Hi everyone! I know it’s been awhile since I’ve written an update, but I had a fundraiser event at The Beat Coffeehouse in Uptown last weekend, so life has been busy. I sang with my friend, Jess, and sold clothes, art, and other items. It was amazing to have so many people that I care about in one place to support me!
Jess, Hugh, and I singing Family together at the event
I wanted to let you know that I have t-shirts for sale for my next fundraiser. When brainstorming ideas for this fundraising t-shirt, the phrase “look up” came to my mind. It can be interpreted however you want it to, but here is some insight into why I chose the phrase for my t-shirt.
What does “look up” mean?
- Look up to engage the present. We spend so much time looking down while scrolling through life on a screen, but let’s engage with the tangible world around us instead.
- Look up to gain perspective. When we look up to the stars or mountains, we gain a perspective of how big the world really is and how small we are in comparison. Instead of being depressing, this should motivate us to let go of the unimportant things and grab on to what is truly important.
- Look up to renew faith. When we look up to God, we receive guidance for our life direction. He provides our purpose, calling, and comfort in life’s journey.
In the book One Thousand Gifts by Anne Voskamp, she talks about this same concept: “The secret to a child’s language of laughter, their domain of delight, is perspective. If the heights of our joy are measured by the depths of our gratitude, and gratitude is but a way of seeing, a spiritual perspective of smallness might offer a vital way of seeing especially conducive to gratitude… The joy of small that makes life large. Hadn’t I personally experienced it before too, that vantage point that gave a sense of smallness before grandeur? At the lip of the Grand Canyon, a moon field… I hardly dare brush the limitlessness with my vaporous humanity.”
She continues, “Echo calls to echo, deep to deep. Awe ignites joy because it makes us bend the knee and I remember a night chasing moon and we are in deepest happiness in the posture of grateful worship. Because the God-likeness within our smallness speaks to Father-God in His magnificence. All wonder and worship can only grow out of smallness.”
In a song called “After the Storm” by Mumford & Sons, they sing about finding hope in a despairing place by looking up:
And after the storm
I run and run as the rains come
And I look up, I look up
on my knees and out of luck
I look up
And there will come a time, you’ll see, with no more tears
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears
Get over your hill and see what you find there
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair
I am selling the t-shirts for 1/$20 or 2/$30 with sizes S, M, L, and XL. Contact me and I’ll personally deliver them as I am able!
