The Kingdom of God

O world invisible, we view thee,
O world intangible, we touch thee,
O world unknowable, we know thee,
Inapprehensible, we clutch thee!

Does the fish soar to find the ocean,
The eagle plunge to find the air--
That we ask of the stars in motion
If they have rumour of thee there?

Not where the wheeling systems darken,
And our benumbed conceiving soars!--
The drift of pinions, would we hearken,
Beats at our own clay-shuttered doors.

The angels keep their ancient places;--
Turn but a stone, and start a wing!
'Tis ye, 'tis your estranged faces,
That miss the many-splendoured thing.

But (when so sad thou canst not sadder)
Cry;--and upon thy so sore loss
Shall shine the traffic of Jacob's ladder
Pitched betwixt Heaven and Charing Cross.

Yea, in the night, my Soul, my daughter,
Cry,--clinging Heaven by the hems;
And lo, Christ walking on the water
Not of Gennesareth, but Thames!

- Francis Thompson

God finds us where we are.

(Genesis 32:24-28; Matthew 14:25-29)

Searcher of Spirits

Searcher of spirits,

Try Thou my reins and heart;

Cleanse Thou my inwards part -

Turn, overturn, and turn.

Wood, hay and stubble see

Now spread out before Thee;

Burn, burn.

Worker in gardens,

Dig around my hidden root,

Let branch, leaf, bud and fruit

Respond in quickening life.

Seek out the canker there -

Cut out and do not spare

Thy knife.

Savior of sinners,

Out of the depths I cry,

"Perfect me or I die -

Perfect me, O Patient One";

In Thy revealing light

I stand confessed - outright

Undone.

O to be Holy!

Thou wilt not say to me nay

Who movest me to pray;

"Enable to endure."

Spiritual cleansing Fire,

Fulfill my heart's desire;

Make pure.

- Amy Carmichael

Seek the LORD

"Seek the LORD while he may be found; Call upon him while he is near." Isaiah 55:6

My current Bible study in the book of Isaiah has now landed me in the 54th and 55th chapters of Isaiah. These chapters are full of beautiful words which paint soul-shattering promises of God's everlasting LOVE.

The question on my study of this verse asked: "How does one seek and call on the Lord?"

I didn't really like this question - perhaps it is too simple sounding, too direct. The first one-word answer that popped into my head was, "Prayer." But that is too easy. There must be more to the answer. I thought of the verses about salvation found in Romans 10:

"For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved...For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Romans 10:10, 13

But I realized that these verses, do not answer the question. They only expound of the need of man to call upon God for salvation.

So how does one call upon God?

I thought that maybe the answer would be in the word. Maybe God made it clear what He meant in the word He used. So I looked up the Hebrew word used in this Isaiah passage for "Call."

And I was amazed.

In this world and age of technology and instant communication, the English word "call" does not carry much weight. The casual use of cellphones, laptops, Ipods and pagers doesn't leave much room to the imagination. But this Hebrew word fills in the gaps. The literal meaning is something in the sense of "accosting someone." To follow, pursue...frantically, loudly, desperately.

My mind went instantly to the story of the blind beggar found in Luke 18:35-43.

This beggar called upon Jesus from the dusty, dirty alley in which he sat - inhabiting every sense of the Hebrew word found in Isaiah 55:6.

He called out to Jesus while He was near and passing by...this beggar who was overcome with a debilitating condition. All of his life he had felt the warmth of sunshine, and never seen the brilliance of it's light. He had heard voices, angry and annoyed, but never seen the smile of a stranger. He was hopeless...helpless. Yet, here was One who could help him. One whose fame he had heard of.

And he had one chance.

Creating a din, this man did everything he could to get Jesus' attention. All around him, crowds of people tried to silence him - rebuking him for his annoyance and his disrespect. But not caring what others thought or felt or said, this man screamed and yelled and called for Jesus. He accosted him, knowing he may never find this Man again, if he did not get His attention now. For here was help and salvation and healing. He could not let it pass him by.

