What God Has Promised

God hath not promised
Skies always blue,
Flower-strewn pathways
All our lives through;

God hath not promised
Sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow,
Peace without pain.

But God hath promised
Strength for the day,
Rest for the labour
Light for the way,

Grace for the trials,
Help from above,
Unfailing sympathy,
Undying love.

By Miss Annie Johnson Flint

Wow...it's been a long time...

Sorry for the long pause since the last post. I don't even have much of an excuse, other than that I've been busy trying to finish up school for the semester, which ended well! Thanks for asking! I took Choral Arranging and voice lessons this semester. For my project for Choral Arranging, we had to write an arrangement for a choir (hence the name "Choral arranging"). Well, last summer sometime, I heard a verse from Psalm 31 in a message. I liked the verse, so I wrote down the reference for the future. I went back later and read the whole psalm, and as I read it, I thought that it would make a really good song. Since then, I've been working on setting some of the verses to music, which was mostly done before I started the class. The class helped me actually finish what I had started, and I'm pretty happy with the results! I might even try to get it published someday! Hmmm...

I also had my Sophomore platform this week, which went well, also. I passed! So, that means I get to give the school more money next year!

Last week, we had a game night. We've had gym nights at a local rec. center, but this time, we had the activity at church. Since we don't have a gym, and the weather is nice, we decided to call it a "game night." We played games outside, then had some skits and a salvation message. I'll post some pictures at the end. But it was definitely a blessing for me to be able to take Shawna back and show her how to get saved, and she was gloriously saved that night!

We also had a meeting on Sunday. We ordered KFC and went to Riverside Park for a picnic, then had a meeting to decide who is going to do what next year at church. It was definitely a good time, and I'm excited to see what might happen next year, though sad to see Amy and Titus leave. I'll definitely miss them a lot.

Anyways, here are some pictures!

Game night:







Picnic at the Park:

Psalm 102

4. "My heart is smitten, and withered like grass..."
17. "He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer."

Several different difficult situations have come up in the last few weeks in the youth group at church. I'm not going to go into details about it, but verse 4 describes me a bit since these situations. My heart is heavy. Teenagers make so many decisions. Many of them can be very life-changing, sometimes for the good, sometimes not. A fork in the path can change the direction in a person's life, but it seems to be even more prominent in teens' lives. The teenage years are often when people figure out who they are and what they plan to do with the rest of their lives. I've seen a few decisions lately that seem to be the wrong path to take. Maybe it's actually God trying to get a hold of these teens and bring them closer to Him. I don't know. But I know verse 17...God loves to hear our prayers. I wish that I could make the decisions for these teens, but I can't. In a sense, I am destitute because I cannot change their actions. But God will hear my prayers! He knows what is best for them! He knows that I can only pray for them at this point! He knows them, and loves them! He hears my prayers for them and sees my heart! What a comfort it is to know, even when I can't do anything else for them, that He hears my prayers for them!

Psalm 97:10

"Ye that love the LORD, hate evil..."

This phrase stood out to me when I read it yesterday. Yes, we know that we are supposed to love God. We know that we are to abstain from evil. But how much do we HATE evil?

We are to love the Lord. The more we get to know Him, the more we see His perfection, His hatred of evil, His love for righteousness. As we get to know Him, we should want to KNOW more about Him, which naturally means that we would want to know more of His righteousness. As a relationship with Him develops, we begin to BECOME more like Him. It is like the illustration of married couples...when they get older, they start looking more and more like each other. I wonder, sometimes, if this happens because they are each trying to please each other, and they know what the other person likes, so the adjust the things they do to themselves (they way they do their hair, their facial expressions, etc.) so that they look more like what the other person wants them to look. This is what God wants for us to do: for us to find out what God likes and then adjust our thinking and habits to reflect what He wants in our lives. Included in that is loving what He loves (perfection, peace, righteousness) and hating what He hates (evil).

Most of the time, I think we Christians have a distorted view of evil. We know that we are supposed to stay away from it, but we don't think of it as being as bad as it really is...we don't HATE it. We put up with it, maybe even a little in our own lives. We justify it by saying that we aren't "as bad as..." someone else, that our sin is not as evil as someone else's sin. But how does God see sin? Well, the verse says here that we are supposed to HATE evil, to despise it. When He forgives us, "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us." Psalm 103:12. And since we are supposed to be like Him, should not we also remove sin as far from our hearts? God hates evil, and it is His desire for us that we should hate evil just as much.

Psalm 81:13-16

"Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!
I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries.
The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever.
He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee."

