One step closer.

"Who is stirring up my passion

Who is rising up in me

Who is filling up my hunger

With everything I need."

- Vineyard

So, a few highlights to write down.

IHOP was at my church this past weekend and it was truly a very blessed time.

They had worship/prayer going on all day.. so I was in there for several hours.

Then, they also had prophetic/healing appointments you could make.. so I made a prophetic appt. with my mom.. and let's just say, God totally blessed both of us. :)

They give you a tape of everything that they say to you.. so I'm planning on listening to it periodically, so I am reminded of what was said to me.

In other news..

A very exciting thing happened yesterday.. and I truly am one step closer now.

I was able to sell my engagement ring & female wedding band (and I have already sold the male wedding band to an antique store to have it melted down for the white gold).

I cannot express my joy in truly having them 'off my hand' (but not out of my checkbook... I'm still paying on them).. but praise God for allowing me to get them out of my hands. :) yay!!!

My brother is getting married in 2 1/2 weeks (May 23rd).

I'm so excited & happy for him.. and her. :) They are definitely very good for each other.

I love it.

I love the ways that God works.

I love how dependable He is - He promises to give good gifts to His children (Mt. 7:11).

I love how God knows my heart and the desires that lie there (Ps. 37:4).

I love that God's love is better than life itself (Ps. 63:3).

I love that God truly works all things together for good (Rom. 8:28).

I love that God knows each person so intimately and has made each of us so intricately.

The trials, the battles, the joys, the hurts, the truth to each of us - it is not hidden from Him.

***

In worship tonight, I was reminded that if we, as Christ-followers, truly got it - we would totally change this world. If we truly allowed God to be the first love in our lives - He would shine through. It would be evident that God's hand is upon us - because we would not allow the tricks of the enemy to steal what God has for us. We would truly love each other in the Lord and would encourage each other on.

Another thing that I was reminded of ties into the song "Breathe." The verse goes, "this is the air I breathe.." If we truly lived like we needed God more than our next breath.... wow. You couldn't be held back. I couldn't get caught up in the weights of this world (Heb. 12:1). It just could not happen.. because I wouldn't even desire any of that garbage. It wouldn't even appeal to me, not even for the momentary 'pleasure.'

There's a worship song that I've been singing lately and part of it goes: "Wonderful, beautiful, glorious, matchless in every way" ("Here In Your presence" - New Life worship). That's my Lord. That's my Creator. My Savior. My Source. My Portion. My Truth. Oh that I wouldn't lose sight of who God is..!

On a sidenote.... I am giving 6 months devoted to not seeking a relationship with a guy. I decided at the beginning of January, partially due to the end of a relationship but mostly what God has placed on my heart, to give time to the Lord.. and not sway from that. It's been an amazing 4 months.. it really has. I see God's hand on this and I pray that continues and that His will is fulfilled through this. I just want God's best.. I want God's will.. more than anything. I really do. I know what settling for less than God's best looks like, and I do not want it. I was watching the movie "No Reservations" tonight.. and I started sobbing. My mom shared with me that she has started crying when the sister dies and leaves the daughter behind. But I was sobbing in the part where the two main characters begin to have a relationship and everything is so right-on.. it's like things are just as they should be and it's so obvious to the observer than they belong together and that they compliment each other perfectly. I felt it deep in my heart. That is what I long for. It's what I've wanted for what seems like far too long... but I can wait. I must and I am. :)

Restoration

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LcyQOLVS_U

Please checkout this song on You Tube.
It was written by Clay Edwards and sung by David Brymer (and Misty Edwards).


There is a gathering called "The Garage" in the area that meets every friday night.
It's a group of people that come together from all sorts of backgrounds and churches.
It's a fairly small number usually... but what God does in those meetings is nothing small.
I've only gone a handful of times so far (my 'new' job has kept me from going a lot because I've had to work a lot of friday nights)... but one thing for sure, God moves there.
Last night the worship leader (which changes every week... and I may be able to play sometime soon) led this song "Restoration." I had never heard it before.


As we sang, I felt so much power in this song.
Some songs have that strength to them. During worship, God can really do a lot in us.. if we let Him.
So I just wanted to share this incredible song. Please listen to it and make it your prayer.


Because God does restore us.

Living intentionally

Cool Hand Luke is a pretty great band.

Definitely worth checking out.

Their lyrics have a lot of depth.

It's refreshing and challenging.

Recently, I rediscovered how much I enjoyed them.

I was making a mix cd for my friend Emily.. and couldn't help but remember the time I saw them in concert in Lincoln, IL.

I remember the singer sharing this scripture verse and it just really impacted me.

I was going to ISU at the time and used this verse as a backbone for the worship team I led the next year.

"I said to the Lord, 'You are my Lord; apart from You I have no good thing.'"

- Psalm 16:2

Whenever I hear a song of theirs, I can't help but be reminded of this verse.

Music has that great attribute.

It brings back a memory a lot of the time. :)

When God is really the only thing good to us, we can't help but desire to be filled with more of Him.