And Jesus stopped.

He did meet this man's need.

He brought healing and help and salvation.

And sunshine and a smile.

Because that's what He wants to do. He wants us to need Him desperately - to realize that we have a need that only He can meet - a disease only He can heal. And He knows when we realize that...nothing in hell or earth can stop us from seeking Him...calling to Him. To throw ourselves at His feet in rest and worship.

Even apart from salvation, He still wants to meet those needs. Those everyday battles that rip and gnaw and wound. That threaten with encroaching darkness and blindness. To shut out sunshine and joy. But He is here. To carry those sorrows He has already carried and our oppression for which He was already afflicted. He wants us to know what He means to carry a light, easy burden. To live the abundant life He suffered for.

And He is there. Passing by...

Accost Him.

"For a brief moments I deserted you, but with GREAT COMPASSION I will gather you. In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with EVERLASTING LOVE I will have COMPASSION ON YOU," says the LORD, your REDEEMER.

Isaiah 54:7-8

The Gift

"Let them thank the LORD for His steadfast LOVE, for His wondrous works to the children of man!

For He SATISFIES the longing soul, and the longing soul He fills with GOOD THINGS."

Psalm 107:8-9

"For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the GIFT of God, which is in you through the laying on of hands, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of POWER and LOVE and self-control."

II Timothy 1:6-7

"Every GOOD GIFT and every PERFECT GIFT is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."

James 1:17

"More than that we REJOICE in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces PATIENCE, and PATIENCE produces character, and character produces HOPE, and HOPE does not put us to shame, because the LOVE of God has been poured into our hearts through the HOLY SPIRIT who has been GIVEN TO US."

Romans 5:3-5

"Truly, truly I say to you, you will weep and lament but the world will REJOICE. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into JOY. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour is come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will REJOICE, and no one will take your JOY from you. In that day, you will ask nothing of Me. Truly, truly I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in My Name, He will give it to you. Until now, you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your JOY may be full."

John 16:20-24

The New Covenant

"Behold, the days are coming", declares the LORD, "when I will make a NEW COVENANT with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with her fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they BROKE, though I was their husband," declares the LORD. "But this is the COVENANT I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD: "I will put my law WITHIN them, and I will write it on their HEARTS. And I will be their GOD and they will be MY PEOPLE....For I will FORGIVE their iniquity, and I will remember their sins NO MORE."

Jeremiah 31:31-34b

"And they will say, 'This land that was desolate has become like a GARDEN OF EDEN, and the waste, and desolate, and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.' Then the nations that are left all around you shall know that I AM LORD; I have REBUILT the ruined places and REPLANTED that which was desolate. I AM THE LORD; I have spoken and I WILL DO IT."

Ezekiel 36:35-36

And likewise the cup after they has eaten, saying, "This cup that is POURED OUT for YOU is the

NEW COVENANT IN MY BLOOD."

Luke 22:20

"Such is the confidence that we have THROUGH CHRIST towards GOD. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim ANYTHING as coming from us, but our SUFFICIENCY is from GOD, who made us competent to be ministers of the NEW COVENANT, not of the letter, but of the SPIRIT. For the letter KILLS, but the SPIRIT GIVES LIFE."

II Corinthians 3:4-6

"But as it is, Christ, has obtained a ministry that is much more EXCELLENT than the OLD COVENANT as the COVENANT HE MEDIATES is BETTER..."

Hebrews 8:6

In Christ Alone

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless Babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live, I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin?s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From a life?s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Could ever pluck me from His hand
?Til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I stand

I will stand, I will stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground, all other ground
Is sinking sand, is sinking sand
So I stand

The Alabaster Box

I love this song.

