His beautiful creation

so if any of ya'll were observant yesterday, you would have discovereded that the sky looked alot like this. yes it has been photoshopped a bit....and yes, it was taken from a moving vehicle.....but the moral of the story is that God is by far the best artist i know!! so in conclusion, look outside every once in a while God has a beautiful creation out there.

Your love is strong- jon foreman

Heavenly Father
You always amaze me
Let your kingdom come
In my world and in my life
You give me the food I need
To live through the day
And forgive me as I forgive
The people that wronged me
Lead me far from temptation
Deliver me from the evil one

I look out the window
The birds are composing
Not a note is out of tune
Or out of place
I look at the meadow
And stare at the flowers
Better dressed than any girl
On her wedding day

So why do I worry?
Why do I freak out?
God knows what I need
You know what I need

Chorus (3x):
Your love is
Your love is
Your love is strong

The kingdom of the heavens
Is now advancing
Invade my heart
Invade this broken town
The kingdom of the heavens
Is buried treasure
Will you sell yourself
To buy the one you've found?

Two things you told me
That you are strong
And you love me
Yes, you love me

(Chorus 3x)

Our God in heaven
Hallowed be
Thy name above all names
Your kingdom come
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven
Give us today our daily bread
Forgive us wicked sinners
Lead us far away from our vices
And deliver us from these prisons

Your love has no bounds...

Jesus Lord of heaven. I do not deserve the grace that you have given or the promise of your word. Lord i stand in wonder at the sacrifice You made. With mercy beyond measure, my debt You freely paid. Your love is deeper than any ocean, higher than the heavens, reaches beyond the stars in the sky. Jesus, Your love has no bounds! So at church last night, i was totally reminded of this song. Looking at the stars in the sky, thinking about how He died for our sins. His love truly has no bounds. That is such a comforting thing to know! That i have a relationship with the creator of the universe, and He loves me. Not because i deserve it, because i don't. But He still chooses to love me as filthy as i am, and call me His child.

this morning....

consisted of Bible reading, music listening, math homework, a london fog, and my dad. what more could i ask for!?

last night

was good.  it involved:  some guitar hero, music listening, prayer, talking, wendy's, tea, some more talking....  i love friday nights.  they are just so relaxing and chill!  it just lets me take time to debrief from the week (to put it in military terms).

it is such a blessing to be able to spend time in fellowship and prayer.  to think that we have the freedom to do that...why do we not take advantage of it more often?  every moment of our lives should be spent in prayer.  just talking to God always.  it's so amazing that i can have that relationship with the creator of the universe!  how He loves us!  it just amazes me...

Torches Together

so today i was sitting in the hall at school reading in Matthew 11.  it was all about john the baptist and how he was preparing the way for Jesus.  but then i came across this verse: 11:17 "we played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we mourned to you and you did not lament."  and of course, mewithoutYou's song came to mind.  so then i started analyzing the whole thing.  and as if i didn't like this song enough already, now i have another reason to love it!!

so the whole flute thing: it was talking about how no matter what we as Christians do, the world is not going to be happy about it.  in the verse following it said that they considered john demon possessed because he did not eat, but then they called Jesus a glutton for eating.  same thing.  they played the flute, but it was too happy.  so they played a sad song, but then it was too sad.  the world is looking for reasons to hate Christians.  since they cant find any real reasons, they resort to petty things that don't matter.  

then there's the whole theme of the song: torches.  Matthew 5:14-15  "you are the light of the world. a city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.  nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp-stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."  don't hide the light that is in you because you are a Christian.  share it with the world.  we'll be like torches lighting up the world, and showing them the way to salvation.  

so there's my little analysis for the day.  hope it made a little bit of sense, and i wasn't just rambling.  

Why burn poor and lonely under a bowl.
Under a lampshade or on the shelf
Beside the bed where at night
You lay turning like a door on it's hinges?
(First on your left side, then on your right side, then your left side again)
Why burn poor and lonely?
Tell all the stones, we're gonna make a building.
We'll cut into shape & set into place or you'd rather be a window,
I'll gladly be the frame reflecting any kind of words.
We'll let in all the blame
(And ruin our reputation all the same)
Never mind out plan making,
We'll start living......anyway,
Aren't you unbearably sad?
Then why burn so poor and lonely?

We'll be like torches 
We'll be like torches
We'll be torches together! torches together
Well be like torches 
We'll be like torches
With whatever respect, our tattered Dignity demands
Torches together, hand in hand

Why pluck one string - What good is just one note?
Oh, one string sounds fine i guess....We were once 'One Note',
We were lonely wheat quietly ground into grain
(What light and momentary pain!)
So why this safe distance, this curious look?
Why tear out single pages when you can throw away the book?
Why pluck one string when you can strum the guitar?
Strum the guitar!
Strum the guitar!
Strum the guitar!
With no beginning, with no end
Take down a guitar and strum the guitar 
Strum the the guitar if you're afraid,
And I'm afraid and everyone's afraid
And everyone knows it but we don't have to be afraid anymore

You played the flute but no one was dancing
You sang a sad song but none of us(x4)
You played such a sad song....such a sad song

Sunday!

