Don’t know how it is You looked at me
And saw the person that I could be
Awakening my heart
Breaking through the dark
Suddenly Your grace
(Chorus)
Like sunlight burning at midnight
Making my life something so
Beautiful, beautiful
Mercy reaching to save me
All that I need
You are so
Beautiful, beautiful
Now there’s a joy inside I can’t contain
But even perfect days can end in rain
And though it’s pouring down
I see You through the clouds
Shining on my face
(Chorus)
I have come undone
But I have just begun
Changing by Your grace
(Chorus)
Showing posts with label waiting to shine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label waiting to shine. Show all posts
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
"For the Moments I Feel Faint" - Relient K
Am I at the point of no improvement?
What of the death I still dwell in?
I try to excel, but I feel no movement.
Can I be free of this unreleasable sin?
Never underestimate my Jesus.
You're telling me that there's no hope.
I'm telling you, you're wrong.
Never underestimate my Jesus.
When the world around you crumbles,
he will be strong.
He will be strong.
I throw up my hands.
" Oh, the impossibilities."
Frustrated and tired,
where do I go from here?
Now I'm searching for the confidence I've lost so willingly.
Overcoming these obstacles is overcoming my fears.
I think I can't, I think I can't.
But, I think You can, I think You can.
I think I can't, I think I can't.
But, I think You can, I think You can.
Gather my insufficiencies and place them in Your hands.
Place them in Your hands.
Place them in Your hands.
Never underestimate my Jesus.
You're telling me that there's no hope.
I'm telling you, you're wrong.
Never underestimate my Jesus.
When the world around you crumbles,
he will be strong.
He will be strong.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Song of the day: By Your Side - Tenth Avenue North
Just really feeling this today...
Why are you striving these days?
Why are you trying to earn grace?
Why are you crying?
Let me lift up your face.
Just don't turn away.
Why are you looking for love?
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough?
To where will you go child?
Tell me where will you run?
To where will you run?
And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you.
My hands are holding you.
Look at these hands and my side.
They swallowed the grave on that night.
When I drank the world's sin
So I could carry you in
And give you life.
I want to give you life.
(Chorus 2x)
Cause I, I love you
I want you to know
That I, I love you
I'll never let you go
Why are you striving these days?
Why are you trying to earn grace?
Why are you crying?
Let me lift up your face.
Just don't turn away.
Why are you looking for love?
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough?
To where will you go child?
Tell me where will you run?
To where will you run?
And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you.
My hands are holding you.
Look at these hands and my side.
They swallowed the grave on that night.
When I drank the world's sin
So I could carry you in
And give you life.
I want to give you life.
(Chorus 2x)
Cause I, I love you
I want you to know
That I, I love you
I'll never let you go
Monday, March 15, 2010
Don't blink...you might be MISSING something
We had an incredible DNOW weekend with our 8th grade girls. The theme was Missing, which was appropriate since I have apparently been missing something about our girls. At some point, I must have blinked and they turned from amazing, goofy, fun fifth-graders into beautiful, mature young women in Christ. I see them every week, and I was still amazed at how much they've grown in their faith. Nothing excites me more or makes me trust more in God than seeing their excitement for Him and His word. And, I'm just gonna tell ya...I got choked up when I saw them all huddled up praying for each other. God is good. I am blessed. Ministering always seems to give you back more than you can manage to give out.
Love you, girls. Thank you for allowing Nichole and me to be a part of your lives and your sisters in Christ. You'll never know how much your friendships mean to me. Thank you for revitalizing my own relationship with God this weekend by witnessing your love for Him.
And I'm so proud you didn't throw fruit!!!
Love you, girls. Thank you for allowing Nichole and me to be a part of your lives and your sisters in Christ. You'll never know how much your friendships mean to me. Thank you for revitalizing my own relationship with God this weekend by witnessing your love for Him.
