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| Psalm 25:1-3 and 8-10
"To You O Lord I lift up my soul; O my God in YOU I trust, let me not be
put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me. Indeed, none who wait for
You shall be put to shame...Good and upright is the Lord, therefore He instructs
sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right and teaches the humble
His way. ALL the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness
for those who keep His covenant and His testimonies."
It's Going To Be Alright
by Sara Groves
It's going to be alright
It's going to be alright
I can tell by your eyes that you're not getting any sleep
And you try to rise above it, but feel you're sinking in too deep
Oh, oh I believe, I believe that
It's going to be alright
It's going to be alright
I believe you'll outlive this pain in you heart
And you'll gain such a strength from what is tearing you apart
Oh, oh I believe I believe that
It's going to be alright
It's going to be alright
When some time has past us, and the story if retold
It will mirror the strength and the courage in your soul
Oh, oh, I believe I believe,
I believe
I believe
I did not come here to offer you clichÈ's
I will not pretend to know of all your pain
Just when you cannot, then I will hold out faith, for you
It's going to be alright
It's going to be alright | | |
| A poem by Martha Snell Nicholson
"I stood a mendicant of God before His royal throne,
And begged Him for one priceless gift, which I could call my own.
I took the gift from out His hand, but as I would depart,
I cried, 'But Lord this is a thorn and it has pierced my heart!
This is a strange, a hurtful gift, which Thou hast given me.'
He said, 'My child, I give good gifts and gave My best to thee.'
I took it home and though at first the cruel thorn hurt sore,
As long years passed I learned at last to love it more and more.
I learned He never gives a thorn without this added grace,
He takes the thorn to pin aside the veil which hides His face."
This poem beautifully captures what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10:
"A thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, THEN I am strong."
P.S. "Mendicant" is another word for "beggar"
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| Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God." Psalm 37:7 "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him."
Still
by Watermark
The more I get
alone, the more I see I need to get alone more
Cause just when I think that I'm alone Your Spirit calls out to me
And even silence has a song, cause that's when You come sing over me
Still, let me be
still
Let me be OK
With the quiet in my heart
Still, I want to be still
I'm so quick to move
Instead of listening to You
Shut my mouth
Crush my pride
Give me the tears
Of a broken life,
Still
Oh this world,
it falls around me and flutters all it's beauty in my eyes
But let me choose the solitude, simplicity has always simply changed my life
Cause even stillness makes me move, cause that's when my heart learns to dance with You
Still, let me be
still
Let me be OK
With the quiet in my heart
Still, I want to be still
I'm so quick to move
Instead of listening to You
I'm your child
Tame my heart
Obedience
To me impart
Still
La la la la la,
Hold me
La la la la la, Cleanse me
La la la la la, Change me, Oh God
Change me while I am
Still, let me be still
And know that you are God
And you are always enough
Still, I want to be still
To take all that I am
And simply lift it up
Shut my mouth
Crush my pride
Give me the tears
Of a broken life,
Still | | |
| A Tribute To The Giant Purple Twinkie
As most of you may know by now (being the fact that this is nearly two months overdue) we have sold our beloved Giant Purple Twinkie. For those of you who are trying to picture an enlarged twinkie that is dyed purple...you have quite an imagination. The Giant Purple Twinkie was the name bestowed upon our big (purple) conversion van. Through wind and rain...blizzards and ice...up (and down) the Rocky Mountains...across the country (many a time)...through Kansas (even if it almost died on us)...dozens of ski trips...innumerable drives where more than was legal amounts of people were crammed in...caroling and light-looking ventures...and the list could go on...The Giant Purple Twinkie faithfully (and quite comfortably) carried us to-and-fro. Laugh if you must...but it became a sort of member of the family...even of the church you could say! So it was really rather a sad occasion when it sold. Sold EXACTLY seven years TO THE DAY we bought it!! Purchased on October 18 2000...sold October 18 2007...which we discovered when I was reading through an old journal of mine exclaiming:
"Dad bought a conversion van! YAAAAAY! It has a TV and VCR, CD player, two tape players, headphones to listen to it all, little lights everywhere that look like Christmas lights in the ceiling, a little vacuum thing, and the backseat lays out into a king size bed! It's so COOL!! I love it!"
