Smith 5 Craft Night!

Tonight we poured paint into glass ornaments! Simple and beautiful!

Always Winter.

"It's always winter, but never Christmas." -C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Today was forever long and it may never end. I'm ready for Christmas.

Light up the sky.

Light up the sky...



...to show me You are with me.

Social Justice.

When asked the questions, “what do you want to do when you graduate from Moody?” my reply is usually not a serious one. “Oh, you know, be a secret agent in the CIA with my cover as a rockstar.” “Oh”, is usually the quaint and slightly confused response I get. There’s some truth to that; it’s what I want to do! Guns and guitars - does it get much better than that? I don’t think so!

Here’s the reality though... I’m a 23 year old girl studying Bible, Communications, and Urban Ministry in downtown Chicago. I love writing, people, photography, and music.

My desire is to be a voice, not an echo. While I want to work within the media, I don’t want to reiterate the lies that they pour into people. I want to accurately communicate the truth, God’s truth, to people. I don’t have to write or work for a Christian organization, but those values and my deep rooted desire for truth will be present.

In my Apologetics class this morning, I did my final presentation on social justice. There were lots of differing opinions and comments throughout the presentation and discussion with the class. Social justice is hard to define as it means different things to everyone. But, something that the class did agree on was that, as Christ’s followers, our help to the needy is to be done out of love and sincerity.

Generally speaking, I do know what I want to do with my life. I want to use my talents to honor God and to love other people. To be a little more specific, I want to love the marginalized and forgotten people in the world. If you haven’t noticed, inequality did not end in the era of Martin Luther King Jr. It’s still here.

I’m pursuing a Masters in Journalism with the dream of doing some sort of advocacy work. I want to seek justice for these forgotten people by accurately and intentionally portraying their lives through journalism practices.


I love these two verse and want to live them out...

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy. Proverbs 31:8-9

He has showed you, O man what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

Way to be 23!!

I don’t remember any birthdays from when I was little. But I do have pictures! And, oddly enough, I don’t actually remember many from junior high or high school either. Birthdays have never been a big deal for me.

My sister "helping" me blow out my candles.

Proof that I had birthday parties in elementary school!


My 19th birthday has been the most memorable so far! My parents invited my godparents (Bill and Nancy) and Danny, Kendra, and Trina over to celebrate with me.

I taught Danny how to play Jingle Bells on the piano.

Trina dancing to the music!

Bill and Nancy


I had rehearsal for A Christmas Carol with 60 other people from church on the evening of my birthday. Everyone sang to me and my mom made chocolate chip cookies.

And, this is my favorite part, through a series of random events, Carley and I became inseparable friends that evening!

Birthdays away at school haven’t been too exciting. December 3rd falls right before finals so I usually end up studying, working on group projects, writing papers...end of the semester stuff.

I do, however, enjoy spending time with my friends here! And my BroSis did get me an awesome Princess birthday card! :)

10 Senses of Writing

I just finished up a paper on the highlights of Writing to Deadline, by Donald M. Murray. The section on titled “10 Senses of Writing” jumped out at me. I love reading a book and getting upset at the end of it because I feel like I’ve lost a friend. It means that the writing draws me in and keeps me captive for the entire story. C.S. Lewis did this for me in the Chronicles of Narnia and Francine Rivers did this for me in Redeeming Love.


Using the senses of writing gives the piece being written a tangible feel. The reader can connect with the story being told and is drawn in with the relatable descriptions. Including descriptions also gives a context to the writing.

• Sight - What is being done? How is it being done? Sight relates the setting, facial expressions, location, and anything else that can be seen. It also answers not just “what” but “why” and “how” as well.

• Hearing - Listening to how someone speaks gives insight into their personality. It’s also beneficial to listen to the surrounding sounds - dogs barking, cars honking, food sizzling...

• Touch - This particular sense is rarely used by reporters. But, when used correctly, the descriptions add to the readers understanding and familiarity with the surroundings.

• Smell - This is another sense rarely reported and, it too, helps the readers feel as though they are in the setting that the story takes place in.

• Taste - Like touch and smell, an accurate and appealing description of the taste can place a reader in the setting.

• Change - Readers should be aware of change. It’s a reporters job to catch the hints of coming change and to report the elements of change that took place before the story they’re reporting.

• Effect - What does a situation do to or for the reader? How does this story change the readers life?

• Conflict - Much like reporting change, it is the reporters job to cover collisions before they happen, while they’re happening, and the ramifications and clean up part afterwards.

• Context - Including the context in the piece being written gives it credibility and makes it understandable. Facts, quotes, profiles, events need to be portrayed in the correct context to make the writing credible.

• Self - When reporting, being objective is essential. Don’t make up truths even when it fits with what’s being written. It’s important to write from a personal standpoint, but not a biased one.

Bring your story to life. Happy writing!

100 Things I'm Thankful For (51-60)

I didn't finish my list in November like I was trying to do...

51. Email. It’s the main way I communicate with friends around the world.
52. Laughter. There’s little better in the world than laughing so hard you cry.
53. Public Transportation. My appreciation for the CTA is growing as my ability to navigate it increases.
54. Trials. Not the funnest thing, but oh-so-worth-it.
55. Running. I love running, but my knee doesn’t. It’s my favorite time to think through things.
56. Hugs. I’m not a touchy person, but occasionally when I’m really tired or grumpy a hug makes everything significantly better.
57. Colors. I love black and white photos, but looking outside and seeing a glimpse of the bright blue sky this morning made me happy!
58. Lists. I’ve been making lists for everything lately, but have been able to keep track of things.
59. Apples. Favorite food right now.
60. External Hard Drives. My laptop decided to crash on Sunday night a few weeks and I lost everything I worked on over the weekend. Thankfully I had everything backed up and only lost a few things.