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i was so grateful yesterday and still am today for my friend colleen. her loving husband told her he was taking her out to dinner for her b-day but didn’t tell her that we would all be there. it was wonderful to get to celebrate with her :-)
YAHWEH Yirah, the Lord our Provider proved Himself again in a small but mighty way. i love when He shows off in the day-to-day moments. and i’m just as grateful that He’s been reminding me to look for Him in the small things. i tend to miss the beautiful little things He does while i look for a burning bush, but how often do i miss His still small voice moments while waiting for it?
the other day i was running with my separated at birth running partner. truly, i think God made my friend ashley and i to be running partners. same pace, same determination, same expectations, etc. it truly is a running match made in heaven :-) so we were running and came up to a stop light and i noticed she was blinking her eyes pretty extensively and looked a bit uncomfortable. mind you it’s pretty toasty out and we’ve been running for 25 minutes at this point so we’re quite sweaty.
as we’re standing at the light i asked her if she was okay. she said she was fine she just had some sweat get in her eyes. i looked at my synthetic wicking shirt and thought this shirt is not gonna help. i looked at hers and thought the same thing. i didn’t want her to have to go the rest of the run though with her eyes hurting so much.
and then, it appeared… a super white, like hotel white, just bleached towel was draped over the electric box (i think that’s what it is, one of those things that controls the traffic lights). we looked at it, there wasn’t a blemish on the thing. it was so random and so perfectly placed right where ashley needed it. i don’t know whose it was, it was just sitting there as if the Lord had put it there just for her.
YAHWEH Yirah. He shows Himself even in the small things. now if i could just get myself to a point where i’m always looking for it. i bet i’d see Him so much more :-)
I received an email the other day asking me what hair products I use. It was such a sweet email from a kind woman at work I barely know telling me she thinks my hair is pretty and always looks nice. I’ve never received something like that before. I happily emailed her the requested information and thanked her immensely for the compliment. To say I was flattered is an understatement!
You see, when I was younger my hair was the bane of my existence. And I am not exaggerating. I was made fun of from the time I was 10 years old to probably 15 for this hair of mine. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t try to tame this mane. All in all I think my hair has cost me more money than anything else in my life. And I promise it’s not because I am vain, I just wanted to look normal.
So you see the “irony” in someone telling me they think my hair is pretty? But I say “irony” in quotes like that because I was reminded of something by this silly little story. It’s just like our Father in Heaven to take that which is ugly to us and make it pretty to others (okay so the Scripture says take that which is intended for evil and use it for good, but give me a break here, you know what I’m getting at).
If you had told me when I was 13 years old and getting called horrific names that sent me home crying on a pretty consistent basis that one day someone would like my hair I would have stared at you in disbelief. But that really is what our God does isn’t it? He takes things that we think are impossible and He makes them possible. He makes beauty out of ashes. He takes the foolish things of this world to confound the wise.
Who knew hair could spark such appreciation for my Savior :-)
this short read is a VERY good read. it’s one of those books that has really challenged me to look at my walk with the Lord and ask: do i trust and believe in God because of what He can do for me OR because He is God, my Savior, my LORD?
“One of the signs that you may not grasp the unique, radical nature of the Gospel is that you are certain that you do.”
- Timothy Keller, Senior Pastor, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, NYC
this book flipped the parable of the prodigal son on its back and is really challenging me. thought i’d share :-)
because this is TRUE :-) AMEN!! this just might be my new theme song, although i never really had one before…ha!
Water You turned into wine
Opened the eyes of the blind
There’s no one like you
None like You
Into the darkness you shine
Out of the ashes we rise
There is no one like You
None like You
Our God is greater
Our God is stronger
God you are higher than any other
Our God is Healer
Awesome in power
Our God, Our God
and if our God is for us
then who could ever stop us
and if our God is with us
then what could stand against
i had to share this on here today. it’s my new favorite song. it’s not a new release, but it’s new to me and it is so appropriately titled for many reasons.
As I look into the stars
Pondering how far away they are
How You hold them in Your hands
And still You know this man
You know my inner most being, oh
Even better than I know, than I know myself
What a beautiful God
What a beautiful God
And what am I, that I might be called Your child
What am I, what am I
That You might know me, my King
What am I, what am I, what am I
As I look off into the distance
Watching the sun roll on by
Beautiful colors all around me, oh
Painted all over the sky
The same hands that created all of this
They created you and I
What a beautiful God
What a beautiful God
And what am I, that I might be called Your child
What am I, what am I
That You might know me, my King
What am I, what am I
That You might die, that I might live
What am I, what am I, what am I, what am I
What am I
What am I
What am I
What am I
What am I
- Shawn McDonald
John 15 1-11 (NASB)
1“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
2“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.
3“You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
4“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.
5“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
6“If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.
7“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
8“My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
9“Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.
10“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
11“These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
Choosing JOY this Monday because God’s Word is alive and TRUE. I sense the Lord pressing in me to simply abide in Him; to cease striving; to cease what I think is right in His eyes and to just BE. To just be in His presence, in His will; to remain in Him. There are so many things I can get caught up in―my service, the amount of time I spend studying my Bible, wondering if I’m grasping what God wants me to grasp, striving to hear from Him. And those things aren’t bad per say. But for now, for this very day, for this very week, I sense Him saying, just abide in me. Ask nothing, seek nothing. Just abide in Me, the One who created you, the One who loves you beyond reason, the One who will see My glory in you because I created you for that.
Finding JOY and receiving JOY today because His Word is alive and TRUE and He LOVES ME :-)
i love how God works. the same night friends of my donated their extra queen bed to me for my second bedroom, i got a voicemail from a friend who needed place to stay in june.
so, this made me happy this weekend:
why? because my fabulous friend heather will be sleeping in this room in my house for the next few weeks. hence the title house friend. she’s not really a house guest as she’s such a wonderful woman of faith and has been such a blessing to me. she’s not really a guest, she’s quite a bit more and i can’t wait for her to get here and enjoy some quality girl time–something we haven’t had in quite a few years.
truly praising God for the blessing of beautiful friendships :-)
last weekend peter and i were in NYC for my friend’s wedding and then headed to my parents’ house for the remainder of the weekend. more photos from the wedding to come, but thought i’d share this one of the girls from my school days (minus the bride who was busy taking pics with her groom and family). we took pics in central park, pretty stinkin’ cool!
some small town norman rockwell-esque photos. it’s such a cute little town :-)
my sis and her cute little fam :-)
