Seen as a Promise

Remember when I was pondering what love looked like?

Well, I found another thing to ponder. to mull over. to chew. Part of Alece’s comment on this post caused me to go “whoa! wait a second!”  She referred to the following as a PROMISE:

“My sheep know My voice and the voice of another they will not follow.”

Typically, I am/try to be positive, upbeat, excited about things. Except with this verse and other cut and dry type verses (like some in 1 John), my heart and head do a 180 toward “what if I’m not one of those sheep.” Not a good place. But, then, when I keep reading in the chapter I find…

“and I give eternal life to them and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” -John 10:27-28

Now as if seeing the first part as a promise wasn’t a big enough whoa…throw in the mix that NO ONE can snatch us out of His hands then I’m totally sitting in awe.

He keeps peeling back the layers, exposing new truths, and shedding lies…and I am ever in awe at how the Bible truly allows me to dig in and see all sorts of new things no matter how many times I’ve read a passage.

What are you reading lately? How’s God been leaving you in awe?

right here, right now…joy.

hello week. good-bye weekend. i feel like i need another weekend. seriously i’m finding that the days and weeks keep going faster and faster. before long…i’ll be old 😉 i feel like a happy broken record coming here each week and saying that joy is everywhere and that i feel so….loved. joyful. at peace. excited. at home. seriously, y’all (i’m not southern but i just felt like saying that), God is so very faithful. months ago, one of my intern people told me about how when he was praying for me that he saw a book where i needed to focus on the page at hand rather than look ahead to the end. i think i’m finally starting to live like that and trust God like that. saying hello to the new adventure right here, right now and not trying to make another adventure happen on my own.  so, without further ado, here are some snapshots of joy…

816. knowing that people have my back

830. more swings, more swings (cute little kiddos on the playground)

871. eating brownies with a spoon from the pan with my people

876. melting into peace

879. moments where my heart stops in a good way

880. memories i want to hold onto

888. closing my eyes to soak up the moment

908. bananagrams and cribbage and laughing and fabulous people

938. watching life!

and before you run off…don’t forget to comment because it makes my heart happy to hear from you all! did you watch life? what was the highlight of your week? anything I can be praying for you about?

p.s. i’m SO close to 1000 gifts. 🙂

 

Exciting or Scary?

“If I was saved by my good works then there would be a limit to what God could ask of me or put me through. I would be like a taxpayer with “rights”—I would have done my duty and now I would deserve a certain quality of life. But if I am a sinner saved by sheer grace—then there’s nothing he cannot ask of me.” -Timothy Keller

Some of the best conversations happen in the kitchen.  The food, the table, sitting on the counters, the coffee, and just the atmosphere holds me close.  I feel a little more me, a little more safe.  I love that at my church (yes, it’s “home” now and I possessively put that “my” on it) many bible studies happen in the kitchen.  Last week, that quote stuck to the bottom of my rain boots and came home to be turned over in my head.

We briefly shared our thoughts on the quote and most of them came across to me as “wow, that’s scary/ a lot to ask.”  I don’t know if I happened to be extra positive and upbeat, but this quote made me…

EXCITED

The idea that God can ask me whatever coupled with the truth that nothing is impossible with God causes my eyes to go wide in wonder.  I’m no longer bound to a heavy book full of my plans dragging me down.  I no longer need to be constricted or feel the weight of “I have to.”  No! This tangible grace frees me.  I am free to do ANYTHING that He asks me moment by moment. I surrender, I let go. I fling myself with reckless, joyful abandonment…into whatever He asks even if there are a few tumbles along the way…

Up, Up and Away

The lovelies at (in)Courage prompted a challenge to find a coloring book page and explain why you chose it…here goes:

I’m all about “happy” and in terms of coloring that means lots of bright colors so when I saw this picture I got excited.  More than that, the page speaks right to where my heart is at.  See, I’m on this journey with God where I’m finding joy and letting Him do some deep heart work to break those ties that hold me to the ground.  He wants to take me to places that I can’t get to alone or would even choose.  Up, Up and Away to beyond all that I can ask or imagine because He is working ALL things out for good 🙂

What would YOU color??

