"I" Problems - an original poem by a TU student

a student that I am blessed to know who has a beautiful talent for proclaiming the glories of the King through the written word

The God of Angel Armies! (Chris Tomlin)

You hear me when I call

You are my morning song

Though darkness fills the night

It cannot hide the light

Whom shall I fear

You crush the enemy

Underneath my feet

You are my sword and shield

Though troubles linger still

Whom shall I fear

I know who goes before me

I know who stands behind

The God of angel armies

Is always by my side

The one who reigns forever

He is a friend of mine

The God of angel armies

Is always by my side 

My strength is in Your name

For You alone can save

You will deliver me

Yours is the victory

Whom shall I fear

Whom shall I fear

I know who goes before me

I know who stands behind

The God of angel armies

Is always by my side

The one who reigns forever

He is a friend of mine

The God of angel armies

Is always by my side

And nothing formed against me shall stand

You hold the whole world in Your hands

I'm holding on to Your promises

You are faithful

You are faithful

And nothing formed against me shall stand

You hold the hold world in your hands

I'm hold on to your promises

You are faithful

You are faithful

You are faithful

I know who goes before me

I know who stands behind

The God of angel armies

Is always by my side

The one who reigns forever

He is a friend of mine

The God of angel armies

Is always by my side

I know who goes before me

I know who stands behind

The God of angel armies

Is always by my side

The one who reigns forever

He is a friend of mine

The God of angel armies

Is always by my side

The God of angel armies

Is always by my side

faith...assurance...conviction

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen... And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." (Hebrews 11: 1,6)

the Present and the Future

Hello and Happy almost-April!

Well, I am about halfway through my fourth and final semester of grad school. The weeks are just flying by. I am taking three classes instead of four this semester (but the usual nine credits); they are Leadership & Administration in Higher Ed, Program Development, and Assessment of Learning in Higher Ed. I’m learning so much and am eager to be able to apply it more in a future job. The professor for the Leadership class is the former provost here who recently “retired” and is now teaching in this program—he has so many years of experience and wisdom and it is an honor to learn from him.

This week is spring break here and not being away this year, I have been enjoying a quiet and relaxing time in my house, as most of my housemates are gone for the week. Although I have had to learn the benefits of quiet and solitude, I am glad to be able to carve out chunks of time to work at home. Having the biggest snowfall of this winter during spring break, however, was not something I had anticipated. J

I can finally say that I have written the final two chapters for my thesis and am getting so close to the end goal! Although I have to say I am ready to be completely done, it has honestly been a rewarding experience as I have learned so much about conducting research and doing a project of this magnitude.

The intensity of the job search process is also upon me – keeping track of open positions, applying for those that seem a good fit, and interviewing. What a relief to know that my God is in control and already knows what job He will provide for me in His timing! Although my trust in His goodness and provision has not always remained steady, I am thankful to be able to fall back on that, remembering that He hasn’t failed me yet. 

In talking about plans for next year with my assistantship supervisor,  it becomes more and more real to me that I will not be here...that someone else will take my place in the office. I've also met a few members of the next incoming cohort in MAHE and imagine them in classes and in the assistantships that my cohort currently hold. Learning how to mourn the end of a good thing while looking forward to the good things yet to come.....well, I'm just glad I have had time to get used to it. Change is never easy - and I have never said I like it - but I'm glad that the end of one adventure just means the beginning of another. J 

Blessings during this time of celebrating the resurrection of our Lord!  

-Janette

from January 2013

Hello! 

Well, this is long-delayed, but recent months have been somewhat uneventful and yet have passed relatively quickly. The holidays have come and gone, and now I am getting used to writing “2013” on forms and checks. J

I successfully finished classes for my third semester, which was a wonderful feeling. I stayed on campus for a couple more weeks as the undergrad semester wrapped up, and during that time I continued working on my thesis. I began conducting interviews and transcribing them—a long process! I visited my family in Georgia for three weeks during Christmas break, which was relaxing and a nice time to visit with some extended family members. It was, however, a little more difficult than other years, with the death of my maternal grandmother shortly before I returned home. So it was a good time to be with family and to be reminded of the uncertainty of life and the things (and people) that really matter.

Well, I am now back in Indiana for a few more weeks before the last plunge. I am currently finishing thesis interviews and beginning to think about the job search, which will very shortly be upon me. People frequently ask me about where I would like to work, what kind of school, the location, etc.—and I wish I had better answers for them. All I can say presently is that I am primarily seeking a residence life position (as a resident director) or one in student activities, and I am trusting God to guide me to the right place as I am researching job openings and applying to colleges.

