thank you, Lord...

for all my beautiful friends...

for laughter...

for sunshine...

for answers...

and questions...

for new...

and for old...

for what has been...

and what is yet to come...





love to all...

i have no words tonight, but this song adequately mirrors my thoughts for the moment...

I've been putting on and putting off too many people
And I'm getting old to live
like an injured man, ailments and unfilled prescriptions,
like the nose on my face
Like a broken boat, a safety raft, and a love for the water
Well I just can't decide
To sink or swim, it's me or them,
Should I save myself
or go back for the others

Because maybe there's no gray and I was wrong to tell 'em so
And then maybe all that I've to do was done a long time ago

Because there was life before my life
There was provision before my need
There was redemption before my sin
For the sake of the world I thank the Lord
That the truth's not contingent on me

Because I've been dressing up and dressing down for too many people
And I'm a little young to live
Like a troubled boy, a troubled soul, a fish out of water
Because we're all just the same
We're all just as good, and just as bad, and just as distracted
By the corners of our eyes
As our fathers were, and theirs before and all those before them,
And still I glance around

And with the way I stare you'd think I'd seen through a two-by-four
And with the way I walk you'd think I'd never seen grace before

Because there was life before my life
There was provision before my need
There was redemption before my sin
For the sake of the world I thank the Lord
That the truth's not contingent on me

But I've been putting up, putting down too many things
That I know nothing about,
but I'm jealous of, holding pride as tight as I can
like she was my only daughter

Because there was life before my life
There was provision before my need
There was redemption before my sin
For the sake of the world I thank the Lord
That the truth's not contingent on me

'Cause the truth's not contingent on me.

-Caedmon's Call "The Truth"

the past few weeks have been trying, for many reasons... of which i won't bore you now. but today i've begun to feel hopeful. it was a day of pleasant surprises... a smile at church... the laughter of friendship... the quiet that only snow brings. i have very many reasons to be thankful, and just as many reasons to be hopeful. life is uncertain, and that's what makes it beautiful.



love to all...

life is beautiful. i am blessed beyond measure. God is so good.




love to all...

more from The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus...

"From our brother Jesus, who alone knows the Father, we learn that there is welcoming love, unconditional acceptance, a relentless and eternal affection that so far exceeds our human experience that even the passion and death of Jesus are only a hint of it. Think about that for a moment: the torn, broken, lacerated, spit-covered, blood-drenched body of Jesus is only a hint of the Father's love. The very substance of our faith is the unwavering confidence that beyond this hint lies love beyond measure."

i'm reading this wonderful book called The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus, by Brennan Manning. in the chapter i just finished, mr. manning was talking about being abandoned to God's will, and thanking Him for everything... even the most difficult things in life. he says that in doing this, we'll hear God say something like this:

"My child, fan the flame of your confidence in Me. Keep it burning. I want you to be happy, to come back again and again to this feeling of trust until you are never without it. Trust is an aspect of love. If you love Me and believe in My love for you, you will surrender your whole self into My hands like a little child who doesn't even ask, 'Where are you taking me?' but sets off joyously, hand in hand with his mother. How many blessings this happy confidence wins for you, My little one.
Keep going blindly. Take delight in knowing nothing about the future. I know how to lead the blind by the best paths. And when this blind person knows that he is My son, she is My daughter, won't they be glad of their infirmity; since it has power over My heart? In all this see My tenderness. It is everlasting."


how beautiful...

i have amazing friends... old and new...


i am SO blessed!

so tired!

this week has already been exhausting, and it's only tuesday.

9:15 isn't too early to go to bed, is it?

a little something from the daily bread...

"He looks on us and sees the voids and imperfections in our lives, yet lovingly and patiently does His work in us to make us His masterpiece-- a masterpiece that 'conforms to the image of His Son' (Romans 8:29).
What a joy it is to have such a God, who makes us new and never tires of investing His energy and effort into our lives!" -Bill Crowder





love to all...