Quotes that go along with this:

“Life is a work of art. You have to keep mixing the colors, creating new blends,and seeing things in fresh ways. You must be willing to get paint all over you.” -Erwin McManus

“God wants to take us to places we can’t get to by ourselves, but we will never get there if we hold onto where we are.”

“I would have never chosen that place to go…”

“It had opened her eyes to the fact that right down in the depths of her own heart she really had but one passionate desire, not for the things which the Shepherd had promised but for himself.  All she wanted was to be allowed to follow him forever. “Nothing else really matters only to love him and to do what he tells me.” -Hinds Feet in High Places

I feel like I’m still learning how to trust

Above: Me rappelling/abseiling down about 8 stories.

Below: A view of the rock I went down.

Thoughts: I feel like I’m still learning how to trust. Trusting God, trusting others.  Trust holds such power and potential.  With trust, comes vulnerability and in turn we can be known.  Walking down the side of a cliff with only ropes and metal holding you up requires trust.  Trust in the  ropes, in the person who set up the ropes, in the harness, and most of all in God.  Trust in God’s plan, purpose, and protection.  My fear of heights really centers on whether or not I trust God no matter what happens.  I made my way down the cliff in one piece and definitely learned more about trust.  Right now, I’m still learning to trust God while I’m still waiting and not planning what’s next, but letting Him show me what He has in store.  And yeah….I’m pretty excited 🙂

Listening

The thing I love most about teaching is asking the students questions or when they ask questions!  I wish I could sit down with each of them and talk.  Get to know them better, learn more about their lives, their struggles, their triumphs, and really take the time to listen to go beyond the surface.  Too often, I think we default to conversations where we don’t delve into the gritty parts of life and we barely scratch the surface of understanding.  Yet, even those surface-y conversations show love, value, and that someone is listening.  Not only do I want to teach the curriculum, but I want to share life.  Each week, I’m trying to share more about myself and ask more pointed questions to give them an opportunity to share with me.   I love that many of the students I teach ask questions and answer them when I ask questions.  For that I’m thankful since unfortunately I can’t take 40 kids out to coffee.  Maybe someday! 🙂  

Teaching 🙂

Small groups!

Swaziland!

For the last half week or so, Kelly (the intern director) let us know that we had a surprise coming, but wasn’t able to tell us quite yet. We finally found out today about the surprise! We will be headed to Swaziland on March 28th to serve with a ministry (www.bulembu.org) for two weeks. All of us interns are super excited to go! We don’t know all the details yet of what we will be doing, but those will come in the next few weeks. In the meantime, we know that we get to go on another adventure soon. To top this exciting news off, I found out that not only do I have one package to pick up tomorrow, but I have two!!! I’m really excited about that and to see what’s in the packages. 🙂

Surprise!

I LOVE surprises.  No lie.  I love surprising people and I love being surprised.  Surprise presents (flowers, gifts, flowers, hot chocolate, tea, stopping by, etc.) are awesome.  Especially when they’re from someone super close in my life.  So, what got me thinking about all of this? Well, airports.  I’m going to fly out in the near future and fly back.  I love the airport pick-up.  So much fun getting picked up.  Picking up is fun too.  Sometime in my life I want to fly in somewhere and skip out on the pick up to surprise someone at their front step.  Not sure who yet, but someone!  That’s all I have.  Enjoy the sentimental, personal explanation 🙂 

p.s. I’m sure I could fit how this works into my results from StrengthsFinder if I really wanted to…more about that in another post!  I met with a Strengths coach yesterday–fun stuff. (input, learner, achiever, connectedness, restorative/developer)

House!

Yikes…I have to move out in less than a month!  I’m getting really excited, but at the same time every once in a while the whole thing freaks me out.  I’m curious to see where I’m going to live and with who and how all of this will pull together in time.  I’m ready to see God’s hand work through and with all of the details to something great.  We’re hopefully going house-hunting this weekend!  I’ll let you know how everything goes 🙂

p.s. I ran/walked outside today and it was AMAZING. I LOVE the warm, happy weather.  Helped make up for the ridiculously busy day.

Bedtime!

I have SO many things I want to write about and share, but silly work and sleep are calling my name.  I don’t have any “plans” for tomorrow night so hopefully I’ll get to some of these blog ideas.  Until then…go read Philippians 2:1-11…aw, plus I love the verses after that especially 14 so read it all!May your night be filled with joy and rest!