Luke 7:36-50

La Mer

La mer
Qu'on voit danser le long des golfes clairs
A des reflets d'argent
La mer
Des reflets changeants
Sous la pluie

La mer
Au ciel d'ete confond
Ses blancs moutons
Avec les anges si purs
La mer bergere d'azur
Infinie

Voyez
Pres des etangs
Ces grands roseaux mouilles
Voyez
Ces oiseaux blancs
Et ces maisons rouillees

La mer
Les a berces
Le long des golfes clairs
Et d'une chanson d'amour
La mer
A berce mon coeur pour la vie

- Charles Trenet

Spring

I look at the muddy, brown, gray, dead, landscape around me and am tempted to think of the symbolism it gives me about state of my heart.

And then I am reminded of all of the life teeming beneath the surface of this world around me...the magic and mystery of spring. When water and sunlight collide and life emerges from a seemingly dead land.

"O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in your sanctuary, beholding your POWER and GLORY. Because your steadfast LOVE is better than life, my lips will praise you. So will I bless your name as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands." Psalm 63:1-4

Spring gives HOPE. The coming of spring after a long, hard winter is a classic illustrative metaphor. But sometimes our hearts need springtime too. Our hearts need HOPE.

"Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the ROCK that is higher than I, for you have been a refuge, a strong tower  against the enemy." Psalm 61:1-2

Hope is life. But this week, I was reminded of the fragility of life. Our hope is not here, but in eternal life. In our Isaiah Bible Study about God, we are learning about the MIGHT, POWER and SOVEREIGNTY of God. His absolute control of history and individual lives. In this week's study there was a question that stood out, "When is it acceptable to question God?" The appropriate and Biblical answer to that would be, "Never." But in my heart I wanted to write, "When there is the death of an innocent child." Because that's what our family has been unwilling witnesses to this week - the death of an innocent child. A tragic accident...ten minutes alone...the what ifs and maybes and the desire to go back and change the past. The intense emotions, the prayers, tears...we have participated in these as Believers in the Body of Christ should...but by the grace of Christ, it hasn't been us at the hospital all week receiving bad news from surgeons; it's not our pain or our tragedy.

Why?

New believers are like tender plants in spring time. Too much frost, too much sun, too much water, too much wind...all these can kill a small plant. And in spiritual warfare, when you are grappling with cold, hard realities like death, and wrestling with questions such as, "Why would you take my son?", it is like huge blasts of icy wind that can kill infant faith.

Or it can make you stronger.

Sometimes "old" Christians, can feel young. Not new or fresh...but weary, tender, vulnerable, weak...I look at another's pain and I wonder, "Why not me...US?" And I look at the state of my heart - my worries, my desires, my complaints, my wants...me, me, me, my, my, my...and am overwhelmed with acid disgust at my selfishness. My self-centeredness. My sins. My...my...my...

Your Righteouness.

Like light behind a cloud, I am reminded of something bigger then myself...stronger...more glorious...more agonizing...more passionate. And like the hot rays of the sun the TRUTH bursts forth in a song more ancient than Time, more fulfilling then LOVE or ANSWERS...

"I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like a mist; RETURN to me, for I HAVE REDEEMED YOU. SING, O Heavens, for the LORD has done it; SHOUT, O depths of the earth; break forth into SINGING, O mountains, O forest, and every tree in it! For the LORD has REDEEMED Jacob, and will be GLORIFIED in Israel." Isaiah 44:22-23

"HE has REDEEMED my soul from going down into the pit, and my life shall look upon the LIGHT." Job 33:28

"Break forth together into SINGING, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted His people; he has REDEEMED Jerusalem." Isaiah 52:9

"Christ REDEEMED US, from the curse of the LAW..." Galatians 3:13

Death and life...winter and spring...this earth is a cycle. There is no end to suffering, sickness, death, depression, riots, lies, selfishness, idolatry, bloodshed, murder, ignorance, war, destruction...the list goes on and on...It is the universe we live in. Marred by sin. Eating away, trying to destroy us, destroy who we are and Who we stand in.

But we are not of this world.

We are not part of this cycle of death and sin...though it affects us deeply, painfully.

We are of Another Kingdom.