At the end of this month, I will get back into my last semester of classes and am preparing for a pretty heavy schedule, so I am happy for a lighter schedule for the moment.

  

-Janette

from October 2012

Hello! 

Well, I know I have tried to start something like this many times before, with little success...but I am determined to write monthly (or so) to keep you informed on what is going on in my life right now, for anyone who would be interested in keeping up this way.  

So for right now - I am in my second and final year of grad school. It is a master's program in Higher Education and Student Development at Taylor University in Indiana. Classes are going pretty well so far this semester, but we're now headed into a busy time of the semester with only a month left. My cohort is taking a couple really good and thought-provoking classes this semester, so that especially has shaped things I am thinking about and learning. I am right in the middle of working on my thesis as well, as I have submitted a proposal to my review committee and am waiting to hear word of approval from one more member. As soon as I receive that and go through another review board, I will set to start on conducting interviews. For those who are wondering, my thesis is a qualitative study on the identity development process of pastor's kids during college; this is a two-year process as I started forming my topic last fall and will be done by graduation in May. 

The department I was working in for my assistantship last year, the Office of American Ethnic Student Programs, merged with a couple others over the summer to form an Office of Intercultural Programs. So my job is mostly the same as last year but I now work with more people (staff and students). This year I am specifically over our Gospel choir and a cultural diversity scholarship program. I really enjoy working there and have learned so much in a year and a half - from my supervisor, the students, and especially the work experiences I am having. Although I do not see myself working in this type of department immediately after finishing, I know that I will be better prepared for whatever job I do get from my two years in this assistantship. 

me with some of the great people I get to work with: a few of my student leaders and my boss (in the middle) 

In a more personal line, this year I am living with three other women, all are in their senior year at Taylor and one of whom I am very close to. We live in a house a couple blocks away from campus, and that has been a nice distance in terms of getting away but also being close enough that students can easily drop by. In a separate apartment just upstairs live four men who are also students at Taylor – three undergrads and one graduate student (in a different master’s program). It has definitely been a different housing experience but I am enjoying it.

So long for now! 

-Janette 

at the Bean in Chicago during fall break 

a common sight here in Indiana, and it took me a while to get adjusted to the flatness of the Midwest :) 

Jesus ain't Moses

This past Sunday, I attended a church that I'd heard about and had been eager to visit. There was a guest preacher who gave one of the best sermons I've ever heard. It was taken from the end of Galatians 2:


We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
(Galatians 2:15-21 ESV)


The context of this passage is that the Gentile church in Galatia has been led astray by Jewish Christians who seek to bind these relatively new believers to the laws and customs of Old Testament Judaism. The Apostle Paul has been much dismayed by hearing this news and so writes this letter to bring the Galatians back to the basics, as it were, of salvation through grace and faith alone.

The preacher spent a long time discussing the law and grace. The title of this blog post was taken from his main point: that Jesus brings a much better system than Moses did, although the law that Moses delivered did come from God and was good and suitable for His people at the time. The law was given only to show people how sinful they are and how they cannot satisfy even one of God's demands on their own-much less all of them! The "golden commandment" (Deuteronomy 6:5 / Luke 10:27) is not the Gospel, it's the law. And the law is what separates us from a most holy God. It cannot save us!

What Jesus did in entering the world of fallen man; in living a life completely perfect in word, thought, and deed every single day of His time on earth even though He was tempted to sin; in suffering the punishment of death and condemnation that we deserve; and in conquering death by returning to life - what He did was provide a way back to God for us. He wiped the slate clean for us and made us able to be reconciled to God.

An example he gave was this:
It is like we each are a man (or woman) stuck at the bottom of a deep pit. There is a ladder right in front of us that could get us out of the pit; but our arms and legs are broken so we cannot climb out, and we've been punched in the throat so we cannot even call out for help. Our situation is hopeless. But Jesus climbed down into the pit with us, lifted us onto His back, and carried us out all the way out of the pit.
Having been given such a great gift, we find ourselves humbled and so very grateful to the One who saved us from that despair and death. We fall at His feet in love and adoration. This love should then prompt  us to willingly follow His commands - to obey the law.

