tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19672792112491901722024-02-02T00:33:58.257-08:00Live On Purpose."For I have decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified."Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967279211249190172.post-18623541156139749102009-08-31T21:00:00.001-07:002009-09-01T06:14:21.707-07:00His love.<div style="text-align: center;">"When then, eternal Father, did you create this </div><div style="text-align: center;">creature of yours?... You show me that you made </div><div style="text-align: center;">us for one reason only: in your lifht you saw</div><div style="text-align: center;"> yourself compelled by the fire of your love to give</div><div style="text-align: center;"> us being in spite of the evil we would commit</div><div style="text-align: center;"> against you, eternal Father. It was fire, then,</div><div style="text-align: center;"> that compelled you. Oh, unutterable love, even</div><div style="text-align: center;"> though you saw all the evils your creatures</div><div style="text-align: center;"> would commit against your infinite goodness,</div><div style="text-align: center;"> you acted as if you did not see and set your </div><div style="text-align: center;">eye only on the beauty of your creature, with</div><div style="text-align: center;"> whom you had fallen in love like one drunk and</div><div style="text-align: center;"> crazy with love... You are the fire, nothing but</div><div style="text-align: center;"> a fire of love, crazy over what you have made."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">- The Prayers of Catherine of Siena</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967279211249190172.post-13963555702731145592009-08-16T12:56:00.001-07:002009-08-16T13:09:51.760-07:00summerSorry I've been so out of touch this summer. I'm trying to find words at the moment to explain my past few months. However the words interesting, difficult, and a waiting process are the three that come to mind. <div><br /></div><div>Interesting because I never have a clue as to what my day is going to look like. SOMETIMES I'll plan a lunch date in advance, but most of the time I'm waking up, looking around and asking myself what I am going to do today. So, instead of calling my summer boring, I'd like to say it's been interesting. Interesting because I'm living my days opposite of what I'd normally appreciate them to be. I'm learning to embrace these days, and I've become creative in the different ways to make my days less repetitive. Therefore, my days have been interesting. </div><div><br /></div><div>Difficult because I have wondered all summer why in the world I am where I am. To be completely honest, I've been confused by the Lord's plans. My flesh has been pushing against the truth of the Lord's sovereignty and His faithfulness. My flesh has been pulling for life to be about me and what I want and what I think should happen. However, I've had the difficult task of swallowing my pride and grasping the hard love of the Father, in stating that He is in control and that He does have me exactly where He wants me. I trust that. I hope you trust where He has you as well. </div><div><br /></div><div>Waiting process because I still have no job. I am currently in the process of looking for a job, however it has been a slow one. I have learned though, that the process is what the Lord loves to watch us go through. THAT is ultimately what He cares about. Through the process, we are strengthened in our faith and we are pulled away from our old selves more and more. If that is what it means to be in a waiting process, then so be it. I long for Him to have the glory from this process no matter where it is that I end up. </div><div><br /></div><div><i>"Some trust in chariots, and some in horses,</i></div><div><i> but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.</i></div><div><i>They collapse and fall,</i></div><div><i>but we rise and stand upright."</i></div><div><i>Psalm 20:7,8</i></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967279211249190172.post-89096377476218083342009-04-27T09:01:00.001-07:002009-04-27T09:05:28.121-07:00GBS<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I will miss them... </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1GTj9bQT2QcD30FcM6NA98vX2jW1iDO22ZoglK6HLteKOMQD1Px6uBvhGGBGC8BE1wT8C-JlXUE0wWlolGkY3hJzNoPZ7XWtWGEGE3mumK4FwJIJl11iXbKntQnEnNsJ9efZ-X3LHuhc/s1600-h/2991_1098518895798_1011390013_30338906_3466626_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 220px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1GTj9bQT2QcD30FcM6NA98vX2jW1iDO22ZoglK6HLteKOMQD1Px6uBvhGGBGC8BE1wT8C-JlXUE0wWlolGkY3hJzNoPZ7XWtWGEGE3mumK4FwJIJl11iXbKntQnEnNsJ9efZ-X3LHuhc/s320/2991_1098518895798_1011390013_30338906_3466626_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329402360042471538" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"... we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">CALLED TO BELONG TO JESUS CHRIST</span>."</div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967279211249190172.post-48420981106833985582009-04-08T08:13:00.000-07:002009-04-08T08:20:23.576-07:00treadmills.So, yesterday, I was running on the treadmill. I've heard many horror stories about people falling off of treadmills, slipping and falling, and busting open their chin or their heads. I'm always in fear that something like this will happen... <div><br /></div><div>Thank goodness this story does not end like that, but I will say I was close. I didn't fall COMPLETELY off of the treadmill, but instead I slipped. I braced myself thank goodness. My foot stepped halfway on the moving tread part, and the stable side. My hands reached out to the dashboard of the machine stabilizing my body from tipping over. I think the worst part about this is not that I tripped, but that I looked around and there was no one to laugh with! Everyone ignored me. I got a few glances, but no one smiled or laughed with me. What in the world? It was funny! I needed someone to laugh with me. But, I just smiled and laughed at myself instead. Which made me laugh even harder. Please promise me that when you see someone do something stupid like that not to ignore him or her, but to laugh with them. It makes the situation so much better. Please and thank you. :) </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967279211249190172.post-58008936148427555812009-04-06T09:03:00.000-07:002009-04-06T09:20:01.013-07:00encouraged.<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">"I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself,</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps."