Ordinary Days

There are days that are ordinary. In the moments in those days, I realize just how beautiful everyday, ordinary events are. Maybe I'll have a delicious cup of chai or eat a good lunch. Maybe I'll just have good chips and salsa. Maybe these kinds of days will reveal a new song that will turn into a favorite or a new verse that the Lord gives with all the sweetness of His personal love for me. Maybe I'll get an especially wonderful hug from my brother or find out that my best friend is having a little boy. Maybe I'll realize just how much an ordinary day can change my life forever or maybe I'll see no change at all. Maybe I'll try on a new black dress and find that it fits like a glove and will be perfect to wear in a certain wedding in the future. Maybe I'll jump on the trampoline with my little brother and remember what it was like to be a child with no worries. Maybe I'll try cinnamon gelato for the first time and find that it's my new favorite. Maybe I'll remember a certain someone and how much I wish they were still in my life. Maybe I'll be reminded that things happen for a reason and nothing happens by chance and in that thought I'll find comfort. Maybe I'll look forward to the future and all it may hold...but mostly look forward to tomorrow and homemade pie. Yes, I love beautiful, magical, ordinary days...like today.

Waiting

Is

Beautiful

"I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia."--The Silver Chair

"Welcome, Prince," said Aslan. "Do you feel yourself sufficient to take up the Kingship of Narnia?" "I-I don't think I do, Sir," said Caspian. "I'm only a kid." "Good," said Aslan. "If you had felt yourself sufficient, it would have been a proof that you were not..." --Prince Caspian

"There is a kind of happiness and wonder that makes you serious. It is too good to waste on jokes."--The Last Battle

"'You would not have called to me unless I had been calling to you,'" said the Lion."--The Silver Chair

"'Don't you mind him,' said Puddleglum. 'There are no accidents. Our guide is Aslan.'"--The Silver Chair

"'Safe?' said Mr. Beaver...'Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. but he's good. He's the King, I tell you.'"--The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

"'When a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards.'"--The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

thoughts..

Let's be random. Let's sit together in a coffee shop and just talk about all the randomness that pops into our heads. About how wonderful the peppermint tea is here. Why do they have a picture of monkeys that says "Costa Rica"? Have you ever tried the Asian LuLu Bistro across the street? Neither have I, but they have rooftop seating...pretty cool. I'm freezing in here and it's almost the middle of July!! What is going on with this Colorado weather anyway? The people walking by the window keep staring in...can they see us or are they seeing their own reflections? Did you know that my favorite flowers are daisies...most days:-) They are just the friendliest flower and yes, I stole that line from You've Got Mail. But tis' true. When I grow old, I want to walk down the sidewalk holding my husband's arm like the sweet older couple that just walked by. I love great danes. Yep, just like the beautiful black dog sitting right outside the window. I love to smile, the lady sitting over there should try it sometime, she looks like she just sucked on a lemon. Do you think there might be a chance we could find the door to Narnia around here somewhere? I mean, with a name like Starry Night Cafe, who knows what might happen to us here! I believe we may walk out onto the street and find ourselves on the Narnian coast and Aslan will be on the move. He's not a tame lion you know. Huh, the ceiling in here is cobalt blue...I've never noticed that before, have you? What would happen if the clouds that are hanging so heavy began raining golden rain? What if we stood in it and began to sparkle with its golden water? Oh, did I tell you that Lucy is officially in Windsor? Yep, she is and she'll be coming home as soon as I get her paid off, which hopefully won't take months and months. She's beautiful. Would you like to see her? Ok, I'll show you a picture below. I think I need a refill of peppermint tea...

Longing for Longing

"O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me They glory, I pray Thee, that so I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, ' Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.' Then give me the grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long. In Jesus' name, Amen."

-A.W. Tozer

I would have this be the cry of my heart always and forever. To long to be filled with longing for my God. There is no greater calling than this. And how He longs for us to want Him, to spend devoted time with Him each day, to find all our joy in Him alone, to talk with Him. How can I not yearn to spend time just talking with my precious Jesus? How can I have any kind of relationship with Him if I do not pour my heart out to Him? I desire to never "vent" to anyone, but to go to He who knows me better than I know myself, with all my troubles, frustrations, and joys. Never should there be a time in my life when anyone can take the place of talking to my Lord. He is sufficient for all my needs and for all of yours as well. His mercies never end and He is faithful to those who search after His sweet face. Isn't it glorious to know that we can go to Him, the king of the universe, with every little trouble and care? For He delights to be a listening ear to us, to offer His shoulder for us to lean on, and to hold us close in His arms. How precious, how matchless, how indescribable is His love!