But, as he pointed out, what we frequently do is accept what Jesus has given and then try to make ourselves more worthy of it through our own actions. We act like we need to finish what Christ did, like it wasn't enough to save us. No, Jesus declared "It is finished!" There is nothing more we need to or can do to make a better salvation! So why do we try??

Actually, I've found that there are two kinds of people (to speak broadly).
There are those who recognize how messed up they are, who are able to see how much they need grace, but who are tempted through that to despair that God could love them. Their actions seem to indicate that what Jesus did on the cross wasn't great enough to cover their mistakes. They try to push God away, in their shame and sorrow, not seeing that He knows it all and still offers forgiveness and mercy.

And then there is the other group, of which I have far too often been part. These are the people who resemble the Pharisees of old - those who could only see how "good" they are, how much better they are than 'those other people'. They've never ended up in prison, or cheated on their spouse, or lied to a friend, or missed a Sunday in church, or.....etc. etc. They have pushed Him away out of their own "decency", and their actions would make Jesus' death to have been all an unnecessary waste. But in viewing themselves in this generous light, they have failed to see that there is nothing good they can do to make themselves worthy of God's love.

Frankly, I would rather be in the first group than the second, at least having the honesty to admit to my own brokenness. But with either one, it doesn't matter, because we are not enslaved to the law anymore if we have been saved! Jesus ain't Moses and the new covenant is not the old. There is nothing good enough we could do to not need grace, and there is nothing bad enough we could do to push us outside the reach of His grace. How marvelous is that! But in order to truly appreciate that gift and live in freedom, we need to daily remind ourselves of what the Gospel is and what it means for us. That we walk in newness of life, no longer condemned by what we do or don't do, but we have only to daily live so as to gratefully honor our Savior. To love our God with all that we are and do, and to love and care for the people around us.

One joy rather than another

Taken from Perelandra by C.S. Lewis, pp. 58-60

"You could never understand, Lady," he replied. "But in our world not all events are pleasing or welcome. There may be such a thing that you would cut off both your arms and your legs to prevent it happening--and yet it happens: with us."
"But how can one wish any of those waves not to reach us which Maleldil is rolling towards us?"
Against his better judgment Ransom found himself goaded into argument.
"But even you," he said, "when you first saw me, I know now that you were expecting and hoping that I was the King. When you found I was not, your face changed. Was that event not unwelcome? Did you not wish it to be otherwise?"
"Oh," said the Lady. She turned aside with her head bowed and her hands clasped in an intensity of thought. She looked up and said, "You make me grow older more quickly than I can bear," and walked a little farther off.

"What you have made me see," answered the Lady, "is as plain as the sky, but I never saw it before. Yet it has happened every day. One goes into the forest to pluck food and already the thought of one fruit rather than another has grown up in one's mind. Then, it may be, one finds a different fruit and not the fruit one thought of. One joy was expected and another is given. But this I had never noticed before--that the very moment of the finding there is in the mind a kind of thrusting back, or setting aside. The picture of the fruit you had not found is still, for a moment, before you. And if you wished--if it were possible to wish--you could keep it there. You could send your soul after the good you had expected, instead of turning it to the good you had got. You could refuse the real good; you could make the real fruit taste insipid by thinking of the other."
Ransom interrupted. "That is hardly the same thing as finding a stranger when you wanted your husband."
"Oh, that is how I came to understand the whole thing. You and the King differ more than two kinds of fruit. The joy of finding him again and the joy of all the new knowledge I have had from you are more unlike than two tastes; and when the difference is as great as that, and each of the two things so great, then the first picture does stay in the mind quite a long time--many beats of the heart--after the other good has come. And this, O Piebald, is the glory and wonder you have made me see; that it is I, I myself, who turn from the good expected to the given good. Out of my own heart I do it. One can conceive a heart which did not: which clung to the good it had first thought of and turned the good which was given it into no good."
"I don't see the wonder and glory of it," said Ransom.
Her eyes flashed upon him such a triumphant flight above his thoughts as would have been scorn in earthly eyes; but in that world it was not scorn.
"I thought," she said, "that I was carried in the will of Him I love, but now I see that I walk with it. I thought that the good things He sent me drew me into them as the waves lift the islands; but now I see that it is I who plunge into them with my own legs and arms, as when we go swimming. I feel as if I were living in that roofless world of yours where men walk undefended beneath naked heaven. It is a delight with terror in it! One's own self to be walking from one good to another, walking beside Him as Himself may walk, not even holding hands. How has He made me so separate from Himself? How did it enter His mind to conceive such a thing? The world is so much larger than I thought. I thought we went along paths--but it seems there are no paths. The going itself is the path."
"And have you no fear," said Ransom, "that it will ever be hard to turn your heart from the thing you wanted to the thing Maleldil sends?"
"I see," said the Lady presently. "The wave you plunge into may be very swift and great. You may need all your force to swim into it. You mean, He might send me a good like that?"
"Yes--or a wave so swift and great that all your force was too little."
"It often happens that way in swimming," said the Lady. "Is that not part of the delight?"
"But are you happy without the King? Do you not want the King?"
"Want him?" she said. "How could there be anything I did not want?"
There was something in her replies that began to repel Ransom. "You can't want him very much if you are happy without him," he said: and was immediately surprised at the sulkiness of his own voice.

