7 Quick Takes Friday

1. I love Christmas shopping and gift giving. Love it! I'm almost done, just a couple more buys. Etsy has finally caught my eye. I've ordered from them twice so far, most of the time I browse and look longingly. I'm a sucker for jewelry! For instance:


2. (Yes, I'm cheating and stretching out one into three). This is one of my favorite Etsy items I've seen. It's from WhimsicalTreasures. I know it's a little random, but for me, whose heart is spread all over the world, the imagine of freedom in the flying bird, and the image of the globe, caught in the soft cold and blues... oh it's beautiful.





Another globe-trotter necklace that caught my eye is this one, from birdznbeez.




3. After I found the globe from Whimsical Treasures I found these gorgeous trinkets. I love this one and the example photo is my initials!









And then this one, which also comes in silver.




There's another one that says "I love you" in English









Yes yes, I love jewelry. Just wish it wasn't so expensive! My problem is that I easily find things I love just about anywhere I'm shopping, and then have to figure out who I know that might like them as much as I do!

4. Have you guys heard of Nick Vujicic?

He's an Australian guy that was born without arms or legs. He came and spoke at my church last week, and ..... wow. He's now 27, a handsome guy, and so funny, and it is just remarkable to see how he does life. Moreso than that, though, he is a really stunning preacher. My church doesn't usually do invitations, but Nick did, and it felt appropriate. He talked really honestly about his own struggles and the questions of, "How could a good God do this to me?" were great - he didn't gloss over things. I was in tears, first in his words about disability and how it relates to my brother Matt. However, the central point of his message was not about disability - he simply used that to point to the point of life and ultimately to Christ. I wish I could have you all hear his message - it floored me and filled the front of our church with respondants. I have a friend who'd just broken up with her boyfriend and was deeply struggling that day, and she'd come with me. Hearing Nick speak truth and my friend hear it - that was a beautiful thing.




5. I have posted this before but I LOVE love it and showed it to Isaac for the first time this week. It's a pianest and a cello player doing a compilation of Viva la Vida and Love Story. It's gorgeous. viva la vida:



6. I'm almost done reading Girl Meets God by Lauren Winner. It's strange because it is so similar to Facing East, except one is from a Protestant perspective and the other is from an Orthodox perspective. They both tell stories of conversion and then little vignettes of church and theological thoughts told through the liturgical year.

7. This weekend I have to make 6 dozen cookies for a super fantastic cookie exchange with a work friend (or rather the wife of a co-worker) whose blog you can see here. Yay for Christmas cookies!

Head over to Conversion Diary for more quick takes!