My brain is definately on overload tonight.
I have SO much I need to write about just so I can sort out all of my thoughts.
-This summer is coming quickly.
-Christmas is now a distinct possibility.
-I have the best friends in the world.
-I have been reduced to tears because of some old issues that have surfaced.
-I have been discovering, or i guess, realizing, how big of a sinner I am...and how many problems I have. And because of that, there are times when I shy away from relationships and people and depth, and ultimately, I run away from God because of it. (This is part of what I was talking to you about, Dave)
-"If our God is for us, who could ever stop us? If our God is for us, who could stand against us? Our God is greater, our God is higher," Our God, is incredible.
-The heart of the mattter is the matter of the heart.
-Chipotle has really good burrito's, they have very impressive financial statements, but their book value and PE ratio's are slightly worrisome.
1. - Intense, unending, patient, sacrificial, and selfless love for others.
2. - A desire to make disciples and be discipled.
3. - An unwavering commitment to go wherever God leads whenever God says go, and to stay wherever God says to stay for as long as He says to stay there.
-Broken Down House is a really good book, even if it hurts to read sometimes.
-Things are hard, but in the end, they are worth it.
-Take it all Jesus, until only love remains.
-Wherever You lead Father, I will follow all the way.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Beauty In Broken Things
I have this incredibly complex thought in my head, and I just can't quite express it.
Basically, the idea is this: I am beginning to think that one of the most important things in the world is to see the beauty in broken things. We live in a broken world, we live in a world that has been trampled and ravaged by sin. It is a world that can seem very very dark and depressing and just plain nasty at times. But when we slow down a little bit, we will make a unique discovery! Even in the midst of a broken down house, even in the midst of a world totally ravaged by sin, even in the midst of imperfect people living in a world that is vastly different from its original design, we can still find beauty. The reason that we can find beauty is that the True Source of beauty is still active and alive. The True Source of beauty can be seen in the budding leaves of an April tree, in the song of a newborn baby bird, in the crispness of the morning air, or in the wonder of a setting Kansas sun.
Whenever we stop and view the world around us, whenever we stop to smell the roses we can see beauty, and it is a wonderful gift from the hand of God that we can see and experience the beauty that He has created and creates still. For it is not without effort that the leaf unfolds from its winter shelter, it is not without care that a baby bird breaks through the shell, it is not without a whisper that sun drives the dark from the sky, and it is not without intricacy that an Artist paints an evening sky. All of these things are an act of the Living and Creative God of the Universe. When He creates all of these wonders, I dare to say that He is exerting the same creative powers that He did when He fashioned the world. The hands that hold the world, are still creating today. He has yet to give up on His world, He has yet to give up on its restoration, He has yet to give up on you. He will never stop, He will never stop until everything is completely and totally restored. But until that day, He will still continue to give us ever small glimpses of true beauty. He will keep giving us those tiny little reminders that this broken down world will be re-built, that this world that is ravaged by sin will be made new. He continues to give us assurance that He will complete the work that He began in His children. In His own special way He says "Dear child, no matter how hard today may seem, I have a plan. I have a plan for you and it is good. It is good beyond your wildest dreams. And that plan is being carried out and will unfold just as beautifully as a budding May rose."
We must learn to see the beauty in broken things. We must learn to see the beauty that is all around us. For it is these glimpses into the heart of a wonderfully creative God that we find hope and full assurance. It is when we see the good that is still around us that we remember that good will always endure, that love wins in the end.
Never forget.
Never give up.
For there is beauty, in broken things.
Basically, the idea is this: I am beginning to think that one of the most important things in the world is to see the beauty in broken things. We live in a broken world, we live in a world that has been trampled and ravaged by sin. It is a world that can seem very very dark and depressing and just plain nasty at times. But when we slow down a little bit, we will make a unique discovery! Even in the midst of a broken down house, even in the midst of a world totally ravaged by sin, even in the midst of imperfect people living in a world that is vastly different from its original design, we can still find beauty. The reason that we can find beauty is that the True Source of beauty is still active and alive. The True Source of beauty can be seen in the budding leaves of an April tree, in the song of a newborn baby bird, in the crispness of the morning air, or in the wonder of a setting Kansas sun.
Whenever we stop and view the world around us, whenever we stop to smell the roses we can see beauty, and it is a wonderful gift from the hand of God that we can see and experience the beauty that He has created and creates still. For it is not without effort that the leaf unfolds from its winter shelter, it is not without care that a baby bird breaks through the shell, it is not without a whisper that sun drives the dark from the sky, and it is not without intricacy that an Artist paints an evening sky. All of these things are an act of the Living and Creative God of the Universe. When He creates all of these wonders, I dare to say that He is exerting the same creative powers that He did when He fashioned the world. The hands that hold the world, are still creating today. He has yet to give up on His world, He has yet to give up on its restoration, He has yet to give up on you. He will never stop, He will never stop until everything is completely and totally restored. But until that day, He will still continue to give us ever small glimpses of true beauty. He will keep giving us those tiny little reminders that this broken down world will be re-built, that this world that is ravaged by sin will be made new. He continues to give us assurance that He will complete the work that He began in His children. In His own special way He says "Dear child, no matter how hard today may seem, I have a plan. I have a plan for you and it is good. It is good beyond your wildest dreams. And that plan is being carried out and will unfold just as beautifully as a budding May rose."
We must learn to see the beauty in broken things. We must learn to see the beauty that is all around us. For it is these glimpses into the heart of a wonderfully creative God that we find hope and full assurance. It is when we see the good that is still around us that we remember that good will always endure, that love wins in the end.
Never forget.
Never give up.
