A Snapshot from Life

10/06/2012

♫Times♫

July? Oops! And it's now October....

Where to begin.... My life has been a bit crazy, most nights I get home from work, drink a cup of coffee, and crash. So what's new...???
So last weekend I went with Tammy and Katie to the VMI vs. Navy game. SO much fun! And since my whole family were out of town, on Sunday night I went with Tammy and Shaina to VMI to drop Caleb off. It was so good to see him that weekend! He's been greatly missed!

Since July, my family has "adopted" our friend Tj. He goes to Richmond U., which is less than 15 minutes from our house... so he often comes over for movie nights a few times a week. With a few late night runs to Taco Bell...

And most of you know that we moved into our new house... LOVE IT! It's so big, we can't yell down the hall to find someone. We actually have to call each other on our cell phones. And since we moved, Snuggs has been very vocal. He often sits at the top of the stairs calling for me... and once he hears where I'm at, he comes running. We've also been able to have people over! Finally! For Labor Day, we had around 50 people over for a BBQ. And we still had room! God is so good :)

Also, I began working at the church office full time in August, and I'm loving it! It makes my job a little easier now, in that I don't have to try to remember where I left off on Tuesday, when I come back in Thursday. When 5:00 rolls around on Tuesday, I know on Wednesday morning I'll be able to pick up where I left off. Due to being alone most of the time at work, I've started to have a daily goal. Kinda making a game out of it. For example, last week's goals were the following:
Tuesday - Have less than 10 emails in inbox before 5.
Wednesday - Have ALL Tuesday and Wednesday's todo's checked off by 5.
Thursday - Have less than 5 emails in inbox before 5.
Friday - check off EVERYTHING by 5.
This past week I got everything done... but the week before I "failed" one of my daily goals. And since it's like a game, I don't let it get to me. I just move that goal to the following day.

Also at work... Pandora is my friend :) I put on my Jeremy Camp radio station, and let it play. This has really helped me to be reminded of God's grace in my life throughout my day. Lately life has been a little down... and this has really kept my eyes on what life is all about. It's not about having a job, going to school, being in a relationship, etc... it's ALL about Him. Yes, life does have all those things, but we don't need to live for them; We need to live for Him who created us.

If you know me well, you know that I tend to get stuck on one song that I can really relate to in the season I'm going through. Right now, that song is "Times" by Tenth Avenue North. Though, the last verse has really been encouraging. They wrote it as if God is saying it to you. It says;

I hear You say,
"My love is over. It's underneath.
It's inside. It's in between.
The times you doubt Me, when you can't feel.
The times that you question, 'Is this for real? '
The times you're broken.
The times that you mend.
The times that you hate Me, and the times that you bend.
Well, My love is over, it's underneath.
It's inside, it's in between.
These times you're healing, and when your heart breaks.
The times that you feel like you're falling from grace.
The times you're hurting.
The times that you heal.
The times you go hungry, and are tempted to steal.
The times of confusion, in chaos and pain.
I'm there in your sorrow, under the weight of your shame.
I'm there through your heartache.
I'm there in the storm.
My love I will keep you, by My pow'r alone.
I don't care where you fall, where you have been.
I'll never forsake you, My love never ends.
It never ends."

How true this is! He is there through our pain, through the storms we face, and He will never forsake us! This last week was really hard, and I really was tempted to slip into dispare. But I fought for joy! Well I should say, HE gave me the strength to fight for joy! I wrote this song in my journal a few weeks ago, and this past week I kept going back to it. Reminding myself that He is always here... He is never going to leave me... no matter what I'm going through.

Another thing that has really been cool to see, is that everything I've been reading... in my Bible, Morning and Evening, and even songs that have been on Pandora, there has been a theme; Wait for the Lord. Don't you love it when He does that? :) It's times like these that I know He is here with me. He's on my side. Even when I don't like the path He has set me on... He did it for a reason. And I'll be able to look back in a year or two, and see His faithful hand in it all. I love this verse in Psalm right now... which is my current memory verse; "Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!" (Psalm 27:14) Wait for the Lord!!!

A Snapshot from Life

07/25/2012

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♫As Long as You Are Glorified♫

Well... so ends another week... and without going into detail, it hasn't ended well. God seems to be ripping things out right from under my feet. Which is making it a lot harder to fight for joy. But when I woke up this morning, my dad was practicing for leading worship tomorrow morning, and the song he was playing when I woke was As Long as You Are Glorified by Sovereign Grace Music. The very thing I needed to wake up too.

Shall I take from Your hand Your blessings
Yet not welcome any pain
Shall I thank You for days of sunshine
Yet grumble in days of rain
Shall I love You in times of plenty
Then leave You in days of drought
Shall I trust when I reap a harvest
But when winter winds blow, then doubt

Oh let Your will be done in me
In Your love I will abide
Oh I long for nothing else as long
As You are glorified

Are You good only when I prosper
And true only when I’m filled
Are You King only when I’m carefree
And God only when I’m well
You are good when I’m poor and needy
You are true when I’m parched and dry
You still reign in the deepest valley
You’re still God in the darkest night

So quiet my restless heart
Quiet my restless heart
Quiet my restless heart in You

He is good when I'm poor and needy, and when I'm carefree. He's also good when I prosper, and when I'm parched and dry. Why would I doubt that? He has always remained faithful! And He always will. Why is it so hard to see that at times? 

