Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Easter
This song is Easter to me in its simplest form. It is the kind of hymn I grew up on, reminds me very much of hearing my parents or grandparents sing, standing next to me, in a church congregation. No fluff. No muss. Just the piano and voices singing.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Easter
I'm continuing my week of music that means Easter to me. This song pretty much sums up the "why" of Easter. Why did Christ willingly chose to endure, to be tortured, to be separated from his Father? So that I can say "My chains are gone....I've been set free!" To know that grace, to have been brought up believing in that grace, is greater than any fortune I could ever inherit.
The end of this song really sums it up. I don't place my faith in God for the help he brings me in THIS world, but for the glory that it will bring him in the next, FOREVER, world.
The end of this song really sums it up. I don't place my faith in God for the help he brings me in THIS world, but for the glory that it will bring him in the next, FOREVER, world.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
How beautiful
I did not give anything up for Lent. I have not thought a lot about the "true meaning of Easter" so far this year. Then, I went to church this morning, and my sweet friend Beth sang this song and it made me cry. And I've heard it before, many times, so I was a little surprised. But then, God has been making himself more real to me this past year than I have ever known him to be before. So, it makes sense that this song would break my heart now, today, THIS Easter.
I pray that your Easter week is filled with beauty and brokenness and that you are "waiting for your Groom with His light in your eyes."
Love,
I pray that your Easter week is filled with beauty and brokenness and that you are "waiting for your Groom with His light in your eyes."
Love,
Saturday, March 27, 2010
It's a Big, Big House....with lots and lots of room...minus the "big" and "lots"
In a few weeks I will be moving. WHAT?!?
Calm down, seriously, you'll wake Murphy. For the last several months (since October), I have been living with my sister-in-law and her family in Kansas. I have loved 98.56% of every minute of it. I have seen more of my sweet and sassy niece and nephew in the last few months than the first 4 years (and 2.5) of their lives, and I have to say-they are pretty awesome (as are there parents). And as much as Murphy and I have enjoyed it here, I am excited about my new place.
It has exceeded my hopes in every way that a rental can. Does it smell funny? NO! Is it a duplex/apartment too close for comfort with neighbors? NO! Is it over my very optimistic budget? NO! In fact, it is under budget. It is a ridiculously small house, just one bedroom (I know!), and just about 700 square feet. In pristine condition, freshly painted and remodeled. Unfinished basement and huge storage shed for....well, you know-STORAGE. And I am excited about my elf-home challenge. How to fit me (and eventually Jimmy, and hopefully some little Jimmy's and little Carrie's...or at least A little one) and Murphy into a house that is smaller than most apartments AND only has one small closet. Take a moment, will you, and reflect on the ONE. SMALL. CLOSET. Am I revealing my inner-organizational geek when I tell you that the challenge of organizing a home that looks like a home and not a random pile of mops, brooms, winter clothes, and Christmas decorations makes me SUPER excited? Did I stay up way way WAY too late Friday night (after signing the lease) looking through the Ikea catalog and Googling "furniture for small spaces"? ? Yes. I did. I may have to post some of the interesting things I found. The washing machine that mounts on the wall behind your toilet and drains into your tank-GO GREEN to a new level. The bed that rolls up into the book case. The bed that hangs from the ceiling!
Anyway...the point is, I am looking forward to getting back to my own turf. And turf is a funny choice of a word, when you consider the slightly questionable neighborhood that I will (again, but different town) be living in. I look forward to getting back to blogging about all the exciting things in my life. And yes, exciting is an ironic choice of a word...but this is not a vocabulary critique so stop analyzing.
I am looking forward to seeing how long we can last in this house, before we burst through its seams. I am determined, and Jimmy is determined, for us to take advantage of this blessing. I must point out that I am also thankful that there is not a Container Store within a 7 hour drive of this town. . . though I did notice that you can order from the website. . .
Calm down, seriously, you'll wake Murphy. For the last several months (since October), I have been living with my sister-in-law and her family in Kansas. I have loved 98.56% of every minute of it. I have seen more of my sweet and sassy niece and nephew in the last few months than the first 4 years (and 2.5) of their lives, and I have to say-they are pretty awesome (as are there parents). And as much as Murphy and I have enjoyed it here, I am excited about my new place.