For there is beauty, in broken things.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Thank You
Thank You Lord, for the waves on the ocean.
Thank You Lord, for the thunder crashing.
Thank You Lord, for the valleys deep.
Thank You Lord, for the endless deserts.
Thank You Lord, for the oceans deep.
Thank You Lord, for heavy burdens.
Thank You Lord, for tasks beyond our own abilities.
Thank You Lord, for the hard things.
Thank You Lord, for the mundane.
Thank You Lord, for the sunshine.
Thank You Lord, for the dreary days of spring.
Thank You Lord, for the beautiful days of spring.
Thank You Lord, for the hard things.
Thank You Lord, for what You take away.
Thank You Lord, for what You just won't give.
Thank You Lord, for what You hide from us.
Thank You Lord, for never giving us more than we can handle.
Thank You Lord, for the things that stretch.
Thank You Lord, for the things that hurt.
Thank You Lord, for the things that bring tears.
Thank You Lord, for the difficult things that bring a smile.
Thank You Lord, for teaching us more about Yourself.
Thank You Lord, for teaching us more about ourselves.
Thank You Lord, that You never give up on Your kids.
Thank You Lord, that You are saving me from myself.
Thank You Lord, for the hard things.
Thank You Lord, for heavy burdens.
Thank You Lord, for the fire, for Your refining fire.
Thank You Lord, for it is in the fire that You mold Your men.
Thank You Lord, for the fire purifies our hearts.
Thank You Lord, for heavy burdens.
Thank You Lord, that You don't always let us see the whole picture.
Thank You Lord, that sometimes You must lead us step by step.
Thank You Lord, for the trials that You allow.
Thank You Lord, for heavy burdens.
Thank You Lord, for the hard things.
Thank You Lord, for it is only through trials that You perfect our patience.
Thank You Lord, for patience, because patience is essential for our journey.
Thank You Lord, for guiding our every step.
Thank You Lord, for authoring our journey.
Thank You Lord, for winding rivers.
Thank You Lord, for winding roads.
Thank You Lord, that You know the destination.
Thank You Lord, that You will lead and You only want us to follow.
Thank You Lord, that Your way is always good.
Thank You Lord, for making us wait.
Thank You Lord, for teaching us patience.
Thank You Lord, for heavy burdens.
Thank You Lord, for valleys deep.
Thakn You Lord, for trials that seem to never end.
Thank You Lord, that You allow the hard stuff.
Thank You Lord, that You never give up on us.
Thank You Lord, for Your love is deeper.
Thank You Lord, for Your love is deeper than our heavy burdens.
Thank You Lord, for Your love is deeper than our valleys deep.
Thank You Lord, for Your love lifts our heavy burdens.
Thank You Lord, for Your love that changes everything.
Thank You Lord, for the trials that You lovingly pour out.
Thank You Lord, for heavy burdens.
Thank You Lord,
Thank You Lord, for the thunder crashing.
Thank You Lord, for the valleys deep.
Thank You Lord, for the endless deserts.
Thank You Lord, for the oceans deep.
Thank You Lord, for heavy burdens.
Thank You Lord, for tasks beyond our own abilities.
Thank You Lord, for the hard things.
Thank You Lord, for the mundane.
Thank You Lord, for the sunshine.
Thank You Lord, for the dreary days of spring.
Thank You Lord, for the beautiful days of spring.
Thank You Lord, for the hard things.
Thank You Lord, for what You take away.
Thank You Lord, for what You just won't give.
Thank You Lord, for what You hide from us.
Thank You Lord, for never giving us more than we can handle.
Thank You Lord, for the things that stretch.
Thank You Lord, for the things that hurt.
Thank You Lord, for the things that bring tears.
Thank You Lord, for the difficult things that bring a smile.
Thank You Lord, for teaching us more about Yourself.
Thank You Lord, for teaching us more about ourselves.
Thank You Lord, that You never give up on Your kids.
Thank You Lord, that You are saving me from myself.
Thank You Lord, for the hard things.
Thank You Lord, for heavy burdens.
Thank You Lord, for the fire, for Your refining fire.
Thank You Lord, for it is in the fire that You mold Your men.
Thank You Lord, for the fire purifies our hearts.
Thank You Lord, for heavy burdens.
Thank You Lord, that You don't always let us see the whole picture.
Thank You Lord, that sometimes You must lead us step by step.
Thank You Lord, for the trials that You allow.
Thank You Lord, for heavy burdens.
Thank You Lord, for the hard things.
Thank You Lord, for it is only through trials that You perfect our patience.
Thank You Lord, for patience, because patience is essential for our journey.
Thank You Lord, for guiding our every step.
Thank You Lord, for authoring our journey.
Thank You Lord, for winding rivers.
Thank You Lord, for winding roads.
Thank You Lord, that You know the destination.
Thank You Lord, that You will lead and You only want us to follow.
Thank You Lord, that Your way is always good.
Thank You Lord, for making us wait.
Thank You Lord, for teaching us patience.
Thank You Lord, for heavy burdens.
Thank You Lord, for valleys deep.
Thakn You Lord, for trials that seem to never end.
Thank You Lord, that You allow the hard stuff.
Thank You Lord, that You never give up on us.
Thank You Lord, for Your love is deeper.
Thank You Lord, for Your love is deeper than our heavy burdens.
Thank You Lord, for Your love is deeper than our valleys deep.
Thank You Lord, for Your love lifts our heavy burdens.
Thank You Lord, for Your love that changes everything.
Thank You Lord, for the trials that You lovingly pour out.
Thank You Lord, for heavy burdens.
Thank You Lord,
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)