Ah, Lord God, Ah, Lord God!
Thou hast made the heavens and the earth
by thy great power and stretched out arm
And there is nothing too hard for Thee!
Thou showest loving kindness unto thousands!
The great, the mighty God, the Lord of Hosts is His name--
Great in power and mighty in works
And there is nothing too hard for Thee!!
Ah, Lord God, Ah, Lord God!
Thou hast made the heavens and the earth
By thy great power and stretched out arm
And there is nothing too hard for thee!
And there is nothing too hard for Thee!!
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Thursday, April 09, 2009
By Grace Alone
Out of the depths I cry to You,
Lord, hear my voice of pleading;
Bend down your gracious ear, I pray,
Your humble servant heeding.
If you remember each misdeed,
And of each thought and word take heed,
Who can remain before You:
Only by grace, by grace alone!!
Your pardon is a gift of love,
Your grace alone must save us.
Our works will not remove our guilt;
The strictest life would fail us.
Let none in their own merits boast,
But let us own the Holy Ghost
For He alone can change us:
Only by grace, by grace alone!!
Though great our sin and sore our woes
His grace much more aboundeth:
His helping love no limit knows;
Our utmost need it soundeth.
Our kind and faithful Shepherd He,
Who will set all His people free
From all their sin and sorrow:
Only by grace, by grace alone!!
Martin Luther
Out of the depths I cry to You,
Lord, hear my voice of pleading;
Bend down your gracious ear, I pray,
Your humble servant heeding.
If you remember each misdeed,
And of each thought and word take heed,
Who can remain before You:
Only by grace, by grace alone!!
Your pardon is a gift of love,
Your grace alone must save us.
Our works will not remove our guilt;
The strictest life would fail us.
Let none in their own merits boast,
But let us own the Holy Ghost
For He alone can change us:
Only by grace, by grace alone!!
Though great our sin and sore our woes
His grace much more aboundeth:
His helping love no limit knows;
Our utmost need it soundeth.
Our kind and faithful Shepherd He,
Who will set all His people free
From all their sin and sorrow:
Only by grace, by grace alone!!
Martin Luther
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Being still
Wait on the Lord and be of good courage; wait, I say, on the Lord.
~Psalms
Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted....
~Psalm 46:10
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!!
~Psalms
Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted....
~Psalm 46:10
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!!
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Bring The Rain
I was reading today's post on Bring the Rain. It's Audrey's first birthday today. Pray for the Smith family as they face this milestone.
These are a few quotes from Angie's last two posts. I thought I would share them with you and encourage anyone who comes across my blog to check out Audrey's story and see how greatly the Lord is working in that family.
First, here are the words to a song about to be released by Selah.
(Written by Chad Cates, Tony Wood, Brian Petak)
Produced by Bernie Herms
Sung by Amy Perry and Todd Smith
The cruelest words
The coldest heart
The deepest wounds
The endless dark
The lonely ache
The burning tears
The bitter night
The wasted years
Life breaks and falls apart
But we know these are…
Places
Where grace is
Soon to be so amazing
They may unfulfilled
They may unrestored
But when anything that’s shattered
Is laid before the Lord
Just watch and see
It will not be
Unredeemed
For every choice
That led to shame
And all the love
That never came
For every vow
That someone broke
And every life
That gave up hope
We live in the shadow of the fall
But the cross says these are all – just
Places
Where grace is
Soon to be so amazing
They may be unfulfilled
They may be unrestored
But when anything that’s shattered
Is laid before the Lord
Just watch and see
It will not be
Unredeemed
They may be unfulfilled
They may be unrestored
You never know the miracles
The Father has in store
Just watch and see
It will not be
Unredeemed
These are a few quotes from Angie's last two posts. I thought I would share them with you and encourage anyone who comes across my blog to check out Audrey's story and see how greatly the Lord is working in that family.
First, here are the words to a song about to be released by Selah.
Unredeemed
(Written by Chad Cates, Tony Wood, Brian Petak)
Produced by Bernie Herms
Sung by Amy Perry and Todd Smith
The cruelest words
The coldest heart
The deepest wounds
The endless dark
The lonely ache
The burning tears
The bitter night
The wasted years
Life breaks and falls apart
But we know these are…
Places
Where grace is
Soon to be so amazing
They may unfulfilled
They may unrestored
But when anything that’s shattered
Is laid before the Lord
Just watch and see
It will not be
Unredeemed
For every choice
That led to shame
And all the love
That never came
For every vow
That someone broke
And every life
That gave up hope
We live in the shadow of the fall
But the cross says these are all – just
Places
Where grace is
Soon to be so amazing
They may be unfulfilled
They may be unrestored
But when anything that’s shattered
Is laid before the Lord
Just watch and see
It will not be
Unredeemed
They may be unfulfilled
They may be unrestored
You never know the miracles
The Father has in store
Just watch and see
It will not be
Unredeemed
And secondly, here's quote from Turn My Mourning Into Dancing, by Henri Nouwen.