If Israel had followed God, what blessings He would have given them! I wonder how often that happens in our lives...God would do so much for us if we follow Him and do what He wants us to do. We miss so many blessings and triumphs when we try to do things our own way. This is something that stuck out to me the other day as I was reading. It made me think.

some verses that have been important to me

Acts 17:6 ...These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also."

I was just reminded of this verse a week and a half ago. (Thanks, Nate!) It makes me get my focus right: What am I doing (with God's help) to make a difference in this world? Anything that might "turn the world upside down"? If not, I need to re-evaluate my life and see if I'm missing anything, and not doing all that I can and should for God.

II Cor. 5:7 "(For we walk by faith, and not by sight:)"

Thanks Dr. Bu! We sang a song in Madrigal that is based off of this verse...beautiful song, even MORE beautiful message! We do not know what God has for us in the future, even just a few days, hours, minutes from now. We cannot "see" God's path for us, but we can still walk on that path "by faith," trusting that God's way is best for us.

Acts 13:22 "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart."

God is speaking here, and what a statement it is! David's heart was going the same direction as God's heart! Wow! What a rebuke. My heart seems to go so many directions, but David's heart is described as being like God's heart. Even though David sinned, he confessed his sin and tried to do what was right.

Psalm 18:30 "As for God, His way is perfect..."

Of course, this is the verse on the top of my blog page, and one of my all-time favorites! It has helped me during SO MANY hard times when I don't know what is going on, and I hate the situation that I'm in. It reminds me that I can learn through these situations and that God has a purpose for these situations, even if for no other reason than for me to turn my eyes to Him and trust COMPLETELY in what He is doing in my life, because He knows what is best for me SO MUCH better than I could ever know.

coffee...revisited

Ok, so coffee is bad enough WITHOUT adding pickle juice to it. But, I think that the pickle juice would just IMPROVE the taste! That's just my opinion...for what it's worth :D

Wait

WAIT

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried.

Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.

I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate,

And the Master so gently said, "Child, you must wait".

"Wait? You say, wait! my indignant reply.

"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!

Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?

By Faith, I have asked and am claiming your Word.

My future and all to which I can relate

Hangs in the balance and YOU tell me to WAIT?

I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,

Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.

And, Lord, You promised that if we believe

We need but to ask and we shall receive.

And, Lord, I've been asking and this is my cry:

I'm weary of asking! I need a reply!

Then, quietly, softly, I learned of my fate

As my Master replied once again, "You must wait."

So, I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut

And grumbled to God, "So I'm waiting.....for what?"

He seemed, then, to kneel and His eyes wept with mine

And he tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.

I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun.

I could raise the dead and cause the mountains to run.

All you seek, I could give and pleased you would be.

You would have what you want....But you wouldn't know Me.

You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint;

You'd not know the power that I give to the faint;

You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair;

You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there;

You'd not know the joy of resting in Me

When darkness and silence were all you could see.

You'd never experience that fullness of love

As the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove;

You'd know that I give and I save....(for a start),

But, you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

The glow of My comfort late into the night,

The faith that I give when you walk without sight,

The depth that's beyond getting just what you asked

Of an infinite God who makes what you have last.

You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,

What it means that "My grace is sufficient for Thee"

Yes, your dreams for your loved one overnight would come true,

But, Oh, the loss, if I lost what I'm doing in you!

So, be silent, My child, and in time you will see,

That the greatest of all gifts is to get to know Me.
And though oft' may My answers seem terribly late,

My most precious answer of all is still, "Wait."

Reading

In my reading last night, I was in Psalm 139. Wow...let me tell you, there's so much in there! Let me give you just a little taste:

1 "O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me."

He knows me, even better than I know myself. He knows my thoughts, my desires, my likes, my dislikes, my loves, my hates, my past, my present, my future. He knows even the little things that we try to hide, the deep, dark secrets that we hardly admit to ourselves. He knows. Yet, He still loves us.


7 "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me."


God is with me wherever I am. Not only does He know what situations, trials, and troubles I am going through; He knows all the sins that I've committed or ever will commit. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. Think of it...if God didn't know of all of our sins, how could He forgive all of them? If He didn't forgive one of our sins because He didn't know about it, we wouldn't be able to get into heaven, because breaking His law in one point is as breaking every single law. He knows all of our sins, so He is able to forgive ALL OF THEM! That is a comfort!


17 "How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! 18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee."

Wow! To think that God thinks of me that often. And how much do I think of Him?