And I'm so proud you didn't throw fruit!!!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Unchanging and Relentless
I'm so glad that even when my circumstances seem out of control, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8) and that even when I don't feel like running hard after God, He is sprinting after me.
Monday, January 4, 2010
How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news
At this very moment, a family who has become as dear to me as my own is stepping onto a plane and making the 24 hour journey to Africa in obedience to God's call on their lives as missionaries to Arua, Uganda. It's been such a joy (and so enlightening) to watch God move in every little step of The Taylors' adventure thus far, and I can't wait to hear all about how God uses them to influence the hearts of the Lugbara people. Praise God for friendship in Christ, following His will, and beginning new and exciting adventures totally on faith. Please join me in praying for this amazing family. If you'd like to follow their journey, check out Kat's blog, http://tothebridgeandback.blogspot.com/.
Now for the official shout-out. Doug, Kat, Kylie, Karis, and Caleb, I love you all big time! And I'm saving up to come visit when I can! May your travels be safe, your transitions be smooth, and your faith be strengthened. I know you'll impact your new city just as strongly as you have impacted my life. I can't wait to hear all about it! Thank goodness for the Internet!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Evening Prayer
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come. He's Lord over every moment of history, every fleeting second of the present, and every anticipated tomorrow (for eternity!), and that's the God who holds my life in His beautiful hands. How could I ever think this life was about me? And why would I ever want to be the one in control? Oh, God, how You must laugh when I try. Please forgive the times I take the brush from Your masterful hand in order to create a mess of muddied color on a canvas for which you planned an exquisite masterpiece.
This is my evening prayer. Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee. Take my will and make it Thine. It shall be no longer mine.
This is my evening prayer. Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee. Take my will and make it Thine. It shall be no longer mine.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Tenth Avenue North - "By Your Side"
Why are you striving these days?
Why are you trying to earn grace?
Why are you crying?
Let me lift up your face
Just don't turn away
Why are you looking for love?
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough?
To where will you go child?
Tell me where will you run?
To where will you run?
And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you
Look at these hands and my side
They swallowed the grave on that night
When I drank the world's sin
So I could carry you in
And give you life
I want to give you life
And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you
Cause I, I love you
I want you to know
That I, I love you
I'll never let you go
And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you
Why are you trying to earn grace?
Why are you crying?
Let me lift up your face
Just don't turn away
Why are you looking for love?
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough?
To where will you go child?
Tell me where will you run?
To where will you run?
And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you
Look at these hands and my side
They swallowed the grave on that night
When I drank the world's sin
So I could carry you in
And give you life
I want to give you life
And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you
Cause I, I love you
I want you to know
That I, I love you
I'll never let you go
And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Kari Jobe - "Healer"
You hold my every moment
You calm my raging seas
You walk with me through fire
And heal all my disease
I trust in You
I trust in You
I believe You're my healer
I believe You are all I need
I believe You're my portion
I believe You're more than enough for me
Jesus, You're all I need
You hold my every moment
You calm my raging seas
You walk with me through fire
And heal all my disease
I trust in You
I trust in You
I believe You're my healer
I believe You are all I need
I believe You're my portion
I believe You're more than enough for me
Jesus, You're all I need
Nothing is impossible for You
Nothing is impossible for You
Nothing is impossible for You
Nothing is impossible for You
You calm my raging seas
You walk with me through fire
And heal all my disease
I trust in You
I trust in You
I believe You're my healer
I believe You are all I need
I believe You're my portion
I believe You're more than enough for me
Jesus, You're all I need
You hold my every moment
You calm my raging seas
You walk with me through fire
And heal all my disease
I trust in You
I trust in You
I believe You're my healer
I believe You are all I need
I believe You're my portion
I believe You're more than enough for me
Jesus, You're all I need
Nothing is impossible for You
Nothing is impossible for You
Nothing is impossible for You
Nothing is impossible for You
Sunday, September 13, 2009
The Prayer of Saint Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
---Saint Francis of Assisi, 1181-1226
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
---Saint Francis of Assisi, 1181-1226
Sunday, August 30, 2009
By Now I Thought...