"Pruning means cutting, reshaping, removing what diminishes vitality. When we look at a pruned vineyard, we can hardly believe it will bear fruit. But when the harvest comes, we realize that the pruning allowed the vines to concentrate their energy and produce more grapes. Grateful people learn to celebrate even amid life's hard and harrowing memories because they know that pruning is no mere punishment, but preparation.
When our gratitude for the past is only partial, our hope for the future can likewise never be full. But our submitting to God's pruning work will not ultimately leave us sad, but hopeful for what can happen in us and through us. Harvesttime will bring its own blessings...pg19"
When our gratitude for the past is only partial, our hope for the future can likewise never be full. But our submitting to God's pruning work will not ultimately leave us sad, but hopeful for what can happen in us and through us. Harvesttime will bring its own blessings...pg19"
Maybe these words will help you today as they have helped me.
Friday, April 03, 2009
A long overdue NEWSY update!
We're still here!
We're adjusting to life living with someone else. Granted, it's my parents, so that makes it a bit easier; and we have done this before, but still, it's not OUR space, and there are always adjustments. I can definitely say that I'm looking forward to a place of our own as soon as we can swing it, but I'm also learning each day to be more content with where God has us for now. We're in waiting mode in this area and several others. I think the Lord is trying to teach me something!! :) I'm definitely not a patient person and don't like waiting and not KNOWING, but everyday, God is helping me to trust Him a little more. It's NOT easy, but He's helping me. I'm grateful for His patience with me!
Let's see...
The boys are doing great! I'd post a new picture, if only I could find my camera.
Ryan is four and full of questions, imagination and ENERGY!! The boy can talk your ear off...something to do with genes, maybe??? He loves everything to do with Star Wars, computer games and every moment spent with daddy! He and Steven put together a castle($3 marked down at Walmart--Grandpa indulged him!) last night. Only took them about three or four hours to figure it out, but he was wonderfully happy to just BE with daddy! He loves games--board games, computer games, outside games, anything that involves being with someone else. He's getting past the point of taking naps, (sniff, sniff!) so we've started quiet time. His newest interest is anything to do with planting and growing plants. Everyday, he goes outside to check the flowers to see if they are ready for him to cut and bring in to me! I love it!!! Grandma is going to show him how to plant flowers and vegetables maybe even starting tonight.
Brandon is almost two, only a few weeks left to be one. His favorite thing in the world is being outside with Grandpa, the "kitty," and the "orse"! (Our neighbor across the street has two horses.) He's definitely a BOY boy!!! He falls all the time, enough that I'm sad to say he's taking after his father and trying to get himself killed before he graduates high school! Last week alone we had two busted lips, two or three bumped heads and multiple other owies to take care of. If you can trip on it, he finds it. If you can fall over it, he finds it. I'm learning to just pick him up, wipe him off, kiss the owies and go on. For my own sanity's sake, I'm trying to remember he's hardheaded. He's finally starting to say some recognizable words, more every day. He loves to sing, at the top of his lungs while banging on the metal tray of his high chair--chaos often reigns when Ryan joins him!! Hilarious, but tends to give us headaches!!! We only take it in short bursts for obvious reasons, but it's so absolutely adorable!! Oh and his newest thing is his hat...he loves wearing it to the point that he wore it to bed the other night!!! :)
Our newest little boy is doing well from all the signs. He's moving more and more every day and getting stronger. I'm getting bigger, so I guess, either he's growing or I'm eating too much---maybe both??? :) Other than a few "normal" pregnancy complaints, I'm doing well. In some ways, this is turning out to be an easier pregnancy, now that we're past the complications. I don't have the intense back problems that I had with Ryan and Brandon--for that I'm very thankful.
