Psalm 103:12 (NIV)

"As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us."

living the middle...

"I was reading a book the other day (shocking!) and this phrase caught my eye "Don't you go and give up in the middle of the story."

The middle of the story is the hardest part. As a wannabe author, it's the hardest part to write and every creative writing class I've taken has stressed this. It's hard to write the middle.

It's hard to live the middle too. I've always heard that our lives are a story, but I don't think of it that way. I picture our lives as a series of short stories, each one separate but together making a whole. It's easy to look back on individual stories and see how the middle worked to connect the beginning and the end, the invisible spirit of God weaving it's way through the parts and binding it together. That's why they say hindsight is 20/20. Looking back is much easier than looking in the midst."
--Kayla Aimee Terrell (read more on her blog)

take heart and know....

God is in Control - Truth
God is in Control by TRUTH
Does it seem like the world
is chaotically turning
sin and shame unarranged
and, Godly men are adjourning
well our fathers warned that it would come to this.
but just hold your hat and know that the final truth is...
God is in control...
Though Godless men conspire
His will unfolds, Though mortal minds are sometimes left to doubt
His ways are higher, than our ways
So even through the fire...take heart and know...take heart and know...
God is in control
Does it seem...does it seem
Like your world...like your world... is a maze of confusion
do you long for the day..Ooo I wish for the day
when problems meet their solutions
Well I know sometimes life's line feels..unsecure..so unsecure
but the saints who held on before would charge you to rest assured
God is in control...
Though Godless men conspire
His will unfolds, Though mortal minds are sometimes left to doubt
His ways are higher, than our ways
So even through the fire...take heart and know...take heart and know...
God is in control....hey..
His ways are higher...higher than our ways
So even through the fire...
take heart and know...take heart and know...
take heart and know...take heart and know...
take heart and know...take heart and know...
God is in control

God will make a way
Where there is no way;
He works in ways we cannot see
He will make a way for me. ---Moen

Once Upon A Time...

Once upon a time there was a bunch of tiny frogs....
who arranged a competition.
The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower.
A big crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race
and cheer on the contestants....The race began....
Honestly: No one in the crowd really believed
that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower.
You heard statements such as:"Oh, WAY too difficult!!"
"They will NEVER make it to the top."or...
"Not a chance that they will succeed. The tower is too high!"
The tiny frogs began collapsing.
One by one....
Except for those, who in a fresh tempo,
were climbing higher and higher...
The crowd continued to yell, "It is too difficult!!! No one will make it!"
More tiny frogs got tired and gave up...
But ONE continued higher and higher and higher...
This one wouldn't give up!
At the end everyone else had given up climbing the tower.
Except for the one tiny frog who, after a big effort,
was the only one who reached the top!
THEN all of the other tiny frogs
naturally wanted to know how this one frog managed to do it?
A contestant asked the tiny frog
how he had found the strength to succeed and reach the goal?
It turned out....That the winner was DEAF!!!!
The wisdom of this story is:Never listen to other people's
tendencies to be negative or pessimistic....
because they take your most wonderful dreams and wishes away from you -- the ones you have in yourheart!
Always think of the power words have.
(There's life and death in the power of the tongue - Proverbs 18:21.)Because everything you hear and read will affect your actions!
Therefore: ALWAYS be.... POSITIVE!
And above all:
Be DEAF when people tell YOU that you cannot fulfill your dreams!
Always think:God and I can do this!

From The Message selected from 2 Corinthians:

"The Sprit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what's ahead. He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so we will never settle for less. That's why we live with such good cheer. ...It's what we trust in but don't see that keeps us going. ... Cheerfully pleasing God is the main thing, and that's what we aim to do, regardless of our condition. We will appear before Christ and take what is coming to us as a result of our actions, either good or bad. His love has the first and last word in everything we do."

