So much grace!

It's amazing how you much more you notice the little treasures and blessings in your life when things are rough. The way that the Lord provides is astounding, encouraging, and sometimes scary because He asks to wait. I don't like waiting and not knowing or having certainty, but then He always come through with something even better than I could have imagined. There are so many blessings to count right now, and yet I still feel a bit on edge about certain situations. I'm so thankful that God knows, that it's in His hands, and that He never panics like me. I hope that my ears and heart are open to learn and receive from this time what He will give me, or how He will transform me.

Glory is not found in these shambles...

In the smallest corners of our minds, man knows that it longs for glory. I would like to assert that man does not know what glory is. There may be a faint etching of the reality in our minds, but what do humble creatures like ourselves know about glory? We run after fame, money, attention, reputations, physical perfection, sex, possessions, and eternal youth. While we waste our lives searching for and dreaming of what this world deems as glory, the lowly live in it and know it. The outcasts who see the world as upside as their King did are compelled by the growing notion of it. To live is God's glory and gain. To desire His glory at any cost or state of life is freedom and joy. If the world understood this, if it knew what glory is and the only One it belongs to, perhaps there would be less striving. One day it will come to fruition, and I long for that day. Come Lord Jesus, come.

June

All I have to say today in light of the new month of June, is, "press on friends, don't stop fighting, don't quit no matter how much you want to."

Entangled

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope/wait in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

Isaiah 40:28-31

The word "wait" in verse 31 literally means when things are entangled in each other. Like a piece of rope, all of the chords are entangled together creating one rope. Therefore we have, those who are entangled in the Lord will renew their strength. As the pastor said, "we are not holding on, we are being help up." Let this be a call for you to be entangled in the Lord so that their is no breaking point of where He begins and you end. May we be found in Him.

Amazing PIctures!

Quite recently, my younger brother got engaged and this past week, they had their engagement photos taken. The photographers are Aric and Casey. They are married and work as a team, I love their work. The two of them always manage to find beautiful places to take pictures, even in Lubbock. = ) They did an amazing job capturing Brett and Kim's personalities on the camera. Below is the link to their blog. If you scroll down a little, you will see the entry about my brother, Brett, and his fiance, Kim:

http://aricandcasey.com/blog/

OH, and if they get 30 comments on their blog entry, they get a free copy of their favorite picture. Feel free to leave a comment if you are so inspired.

Commitment

I was thinking today about how God calls Himself the Bridegroom and the Church is the Bride. It then made me think of the dialogue that comprises the vows of marriage. Here is a sample text I got offline:

"I, (name), take you, (name), to be my [opt: lawfully wedded] (husband/wife), my constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward. In the presence of God, our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live."

There is nothing light about these vows. I was thinking about how God is faithful in all these things on His end, and I need to be faithful in my side as well. I need to love Him more with every passing day, for richer or poorer, through sickness, health, good times, bad times, joy, and sorrow. I need to learn His love, so that I can even begin to love Him unconditionally in return. I ought to support His goals, honor, and respect Him. Whatever grieves His heart, ought to break mine too. The things that bring Him the most joy, His glory, should become my greatest joy forever. I should consider Him first, and put His desires before my own.

I am so thankful that God upholds His end, and I pray that you and I can grow in upholding ours more with everyday.

Control Freak

I don't like to think of myself as someone who is super anal or too orderly. I like being on time to certain events, and I like things to be moderately clean. It has come to my attention over the last 2 years, however, that there are somethings that I love to have an iron grip on. My day tends to be filled with time in which I think of ways to steer things in the direction where I want them to go. The thought of letting go of it, not scheming ways to be where I want to be, or doing what I want to do is terrifying. Fear begins to grip me, and the question arises: what if what I want does not happen? What if this whole situation goes in a different direction than I could have ever imagined? What if I have to start over again with making friends? I desperately do not want to start over again with making friends. I tried to not get close to anyone for a couple of months in case I had to leave again. After a while, I was reminded that I need community, I can't live alone. In order to cope with all the uncertainty in life right now, I take certain things and hold on for dear life, as if they might save me. As if, they might have some consistency, but I know that people and places are never the same. They are always changing and growing, just like me. It's tough to think that I might have to give up somethings that I have come to love, like my church family. That I might have to start from scratch all over again, that just makes me feel exhausted.

What I haven't grasped or thought too deeply about, is the fact that all these things I have now, aren't mine. They were given to me, they were provided for me, and it wasn't an easy road to get to where I am now with my new friends. I can't fathom that there could be something better out there, that God could come and provide beyond the stretch of my imagination. I have to let go of these gifts, and give them back to the Lord.

This is not me saying that I am moving right now. I still am looking for a job, but that job could be in a different city. This is just me saying that I need to trust the Lord and follow Him where He will lead me, whether it's staying here, or leaving.