Steven is wonderful as always--working hard to support us and make a future for our family. He's only had six regular pay checks this year, so we're learning a lot about cutting back and making due. Thankfully, the Lord granted him the wisdom to foresee these changes coming last year, and he implemented changes then to plan for and be ready for these leaner times. There are no words to describe how thankful I am to be married to such a man!! He's strong, but not overbearing. He's loving, but not a pushover. He has some wisdom when it comes to finances that have kept our family from being in real need over the last few years. I just love him so much!!! I can't believe sometimes that we've been together for ten years now, married for nearly nine. It's crazy!!!
Our life is in many ways turned on end right now, but we're closer as a family, learning to draw our strength from each other and from the Lord. It's has been and continues to be a rather difficult time, but God is also blessing us in the midst of the uncertainties and struggles. Like a gentle rain in summer, He refreshes us in other areas that keep us going in the face of hard times and hard decisions.
Until another quiet time to reflect...
:)
We're adjusting to life living with someone else. Granted, it's my parents, so that makes it a bit easier; and we have done this before, but still, it's not OUR space, and there are always adjustments. I can definitely say that I'm looking forward to a place of our own as soon as we can swing it, but I'm also learning each day to be more content with where God has us for now. We're in waiting mode in this area and several others. I think the Lord is trying to teach me something!! :) I'm definitely not a patient person and don't like waiting and not KNOWING, but everyday, God is helping me to trust Him a little more. It's NOT easy, but He's helping me. I'm grateful for His patience with me!
Let's see...
The boys are doing great! I'd post a new picture, if only I could find my camera.
Ryan is four and full of questions, imagination and ENERGY!! The boy can talk your ear off...something to do with genes, maybe??? He loves everything to do with Star Wars, computer games and every moment spent with daddy! He and Steven put together a castle($3 marked down at Walmart--Grandpa indulged him!) last night. Only took them about three or four hours to figure it out, but he was wonderfully happy to just BE with daddy! He loves games--board games, computer games, outside games, anything that involves being with someone else. He's getting past the point of taking naps, (sniff, sniff!) so we've started quiet time. His newest interest is anything to do with planting and growing plants. Everyday, he goes outside to check the flowers to see if they are ready for him to cut and bring in to me! I love it!!! Grandma is going to show him how to plant flowers and vegetables maybe even starting tonight.
Brandon is almost two, only a few weeks left to be one. His favorite thing in the world is being outside with Grandpa, the "kitty," and the "orse"! (Our neighbor across the street has two horses.) He's definitely a BOY boy!!! He falls all the time, enough that I'm sad to say he's taking after his father and trying to get himself killed before he graduates high school! Last week alone we had two busted lips, two or three bumped heads and multiple other owies to take care of. If you can trip on it, he finds it. If you can fall over it, he finds it. I'm learning to just pick him up, wipe him off, kiss the owies and go on. For my own sanity's sake, I'm trying to remember he's hardheaded. He's finally starting to say some recognizable words, more every day. He loves to sing, at the top of his lungs while banging on the metal tray of his high chair--chaos often reigns when Ryan joins him!! Hilarious, but tends to give us headaches!!! We only take it in short bursts for obvious reasons, but it's so absolutely adorable!! Oh and his newest thing is his hat...he loves wearing it to the point that he wore it to bed the other night!!! :)
Our newest little boy is doing well from all the signs. He's moving more and more every day and getting stronger. I'm getting bigger, so I guess, either he's growing or I'm eating too much---maybe both??? :) Other than a few "normal" pregnancy complaints, I'm doing well. In some ways, this is turning out to be an easier pregnancy, now that we're past the complications. I don't have the intense back problems that I had with Ryan and Brandon--for that I'm very thankful.
Steven is wonderful as always--working hard to support us and make a future for our family. He's only had six regular pay checks this year, so we're learning a lot about cutting back and making due. Thankfully, the Lord granted him the wisdom to foresee these changes coming last year, and he implemented changes then to plan for and be ready for these leaner times. There are no words to describe how thankful I am to be married to such a man!! He's strong, but not overbearing. He's loving, but not a pushover. He has some wisdom when it comes to finances that have kept our family from being in real need over the last few years. I just love him so much!!! I can't believe sometimes that we've been together for ten years now, married for nearly nine. It's crazy!!!
Our life is in many ways turned on end right now, but we're closer as a family, learning to draw our strength from each other and from the Lord. It's has been and continues to be a rather difficult time, but God is also blessing us in the midst of the uncertainties and struggles. Like a gentle rain in summer, He refreshes us in other areas that keep us going in the face of hard times and hard decisions.
Until another quiet time to reflect...
:)
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