How is already the last weekend of summer?!?! I've been trying to soak it in as much as possible, and made a list of things that summer has involved for me this year :)
Summer is...
Sitting on the porch bench reading,
warmth of the sun on my skin,
Peach juice dripping down my chin,
Hot kitchen full of canning,
Buckets of peach skins & pits,
Corn on the cob,
Watermelon,
Ice cream,
Tan lines,
Sweaty curls in the not-so baby's hair,
Slower pace,
Jumping on the trampoline with the girlies,
Story time on the couch,
Early morning sunrise & Bible reading,
Peach pie with a gingerbread crust (for breakfast!!),
Swimming in the pool,
Watching the kids jumping competitions (and occasionally being in one too ;) ),
Sunlight through the trampoline net,
people falling over on the trampoline,
late nights and early mornings,
the animals we see on our walks,
long hours of sunshine,
bbq pizza, your butt sore from a long bike ride, strawberry picking: aching back and fingers & lips turned red, playing in the sand (and being turned into a giant octopus ;) ),
I'm sure there's many many more... next season I think I will start a list right off at the beginning :)
What is on your 'Summer Is' list?
The only thing that makes me somewhat ready for summer to be ending, is that fall is coming, and I just love how beautiful fall is :)
We got back from a little trip to MacGregor Point/Port Elgin late Tuesday night, and there was no time whatsoever to write a post. Now we are in the throes of canning peaches for the rest of the week, on top of usual things. So here is my quick post for the week.. :)
me and my girlies with the sunset over Lake Huron :)
As I mentioned here, I tend to listen to a lot of an artist or two for a long time, then switch it up. So today's Tunes post is Addison Road again.
I made You promises a thousand times
I tried to hear from Heaven
But I talked the whole time
I think I made You too small
I never feared You at all No
If You touched my face would I know You?
Looked into my eyes could I behold You?
[CHORUS]
So What do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
So What do I know? What do I know of Holy?
I guess I thought that I had figured You out
I knew all the stories and I learned to talk about
How You were mighty to save
Those were only empty words on a page
Then I caught a glimpse of who You might be
The slightest hint of You brought me down to my knees
[CHORUS]
So What do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
So What do I know? What do I know of Holy?
[CHORUS 2]
What do I know of Holy?
What do I know of wounds that will heal my shame?
And a God who gave life it's name?
What do I know of Holy?
Of the One who the angels praise?
All creation knows Your name
On earth and heaven above
What do I know of this love?
[CHORUS]
So What do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
What do I know? What do I know of Holy?
What do I know of Holy?
What do I know of Holy?
Take some time today and ponder the completely awe-inspiring holiness of God today. Just sit and feel the power of His presence. If you're having trouble, ask Him to help you keep your eyes focused on Him, ask Him to show Himself to you.
Let us never forget the perfect holiness of God. It truly could change the way we do everything!
We're busy packing up because we're heading away to visit family and camp in Michigan for a week and of course I am not organized enough to get my blogging done on schedule. So this post is late.
And because we'll be away, and once again, I'm not organized enough to blog ahead of time, there will be no Tunes Tuesday post next week either.
But on to this week's post. I found this CD at the thrift store, and I knew a couple of songs from Christian radio and I decided to pick it up. As I played it through, there was this one song that really reached me. I was sitting in the car, and listening to every word.
Oh, the chorus. Lately I have been convicted that I have been living a complacent comfortable life. And that is so not biblical! So I've been asking Him to mold me and chip away all those things I don't need. It is uncomfortable to grow like that but it is worth it! Broken pride hurts, it's not 'cool' to be under construction. But I'm gonna trust that the One who created me knows that better version of me and how best to get there.
And ya know what? it's not even that comfortable living the comfortable life anyways. :P at least, that's what I've found, after a while.
