Showing posts with label grace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grace. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 07, 2014

Happy place...

The shores of Lake Michigan, the copper-bottomed clear water of Presque Isle, the porch swing of a children's home in Guatemala. Being surrounded by the concrete walls of a church in the Philippines, the holy moment as a baby emerges and takes it's first breath, the sacred space of the head squeeze, wrapped in the love of a friend's hug, trust. Walking into the unknown with head held high. Bravery of others trickling down. The dusty earth caking my riding boots, the wind. A chapel surrounded by a stained glass cloud of witnesses. Miracle babies. 
Words spoken and written, giant bathtubs filled to the brim with bubbles, the sweet smell of a sweaty baby head laying on my chest, wrapped in soft colors. laughter, dancing with abandon, the rare runner's high, Tires. Slurpees on a hot summer's day, tears, prayer-answered, unanswered, and unspoken, a church organ, the drum beat, naps in the sunshine, warm rains. Singing loud. The weight of mercy. The depth of grace. 

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Sad...

It's been a week of gifts and joy...

Pain and sadness...

My heart aches for the Family of Abby Riggs as they wait and pray that the cancer has not returned.

In aches for the painful waiting of Harper and Hailee as they wait for a court date to become a forever family

It aches tonight for a little baby in Guatemala

For the children who are waiting there

For the ones who are hurt there

for the ones who do the hurting

because they hurt the most...

Lord come soon...








Sunday, February 01, 2009

It's all Yours...


Take My Life (And Let It Be)

By Passion Worship Band


Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord, to thee.

Take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of thy love.

Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for thee.

Take my voice and let me sing always, only for my king.

Take my lips and let them be filled with messages from thee.

Take my silver and my gold not a might would I withhold.

Take my intellect and use every power as you choose.

Here am I, all of me.

Take my life, it's all for thee.

Take my will and make it Thine it shall be no longer mine.

Take my heart it is thine own; it shall be thy royal throne.

Take my love, my Lord I pour at your feet its treasure store
Take myself and I will be ever, only all for thee



October 11, 2006 - January 30, 2009


Friday, September 19, 2008

thoughts on a friday night...




Sometimes i surprise myself... I am not the bravest, patientest, or most loving person, in fact i am far from it... but sometimes there are moments when bravery, Patience, and love show themselves in tiny microscopic drops.




God has been so good to me lately, despite how undeserving i am of His grace. He has kept me safe, secure, and given me such joy these last couple of weeks at Hope. I can feel His love for me as i walk through the pine grove to class, as i drive to work and hold babies, as i struggle through assignments. When I lay my head down at night He gives me peace. And I am truly grateful.




I have been talking to more people, making an effort to be a "Child of Hope". I am blessed and privileged to be here and i need to make the most of each day here, whether i bomb a test or get spit-up on at the daycare. I need to not take some things so seriously (play vocation pictionary) because God has my life in his hands and will never leave me, and I need to take some things more seriously because God means business.




Life is a gift, love is not an option...




even




and especially




when




it's




HARD...

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Final Gathering

"Only you deserve my praise... Thank-you for reminding me of the "big picture" in the voices and eyes of the graduating seniors, in a time when i was letting the little things invade my life. You never fail me, even when i turn from you. You hold my life, my future, ours...in your hands. Holy, Holy, Holy are You Lord God Almighty, the whole earth is filled with Your glory!

Sometimes i wonder if maybe i only raise my hands down low in a "fill-me" position instead of up high and open in a "have-me" position is because i do not feel like i am enough for God to "have-me" or i am selfish... I am not too sure, but i noticed that tonight, i never raise my hands high... Grace is hard to accept sometimes...

This was the last Gathering for hundreds upon hundreds of men and women of God, I somehow can't shake the feeling that it may be my last too... i pray it isn't, but if it is, somehow...i think i may be able to make this one last.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Tulog na...



I am learning to be grateful for the down times as well as the up times, because well, it seems i can never get more than a week at a time "up"


today was a down day...


  • i was sleepy and forgot to do an assignment that was due in my 8:00 class.

  • i was sleepy and did not get my participation points

  • i was sleepy and had a meeting with my advisor

  • i was sleepy and was not patient with the kids at work :(

  • Lunch and dinner were yucky

but...



  • I got a lot of opportunities to pray

  • I carved out some time to play the piano :)

  • Jonet sang one of our old songs together from back in the day when we led worship at church

In the "down" times i get to remember with both joy and sorrow. I get to reach out to God and others. I am reminded of what it means to be broken and not get it right, and most of all I have the chance to reconnect with The One who gives life.



Tuesday, March 18, 2008

How are you?

As the good book says, "love is patient..." I now know why.




It has been a year of being patient through the struggles, a year of sitting on the sidelines, watching, waiting, not knowing what to do or say and a year of understanding, speaking, praying, calling, knowing




knowing. knowing. knowing.




Knowing that even though I don't know -- I do. Hopefully that makes sense to my readers. It seems to be the only way to put it. it is the essence of Alam mo ny an: "You know already", trust yourself, be yourself, encourage others, love, love completely, fully engaged, passionately, non-judging and pure. be patient,




patient, patient. patient




We are all like little children who need patience, a smile, a touch, understanding. There is that little girl or boy that God created still lingering in the deepest part of us, that cries out in comfort, or is brutally silenced by oppression. We have all seen the inquisitive look in a child's eyes, and likewise the crushed spirit of a child who is abused or neglected by society.




Where is that little boy or girl in you?
How is S/he doing?

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Those who say sunshine brings happiness... have never danced in the rain!



For those of you from my old blog on yahoo 360, welcome. I may move some of the posts here when i have time.

I am realizing how important it really is to learn to dance in the rain. I see how many people do it everyday. how wounded we all are.
I have been looking at and understanding things differently lately. becoming more in tune with creation and the Creator. I feel so filled i could burst yet so empty i could implode. tremulously blessed and blessed tremulously. yeah tremulously not tremendously. i am shaking. So filled with the power of Yahweh, it's scary!
There are no guarantees and nothing stays the same, but the journey... the journey we take alone and how we journey together is what makes the difference. I believe that there are times when those who are strong falter, and those that are weak rise up. there are times when we must "fall apart" but one can never completely sever the connection with another life, another creation of the Living God. "you can no longer separate one life from another as you can separate the breeze from the wind." Even if for a time it seems like the relationship is crumbling at the foundations. even if the entire structure crumbles,the land where the building lasted has been changed and will forever bear the marks of it's foundation....

Thank God for babies...