We have been given HOPE, the eternal Springtime of the heart. Through His life in us we have ABUNDANT LIFE, HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, STEADFAST LOVE, HIS GLORIOUS LIGHT...all these things we walk in, bending low perhaps in the force of spiritual winds and battles, but not breaking. Not always getting our answers, or the answers we want - but confident in this very thing...He who began the GOOD WORK in us, WILL FINISH IT.

March on...march on. Singing as we go...

"THE LORD HAS REDEEMED US."

My Jesus, I Love Thee

My Jesus I love Thee
I know Thou art mine
For Thee all the pleasures of sin I resign
My gracious Redeemer
My Savior art thou
If ever I love Thee
If ever I love Thee
If ever I love Thee, my Jesus ‘tis now

I love Thee because Thou hast first loved me
And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on your brow
If ever I love Thee
If ever I love Thee
If ever I love Thee, my Jesus 'tis now.

I love Thee in life
I will love Thee in death
And praise Thee as long as Thou lendeth me breath
Oh, I will sing when the death dew lies cold on my brow
If ever I love Thee
If ever I love Thee
If ever I love Thee, my Jesus ‘tis now.

Saint Louis-du-Nord, Haiti, 2007

The first time I went to Haiti, in November of 2007, I didn't have a blog to share all of my pictures. Ironically, it is the one trip I have been on where I have taken the most pictures. So, I waded through all 700+ pictures and it brought back a flood of memories...

Haiti from the sky...Gonaives to be exact.

On the streets of Port-de-Paix

Be still my beating heart...Fafa and Gail

The morning crowd

Souri!!

Is it me, or is there some attitude in this picture? :)

My evening lessons in Haitian card games

My first Creole lesson

The streets of Saint Louis

I don't have any words for this picture..

In the school...

Berger, Haiti...the most beautiful place on earth

Photo op!

I remember her...her name is Bel...doesn't she live up to her name?

Hmm...if there is a way to manuver the big truck through this mudhole, Jakob will figure it out...and he did.

Poor baby

What can I say...I attract a crowd!

Market day

Crossing the river on the way to Roch Rond...and may I add that I never participated in the whole "line crossing"...it seemed to me if one went down, everyone went down.

Ayiti bel

This gentleman asked me to take a picture of his chickens. So I did. At least that's what my translator said that he said...

Rex in the dental clinic

Don and Company

Awww...Marie and Baba

Sprite!

The last night

Tortuga

Map vini, Ayiti

Valentine's Day

They say February is the month of Love. That is because February 14th, is Valentine's Day.

Generally, I hate Valentine's Day.

It's not my intention to always be detrimental - I know I display many dissenting opinions on my blog, and I try to have some reserve, despite how harder it it becoming to ignore the decay of American society. So given that most single people hate Valentine's Day, I should rephrase my opinion and say that I hate what Valentine's Day has become.

Valentine's Day is another one of those holidays, like Christmas and Easter, that has completely lost it's true meaning behind all of the commercialism. There are many people who don't know the true Christian meanings to Christmas and Easter, but many Christians aren't even aware of the Christian roots to Valentine's Day. Many think it is a day in celebration of love, while in fact it is become more like a day to guilt you into buying a gift for the one you love. But neither of these meanings are true. While the truth of Christmas and Easter have slowly decayed over time, the facts behind Saint Valentine's Day has been warped from almost the very beginning.

Early Christianity thrived in the pagan atmosphere of the Roman Empire. The very acts of persecution and
denigration meant to hinder the spread of Christianity, only served to encourage the spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as the blood of the martyrs watered the seeds that their Christlikeness planted in the hearts of their persecutors. And so the Church flourished...

The month of February is the second month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calenders. It is named after the Latin term, februum, meaning purification, via the cleansing ritual of Februa, held on February 15, which acknowledged the coming of Spring. Februa is one of the several Roman festivals and rites that were held in the month of February. 

