Hello Again

Many things have changed since I began this blog three years ago, which was created in response to the amazing things God was doing in my heart and in my life. Sometimes you just have to go tell it on the mountain, and blogspot looked like a pretty good mountain.

Since my last post on November 2, 2009, I’ve completed a masters degree at Dallas Theological Seminary, met and married a man who surpassed my dreams, have attended a few churches and made some awesome friends along the way. As of now, I work as an intern at a church and a nanny, and my husband Jake and I are building a house.

So a lot has changed. And along the way, my knowledge of God has grown, and I’d like to think my love for Him has as well. Since I finally have some time to blog for the enjoyment of hearing my own voice, I figured two years later is a good place to start. I’d love to keep sharing my thoughts on God and life and love, so thanks for reading.

new song

You give me a new song to sing!

You are so good to me.

You fill my heart with gladness.


I think it's amazing how we grow in the Lord. Every step with him I am amazed again at how worthy, loving, trustworthy and holy he is. I am overwhelmed again by his mercy and grace; I am strengthened again by his providence, his patience and his control in my life. I am renewed again by his peace and hope. And all these things are always in a newer light. Ok, this will sound cheesy, but at the park the other day I was walking by a fountain and the sunlight created a rainbow. As I walked around it, the colors shifted and moved and I was delighted by the simple beauty. That's kind of how it is with God... as I walk with him I can see his qualities in a different light, but he's still the same person. And with every shift of the light, I am delighted again in his beauty.

We have a new song for him every morning!

arms high and heart abandoned

This morning I was looking over past entries in my journal and came across some prayers during the summer for my upcoming move to Dallas. I was amazed to see that God had been faithful to all those requests! Not that it's about God answering prayers the way we want him to, or that it's all about what he does for us - it's just beautiful to see God at work in our lives. 

"Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me." - Psalm 66:16

even in the desert, i fought for you...

How beautiful and faithful and good is our Lord.

I'm reading Deuteronomy for the next however many weeks it takes me. This verse overwhelmed me with God's provision and love:

"Then I said to you, 'Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the desert. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.'"  -1:29-31

There are some phenomenal things in this verse. God says he will go before us - every place we are, every day we live, he has been there already and has prepared people, places, and situations for us. He prepares blessings, he prepares ways for us to love and obey him, and he prepares people for us to serve. How amazing that he cares enough to go ahead of us and do that! Not only does he prepare things, but he fights for us. Even in the desert - those times where we are wondering, where we're confused and doubting and far away - he's still fighting for us. He fights against the evil that wants to destroy us and make us ineffective and far from the Lord. He's constantly fighting those things for us. And if God is on our side, who can be against us?

The verse also says "like a father carries his son..." I can immediately name two distinct times in my life where I knew that the Lord was carrying me. The Lord carries us strongly, dearly, with the abundant love that a father has for his child. The word says that the Lord will carry us until we reach this place - the place that he has already gone ahead and prepared for us, all the while fighting for us against whatever keeps us from reaching this place. 

So shall I be afraid? God calls for our ultimate trust in him. He's already told us that he goes ahead before us, he fights for us, and he'll even carry us to the place he wants us to be. What a beautiful thing to rest in that assurance that he will take care of everything if we just let him.

morphin' time

There's something oddly exciting and terribly pathetic about watching Power Rangers The Movie at 2:30 AM.

martyrs and thieves

There's a song by Jennifer Knapp that I've sung for many years just for its pure beauty. Yesterday I was singing this song in my car and I realized how true every word is for me. I've been thinking about it today, and just resting in the peace that at the Lord's feet are grace, mercy, love, forgiveness, and joy. What a beautiful and humbling thing that God can take our pasts, our mistakes, our regrets, and who we are and turn them into something good and glorifying to Him. While this song used to be a cry to God, now it is a triumphant praise of my identity in Christ.

There's a place in the darkness that I used to cling to
It presses harsh hope against time
In the absence of martyrs there's a presence of thieves
Who only want to rob you blind
They steal away any sense of peace
Though I'm a king I'm a king on my knees
And I know they are wrong when they say I am strong
As the darkness covers me

So turn on the light and reveal all the glory
I am not afraid
To bare all my weakness knowing in meekness
I have a kingdom to gain
Where there is peace and love in the light, in the light
Oh I am not afraid
To let Your light shine bright in my life

There are ghosts from my past who've owned more of my soul
Than I thought I had given away
They linger in closets and under my bed
And in pictures less proudly displayed
A great fool in my life I have been
Have squandered till pallid and thin
Hung my head in shame and refused to take blame
For the darkness I know I've let win

Well I've never been much for the baring of soul
In the presence of any man
I'd rather keep to myself all safe and secure
In the arms of a sinner I am
Could it be that my worth should depend
By the crimson stained grace on a hand
And like a lamp on a hill Lord I pray in Your will
To reveal all of You that I can

So turn on the light and reveal all the glory
I am not afraid
To bare all my weakness knowing in meekness
I have a kingdom to gain
Where there is peace and love in the light, in the light
Oh I am not afraid
To let Your light shine bright in my life!

why not?

I'm waiting for the day when these shirts will become appropriate and even fashionable to wear. 

Really.