6 Reason I Love Visitng with the Avant family

Monday, July 28, 2008

1. I have THE cutest cousins ever and they always give me big, cuddly hugs.

2. I always leave with something cool. Once, a lamp my uncle built for me to put shells in, and most recently, old looking bricks I wanted to use in my room at my new apartment for bookends. They always come through with some crafty item.

3. Amazing food. I’m talking broccoli casserole, macaroni-n-cheese, BBQ ribs, and always a selection of 4-5 desserts. Mmmm

4. I love listening to the crazy, somewhat strange, accents of some family members. One aunt adds –er onto every word. For example, “I put some cheese-er onto the potato-ers to give it a better flavor-er.” I love it.

5. I have some highly-skilled craftsmen in our family. The family comes from a long string of brick masons and two uncles have continued to the tradition along with one of their sons. They create beautiful fireplaces (check out Southern Living for their work which has been featured many times), decks, and houses. Along with that, one of my uncles has recreated his grandparents house completely. He moved it to his lot, fixed the exterior, and then used the family’s actual old furniture to fix the interior. It’s quite a piece of artwork. I love looking at it all. I’ve also learned this is where my love of high rise buildings and cool architecture comes from.

6. Funny stories from my Uncle Buckshot. Yup, that’s his name and can you imagine what kind of stories come out of someone named Buckshot?

I’m sure there is more, those are just a few highlights. Can’t wait until the next little family get-together.

NYC Art

Friday, July 25, 2008

While in New York City in May with my brother, we visited, and spent much time in the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). It was packed with some crazy sculptures, furniture, photographs, and artwork. All of which, I loved. I was looking back on some pictures and one piece of art stood out to me more than before. Here it is from a small distance:



You can kind of tell that the entire photograph is made of hundreds of tiny little pictures and symbols. Here are a few parts where I zoomed in a bit so you could see the symbols:




When I first saw it, I remember thinking, wow, that’s pretty cool; I can’t imagine how they did it. But now, I see something else.

Each one of these tiny, seemingly random symbols bands together with the rest to create this giant piece of art. I kind of translated that into our lives.

Sometimes I feel like I’m making no difference in this crazy world we live in (although I have much life left to live). This art allows me to remember that God is looking from a much bigger scale. I may not feel like I’m having any impact, but with all my brothers and sisters in Christ, we most certainly are making something beautiful for God to smile upon. After all, it’s not even about me.

When going on mission trips, I’ve always heard, “we’re just planting the seed. Someone else will water, give it sunshine, etc.” So even though you don’t see the final product, just know someone else is probably working at it too.

Start working with those other “symbols” around you (even though you might not be aware of who they actually are) and make some art.