When I have messed it all up once again, I scrub my filthy hands, wash as hard as I can... and it hits me, wash and wash away, nothing's going to cleanse my hands {and heart} like His blood... So I run to the foot of the cross again. Ashamed, broken, and confused, asking for more of His never ending mercy...
I can keep washing, keep trying to redeem myself... But until I can just give it all to Him, nothing will ever change.
He makes my heart smile, He redeems my soul and never lets go.
In the darkest of times, He speaks truth and life... For better or worse, He loves me the same.
♥ How sweet it is to be loved by You.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Young and in love.
Oh to be young and in love.
Beautiful and free.
You are.
You can.
Buy a typewriter. Or a camera. Or a blank canvas.
((( Or an 88 year old house on Ira )))
Whatever makes you come alive.
See it.
Build it.
Make it happen.
You can do anything with your Love by your side, and He is.
Beautiful and free.
You are.
You can.
Buy a typewriter. Or a camera. Or a blank canvas.
((( Or an 88 year old house on Ira )))
Whatever makes you come alive.
See it.
Build it.
Make it happen.
You can do anything with your Love by your side, and He is.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Echo...
One of the things that never ceases to amaze me is the areas in our life where God speaks to us, and it just echoes throughout our lives..
Does that even make sense?
Whatever, anyway...
For the most recent echo it's been that He's been giving me the constant strength to worship Him with the simplest - but most meaningful to my soul - ...
"I am yours & I am free."
His. and Free.
He has set me free. He has beautifully redeemed - and continues to do so - this broken, beautiful disaster that my life has been.
And for the first time in my life, I can say, I am beautiful. I am lovable. I am an amazing woman that some (amazing) man will one day have the privilege of getting my heart...
Until then, though, it's in His hands, and as I dance this dance of life with my beautiful Saviour, I am trusting He'll let that man cut in.
Thank you, Redeemer, for setting me free.
Free from my guilt, shame, insecurity, inability, in- and un- everything... And for redefining me as Yours.
Does that even make sense?
Whatever, anyway...
For the most recent echo it's been that He's been giving me the constant strength to worship Him with the simplest - but most meaningful to my soul - ...
"I am yours & I am free."
His. and Free.
He has set me free. He has beautifully redeemed - and continues to do so - this broken, beautiful disaster that my life has been.
And for the first time in my life, I can say, I am beautiful. I am lovable. I am an amazing woman that some (amazing) man will one day have the privilege of getting my heart...
Until then, though, it's in His hands, and as I dance this dance of life with my beautiful Saviour, I am trusting He'll let that man cut in.
Thank you, Redeemer, for setting me free.
Free from my guilt, shame, insecurity, inability, in- and un- everything... And for redefining me as Yours.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Terry.
Journey with me...
You wake up one morning, to a family. Two beautiful daughters and a loving spouse... You go to work, only to discover that you don't have a job anymore.
Unsure of what the future may hold, you decide to take your family to the Sunshine State for a vacation.
While on this vacation, you get a call that there was a fire at your home. What would you do?
You decide to travel back to your home state alone, just to take care of things and then return to your family... The fire was much worse than you could've imagined. Everything is destroyed.
Devastation takes on a whole new meaning.
Nonetheless, you return to your family.
In the meantime, when you're trying to pick up the pieces from one disaster, another strikes.
You're in the car with these three, your spouse & two beautiful daughters... There's an accident.
You're the only survivor. Left in a coma for months, your life, everything is meaningless.
Hopeless, and in shambles, you discover that you'll get no insurance money for the fire, and the state claimed what was left of your 'home.'
You still have a car, so you'll sleep there. Hundreds of miles from home, in this Sunshine State you're overcome with hurt and loneliness.
How could there possibly be a God who would allow this sort of thing to happen?
But these people tell you that they love you, (& they really do - it shows). And they say that they love you because this Jesus loved them first.
Just when you think that you're going to get off the streets, stop having to sleep in your car, go live with a relative, you find out that relative has died. Just a few short days after you spoke to her.
Finally, one night you talk with these people who've taken you into their home & shown you that love isn't just a word... they pray for you. They ask you if you want to maybe try to believe that this 'God-man' - Jesus - has a better life for you.
You decide to pray and get 'saved'.
These people meet you with hugs and tears and joy.
His name is Terry. He's a friend of mine. He decided this week to try to pursue Jesus.
Pray for him, that he will grow & fall in love with Jesus.
Terry told me yesterday that he didn't know what to do when I hugged him for the first time, so many months ago; I was the first person to hug him in about 20 years.
We can do no great things, only small things with great love.
We love because HE first loved us.
You wake up one morning, to a family. Two beautiful daughters and a loving spouse... You go to work, only to discover that you don't have a job anymore.
Unsure of what the future may hold, you decide to take your family to the Sunshine State for a vacation.
While on this vacation, you get a call that there was a fire at your home. What would you do?
You decide to travel back to your home state alone, just to take care of things and then return to your family... The fire was much worse than you could've imagined. Everything is destroyed.
Devastation takes on a whole new meaning.
Nonetheless, you return to your family.
In the meantime, when you're trying to pick up the pieces from one disaster, another strikes.
You're in the car with these three, your spouse & two beautiful daughters... There's an accident.
You're the only survivor. Left in a coma for months, your life, everything is meaningless.
Hopeless, and in shambles, you discover that you'll get no insurance money for the fire, and the state claimed what was left of your 'home.'
You still have a car, so you'll sleep there. Hundreds of miles from home, in this Sunshine State you're overcome with hurt and loneliness.
How could there possibly be a God who would allow this sort of thing to happen?