Our Father of Comfort

Yesterday at my university, a student died, a tragic accident. He was a man of God whom many knew and loved. And yet while we grieve his loss here, it is at least comforting to know that he is now eternally with his Father, the Lover of his soul.

"My Little One"

Jon Thurlow

[Chorus]

There’s no need to be afraid;

Your Daddy’s here and it’s ok.
My love will take the fear away,
My little one.

You can give to Me the doubts and fears.
Pour out your heart, I’ll catch the tears.
I’ve always been the God who hears,
My little one.

I’ll hold you close and tight to Me;
I’ll help you through the unbelief.
‘Cause I said that I would never leave,
My little one.

You’ve held it in a long, long time;
So open up, it’s ok to cry.
My heart and arms are open wide
For My little one.

The Man who’s full of grace and truth–
One day He will come for you.
He’s gonna make it all brand new,
My little one.

On the mountain reached through Jacob’s stair,
A place for you I have prepared.
My light and truth will take you there,
My little one.

Thinking about heaven...

This morning in church as we sang, I was thinking about heaven and what it will be like... I often catch myself in this mode as if Jesus isn't going to come back. All I know, all I have ever known, is this earth, this life. And so it's easy to think that life will just continue on like this. My tiny mind cannot understand the concept of eternity. Especially eternity in an entirely different world - and an infinitely better one - it's so hard to grasp. And yet it is true; I believe it with all I am, even if it doesn't make sense to me.

So this morning, I was thinking about heaven. And I was hit by an impression of how indeed that will be. I remembered a large conference I once went to and of how overwhelmed I had been first walking into the stadium to see all of the some 13,000 people who were gathered there. And then I thought - heaven is going to be way WAY bigger than that! We will be gathered with thousands and thousands of people who span the ages and continents. And then, at the end of time - and the beginning of FOREVER - all of our voices will finally be joined in one glorious unison, in the song of worship that has been echoing down through generations.

Then, with another song, I thought of how the God we were singing to and worshiping is the same God who walked with Adam and Eve in the garden, who appeared to Moses in a flame of glory, who was with Joseph in the pharaoh's prison, who appeared to Paul with blinding light, who has been worshiped by countless believers down through the years. He is the SAME through the ages. Human lives have come and gone, some are remembered years later and some are not, but OUR GOD is constant. He is the one who put those amazing stars in the sky, whose light has been flowing down to earth for millenia; he is the one who caused the beautiful sun to shine so brightly today and the birds to chirp so sweetly.

This is the God we worship, the God who has called us his own.

How could heaven ever be boring?? It's going to be so incredible!

"Holy Is The Lord"

Chris Tomlin

We stand and lift up our hands

For the joy of the Lord is our strength

We bow down and worship Him now

How great, how awesome is He

And together we sing

[Chorus]

Holy is the Lord God Almighty

The earth is filled with His glory

Holy is the Lord God Almighty

The earth is filled with His glory

The earth is filled with His glory

We stand and lift up our hands

For the joy of the Lord is our strength

We bow down and worship Him now

How great, how awesome is He

And together we sing

Everyone sing

[Chorus]

Holy is the Lord God Almighty

The earth is filled with His glory

Holy is the Lord God Almighty

The earth is filled with His glory

The earth is filled with His glory

It's rising up all around

It's the anthem of the Lord's renown

And together we sing

[Chorus]

Holy is the Lord God Almighty

The earth is filled with His glory

Holy is the Lord God Almighty

The earth is filled with His glory

The earth is filled with His glory

Waiting for our God

I love this song and it really speaks to the phase of life I find myself in right now.