</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Jeremiah 10: 23</span></div><div><br /></div><div>Still clueless as to what my job and income will be starting next month. It's a little hard to swallow that I will be living with my parents again at the age of 24 with no knowledge of how long I'll have to be there. This reality has taken me in many different thoughts of frustration and questioning my own ears as well as the Lord's. If you were to read my journal, you'd see many exclamation points and question marks...</div><div> "Are you listening?" </div><div>"Can you hear me?" </div><div>"Talk to me!"</div><div>"Do not hide yourself!"</div><div><br /></div><div>Ha. Who am I to question if the omnipresent God is listening to me? However, I am continually coming back to my knees, eyes up, hands lifted acknowledging who He is and who I am not. It's the only place that makes sense. And in that place, there is overwhelming awe of His power and glory. I read this and am reminded that He is above and beyond anything I need. </div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">"There is none like you, O Lord;</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">you are great, and your name is </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">great in might. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Who would not fear you, O King</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">of the nations? </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">For this is your due;</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">for among all the wise ones of the</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">nations</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">and in all their kingdoms</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">there is non like you...</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">But the Lord is the true God;</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">he is the living God and </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">the everlasting King.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">At his wrath the earth quakes,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">and the nations cannot endure</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">his indignation...</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">It is he who made the earth by</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">his power,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">who established the world by </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">his wisdom, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">and by his understanding</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">stretched out the heavens. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">When he utters his voice, there is </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">tumult of waters in the </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">heavens,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">and he makes the mist rise from the </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">ends of the earth. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">He makes lightning for the rain,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">and he brings forth the wind</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">from his storehouses."</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Jeremiah 10: 6 - 13</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967279211249190172.post-23757539325910859262009-03-30T07:27:00.000-07:002009-03-30T07:42:40.999-07:00being known.Yesterday was a day just for me and Jesus. We hung out all day in my room. We played music and sang, we watched a movie or two, we read about Him, we laughed out loud and we talked intimately with each other. It was a day dedicated to learning about the other. There is something built inside of all of us to be known, to have someone fully and deeply know everything about us. We long for that, I long for that. Soon, my understanding of this grew yesterday as I read a section of the book "Knowing God" by J.I. Packer. It brought me to tears, and of course have to share it with you. <div><br /></div><div>"What matters supremely...is not... the fact that I know God, but the larger fact which underlies it - the fact that he knows me. I am graven on the palms of his hands. I am never out of his mind. All my knowledge of him depends on his sustained intiative in knowing me. I know him because he first knew me, and continues to know me. He knows me as a friend, one who loves me; and there is no moment when his eye is off of me, or his attention distracted from me, and no moment, therefore, when his care falters. </div><div>This is momentous knowledge. There is unspeakable comfort - the sort of comfort that energizes, be it said, not enervates - in knowing that God is constantly taking knowledge of me in love and watching over me for my good. There is tremendous relief in knowing that his love to me is utterly realistic, based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery can now disillusion him about me, in the way I am so often disillusioned about myself, and quench his determination to bless me. </div><div>There is, certainly, great cause for humility in the thought that he sees all the twisted things about me that my fellow humans do not see (and I am glad!), and he sees more corruption in me than that which I see in myself, (which, in all conscience, is enough). There is however, equally great incentive to worship and love God in the thought that, for some unfathomable reason, he wants me as his friend, and desires to be my friend, and has given his Son to die for me in order to realize this purpose. We cannot work these thoughts out here, but merely mention them is enough to show how much it means to know not merely that we know God, but that he knows us."</div><div><br /></div><div>Enough said, right?</div><div><br /></div><div>I am known by God. It's a truth so hard to fully understand and acknowledge, however, so important to receive. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967279211249190172.post-50617105148792907542009-03-29T00:14:00.001-07:002009-03-29T00:14:58.315-07:00so excited.The new website for Grace Campus is up...<div><br /></div><div>Check it out!</div><div><br /></div><div>www.gracecampus.net</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967279211249190172.post-20500297359784670212009-02-23T12:04:00.001-08:002009-02-23T12:06:49.489-08:00what stirs my affections?