Tag archive: Colleen Ann Guest
A Butterfly in Waiting
One year ago on September 8th, I made the decision to cut off all my hair and quit coloring it. It was one of the most liberating and revealing things I’ve ever done in my life. I noticed that while my super short, spiky hair felt foreign to me, it garnered a ton of attention. Most, if not all of it, was positive! Random people stopped me on the street, grocery store, wherever, to tell me they LOVED my hair. I enjoyed the compliments but was a bit unsure how to internalize and embrace them. Having long, beautiful hair had been my signature look for most of my life and I knew how to work it. I was exploring all new territory without the locks but was gaining confidence in the new look. If not for a financial crunch for us in January (salon services every 2-3 weeks is expensive!) I probably would have hung onto the new do long enough for it to become more “me.” So the regrowth began. It is now September, nine months since it was last shaved and one year since the the mighty scissors made the initial cut, and I can feel my hair catch the breeze again. Now that is a feeling that I am familiar with. While anxiously waiting for it to grow to ridiculous lengths again, I have recurring dreams that I wake up and it’s magically long – only to really wake up to a choppy, mop head. That’s discouraging. I press on though with hats, clips, gel, anything that allows me to be out in public without scaring children and causing people to recoil in disgust. OK, that’s an exaggeration, but suffice to say the random compliments have long since stopped. But I’m a big girl and this journey has taught me that my self-worth doesn’t lie in outward appearances. I am a caterpillar in the cocoon stage…in a few months I’ll emerge as a beautiful new butterfly!
DetailsHis Last Supper – Film Screening September 9, 2012
~~~~~~Mark your calendar~~~~~~
The Second Sunday Film Series at the ArtsCenter presents…
HIS LAST SUPPER, the world premiere!
Sept 9 | Doors open 4pm – Admission $5
http://www.artscenterlive.org/filmseries
“His Last Supper,” a Rob Underhill short-film will be presented with other films as part of the inaugural Second Sunday Film Series event.
A WAKE DRAMA & ZONING MEDIA Production…
Starring COLLEEN ANN GUEST, GREG WAIT, OLIVER FLYNN
Voiceover by KEVIN SILVA | Also featuring MARYIA KROTAVA
DIR/writer/producer ROB UNDERHILL | DP/producer ARAVIND RAGUPATHI
Associate producer JASON CASELLI | AC/editor RANDY BERNARD
Line producer KATIE JONES | Script supervisor LEANNE BERNARD
Loc. Sound CYRUS YUNKER | Lead grip PATRICK NEILSON
R O B U N D E R H I L L
Award Winning Director . DP . Editor . Writer . Producer
cinema – music video – promotional – corporate
www.RobUnderhill.com
ALSO SCREENING:
“Foodie” – Directed by Christopher G. Moore
“Laws of Attraction” – Directed by David Pemberton-Smith
“Perfect Family” – Directed by Foodie’s own, Nick Karner
DetailsBuried in the Waters of Baptism
Buried in the waters of Baptism, raised again to new life in Christ!
Those were the words I heard going under and coming out of the cool water on the first weekend in June. But more than the words in my ears and the water rushing over my body, I felt something that I rarely ever do. I felt the Holy Spirit moving and speaking to me. The words “Well done good and faithful servant” played out in my head as I was briefly transported away from this earth and back again in the few seconds it took to go under the water and come up out. I honestly and truly believe I died and came back in some sort of literal sense..not symbolically. A few inches under the cool water I felt a peace, calmness and beauty that cannot be described and most of all I felt the overwhelming presence of the Holy One right there with me the whole time. “Supernatural” comes to mind. And I was COMPLETELY caught off guard by the whole experience.
Romans 6:3 Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death?
In the moments leading up to the actual “dunking” (as I’ve affectionately called it) I was thinking about how I should be feeling about it. In fact, for days prior to the big moment I was struggling with how I should feel. I was saved as a child and I’ve always known Christ was my Lord; my salvation has never been in question for me. But being raised in the Methodist church where people are “baptized” as babies, it never crossed my mind that I should do it again as an adult even though I’ve been attending evangelical Baptist churches for the past 10 years or so. In these churches we are taught that being baptized after salvation is an act of obedience and a testimony to the world that we are believers in Christ. While baptism itself is not a prerequisite to salvation, this simple act is one that Christ himself asked us to do as a demonstration of our faith. Even Jesus himself was baptized – and there was certainly no question about his eternal home.
Romans 10:9 If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Mark 1:4 This messenger was John the Baptist. He was in the wilderness and preached that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven.
