will

What can I say? He will. He has promised. 

"As your days, so shall your strength be." Deut. 33:25. 

"Be still and know that I am God." Ps. 46:10

"The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance." Ps. 16:6

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." Rom. 8:28

Sometimes I think "I can't do it. I won't make it." What does that mean, "won't make it"? Won't live through it? So you'll die. Because of homework. Because of a tough character. Because of the dark valley. 

Silly silly me. 

Of course I will make it, I just don't want to. I dread it. My faith is weak. I get through it. I scold myself. But then? I do it all over again. Every. Time. 

God will always bring you through it. His will is perfect. And He is good. God is always, always so good. Never doubt His goodness. 

cross

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

John 15:13

So, obviously, if we want to express love, are we not to go to the greatest expression of love in the history of this world? And how is that act expressed? In the Cross. The Cross of Christ. 

We say this is the greatest act of love in history, and yet, we are not even aware of just how great. We may try to comprehend, but I don't believe we can. We cannot comprehend just how sinful we are. We cannot comprehend just how perfect and holy and righteous Christ is. We cannot fathom the degree of degradation for Christ to humble Himself to become man. We can't. We just cannot. And if we cannot comprehend those things, how in the world are to understand this sacrifice? We understand the degree of sacrifice it is for one to give their day off to help the neighbour, and we can even understand the sacrifice of a parent for a child, even unto death. We can get that. We can see, and feel that amount of love. But what we have no clue about is Christ's love for us. Yes, we love us, we love each other, but can I ask you something? How much do you love a worm? Would you die for a worm? Would you? 

I wouldn't. 

But He did. 

keep close

... go

We recently had a guest preacher filling in for our own minister who was on vacation. Out of the near two hours that he preached, this is what I remembered. Is there anything between your heart and Jesus's heart? Are you hugging the world? And is it blocking the way between Christ's heart and yours? 

That's... scary. Because it is so easy. It's so easy for me to put off devotions for a few extra minutes of sleep or study. It is so easy to let my mind wander to things 'not above' and forget to meditate on grace. It's so easy to try and take matters into my own hands and forget to pray. PRAY. I do that a lot; I'm a control freak. 

Another easy-to-fall-into-trap, (for me personally) is putting my family and friends before God.  Honestly, I think about them far more than I do about God. I have more worry for them than faith that God is in control.

BUT, that's where my faith is weak. That is where I need to start walking closer to God.  

And can I say that this? The things that we don't want to come in between us and God are not necessarily to be disposed of... they are simply to be the after-thought, and seen through our walk with God. Obviously, don't dispose of your family, but have faith for them and love them through the Gospel. Make your walk with God seen in the world, and don't let the world into your walk. 

idea

So I was laying in bed last night. 

No, seriously, I was.

Incredible? Right?

Actually, it was my new bed. Well, new to me. It's giant. I love it.

And I was thinking about my blog. And about my spare time while I am at college. And about all of those thoughts and ideas and arguments with self that I had over the summer. Really, what else are you supposed to do during a 10 hour weeding job? Not just weed, let me tell you.

I had already decided I was going to blog more once I was done work. You may have noticed that I slacked over the summer. Or you may not have. Hehe...

I am a pinterester, very much so. And I have a great many quotes and wise words and Scripture verses pinned up on there. And they are all so beautiful, and they are labled "remember this"... but I never do.

But I want to. So here's my idea. I am going to take each pin, each quote, each verse and dig in. Some more than others, I am sure.

I have no idea if I will last... I mean, there's 163 of them... and that number gets bigger every week. But I am going to give it a go.

Ready, set...

new things #2

1. I have moved away from home again. But this time I am only a 4 hour drive away instead of a 24 hour drive. Big difference. Happy difference.

2. I start college tomorrow. I am pretty pumped. I get to wear scrubs and play with needles and it will be totally cool except for when we practice on each other. That will be less cool.

3. My parents are less than a week away from being 'empty-nesters'. Well, sorta. Pretty sure the nest won't stay empty for long, but it is still gonna happen. Whoa.

4. I came up with a really nifty idea for blogging... which I reveal in the next blog post... which I will probably also post today.

5. I have decided I have no idea what is coming. None. Whatsoever.

6. I have decided that is perfectly okay. Because His plan is perfectly okay. Perfectly fit for me. And perfectly beautiful for His Kingdom. It's going to be fabulous.