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi19hV5tI_3Q0qy1NUAZ54Rextx22vWDwOgfPUhivGIfNrSQLmbNpVo8_6nPOdZjNBa-98BhQjdURed2pOP9TSnRFUuxoKV_NJA-2k5tukLoq3DwZQnbRHMuNXWTu-zrwkwPosGBUSwR4o/s1600-h/DSC_0179.jpg"><br /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi19hV5tI_3Q0qy1NUAZ54Rextx22vWDwOgfPUhivGIfNrSQLmbNpVo8_6nPOdZjNBa-98BhQjdURed2pOP9TSnRFUuxoKV_NJA-2k5tukLoq3DwZQnbRHMuNXWTu-zrwkwPosGBUSwR4o/s320/DSC_0179.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306086420927424754" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Hundreds of students singing to their Heavenly Father</div><div style="text-align: center;">at the top of their lungs simply because He loves them. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I love this. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967279211249190172.post-59185372837828013622009-02-18T13:45:00.000-08:002009-02-18T13:48:46.663-08:00rainy days.confession. <div><br /></div><div>secretly, i enjoy rainy days. they put me in a reflective mood. makes me move slower and take in all that the day has to offer. my heavenly father knows that i needed to slow down my mind today. so, thank you for the rain...</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967279211249190172.post-52410695129856274262009-02-16T08:28:00.000-08:002009-02-16T08:43:20.925-08:00getting into you<div style="text-align: center;">when i made up my mind,<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">and my heart along with that</div><div style="text-align: center;">to live not for myself, but yet for God</div><div style="text-align: center;">somebody said"do you know what you </div><div style="text-align: center;">are getting yourself into?"</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">when i finally ironed out</div><div style="text-align: center;">all of my priorities</div><div style="text-align: center;">and asked God to remove the doubt</div><div style="text-align: center;">that makes me so unsure of these</div><div style="text-align: center;">things I ask myself, I ask myself</div><div style="text-align: center;">"do you know what you </div><div style="text-align: center;">are getting yourself into?" </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">i'm getting into you</div><div style="text-align: center;">because you got to me</div><div style="text-align: center;">in a way words can't describe</div><div style="text-align: center;">i'm getting into you</div><div style="text-align: center;">because i've got to be</div><div style="text-align: center;">You're essential to survive</div><div style="text-align: center;">i'm gonna love you with my life</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">when he looked at me and said</div><div style="text-align: center;">"i kind of view you as a son"</div><div style="text-align: center;">and for one second our eyes met</div><div style="text-align: center;">and i met that with a question</div><div style="text-align: center;">"do you know what you</div><div style="text-align: center;">are getting yourself into?"</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">i'm getting into you</div><div style="text-align: center;">because you got to me</div><div style="text-align: center;">in a way words can't describe</div><div style="text-align: center;">i'm getting into you</div><div style="text-align: center;">because i've got to be </div><div style="text-align: center;">you're essential to survive</div><div style="text-align: center;">i'm gonna love you with my life</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">i've been a liar and </div><div style="text-align: center;">i'll never amount to</div><div style="text-align: center;">the kind of person you </div><div style="text-align: center;">deserve to worship you</div><div style="text-align: center;">you say you will not dwell on what i did</div><div style="text-align: center;">but rather what i do you say</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">i love you and that's what you're getting </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">yourself into</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">i'm getting into you</div><div style="text-align: center;">because you got to me</div><div style="text-align: center;">in a way words can't describe</div><div style="text-align: center;">i'm getting into you</div><div style="text-align: center;">because i've got to be</div><div style="text-align: center;">you're essential to survive</div><div style="text-align: center;">i'm gonna love you with my life</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">He said, i love you and that's what you are getting yourself into</span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;">- Reliant k</div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967279211249190172.post-10444768908225901932009-02-09T10:15:00.000-08:002009-02-09T10:29:29.802-08:00taken.Last night, I went to see the movie, "Taken", with some friends. What I watched was not what I was expecting. It is a movie about a father and a daughter. She decides to take a trip overseas. While she is there, she is kidnapped and sold for sex. The father then sets his mind on finding her and does not give up. He pursues and fights and pursues and fights. I walked away from this movie with mixed emotions. I walked away with a sense of pride and protection by knowing that the God that I serve is my perfect Father who pursues me and fights for me and protects me at all costs. I saw an example of His love, His deep love for His daughters. When we are caught up in the ways of the enemy, He finds us, fights for us, and frees us from all of our adversaries. I also walked away with a deep hurt for those women in the world that are being sold into prostitution and sex. It cuts me deep to even try to put myself in that position. A life full of feeling worthless and lack of feeling treasured, how can one think? <div><br /></div><div>This morning I read Psalm 10, again being reassured by the Father that He is there. He is taking care of His people. </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">"In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised. </span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul,</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord...</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket;</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">he lurks that he may seize the poor;</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">he seizes the poor when he draws them into his net...