Stop what you're doing...

...and give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.

I love the honesty. It makes me smile.

Yesterday with my Bible study kids, we all wrote encouragement notes for each person that comes to the study. Here are a few highlights:

"I like how you're good at sports."

"I like how you're good at sports."

"I like how you're good at sports."

"I like how you're good at sports."

"I like how you're good at sports."

"I like how you're good at gymnastics."

"I like how you're good at sports."

"Your tattoos are different."

"You're funny and weird. In a good way."

"You're short. I like it."

"I like how you're hair color changes every week we get together." (Can you guess who that one was about??)

God of wrath.

In the fourth chapter of John, a tired Jesus sits down to rest at a well, asking a Samaritan woman if she will give him water to drink. When she asks how he, a Jew, could ask her for a drink, he responds to her: if you knew the gift of God...if you knew who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked for living water, and recieved it.

If you knew who it is that you are speaking to.

Do you know this Man? Do you really know who He is?
I feel the following song gives a glimpse of our mighty Lord. I pray you will think over these words for the days to come, and that God will make himself real and obvious to you.

God of wrath
God of love
God of Earth
And God above
God of hope
God of peace
God of you
And God of me

God of day
God of night
God the just
And God the light
God of the strong
God of the weak
God of you
And God of me

My love for You
My heart for You
My life for You
All I am for You

Blood through my veins for You
I give my world to You
All I am and all I haveI lay it down for You
Dancing 'round with You
Spinning 'round with You
Laughing loud with You
My love

You are so much more than I can even imagine.

I underestimate You, Your power, Your love, Your mercy and grace, Your goodness---You're power, You're love, You're mercy and grace, You're goodness, and I am sorry.

Some things to pray about...

Please pray for the friend I earlier mentioned, the one who has become "re-introduced" to God.
A couple my own requests for him:
...pray that his heart would be softened daily.
...that he would seize the opportunity to continue going to Adore, and possibly join me at church on Sunday, so that he could become well rooted, and receive the gospel with joy.
...that he would not rely just on the feeling of his last time at church.
...that he wouldn't think he deserves to live like this.
...for him to find, accept, and live for Christ.
...that he could grow into the man of God that I know he could be. A man who really loves people, with compassion, and empathy, grace, and mercy.
...for him to become willing to share about his heart. I see so much of myself in him, and it scares me. I know bottling things up is bad news. Also, I want to hear about his life. I'm sure I can't even imagine the ways God will continue to be glorified, as I learn more about this boy.
...that people around him can show the REAL Jesus.

One of my other friends, I am terrified for. And he's scared too.
He's been struggling with self-injury, and suicidal thoughts, and more new thoughts have him terrified for the future.
Please pray for things such as:
...a knowledge deep in his heart that he is worth love.
...good health.
...an unshakeable faith in our God. That He is good, and faithful, and will not leave him.
...an ability to let go of bitterness and resentment.
...his awesome gift of being such a good friend to continue to grow.
...a quietness over his heart.


Pray with authority, and expectation.

Falling in love

You know that feeling when you really like a boy?

You get butterflies in your stomach when you hear from him. You look for things you can do to bring joy to his heart. How you are frequently thinking of him, and it distracts you from what you're doing.

You know what I'm talking about.



I want to fall in LOVE with God. I want that feeling, when I'm consiously spending time with Him, of just being smitten. But at the same time, being able to say when I'm not happy with Him. I want to go out of my way to do things for Him. I want to have Him on my mind, distracting me from this world, and being fixed on His.



I'm falling in love, Lord, and this time it's with You.

ARTURO ELBITTAR IS COMING TO CAMP THIS SUMMER!!!!

I am so excited, I actually started to cry when I found out. Yes, I'm such a girl. I don't care. I AM a girl, so I will embrace my girlyness, and that I cry when I find out something that makes me really happy (and secretly, during Homeward Bound - basically the entire movie...when Sassy falls down the waterfall...when the three animals are reunited...when Chance gets scared at the pound and then they rescue a lost little girl...when Shadow falls at the train tracks...when they finally make it home. Yes, I am seventeen. Don't pretend you don't get teary when that dog is lying in the mud, you do. And if you say you don't, you're full of it. Just kidding! ...I'm a wuss.)
Back to what I was excited about:

Arturo is actually coming to camp, my little, wonderful brother is coming to Canada!! Oh, I miss him so.

LET THE COUNT DOWN BEGIN!!!

I long for this kind of faith.

Have you ever really thought about how dependant nature is on God?
Like really faithful. They depend solely on things only God can provide.
Not on anything else.
I want this. I want to be like the lilies and the sparrows.

