Still is something I don't do too often. Stop...listen...sit...meditate...breathe...wonder... These are the things my independent and flurried nature often forget to allow. In the midst of a crazy service sunday, God caught me by the collar and whispered a few important words to me. "Be STILL...and KNOW that I am God. Come to me. Learn to trust by sitting in my lap instead of running ahead and wondering when I'll catch up. Stop inviting the frustration of spinning your wheels. Feel the healing of being effective again. Will you just WAIT??" Yet another beautiful hymn that I missed in my growing up years and have come to appreciate recently...dust off that hymnal if you don't know the tune:
Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.
Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord.
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past
All safe and blessèd we shall meet at last.
Be still, my soul: begin the song of praise
On earth, be leaving, to Thy Lord on high;
Acknowledge Him in all thy words and ways,
So shall He view thee with a well pleased eye.
Be still, my soul: the Sun of life divine
Through passing clouds shall but more brightly shine.
May we all learn to invite his peace and calm into our lives, which are not really ours at all. Blessings to you~
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Sunday, November 13, 2005
the ugly, the bad, and the just plain good...
Holy cow, and greetings all!!
It seems like yesterday that I was prattling away on here in my last entry, and yet somehow more than a week has slipped by. Guess I really am busy over here. Allow me to fill you in:
Let's see...I think I left you the night before our departure for the IV conference in Dekalb. We spent last weekend up there and it was really good. Hard...but good. It was a racial conference for white people. ...yeah, that's what I thought too...what in the world is this about?? But it turned out to be one of the most challenging weekends I've been through for a long time. We always recognize that different ethnicities have connotations projected by the color of their skin, but we very rarely stop to wonder what the connotations attached to ours are. Wow...it's sad guys....it's devestating...it makes me want to puke...puke and then go throw my heart and soul into changing things, one person at a time. We had an awesome 3 days of teaching, prayer, worship, and confession....and came home with a challenge to "stay in pain." There's an interesting thought for you...how are we to keep doing God's work if we are not kept in pain, and reminded thereby that there is a problem? Perhaps this is the whole reason for the suffering that we are promised on our straight and narrow journey.
In contrast to the heavy deep and real subjects we covered in the conference, God sent me a huge blessing...I got to visit with Matt H for a good while and we played some frisbee in the rain (frisbee withdrawl finally curbed...for now...) and an endless game of pool with some other kids from the group. It was so nice to see him again and be encouraged and laugh with an old pal. Thanks bud!! God also granted me a great time with the 3 other millikin girls who attended. These girls are awesome and will keep me focused, lifted up in prayer, and laughing too. :)
Sunday afternoon, after a stuff your face mexican feed (guac and salsa made right at the table...yeah budddy) we headed home and drove onto campus 10 minutes before our first vespers rehersal. That was quite possibly the weirdest experience I've had in a while...but so cool too. It's official...my dad is the best there is...
This week is really a blur that I'm having trouble sorting out at this point. Classes are good for the most part, but each day comes with it's new set of challenges. A discussion that I have to "stand up" in the midst of, an embarassing moment (or 5), a ruined chemistry lab (...oh, it's burnt alright...), a bad grade on a huge paper, a forboding feeling of loneliness that I can't shake. And yet in the midst of things, as classes heat up and the semester presses on I am finding more and more aquaintances that just may become good friends in the future. PATIENCE! ...not too good at that one.
This weekend I attended "The Baker's Wife," our theater department's latest production. I also babysat for 6 hours saturday afternoon and worked at the hospital saturday night. Today was church, lunch, shopping, church choir practice, and then vespers rehersal. aka...I have no voice now... :) We are singing some amazing pieces...and I'm just praying that the incredible message carried in each will somehow penetrate the faces sitting all around me. That's one cool thing about choir music...it's allowed to be blatantly sacred. This is one area where christians have done well in keeping up with the world and producing truth in a form that's both amazing and acccepted by the general public. Anyway, long ways to come...but the dream of finally being in this production during the first week in December just about has me giddy....
This week I'm doing a ton of random stuff...presentation of our roly poly project in bio...Vocal Jazz concert (I am jazzed...no pun intended) Tuesday, huge test Friday, vocal Jury on Saturday morning. ...and, praise the lord, life goes on.
I'd appreciate prayers for:
-my health...I'm stretched and I need good vocal chords this week especially!
-some personal jazz that's been challenging me...self control and peace needed
-strength to minister to those around me...and the determination to keep looking around and seeing the need.
May I leave you with a verse that we were challenged with last weekend. How quickly I forget that none of God's commandments or promises are on my terms. ...from Isaiah 58
For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right...they ask me for decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. "Why have we fasted," they say, " and you have not seen it?? Why have we humbled ourselves and you have not noticed??" Yet on the day fo your fasting, you do as you please, and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarrels and strife...you cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high....is this not the kind of fasting that I have chosen??...that you share your food with the hungry and provide the poor wanderer with shelter-- when you see the naked to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?? THEN your light will break forth like the dawn and your healing will quickly appear...THEN you will call and the Lord will answer, you willl cry for help, and he will say: here I am...
I'm praying for you all...have an awesome week...I'm off to hit the hay hard!! :) Blessings and love~~
me
It seems like yesterday that I was prattling away on here in my last entry, and yet somehow more than a week has slipped by. Guess I really am busy over here. Allow me to fill you in:
Let's see...I think I left you the night before our departure for the IV conference in Dekalb. We spent last weekend up there and it was really good. Hard...but good. It was a racial conference for white people. ...yeah, that's what I thought too...what in the world is this about?? But it turned out to be one of the most challenging weekends I've been through for a long time. We always recognize that different ethnicities have connotations projected by the color of their skin, but we very rarely stop to wonder what the connotations attached to ours are. Wow...it's sad guys....it's devestating...it makes me want to puke...puke and then go throw my heart and soul into changing things, one person at a time. We had an awesome 3 days of teaching, prayer, worship, and confession....and came home with a challenge to "stay in pain." There's an interesting thought for you...how are we to keep doing God's work if we are not kept in pain, and reminded thereby that there is a problem? Perhaps this is the whole reason for the suffering that we are promised on our straight and narrow journey.