</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Arise O Lord; O God, lift up your hand; </span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">forget not the afflicted,</span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">But you do see, for you note </span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">the mischief and vexation,</span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">that you may take it into your hands;</span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">to you the helpless commits himself; </span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">you have been the helper of the fatherless.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;</span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">you will strengthen their heart;</span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">you will incline your ear to do justice </span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">to the fatherless and the oppressed,</span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">so that man who is of the earth may strike</span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">terror no more.</span>"</span></div><div><br /></div><div>He is faithful to the oppressed and beaten. That is what I cling to this morning with my heavy heart. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967279211249190172.post-8921405708542447062009-02-05T06:55:00.001-08:002009-02-05T07:25:25.151-08:00bob and joan.Recently, I was presented with the opportunity to travel with my staff team to the wonderful (and extremely cold) city of Boston. We worked with The Boston Project, an amazing ministry centered around being the hands and feet of the gospel. They are spending their days serving the homeless and those in need of an extra hand. I was very taken aback at the rarity that I do this in my own personal ministry. However, with the grace of the Lord, I am compelled to learn from my lack of service in my past, and move on to find ways to serve His people. <div><br /></div><div>While we were there, we met an older couple that The Boston Project has served many years. Their names were Bob and Joan. We entered their warm home with precious Joan taking our coats and as we were handing them off, wide grinned Bob comes slowly around the corner with a big "Well, Hello!" You could see all over his face that this moment with us had been a deep anticipation within him all day long. He walked us, with walker in tow, into the room where we would be visiting. He then begins to share with us the reason why this room was his favorite room in the whole house. He points with his finger to the picture on the wall. It is a beautiful picture of Jesus. "I like to sit here and look at Jesus," he says. Already tears are springing up in my eyes for the beauty that is pouring out of this couple. Immediately we begin by telling them our names and why we are here. Joan is up and about placing cookies and chex mix in our hands and pouring hot cider that she had made into mugs for us. Joan is a sensational caretaker. And you can tell she enjoys serving. An attribute of Jesus that she understands. There is something very unique about this couple that I haven't yet mentioned. They are an interracial couple. As soon as we get past the greetings, Joan proceeds to tell us their story. An interracial couple of their age is very rare due to the timing of when they fell in love. They tell us the many obstacles they had to face, the judgement and the scorn. Joan's mother did not approve. They couldn't find a church that would marry them. Finding an apartment to live in was even difficult. No one approved. Even when they had children, it took people a while to understand that Joan was their mother, even though she was white. People just didn't look past the color. Bob would discuss the moments of the two of them having to sit in the back of the bus, and the back of theaters. Each one of us sat there with tears streaming. How could this precious couple been treated so poorly? To me, this couple is the beauty of innocence in their old age. They have been through so much, but yet, they were not bitter, they were not giving us a civil rights speech. They were just telling us their story with such peace and forgiveness that can only flow from the Spirit. </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">"Blessed are the pure in heart, </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">for they shall see God."</span></div><div style="text-align: center;">Matthew 5:8</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"Innocence. Purity. Child-likeness. Wonder. These are the attributes that we must walk in if we hope to see God's majesty... Innocence is at the root of who we are meant to be, and must remain at the heart of who we are. Imagine entering heaven with a higher level of innocence and wonder than when we started our journey with Him!" - Graham Cooke</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I hope that when I am their age, I have the same kindness and joy and love pouring out of me to others that they showed to me. They displayed Jesus within them. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967279211249190172.post-12835812378706017022009-01-22T08:32:00.000-08:002009-01-22T08:44:56.023-08:00fathers and daughtersThe other day, a friend and I were walking and talking about life. In the midst of conversation, we passed a father and his daughter on the sidewalk. She was maybe 3 years old, with bike in hand and dad was walking very slowly behind her with a huge grin on his face which screamed love and adoration for this girl. We passed with a "hello" and both commented on her amazing biking skills with which she replied with a "I bike". Needless to say, a pocket of tears welled up in each set of eyes from us. The funny thing is, what the world would call biking - feet on peddles and rotating them to make the wheels actually turn and move you forward - was not how she was biking. Feet were on the ground, and bike was pulled up half way off of the ground. Her dad couldn't be any more proud and was perfectly content to walk behind her at a extremely turtle-like pace. He was content to just be spending time with her. <div><br /></div><div>Immediately, Malorie and I discuss how often that is like us with the heavenly Father. There are many moments when we are like that daughter. We sometimes are doing our own thing in our own way. However, the heavenly Father doesn't abandon us, He walks with us, knowing that eventually in time we will realize that it is much easier to get on and ride. But, until then, He will smile a huge smile of a proud Father, no matter what. </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">"As a shepherd looks after his</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">scattered flock when he is</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">with them, so will </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">I look after my sheep..."