Friday, November 19, 2010

The Front Lines of War!

What can I say, I've recently been talking about how much my youth group has grown and how it has contributed so much to my spiritual growth over the past couple weeks. I have however, failed to mention something that has helped me out throughout the week when I'm not at church, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

FCA has grown so much and I can not even express how much of a blessing it is to see that other kids at Cypress Creek are bold and wanting to profess and proclaim their love for Christ. For years, I have been trying to get myself to be more bold in my classrooms, in my lunchroom, in my hallways, etc. God has answered my prayers by encouraging me with FCA!

This past Thursday, November 18, our FCA held a rally during lunch in order to tell other student about FCA and to tell other students about God's truth. Here are some pictures.

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

One of the pastors who has become a big influence and part of FCA is Pastor Alan Adorno (right). He gave this awesome sermon that consists of rhymes, almost like a rap. It was definitely awesome and a true blessing. When you get the chance, I highly recommend that you listen to the words that Pastor Alan says and to really meditate on them. The rhyme is called, "I got water in my gospel?!?!"

We had originally planned to give away free pizza to help lure in the students but at the last minute, we were informed that we could not do so. We knew this was Satan in the works, trying to suppress what we knew God would do. In the end, God proved to be faithful yet again! By the end of the day, 45% of the WHOLE ENTIRE student body at Cypress Creek attended the rally. No free food necessary, nothing. God is good. If you have any questions about FCA or any other questions in general, click here to contact me.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Samosas and Butter Chicken

So before I actually write about what I want to, I just felt like I should give a quick update. Over the past weeks, I've begun to REALLY see how faithful and true God really is. His unconditional love and grace over my life has been, overwhelming. From the awesome car that I have, to the two best parents, to the best of friends, to the best two sisters, to the best mentors in my life, and to everything, God has made sure to make me feel loved and watched over! My faith has grown in ways that I never would have imagined and I'm glad to say that although I have my set backs, it's not trouble for me to come back! 

Although spiritually I'm doing phenomenal, it is all starting to hit me, I'm growing up. I have my license now and within a couple months, I'll have to start SAT prep along with taking the SATs themselves. Not only that, but all the IMPORTANT assignment for being in the IB program are all coming within the next year. It's not doubt that my play time is relatively over! I have to get serious and start paying attention to life. I realized that it was time for me to grow up when I hated thinking about how when I get a job, I won't have a lot of "chill" time with my friends. Play time is over for me my friends. HOWEVER! It's a good thing photography isn't COMPLETELY play for me!

This past Friday, I had an excused absence to skip fifth, sixth, and seventh period to attend this years 2010 ISA Festival. For those of you who have been following me over the past year (at least), you may remember photographs from the 2009 ISA Festival last year. The ISA Festival is a festival put together by the Indian Student Association (ISA) to help educate the kids of Cypress Creek High School about Indian food, culture, dress, dance, etc.

While the ISA festival is usually held in the amphitheater, this year it was in the auditorium! For me, it was bitter sweet! As a part of the audience, I LOVED IT, no more suffering in the hot sun. However, as the photographer, I hated it! The auditorium has HORRIBLE lighting and unless you are a professional photographer, these low light situations = nightmare for amateur photographers such as myself. Despite the low light though, I must say, I captured some decent photographs. ENJOY!

Photobucket
So the festival started off outside where everyone could get a chance to eat some naan, samosas, butter chicken, and other delicious Indian food along with the chance to purchase from Indian jewelry and get some henna done!

Photobucket
Henna (right) and some of the Indian jewelry

Photobucket
Some of the Indian dances

Photobucket
And here is the fashion show that everyone usually always looks forward to.
*By the way, Ana Alexander and Ahnaf chowdhury(bottom left) are really not that orange. The extreme amount of orange pigmentation is due to the poor lighting/ orange stage lights....*

Photobucket
More of the fashion show.

Photobucket
At the end, the performers invited members of the audience 
to come up on stage and learn some of the Indian dances.

Overall, it was AWESOME! It was hands down the best ISA festival that I have been to and I am so, SO proud of the person who was in charge, Nisha Desai! While there were other members of ISA also putting it together, I would personally like to give a HUGE shout out to Nisha! she was constantly stressing out and going over and beyond the expectations of ISA to ensure that this was the best one yet. HUGE SHOUT OUT to all of the performers and the backstage crew too! Awesome job everyone!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Slow It Down...

So this past Tuesday, I got pulled over for going at a rather fast speed. Of course, my IMMEDIATE reaction was to start praying. Due to God's unconditional mercy and grace, I was let off the hook but the cop specifically told me, "Slow it down!"

I realized that a lot of times, we tend to go to God only when we need something. A good grade, a break, forgiveness, or a 'favor', many times, we tend to only go to God when we need something. I realized that I do this a lot and in fact, I needed to "slow it down." I got so caught up in serving in the church, doing photography as a 'business' that I do not exactly enjoy the things I am supposed to as a hormonal, 16 year-old teenager.

I realized that I do not get to play sports as much as 'normal' teenagers, I don't hang out or "party" as much as a normal teenager should, nor do I really ENJOY life as much as I should... at least, I didn't.

Just as a quick update, over the past couple months, our youth ministry, Harvest, has been growing LIKE CRAZY! The youth are responding and for many kids, church, on a Saturday night, is their favorite day of the week, PRAISE GOD! I can honestly testify that ever since our Saturday Night Fellowships have improved, my life itself has also improved. As a SLT member, it is such a blessing to see that the youth are responding to whatever the SLT plans. Whether it be joint services or outreach projects, THE YOUTH ARE RESPONDING! I realized that in general, ever since SNF has improved, and ever since I started to SOLELY trust in God, I actually enjoy life.

I have been enjoying life in ways that I never thought possible. I enjoy my friends much more and I honestly believe that I have created stronger friendships somehow. I enjoy God in ways that I never did before. I feel this sense of comfort and enjoyment in know that I LOVE God more these days.

Anyways, just a small update on how I've been. As you can see, I've been doing rather well. Here are just a couple pictures from a golf tournament that I photographed a couple weeks ago...

P.S
Golf-tournaments are officially the most boring sport to photograph. haha

Photobucket
Apparently, the top right picture is VERY PROPER form... 
That's my dad! haha.
Photobucket
I just really like the contrast between the golfers and the background!