But these people tell you that they love you, (& they really do - it shows). And they say that they love you because this Jesus loved them first.
Just when you think that you're going to get off the streets, stop having to sleep in your car, go live with a relative, you find out that relative has died. Just a few short days after you spoke to her.
Finally, one night you talk with these people who've taken you into their home & shown you that love isn't just a word... they pray for you. They ask you if you want to maybe try to believe that this 'God-man' - Jesus - has a better life for you.
You decide to pray and get 'saved'.
These people meet you with hugs and tears and joy.
His name is Terry. He's a friend of mine. He decided this week to try to pursue Jesus.
Pray for him, that he will grow & fall in love with Jesus.
Terry told me yesterday that he didn't know what to do when I hugged him for the first time, so many months ago; I was the first person to hug him in about 20 years.
We can do no great things, only small things with great love.
We love because HE first loved us.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Please, Silence Your Cell Phones
One of the first things I experienced in culture shock when I got back from Africa was the cell phone issue, and it still FLOORS me.
Middle of a conversation, with people I hadn't seen in six months, and the cell phones would start ringing... Conversation ruined, not to mention the hurt it was, because I'd forgotten how little we value time with people.
The freedom I feel when I accidentally leave my phone somewhere, or when I intentionally fast from it, is just incredible.
It seems to rule our lives.
Turn your phone off for a day. I dare you.
Or maybe, in conversation, tell the person you're with how much they matter by not interrupting the conversation with phone calls and messages while they're talking - or while you are.
At least, think about the message it's sending to the people you're with.
Think about the message it would send if you left it in the car when you got out to go somewhere, or turned it off... Or ignored calls when you were talking and what not...
You'll be telling them how valuable their time is to you, how important their words are to you...
Also - not that this applies to any of us, but... - the most common answer for teenage kids when asked what they wish their parents would do differently is, that mom/dad would get off of his/her phone.
Just a thought. Or vent, rather.
((( And I don't mean for job purposes, but after work, when you're with people who are supposed to matter to you... )))
We silence our phones in church, and in the movie theater...
How often is God speaking to us through people and circumstances in our lives that we're blowing off with phone calls that ruin conversations - or maybe He wants to use us to speak to other people...
Send a real message of love by just shutting it off, hitting ignore, or silencing.
{{ Mind you, I am aware this does not ALWAYS apply, sometimes you MUST answer the phone, and I get that, BUT... take those where it's a MUST, and return calls instead of rejecting real people the rest of the time. }}
Middle of a conversation, with people I hadn't seen in six months, and the cell phones would start ringing... Conversation ruined, not to mention the hurt it was, because I'd forgotten how little we value time with people.
The freedom I feel when I accidentally leave my phone somewhere, or when I intentionally fast from it, is just incredible.
It seems to rule our lives.
Turn your phone off for a day. I dare you.
Or maybe, in conversation, tell the person you're with how much they matter by not interrupting the conversation with phone calls and messages while they're talking - or while you are.
At least, think about the message it's sending to the people you're with.
Think about the message it would send if you left it in the car when you got out to go somewhere, or turned it off... Or ignored calls when you were talking and what not...
You'll be telling them how valuable their time is to you, how important their words are to you...
Also - not that this applies to any of us, but... - the most common answer for teenage kids when asked what they wish their parents would do differently is, that mom/dad would get off of his/her phone.
Just a thought. Or vent, rather.
((( And I don't mean for job purposes, but after work, when you're with people who are supposed to matter to you... )))
We silence our phones in church, and in the movie theater...
How often is God speaking to us through people and circumstances in our lives that we're blowing off with phone calls that ruin conversations - or maybe He wants to use us to speak to other people...
Send a real message of love by just shutting it off, hitting ignore, or silencing.
{{ Mind you, I am aware this does not ALWAYS apply, sometimes you MUST answer the phone, and I get that, BUT... take those where it's a MUST, and return calls instead of rejecting real people the rest of the time. }}
Monday, June 2, 2008
Ice Skating
Yesterday, I went ice skating with a friend...
I fell, twice. (Awesome falls, I might add.)
I was told that I'm good at falling.
Today - those simple words that I laughed off are echoing in my heart.
I'm good at falling.
Maybe so.
Yes, that's the case - I'm good at falling.
BUT, He's faithful to pick me up.
He lifts me up when I've fallen.
And as I thought about that for a moment yesterday, I wanted to say, but I don't fall more often than I do... I catch myself before I can fall and regain my balance.
Hmm.
I could've so easily fallen this weekend. But I didn't.
It was all about the confidence - the faith - that I am not defined by my previous falls, but rather, in that I'm not still on the ground - that I've gotten up, and I keep going...
Trusting that if I do fall, He's there to pick me up.
Today, my life is like, ice skating.
Thank you, Jesus that I am yours and I am free.
I fell, twice. (Awesome falls, I might add.)
I was told that I'm good at falling.
Today - those simple words that I laughed off are echoing in my heart.
I'm good at falling.
Maybe so.
Yes, that's the case - I'm good at falling.
BUT, He's faithful to pick me up.
He lifts me up when I've fallen.
And as I thought about that for a moment yesterday, I wanted to say, but I don't fall more often than I do... I catch myself before I can fall and regain my balance.
Hmm.
I could've so easily fallen this weekend. But I didn't.
It was all about the confidence - the faith - that I am not defined by my previous falls, but rather, in that I'm not still on the ground - that I've gotten up, and I keep going...
Trusting that if I do fall, He's there to pick me up.
Today, my life is like, ice skating.
Thank you, Jesus that I am yours and I am free.
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