It has exceeded my hopes in every way that a rental can. Does it smell funny? NO! Is it a duplex/apartment too close for comfort with neighbors? NO! Is it over my very optimistic budget? NO! In fact, it is under budget. It is a ridiculously small house, just one bedroom (I know!), and just about 700 square feet. In pristine condition, freshly painted and remodeled. Unfinished basement and huge storage shed for....well, you know-STORAGE. And I am excited about my elf-home challenge. How to fit me (and eventually Jimmy, and hopefully some little Jimmy's and little Carrie's...or at least A little one) and Murphy into a house that is smaller than most apartments AND only has one small closet. Take a moment, will you, and reflect on the ONE. SMALL. CLOSET. Am I revealing my inner-organizational geek when I tell you that the challenge of organizing a home that looks like a home and not a random pile of mops, brooms, winter clothes, and Christmas decorations makes me SUPER excited? Did I stay up way way WAY too late Friday night (after signing the lease) looking through the Ikea catalog and Googling "furniture for small spaces"? ? Yes. I did. I may have to post some of the interesting things I found. The washing machine that mounts on the wall behind your toilet and drains into your tank-GO GREEN to a new level. The bed that rolls up into the book case. The bed that hangs from the ceiling!
Anyway...the point is, I am looking forward to getting back to my own turf. And turf is a funny choice of a word, when you consider the slightly questionable neighborhood that I will (again, but different town) be living in. I look forward to getting back to blogging about all the exciting things in my life. And yes, exciting is an ironic choice of a word...but this is not a vocabulary critique so stop analyzing.
I am looking forward to seeing how long we can last in this house, before we burst through its seams. I am determined, and Jimmy is determined, for us to take advantage of this blessing. I must point out that I am also thankful that there is not a Container Store within a 7 hour drive of this town. . . though I did notice that you can order from the website. . .
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Grace....stinkin' AMAZING
Time is tickin' away....(any old school D.C. Talk fans out there??)
Things will soon be changing. My husband will be coming home, and though I don't yet know the date, it is close enough to say "sooner than later". All of those things that have felt as if they were put on hold indefinitely will have to be decided, experienced, worked out, worked through, worked over...probably some wounds will be reopened, and for their own good. Healing will begin. Well, that's not true--a new type of healing will begin. But I can't discredit the healing that has already been "in progress."
As I get ready for this time, time that I know I will need prayer and encouragement more than ever, I can't help but just be in total, complete, mouth-dropping awe at what God has done for me. I have made it this far, by the GRACE of God. I have not filed for divorce, by the GRACE of God. I can honestly say that I love my husband now, more than ever, by the GRACE of God. I have maintained my God-given gift of humor, by the GRACE of God. I have been blessed by the prayers of many, because of God's GRACE in their lives. I am able to truly hope for the complete restoration of my marriage, because I know the GRACE of God. We still have so, so, SO far to go, and honestly, I don't care how long it takes us to get there. If you want to get down to it, the only thing I really care about is knowing more and more and more about God's grace. How to let it fill me up, how to let it pour from me. How to let our marriage be submerged in that grace. That said, there are two verses that are hitting home in our life this week.
The first one, I have been blessed to see in my own husband this week (well, more than this week, but this week it has knocked my socks off!).
Philippians 1:9 "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
The second one kind of sums up how I got here, to this point of being ready and willing to walk through the fire with my husband, to be prepared (or at least hope I am) to be refined and redeemed together, through God's GRACE in healing our marriage.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Be praying!
Love,
Things will soon be changing. My husband will be coming home, and though I don't yet know the date, it is close enough to say "sooner than later". All of those things that have felt as if they were put on hold indefinitely will have to be decided, experienced, worked out, worked through, worked over...probably some wounds will be reopened, and for their own good. Healing will begin. Well, that's not true--a new type of healing will begin. But I can't discredit the healing that has already been "in progress."
As I get ready for this time, time that I know I will need prayer and encouragement more than ever, I can't help but just be in total, complete, mouth-dropping awe at what God has done for me. I have made it this far, by the GRACE of God. I have not filed for divorce, by the GRACE of God. I can honestly say that I love my husband now, more than ever, by the GRACE of God. I have maintained my God-given gift of humor, by the GRACE of God. I have been blessed by the prayers of many, because of God's GRACE in their lives. I am able to truly hope for the complete restoration of my marriage, because I know the GRACE of God. We still have so, so, SO far to go, and honestly, I don't care how long it takes us to get there. If you want to get down to it, the only thing I really care about is knowing more and more and more about God's grace. How to let it fill me up, how to let it pour from me. How to let our marriage be submerged in that grace. That said, there are two verses that are hitting home in our life this week.
The first one, I have been blessed to see in my own husband this week (well, more than this week, but this week it has knocked my socks off!).
Philippians 1:9 "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
The second one kind of sums up how I got here, to this point of being ready and willing to walk through the fire with my husband, to be prepared (or at least hope I am) to be refined and redeemed together, through God's GRACE in healing our marriage.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Be praying!
Love,
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