the vision and the vow

so I'm reading the book "The Vision and the Vow" by Pete Greig currently.. amazing stuff!

"Their DNA chooses Jesus

(He breathes out - they breathe in)

Their subconscious sings

They had a blood transfusion with Jesus"

Be Near Me

"I cannot believe You are angry or unjust
You have done nothing but have compassion on us
And be near when I have given up, be near me!"
~Bethany Dillon~


That whole song is amazing.. "Be Near Me" I have listened to it on repeat alot the past few days.


I love how when we "know what's going on" or when "we figure God out" that He can just cause a "tornado" to go off and remind you that you can NEVER figure Him out but that you can always trust Him. I feel like I have let go in a new way this week-end and that I have finaly realized that I cannot figure God out. (duh) I know that but I was reminded of that this week-end. I like it. And I absolutely love that even though I cannot "figure Him out" that I can TRUST Him with my whole heart. :D

You never know what a day will bring.

Lately I've been looking at people through my eyes. Jesus has been teaching me about looking at people through HIS eyes which are full of hope and see people how they are supposed to be. I see people and just get filled with doubt but that's NOT my job. I need to be seeing them how Jesus sees them and that is whole - not broken- completely free to worship HIM! I hate that I can be so cynical sometimes...


"Is it alright if I stay here all night.. by the shoreline.."
~Bethany Dillon~

Secrets

“Secrets”
6/18/2008

It started out as something so small
A neglected heart at the edge of the crowd
What draw the crowd has – one may never know
But she stands at the edge –feeling alone and left out

There is a war going on much deeper than she knows
It started almost before time
So how can she fight if she doesn’t know?
The war for a soul – defenseless and standing at the edge of the crowd

What secrets held inside?
Secrets that are meant to be shared
Secrets that stay inside only bind you in fear
The voices that no one hears but scream at you at night
They hold you alone and keep you at the edge of the crowd

That’s part of the war that started before time
The battle for a soul – Satan has no right
He stretches out the tentacles that keep you locked up in fear
Freedom seems impossible
Secrets are what bind you in fear

The father of lies is the father of secrets
When you hold them inside the secrets control you
Not only the secrets but the father of secrets
Each secret a tentacle –keeping you from your freedom

Each secret a chain and lock that must be opened
To be able to trust and to gain your freedom
You can’t hold these secrets they don’t belong to you
You were bought at a price before you even know what love was

The chains held by the father of secrets
That keep your soul locked and bound
Can be opened and freed – you must trust and get rid of these secrets

Secrets held in the dark will only tie you down
You must shed light on them
Though your eyes squint and you shudder from what used to hold you down

The light will expose the dark secrets and the darkness will flee
When you trust and share the secret
Only then can you be free

Like a child...

God loves children. I kinda like them myself. :D I was in a restraunt the other day and there was this adorable little boy. The waitress brought him out a balloon and his eyes just lit up! I love seeing children re-act to things around them. What makes them smile and laugh for joy. Where does that come from? How does a baby know to cry when he's unhappy or needs something. Children are SO precious. They are the closest thing to how God intended us to be.

I had a conversation with my "sister" Abby the other day about how we expect children to grow up so fast and cut down their dreams and imagination like it means nothing. Why are we not protecting them and nurturing them? Their dreams and innocence is the most precious gift they posess and we treat it like it doesn't matter.

Luke 10:21

At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, because you have hidden these things from the wise and revealed them to little children."

Luke 18:16-17

Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

Michael Card wrote a song about his son Will called, "The Sunrise of Your Smile." It is beautiful..

Reject the wordly lie that says,

That life lies always up ahead,

Let power go beofre control becomes a crust around your soul,

Escape the hunger to posess,

And soul-diminishing sucsess,

This world is full of narrow lives,

I pray by grace your smile survives.

For I would wander weary miles,

Would welcome ridicule, my child,

To simply see the sunrise of your smile,

To see the light behind your eyes,
The happy thought that makes you fly,

Yes, I would wander weary miles,

To simply see the sunrise of your smile.

Now close your eyes so you can see,

Your own unfinished memories,

Now open them, for time is breif,

And you'll be blest beyond belief,

Now glance above you at the sky,

There's beauty there to blind the eye,
I ask all this then wait awhile,
To see the dawning of your smile.

Butterfly Effect

"There are no words that we can say to explain why we feel this way; though we try only God knows who we are when we change from catepillars to butterflies"
~Hana~

So me and this girl ^ and another girl had the most divine time last night... God did some pretty HUGE things and it was just amazing.. enough said! I told them about my special love of butterflies and the symbolism to me. Hana then wrote that up there about it..

Family is SO important.
When you merely omit something that is also a lie.

When you omit things to your family (not telling them what's going on in your life) you are in actuality feeding lies. There is no where for truth to grow then. Some of the happiest people I know are the people who do not have to hide anything. They tell their families everything. Growing up, I had a "no-secrets" policy with my family -which freed me UP! I never had to wonder if they would find out about something. If I didn't tell them something right away, my parents were pretty good about figuring out if I was hiding something so I would always end up telling anyways. Read the last chapter in Malachi... here's a part:

Malachi 4:6
He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children
and the hearts of the children to their fathers
or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.

God did not create families for no reason. Part of living free and full is having that relationship with your family and not hiding things from eachother. The people (peer-wise) that I hands down respect the most have this same "no-secrets" policy with their families and respect and love for them. It's amazing how God uses what He created for freedom and full life and life abundantly in Him!

Rest

"Though I sleep my heart is awake - thought it's night on You I'll wait!"
~Misty Edwards~


"I slept but my heart was awake."

Song of Solomon 5:2


I was talking to a friend the other day and he was saying how even though our physical bodies sleep and get tired our spirits don't. Our spirits don't need sleep. God can still communicate with us through dreams and even while we're sleeping. Sometimes I wake up with a person just on my heart and I know that I need to pray for them for whatever reason. Our spirits don't ever get tired. If people are nervous they can't always go to sleep and even when they do it can be full of dreams about something coming up and their spirit doesn't shut-off just because their physical body gets tired.

"Because nothing makes sense to a particle in motion, you've gotta slow down because the world just won't!"
~Matt Elmore~

"Let us be silent that we may hear the whisper of God"
~Ralph Waldo Emerson~



Me and my sister snuggling together when we were little cuties! :-)