(what can I say? It was thrilling to a 12 year old and I was very enthusiastic!)
So...in honor of The Giant Purple Twinkie...I thought we'd take a trip down memory lane with some pictures!! Brace yourselves for some pretty old pics...mwhahaha!
To start off, here is a picture from New Attitude 2004:
(L-R: Jared Malament, Kellie Maxwell(at the time), Julie Malament, Savannah Luevano)
Caleb and I doing school on one of our many road trips to the east coast. (2004)
We ate too many of those nasty Combos...bleh! (I think we were tired of school too)
Hah...lovely fountain ponytail there...Me and my B.F.F. Nameful on the same trip in 2004
The Twinkie had room to stretch...it was grand...
Nameful and I...trying to be enthusiastic about fast food...
Ceege found there was not only room to stretch but also to breakdance.
Ceege discovered the missing piece of his sandwich that he lost GOING to Virginia on the way HOME! Ick!
The Twinkie got bombed!!!!
Beach vacation with the Hawkins 2004 I think we drank a little too much of Dollar Store root beer...
(L-R: Joey Hawkins, Me, Elissa Hawkins)
Bored in the car...so we got creative! Look hard enough and you'll see our reflections in the TV screen...
(L-R: Di, Ceege (he's that flash), Me
Still bored, so it's a good time for a family photo!!!
(L-R: Mom driving, Di, Ceege, Me, Dad snoozing)
 Cousins! Trip to Virginia 2005
(L-R: Diana, Heather, Me, Paul, Caleb)
Starbucks and my new trucker hat to make it through...trip home from beach 2005
The Twinkie buried in snow!! This snow was actually in MAY 2005...gotta love Colorado:)
Peoples crammed in to go see the opening showing of Chronicles of Narnia! December 2005!
(L-R: Sierra (looking not so enthusiastic), Di (looking over enthusiastic), Molly (being Molly) :)
Up into the Rockies on a Geocashing adventure! Summer 2006
(L-R: David Platz, Me and my best friend ever Jared Platz, and William Platz)
Hi Ceege!! (through the headrest of his chair...he must've been feeling left out...haha!)
Hi mommy! (Caleb gets a kick out of this picture every time...probably cause he took it!! heehee)
Jared is either giving Ceege mental therapy or a hair massage (or just messing up his do)
And now for a string of Ceege-n-Ree after Good Times ice cream (Trip to the mountains summer 2006)
Fishy faces:
Can YOU suck your whole upper lip into your nose? We tried...
Uh oh!! Run for your lives!!
This was supposed to be our "HI NEIGHBOR" shot...but I think Ceege sneezed. haha!
Hi Jared!!! Why are you in my backseat?
And to conclude, are me and my Twinkie in the blizzards of 2006:
If you looked at all those pictures (I just realized how many there were)...I hope you enjoyed them and were reminded of all the fun times the Twinkie provided. Please do add your comments of favorite Twinkie memories!! | | |
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~ 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 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 ones 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 GIFTS IS
TO GET TO KNOW ME.
And though oft may my answers seem terribly
late,
My wisest of answers is still but to WAIT."
~Author unknown This poem reflects the theme that the Father has been revealing to me in the past few weeks: His All-sufficiency! It reminds me of Psalm 27:14
"Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!"
Whether it be waiting for an answer to prayer, waiting for a job, waiting upon others, waiting in expectation, waiting in fear....or even waiting to fall asleep at night....this position of waiting is the best condition of a child before His Father. Oh to be satisfied in biding the Lord's will! Not doubting His faithfulness or being suspicious of His love!
"While waiting keep up your spirits. Expect a great deliverance, and be ready to praise God for it."
~Charles Spurgeon
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