Valentine, (Valentinus) was a real man, who lived during this significant period of time for the Church, during the reign of Claudias II. History and tradition has blurred a little of the reality, and many historians believe that the traditional figure of Saint Valentine, revered by the Catholic Church, is a combination of several martyrs by that name. The most common belief is that Valentinus was a Christian priest, who secretly married Christian couples, who were forbidden to marry by law, in an effort to stop the advancement of Christianity. When he was caught, he was thrown in prison and tortured. He continued to share his love with those in his care, by sending letters to his brothers and sisters on Christ from prison. Another tradition says, that while in prison he fell in love with a young girl, who visited him in prison. She was the daughter of the jailer, and suffered from complete blindness. Supposedly, God enabled Valentinus to miraculously heal her, before his execution. His farewell letter to her was signed, "From Your Valentine". He was beheaded February 14th, either 269 A.D. or 270 A.D
Not very happy, true. Associating the day of Valentine's death, with a holiday celebrating Love and Marriage is really Geoffrey Chaucer's fault, using the legend of Saint Valentine combined with the original pagan holiday of spring to produce some Romantic/Christian/Pagan celebration in his writings. Very little people realize that February 14th, is more of a solemn remembrance to the martyrdom of a Christian saint, then a time to share flowers and jewelry and  chocolates with the one you love. None but Christ Himself, may ever know who the true Valentine was, and what he did and how he suffered. But it must have been great, if he is still so memorialized.

When I think of these things, and the true meaning and history of Valentine's Day, it is very sobering. But that doesn't mean that it is not cause for a celebration of some kind. Saint Valentine, whoever he truly was, showed True Love in his actions, his life and his death. It takes that perfect Love, that casts out fear, to die for your Christ. To bear all things, believe all things, hope all things and endure all things. (I Corinthians 13) The best, most beautiful, all-encompassing description of LOVE is given by Thomas a Kempis (1380-1471 A.D) in his book, "The Imitation of Christ." I read it and was prostrate. While Valentine's Day has become all about the gifts, instead of the gift of LOVE itself, Thomas admonishes us, "A wise lover regards not so much the gift of Him who loves, as the LOVE of Him who gives. He esteems affection rather than value and sets all gifts below the Beloved."

Remember the gift of TRUE LOVE...not just February 14th, but every day of the year.

"Love is a great thing, yea, altogether a great good; it makes light everything that is heavy, and it carries unevenly all that is uneven. For it carries a burden which is no burden (Matthew 11:30), and makes every bitter thing sweet and tasteful. The noble love of Jesus drives a man to do great things, and stirs him to always long for what is more perfect. Love wills to be on high, and not to be kept back by anything low or mean. Love wills to be free, and estranged from all worldly affection...

Nothing is sweeter than Love, nothing stronger, nothing higher, nothing wider, nothing more pleasant, nothing fuller or better in Heaven and earth; because Love is born of God (I John 4:7) and cannot rest but in God, above all created things. A lover flies, runs and rejoices; he is free and not bound. He gives all for all, and has all in all; because he rests in One highest above all things, from whom all that is good flows. He respects not the gifts, but turns himself above all goods unto the Giver.

Love oftentimes knows no measure, but is fervent beyond all measure. Love feels no measure, thinks nothing of labors, attempts what is above it's strength, pleads no excuse of impossibility; for it thinks all things are possible for itself and all things lawful. It is strong for all things, and it completes many things, and brings them to effect, where he does not Love faints and lies down. Love is watchful, and sleeping, slumbers not. Though wearied, it is not tired; though pressed, it is not straightened; though alarmed, it is not confounded; but as a lively flame and burning torch, it forces its way upward and securely passes through all. If any man Love, he knows what is the cry of this voice. For it is a loud cry in the ears of God, the ardent affection of the soul...

Love is swift, sincere, kindly affectioned, pleasant and delightful; brave, patient, faithful, prudent, longsuffering, manly and never seeking itself. (I Corinthians 13:5) For where a person seeks himself, he falls from Love. (I Corinthians 10:33; Philippians 2:21). Love is circumspect. humble, and upright; not yielding to softness, or to lightness, not attending to vain things. It is sober, chaste, firm quiet...