23 "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

What a request! "God, look into the deep dark closest of my heart, and find all the wickedness that I have stored up in there." How many of us would actually request such a thing? Yet, that's what David did, and it was a good thing. God WANTS to cleanse our hearts of all the "wicked way(s)" that we have hidden in our hearts and thoughts, but we are afraid to admit that we have any sin that needs to be taken care of. But GOD ALREADY KNOWS THAT SIN! We don't have anything to hide, because He already knows about it all. He has already searched us; now, He wants us to search ourselves so we can confess our sin and be right with Him.

Death be not Proud

Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so,
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure: then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell;
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

-John Donne

Christmas thoughts

Just some things to think about. When it comes to Christmas, so many things point away from Christ, but I hope that this will help to be a reminder of the real reason for the season.

* A wreath is a circle, which has no beginning and no end, just as Christ's love for us has no beginning and no end. Because of this love, Christ left Heaven to be born and live in this sinful world, eventually to die a terrible death and to raise Himself from the dead, all so that He could save us.

* Christmas trees are unlike other trees. They grow so that they point up to heaven, reminding us that the real reason for Christmas is Christ, not the presents under the tree. They are also green all year long, which can be a reminder of how believers will live forever with Christ in Heaven.

* Christmas colors: Red, white, and green. RED stands for Christ's blood, which was shed for us. Without His birth, he could not die. When we accept it as the only payment for our sins, that blood washes us WHITE as snow. GREEN stands for how we can grow in Christ as we follow the example of His life.

* Lights on the Christmas tree remind us of several things.
1) The Star that the wise men followed to find baby Jesus.
2) Jesus is the Light of the world.
3) We are to be a light to the people around us.

* The gifts that we give to each other should remind us of the precious gifts that the wise men gave to the baby Jesus. Just as they gave their best to Him, we should also give our best to Christ.

If anyone can think of anything else, go ahead and leave a comment!

My mom sent this to me. Though I don't agree with everything, it has some good thoughts.

Saved & Single
~ Author Unknown~

What makes you think that just because I am an
Attractive woman of Godly intelligence
That I'm incomplete without a mate?
Who told you that
Without a man
Something's missing
From my life?
And if so,
What would that be?

Love?
I love myself
And more importantly
I

love the Lord
He told me that when I delight in Him,
He will give me the desires of my heart
Security?
I have everything I need according to His riches in glory.

Intimacy?
Now, how's a man going to get to know me
When he doesn't even know who he is in the Lord
See my Father told me I'm above a ruby's worth
And a gem does not seek
It is sought

I'm single and that's all right with me

See,
it's not that I oppose relationships
It's that I detest co-dependency
As a woman
I know it is not my role
To chase after any man

Esther

2:14 reads
That I am to wait on my king and when he's delighted in me. He will call me by my name.

My Lord does not intend for me to be needy or desperate.
I am to be Cherished, Relished, Valued, and Honored,
It's not my job to convince him
Or Convict him of that,
My mate will already know it
And consistently show it
And he will stay on his knees daily
Not just to adore me
But to praise the Lord for
The virtuous woman he has found
So, when you see me by myself
I'm not

alone
I know what I have coming to me

I'm single and saved, and right now that's all I need to be!

Christmas music

I love Chrismas music! I wish I could listen to it all year long, but it would be difficult, considering I have only a few Christmas cd's, and I would get tired of those very quickly if I listened to them all year. I like being able to find radio stations that are playing Christmas music! I have several stations that I can go between (you know....to try to find the most "checkable" music). I can usually find something to listen to. I like that a lot of the traditional Christmas carols are in different tonalities. Major and minor get so old so quickly!

Some of my favorite Christmas songs/carols/cd's: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel; What Child is This; Sleigh Ride; I Want a Hippopotomus for Christmas; Santa Baby (that one's hillarious!); Walking in a Winter Wonderland (which is actually more of a winter song than it is a Christmas song); the Chipmunk Christmas cd's; John Rutter's Christmas cd's.

A song that I heard the other day went something like this: "All I want for Christmas is you." So, this is all about a person missing their "special someone," but it made me think...who would you put in for "you"? All I want for Christmas is....? Who is the real reason for Christmas? Jesus, of course. Isn't He the first One that we should think of? "All I want for Christmas is...You, Jesus!" It rebuked me to think that He isn't what I think of first. That should be my new goal...to want Jesus and Him only for Christmas. To be completely satisfied and fulfilled in Him and His leading in my life. And I CAN be completely satisfied with Him!