There's a better version of me
That I can't quite see
But things are gonna change
Right now I'm a total mess and
Right now I'm completely incomplete
But things are gonna change
'Cause you're not through with me yet
This is redemption's story
With every step that I'm taking
Every day, you're chipping away
What I don't need
This is me under construction
This is my pride being broken
And every day I'm closer to who I'm meant to be
I'm a change in the making
Wish I could live more patiently
Wish I would give a little more of me
Without stopping to think twice
Wish I had faith like a little child
Wish I could walk a single mile
Without tripping on my own feet
But you're not through with me yet
This is redemption's story
With every step that I'm taking
Every day, you're chipping away
What I don't need
This is me under construction
This is my pride being broken
And every day I'm closer to who I'm meant to be
From the dawn of history
You make new and you redeem
From a broken world to a broken heart
You finish what you start in everything
Like a river rolls into the sea
We're not who we're going to be
But things are going to change
I'm Livin' redemption's story
With every step that I'm taking
Every day, you're chipping away
What I don't need
This is me under construction
This is my pride being broken
And every day I'm closer to who I'm meant to be
I'm a change in the making [x2]
I'm not who I'm gonna be
Moving closer to your glory
Well this week I am away at CYWAL, and hopefully I will come back with some interesting and hopefully insightful things to share, but for now I have this lovely song to share with you all :)
(I chose this song a while ago, and then wrote something up last night (Saturday), and then while I was lying in bed last night, the line 'life will all make sense in the end' kept running through my head, and all I could think of was the sponsored kids at camp and how life wasn't fair. So I got up this morning and rewrote the post.)
"Life will all make sense... in the end"
Having just got to the end of OASIS week, one of the most awesome and exciting and exhausting weeks of my year, I seen just the tip of the ice burg on how life isn't fair. I live suche a blessed life, and when I come in to contact with the forty-or-fifty-some-odd sponsored kids who come to our camp, most of them from less than desirable situations, it makes my heart ache.
Some of the kids don't have CD players because the little money their parents have gets spent on other things, often addictions. Many of the kids have broken homes, some with step-siblings on both sides. Some don't even get breakfast in the morning.
I was talking with some of the parents of my campers on the last day, ad the father of one of the kids in my group said something that made me smile gratefully, yet made my heart break for this little girl. He said, "I could see just by the way she was holding your hand, looking at you, and sitting on your lap that she really took to you. She doesn't get to see her mom too often, and I know that she really took to you. I could see you treated her real well and I appreciate it. She really took to you."
Another of the kids in my group, a little boy who I know was going home to a hard situation, came crying to give me a hug at the end. "I'll miss you," he said, making the tears begin to roll down my face. "I'll miss you too," I told him, holding him close. Then I sat him on my knee, looked into his beautiful eyes and tried my best to speak life into his little five year old life. "But ya know what William*? Even when I can't be with you, God is always with you. And He loves you! Before He even made the world He thought up all the people He was going to make and He thought up you. He thought up your beautiful smile, and your lovely eyes, and the way you laugh, and He said, I'm going to make William Bridges*, and so He did. And I'm so glad! He made you William*, and He loves you, and He will always be right with you." He started crying again, saying something about forgetting, and I reminded him of the scrapbook we'd made that week, with the Bible points and verses, and stories, and pictures. "And I'll pray for you," I promised, "every day."
Life isn't fair. And I don't know why. Why is it that I have a wonderful family, with both parents and lots of siblings, and beautiful house, with always enough to eat, when there are kids in my own Canadian city who don't have any of that? It doesn't make any sense to me! But this song reminds us, that in the end, life will all make sense. We will see how God used all these messed up situations for His glory, to spread His love and lead people closer to Him. He doesn't like our pain, but He is with us throughout it, and He doesn't let it go for nought. I don't know why the little girl's parents are split and she doesn't get to see her mom, and I don't know why God is allowing William's* home situation to be hard, but He does, and we just need to trust. We know that Romans 8:28 tells us that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.
Can't catch a break
You've had your fill of old clichés
Like "life is hard but God is good"
And even though it's true
It won't stop what you're going through
I wish that I could say it would
But He's outside of what you feel
It might not make sense
But one day it will
There's coming a day the sun will always shine
He's gonna wipe away every tear from your eyes
Hold on my brother, things are gonna better
You're gonna smile again
Cause we win in the end
You're standing still
Life has handed you a bitter pill
Once again you're on your face
You've got questions
Plenty of secret confessions
Wondering if you've run out of grace
But He's outside of what you feel
This life is just a moment
But our forever is sealed, oh yeah
There's coming a day the sun will always shine
He's gonna wipe away every tear from your eyes
Hold on my brother, things are gonna better
You're gonna smile again
Cause we win in the end
It won't be about streets of gold, pearly gates
Harps and wings, diamond lakes
All I know is that He's gonna hold you, hold me
Heartache will disappear
Questions will become clear
Life will all make sense in the end
Oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh
We win in the end
Oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh
There's coming a day the sun will always shine
He's gonna wipe away every tear from your eyes
Hold on my brother, things are gonna better
You're gonna smile again
Cause we win in the end
Oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh
We win in the end
Oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh
Glory, glory hallelujah
Glory, glory hallelujah
Glory, glory hallelujah
We win in the end
Glory, glory hallelujah
Glory, glory hallelujah
Glory, glory hallelujah
We win in the end
We win in the end
I pray this song would bless you today, as you think about what it really means when it says, 'we win in the end', and 'life will all make sense in the end', because it is true, and even if we can't see it now, we will someday!
