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Beautiful Things

Monday, June 28, 2010


"You created my inmost being..."

No one knows an invention better than the inventor.
Often times, I think of this and I compare it to God and how well he knows me.
It's funny that we think we can trick God or that we can hide something from him.
It's scary if you think about him knowing you better than you know yourself,
but somehow, in a weird sort of way, it's security.
Someone knows me and gets me even when I don't get or understand myself.

Last night I had the privilege to go to a Michael Gungor concert.
Not someone I have listened to a whole lot, but he is now a favorite.
A song that he sang last night, hit me.
It's words penetrated my heart and mind & I thought it explained a lot of things I feel in my own heart.
I say it often, but it's amazing the beauty that God creates out of the things in my life that I have messed up so badly. I don
't deserve to be here. I don't deserve to be used by God, but he chooses to create something beautiful out of this mess I have made for myself.

I will share the lyrics with you.


All this pain
I wonder if I’ll even find my way
I wonder if my life could really change at all
All this earth
Could all that is lost ever be found
Could a garden come up from this ground at all

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

All around
Hope is springing up from this old ground
Out of chaos life is being found in You

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

You make me new, You are making me new
You make me new, You are making me new


I just love the idea that God is constantly creating something new and beautiful out of my life.
Regardless of how I see myself.
Regardless of how others see me.
Regardless of Satan's lies that so often control and consume my thought life.
He knows me. He created me. He makes all things new.
To him I am beauty beyond compare.

I don't deserve this kind of love, but oh to live in the light and to see myself how my Heavenly Father does.
What if we all saw ourselves the way our Heavenly Father sees us?







Real Love

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Love never gives up.
I am thankful for God's faithfulness to me in every situation, even when I fall short.
Love cares more for others than for self.

I realize how selfish I am and how much I can work on putting others first.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
I am beyond blessed and have so much to be thankful for.
Love doesn't strut

Every gift that I have is given from above.
Doesn't have a swelled head
All the glory belongs to him.
Doesn't force itself on others
Gentleness is one of my favorite attributes of God and something I strive to have and be.
Isn't always "me first"
Less of me and more of you.
Doesn't fly off the handle
I never want my temper to get the best of me.
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others
God has granted me more grace than I ever deserve and I pray for this to be a part of who I am
Doesn't revel when others grovel
I want to be a part of the the right things in life, not the negative.
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth
The truth always sets you free.
Puts up with anything
Patience and Understanding is something I need more of.
Trusts God always
It's scary to let go and trust, but God will never leave me nor forsake me, he has never let me down.
Always looks for the best
I want to always see others as God does, and not looking for the worst, but the best.
Never looks back
I can only pray to learn to not look back but forward. My past has been erased because of his forgiveness. I am forever grateful.
But keeps going to the end
It's dependable, not conditional, and something I can trust. Regardless of anyone, or anything.


I have read this chapter in 1 Corinthians multiple times, but this week I was meditating trying to pray through some things in my own heart, and this verse was brought to mind. I opened my bible and was drawn to these high-lighted words in the Message translation. This writing is different than how I normally express my thoughts, but with each verse read, this is what was going through my head. I can only keep thinking how blessed I am that there is a God who loves me. Not because of what I've done, who I am, but just because he created me and he loves me. No strings attached. It doesn't change even though I have messed up a million times, it doesn't threaten to walk out, its constant.

I realize that I have a lot to work on & strive for when I really think about the biblical meaning and definition of love. I am blessed to be Loved by a Heavenly Father with this perfect love, and I hope in my life to demonstrate this love to others the best way I know how.


What can separate us from the Love of Christ?
Absolutely nothing.

For that I am forever grateful.

And the Summer begins :)

Tuesday, June 15, 2010


Off to the races! This last week was our first camp of the summer. Alabama South District holds their camp in Panama City, right on the beach. Torture right? It was a great week! Lots of time at the beach, fun in the pool, and spent time with some really cool students. It will be a hard camp to compete with!

It’s crazy how fast time flies when your busy from 8 am till about 1am for 5 days straight, but it was a blast. We unexpectedly got to go to Bradenton at the last minute and spend time with the Guthrie’s and sing at their home church on Sunday. It was an awesome service and it was nice to spend a few lazy days at their house eating good food, laughing around the table, watching movies, making home-made ice-cream and going to the beach. It really was a great week!

Camp for Alabama South had a theme that was all about choices. It seemed a little slow at first, and we were wondering if the kids were going to get into it. As we worshiped each night the enthusiasm was growing and you could just sense the sweet spirit that filled the Chapel.

I know that I have mentioned Jeremiah 29:11 multiple times in my previous blogs, but it never hurts to be reminded of this promise. The preacher used the Message version to share this verse with the students this week, which just happens to be my favorite version of it. I know we go to camp to bless others, but I truly believe that God blessed me this week.

Thinking back this past week, there was a service that we had, with a few songs that were sung that mean a lot to me and took me back to places in my life like I was right there. That is one of my favorite things about music. It is so powerful.

One night as we were up there leading worship, The lord brought me back to a place in my mind of where I was at 4 years ago. I had just gotten out of a really hard relationship, and was trying to work through a lot of things in my life. I was broken in a million pieces and felt like there was no way God could put my crazy life back together, nor could he ever use someone like me. At a camp in Florida 4 years ago, I had one of the sweetest experiences of my life at an altar. I was a broken, searching, lost, confused, angry, 17 year old girl searching for something real, and as I went forward to an altar I was overwhelmed with the presence of God and felt him reassure me that HIS grace was sufficient for my life, and that he could make something out of my life if I was willing to let him. This was a life changing moment for me.

Back to this week, as I was on stage worshipping this memory was brought back to me like it was yesterday. I couldn’t help but think that there was someone sitting in those seats in front of me that was feeling like I did, and how much I just wanted to reach out and say- He can fix it. Whatever it is. Whatever you bring to the table, he can handle it. Nothing is too big for him. He loves you.

I felt more blessed this night at camp than I have in a long time. Not necessarily because of anything going on around me, but simply because I often forget how much God has done for me. He has been so good to me and I do not deserve to live the life I do right now, but He has taken me and made something of my life even though I never thought he could. I just kept praying to myself that he would be as real to those students as he was to me. I remained prayerful this week knowing and trusting that God was going to do big things. It’s amazing what God does when we are obedient and willing.

I was reminded of another verse that I like a lot, and I chose to meditate on it’s truth this week and I will share it with you. In the Message it goes something like this…

“Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking around life, and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God has done for you is the best thing you can do for him.” (Romans 12:1-2)

I am thankful for the chance to travel with such a great group of friends, to experience new places and the joy of traveling, and also the blessing of being able to invest in student’s lives and be a part of leading them into worship. It really is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. I am trying to soak in every moment of this summer. Looking forward to what’s to come!

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