Yesterday was possibly one of the most chill days of my life. that is definitely a good thing! it started out with some coffee and 7th heaven with my parents. kinda funny that we watch that show together...then i was doing some stuff on facebook and my e-mail....then my computer decides to die and not turn back on (the most un-chill part of my day) so my dad and i went to starbucks and drank a london fog (which, by the way, is not very good at all compared to satellite's version) while we were at starbucks we looked in the sunday ads for computer sales. the best deal just happened to be at staples, right next door. so we went to check it out. pretty nice i must say. about four times better than my laptop that just died. and the sad part is that it was only four years old...

then home once again. then monique kidnapped me once again. that seems to be a trend around these parts. then some converse (chuck taylor) shopping at shoes on a shoe string. time #1 running into miss katie reiman. then to the park to read our Bibles, but it was to cold and windy, so we walked around it and came back home.

then facebooking on my brothers working computer at home. then the beginnings of a chick flick. then brandino arrives. so we turn the chick flick off. our day had been girly enough already. some youtube watching. ridiculous conversations....and the hobbs sisters plus keneth arrive. i attempt to make my own version of a london fog. which is completely disgusting. and no one refrains from telling me it...

so we go to satellite on a covert operation. our mission: to find the secret to the perfect london fog. just ended up blatently asking them how they did it. but, surprisingly, they told us how they do it. so now we have to try it!! i'm pretty stoked. time #2 running into miss katie reiman

but now back to the chill day...we came home. shared the secret with my mom so that at least one of us would remember when we tried to make it. let my mom taste a real london fog. after which she reassured me that mine was completely gross...then a worship night down stairs. not to mention the beautiful fire my dad started in our fire place. then the fire died and we had to resort to the use of a black light. which was kinda ridiculous if you ask me....lol. then some prayer. then everyone went to their appropriate houses.

and that is the end of my ridiculously chill, do nothing day. yeah, it was alot of writing....but as you will recall, nothing really happened. so the end.

Four Word Letter-mewithoutYou

I wrote a four word letter... with post-script in crooked lines,"Though I'd lived I'd never been alive."And you know who I am... you held my hem as I traveled blind,Listening to the whispering in my ear, soft but getting stronger,Telling me the only purpose of my being here is to stay a bit longer.Stealing a bicycle chain as the handlebars crashed to the ground,And the back wheel detached from the frame, it kept rolling, yeah,But aimlessly drifting around.Oh, doubters, let's go down... let's go down, won't you come on down?Oh, doubters, let's go down... down to the river to pray."Oh, but I'm so small I can barely be seen... how can this great love be inside of me?"Look at your eyes.... they're small in size, but they see enormous things.Wearing black canvas slippers in our frog-on-a-lily-pad pose,We sewed buttons and zippers to Chinese pink silk and olive night clothes.If you could someday stop by somehow we'll show you the pictures and fix you some tea...See, my dad's getting a bit older now, and just unimaginably lonely!Oh, pretenders, let's go down... let's go down, won't you come on down?Oh, pretenders, let's go down... down to the river to pray."Oh, but I'm so afraid" or "I'm set in my ways"But He'll make the rabbits and rocks sing His praise."Oh, but I'm too tired, I won't last long."No, He'll use the weak to overcome the strong!Oh, Amanda, let's go down... let's go down, won't you come on down?Mama, Nana, let's go down... down in the dirt by the river to pray.(A wick to fit the wax... wood to fit the wire)You strike the match... why not be utterly changed to fire?To sacrifice the shadow and the mist of a brief life you never much liked?So if you'd care to come along, we're gonna curb all our never-ending, clever complaining,As who's ever heard of a singer criticized by his song?Though we hunger, though all that we eat brings us little relief,We don't know quite what else to do;We have all our beliefs, but we don't want our beliefs...God of Peace, we want You.

so basically, sunsets make my life! i was going through some old pictures on my computer. and i just so happened to find this one. my dad sent it to us from iraq. he took it while he was over there like 5 years ago. it's so amazing to look at this picture, and just see the glory of God all over it! to think that this was taken half way across the world in the midst of a war.....wow! God really is there in the midst of everything. and even the simplest of things are the most gorgeous, and just remind me how great our God is. He is most definitely the best artist in the world. i would give anything for Him and to be in His presence!

hiking take 2

hiking is possibly one of the best inventions ever. and today, that is exactly what we did.

so, off we go to the heights. hiking our way up to sketch rock. possibly dying from falling off. sitting on top of the world. chilling reading the Bible. just so happen to open up to Psalm 18. the chapter about how G-d is our rock and our salvation. how ironic! i'm chillin' on top of a rock, reading about how the Lord is our rock. might i mention listening to some fabulous phil wickham, and tenth avenue north, and underoath (some will seek forgiveness, others escape). life is just plain amazing at this point.

then a clan of little kids come. all just running amuck around. pretty amusing to watch i must say. then monique and i almost die climbing down, trying to avoid those kids (okay, maybe not so much).

then running down the trail, pretending like we're flying, just cause we can. then running up a huge, steep concrete drainage thing. hardcore dancing without music. yelling, because the echo sounds cool. going back down. grabbing my musical phone and running back up, almost dying from exhaustion. some more hardcore dancing to the killers. just about as indie as it gets. then back down to end our beautiful hiking adventure.

the end

mighty to save

so we sung this song tonight at church, and we were just talking about how G-d is so mighty to save. hence the song: "mighty to save", by hillsong.

Everyone needs compassion
A love that's never failing
Let mercy fall on me

Everyone needs forgiveness
The kindness of a Savior
The hope of nations

(Chorus:)
Savior
He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever
Author of Salvation
He rose & conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave

So take me as You find me
All my fears & failures
Fill my life again

I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in
Now I surrender (I surrender)

(Chorus:) (2x)
Savior
He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever
Author of Salvation
He rose & conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave

(Bridge:) (2x)
Shine Your light &
Let the whole world see
We're singing
For the glory
Of the risen King
Jesus

(Chorus)
You're the Savior
You can move the mountains
Lord You are mighty to save
You are mighty to save
Forever
Author of Salvation
You rose & conquered the grave
Yes You conquered the grave