I've been in Seattle for 4 months now, and it hasn't been easy to begin again in a new place. @instagram, whilst a revolutionary platform for community and creativity, will still tend to be a curated highlights reel of a life. I have actually stood in dry bones here - my own doubt of God's goodness, a faithless fear that though He called me here He won't provide for me here, and overwhelming homesickness. I find myself constantly sick because my body hasn't taken well to the stress of all the newness. The truth that we experience intimacy with God in the deep places has always been the dominant theme of my life even before I moved here. Every word I've written says the same thing - the shattering truth of God's desire to seek intimacy with us is not well served by weak sentimentality or an appeal to emotion, but in the wilderness of trial. When the war is raging, the water is deep and the bones are dry, fuzzy feelings of God won't guard your heart from the torrent of fear or doubt. It is precisely because of the dryness I've felt here that I went hunting for the Fountain to satisfy my thirst. God is waking up a reckless, raging confidence that comes from knowing that I am seen by Jesus with a gaze of infinite tenderness. He is waking up the trust to sing that He is good in the darkness and faithful in the storm. He is the fountain of satisfaction and the true Home for my soul. (at Seattle, Washington)
God is waking up a reckless, raging confidence that comes from knowing that we are seen by Jesus with a gaze of infinite tenderness. He is waking up the trust to sing that He is good in the darkness and faithful in the storm.
Photo and words by Athena Grace for @micimagazine
Make up by the incredible @makeupwithme_
Being asked to trust God as you walk into deep waters is like being led into a valley of dead, dry bones and being asked to make them come alive. ‘You prophesy over these bones… and I will cause breath to enter them” (Ezekiel 37:4-5). YOU prophesy, I will cause life. YOU call out resurrection, and I will breathe it out.
The greatest place of impossibility is to turn death into life, and so He calls us into it. He invites us to participate in His work of resurrection. I don’t think there’s anything more powerful than being able to stand in a place of dryness and desolation with those kinds of words of authority.
Photo and words by Athena Grace for @micimagazine
Madison, you are my best friend. I could not imagine promising my life to any other. You have my heart in every way possible. For my entire life, I promise to love you, to cherish you, to choose you and no one else. I vow to never leave you, to stand by you in the toughest of times, to delight with you and worship God and thank Him with you in the happiest of times. I am fully yours, Madison. Always, only yours, for all of my days.
Moments over mountains. Can't get enough of these moments from@lauren.arlene & @madisunallen's wedding. See more on my instagram: @athenagraceco
"For my entire life, I promise to love you, to cherish you, to choose you and no one else. I am fully yours. Always, only yours, for all of my days."
@lauren.arlene & @madisunallen, your love is the kind everyone dreams of for their life. Your marriage is going to be even more beautiful than your wedding day.
Dress | Penelope Gown, BHLDN
Flowers | Grace and Blooms
See more on my instagram: @athenagraceco
× The southern highlands, a stunning bride, epic flowers (@floralpinesdesignco you smashed it), a crazy good cake (@thecakewanderer 😍), the hottest guests you'll ever see, and two very in love people. Faf + Ash on the blog today (link in bio). #thedriscolls2016 #socality #socalitysydney #fujixT1 (at Centennial Vineyards Restaurant, Bowral)
× I have people ask me about camera recommendations all the time. This little (ridiculously good looking) thing was my first camera, and I miss it every day. You'll want to take the #x100t or #x100s everywhere. If you're looking for a camera for everything, don't go past this one. #socality #socalitysydney #fujix100
× "In the midst of unconditional love, your deepest wounds are revealed, but His deepest love is absorbed." @creative_creature This week hurt; saying goodbye to people I deeply love hurts, but the pain is evidence of grace and the authenticity and depth of the relationships I've been given here in Sydney. Just over two weeks left. His unconditional love is holding my heart in the waiting for my new home. 🌏✈️🇺🇸 #socality #socalitysydney #fujixT1 (at Sydney, Australia)
seriously.
fujifilm xT1 / @athenagraceco / sydney.
long distance (in the waiting).
How am I in the waiting?
Days turn to weeks turn to months, and still 7,654 miles away.
How am I in the waiting?
'Let not our longing slay the appetite of our living.’ Jim Elliot
The longing can be so overwhelming, and can so easily rob us of our living, of being really present. It’s a daily fight to lay down our longings and trust God that each day He chose for us to be apart has good purposes. I have seen so many good things come from over 2.5 months apart - yet still, there is more space for God to meet us here in the longing.
'Two lovers who are separated geographically can dwell mentally in the past and the future, reliving the happiness of having been together and anticipating the joy of reunion. It is quite possible to waste the present altogether.’ Elisabeth Elliot
I don’t want to waste this time. I don’t want the appetite of my present living to be slain and destroyed and wrecked by longing.
So I choose to lay it down. Whether I had one or six or twelve months left, I’d still want to lay it down. I hate the ache, and it threatens to overwhelm, but it doesn’t have to. We have a choice. What will we do with the longing?
We choose surrender.
× For the first half of 2015 I worked for the incredible @blesseddays, the best stylist in Sydney. On the weekend I shot a wedding she styled, and every detail she put her hand to was perfect. If you're looking for styling for your wedding, don't go past Blessed Days. #lizandrohan #socality #socalitysydney #fujixT1