</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Ezekiel 34:12</span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967279211249190172.post-42643414949820588552009-01-21T22:47:00.000-08:002009-01-22T12:02:35.806-08:00laughter.tonight i laughed more than i have in a very long time. the laughter that makes you hunch over to the ground, stop mid-walk, deep sighs in between, tears streaming laughter. yes, even the kind that may make you snort. i love the fact that God made laughter. He knew that we would enjoy it. malorie and hannah laughed so hard and so long that it made our cheeks hurt. <div><br /></div><div>i'm very thankful for laughter. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967279211249190172.post-17213619990753979072009-01-15T12:47:00.001-08:002009-01-15T13:03:33.093-08:00revealer of mysteries.Lately, my life seems to be a big ball of uncertainty. Starting this August, I am without a job, and therefore I have no clue what I will be doing, where I will be going, with whom I will be around. A nomad, really, a wonderer. The flesh and old self that still comes around every now and then would like to start hyperventilating and anxiety would control me. I would start planning and figuring out the next few years of my life. I am not a planner, but I would tell myself to start practicing because mysteries and unknowing is not something that I enjoy. However, I am continually learning that my life is not about me. My life is not for me to have things figured out. My life is here on this earth to reflect the glory of the Lord, who is Almighty and Powerful and All knowing and Sovereign and nothing is out of His control. So, as I write this, I take a deep sigh of relief. He is taking care of me. He has given me the strength to continue on in my trust with Him. Who am I to not trust the creator of the universe? He is the revealer of mysteries. <div><br /></div><div>This morning I was reading through the book of Daniel. He used this book to show me that He will show me August, but in His timing. I am clinging to these verses, clinging to the truth of who It is, this God that I serve...</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">"... God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams." Daniel 1:17</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">"he reveals deep and hidden things; he know what is in the darkness, and the light dwells within him." Daniel 2:22</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">"but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to us what will be in the latter days." Daniel 2:28</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">" Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries." Daniel 2:47<br /></span><div><div> <br /></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967279211249190172.post-65575469050801382762009-01-14T07:16:00.000-08:002009-01-14T07:23:54.969-08:00burned out.<div style="text-align: center;">"At the end of my life I want the wax to be gone,</div><div style="text-align: center;"> the wick to be gone. All of it.</div><div style="text-align: center;"> I want to be completely burned out."<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">- sara groves</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967279211249190172.post-26416510218821267342009-01-13T08:58:00.000-08:002009-01-13T09:16:47.688-08:00identity.Last night we had bible study with a group of girls, and it was so good. I am really excited about this semester with each of them. The Lord has something huge planned for our Monday nights, and I am excited to be a part of them. We are going to be studying Romans. Yesterday, I felt that the Lord really wanted me to go through Romans, skim over it, and pick out the moments where He speaks truth to our identity in Him. Romans is consumed with identity. I read to the girls last night. It's always powerful to be reminded of our identity that is in the Lord. It was so refreshing for me to hear yesterday, and so I thought I would type it out to you. <div><br /></div><div>You are ...</div><div><br /></div><div>- called to be an apostle</div><div>- set apart for the gospel of God</div><div>- receiver of grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith </div><div>- called to belong to Christ</div><div>- loved by God and called </div><div>- receiver of eternal </div><div>- receiver of glory, honor, and peace</div><div>- justified by His grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus</div><div>- your faith is counted as righteous</div><div>- justified by faith apart from the works of the law</div><div>- guaranteed grace</div><div>- peace with God</div><div>- rejoicer in hope of the glory of God</div><div>- not put to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us</div><div>- justified by His blood</div><div>- saved by Him from the wrath of God</div><div>- reconciled to God by the death of His Son</div><div>- saved by His life</div><div>- receiver of reconciliation </div><div>- baptized into Christ Jesus and His death</div><div>- united in His death, united in His resurrection</div><div>- no longer enslaved to sin</div><div>- set free from sin</div><div>- death no longer has dominion over you </div><div>- alive to God in Christ Jesus</div><div>- brought from death to life</div><div>- instruments for righteousness</div><div>- not under law, but under grace</div><div>- slaves of righteousness</div><div>- not under law, but under grace</div><div>- slaves of righteousness</div><div>- servants to the new life of the Spirit</div><div>- been set free from the law of sin and death</div><div>- dwelling place of the Spirit of God, giving you life and peace </div><div>- sons of God</div><div>- receiver of the Spirit of adoption, as sons, by whom we cry "Abba Father"</div><div>- heirs of God, heirs with Christ</div><div>- set free from bondage</div><div>- obtainer of freedom</div><div>- known by Him as He searches our hearts</div><div>- God is for us</div><div>- more than conquerors through Him who loved us </div><div>- impossible to be separated from the love of God</div><div>- been raised up with His power</div><div>- been called "my people" and "my beloved" by Him</div><div>- not put to shame</div><div>- not rejected</div><div>- grafted into the promises of God</div><div>- a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God</div><div>- one body in Christ</div><div>- beloved</div><div>- God's servants for good</div><div>- bearer of God's love</div><div>- given the armor of light</div><div>- the Lord's, whether we live or we die</div><div>- welcomed by Christ</div><div>- full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another</div><div>- minister of Christ Jesus</div><div><br /></div><div>"For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you." Romans 16:19,20</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967279211249190172.post-8419346687084856402008-11-30T20:36:00.000-08:002008-12-01T15:43:13.230-08:00'tis the season!Christmas is here. Therefore, I finally allow myself to indulge in all of my favorite Christmas movies...