Enlarge me in LOVE, that in the inward palate of my heart I may learn to taste how sweet it is to LOVE, and in LOVE be dissolved and to bathe myself. Let me be bound by LOVE...let me sing the song of LOVE; let me follow Thee, my Beloved, on High..."

-Thomas a Kempis

Of Herbs and Flowers

"Light is sweet and it is pleasant for the eyes to behold the sun." Ecclesiastes 11:7

It is the coldest day of this winter so far. The air is as sharp as a knife. It is -1degrees F this morning. I think it has warmed up to 5 degrees F. It is supposed to be 19 degrees F today. But at least the sun is shining! Next week it is going into the 40s and it will just keep going up!

I can't wait for spring. For green, living things... I've never been big on gardening, even though I've always had good intentions. My mom's gardening enthusiasm influences me in February and March, but wears off when I actually start weeding...But this year I'm going to buy some herbs and flowers and plant a garden. Definitely some Gerber Daisies...I love Gerber Daisies

 ...ain't they pretty?


I used to be an Herb Enthusiast. I had a book all about herbs and herbal gardening and practically had it memorized. I wanted to become a crazy old lady with acres and acres of herb gardens and cures for every illness. Maybe I'll be a crazy young lady and still do that...The truth is, herbal healing, if you take away the ties with Eastern mysticism and hippies, is still better then conventional medicine. I was reminded of  this last week when I was sick with a cold.

I was feeling miserable, and the cold medicine wasn't working anymore. I read that it isn't good to take cold medicine long-term. Not only do you risk overdosing, but your body overreacts negatively to decongestants, by producing even more mucus. Lovely. So, in a last measure attempt, I brewed a very strong tea of peppermint and dried chamomile and yarrow, which I had dried myself two years before. I drank about a pint of that hot tea, and crammed vitamin C and garlic supplements down my mouth. That night I slept better then I did on when on cold medicine. The next morning I knew I was getting better. I took more Vitamin C and garlic supplements. One day later my sore throat was gone and my headache was gone and now I'm all better. My only regret is that I always forget about herbal medicine, and I should have taken it earlier in my cold, before I felt so bad.

The U. S. National Library of Medicine has listed over 100 ailments and conditions that chamomile is able to treat, including the common cold. Peppermint has a long, glittering history spanning thousands of years of medicinal use. Yarrow is a humble, hardy little plant that not many people have heard of, but has also been around for hundreds of years. It intensifies the medicinal uses of other herbs when combined with them, and also serves as a tonic, anti-allergic, and circulatory treatment. Garlic is naturally antibiotic and anti-viral and is used traditionally to treat coughs, and infections. And of course, Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant and immune-booster, necessary for good health.

I was amazed at the power of the herbal medicine I took and how very, very quickly it took effect. That's why I want to grow more herbs. I recognize the need that some conventional medications are needed and cannot be replaced. (Like...ibuprofen.) But there is something appealing in the freedom of being able to treat your sicknesses without running off to the doctor, or popping pills that are designed to treat more symptoms then you have. Good health, preventative supplements, and smart medicine are the best treatments for illnesses. And sunshine. I hope to continue learning more and more about herbal medicine and to continue using it for the rest of my life.

Just a little, random lesson.

"And the Lord will guide you continually
and satisfy your desire in scorched places
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail."

Isaiah 58:11

Comfort

"Blessed is the man who trust in the LORD, whose trust is in the LORD. He is like a tree planted by rivers of water, that sends out it's roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for it's leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit."

Jeremiah 17:7-8

"Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage...multiply and do not decrease...For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a FUTURE and a HOPE. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with ALL your HEART."

Jeremiah 29:5-6, 11-13

"Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a NEW covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah...I will put my law within them, and I will write in on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people...For I will forgive there iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

Jeremiah 31:31, 33, 34

"And I will give them ONE HEART, and a NEW SPIRIT I will put in them. I will remove the HEART of stone from their flesh, and give them a HEART of FLESH."