It is not I, but Christ that lives in me. For my old life is buried, my old man has died with Christ and I am a new creature in Him. From this moment on, I stand on the side of He who died to save me, I desire only that He will take this life and spend it for His glory and kingdom. There is something about making that statement, not in thought only, but really truly making the statement to those in my life and to the heavenlies as well. On June 17th, I was rebaptized in the lake at Ellerslie by Eric and Annie and life began anew. Though baptism does not bring about salvation, to openly and consciously make the decision and statement of what this means is joy and freedom indeed. Our God is indescribable, more wonderful than words can ever express, and He has blessed me far more than I can ever deserve. I am in awe of His love and the power He gives His children to do His will and live a victorious Christian life. I have witnessed the Spirit of the Living God unlike I've ever known these past few weeks on the Ellerslie campus and it is beautiful to behold. The work that is being wrought in the lives of the students and staff is incredible! God has proven Himself faithful time and time again to bring freedom and release to the lives of those here who are willing to let go of their own lives completely. God's Word truly "is alive and it cuts like a sword through the darkness, with a message of life to the hopeless and the frail, breathing life into all who believe." www.ellerslie.com

Looking out from His throne,
The Father of light and of men
Chose to make Himself known
And show us the way back to Him

Speaking wisdom and truth
Into the hearts of peasants and kings
He began to unveil
The Word that would change the course of all things

With eyes wide open,
all would see

The Word is alive
And it cuts like a sword through the darkness
With a message of life to the hopeless and afraid
Breathing life into all who believe
The Word is alive
And the world and its glories will fade
But His truth, it will not pass away
It remains yesterday and forever the same
The Word is alive

Simple strokes on a page
Eternity's secrets revealed,
Carried on from age to age
It speaks truth to us even still

And as the rain falls from Heaven, Feeds the earth before it returns
Lord, let Your Word fall on us and bring forth the fruit You deserve

With eyes wide open, let us see
The Word is alive
And it cuts like a sword through the darkness
With a message of life to the hopeless and afraid
Breathing life into all who believe
The Word is alive
And the world and its glories will fade
But His truth, it will not pass away
It remains yesterday and forever the same
The Word is alive

(Spoken) The Bible was inscribed over a period of two thousand years
In times of war and in days of peace
By kings, physicians, tax collectors, farmers, fishermen, singers, and shepherds
The marvel is that a library so perfectly cohesive could have been produced by such a diverse crowd
Over a period of time which staggers the imagination
Jesus is its grand subject, our good is its design, and the glory of God is its end

The Word is alive
And it cuts like a sword through the darkness
With a message of life to the hopeless and afraid
Breathing life into all who believe
The Word is alive
And the world and its glories will fade
But His truth, it will not pass away
It remains yesterday and forever the same
The Word is alive (the world and its glories will fade)
The Word is alive (His truth it will not pass away)
His Word is alive (His Word is alive, His Word is alive)

(Spoken) Jesus is its grand subject, our good its design, and the glory of God is its end

This Evening

Looking out my window in the dim of this evening, there is nothing more beautiful than the clouds He has lit on fire with the leaving of the sun. The mountains are shrouded in that hazy blue that only comes with this time of day, which is my favorite time of all the times in the day. Our little lake is reflecting the last bit of softly glowing sky and the trees are ever darkening with the coming of the night. Simple, everyday events are these, but when I stop and watch them happen, I am ever amazed at my God. What a God I serve, a God who loves colors, who loves light, who created water to reflect that which He set forth in the sky, who paints the clouds with brilliance and then gently smiles at me and says," This is for you, beloved." An evening like this is far better than any love letter I could receive from human hands, for the God of the universe thought of every color, every reflection, every shadow that gently crosses the waters, and gave it all to me. I do not deserve such as this, I have done nothing in my short life to deserve His notice and love, yet He does notice and love me. How can there be any doubt in any heart of the love of God when we can see the beauty in every single day that He has made just for us? I am inadequate to describe what I see and feel with His loving arms wrapped gently around me. I wish I knew how better to articulate this overwhelming love and gentleness that I see and feel in this sweet evening. All I know and can say is that I love You Jesus! I know I am far away from loving You the way I should, however, I want to love you more and more with each passing day. I want to be consumed by Your sweet and holy fire until there is nothing left of me and I am totally and irrevocably Yours!

1. Take my life and let it be
   Consecrated, Lord, to Thee;
   Take my hands and let them move
   At the impulse of Thy love.
2. Take my feet and let them be
   Swift and beautiful for Thee;
   Take my voice and let me sing,
   Always, only for my King.
3. Take my lips and let them be
   Filled with messages from Thee;
   Take my silver and my gold,
   Not a mite would I withhold.
4. Take my moments and my days,
   Let them flow in endless praise;
   Take my intellect and use
   Every pow’r as Thou shalt choose.
5. Take my will and make it Thine,
   It shall be no longer mine;
   Take my heart, it is Thine own,
   It shall be Thy royal throne.
6. Take my love, my Lord, I pour
   At Thy feet its treasure store;
   Take myself and I will be
   Ever, only, all for Thee.
   
   
   -Frances R. Havergal