New York Shopping: Marimekko

Welcome to my first edition New York Shopping Guide.
Today I want to introduce you to....

Marimekko
Located at 1262 Third Ave on the Upper East side in Manhattan this boutique is a chain from the a leading Finnish textile and clothing design company established in 1951. Though popular
worldwide, it hasn't hit the US big...yet.

They specialize in unique bright fabric designs which are sold as comforters and all kinds of accessories. The fabric can also be sold by the yard or stretched onto a frame to make a trendy wall hanging. Most of these photos are shrunken down pictures of LARGE pieces of fabric, if that helps you to see how large the cows and flowers are.




They also have quite adorable clothes and bags with neat patterns

My favorite bag on the website:

Here is some of the cute fashion:


Also go for the stationary, cooking utensils, umbrellas and other cute accessories. They also have fun bright colored shirts for men!

Marimekko wallpapers for your desktop available here:
http://www.alwaysmod.com/marimekko-wallpapers.html

Props to my friend Lydia who works here. :)

Trust the Spirit Inside you Romans 8:5-11

Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. Romans 8:5-8

I share this verse a lot with Christian friends who are struggling and worrying about making a decision. "I can't decide whether to Study Abroad in France or India. I want to do God's will, but I don't know what that is!" I ask them, "Well what do you want to do?" They look puzzled, as though they have never thought of that verse. I show them this verse. "If you had a sinful mind you would not want to or be able to submit to God's will, but since you want His will to be done in his life then you live according to the Spirit and "those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires." If you are praying for God's will, and you want one thing more than the other, then go for that. Remembering too, that He is sovereign and if you made a decision not in accordance with His will, though not rebelling either, He'll probably set you straight.

This idea was revolutionary to me, when I first realized it. I always thought that what I wanted, as a person of the world, must be the opposite of what God wanted for me, ignoring the power of the Spirit. God puts in us desires, so that we may know His direction.

I'm sure this could be misused and misinterpreted, but it is up to the individual to decide if they are living in the Spirit and feel life and peace. As a guideline ask yourself how you feel about what you want? What kind of wanting is it? If you find yourself wanting to lean towards a certain decision, but yet your angry, anxious, stressed and don't want to pray about it or seek God's will, maybe afraid of what he'll say. Remember verse 6: "The mind of the sinful nature is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God."

I have to remind myself of this verse though every time I am struggling with a decision. "What I want is not always the wrong answer...in fact it may be pointing me to the right answer." I've got to learn to trust that Spirit inside of me.

By the way, I LOVE Romans 8, so there may be a lot of postings on it.

Book Review: Lamb

I want to let you guys in on this great book that I read a few years back called "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal."

The publisher's note reads as follows:

The birth of Jesus has been well chronicled, as have his glorious teachings, acts, and divine sacrifice after his thirtieth birthday. But no one knows about the early life of the Son of God, the missing years -- except Biff, the Messiah's best bud, who has been resurrected to tell the story in the divinely hilarious yet heartfelt work "reminiscent of Vonnegut and Douglas Adams" (Philadelphia Inquirer).

Verily, the story Biff has to tell is a miraculous one, filled with remarkable journeys, magic, healings, kung fu, corpse reanimations, demons, and hot babes. Even the considerable wiles and devotion of the Savior's pal may not be enough to divert Joshua from his tragic destiny. But there's no one who loves Josh more -- except maybe "Maggie," Mary of Magdala -- and Biff isn't about to let his extraordinary pal suffer and ascend without a fight. 

Now...I have read the book.I am a Christian, and could see why some would be offended, but I would encourage those some to be open-minded. I enjoyed imagining Christ as a teenager, it makes him more real. Sure, the subject matter could be somewhat racy but the raciness never involved Christ. Basically, yes its controversial, but not in any upsetting way. In fact, nothing he writes really contradicts the Bible, he just flourishes on it. I definately had many moments where I laughed out loud in public reading this book. Its very clever, and i don't think Christians should be afraid to find humor in their story. (Also FYI they don't make Christ's death funny or anything like that...it's really respectful of who jesus was)  Very clever..

Imparting Spiritual Gifts

So I decided to do a personal study of Romans and post some of my thoughts here, for anyone who is interested.

"I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong--that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith." Romans 1:11-12

This really caught my eye because it shows the power of building one another up. We are not only saying nice words, but we are imparting a spiritual gift to them. By being examples for each other, encouraging each other, we are imparting spiritual gifts!

In the conservative christian world it is more common to see people tearing one another down with accusations, gossip all in the name of "Building one another up" and "rebuking in love." But I think that real love would be to live ones own life in faith and to encourage another with your own faith. This will not tear down but rather "impart" spiritual gifts to the other person passing to them what you are doing yourself. Perhaps this is why Jesus talked about us having a plank in our own eye when we try to pluck it out of someone else's. We should be teaching others we think are stumbling by example and encouragement, not by pointing out the splinter in their eye, because chances are, we have a plank in ours!

Romans 1:16 "I am not ashamed to preach the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes"

This verse makes me think about a story someone told me once. If someone had found the cure for a deathly disease that everyone in this world had, would they be ashamed to share it? Would they withhold it? Wouldn't they be wrong in doing so? "Yes" you might say, but no one knows they have the disease of death and separation from God. Does this make it any less deadly? Many feel deeply they have some sort of disease, something wrong with them, a pointlessness to their existence, a brokeness, loneliness, desire for something more out of life would you be ashamed to diagnose their pain and give them the cure?

That is what sharing the gospel is. Diagnosing pain that someone feels and giving them the cure. And then their is rejoicing because none of us are alone in our pain, we all have the same deep core desires, and the answer to every problem of the world is found in Jesus.

Barack in a Familiar Spot

Here is our president-elect sitting on top of the bridge that is the heading of this blog.

I'm sure we've all posed for a picture there, I did when I was still a NYC tourist. I guess Obama is no exception. This is during his undergrad years at columbia.

Brian and Jenn Johnson

If you guys haven't heard these two yet, you have to.

Brian and Jenn Johnson are the worship leaders at Bethel Church in Redding California and their music will move you! Especially "Where you Go I'll Go", "You have Ravished My Heart" and "A Little Longer." They really capture God's intimate love for us in their songs and music.


Brian's voice is deep and smooth and hers is light and pretty.
Check them out!

I'm planning on trekking up to see them at Bethel Church along with my grandparents who live in Redding.

You should Check them out: http://www.myspace.com/brianandjennjohnson

Where to begin...

OK how bout this....

So if you haven't heard there is a phenomenon out there called PostSecret.

One sends in their darkest secrets on a post card and they are posted online and/or added to one of the many books that have been published. Some people even leave new ones in the books at bookstores and if you purchase a book you get your very own personal secrets left by a stranger.

One day I was browsing the site, realizing that I am not alone in a lot of my shame and secrets, as none of us are, and I found this post


I dedicate this first post to whoever wrote this, because no only is this not weird but its telling of the feelings that Jesus evokes. Just like I get a crush on Ewan McGreggor (of all people!!) watching Moulin Rouge because of his character, so it makes sense one would get a crush on the character playing Jesus.

A lot of people don't know that Jesus and God is referred to very often throughout Isaiah, Hosea, and Song of Solomon this relationship is implied. Jesus calls himself the groom and the church the bride! So you're not weird at all, whoever you are. And thank you, this secret really made my day.