I came across these words in reading yesterday, and they better articulate how I want to live, and trust God. They are my prayer. So here they are:
"If we had enough faith to depend on God like the lilies and the sparrows do, we would see miracles. For is it not a miracle that the birds find enough worms each day?"

How do I forget?

Tonight I went to Adore with a gaggle of friends.
One boy came who, to the best of my knowledge, was quite against Christianity. (If he wasn't, my apologies. But he certainly was not loving on Jesus.) Well, he decided to accept the invitation, for reasons beyond what I can grasp. I was pretty darn excited. Hopping about, like I do when I'm excited.

When the worship started, I grabbed a friend of mine, and just asked her to pray with me for that boy. So we sat there, and asked God to make Himself clear, to fill the room with an overwhelming love. To make the evening speak right to him, and not weird him out...and so on. Then it was time for the "mingle and grab a free coffee" portion of the evening, in which this unbelieving boy turned to one of my friends and said "I think I should come to church more often."

Amazing right?! I'm not even close to done.

So, we continued to sing, and listen to the message, and then Andy (the youth pastor) told us that the night was going to run a little differently. He was setting aside time for us to meet with God. To pray, and to pray for one another. He gave us the option to leave, or if we wanted, we could stay.

I looked back, with amazement, as this boy stayed seated.

And I sat, and prayed, for him, and for another friend of mine (but that's a whole nother story.) I turned around to see him talking with my friend Daniel, and I could tell it was good. Really good. It sounds weird, but I could feel God's goodness radiating from them; I could feel his warmth and it made me smile, filled with joy.

I didn't get out of the church until 10:45, wowie! Late night!
Anyway, I came home, and asked this wonderful boy what he had thought of the whole night. Do you know what he said? He said it was amazing. Unlike anything he'd ever felt. I offered to listen, and to tell him about why my face had been streaked with tears, and he grabbed that offer! He told me it was the first time he'd come to church in a long time, and that he had a lot to be ashamed of. But he said that he'd been overwhelmed. And that (get this) he had re-introduced himself to God!!

HOW SPECTACULAR!!!!
I don't even have words to express God's endless goodness in this story.



It leaves me to wonder, how do I forget these things?

I hate to say it, but honestly, these past two weeks have been rough. I've been struggling to bring things to God, and give over my life to Him as I rightly should. I've been wanting to wallow in misery, and cling to what is bad. (An idea that I definitely don't recommend.)

Why do I forget how amazing God is?

I sincerely hope that I didn't share too much about this boy. -And if I did please tell me, I am truly sorry. But also, I hope in reading this next writing, that you will realize God used you to spur me on. To give me encouragement and hope. And I thank God for that. And thank you for letting Him use you in this way.- The last thing I want to do is gossip, or do something that does not please God, or hurts you.

I have to give thanks to God for providing all that happened tonight. It was exactly what I needed. To see and taste that the Lord is good. That He answers my prayers, and that He loves people more than I could ever know.

It is exactly what I needed to remind me that God is who I need to put my value, my worth, my hope, my strength, my all in.



Jesus, you are more than enough for me.

Let's fight.

"Let's roll, let's fight. Let's show the world what's right. Let's roll, let's fight. His spirit is our Light."

Let's do it! Why the heck aren't we?

BUT WAIT! First let's dissect that thought:

"Fight," I think there is a negative connotation to that word. I usually think of fighting as something physical that boys stupidly do when they get in an arguement. Or as people going off to war, taking lives that they have no right to take. Thinking of fighting to show the world what's right, in that way, sounds like quite an oxymoron. Fight to show what's right? Oh yes.

One definition of the word fight is: "any contest or struggle: a fight for recovery from an illness." I like this definition. It reminds me of what Jesus said about not the healthy needing a doctor, but the sick. We are spiritually plagued by all kinds of disease. We risk infection daily. But we have a great Physician, who knows exactly how to treat our sickness.

Fighting a disease sounds about right. Not fighting the person who has it, but the infection within. Not fighting the people of this world, but the sins within them. Fighting Satan's attacks, not the people he brings nearer to him. Yes, I would go far as to say that I believe it is wrong to hate people like those who bomb other countries, those who flew the planes in 9-11, those who kill and rape and dissect and exploit.
Why hate them? They're broken. They're clearly hurting.
How is hating them going to make them any better? How is it going to show Jesus?

Ohhhh Jesus : )

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

--Yep, its from "And today's verse is..."
on my own stinkin' blog! Jesus just taught me something, in a place I wasn't expecting. Ohhh Jesus, you make me smile.

If you are going to be praying for me, could these verses be your current prayer?