The difference....

There is a definite difference between "being called" and "surrendering." Being called means that God wants you to do a certain thing (most cases being full-time Christian service, missions, being a pastor, and other such things) with your life. Surrendering means that you are willing to do something, that you will do that IF God wants you to do it, but not necessarily that you believe that God wants you to do that thing. Surrendering is saying that you will do whatever God wants you do to, that you are opening your heart to be "called" to that thing, if God wants to call you.

About 8 years ago, I felt God calling me to be involved in Christian ministry. I know that's kindof vague, which is kindof why I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with my life (see a few posts ago entitled "What do I want to do with the rest of my life?" and the same, "Part 2."). I have since been planning on trying to do something that would be mainly influencing people's lives positively for Christ: maybe teaching at a Christian school, being a housewife and mother, or whatever God wants me to do.

Summer '01, I surrendered to go to the mission field, if that would be what God wanted me to do. I saw that I wasn't completely willing to do ANYTHING or go ANYWHERE. That did not mean that I knew (or know now) that God would want me in the mission field. It just meant that I am willing to go, if that's what God wants me to do.

Then, about 4 years ago, I started being interested in Wales. I didn't (and still don't) know if that may be what God wants for me in the future. I've taken several trips over to that area of the world, which have been good opportunities for me. The trip that I took this summer was a good trip; I really enjoyed myself, and I was able to see God work in wonderful ways. Yes, I enjoyed the trip. Yes, I think I could enjoy myself if I spent the rest of my life ministering in Wales. But I don't know that God wants me to be in Wales. In fact, I feel that God may be leading me AWAY from Wales. I am still willing to go, but I saw some things while I was there. Most of the things that I would do in Wales would be the same kinds of things that I could possibly be doing here in the United States. Plus, I keep seeing that the United States is becoming more of a mission field. I'm not so sure that I'm supposed to leave a country that has so many needs.

I still don't know what God wants me to do, but I'm more sure now than ever that God doesn't want me in Wales for the rest of my life. Maybe God just wanted me to be willing to leave everything that is familiar so I can pursure His will. God has a way of taking us out of our comfort zone! He likes to do that, but it's good for us...it makes us lean on Him and trust Him more. When we are comfortable, we tend to trust in ourselves and our "rut." It's a good place to be when you don't know what to do and you have to completely trust in God! Wherever you are in the world and in life, whatever job you have, the best situation to be in is one in which you have to completely trust in God!

O give thanks...

I Chronicles 16:8, 34 says, "Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people...O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever."

I know it's Thanksgiving in a couple of days, but I was just thinking...how often do we actually stop and thank God for all that He's done for us? Not enough, I can say that much, at least for myself. How many times do we just stop and think of all the wonderful things that God has done for us? How many times do we thank God for all those wonderful things? How often do we thank God for the everyday things that He provides for us-life, breath, a place to sleep, food to eat, our jobs, the ability to think and reason, His Word to read and study and memorize, His love for us, His sovereignty, etc.? We often get so busy with life that we don't see all the blessings that He sends our way.

Every once in a while, Pastor will ask for testimonies. A couple of people will say that they are thankful for their salvation. Another person or two may say something else that they are thankful for, but what is this compared to all that God has done for us? He keeps the world from exploding or imploding, from getting too close to or too far away from the sun, from losing all the "natural" laws (which are actually completely from God, anyways). He takes care of our needs and loves us with a love beyond comprehension. In His sovereignty, He does what is best for us. Psalm 34:1 "I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth." If we stop and think about it, we could have something to praise God for ALL the time. Even if it is a "bad day," God has done so much for us, so much that we don't deserve, that we should always be able to think of something to thank him for.

How thankful are you? What do you have to be thankful for? Please leave a comment saying something that you are thankful for! I would love to hear what you are thankful for!

What do I want to do with the rest of my life? Part 2

I've been thinking a lot about this question. What am I supposed to do after college? No matter how much I think about it and pray for God to show me, I still don't know. I can search, make plans, and try to figure it all out, but what does that accomplish? Nothing, other than wasting my time.

God knows what I am supposed to do; He has a plan for my future. What I need to do is seek Him (Jeremiah 29:13 "And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart."). When we seek Him with all of our heart, we will draw closer to Him. The closer we draw to Him, the more we become like Him. The more we become like Him, the more we will do what He wants us to do. It is a day-by-day commitment, challenge, and the one thing that we should pursue: a closer walk with God.

