great or only good...?

today...i want to write again...write here, seriously, not in a silly way as i have been doing on my wordpress blog.

i have been convicted recently about living eternally again...my first semester was quite good, but i have very much missed my Bible reading for me not for a class and my home church.  See, I do feel a call to missions, I'm a Vocational Intercultural Studies major at school because I want to learn as much as I can about being as prepared as I can be in order to be the most effective witness I can be...but in all the reading and reciting, I believe I lost the whole idea that this blog is founded on:  finding God's glory in every situation...this can only happen when I am giving God glory in every situation.

i am naturally quite self-focused, honestly, but i do want God to be glorified more than myself.  where i struggle comes when i have to choose between God glorifying acts or just not God disappointing acts...between great things and simply good things.  in y heart, i do want God's glory to be proclaimed in all hearts, but in my own, i am too selfish to chose the path that acknowledges Him with every action not just avoiding Christian "don't-s".

good news is, i'm growing.  praise be to God!

Isaiah 12:4 (NASB)

And in that day you will say, "Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name.  Make known His deeds among the peoples; make them remember that His name is exalted."

 

yeah...

NEW BLOG

Up On a Mountain

Up on a mountain our Lord is alone
Without a family, friends or a home
He cries ooh, ooh, ooh, will you stay with Me?
He cries oh, oh, oh, will you wait with Me?

Up on a mountain our Lord is afraid
Carrying all the mistakes we have made
And He knew, it’s a long way down
Do you know, it’s a long way down?

Up in the heavens our Lord prays for you
He sent His spirit to carry us through
So it’s true that you’re not alone
Do you know He came all the way down?

So it’s true that you’re not alone
Do you know He came all the way down?

So this week before Easter, Holy Week, I have been thinking a lot about this song, Up On a Mountain by The Welcome Wagon. The second verse really bothered me to sing because I thought, "Jesus was completely God and knew exactly what was going to happen to Him ahead of time, so it doesn't make sense for Him to be afraid." It seemed inconsistent with Jesus' divinity to be afraid of anything.

I shared these thoughts with my Dad the other day, and he pointed out that it was the fact that Jesus knew everything that caused Him to be afraid. Scared not only of the pain of crucifixion, but also the pain of having God the Father look away from His Son.

That really caused me to start thinking about the significance of the events leading up to Good Friday. That Jesus, although He knew He would rise again from the dead, was still afraid of that time that His Father would turn away from Him and still chose to go humbly and gently through even Palm Sunday...still blows me away!

Enjoy your time this weekend celebrating Christ's resurrection, but don't forget the days leading up to it either.

Happy Easter!

Haiti 2010 Pictures

Hey Guys!!
Here's a link to my Haiti 2010 photo album!! Enjoy!!

Haiti 2010

He is risen!!!

Happy Easter everybody!  I pray that you all have a wonderful celebrating our Lord's rising!  My favorite thing about Easter is when the Pastor says, "He is risen!"  and the congregation responds, "He is risen, indeed!!!" really loud. 

These song lyrics are really great!  They make me smile everytime I read them!  I want you to read them and then look up a video or something to hear the music for it.

High Noon, Andrew Peterson

High noon in the valley of the shadow

When the deep of the valley was bright

When the mouth of the tomb shouted,

"Glory, the groom is alive"

So long, you wages of sin,

I said go on don't you come back again

I've been raised and redeemed;

You've lost all your sting

To the victor of the battle at

High noon in the valley

In the valley of the shadow

And the demons, they danced in the darkness

When that last ragged breath left his lungs

And they reveled and howled

At the war that they thought they had won

But then, in the dark of the grave

The stone rolled away

In the still of the dawn on the greatest of days

High noon in the valley of the shadow

When the shadows were shot through with light

When Jesus took in that breath

And shattered all death with his life

So long, you wages of sin

I said go on, don't you come back again

I've been raised and redeemed

You've lost all your sting

To the victor of the battle

High noon in the valley of the shadow

Let the people rejoice

Let the heavens resound

Let the name of Jesus, who sought us

And freed us forever ring out

All praise to the fighter of the night

Who rides on the light

Whose gun is the grace of the God of the sky

It was high noon in the valley of the shadow

When the shadows were shot through with light

When the mouth of the tomb

Shouted, "Glory, the Groom is alive"

So long, you wages of sin
I said go on, don't you come back again

I've been raised and redeemed

All praise to the king

The victor of the battle

High noon in the valley

In the valley of the shadow

John 3:30

Father,

Please let Your words be spoken through me today as I share about TfO's mission to orphans in Myanmar.  Please give me peace and clarity of thought as I speak and let Your love shine through me this afternoon.  I'm nervous but also very excited, Father, to get this opportunity to share about what You have laid on my heart. 
I want to do Your will, God, but I am so self focused!  Even this prayer to You is completely focused on me.  Help me dissapear, Jesus. I want people to see and hear only You!
Thank You so much Father God for this opportunity!!

John 3:30

He must increase, but I must decrease.