Today I've been contemplating timelines, checklists...probably partially because my best friend turned twenty-five and mentioned to me that she's halfway through her twenties...a place I will follow her to early next year. We both laughed and lightheartedly proclaimed ourselves as "old."
I've also recently begun Marian Jordan's The List, a potent little book about the list we make for ourselves. You know the list she means. It's that list you make when you're a kid around lunch tables or at slumber parties - the checklist of life. That list that states unabashedly what you proclaim you'll have done by the time you're twenty, or twenty-five, or thirty. I thankfully have no written evidence of my own list, but I remember countless conversations with my young friends dreaming about our perfect lives that would follow a strict schedule and in which all our deepest desires were met by the time we were...gasp...twenty-five.
So here I am on the brink of that magical age when everything is supposed to snap neatly into place, and my list is not exactly checking itself off. I'm not where I thought I'd be by now. Haven't done half the things I thought I would. Could it be that I have the wrong things on my list?
Or maybe it's that I'm too focused on the list itself instead of on the One who created the desires I so long for. Jordan's book pointed me to Psalm 33 and a few other psalms and reminded me that if God created my heart and my desires, of course He knows exactly how to best fulfill them in my life. The timing's not important...it's the trusting that's important. The journey. To quote Miley Cyrus (probably the only time I will ever do so)..."It's the climb." It's that step-by-step lifelong relationship of trust that really matters...not the temporary (albeit beautiful and wonderful) things our human hearts long for, the things we want so desperately to check off, the husband, the 2.5 kids, the dog, and the Colonial. Those things are indeed blessings from our Father because all good things do indeed come from above, but they will never, never, never compare to the greatness and beauty that is the Father himself.
This all clicked together for me when I stumbled across this video (entitled "By Now I Thought") for a new Bible study I've just started. I hope as you watch it that you too are encouraged as I was to stop falling victim to the trap of The List and of the demon of "by now I thought..." The song in the background sings "Jesus, save me," and will He ever. He'll save you and me from our dreams that seem out of reach, our futures that seem dim, and our whispers of "by now I thought..." I leave you to ponder this and thank God for His immense, unfailing, unmatched love and the hope we have in Him:
"Our soul waits for the Lord;
he is our help and shield.
For our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in his holy name.
Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
even as we hope in you."
---Psalm 33:20-22 (emphasis mine)
"Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the Lord!"
---Psalm 31:24
I've also recently begun Marian Jordan's The List, a potent little book about the list we make for ourselves. You know the list she means. It's that list you make when you're a kid around lunch tables or at slumber parties - the checklist of life. That list that states unabashedly what you proclaim you'll have done by the time you're twenty, or twenty-five, or thirty. I thankfully have no written evidence of my own list, but I remember countless conversations with my young friends dreaming about our perfect lives that would follow a strict schedule and in which all our deepest desires were met by the time we were...gasp...twenty-five.
So here I am on the brink of that magical age when everything is supposed to snap neatly into place, and my list is not exactly checking itself off. I'm not where I thought I'd be by now. Haven't done half the things I thought I would. Could it be that I have the wrong things on my list?
Or maybe it's that I'm too focused on the list itself instead of on the One who created the desires I so long for. Jordan's book pointed me to Psalm 33 and a few other psalms and reminded me that if God created my heart and my desires, of course He knows exactly how to best fulfill them in my life. The timing's not important...it's the trusting that's important. The journey. To quote Miley Cyrus (probably the only time I will ever do so)..."It's the climb." It's that step-by-step lifelong relationship of trust that really matters...not the temporary (albeit beautiful and wonderful) things our human hearts long for, the things we want so desperately to check off, the husband, the 2.5 kids, the dog, and the Colonial. Those things are indeed blessings from our Father because all good things do indeed come from above, but they will never, never, never compare to the greatness and beauty that is the Father himself.