"Waiting Here For You"

Christy Nockels

If faith can move the mountains

Let the mountains move

We come with expectation

Waiting here for You

You're the Lord of all creation

And still you know my heart

The Author of Salvation

You've loved us from the start

CHORUS

Waiting here for You

With our hands lifted high in praise

And it's You we adore

Singing alleluia

You are everything You've promised

Your faithfulness is true

And we're desperate for Your presence

All we need is You

CHORUS

Singing alleluia

Alleluia, singing alleluia, alleluia

CHORUS

I'm singing alleluia

Waiting here for You

With our hands lifted high in praise

And it's You we adore

Singing alleluia

Trust...

Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed

Alas! and did my Saviour bleed,
And did my Sovereign die!
Would he devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I!

Was it for crimes that I had done
He groaned upon the tree!
Amazing pity! grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!

Well might the sun in darkness hide,
And shut his glories in,
When Christ, the mighty Maker, died
For man the creature's sin.

Thus might I hide my blushing face
While his dear cross appears;
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
And melt mine eyes in tears.

But drops of grief can ne'er repay
The debt of love I owe;
Here, Lord, I give myself away,
'Tis all that I can do.

Photo Mosaic

[1. Sunset Gower Starbucks - Janette, 2. Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand.~Mother Theresa, 3. Rhea County TN Courthouse 4, 4. Fading into Blue, 5. Martin Henderson 7, 6. Forest Berry Ice Tea (3/3), 7. Tuscan Morning, 8. Mini Choclate Cake, 9. H E A V E N, 10. I believe in love...., 11. Love is..., 12. SOUND OF LOVE]

For the idea behind this, visit: http://amandamccrina.blogspot.com/2010/05/photo-meme.html. :)

Will we trust the One Outside the Story?

Sometimes I have these thoughts come to me at the oddest times, when I'm not thinking about anything related. This one occurred to me yesterday, when my sister made a comment about her recent reading.

She is reading through The Lord of the Rings again, and she expressed her mild [amused] frustration at the characters. They are about to engage the enemy in the Battle of Minas Tirith and are - understandably! - a bit concerned about whether they will even live out the night. Will Aragorn make it safely through the Paths of the Dead? Will Rohan's forces arrive in time? Will they come at all? Will this character survive? Will that character die in battle? All legitimate questions, we would say. However, my sister, having read the book before, knows exactly how it all will turn out. She knows that the battle will be won by the allies and that many of them do not only survive the battle but live on a good many more years in relative happiness and safety. Of course a few of the beloved characters suffer wounds or even death, yes - but that's all known! I commented to Melissa, "But the characters don't know that." Of course not! They are inside the story, still awaiting the end of the tale and the victory in the battle.

Then it hit me - we are in a Story too! And we fret and worry too, not knowing how our lives, or our friends' lives, or the life of our country, will turn out in the end. But there is One who is outside the Story who already knows and is not concerned. We, the little characters stumbling about on the earthly terrain of our world, are only able to see what is directly ahead of us. We are not given the power to see how it will all pan out in the end. We are not even given vision-like glimpses of the future, like Seth Border from Blink. It is only given to us to live each day as it comes.

The difference between you and me and Frodo, Gandalf, Pippin, Aragorn, Eomer, and the others is that we know the One who is on the Outside, the One who already knows the ending to our Story. Nay, the ending to HIS Story! For He not only knows the end - He wrote it! In fact, He has even stepped down into our Story and become a character in it, right alongside us. And He asks us to trust Him that it all will end well. In fact, in a way far beyond the ending of any fairy tale written by anyone before, we will indeed live "happily ever after", in the courts of the King.

But the details of today, tomorrow, and the day after that, and the days after that, are not within our sight. We do not know what characters will survive, we do not know about each individual battle. And it's okay. Because the Author does know, and He asks us to trust in that.

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." (Revelation 21:1-4)


"And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.' (The Last Battle, C.S. Lewis)

From tonight's worship service

Okay, so these aren't actually whole songs. They are mere parts of longer songs. But these parts are words that stuck out to me because of something that has been going through my head recently.


taken from "Come Away from Rush and Hurry"

Come, then, children, with your burdens –
life’s confusions, fears, and pain.
Leave them at the cross of Jesus;
take instead His kingdom’s reign.
Bring your thirsts, for He will quench them –
He alone will satisfy.
All our longings find attainment
when to self we gladly die.


taken from "This is My Father's World"

This is my Father's world
Why should my heart be sad?
The Lord is King, let the heavens ring
God reigns, let the earth be glad

Music, music, and...more music?

