an observation

My husband and I were discussing some music last night. I have been exposed to a singer/songwriter named Josh Garrels. {Um... REALLY like his music!} As we were talking about one song, my sweet hubby noticed something about me.
he looks over at me with a smirk on his snerk, and lovingly says, "You don't passively listen to music."
I had to chuckle. yeah. NO! i hadn't thought of it that way before, but it is absolutely true. I can hear stuff, and it seems like it becomes a part of me. I get wrapped up in the song.  I am sensitive to the tone of voice it is sung in. i can hear the intesity behind the voice. i can feel it. deep inside, i feel the music. and yes, i am one of those ones who will play a song that i am totally "getting" over and over and over.

i don't know.

it moves me. intensely. Even the instrumentals. It speaks.

that being said, i have to take care with what i am listening to!

And that is why the new (to me) sound and voice of Josh Garrels is so refreshing. He is a Believer; a Christ-one. And he is creative. He sings with his soul. it is a breath of fresh air in the cookie-cutter "christian" music scene. He aches over the broken things in this world. He soars with the beauty that is to be found in true, real relationships. He sings the Word of God in a way that is captivating (Revelator).

so, yeah. i don't passively listen to music. i intensely listen. it is part of what makes me, me. As i listen, i learn things; about God, myself, the Bible, and others.

Selling Hugs?

As i was driving in the van with my two daughters, my youngest spots a sign with BIG BRIGHT BOLD letters... She knows that we follow these signs [if you haven't guessed, it would be garage sale signs]! 

She says: "Mom! Look! There is a sign for a Hug sale! haha!" 

 

Me: "OH! it is a HUGE sale...heehee!" 

I wonder, if someone put up a sign selling hugs, how much money you would make? 

Today, i choose to be more generous with my hugs....for free :)

Real love. Really.

Forgiven.

I heard this today and was just so grateful for the forgiveness that has been extended to me in Christ.

Without Jesus

Without Jesus

Just three chords and a melody

Won't leave you a living legacy

Without Jesus

Just four songs and a parable

Might leave you something terrible

Just five bucks in an offering

Won't buy you some prosperity

Just a sixth sense of morality

Won't get you out of your depravity

Without Jesus, oh, without Jesus

You could memorize

Become a Mennonite

You could speak in tongues

And raise the dead to life

You could build a big church

Call it ministry

Teach 'em all they need to know to run a family

You could sell it all

Be burned at the stake

But what in the world have you to ever gain

Without Jesus, oh, without Jesus

If all I ever get out of laying my life down

Is thorns in the shape of a crown

On the brow of a man from Nazareth

And if all I get is what Jesus did,

And said, and put within my heart

Then I get it all

I have it all

Oh, I have it all

Everything is mine

Oh, I have it all

I have it all

Just three chords and a melody

Won't leave you a living legacy

Without Jesus

Understood?

Last week i was reading in one of my devotional books, Opened Treasures, and i came across an entry that i think many can resonate with. Have you ever been misunderstood? (yep, i can hear the "harrumph.YES!"). I don't know about you, but i have found that when i am really listening to the Word and attempting to live life according to the Word, i am misunderstood more and more. 

Are we willing to be misunderstood whilst we follow our Saviour? 

Here, the entry from Frances R. Havergal, in Opened Treasures: 

MISUNDERSTOOD?

Thou understandest my thought. Psalm 139.2

Who does not know what it is to be misunderstood? Perhaps no one ever is always and perfectly understood, because so few Christians are like their Master in having the spirit of quick understanding. But this does not make it the less trying to you; and you do not feel able to say with Paul, "With me it is a very small thing." But this precious Word which meets every need, gives you a steppingstone which is quite enough to enable you to reach that brave position, if you will only stand on it. "Thou understandest my thought." Even if others "daily mistake" your words, he understands your thought, and is not this infinitely better? He Himself, your ever-loving, ever-present Father, understands. He understands perfectly just what and just when others do not. Not your actions merely, but your thought--the central self which no words can reveal to others. "All my desire is before Thee." He understands how you desired to do the right thing when others thought you did the wrong thing. He understands how His poor, weak child wants to please Him, and secretly mourns over grieving Him. "Thou understandest" seems to go even a step further than the great comfort of "Thou knowest." "His understanding is infinite." 

 

Think Twice

We need to think twice before we speak (text, email, facebook) once.

We can never take our words back.

And our words can hurt, divide, and separate people.

There is almost nothing that the enemy of our souls wants more than division.

or

We can think twice

before we open our mouths

and have words of healing, hope, correction, and love come out.


How will we choose to speak for the King?

I pray it is with prayer, wisdom, understanding, and love, after we have carefully considered the situation we are facing.

an unusual post

If you have a struggling reader, writer, or math student, dyslexia may be the answer :) These children and adults are usually very gifted, bright, and talented. Their dyslexia helps them to think outside the box. They CAN learn to read and spell. I tutor in an Orton-Gillingham based system developed by Susan Barton. If you are interested in helping your struggling learner, contact me. I currently tutor 2 of my own children, plus another student in 4th grade.

Change

How do you know when REAL change has taken place? You know what i mean... you say "okay. i am not gonna get upset about ______. I am gonna try harder." and WHALAA! you do okay for a day or two, but then your resolve fizzles and you are blowing it consistently. No amount of pulling yourself up by your boot straps will work.  I would suggest that it is because you have been trying to do it in your own strength, out of a place of pride.

i know. this was me.

There is a TON i could write about this, but i only have time for a short snippet.

Lately, the gospel has been my everything. Every.day. i need the gospel. It is the power of God! As i humbly depend on the finished work of Christ, i notice i am responding to things differently.

Do i blow it? fail? yell?

yep.

but the Holy Spirit is faithful to convict me, to help me to not blame-shift, to take responsibility. i don't wallow in the mud of my failing anymore. i can get up, praise God for the Good News, and keep pressing in.

It struck me this week, how much God has been working. We host a small group 2x's a month. i was actually giddy and joy-filled at the thought of everyone coming over! i wasn't stressed at all. And then yesterday, i spend most of the day just smiling as i did laundry ( i had one hiccup and was frustrated for a bit, but God is faithful to show me my sin, and again i can repent and keep on going). Actually filled with joy in the mundane. Today, mowing and doing yardwork has filled my heart with song. i am realizing that life, every day of it, is a gift from God, that His grace is sufficient, and resting in the finished work of Christ and the knowledge that at this very moment He is ever interceeding for me. Trials WILL come. My faith will stand as it is based in Christ alone, and no longer in my own ability to perform.

Kindred Hearts & Ties that Bind

I am so very thankful for all the kindred hearts at our church. God has abundantly blessed us there, with beautiful relationships that are centered on His Gospel. Thank you, Grace Community Bible Church, for being real and for being so focused on Christ.