But God didn't stop there with speaking truth to me. After listening to my dad sing, I started to read Psalm 115. "Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!" (115:1) I was then reminded of C.J.'s message at NEXT... "It's not about you, stupid." This life isn't about me! And I am gonna go through trials, but in the end, all that really matters, is that He is glorified. 

If you think of me, pray that I will continue to fight for joy through all this, and that I will continue to seek God, and not fall in dispare. He's got a plan for all this! "Oh let Your will be done in me! In your love I will abide. Oh I long for nothing else, as long as You are glorified!" 

A Snapshot from Life

07/18/2012

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A Snapshot from Life

07/16/2012

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♫Mercies Anew♫

Last weekend wasn't easy... what could have gone wrong, did go wrong you could say. And when times aren't easy, I don't sleep. Oh joy! Saturday night I was lying in my bed at 3:00am praying, and God really meet me as I laid there in silence. And then I heard a voice that was clear as day... "My mercies are new every morning." I know He is always here with us... but there seems to be times when you can really feel His presences. This was one of those moments. Every worry I had that night was gone. I was overwhelmed with His grace. What a feeling! And rather than focusing on the many situations that were floating in my head... I repeated over and over again Lamentations 3:22-23; "The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

I think I fell asleep in the middle of the verse, but when I woke up the next morning for church, I can't put what I felt into words, but I felt anew. Refreshed. Ready to take on what ever came my way!

Worship at church was AMAZING that morning. But it was all God! There was nothing special about the songs... or the music... I could just feel His presences. At one point, the band started to play Mercies Anew, and I knew right away what song it was and that I was going to loose it. Which I did. I closed my eyes and stood there listening to the words, and it was as if God was saying them to me right there. How comforting that was!

Every morning that breaks
There are mercies anew
Every breath that I take
Is your faithfulness proved
And at the end of each day
When my labors are through
I will sing of Your mercies anew

When I’ve fallen and strayed
There were mercies anew
For you sought me in love
And my heart you pursued
In the face of my sin
Lord, You never withdrew
So I sing of Your mercies anew

And Your mercies, they will never end
For ten thousand years they’ll remain
And when this world’s beauty has passed away
Your mercies will be unchanged

And when the storms swirl and rage
There are mercies anew
In affliction and pain
You will carry me through
And at the end of my days
When Your throne fills my view
I will sing of Your mercies anew
I will sing of Your mercies anew

I love that! "And when the storms swirl and rage, there are mercies anew. In affliction and pain, You will carry me through." Whatever we are going through, He will carry us through! He will never withdraw. There's no if and buts... not matter what, He will always remain faithful. I love what Tim Tebow says in his book Through My Eyes, "Through God's past faithfulness - that no matter what is on our plates, He will never leave us, and will help us handle whatever it is."And He won't! He's not going to send us down a road, and leave us to fend for ourselves. He will be there with us every step of the way! 

And what a way to start a new week. Things kept coming up... but I took on the challenge. I saw it as God teaching me to fight for joy through hard times. And when I needed a reminder, I just looked at these lyrics on my phone, and said it as a prayer. And how encouraging that was! I know I say this at the end of each post... but isn't He good? :) Thanks for reading! 

A Snapshot from Life

07/09/2012

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♫I Was There♫

This is a little different than my normal songs that I post about, but its a song that really means a lot to me at the moment. It's by my favorite artist since 2005, Josh Turner, from his CD he released last month, Punching Bag. I've actually listened to his CD since I bought it, over and over, and over again. But it wasn't till I was driving back from DC last Monday by myself, that the meaning of this song really hit me.

God was really meeting me as I was driving in the silence of my car, and after a while, I decided to put on some Josh Turner on shuffle. Little did I know, this song came on after I picked Everything Is Fine (which was the first song of my 62 songs). It something I have always been taught, ever since I can remember; He has always been, is, and always will be. He "is the same yesterday and today and forever." (Hebrews 13:8) Though I must say, it never hit me like it did in my Ford Focus on I-95. He truly is everywhere, with everyone. And He is most certainly here with me! And He is always there for me! I love what Josh says in the course, "I'm always around, I was then and I am now, and I'll be here when tomorrow comes. When a road comes to an end, I'm where you start again. I'm never farther than a word away." How comforting that was to me! Whatever God brings me through, whether it's a trail or an amazing season in life, He's always there. He was there when they landed on the moon... He has been with every president... ever king... at ever war... and He is most certainly there with you! He was there with me through basketball... He was there with me when I moved to Florida... He was there when I moved back to VA... and He is here with me now. He is always there! How great He is!  

I was there that night in Bethlehem

And when Neil and the boys came to the moon

In that tin can

At Gettysburg, Omaha Beach, and Vietnam

I heard every soldier's cry and every mama's prayer

I was there

I was there when you took your first breath

And when you lit that stolen Lucky Strike

And liked to choked to death

When you were waist deep in Carter's Creek

And Preacher John

Dunked you down in the water and raised you up for air

I was there

C:I'm always around

I was then and I am now

And I'll be here when tomorrow comes

When a road comes to an end

I'm where you start again

I'm never farther than a word away

You've always got a friend

When your grandma passed

I was in that house

And when your grandpa ran down the streets o' gold

To show her around

I was there

I was there last night on Highway 9

When you answered the phone

And ran right through that stop sign

I was in the cab of that big rig, in that trucker's ear

Made him swerve to the right and miss you by a hair

I was there

If you're feelin' alone, look up, I'm the One who answers prayers

And I'm always there

A Snapshot from Life

07/05/2012

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