<div><br /></div><div>Top 5 all time favorite Christmas movies and quotes:</div><div><br /></div><div>5. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>- "Tis the season to be merry... That's my name..."</div><div><br /></div><div>4. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Love Actually</span></span> - "It's my favorite part of the day, driving you... It's my saddest part of the day, leaving you..."</div><div><br /></div><div>3. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Elf <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">- "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; ">You did it! Congratualtions! World's best cup of coffee!</span></span></span></span></div><div><br /></div><div>2. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">T</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">he Holiday<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> -</span> </span></span>"Well, hello big dollop!" </div><div><br /></div><div>1. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">White Christmas</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> - "Vermont should be beautiful this time of year, all that snow."</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967279211249190172.post-58513445315603861892008-11-29T20:23:00.000-08:002008-11-29T20:52:41.083-08:00thanksgivingI wish I could say this thanksgiving was filled with some good 'ole R&R sitting around the fire, watching movies, and just simply hanging out with the fam. However, I cannot. My holiday was packed full with errands correlated to the upcoming wedding of my dear sister, cooking the meals until thanksgiving since my mother was focused on thanksgiving meal itself, cleaning the never ending mess that is our house due to a redo of the floors, shopping for bridesmaid gifts, dresses to the showers and rehearsal dinner, ... It was craziness above all crazies. (I understand that the last sentence didn't really make that much sense, but you got me, right?) <div><br /></div><div>But, here is the reason that I love holidays... up until everyone gets there you are going a mile a minute (especially if your name is Karen Frost, my mother). You are running to and fro the grocery store, picking up and packing up anything and everything that seems out of order so that all can be just right for your family members and loved ones who would really care less if they saw those shoes placed at the bottom of the stairs or the dish sitting in the sink. Your mind is racing, you never sit down and when you do, you get mad at yourself because it takes twice the effort to get back up than it would've been to just stay on your feet. The best part is when you hear the doorbell or that knock at the door. In walks in twenty or so of your favorite people, ready to spend the day with you. It is in the moments of your "Daddy Bob" quieting the room in order to say a funny rhyme he had made up to make you laugh before he prays that really make me smile. It's in his prayer that brings tears to your eyes, hearing his words of gratitude and taking the words right out of your mouth about each person in the room. I know I'm not supposed to, but I opened my eyes during his prayer this past Thursday. I looked around and first glanced at my sweet Grandmother who was sitting down due to bad knees. She is one of the most grateful and considerate people I've ever known. She will not do or say anything without it being a compliment of gratitude for who you are to her. I hope that someday I could come close to that kind of gentleness. And then there was my other Grandmama who embodies a quiet and gentle heart. She has gone through her fair share of heartache in her life. I notice her tear up when my Daddy Bob asked for a moment of silence for those that had passed. I knew the people she was thinking of, and my heart longed to take away her ache. With all the pain that she has been through, she still has that joy and spirit of life within her. And of course, there is my mother. Beautiful. Full of life and personality. She draws you in, makes you feel special when you talk to her. I kid with her about how she never stops moving, but that is a quality that I long to have. I long to have the commitment and dedication that I've never seen lacking. She is the heart of this family. </div><div><br /></div><div>It is in those moments during the holidays that I love. Thank you Grandmother, Grandmama, and Momma for giving me hope that somewhere inside me, I encompass some of what each one of you possess. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967279211249190172.post-46411218202987825052008-11-17T13:20:00.000-08:002008-11-17T17:37:52.613-08:00redeeming love.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>"...I want to go back." She stumbled and almost fell.<div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Michael caught and steadied her. "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Just once, try trusting me, would you? Have I done anything to harm you?</span>"</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>"Trust you? Why should I? You're crazy bringing me out here like this in the middle of the night. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Take me back</span>." She was trembling and couldn't stop.</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Not until you see what I have to show you.</span>"</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>"Even if you have to drag me?"</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Unless you'd rather ride over my shoulder.</span>"<br /></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>She jerked her hand free. "Go on ahead."