God's Glory Revealed in Music

This is the 4th movement, the Finale, of Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony. We're playing it in Youth Symphony and I never realized how magnificent it was. How magnificent all music is! You know, God created it to be enjoyed-by us and by Him. So I know it's really long but I would love it if you would watch it all and then comment...

It says in God's Word so many times that we should praise the Lord with song and music.

Psalm 144:9

I will sing a new song to You, O God;Upon a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to You,

Colossians 3:16

Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Isaiah 38:20

"The LORD will surely save me;So we will play my songs on stringed instruments All the days of our life at the house of the LORD."

Psalm 92:3

With the ten-stringed lute and with the harp,With resounding music upon the lyre.

Psalm 69:30

I will praise the name of God with song and magnify Him with thanksgiving.

...and in Him all things hold together...

Colossians 1:16-18 (NASB)

  For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him.
  He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
  He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.


Isn't this a wonderful example of how awesome our God is?!

Teens for Orphans

Well, Kade from Life Savior and The Loser has started a new website for Teens for Orphans, an organization that is trying to build an orphanage in Myanmar. I think this is sooo incredible! That a teenageer is doing this!
Anyway, please visit his blogs and the new website and support the Teens for Orphans mission.

30 Day Secular Music Fast

Well, I don't listen to a ton of secular music, really, but the Lord has really convicted my heart about how this is distracting me from Him and how that music isn't giving Him complete glory.  And I'm not saying that secular music is all bad and evil but I felt that for 30 days I could give it up and listen to only Christian and orchestral music (when I do my school).

So I'm planning on doing a 30 day secular music fast starting February 1st and ending March 2nd. In these 30 days I will also be reading through the New Testament. I'm providing a, um, "schedule" or outline of what to read each day, in case any one wants to do this with me. If you decide to, please leave me a comment and let me know!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Read Through The New Testament in 30 Days

1. Matthew 1-9
2. Matthew 10-15
3. Matthew 16-22
4. Matthew 23-28
5. Mark 1-8
6. Mark 9-16
7. Luke 1-6
8. Luke 7-11
9. Luke 12-18
10. Luke 19-24
11. John 1-7
12. John 8-13
13. John 14-21
14. Acts 1-7
15. Acts 8-14
16. Acts 15-21
17. Acts 22-28
18. Romans 1-8
19. Romans 9-16
20. 1 Corinthians 1-9
21. 1 Corinthians 10-16
22. 2 Corinthians 1-13
23. Galatians - Ephesians
24. Philippians - 2 Thessalonians
25. 1 Timothy - Philemon
26. Hebrews
27. James - 2 Peter
28. 1 John - 3 John
29. Revelation 1-11
30. Revelation 12-22

Sorry

well, i really haven't been keeping this blog up at all! so sorry! i really do want to do better about sharing with you all what the LORD means to me. i just feel like what seems neat to me will sound weird or dumb. but i'm ready to start posting regularly here. sorry!

Haiti Earthquake

Hey Everyone,

You've probably all heard about the earthquake that hit Port au Prince today at just about 5PM. And, as far as I can tell and have heard, it hasn't effected Grand Bassin, where our church has served. But they still really need our prayers there. Thank you!

O Dear God, I Thank Thee! I Thank Thee!

Well, a couple months ago I toured Milligan College and I wasn't really planning on doing a post on that. But then, all the pictures I wanted to put up of the kiddos were from that trip. All except Claire singing.

Hope racing me up some steps at Milligan College. She just turned around and said, "Hurry or I'll beat you!"

Me and Hope at Milligan College

Luke at Milligan College. I told him to smile and he just made that face. Oh no! Is he already to "cool" to smile in picutes?!

We had a picnic at Milligan College and Luke went and sat under that tree to eat. I don't know why but it was so cute!

Claire singing, um, something.

P.S. She thinks that blinking is smiling. I know the video is dark, but at the end when I say "can you smile at the camera?" she starts blinking. That's why I have to say "cheesy smile"

Prayer

Hey guys,
I just found out that my good friend Charity is in the hospoital with appendicitis and possibly other things. I don't know very much! But if you wouldn't mind praying for her when you read this and for her family? They need it!
Thanks!

He is...

He is faithful...more than faithful!
He is love

He is not only love...He is in love with us and longs for us to be completely in love with Him as well.

He is peace
He is gracious
He is sovereign
He is almighty
He is all knowing (omnicient)

All knowing means- well- that He knows all, which equals everything!  SO He knows everything that we think and want and desire and feel and He loves us anyway!

He is omnipresent
He is awesome
He is just
He is emotional

Think about this one for a moment.  He has so many feelings and emotions.  The same as He has placed in us because He created us in His image.

He is creative

He is caring

He is in control

He is good

And this one: He is good!  That means that whatever He gives to us or chooses to take away from us is always for our good.  Even when it really, really doesn't feel like it!

He is enough

He is great

He is joy

He is wise

He also grants wisdom to us.

He is pure

He is wrath

He is holy

Being holy is so much more than never doing anything wrong.  Being holy is being completely set apart from evil.  Being complete and pure and perfect.

He is patient

He is tender

He is so beyond comprehensible!