So apparently all that has been on my mind in regard to this blog right now are.....yep, you guessed it - songs. Songs that speak to me, in some way, in that moment. And I'm not sure that actually can be counted as a "blog", but rather as a collection of random music that I like. But since I'm not sure there are many (if any) readers that would take time to stop by my humble little "blog" on a regular basis anyway, I'm just going to do what I like. And for those of us who do actually read what I post, I hope that these songs touch your heart too. :)

"Hello Lord"

This song really speaks to my heart right now, as I'm waiting on guidance from God regarding a couple matters. It's not always easy to wait for an answer or a push one way or the other. This song reminds me that I need to wait on God in patience and in prayer, until He chooses to reveal His will to me.


"Hello Lord"
by Sara Groves

Hello Lord, it's me, your child
I have a few things on my mind
Right now I'm faced with big decisions
And I'm wondering if you have a minute, 'cause
Right now I don't hear so well
And I was wondering if you could speak up

I know that you tore the veil
So I could sit with you in person
And hear what you're saying but
Right now, I just can't hear you.

I don't doubt your sovereignty
I doubt my own ability to
Hear what you're saying
And to do the right thing
And I desperately want to do the right thing
But right now I don't hear so well
And I was wondering if you could speak up

I know that you tore the veil
So I could sit with you in person
And hear what you're saying but
Right now, I just can't hear you.

And somewhere in the back of my mind
I think you are telling me to wait
And though patience has never been mine
Lord, I will wait to hear from you
Oh Lord, I'm waiting on you

Right now I don't hear so well
And I was wondering if you could speak up

I know that you tore the veil
So I could sit with you in person
And hear what you're saying but
Right now, I think you're whispering

Speechless

Another song by Steven Curtis Chapman...

My words fall like drops of rain.
My lips are like clouds.
I've said so many things, trying to figure you out.
As mercy opens my eyes, my words are stolen away.
At this breathtaking view of your grace...

And I am Speechless
I'm astonished and amazed
I am silenced by your wondrous grace.
You have saved me
You have raised me from the grave.
And I am Speechless
In your presence now.
I'm astounded as I consider how
You have shown us the love that leaves us speechless.

So what kind of love can this be
That will trade heaven's throne for a cross?
To think that you still celebrate
For finding just one who was lost.
To know you rejoice over this
The God of this whole universe.
It's a story too great for words...

We are speechless
Oh how great is the love
The Father has lavished upon us,
That we should be called the sons and daughters of God

We are speechless
We stand in awe of your mercy
You have saved us
(from the grave)
We are speechless

Live concerts!

I was able to attend a live concert by Steven Curtis Chapman this evening and thoroughly enjoyed it! One of the songs he played, one I had heard before but certainly did not mind hearing again, was "Magnificent Obsession". This song is another prayer for my own life - that I would be consumed with a love for my Lord, that nothing would stand in front of Him in my affections and priorities. So I thought to share it with you....whoever you, my readers out there, are. :)

Lord, You know how much
I want to know so much
In the way of answers and explanations
I have cried and prayed
And still I seem to stay
In the middle of life's complications
All this pursuing leaves me feeling like I'm chasing down the wind
But now it's brought me back to You
And I can see again

This is everything I want
This is everything I need
I want this to be my one consuming passion
Everything my heart desires
Lord, I want it all to be for You, Jesus
Be my magnificent obsession

So capture my heart again
Take me to depths I've never been
Into the riches of Your grace and Your mercy
Return me to the cross
And let me be completely lost
In the wonder of the love
That You've shown me
Cut through these chains that tie me down to so many lesser things
Let all my dreams fall to the ground
Until this one remains

This is everything I want
This is everything I need
I want this to be my one consuming passion
Everything my heart desires
Lord, I want it all to be for You, Jesus
Be my magnificent obsession
My magnificent obsession

You are everything I want
And You are everything I need
Lord, You are all my heart desires
You are everything to me

You are everything I want
You are everything I need
I want You to be my one consuming passion
Everything my heart desires
Lord, I want it all to be for You
I want it all to be for You

You are everything I want
You are everything I need
I want You to be my one consuming passion
Everything my heart desires
Lord, I want it all to be for You
I want it all to be for You, Jesus
Be my magnificent obsession
Be my magnificent obsession