Come Thou fount of blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace,
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.

all I have is Yours...

one of the most powerful songs i've ever heard
"Job" by Cindy Morgan
lyrics:
Where were you
When my night fell
Pieces shattered everywhere
If I have loved You with my whole heart
Time will tell
Time will tell

Were the stars moving
Across the ocean
Did the world turn away
For just a glance
And leave me here in these ashes
I will weep and I will dance

All I have is Yours
All these ashes and these sores
All that I am living for
I will follow you to shore

Well, I hear your voice
And it sounds angry
I have questioned You time and again
So I'll be here in the silence
Til I can walk, I will stand

All I have is Yours
All these ashes and these sores
All that I'm living for
I will follow You
I will follow You
I will follow You to shore.

Click here to listen: (also on my myspace profile)
http://music.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=music.artistalbums&artistid=14057798&ap=0&albumid=8796657

laugh...

Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it.
--Bill Cosby

From the Message selected from 1 Corinthians 2:

God's wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of His purposes. ... It's not the latest message, but more like the oldest- what God determined as the way to bring out the best in us. ...'No one's ever seen or heard anything like this, never so much as even imagined anything quite like it -- what God has arranged for those who love Him'. ...The Spirit, not content to flit around on the surface, dives into the depths of God, and bring out what God planned all along. ...God offers a full report on the gifts of life and salvation that He is giving us. ....Spirit can only be known by spirit -- God's Spirit and our spirit in open communion. Spiritually alive we have access to everything God is doing."

The Message selected from 2 Corinthians 7

"Dear friends, let's make a clean break with everything that defiles ordistracts us, both within and without. Let's make our entire lives a fitand holy temple for the worship of God, ...If only you knew how proud Iam of you ! I am overwhelmed with joy despite all our troubles. ...Distress that drives us to God ..turns us around. It gets us in theway of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain."

"Our Father knows what's best for us...."

Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord

To see His face, this is my goal,
The deepest longing of my soul;
Through storm and stress I'll trace
'Til satisfied I see His face.

John 15:9-17 (The Message)

9-10"I've loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you'll remain intimately at home in my love. That's what I've done—kept my Father's commands and made myself at home in his love.
11-15"I've told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I'm no longer calling you servants because servants don't understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I've named you friends because I've let you in on everything I've heard from the Father.
16"You didn't choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won't spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you.
17"But remember the root command: Love one another.

"We should not let our fears hold us back from pursuing our hopes."
-- John Fitzgerald Kennedy

(and thanks for the shout out for my mama, Tam! :) )

In Memory of Lori's Mother

Of all the earthly things God gives
There's one above all others;
It's the precious priceless gift
Of loving Christian mothers. ---Anon

Thank you, God!

"OH, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; make known His deedsamong the peoples! Sing to Him, sing songs to Him; talk of all Hiswondrous works ! Glory in His Holy Name; let the hearts of those rejoicewho seek the Lord! Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His faceevermore! Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wondersand the judgments of His mouth." 1 Chronicles 16:8-12 NKJV

on hope...

"Expect to have hope rekindled.
Expect your prayers to be answered in wondrous ways.
The dry seasons in life do not last.
The spring rains will come again."
-- Sarah Ban Breathnach

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

I Peter 1:6-9

Rest...

The LORD is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in Him. Nahum 1:7 (NLT)

O start anew!
You are the One who has brought our Lord Jesus Christ
again to life from the dead;
You are the One who by your summoning imperative
has caused the worlds to be;
You are the One who by your faithfulness
has given a son to our vexed mother Hannah;
You are the One who has the will and power to begin again,
to start anew.
You are the only self-starter whose name we know.
And so we bid you, start again,
start here, start now,
start with us and with our school (church, city, country. . . .),
start with your mercy,
and with your justice,
and with your compassion,
and with your peace.
Make the world new again,
and young again, and innocent again. . .Start. . . before it is too late.
Amen.
On reading I Samuel 1 on Feb. 4, 1999
Brueggemann, Walter. Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth: Prayers of Walter Brueggemann. Ed. Edwin Searcy. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003. 111.