I'm having severe hip pain and heading to a sports medicine doctor in a
few minutes...and just struggling with my thoughts.
Today I was reading in Deut. 7:17-19, 21: "If you say in your heart,
'These nations are greater than I. How can I dispossess them?' you
shall not be afraid of them but you shall remember what the LORD your
God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which the Lord
your God brought you out. So will the LORD your God do to all the
peoples of whom you are afraid...for the LORD your God is in your midst,
a great and awesome God." I realized that these are some of the
feelings I have been having about my life, my diet, my art, my witness
and ministry, my hip, my circumstances...thinking that they are greater
than me, and greater than God.
That made me then think of 1 John 4:4: "Little children, you are from
God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who
is in the world."
He is greater! He is greater than my fear, my doubt, my foolish
thoughts, my pain, my understanding. This took me to Phil. 3:7-11: "But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed,
I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing
Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all
things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and
be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from
the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness
from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead."
May I KNOW Him, and the power of His resurrection.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Hymns
Hymns have been going through my mind lately. Halleluja, What A Savior! (aka Man of Sorrows) is one.
Man of Sorrows! what a name
For the Son of God, Who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Guilty, vile, and helpless we;
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
Full atonement can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Lifted up was He to die;
"It is finished!" was His cry;
Now in heaven exalted high.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring,
Then anew His song we'll sing:
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
How Great Thou Art has also been going through my mind lately.
Oh Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the works thy hand hath made,
I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed;
Refrain:
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
When through the woods and forest glades I wander
and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;
when I look down from lofty mountain grandeur,
and hear the brook, and feel he gentle breeze;
Refrain
And when I think that God his son not sparing,
Sent him to die - I scarce can take it in,
That on the cross my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin:
Refrain
When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation
And take me home- what joy shall fill my heart!
Then I shall bow in humble adoration
And there proclaim, my God, how great thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
And here are some unknown verses to ponder:
O when I see ungrateful man defiling
This bounteous earth, God's gifts so good and great;
In foolish pride, God's holy Name reviling,
And yet, in grace, His wrath and judgment wait.
When burdens press, and seem beyond endurance,
Bowed down with grief, to Him I lift my face;
And then in love He brings me sweet assurance:
'My child! for thee sufficient is my grace'.
Man of Sorrows! what a name
For the Son of God, Who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Guilty, vile, and helpless we;
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
Full atonement can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Lifted up was He to die;
"It is finished!" was His cry;
Now in heaven exalted high.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring,
Then anew His song we'll sing:
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
How Great Thou Art has also been going through my mind lately.
Oh Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the works thy hand hath made,
I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed;
Refrain:
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
When through the woods and forest glades I wander
and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;
when I look down from lofty mountain grandeur,
and hear the brook, and feel he gentle breeze;
Refrain
And when I think that God his son not sparing,
Sent him to die - I scarce can take it in,
That on the cross my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin:
Refrain
When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation
And take me home- what joy shall fill my heart!
Then I shall bow in humble adoration
And there proclaim, my God, how great thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
And here are some unknown verses to ponder:
O when I see ungrateful man defiling
This bounteous earth, God's gifts so good and great;
In foolish pride, God's holy Name reviling,
And yet, in grace, His wrath and judgment wait.
When burdens press, and seem beyond endurance,
Bowed down with grief, to Him I lift my face;
And then in love He brings me sweet assurance:
'My child! for thee sufficient is my grace'.
Friday, February 22, 2013
Cars...
Yesterday we counted how many cars/trucks Carl has owned in his life. The tally:
He won't even attempt to count motorcycles!!!
17!
Since we've been married: 15He won't even attempt to count motorcycles!!!
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Happy 7th Birthday to my little boy!
I can't believe that my youngest is 7! And I love my 3 girls so, so, so much, but I am also so very thankful for my little buddy. He's such fun, so loud, so ticklish, so sweet, and such a blessing from God!
I can't believe how little he was....and here he is, obsessed with Legos and such fun.
Lego party--fun with friends...
Fun dip...
Little soccer play and potential police officer.
Hanna had a Valentine's party with some friends :)
I can't believe how little he was....and here he is, obsessed with Legos and such fun.
Hanna had a Valentine's party with some friends :)
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Happy Valentine's Day!
We did an art project a la Jim Dine. I gave the kids card stock with the outline printed on it and this is what they came up with.
Trey
Lily
Hanna
Maggie
Trey
Monday, February 11, 2013
Good book
I just finished a great book, called The Air We Breathe by Christa Parrish. The things I like about this book is the complexity of the plot, the weakness and vulnerability and honesty of the characters, and the messiness of redemption. One quote I noted was when the one character feels the need to eat, not because of being hungry, "but for something to do to keep her from falling into the deep, deep moment between their words" (p. 188). The author crafts her story with gems like these to find and delight in as the reader turns them about--catching the gleam of meaning from different angles of understanding. "I have felt this way...even just yesterday," I found myself musing.