Matthew 3:15 But Jesus said, “It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.” So John agreed to baptize him.
Soooo….what to feel? I knew in my head that I should do it, my church was requiring it as a part of my membership, and I had no good reason why I hadn’t done it before. So there I stood, waist deep in the water along side hundreds of fellow believers and over 30 people who were in the process of being baptized themselves and suddenly something sparked. I watched intently as the children’s pastor baptized the very children that he had the privilege of sharing the Gospel with. Kids that he taught for years and prayed over daily. Those precious little ones who heard the Word and were convicted by it were joyfully doing the thing I had avoided doing for decades. While watching each child go under and come up I was overcome by emotion. How wonderful must this pastor feel to actually baptize the people (in this case many children) with whom he shared the love of Christ? My heart broke once again for all the people who I had failed to share the Good News with, and that in one day this pastor welcomed more people into the kingdom than I had done in my entire lifetime. I renewed my conviction that my sole purpose in life is to share the love of Christ – all other things are insignificant if they don’t ultimately aid me in that intention.
If nothing else happened that day I would have gone home feeling that being baptized was worth it for that conviction alone. But something else did happen. I was not prepared for and I did not ever suppose that the Holy Spirit would invade my personal space during any moment of the day. After I came up out of the water I gleefully waded around to others for jubilant hugs of congratulations. I tried to put into words what I heard and felt. I couldn’t come up with the right words or descriptions, but one of our pastors did for me – He said I was Obedient.
Obedience – – YES, that’s it!! That’s what I had done that I had failed to do for such a long time. And even though my salvation was never in question, I had not been obedient to the calling of Christ in this one area. I had no idea how much it pleased the Lord and how much His pleasure would spill over to my very soul for such a simple act as proclaiming Jesus as my savior with my lips and then being dunked under the water for a few seconds in public. Being baptized isn’t about me or doing some ritual to join a church, it’s about being obedient. And for that alone my Father is well pleased with me. My husband put it best when he said, “If it’s good enough for Jesus to do, then it’s good enough for me.” I walked away a changed person that day and I will never be the same again!
Romans 6:4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.
Galatians 3:27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.
- Colleen and Pastor Jim Gillespie
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Parlay – cast announcement
Olivia dreams of becoming a pirate but her Aunt Beatrice is determined to turn her into a proper young socialite. Can these two co-exist throughout the summer while her parents are away?
Colleen Ann Guest is super excited to be playing the part of Fanny Boyle in the upcoming family comedy Parlay by Deano Pictures!! It’s written and directed by Dean Garris, produced by Dean Garris and Spann Brockmann, and stars Helen Kearney Konen, Tate Clemons, Owen Daly, Rebecca Morris, Nick Karner, Linda Guth, Colleen Ann Guest, and Leah Caruana.
Click here to visit and LIKE the Parlay Facebook page!
ARRRGGGGGG!
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Redress Raleigh Sightings in the Media!
The professional shots are starting to roll in and you can see some incredible shots of all the fashion and models! I have to say though, I’m especially partial to the designer I walked for: Margo Scott of Rocket Betty Designs! She has a Facebook page too!
If you have any Redress Raleigh sightings, then by all means post them in a comment here! I’ll post more links as I find them too.
- Thank you to Elizabeth Galecke Photography on Facebook for the featured image on this post! Go see the rest of her shots on her facebook page here: Elizabeth Galecke Photography Redress Raleigh Album or go visit her website at www.elizabethgalecke.com
- SimplyDPhoto.com website
- Facebook photo album by Qlint Chesney
- Michelle Smith’s blog
- Artery Blog in the Independent Weekly
- NC Museum of Natural Sciences Nature Research Center Grand Opening photos on Facebook
- WKNC 88.1 Blog
- Sarajane Case Photography
- Side Yard Studios slideshow
- New & Well blog
-
Video footage of the event!
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Mother Nature’s Got Nothin’ on Father God!
I was very blessed to be asked to walk the runway in an eco-friendly fashion show this past weekend during all the Earth Day festivities. I love fashion and the whole idea of using eco-friendly techniques and up-cycling vintage products to create garments and accessories makes me super-duper happy. It was a joy and a thrill to be a model for this particular show. The people involved are conscious of the environment and are very giving and loving individuals. Every designer I met and every person I spoke with glowed with their love for nature. And…I’m right there with them! Love me some nature!