YLCF has a poem on their blog: www.ylcf.org/2006/11/waiting. I read this, and it was so helpful to me! Every once in a while, I need to be reminded that I don't need to know what is in my future. God knows all, and He is the One that I need to know. I must wait for Him to show me where to go. I must "walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7). No matter how much I DON'T know about my future, I need to follow Christ. I may not see the next step I will take, but I can know that I am safe, no matter how "dangerous" a place it may be that God is leading me (Psalm 23:4 "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me...."). God knows the next step that I need to take. He has already planned it and ensured that I am able to handle it with His help. I just need to trust in the help that He gives me.

What do I want to do with the rest of my life?

This is a question that I've been asking myself. I've put a lot of thought into it. I don't have any definite answers or leadings. Some things would depend on other things, but here are some of my thoughts concerning the issue:

1. I would love to be a "stay-at-home mom," of course if God provides a husband and children.

2. I love music: maybe I could write and arrange music and get some published, play in church, maybe teach lessons.

3. I love to sew, so it would be fun to incorporate that into my life.

4. I love people, so anything that would involve people would be great!

5. I want to be involved in church ministries.

So, what does this all mean? I have no idea. It doesn't mean that I'm planning to do all of these things, or even ANY of these things. These are only the things that I want. I have no idea what God wants, which is the main thing that I need to be concerned about. Right now, I'm open to whatever God wants me to do, wherever He wants me to do it. It's a little disconcerting to be in this position: I'm not in control! But it puts me in a place where I have to trust God completely-to do what He knows is best for my life-rather than me making a plan for my life and completely messing it up.

Was I ever in control, in the first place?

tryouts

So, I made the first cuts for tryouts. The next tryout is next week, so I'll keep you all posted!

I've been hearing a lot about relationships recently. So many people are confused by this guy or that girl, whether they're dating, "just friends," or not even sure what the other person is thinking. Why do we have to make these things so complicated? Yes, starting to date is a big step in our Christian college culture. We take it very seriously because we've been taught that you're supposed to "date someone who would be a good mate," as the saying goes. People are scared to say what they really think because they do not want to lose the friendship that they have, but they still want to know if there is a possibility of more than "just friends." Then, sometimes people assume the worst. I suppose it's hard NOT to assume the worst when you really don't know what the other person is thinking. That's why communication is so important. "Communication is the key to having a healthy relationship." That means ANY kind of relationship. Now, obviously, there are some things that the other peson just doesn't need to know. But, there are things that the person DOES need to know, or wants to know. COMMUNICATION!!!!! That's my soapbox.

Oh, I almost forgot

I have a new favorite quote. It goes something like this:

"Every day I get to spend with you is one more than I deserve."

Just something to think about...let it sink in. What do we really deserve? I can say one thing...we don't deserve everything we get. We should love and appreciate every good thing that comes our way because we don't deserve it.

Ok, I'm tired of the hotel stories. I'm not sure if anyone else is enjoying them, but I don't think I'm going to do that any more. Just so you're not disappointed, that was the warning.

What can I say?!? God is so good! I don't know what He's doing in my life, exactly, but I can definitely see Him working and showing Himself powerful! But that is one thing that I would like to ask you all to pray about: What God wants for me. I have peace about the direction I'm going, so far. What direction it is, exaclty, I'm not sure, but God is definitely leading me somewhere! Pray for wisdom in the decisions I make. I definitely need that. Especially for this summer. I'm not sure where God wants me. Right now, I'm thinking probably either a camp or traveling with a Maranatha group. I still have a few months before I would know anything for sure, I guess. Tryouts for Maranatha groups start in a couple of week, and that will probably go on for about a month. I made it to the last round of tryouts last time I tried out, so that's encouraging!

So, we're finally getting into the good stuff in choral arranging. We've finished writing the 4-part harmony, which was a lot of fun. Dr. Ledge says I have a "knack" for it! That's encouraging! It's the piano parts that I'm scared about. I never liked trying to do piano parts for my arrangements. We just started that, and the first one was due today. It seemed to go alright. Hopefully I'll be able to improve as time goes on!

Thought for the day: "I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven..." Nehemiah 1:4. Pastor Loggans preached on this today in chapel. Something he brought out: when was the last time you really cried for someone just for them, for completely unselfish reasons, just because you see their pain and you feel it as they do? Wow. He didn't say it exactly like that, but that's how I saw it. Completely unselfish...what a rebuke. I mean, I cry sometimes. Not very often, but usually there is at least a speck of selfishness in there somewhere. But to be in pain completely because someone else is in pain....what a thought.