This all clicked together for me when I stumbled across this video (entitled "By Now I Thought") for a new Bible study I've just started. I hope as you watch it that you too are encouraged as I was to stop falling victim to the trap of The List and of the demon of "by now I thought..." The song in the background sings "Jesus, save me," and will He ever. He'll save you and me from our dreams that seem out of reach, our futures that seem dim, and our whispers of "by now I thought..." I leave you to ponder this and thank God for His immense, unfailing, unmatched love and the hope we have in Him:
"Our soul waits for the Lord;
he is our help and shield.
For our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in his holy name.
Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
even as we hope in you."
---Psalm 33:20-22 (emphasis mine)
"Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the Lord!"
---Psalm 31:24
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Evening Song
"Faith can move mountains of that I am sure. Just get me through December...get me through December so I can start again."
---Alison Krauss' "Get Me Through December"
---Alison Krauss' "Get Me Through December"
Friday, December 5, 2008
Iris to Iris
I came across this song by Building 429 recently, and it really spoke to where I am right now and thus inspired a redesign of the ol' blog. Click the play button on my playlist widget, and check out the lyrics:
"God I’ve always wondered what You look like
Lord I’ve always waited staring at the sky
But the heavens remained quiet
As they drift along in peace
Sometimes they’ve turned to thunder
Still the echoes always cease
How I long to get home
Lord I hope it won’t be long
Till You
Let the skies open wide
Let Your child see Your eyes
Iris to iris
I will be waiting
Let the skies open wide
Let Your children be like
Diamonds reflecting
We will be waiting to shine
Waiting to shine
Chasing after vapors left me cold
Cause obscurity befalls me like a diamond cased in coal
But Your hand has been upon me and Your workmanship is true
And years I’ve spent in darkness made me long to shine for You
All I want is to see Your face
All I’m praying for today
Is that You’d
Let the skies open wide
Let Your child see Your eyes
Iris to iris
I will be waiting
Let the skies open wide
Let Your children be like
Diamonds reflecting
We will be waiting to shine
Waiting to shine
Sing Hallelujah to our God
Sing Hallelujah we are found
Sing Hallelujah for the Savior has come down
Let the skies open wide
Let Your child see Your eyes
Iris to iris
I will be waiting
Let the skies open wide
Let Your children be like
Diamonds reflecting
We will be waiting
Sunset to sunset we will be waiting
Sunset to sunset we will be waiting
Waiting to shine
Still waiting to shine"
I know I can't wait to be iris to iris with the Creator of those sunsets.
"God I’ve always wondered what You look like
Lord I’ve always waited staring at the sky
But the heavens remained quiet
As they drift along in peace
Sometimes they’ve turned to thunder
Still the echoes always cease
How I long to get home
Lord I hope it won’t be long
Till You
Let the skies open wide
Let Your child see Your eyes
Iris to iris
I will be waiting
Let the skies open wide
Let Your children be like
Diamonds reflecting
We will be waiting to shine
Waiting to shine
Chasing after vapors left me cold
Cause obscurity befalls me like a diamond cased in coal
But Your hand has been upon me and Your workmanship is true
And years I’ve spent in darkness made me long to shine for You
All I want is to see Your face
All I’m praying for today
Is that You’d
Let the skies open wide
Let Your child see Your eyes
Iris to iris
I will be waiting
Let the skies open wide
Let Your children be like
Diamonds reflecting
We will be waiting to shine
Waiting to shine
Sing Hallelujah to our God
Sing Hallelujah we are found
Sing Hallelujah for the Savior has come down
Let the skies open wide
Let Your child see Your eyes
Iris to iris
I will be waiting
Let the skies open wide
Let Your children be like
Diamonds reflecting
We will be waiting
Sunset to sunset we will be waiting
Sunset to sunset we will be waiting
Waiting to shine
Still waiting to shine"
I know I can't wait to be iris to iris with the Creator of those sunsets.
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