It's pretty basic.

And yet... so many times... we forget that truth, or we get distracted.

We begin to focus on others or ourselves.

I feel like God is doing so much in my life.... and I can't help but be excited.

I'm living intentionally.

Again.

Grace pays the bill.

I want to jot down some truths about grace here.

I've been re-reading "Velvet Elvis" (for the third time).

And I'm getting a lot out of it.

Perhaps it's because I'm looking for it... and I know that there are profound truths that I need to truly be reminded of - or even exposed to.

I wanted to share a bit of chapter six here.

".. God makes us in His image. We reflect beauty and creativity and wonder of the God who made us. And Jesus calls us to return to our true selves. The pure, whole people God originally intended us to be, before we veered off course.

Somewhere in you is the you whom you were made to be.

We need you to be you.

We don't need a second anyone. We need the first you.

The problem is that the image of God is deeply scarred in each of us, and we lose trust in God's version of our story. It seems too good to be true. And so we go searching for identity. We achieve and we push and we perform and we shop and we work out and we accomplish great things, longing to repair the image. Longing to find an identity that feels right.

Longing to be comfortable in our own skin.

But the thing we are searching for is not somewhere else. It is right here. And we can only find it when we give up the search, when we surrender, when we trust. Trust that God is already putting us back together.

Trust that through dying to the old, the new can give birth.

Trust that Jesus can repair the scarred and broken image.

It is trusting that I am loved. That I always have been. That I always will be. I don't have to do anything. I don't have to prove anything or achieve anything or accomplish one more thing. That exactly as I am, I am totally accepted, forgiven, and there is nothing I could ever do to lose this acceptance.

... We need you to embrace your true identity, who you are in Christ, letting this new awareness transform your life (p. 150, 151). "

Rob Bell then shares about an experience at a restaurant. He was having breakfast with his son and father.. and their meal ended up getting paid for by someone else.

The profound depth to this analogy really hit home with me.

He says that he felt helpless.. and that to insist on paying would be pointless. Accepting that what the waitress said was true meant to either live like it was true or create his own reality in which the bill wasn't paid. The chapter ends with this: To trust that grace pays the bill.

I'm learning to truly walk in the freedom that has already been bought for me through the cross. All victory is mine through Christ. All authority is mine in Christ. I'm learning that it truly is only by grace that I am saved. With all my faults, He loves me still. He is doing a good work in me, if I allow that work to be done.

The things of God are really what matter.

I'm not saying to be out of touch with life here.. "being a Christian is not cutting yourself off from real life; it is entering into it more fully (p. 91)." If I am truly keeping my heart soft to God and truly seeking Him, I will hear His voice. And He is always speaking. Somehow. Through so many things. At so many times.

"Do you really think God's voice is more interesting than the voices that surround you?"

- Rob Bell

Life lessons.

I've been taking lots of notes lately.

On life.

On books I'm reading.

Notes about life.

I am reading "Velvet Elvis" (for the third time..) with a friend of mine.

I feel like I am getting so much out of that book.

My favorite reading has been Chapter 3.. and I'm just reminded of truth.

I love truth.

It excites me.. to the very core of who I am.

I'm a christian because it is true reality.. I've invested time and research.. (let alone personal experience) and know that, as Rob Bell reminds us in that book, "being a christian is to claim truth wherever you find it" (p. 81).

***

Here are some life lessons as of lately:

1. I'm being reminded that each passing moment we only get once. Here. Now.
   *Make each moment count.
   Live life as you want today.. living life to the FULLEST.. because we will NOT get these opportunities again.
   --> Don't let the enemy get a foothold. We only get ONE life.
2. God truly does work all things together for our good (Rom. 8:28).
   - Every trial is for strengthening our character
   - Every wrong decision God can use to show us why HE needs to direct our lives & what it is like to not live under His blessing.
3. Do not hold grudges.
   Forgive & forget.
   If we don't, we do not truly show God's love & we let our hearts become hard & bitter.

I'm at a really good place in my life right now.

.. and I couldn't be happier. :)

It's True.

I've always been inspired by music..

and photos (like the one here).

This is a song that I just want to share,

by a great group, Nevertheless.

*Enjoy*

Tell me whose right
Whose wrong
It sounds like the same old song
But if it's compromise they want
Then I don't belong

We paint you in pictures well
We praise you and live like we don't
If you'd ask do we love you still
Sometimes I can't tell

It's true,
I still believe in you
We've made it hard to see
The light shining through
The things we do

Holy and beautiful
Your grace is unstoppable
It's bigger than what we've done
Or how we feel

It's true,
I still believe in you
We've made it hard to see
The light shining through
The things we do

Underneath my skin,
In a place where no one goes
There is still a fire,
Burning in my soul
The world is such a mess,
But somewhere there is hope
Somewhere there is hope
You are still my hope

It's true,
I still believe in you
We've made it hard to see
The light shining through
The things we do

I still believe in you,
I still believe in you,
I still believe in you,
I still believe in