Ezekiel 11:19

Shabby Apple

This website makes me covet horribly - I just sit and gaze at the computer screen and drool a little bit. I think if I dressed this way every day I would automatically become more feminine. See - these are some simple dresses that wouldn't look too out of place in a BBQ restaurant...I mean, if I just threw an apron on them...and left off some jewelry. But not the heels...heels are absolutely necessary for femininity. I love showing off my femininity in this man cave. Until I look in the mirror...

Right?

*sigh*

I think if I was rich I would buy and wear almost every dress from Shabby Apple...hickory smoke and everything.

No, wait! Oh, yeah...if I was rich I would build a ridiculously huge orphanage in Haiti.

Oh, well.

Thoughts from a long Saturday afternoon....

"And God is able to make ALL grace abound to you, so that having ALL contentment, in ALL things at ALL times, you may abound in every good work." II Corinthians 9:8



Proverbs

Remember that little book of quotes and proverbs that I mentioned in this post? Well, I dug it up yesterday, and besides the difficulty of deciphering my own handwriting, I was reminded why I loved collecting quotes so much! I love the power of words, and how a simple turn of a phrase can carry so much weight. Here are some favorites:

"Patience is a bitter plant that has a sweet fruit." - German Proverb

"Truth exists; only lies are invented." - George Baroque

"Love looks with the mind, and not with the eyes." - from 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' by William Shakespeare

"He gives too late, who waits to be asked." - Latin Proverb

"The measure of a man's character is what he would do, if he knew he would never be found out." - Baron Thomas Babington Maucaly

"Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I may look up, see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they live." - Louisa May Alcott

"The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith; and the beginning of faith is the end of anxiety." - George Muller

"Beware of despairing about yourself! You are commanded to put your trust in God, not yourself!" - St. Augustine

"The influence of a good mother is worth more then a thousand school masters." - George Herbert

"Satan trembles when he sees
The weakest Saint upon his knees." - Unknown

"As unto the bow, the cord is,
So unto man is woman;
Though she bends him, she obeys him;
Though she draws him; yet she follows;
Useless each without the other."
 - from 'The Song of Hiawatha' by H.W. Longfellow

"The greatest cross, is self." - Unknown

"Delays are not denials." - Dr. Wayland Hoyt

"The true measure of loving is to love without measure." - St. Bernard

"Life is a long lesson in Humility." - James Barrie

"A woman is not born a woman. Nor does she become a woman when she marries a man, bears a child and does their dirty laundry; not even when she joins a woman's liberation movement. A woman becomes a woman when she becomes who God wants her to be." - Kenneth G. Smith

"Do great things for God; attempt great things for God." - William Carey, missionary

"I have seen in the morning sun the smoke of a thousand villages where no missionary has ever been." - Robert Moffet, missionary

"I do not regret leaving home and friends. If I had to do it over, I would do it with more pleasure - yes, with all my heart!" - Mrs. Mary Robert Paton, missionary martyr

"The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears." - John Cheney

"A friend knows the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails." - Donna Roberts

"The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears or the ocean." - Isak Dinesen

"We have a God who delights in impossibilities and who asks, 'Is anything too hard for Me?'" - Andrew Murray

Yes, that's "a few" of my favorites. I really need to keep collecting them...I still have a lot of empty pages left in my book... :)

My Heart Leaps Up!

After taking stock of all the good and bad things in my life and trying to write them all down on this blog - I just keep remembering more and more I could add - (Sitting on my favorite pair of sunglasses: not cool!). But adding and re-editing my blog to make room for more complaints is kind of...tacky. I know it's better to have more reserve. But adding a wonderful thing I remembered is fine, right?
I'm starting to get a little sick of winter. So is everyone around me. I'm tired of waking up everyday to a stale, glowing, gray sky and a muddy, dirty, snow-covered landscape as far as the eye can see, not to mention the cold. I'm doing my absolute best, but I'm starting to feel a little, SAD. But, coming home from work last week with my sister, I looked up over the stark, skeletal trees of the forest, and saw a rainbow glowing in the pearly gray sky. It was faint, but it was a burst of color and so beautiful. I have never, ever seen a rainbow in the winter.

