Exaltation

I bless You

and praise You,

I worship and adore You;

I love and

exalt You,

I am humbled before You.

You are good,

You are God...

there is no one who compares

to Your love

and mercy,

and the beauty I find there.

In Your face,

in Your voice,

and Your sheltering embrace

I am lost.

I am found

in the presence of Your grace.

You are God,

You alone,

and You love someone like me...

I'm in awe,

and undone,

by this blessed mystery!

Mighty God,

gentle Lord,

how can I refuse to give

all my love

and praise?  It's 

by Your gracious hand I live.

Thanksgiving

Psalm 106:1~

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His love endures forever.”

I thank You, Father God, for Your constant and abiding presence.  I know You are always with me, whether I feel You or not~because that is a promise You have made to me, and You always keep Your word.  I thank You that You are always faithful, even when I am not.  Thank You for loving me, especially when I am so unlovable.  Thank You for Your grace, which I do not deserve, but always have whenever I need it.  Thank You for Your wisdom, which is always available to me, however often I ignore it.  I thank You for Your forgiveness, which You never withhold, no matter how many times a day I must ask for it. 

My God and Father, I thank You for the kindness You never fail to show me...especially when I neglect to show that same kindness to others.  I thank You that You always have time for me, although I do not take enough time to be with You.  Thank You for being my source of true comfort, however frequently I seek it elsewhere.  Thank You for being my defender, I need no longer defend myself.  Thank You for being an ever-present help in time of trouble, though I often forget to call on You.  I thank You for working everything out for my good, even though I may complain how bad things are.  Thank You that Your mercies are new every morning, though I dwell too often on past mistakes.  I thank You for the freedom I have in You, although I sometimes live as though I were still in chains.    

Almighty God and Father, I thank You for receiving my praise and worship, inadequate and insufficient though it may be.  Thank You for Your beauty and creativity, however infrequently I notice it or show appreciation for it.  Thank You for always answering my prayers, even when I do not recognize Your answers or when I complain that they were not what I wanted.  I thank You for Your perfect will, however often I stubbornly insist on my own.  Thank You for the gifts and abilities You have generously given me, in spite of how often I have wasted them or wished for others.  I thank You for being God of my life, however often I attempt to take control.  Thank You for being You.                  

Acrostics

Frustration (11/20/2008)

FEELING ANGRY, AND

REALLY

UPSET, EVEN

STRESSED, BY

THOSE WHO DAILY

REFUSE TO LISTEN

AND CHOOSE

TO DISOBEY

INSTEAD

OF DOING WHAT

NEEDS TO BE DONE STRAIGHT AWAY

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[You Are My] Saving Grace (07/11/2007)

You are my saving grace

SINNER                         GOD

ABJECT                         REDEEMED

VICTIM                         ACCEPTED

INSUFFICIENT           CLAIMED

NEEDY                          ENCOURAGED

GRIEVING

You are my saving grace

SELFISH                        GRACIOUSLY

ANGRY                           RESTORED

VICTIMIZER                 ADOPTED

INSECURE                     CLEANSED

NEGATIVE                    EQUIPPED

GODLESS

You are my saving grace, God! 

Hallelujah!

Prayer Requests

I have two prayer requests, if you all would be so kind.  The first is for Nathan, Sherry, and Brooklyn.  I cannot give any details, but I would really appreciate your prayers for them.  Please pray as Holy Spirit leads, and I think it would also be good to pray against the enemy's plans for them.

The second request is for me.  I had my first rehearsal for Nutcracker yesterday.  I realize it was my first rehearsal (only an hour long), and the other "adult party guests" have had at least two, if not three rehearsals already, but I really struggled with the dances.  There are two I have to learn, and I have never been able to do group dances, except the hora (and I don't even remember how to do that now).  The choreographer said I did a great job, but I think she was just being kind.  I know I have to be careful here, because I am something of a perfectionist, and I can be very hard on myself, but I truly felt lost.  I think I was paired with the guy who has been having a hard time getting the dances, and he is better than me.  I do not want to let anyone down.  I do not especially like the idea of embarrassing myself, either, but I can deal with that better than letting other people down.

I would be very grateful for your prayer support.  Thanks so much everyone.

Just a Little Update

Here is a little tidbit of news for you who read my blog: I am now doing the audio for all the devotions, done by women (with one exception), on christiandevotions.us.  I know I had mentioned some time ago that I was working with the Garage Band feature of my Macbook to do the voice-over for a book on caring for aging parents, and that I was doing the audio for my devotions, but that has now been expanded to include all the women that post on that website (except Cindy, she does her own).  I am excited to provide another avenue for people to be edified, encouraged, and exhorted through these devotions.  Having the devotions read and recorded means the visually impaired also have access to this ministry...which continues to expand, as they are now on the radio, too (Christian Devotions Speak, if I remember correctly). Check out christiandevotions.us sometime and click on the mp3 link to devotions done by Sue P. or Sue F., Ariel, Cathy, Sandra, and me, of course (I think my next one, "Just Keep Swimming", comes out on 11/01), and you will hear me reading them.  I am having a lot of fun with it!  Be blessed!    

Silver and Gold

I realize I haven't written for a while.  I am working on a couple things right now that I am just not ready to post.  In the meantime, I want to offer a couple poems.  One is old (well, 2006) and the other is new.  As I was considering the title of this post in relation to my poems, two things came to mind: a little song that you may remember from your childhood ("make new friends, but keep the old...one is silver and the other is gold") and the verse from Proverbs that is my new "Scripture of the Moment" (Proverbs 25:11~"A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.").  My poems are a bit like friends to me, in the sense that they have been used by God to help me through some difficult things, to teach and refine me, and to celebrate with me.  Also, it is my desire that the words I write would be timely and appropriate, would bless and encourage others, and would draw them to the Lord.  "Longing" was written in December of 2006 and "Musing" was written a couple of months ago. 

Longing

A longing fills my heart;

a desire to know, and be known by,

Someone so much greater than myself.

I’m yearning to be part

of a grand and beautiful design,

to have purpose and meaning beyond

what I have seen so far.

Lord, please give me new eyes,

that I may see Your reality;

the revelation of mighty things

so often in disguise.

Removing the veils of shame and fear

the enemy would use to blind me,

please rip away the lies.

I’m not who I once was.

Still, I am not yet who I will be.

This living in the now and not yet

is easier because

Your love is not content to leave me

as I am; You smooth and polish me

until I reflect...You.

Musing

As I sit here in the cool of

a summer’s evening

I hear the sound of crickets and

other night creatures.

Their song is loud, but comforting

to me, in a way.

It’s a sound I sometimes take for

granted...it’s always

there surrounding me, soothing my

spirit, drowning out

the clamor and cares of each day.

Your love is like that.

It is ever-present, always

encompassing me.

Your love pulls me up, lifting me

out of the mire

of self-doubt that would drag me down

to depths of despair.

Your kind and soothing voice drowns out

harsh, unloving words.

Memories of past rejection

are gone forever.

Your love shelters me and in your

embrace, I am home.

Take you for granted...how could I?

You are everything.

A Lullaby for Brooklyn

Finally!!  After numerous attempts, and much frustration, I was able to upload the video with Brooklyn's lullaby.  Thanks go to my good friend, PJ, who suggested I put the song in a video format!  I had to keep on trying (some problem with the server, I guess) but it finally worked!  So, here it is, I hope you enjoy it, Brooklyn sure does.  It works like a charm!