Yet by the time I got to the second day of events and made an appearance at the outdoor festival which took up several city blocks of downtown Raleigh, something that was gnawing at me in a teeny-tiny way suddenly took on a ravenous appetite and began to devour my heart. I passed by a statue of a person posed with it’s arms wide open, face turned up towards the sky, and clearly in a position of worship. I looked around me and saw a myriad of birds, animals, people, celestial bodies, and all forms of created things replicated in some fashion (paper mache, statues, artwork, etc). And as I looked around some more, I saw rapture and awe on the faces of festival goers as they gazed upon the re-created things. Yep, I was right square in the middle of over seventy thousand people WORSHIPING. Worshiping not just created things – but RE-created things (can we say idolatry?). And I could almost feel the contempt for the CREATOR of the organic creations in the midst of all this “love.”
Whoa. Eye-opening and soul-baring moment. I needed to leave. It was time to sort out how to reconcile my love of nature with my love of the one and only God Almighty who created the earth, sea, heavens, and all things in them!
Let’s be clear about something. I firmly believe God calls us to be good stewards of the resources and creatures we are coexisting with. I do NOT advocate any practice that harms the environment! Yet at the same time, I fully recognize that it is my Father God who deserves my adoration and my worship – NOT his creation. So how do I share my love for God and not alienate/offend my environmentally conscious yet utterly lost friends? This is what scares me!! I don’t want people to dislike me and I certainly don’t want to say or do anything that would make them hate the Lord!
So I dug into the Scripture. Romans chapter one really spoke to me this morning. The Bible is very clear about the dangers of worshiping the created rather than the creator. I talked about this with my husband, prayed over it, and then I went to church with all of this burning on my mind. And in the middle of the teaching, the pastor said, “If all we do is love people (and not share the truth of the Gospel), then we are just making them happy on their way to hell.”
WOW!
OK, so I’ve now feel both led and commanded to share what I’ve been thinking and feeling – fear be damned! If someone gets offended, then I just have to take that chance. I would hate to have someone whom I loved dearly but was too afraid to offend, look at me and say, “You knew this and you NEVER told me?” as they stand in judgement when the Lord sentences them to hell. So here goes…. (All bold and italicized emphasis is mine, New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica)
Let me share Acts 14:15-17 from this morning’s teaching:
15 “Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. 16 In the past, he let all nations go their own way. 17 Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”
And here is what stood out to me from Romans (1:16-25,32)
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
BAM! STOP RIGHT THERE!! Is that me???
Do I continue to do such things and approve of those who practice them? ………………………………………….Um………no? (There’s that fear of offending people creeping in.)
Wait…let me use my big girl voice and be more definitive – NO. I do not!
(let the de-friending and nasty remarks commence while I duck and cover…)
Are you still here? whew….. Ok, well, then let me just sum it all up with some conclusions I’ve drawn about myself. After pondering, praying, and reading this morning, I’ve decided that I must take care that I keep perspective on my own environmental and animal rescue efforts so that I don’t get caught up in inadvertent worship of the creation. I must continue to immerse myself in scripture and surround myself with fellow believers so that I can be an effective witness to the great and awesome mercy of Christ; that He died for us while we were still sinners! And I must set my self apart from others who choose to worship the created rather than the creator. But by being set apart I don’t mean that I should abandon or remove myself from having relationships with folks outside the church – I need to be an example of Christian love and Godliness in every circle I am involved with. And I need to be involved in every kind of social circle available to me so that I have the opportunity to share the gospel with everyone and all may come to know the saving grace only offered by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
DetailsThe Watch – cast announcement
Colleen Ann Guest is pleased to be joining the cast of The Watch, a SAG Signatory Short film written and directed by Roger Franks of Nilescat Studios, produced by Michael Devereaux of Lagniappe Motion Pictures, and starring Tucker Smallwood, Adrian Thomas, Lisa Sain Odom, W. Scott Parker lll, Jody Vines, and Jeff Briggs.
Nathan Bishop, an ambitious and successful lawyer, faces a life changing moment that brings about a chance meeting with Mason Hughes, a man with a rich history, having had the opportunity to be a part of the Civil Rights Movement in this country. Mason sees the good in all and believes it’s never too late to make a difference. Nathan soon realizes that his life has greater meaning but has he waited too late to find what that meaning is?
The Watch will be shot entirely in Raleigh, North Carolina in 2012.
Visit and LIKE The Watch on Facebook!
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Too Far From the Tree – cast announcement
Colleen Ann Guest is pleased to announce she will be joining the cast of the feature film, “Too Far From the Tree” as alto sax player, Angie. “Too Far From the Tree” is a musical film which explores the rocky relationship between a father and daughter, starring Billy Sandlin and Tabitha Poorman, written and directed by Larry “Doc” Carmichael, and produced by Sound Influence Studios. To be filmed on location mainly in Dunn, NC August 2012. Click here to visit and LIKE their Facebook page for the latest updates and news!