In contrast to the heavy deep and real subjects we covered in the conference, God sent me a huge blessing...I got to visit with Matt H for a good while and we played some frisbee in the rain (frisbee withdrawl finally curbed...for now...) and an endless game of pool with some other kids from the group. It was so nice to see him again and be encouraged and laugh with an old pal. Thanks bud!! God also granted me a great time with the 3 other millikin girls who attended. These girls are awesome and will keep me focused, lifted up in prayer, and laughing too. :)
Sunday afternoon, after a stuff your face mexican feed (guac and salsa made right at the table...yeah budddy) we headed home and drove onto campus 10 minutes before our first vespers rehersal. That was quite possibly the weirdest experience I've had in a while...but so cool too. It's official...my dad is the best there is...
This week is really a blur that I'm having trouble sorting out at this point. Classes are good for the most part, but each day comes with it's new set of challenges. A discussion that I have to "stand up" in the midst of, an embarassing moment (or 5), a ruined chemistry lab (...oh, it's burnt alright...), a bad grade on a huge paper, a forboding feeling of loneliness that I can't shake. And yet in the midst of things, as classes heat up and the semester presses on I am finding more and more aquaintances that just may become good friends in the future. PATIENCE! ...not too good at that one.
This weekend I attended "The Baker's Wife," our theater department's latest production. I also babysat for 6 hours saturday afternoon and worked at the hospital saturday night. Today was church, lunch, shopping, church choir practice, and then vespers rehersal. aka...I have no voice now... :) We are singing some amazing pieces...and I'm just praying that the incredible message carried in each will somehow penetrate the faces sitting all around me. That's one cool thing about choir music...it's allowed to be blatantly sacred. This is one area where christians have done well in keeping up with the world and producing truth in a form that's both amazing and acccepted by the general public. Anyway, long ways to come...but the dream of finally being in this production during the first week in December just about has me giddy....
This week I'm doing a ton of random stuff...presentation of our roly poly project in bio...Vocal Jazz concert (I am jazzed...no pun intended) Tuesday, huge test Friday, vocal Jury on Saturday morning. ...and, praise the lord, life goes on.
I'd appreciate prayers for:
-my health...I'm stretched and I need good vocal chords this week especially!
-some personal jazz that's been challenging me...self control and peace needed
-strength to minister to those around me...and the determination to keep looking around and seeing the need.
May I leave you with a verse that we were challenged with last weekend. How quickly I forget that none of God's commandments or promises are on my terms. ...from Isaiah 58
For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right...they ask me for decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. "Why have we fasted," they say, " and you have not seen it?? Why have we humbled ourselves and you have not noticed??" Yet on the day fo your fasting, you do as you please, and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarrels and strife...you cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high....is this not the kind of fasting that I have chosen??...that you share your food with the hungry and provide the poor wanderer with shelter-- when you see the naked to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?? THEN your light will break forth like the dawn and your healing will quickly appear...THEN you will call and the Lord will answer, you willl cry for help, and he will say: here I am...
I'm praying for you all...have an awesome week...I'm off to hit the hay hard!! :) Blessings and love~~
me
Thursday, November 03, 2005
a nutshell for you...
Hey y'all...
Not much time but I thought I'd drop a line for anyone who cares to read this. It's been a very busy week and time is simply flying. Vespers rehersals start on Sunday, Advising is next week, final projects, speeches, and group work are at their climax, and I'm getting tight with the roly polys here (ever spent 3 hours poking them and recording their behavior?? I have...) This morning was Ray Pinkley's funeral...a stunning tribute to a fantastic guy. I had never been to a millitary man's burial...it was very moving. Keep praying for Mrs. Pinkley...she was amazingly joyful but I know that she is hurting too.
This weekend I am going up to NIU for a Intervarsity retreat...not too many people going, but it should be a good chance to get to know the ones who are. I'm ready for the chance to get out of town and get a little rejuvinated.
Well, I'm off to another round of roly poly observation...bleh. I am tired...very tired...but I'm trusting God to give me strength. Prayers appreciated. Hope you all are having a great week. Love ya~
Love lifted me, love lifted me,
When nothing else could help love lifted me...
Not much time but I thought I'd drop a line for anyone who cares to read this. It's been a very busy week and time is simply flying. Vespers rehersals start on Sunday, Advising is next week, final projects, speeches, and group work are at their climax, and I'm getting tight with the roly polys here (ever spent 3 hours poking them and recording their behavior?? I have...) This morning was Ray Pinkley's funeral...a stunning tribute to a fantastic guy. I had never been to a millitary man's burial...it was very moving. Keep praying for Mrs. Pinkley...she was amazingly joyful but I know that she is hurting too.
This weekend I am going up to NIU for a Intervarsity retreat...not too many people going, but it should be a good chance to get to know the ones who are. I'm ready for the chance to get out of town and get a little rejuvinated.
Well, I'm off to another round of roly poly observation...bleh. I am tired...very tired...but I'm trusting God to give me strength. Prayers appreciated. Hope you all are having a great week. Love ya~
Love lifted me, love lifted me,
When nothing else could help love lifted me...
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