The one character is deeply wounded. We read, "She was scared. Her healing would come with a probing, painful cutting away. She could picture it in her mind, hear Christ's knife scraping the rot from the bone. Because that's where it was, in her bones, all sunk in and deep in the marrow. She would have to allow God in there if healing was to come. She would have to listen to Him say the word, watch Him snip away the sutures with which she had hastily, tightly, bound up the past. She'd need to peer into each one of those gaping wounds, put her finger into them, confront the, and let them close up in the long, slow way these types of hurts close" (p. 293-294). Again I had the thought of thinking that way just in the last day.
It makes me think of the song "In The Light" by DC Talk:
I keep trying to find a life
On my own, apart from you
I am the king of excuses
I've got one for every selfish thing I do
What's going on inside of me?
I despise my own behavior
This only serves to confirm my suspicions
That I'm still a man in need of a savior
I wanna be in the light
As you are in the light
I wanna shine like the stars in the heavens
Oh, lord be my light and be my salvation
Cause all I want is to be in the light
All I want is to be in the light
The disease of self runs through my blood
It's a cancer fatal to my soul
Every attempt on my behalf has failed
To bring this sickness under control
Tell me, what's going on inside of me?
I despise my own behavior
This only serves to confirm my suspicions
That I'm still a man in need of a savior
Honesty becomes me
[there's nothing left to lose]
The secrets that did run me
[in your presence are defused]
Pride has no position
[and riches have no worth]
The fame that once did cover me
[has been sentenced to this earth]
Has been sentenced to this earth
Tell me, what's going on inside of me?
I despise my own behavior
This only serves to confirm my suspicions
That I'm still a man in need of a savior
I am so thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, who has taken on the disease of sin for all mankind, and once-and-for-all replaced it with health and life everlasting in my soul.
The one character is deeply wounded. We read, "She was scared. Her healing would come with a probing, painful cutting away. She could picture it in her mind, hear Christ's knife scraping the rot from the bone. Because that's where it was, in her bones, all sunk in and deep in the marrow. She would have to allow God in there if healing was to come. She would have to listen to Him say the word, watch Him snip away the sutures with which she had hastily, tightly, bound up the past. She'd need to peer into each one of those gaping wounds, put her finger into them, confront the, and let them close up in the long, slow way these types of hurts close" (p. 293-294). Again I had the thought of thinking that way just in the last day.
It makes me think of the song "In The Light" by DC Talk:
I keep trying to find a life
On my own, apart from you
I am the king of excuses
I've got one for every selfish thing I do
What's going on inside of me?
I despise my own behavior
This only serves to confirm my suspicions
That I'm still a man in need of a savior
I wanna be in the light
As you are in the light
I wanna shine like the stars in the heavens
Oh, lord be my light and be my salvation
Cause all I want is to be in the light
All I want is to be in the light
The disease of self runs through my blood
It's a cancer fatal to my soul
Every attempt on my behalf has failed
To bring this sickness under control
Tell me, what's going on inside of me?
I despise my own behavior
This only serves to confirm my suspicions
That I'm still a man in need of a savior
Honesty becomes me
[there's nothing left to lose]
The secrets that did run me
[in your presence are defused]
Pride has no position
[and riches have no worth]
The fame that once did cover me
[has been sentenced to this earth]
Has been sentenced to this earth
Tell me, what's going on inside of me?
I despise my own behavior
This only serves to confirm my suspicions
That I'm still a man in need of a savior
I am so thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, who has taken on the disease of sin for all mankind, and once-and-for-all replaced it with health and life everlasting in my soul.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Bread from Heaven
But the Lord is faithful and continues to amaze me...
I've been thinking about manna lately. God can do ANYTHING. In Exodus 16 you can read about it. He provides this bread from Heaven for the children of Israel, coming down like frost. They just had to pick it up--free! And there was always just enough. If you took too much, it was just right. If you took too little, it was just right. The thing that really amazed me was how it went away. It either:
1. melted
2. got stinky and wormy (if you took too much and tried to save it a day)
3. stayed fine overnight for the Sabbath (one day a week they could gather double, and it didn't get stinky or wormy)
4. lasted 40 years + in the jar that Aaron was supposed to save to remind them of what God had done.
What a miracle! The same substance, and God does whatever He wants with it. Bread from Heaven.
Then think ahead to Jesus--who also made bread from Heaven. He took a few loaves in John 6 and tells the Jews:
I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” (John 6:48-51). Jesus is the ultimate bread that fills forever!
I've been thinking about manna lately. God can do ANYTHING. In Exodus 16 you can read about it. He provides this bread from Heaven for the children of Israel, coming down like frost. They just had to pick it up--free! And there was always just enough. If you took too much, it was just right. If you took too little, it was just right. The thing that really amazed me was how it went away. It either:
1. melted
2. got stinky and wormy (if you took too much and tried to save it a day)
3. stayed fine overnight for the Sabbath (one day a week they could gather double, and it didn't get stinky or wormy)
4. lasted 40 years + in the jar that Aaron was supposed to save to remind them of what God had done.
What a miracle! The same substance, and God does whatever He wants with it. Bread from Heaven.
Then think ahead to Jesus--who also made bread from Heaven. He took a few loaves in John 6 and tells the Jews:
I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” (John 6:48-51). Jesus is the ultimate bread that fills forever!
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