It was a gift.



My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky.
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.

- William Wordworth

Happy Tuesday night!

Cool...and not Cool

OK - sometimes you have cool things....and not so cool things happen. Kinda like this idea. But you live with it...right?

Not Cool:

- Snow/Ice/Freezing rain/Freezing wind
- Sneezing every time  I put on mascara. Not kidding.
- Staying up waaaaay too late because you were talking to your friend on the phone for three hours.
- Having a black guy ask me, "Hey girl! How'd you put on so much weight in Haiti?" Uh....I didn't...I lost weight, Taurus!
-My bangs. Which desperately need to be trimmed - actually my whole head of hair, really needs to be cut.
- Speaking of my hair - it's not cool to keep getting a bad rap from my family for getting it everywhere. Actually, it's not cool that it gets everywhere...I can't help having thick, beautiful hair! I hope my husband appreciates my hair, because it will be all over the shower and sheets
- Memorizing my scripts lines for the play I'm in
- Studying for my General Physchology test
- Accounting. But I finished those receipts without any mistakes!
- Kacie Davis won't update her blog
- This movie....
- Not seeing my sissy much because of school...

Cool:

- Spending Friday evening playing with my little sister's hair while she read me a story...she loves reading stories.
-Spending Saturday evening listening to my little brother's dreams of playing football one day.
- BSF tonight!! I missed Bible Study Fellowship while it was off for Christmas, but the past two weeks have been awesome!
- Buying a book I really wanted off of Amazon for $2.99!!
- Our new church and the wonderful people in it. Thank You, God for answering our prayers!!
- Play practice!! I get to be in a play! I'm so happy! (Except for the memorizing part...)
- Studying for my General Physchology test. (Yes, it's cool and not cool) ;)
- Our new dining room
- Spanish guitar music
- This WONDERFUL bit of news...After all my ranting and raving on politics and patriotism I now see some definite volunteer campaigning in my future...
- Jesus

<3

"Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in LOVE for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in HOLINESS before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints...REJOICE always; PRAY without ceasing, GIVE THANKS in ALL circumstances; for this is the WILL of God in Christ Jesus concerning you!."

I Thessalonions 3:11; 5:16-18

Happy Monday!

The Edge of Vengeful Sanity

My sister is learning Scriabin's Etude Opus 8, Number 12 in D sharp minor.

I love it.

She has wanted to learn it for years. As she was practicing it very slowly, hands separate the other day, it was difficult to recognize. I told her whatever she was playing was mournful and was making me sad. She said it was supposed to be faster - at which pace it was still mournful, but less sad. More tainted with - revenge! As one person described it on YouTube: "If there is one piece that would represent the agony of a man on the verge of sanity, this would most likely be the piece..." So, my lovelies, if you like feeling as though you are tottering on the edge of vengeful sanity in a blindingly white snowstorm, then without much further ado, is Vladimir Horowitz playing Scriabin's Etude in D sharp minor:

Pleasure Forevermore

"Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the LORD,

'You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.'

As for the saints in the land, they are excellent ones,

In whom is all my delight.

The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply;

their drink offerings of blood I shall not pour out

Or take their names upon my lips.

The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup;

You hold my lot.

The lines are fallen for me in pleasant places;

Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

I bless the LORD, who gives me counsel;

In the night also my heart instructs me.

I have set the LORD always before me;

Because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad,

And my whole being rejoices;

My flesh also dwells secure.

For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,

Or let your Holy One see corruption.

You make known to me the paths of Life;

In Your presence there is fullness of JOY;

At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore!"

- Psalm 16, ESV