I'd Like to Add . . .

Romans 8. My garsh this stuff is good!  I mean it's all good but it's especially good to take this in right now.  It's really easy to take this chapter in as a bunch of words I've heard before but looking into the words, there is life to be found.  Something that stuck out: 6"For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace." Just last night I had the priviledge of enjoying a fire and good talk with a woman I babysit for and something we were talking about was living according to the Spirit.  Particularly when we lay our own plans at the Lord's feet and say "this is what I think I want, but I know I want what You have planned, so if they line up, great.  But if they don't, please have Your way." "That's living a Spirit-led life." She said.  And it made me think.  Because lately, I don't know if I could say I have been living a Spirit- LED life.  I've been in the Hol

I learned about this link up on  Jessi's blog  (btw, be sure to go there and link up too!) and liked the idea of giving up one good thing in order to gain something better, but nothing was really coming to mind for me to personally give up on.  Finally, I thought of one.  Sleep. And the timing couldn't really be more appropriate because it's something I've actually really been working hard on in the past couple of days. I really really like early mornings.  I love having coffee (with lots of creamer) in one hand, my Bible (and journal) in another and a comfortable amount of time to spend with my Lord Jesus.  If it wasn't for Him, I probably wouldn't really care for mornings- at least not as much as I do now- but it's a sweet, peaceful time to think and pray and soak in what He has for me before life starts getting very loud, as it so often does throughout the day. There's just nothing like spending the very first part of my day with Him and I have

Oh. My. Goodness. This song. . . A lot of music has a way of pulling me in and making me want to move with it - sometimes physically (but not usually cause I'm a horrid dancer) but more figuratively.  I think it does that to everyone to some degree or another.  This song though is one of the most beautiful songs that I've ever heard.  It is exceptional, in my opinion. And I don't say that lightly.  I also don't say it just because it has a beautiful masterpiece of piano music in the background or because Steffany Frizzell (singing) has a fantastic voice.  It's the combination of those things and the beautiful words of truth that are interwoven in the lyrics.  See for yourself: "You have been And You will be You have seen And You will see You know when I rise and when I fall When I come or go, You see it all You hung the stars and You move the sea, And still You know me Whoa oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh, You know me Whoa oh oh oh oh oh oh

I haven't answered these questions in a while and it's fun to do.  Sort of like an interview. (For kicks and giggles you can even pretend you're somebody famous and that your answers will be published in a magazine or something!)  I'm pretty sure that answering these questions hasn't made me more free, but they do make me think about things in a new way and I enjoy that so, here goes this.  26. Has your greatest fear ever come true? Well, in order to know the answer to that I have to first think through what my biggest fear is. I've never consciously figured out what my one, biggest fear is.  That's probably a good thing because my goal is to fear God alone.  But since I do have fears, I think the biggest would be that I be totally abandoned by everything and everyone I love.  To have absolutely nothing to find joy or happiness in. No, it has never happened. And it will never happen because even when the world is burned up, the Lord, who is my source o

I haven't spoken from the core of my heart in a while.  Really anywhere or to anyone.  I've said what's on my mind and maybe a layer or two from my heart, but not from the core.  I'm not okay with that. It has recently been brought to my attention why this has been happening.  Why I feel like I have had my arms wrapped so tightly around myself that I find it's hard to breathe.  Why I fill my schedule to the brim and then overflowing.  Why I seek the small thrills that I can beckon whenever I please and assume they cannot be taken from me against my will. These things that I thought were allowing me to feel are really making me numb when I seek them with a heart that's not right.  In the car this morning on my way to work, I had one of those moments where I'm really honest with the Lord and myself - moments I love and wish I had more often. "I don't want to have to give up these little things that I love, but I want to be with you, Lord."

This is one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books (my other favorite is Horton Hears a Who because of it's pro-life and generally wise themes: "A person's a person no matter how small.", "I meant what I said and I said what I meant. . . "  ) This book is full of truths that I find comforting. Even in the midst of how complicated life can get, this children's book always seems to speak to whatever season I happen to be in and will be in. It has yet to fail at putting a smile on my face when I read it.  Sometimes it gets to saying that things will be fine and dandy and start to think, "Wait a minute, it's not always like that. . . " And then come my favorite parts of the book. Here's one of them: "You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed. You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you'll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest. Except wh