<br /></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">A</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">ll right<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; ">," he said. Angel swung around to go back but couldn't see the cabin or barn through the tress. When she turned around, she couldn't see Hosea either and panicked. "Wait," she cried out. "Wait!"</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Michael caught hold of her. "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">I'm right here</span>." He felt her shaking and drew her into his arms. "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">I'm not going to leave you in darkness.</span>" He tipped her face and kissed her gently. "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">When are you going to understand that I love you? Come with me...</span>"<br /></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>She tried to hold him back. "Wait, please. All right. I am afraid of the dark. Being out here reminds me of ---" She stopped.<br /></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Of what?</span>"<br /></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>"Of something that happened when I was a child." He waited and she bit her lip. She didn't want to talk about what happened. She didn't want to think about the horror of that night. "Please. Just take me back... take me back to the cabin..."<br /></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">You don't hear me. You don't understand anything. I </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">can't</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"> take you back. You're not going to have it your way. It's going to be my way or not at all.</span>" Michael took her hand. "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Now, come on.</span>" He walked through the dark woods. Her palms were sweating, but her hand didn't lay in his hand like a dead fish anymore. She was holding on as though her life depended upon him. </div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Angel heard sounds everywhere, a constant ringing and humming that came from all directions and penetrated her head. It was a quiet that was so quiet it screamed. She wanted to be back in the cabin, away from the black, moving things around her. Winged demons, watching and grinning. <br /></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>She was cold and weak from exhaustion. "How much farther is it?"<br /></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Michael swept her up in his arms and carried her. "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">We're almost there.</span>" The woods were behind them, the moon above making the hillsides an eerie silver gray. "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Just to the top of that hill.</span>"<br /></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>When he reached the crest, he set her on her feet again, and she looked around in confusion. There was nothing. Just more hills and then the mountains in the distance.<br /></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Michael watched the night breeze making her pale hair dance in the moonlight. She huddled into the quilt and glared back at him. "There's nothing here."<br /></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Everything that matters is here.</span>"<br /></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>"All this way for nothing." She didn't know what she expected. A monument. Something. She sat down, exhausted and shivering from the chill night air. The quilt wasn't enough. Ten quilts wouldn't be enough. The chill was inside her. What did he think he was doing dragging her up this hill in the middle of the night? "What's so special about this?"<br /></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Michael sat down behind her. He put his strong legs on either side of her and pulled her back against him. "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Just wait</span>."<br /></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>She wanted to resist his embrace, but she was too cold to fight him. "For what?"<br /></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>He put his arms around her. "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">For morning.</span>"<br /></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>"I could've waited for that in the cabin."<br /></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>He laughed against her hair. Lifting it, he kissed the nape of her neck. "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">You can't understand until you see it from here.</span>" He nuzzled the soft skin beneath her ear. She shivered softly. "Sleep a while if you want." He tucked her more closely against him. "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">I'll wake you at the right time.</span>"<br /></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>She looked at the stars, tiny jewels against black velvet. She had never seen it like this before, so close she felt she could reach up and touch each bright speck of light. The night sky was beautiful. It had never looked likt this from a window. And the smell - thick, moist, earthy. Even the sounds around her became a kind of music, like the birds and insects, like the rain plinking into the tin cans in a dingy wharf shack. Then the darkness lightened. <br /></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>It began slowly, hardly noticeable. The stars grew smaller and smaller, and the black softened. She stood up, hugging the quilt around her, watching. At her back was darkness still, but before her was light: pale yellow growing brilliant, gold-streaked with red and orange. She had watched sunrises before from within walls and behind glass, but never like this...<br /></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">...that's the life I want to give you... that's what I'm offering you... Give me a chance...