DetailsZebras in Motion
Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Exercise – The Impossible Combination?
One of the topics that comes up quite often in my Ehlers-Danlos* groups is exercise. We all know we need it and yet it’s so difficult to start or maintain because of the obvious resulting pain, joint laxity, and POTS symptoms. And yet without it we aren’t helping our joints because we aren’t strengthening the muscles surrounding them and we’re not improving our overall health. I’m right there with my fellow EDSers on this and I’ve been struggling for years trying to find something that works. My one constant companion (although neglected more often than not) throughout these past 30 years has been a Nordic Track machine. It’s a wonderful tool because it provides great cardio with ZERO impact! It’s always been my friend – when I choose not to ignore it. A mistake I’ve always made though was to use it in conjunction with starting a completely new exercise routine including weights and dance-like moves which always leads to soreness, joint pain/problems, and ultimately quitting – usually sooner than later. But a couple of weeks ago I made a conscious effort to start anew and NOT get ahead of myself. I’m using JUST the machine 3 or 4 times a week for 20 minutes a day, I’m drinking 80-100 oz of water a day, and I’ve SLOWLY added some stretching and light isometrics. I haven’t experienced ANY soreness and I certainly don’t feel like quitting. In fact, I’ve always avoided stairs like the plague for decades because of the knee pain and possibility of subluxing, but yesterday I purposefully took the stairs multiple times and I didn’t have ANY problems. And still no backlash today! That alone is such a HUGE accomplishment!! If you don’t suffer from joint hypermobility then you just won’t get the full impact (no pun intended) of that last statement. FYI, because of other health issues I’ve had to revamp my diet and I’ve already been eating grain and soy free for 3 years. That has also contributed greatly to my overall improved health and well-being. I also take 4-6 grams of Vitamin C a day and 400mg of chelated Magnesium and 22 mg of zinc. So can an EDSer find exercises to help pain and joint laxity? After a couple of weeks of skiing at home, I’m inclined to say yes – at least for this bendy girl!
*Visit the EDNF website for more information about Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome
I am NOT a medical professional and I do not intend for my statements to influence anyone to start a diet and exercise routine without proper medical care. Please do your own research, clear things with your medical professionals, and find what works for you.
Redress Raleigh 2012 Eco-Fashion Show – cast announcement
Colleen Ann Guest is so very pleased to announce that she’s been selected to walk the runway for an AMAZING designer, Rocket Betty, at the 2012 Redress Raleigh event on Friday night April 20, 2012 at 8pm at the Contemporary Art Museum CAM Raleigh (CAM) in downtown Raleigh. Click here to get your tickets!!
From the Redress website:
Redress Raleigh aims to reorient mainstream fashion to be socially and environmentally aware, becoming a catalyst for major change in the retail industry. We question the status quo of retail – both the mainstream consumption of fast fashion and the unattainable high-fashion of eco-couture.
We plan to be the resource for eco-fashion in the Triangle – creating a network for economic opportunities, eco-fashion lovers, and empowered customers. Redress Raleigh enhances people’s understanding of eco-fashion and empowers them with relevant skills that will revolutionize the fashion industry. Redress Raleigh also believes that giving back to the community creates goodwill and plans to grow mutually beneficial relationships with organizations that help people in need.
The clothing selected for the show has a strong emphasis on eco-friendly design. Eco-friendly can be in the form of recycled or remanufactured garments, as well as using eco-friendly fabrics and production processes. The focus of Redress Raleigh is to promote wearable eco-fashion, meaning fabrics and textiles that would be commonly found in clothing articles, rather than non-clothing items such as cardboard, paper, plastic, etc.
Redress Raleigh is proud to announce the following designers have been accepted into the April 20, 2012 Friday night 8pm show at the Contemporary Art Museum CAM Raleigh:
Belinda Blakley of Belindabilly
Jana Saur of JBelle
Johanna Ely of Good Girls Studio
Julianne Applegate of JulieApple
Katy Deckard of Revolver Denim
Kendal Leonard
Kim Kirchstein of Leopold
Margo Scott of Rocket Betty Designs
Melissa Lowery of SSD Jewelry
Oami Powers of Judah Ross
Stephanie and Zulay Smith of Zass Design & Pilar Ramirez and Alejandra Dunn of PamOr Designs
There will also be a local fashion showcase as part of downtown Raleigh’s Planet Earth Celebration on Saturday, April 21st featuring Redress Raleigh along with other area fashion organizations.
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