God listens

"Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what He has done for me. I cried out to him with my mouth; His praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God surely listened and heard my voice in prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld His love from me!"

Psalm 66:16-20

Easter

In the face of many things that can be taken as great tragedies and reasons to despair, I would like to look to the hope of world. Tomorrow is Easter, it is the day in history when the power of sin and death are defeated. I say "are" because I want to emphasize the reality that every day, multiple times a day, His blood is covering our sins. It is amazing to me to think that over thousands of years, His grace is still that powerful. It is not something that fades or changes like the seasons, it always remains. I don't even know how to begin to wrap my mind around that power. In a world that is so obsessed with technology, and doing things faster, they haven't even began to scratch the surface in comparison to what Jesus has already accomplished. When I look at the depravity of my own heart, and my selfishness, I get a glimpse of how huge the sacrifice is.

I am left in thought about how to properly celebrate this. I feel like going to church is not enough, and recognizing it is enough, nothing will honestly be enough. I know that God asks for my heart and wants me to live in a state of worship,, but I want to do more. I suppose this once again reflects the gospel, Jesus paid a debt that I can never pay or repay. I will just have to be thankful for it.

Thanks God.

Yesterday...

My little brother got engaged last night! I am so happy for him and his fiance. She is a great girl who loves the Lord. What a blessing that the Lord has placed this person in his life, and now she gets to be part of our family. Couldn't be happier, I'm getting another sister. Congratulations little brother. = )

What I love about Houston

There is one thing I love about Houston. It's not the grotesque traffic or the humidity. Shocking, I know, but the beautiful thing I love is the diversity. You can almost go anywhere in Houston and hear a foreign language. As I sit here in the coffee shop/wine bar, I have heard Russian, Greek (I think), and Spanish. Just the other day, at the grocery store I heard Japanese. Some people might feel strange, but it actually makes me feel more comfortable. I'm not the average white American, so it makes me feel a bit more at home being around different cultures or languages. Hope you can find something you love about the city or town you are in.

Rest

6 years ago, I wrote a song. I don't think I fully realized what the song meant until now. There have been bits and pieces of understanding in the past, but it feels more real today. It applies directly to life as of late. I had actually forgotten about it until last night, when the Lord reminded me. I think I named it "Rest." Here are the lyrics:

Despite my suffering, I will rest in You.
No matter what may lay ahead, I will rest in You.
This peace will flow, although I never know what tomorrow may hold, I just know Your hand is near, holding me, as I rest in You.

Despite my shortcomings, I will rest in You.
When everything falls apart I will rest in You.
This peace will flow, although I never know what tomorrow may hold, I just feel Your strength draw near, when I rest in You.

When I rest, when I rest, when I rest in You, when I rest in You.

hope

I have been thinking a lot lately about the hope that we have in Christ. Situations have sparked this contemplation. Due to these things, I feel like I am seeing it more clearly than I have before. Each day begins with hoping in Christ, and that day when He will return in all His glory to take His people home. This world is a broken place, and it's not getting any better. I am hoping in the gospel that makes all things new. I am hoping in the day, when all things will be restored to the way they should be, and nothing will be broken.

a new week

The wedding last week was fantastic! I will confess that I cried a few times. What can I say, if the groom cries, then I cry. It was also great to see friends again and share about our lives. I miss them and wish that they could be closer, but alas that is not reality.

This week is going to be busier than others. There is a new wave of jobs to apply for, which is good. I am praying that one of these will be it. It's time to move on to the next part of life now. You guys can pray with me that one of these jobs will stick.