</span>"</div><div><br /></div><div>-Redeeming Love</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967279211249190172.post-25070527793830520522008-11-16T21:01:00.001-08:002008-11-16T21:34:35.887-08:00fashioned.i've been on the brink of tears all day. it was one of those days that, at any moment of the day, you could snap your fingers and I could fall to the floor balling. Depressed, hannah? you ask. No. Just in one of those moods. For those of you, that are males and do not understand this concept, I apologize. It is for some reason, a "gift" that has been given to us females that, unfortunately, I've heard you will never fully grasp. If you want, you could skip ahead and wait for the next blog. Female readers, sympathize with me, would you please? I feel like an alien sometimes. I feel like someone has taken the regular me and placed a psychotic and extremely way too emotional other me instead. Any show on television makes me cry. Talking in the kitchen with a friend makes me cry when it gets serious. Hearing my phone ring and seeing "home" come up on the screen makes me cry. Saying goodbye to friends that I have been saying bye to regularly for about a year now, knowing I'll see them in a month makes me cry. It is anything and everything. In these moments, I begin to realize my desperate need for something more... my need for my Savior. I am in need of knowing my God that I serve so that I can understand how and why He made me like I am. I need to dive into the scriptures that are written with truth, not feelings. In reading in Genesis, I notice that God <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">made</span> man, but He <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">fashioned</span> woman. We were made more intricately. By the hands of my love, I wasn't just put together, but I was put together with thought, with care, with wisdom. <div><br /></div><div>The hands of the Mighty One <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">fashioned</span> me... So, in the moments like today, I close my eyes and picture myself in his hands. Because that is WHY he made me to cry like I do, so that it would draw me into his chambers. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967279211249190172.post-75052778811721171642008-11-11T09:02:00.000-08:002008-11-11T09:14:24.099-08:00last night's reading: grace"O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, <div>and it has both satisfied me and me me thirsty for more. </div><div>I am painfully conscious of my need for further <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">grace</span></span>. </div><div>I am ashamed of my lack of desire. </div><div>O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; </div><div>I long to be filled with longing; </div><div>I thirst to be made more thirsty still. </div><div>Show me Thy glory, i pray Thee, so that I may know Thee indeed. </div><div>Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. </div><div>Say to my soul, "Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away." </div><div>Then give me <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">grace</span></span> to rise and follow </div><div>Thee up from this misty lowland where </div><div>I have wandered so long."</div><div>- Crazy Love (pg. 99)</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As I sat in my bed late last night, eyes drooping yet needing to read, my heart started to beat fast while I read the words off of this page. To consider <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">grace</span></span> like this - to plead for him to grant to me a deep forgiveness that I will never fully understand made pockets of tears well up in my eyes. I couldn't even finish the chapter. I am loved. I have the gift that is <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">grace</span></span>. I am pursued. I am forgiven. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967279211249190172.post-8052815084784631612008-11-06T07:18:00.000-08:002008-11-06T07:21:44.275-08:00so, i'm sicki've been sick the last few days. not fun. in all honesty, the first few hours of rest were nice. it was good to sit and do absolutely nothing for a change. however, i am driving myself crazy. i've got nothing to say except that i am completely bored out of my mind. how do people do it? how do people just sit around and do nothing? i'm too weak to do anything. that's my excuse. <div><br /></div><div>anyone have anything interesting to keep me my mind entertained for the day?</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967279211249190172.post-32497970533206342372008-10-30T16:08:00.000-07:002008-11-03T08:19:41.663-08:00the next picasso?So, after talking about it for weeks, my friend Malorie and I made drove to Hobby Lobby to get our utensils for our fun night in. We stood in front of the blank canvases for a while. I finally grabbed a rectangular shaped piece that was screaming at me to become artwork. Haha - little did it know that I had never done such a thing. I have always talked about wanting to paint, and there I was finally following through with my desire. It's always been in me, I was just too scared to try it out, too scared to fail. Here I was, finally getting past my fear of making a fool of myself, and just doing it (kinda like nike, but in a more artistic sense than sporty). Next, we got our paint (30% off, by the way, the Lord knew I am on a budget), which took longer than the canvas choosing. Malorie and I discussed together what we would paint and helped each other as we looked at all of the different yellows (canary, sunshine, buttercup) and greens (forest, apple, grass). Finally selecting the colors and the rest of our tools, we made our way to Malorie's house for a night of food and artistic thought. It was so much fun! I never knew that painting would be so fun. We popped in the movie "Devil Wears Prada" and laid all of it out, ready for us to dive on in. I started to paint the night sky with a big moon, reminding me of the season of life that I am going through. It was so much more than a painting to me. It was me, facing the giant of failure. I finally surrendered to thoughts of painting badly, and just painted because I wanted to and I loved it. It was more fun than I thought. My brush stroked my feelings of what it is like to be in the night sky, but even in that darkness of unknown there is light. It was so much fun. I finished very pleased with where I had taken the painting. <div><br /></div><div>Still have much left to do with it, but so far, i am pleased. It was my first official painting. Congratulations to me. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967279211249190172.post-7885462373584308482008-10-29T09:22:00.000-07:002009-01-21T23:01:13.499-08:00T.S. Eliot"I said to my soul, be still and wait...<div>So the darkness shall be the light,</div><div>and the stillness the dancing."</div><div><br /></div><div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsk6kG4ekzhomcLOeuszK170tExQPcFNni5B3EPwBsU2LqukqCJNzPYRJeju6S6FmcHmbnEd3sj5w_hRJezycopodtd8wUjjIyIiewoSJn4AWV6eVRovgpXrZzYq9GFAZN2F25TdVOgdg/s320/moon.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262612775165270738" /></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0