Prayers would be appreciated for all the kids who were at camp this past week, but especially for the sponsored kids.
this week has been super amazing and super crazy and super exhausting so far! I'm volunteering at our VBS camp, which is called OASIS, and runs ALL day, so I'm there from 8-5, and we have swimming and stuff in the afternoon. :)
I have a bunch of 4-6 yos in my morning group and then 3 of them are my kids in the afternoon - they are so sweet! thankfully most of them are good listeners, but they sure need a lot of love and attention!!
next week I'm heading away to CYWAL, so there probably won't be a post later in the week, but I am hoping to get a Tunes Tuesday post scheduled :)
VBS camp is this week and one of the songs that we're asingin' that I'm alovin' is Forever Reign {camp version} and {regular version}.
This is one of my {many many many many many lol} favourite songs.... and on one of those days when I feel like everything is just out of my control and I can't deal I will put this song on, close my eyes, and let the truth sink into my soul as I run to His arms. I love that how it reminds my heart of the steadfastness of His character, He is good {when there's nothing good in me}, He is light {when the darkness closes in}, He is everything that I need and when I run to Him I am made whole.
I'm alookin' {don't ask me. I don't know why the language is acomin' out this way. ha} at last week's post, and realizing that there is a similarity. I guess that right now I'm just seeking the assurance of who God is, and that He will always be right by me. It doesn't matter what's going on, or how I feel: He is still peace, He is still true, He is still joy, and He is here. I so need that right now. Anyone with me?
You are good, You are good
When there's nothing good in me
You are love, You are love
On display for all to see
You are light, You are light
When the darkness closes in
You are hope, You are hope
You have covered all my sin
You are peace, You are peace
When my fear is crippling
You are true, You are true
Even in my wandering
You are joy, You are joy
You're the reason that I sing
You are life, You are life,
In You death has lost its sting
Oh, I'm running to Your arms,
I'm running to Your arms.
The riches of Your love
Will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign
You are more, You are more
Than my words will ever say
You are Lord, You are Lord
All creation will proclaim
You are here, You are here
In Your presence I'm made whole
You are God, You are God
Of all else I'm letting go
Oh, I'm running to Your arms
I'm running to Your arms
The riches of Your love
Will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign
My heart will sing
no other Name
Jesus, Jesus
Oh, I'm running to Your arms
I'm running to Your arms
The riches of Your love
Will always be enough
know this, my friends, for it is true and always will be.
as in, I only did it one day, and then half of the next. and then I completely dropped it. and not only that, but that list I had at least been making at the end of the day? well I pretty much stopped doing that too.
the last almost two weeks (?) have been full of those days where they're not horrible and they're not great. I just kinda make my way through them, and unless it's somehow 'unmissable' I don't see the beauty, God's little graces, His gifts to me.
one thing that I have realized, is that when I am fixing my eyes upon
Jesus, everything else seems to sort of fall into place. not that it's
all simple, or easy, cuz it's not... but when I'm looking around at all
the things down here, everything gets all mixed up, and I don't have the clarity or strength to sort out what's good or not, so it all just kinda gets jumbled up inside me and I can't figure it out.
it's super easy to be focused on God during quiet time in the morning, but it's all throughout the day that I need it, and that's where lately, it's super hard to remember.
I also have to admit that up to the last few days, reading my Bible has also not exactly been at the top of my list. and that makes me sad. because I know it is life-giving. and it is what I need to make it through the day.
the last few days I have been more disciplined at getting up early and spending time with God. yesterday morning I went on a romp through the woods, and I sang loud for only my LORD, lots of praise songs as I wandered in and wondered at the woods.
but it's in the middle of the craziness that I forget... anyone got any tips?
some things that I need to remember:
Hebrews 12: 1b-2a "Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith."
to look to God all throughout my day, to turn to Him with every little bit, it should {will?} change the way I think and the way I do everything
Philippians 4:6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
vbs camp next week!!! so excited! would appreciate any and all prayers :) blessings, emma
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