am from Dad and Mom coming to a whole new world for us.
From the Lord is my Shepard, John 3:16, and Romans 12: 2
I’m from Mom’s beautiful gold necklace,
From baby food when no longer a baby, from chocolate milk before bed.
I’m from a rich culture, rows of vineyards, and home away from home.
I am from a place where riches don’t matter when all you need is love
I am from my family.

Music to my Ears.

So....
One of my friends has a blog and once in a while he puts up the first 10 random songs that plays on his itunes...on shuffle mode. So I would like to share with you my 15 random songs. I want to add 5 more. I love doing this because sometimes it even makes me laugh. You'd be semi-surprised to see what I have in there. So here I go...

1. Priscilla Ahn- "Dream"

2. Jack Johnson- "Constellations"

3. Nelly Furtado- "Do It"

4. Duran Duran - "Hungry Like the Wolf"

5. Shawn Mcdonald- "Perfectly Done"

6. Yellowcard- "Ocean Avenue" ....this song reminds me of my high school years. Those days were fun. Not school but I enjoyed life outside of school.

7. Switchfoot- "Dirty Second Hands"

8. Madonna- "Swim"

9. Astrud Gilberto, Joao Gilberto, & Stan Getz- "The Girl From Ipanema"

10. Jars of Clay- "Love Song for a Savior"

11. Spoon- "I Turn My Camera On"

12. Armin van Buuren- "As the Rush Comes".... reminds me of my summer in Portugal. Ah, the good old days.

13. Norah Jones- "Seven Years"

14. Pauline Croze- "Dans La Chaleur Des Nuits De Pleine Lune"

15. Jack Johnson- "Times Like These"


And there it is. Quite diverse.
My favorite of this selection is tough. It's a tie between 3. Between the Pauline Croze, Astrud Gilberto, and the Yellowcard song. These three are so different! Pauline is a French artist and I must admit I don't understand much of what she says but I love the music. It's very catchy. It's fresh. It's new to me. The Astrud Gilberto song is from Brazilian artists.'It has a jazzy feeling to it. It's very classic to me. It makes me think of a cool summer day by the beach. It actually makes me remember a certain beach in Portugal where I spend weekends (at different times though.) And Yellowcard is rock and I mentioned why I like it so much. ....diverse...right?
Fun stuff...


Well, I'll be going now.

Shalom!

My thoughts flew off on a tangent....

By Goll, George.

I was writing a paper than I thought about God.

I thought about how His pressence seems to press on my heart. I love to picture pictures that associate with my thoughts in some way. When I imagine God's oh so authentic pressence, I think of the garbage truck I would watch from my window when I was younger. I imagine my heart to be the rubbish and God to be the strong hand. I do understand that this analogy might be a bit gloomy. My point is not to paint a harsh picture of my relationship with God but more to paint the picture of the force of His pressence in my heart. Back to the garbage truck; sometimes I throw my heart into God's hands because that's what I need to do to really just get off my high horse. I need to throw myself to the ground before I ride into dangerous lands. And when I do find my self In God's hands, I feel His pressence close in on me. Those are the moments I love. Knowing He's there and I am complete. Here is where I can truly curl up under his arm with my eyes tired from all the weeping and whaling I was doing...the calm after the storm. Here is where I remember my fullness is in Him. Here is where I know that nothing else could give me this assurance. No person. Neither a man nor a woman. Neither a friend nor foe. Neither a sibling nor a parent. Neither an article of clothing nor a piece of technology. Neither a milkshake nor a brownie. Nor a song or a movie or a book. Neither a husband, or a boyfriend, or a best friend. Neither a diploma nor a job. Neither a talent, nor a gift, or a calling. Neither an accomplishment nor a dream. Neither my web page nor how many compliments I get. Neither my wisdom nor my humility nor my pride. None of these things will make me whole. None of these things could ever love me with the passion He loves me with. I sadden myself so many times because I lose myself to those latter thoughts. I get so caught up with my ships and walls. sometimes it takes me getting to the end of the rope hanging off the cliff to realize that He was standing next to me the whole time trying to tell me things no one in this world could tell me while I was feeding myself with empty promises. How can one know life but eat dirt?
I wrote in my journal today and I asked God a question, like I always do. I asked Him, "How do you have the patience to deal with someone so complicatedly predictable?" What an oxymoron... or like my friend once said, " or maybe just a moron..." And as I ask Him this question, I hear the Kim Walker song in the back of my mind singing, "He loves us! Oh! How He loves us!" And when I hear the echo of the "Oh!" in my mind, it travels down to my heart. There I ponder on all the oh's in my life. Not just the "Oh, I see"s but the "Oh! How You got me this far!"and the "Oh! How Your plans for me are to prosper me, not destroy me!"and the "Oh! How Your mercy is new each morning!" How can God love a people so complicatedly predictable? Because He is love. What would we know about love if He Himself did not love first? Our breath is a product of His love. Our Earth is another perfect product.
We Love because we were loved first. But is the love we portray worthy of being labeled as "love"?
I have thousands of thoughts buzzing by on the busy streets of my mind..haha.
I want to challenge you, reader.
I know that God is something that most don't like to talk about. But I want you to throw out all of that. I want you to throw out everything you were told about God. Forget what you grew up in.
Give yourself a clean slate and think about this... What stops you from seeking God? Is it really worth it? Does it build you up or break you down? Would you believe it if I said "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you."
It doesn't hurt to try. And you won't lose anything. In fact, you could gain something big. But that's if you want. No one can decide for you. God won't decide for you. He gave you that choice.

This is all for now.