Thursday, June 26, 2008

As Long as You are Glorified...

It's a hard thing to trust our Lord. And I was just thinking two weeks ago how easy and natural it felt. Yet when my expectations don't pan out the way I think they should then I begin to wonder. Today, I made a phone call as led by the Lord that shut the door to my safety net. I have had two interviews this week and I do not feel strongly about either one. Where to next? So, I speak the Gospel to myself.... think on Christ...return to the truth of the Word. It's an unfamiliar feeling that I deal with these days...a pit in my stomach and fear. But our Christ is not the author of fear...
My prayer in the beginning of this was for Christ to be glorified. I think I have lost sight of that. Even as I am writing this my mind is returning to the view of our Sovereign One Who sits on the throne, Whose train fills the temple and we bow down...how can I, His lowly creation, question or fear the workings of the Creator of the universe and His love for me...

Shall I take from Your hand Your blessings
Yet not welcome any pain
Shall I thank You for days of sunshine
Yet grumble in days of rain
Shall I love You in times of plenty
Then leave You in days of drought
Shall I trust when I reap a harvest
But when winter winds blow, then doubt

Oh let your will be done in me
In Your love I will abide
Oh I long for nothing else as long
As you are glorified

Are You good only when I proper
And true only when I'm filled
Are You King only when I'm carefree
And God only when I'm well
You are good when I'm poor and needy
You are true when I'm parched and dry
You still reign in the deepest valley
You're still God in the darkest night

So quite my restless heart
Quiet my restless heart
Quiet my restless heart in you

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Christmas in June???


I truly had a discovery yesterday. With being home I have begun to clean out sundry items from our house - basically, so we would be able to have a place for everything. I'm always up for a good clean and organize. The evening before I had told John what I was going to do and how I was going to get something to organize his shoes and go through the shoes and get rid of the ones he didn't need....he looks at me and tells me not to touch his stuff. Okay, fine, I'm thinking. I'll throw all the stuff on the bed that I think needs to be given to Goodwill and you can put it in the bag...So, I was not deterred from cleaning everything out of our closet the next morning. I am pulling down shoe boxes and John has a paticular shoe box that he has kept all of my notes and letters from our dating and engagement tucked up on a shelf. And in my mind (I'm thinking purley organizational), I decide I need to combine some more of his stuff into this box. So, I open the box and inside I find the little red bag from his trip to the Dominican Republic (he had bought me a necklace there in college only it was stolen out of his bag as it passed through customs so I've never seen it). But I found it curious that the bag had something in it. I opened it only to find that it was my mistake and the little red bag was not from the Dominican Republic, but rather from the Jewelry Boutique from our hotel in Cancun....and there was the necklace I had wanted! And I knew I was holding something I wasn't supposed to be holding until Christmas...'Oh, no' were the first words uttered and then giggles as I tied the bag back up and then, hey - why not, I opened it and took the necklace out for a looooong look - then some more giggling followed by more 'Oh, nos' and my deed was done - unintentionally I might add....What was I to do? (I'd be interested to know what you think I should have done).
What was I to do, but of course call my best girlfriend and blab about it and ask her if I should tell my husband or not...she, trying to protect his hero mentality and ego told me to forget I ever saw it and not to mention a word about it to John...'How am I going to do that?' I asked her, 'I tell him everything' (and in reality I do too). She told me to spare his feelings I should keep my mouth shut and forget about it until Christmas. Okay. So it was decided, I would be a good wife and go on with life...as if I had never seen my gift. I slid the box under the bed and left it in its new spot...
That evening, John comes home from work and I am so excited to show him all my work and endeavor to organize our home and prepare for guests. As I am showing him our new closet he says, 'Where's my box?' Not even thinking, I say, 'What box?' and then it clicks with me THE box. 'Oh, it's under the bed' I said trying to be all nonchalant and somehow he saw right through it and said, 'YOU LOOKED!!' And then ensued an interesting discussion that I won't take the time for commas and quotes to type it all out...but needless to say, my girlfriend was right. But he didn't like it that she had told me not to tell him, but he was awfully disappointed at my discovery. His big suprise was ruined even though I tried to assure him it wasn't and he did a great job picking out a Christmas gift I would love!!(The closet looks smashing by the way...what a shoe hanger can do - wonders!!)For all those of you who are wondering... I still won't get my gift until December...So, for future reference I found when my husband says 'Don't touch my stuff' it's not because he's afraid of my perpetual need to declutter and that I would donate his favorite sneakers to Goodwill, but rather there may be a Christmas present lurking...

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Grace upon Grace...

This week has been one for John and I to see the grace of our Lord poured down in our lives and His peace bestowed upon us. One of the songs that I have been listening to this week puts it all so well into words...

You have ordained every breath we take
In pleasure or pain, there is no mistake
Gladness and grief, both are in Your hand
And sufferings brief carry out Your plan
And our fleeting sorrows
Will yield an endless prize
When some bright tomorrow
We'll see You with our eyes, and

Grace upon grace flows down, flows down
Grace upon grace flows down, flows down
Through the precious blood of Christ

Father of lights, Giver or all grace
Your mercies crown our lives all our days
River of Life, quench our thirsty souls
For no true delight does Your love withhold
And in every season
We are satisfied
For just one reason
Christ was crucified, and

All good gifts, every good thing
Comes to us freely, so freely
All good gifts, every good thing
Comes to us freely, so freely
Through the precious blood
Through the precious blood

Grace upon grace flows down, flows down...

Our Cancun Trip....