Crazy Love

I wrote a month or two ago about letting go and letting God.  It's easier said than done. But a book that was given to me by a friend for Christmas is challenging me to do just that. It is called Crazy Love by Francis Chan.  In the book, Chan explores the believer-Christ relationship in a way that most people today really don't, but definitely should.  He looks not at what we have to do as far as keeping God from being angry at us and being punished for it, but at the simple task of loving God as He loves us: unconditionally, longingly, and passionately.  If we love Christ like that, we WANT to do what He has planned for us. We don't feel obligated to do it because we'll be punished and feel guilty if we don't. We long to do things for Him, and we long to be with Him.  We are willing to give everything we have to Christ and follow Him on whatever path He leads us.  If we truly love God that much, we don't want to stray from him.  We strive to stay as close as possible.  We strive to please Him because we love Him.

Don't you want that kind of love? I do.

Benefit for To Write Love on Her Arms

The process of actually getting a benefit performance together takes a lot longer than I expected, but it is definitely going to be worth it.  I'm trying to get the word out about the performance in as many ways as I can, so here's the info:

What: Intimate Apparel Preview and Benefit for TWLOHA
Where: The Hosch Theatre at the John S. Burd Center for the Performing Arts at Brenau University
When: Monday, February 7th, 2011 at 7:30 pm

This non-profit organization is definitely one of my favorites, because it provides a message of hope to those who have lost it, and it shows people that there is love out there.

In addition to supporting a charity, you will also be seeing one of the most beautiful scripts I've read in a while.  Here is a synopsis from the Gainesville Theatre Alliance website:

"Intimate Apparel is a deeply moving portrait of Esther, an African-American seamstress who creates exquisite lingerie for women of both the boudoir and the brothel in 1905 Manhattan.  As years pass and young friends marry and leave the boarding house and Esther consoles her loneliness and deftly stitches beautiful things for other women’s intimate moments, a stream of love letters begin to arrive from a handsome Barbadian laborer working on the Panama Canal.  This winner of five Best Play awards is filled with desire, passion and betrayal."

Ticket proceeds go to GTA, but concessions and other donations will go to TWLOHA.  Ticket information to come soon.

Christmas, Thesis, and Job Applications

So...about that whole posting once a week thing...I promise I'll do better :)

Finally Christmas break! We got out of school last week, and I managed to get through the semester with a 3.75, and a 3.77 overall GPA.  One semester to go...

And with that semester comes the thesis project.  Designing/building six corsets for the beautiful play Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage.  Set at the turn of the century, it centers around Esther, an African-American seamstress looking for love and meaning in her life.  I'm already building the rehearsal corsets for the beginning of the semester, and this weekend has been devoted to getting renderings done.  (Pictures to be posted soon.)  Fred, my mentor and the lead designer on this show, and I went fabric shopping this week and found some absolutely lovely fabrics to use for the corsets.  I've also gotten my application in to To Write Love on Her Arms to make our preview of the show a benefit performance.  This gives theatre a chance to not only touch the lives of those who see it, but also others who need our help.

As far a applications...I need to still write cover letters.  This is one of my biggest road blocks, because I always doubt myself when I do something I've never done before.  I suppose it's time to just bite the bullet and get to applying.  Looking at two touring jobs and two regional theatre jobs.  I'm kind of leaning towards one of the regional theatre jobs (Wardrobe Supervisor!), but I've also always wanted to tour...another let go and let God moment...which I'm constantly working on.  Daily prayers are getting easier since I signed up for Daily Bible Verse emails.  They are the first thing in my inbox every morning, and since I always check my email when I wake up, it makes God the first thing I think about.  Not too shabby of an idea, if I do say so myself.  :)