Wrapping up 2010

2010 is slowly winding down. Truth be told, I am rather glad that this year is ending as it has been full of one problem after the next. The hope and the lessons gained from this year, however, will last longer than those problems. To end this year, I just want to put up some encouraging verses, song lyrics, and quotes to begin the next year off on the right foot. So here are some of my favorites.

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea. though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. ~Psalm 46:1-5

Those who love your teachings will find TRUE peace, and NOTHING will defeat them!

Psalm 119:165

And no sky contains, no doubt restrains all You are, the greatness of our God. I spend my life to know and I'm far from close to all You are, the greatness of our God.

And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. - Philippians 1:6

There is nothing that could ever separate us. There is nothing that could ever separate us from Your love. No life, no death, of this I am convinced. You my God are greater still.

Then the way you LIVE will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will GROW as you LEARN to KNOW God BETTER and BETTER. ___COLOSSIANS 1:10

"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."-Proverbs 4:23

No, the Lord is all I need. He takes care of me. My share in life has been pleasant: my part has been beautiful. I praise the Lord because He advises me. Even at night, I feel His leading. I keep the Lord before my always. Because He is close by my side, I will not be hurt. So I rejoice and am glad. Even my body has hope, because You will not leave me in the grave. You will not let Your holy one rot. You will teach me how to live a holy life. Being with You will fill me with joy; at Your right hand I will find pleasure forever. Psalm 16:5-11

All praise and all the honor be, to the God of ancient mysteries. Whose every sign and wonder turn the pages of our histories.

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.

Romans 8:28

"I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts."

Isaiah 57:15

For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.-James 1:3

Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.--Colossians 2:7

I hope that you all have had a wonderful year in 2010 and that 2011 holds new blessings and lessons for you.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Waiting Room

Today I find myself back at the hospital with another one of my grandparents. Looking back through this year, I have spent more time in this hospital than I ever hoped to. I can officially find my way around the first,second, and third floors without a map and today I am working on learning the fifth floor-useless knowledge that I hope to never have to use again. When I started my trip back to this dreaded place, I admit I was defeated. I had made it through the past few days and felt like that was enough. I felt like I had earned some time off. Funny now when I think about it-I was asking for time off from my Christmas break. My last post I talked about hope and how regardless of circumstance, our hope should be founded in God. "And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee."-Psalm 39:7" He quickly reminded me of that post when I got in my car. You see, I made a cd back in October for the girls in my small group. I had filled it with songs that were encouraging and uplifting and reminded me of God's love and faithfulness to us. I had one of those cd's in the radio in my car. The song that was playing when I started my car was Our Hope Endures by Natalie Grant. It made me cry in sorrow and in jubilation.My favorite part was at the end. It says, "Emanuel, God is with us. El Shaddai, all sufficient. We never walk alone and this is our hope." In that moment, I felt that hope and peace that can only come from Him. These are the rest of the words to the song.

You would think only
So much can go wrong
Calamity only strikes once
And you assume that this
One has suffered her share
Life will be kinder from here

Sometimes the sun
Stays hidden for years
Sometimes the sky
Rains night after night
When will it clear
But our hope endures
The worst of conditions
It's more than our optimism
Let the Earth quake
Our hope is unchanged

How do we comprehend
Peace within pain
Or joy at a good man's wake?
Walk a mile with a woman
Whose body is torn
With illness
But she marches - on
Oh

Emanuel, God is with us
El Shaddai, all sufficient
Emanuel, God is with us
El Shaddai, all sufficient

Emanuel, God is with us
El Shaddai, all sufficient
We never walk alone
And this is our hope

Our hope endures
The worst of conditions
It's more than our optimism
Let the Earth quake
Let the Earth quake
Let the Earth quake
Our hope is unchanged

If that wasn't enough, He gave me even more comfort through scripture. I had made an index card of one of my favorite verses with all of the different roles of God highlighted. I've carried that card around and read it in times of discouragement, but true to my nature I had misplaced it somewhere. Today, I found that card as I sat in the ER. I'll leave you with this verse and the resounding thought that the words to that song are indeed true, we never walk alone and that is the hope that we have in Him.

"I love You, LORD. You are my STRENGTH. The Lord is my ROCK, my PROTECTION, my SAVIOR. My God is my ROCK. I can run to Him for SAFETY. He is my SHIELD and my SAVING STRENGTH, my DEFENDER."
Psalm 18:1-2

Hope

It has been too long since I've posted last. A lot of things have changed between then and now. I'm now one semester closer to graduating college, which is a frightening realization. I've also made my way through some sticky and challenging situations, some of which I have had to crawl through and others of which I have sprinted through with ease. It has been a very tiring and rewarding semester. The past week however, has been just as eventful and challenging as the rest of the semester. Today my family lost someone dear to us and the weight of this loss is shown on the faces of everyone around me. It is always a sad thing to say goodbye to someone that you love and will deeply miss. I can't express how great the pain truly is. As crippling as the pain is, I'm reminded that this is Christmas- a time when all is supposed to be merry and bright with happiness radiating from every face on every street. A time when, despite the circumstances, people are surrounded by those that they love and for a few brief moments, happiness washes over them. Christmas to me, especially this year, is about hope. I love my nephew and niece and am ecstatic to be getting another nephew and possibly niece in the next year. I love their innocence, especially my nephew's. He sincerely believes that my dad is the real Santa Claus. He doesn't think any of the men at the shopping malls or parks are Santa. He doesn't think Santa is at the North Pole until Christmas. He wholeheartedly believes that his paw paw is Santa Claus. I think of this when I think of hope because we often try to threaten him into behaving by telling him Santa won't bring him any gifts if he is bad- a common thing parents and family members tell children around this time. He simply responds by saying, " My paw paw is Santa Claus and he will bring me presents." Keep in mind, he is only two. This is the simplest form of hope- trust. Hope is defined as confident trust with the expectation of fulfillment. My nephew believes with full confidence that his paw paw is Santa Claus and as a result, he will receive presents on Christmas day.

I recently had the opportunity to play at a lunch for the blind. God blessed me so much through that simple act of service. To me, playing is not a huge feat. It is so simple for me to sit down at a piano and string together chords and notes and make a melody of sorts. There was this little girl probably around the age of 8 or 9. She, along with her younger sister, was blind but their attitudes did not reflect that in the slightest. This girl found her way to the piano, sat down, and began picking out Christmas tunes. Her music was much more beautiful than anything I've ever played because each note was played with hope. She knew where her fingers went and how far each one moved in order to create the perfect sound. She believed with full confidence that she would hit the correct key and the sound that she wanted would come pouring forth out of the piano and fill the entire room with its echo. It was truly something beautiful and I felt so blessed to be able to be there. As she finished, the room was silent, and this girl simply asked "Why didn't anyone clap." I don't think she realized just how awe struck some of us were listening to her play.

Hope. Christmas is about the hope that we, as believers, receive through Christ's birth. Through Christ, we have the hope of tomorrow, whether here or in heaven. Through Christ, we have the hope of salvation. We have the hope of being united with others that have gone on before us. We have the hope of comfort, knowing that God is a fortress for us and will comfort us in our time of need. We have the hope of protection that regardless of our circumstance, God is surrounding us. We have the hope of peace that through trial and even good time, we have a peace that surpasses everything that can not be explained but we know is there. We have hope. Hope that sees us through even in these hard times. Christmas is about hope.

"And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee."-Psalm 39:7