Unstinkinbelievable

Yes it is 2 o'clock in the morning and yes I am blogging. I find that I do things at odd times. For instance, I was singing Christmas carols just the other day...and it's April. Sometimes I find myself cleaning or doing dishes at midnight. Other times I find myself scrubbing my tub in the wee hours of the morning. I like doing things in the middle of the night when there are very few distractions. Doing things at odd times may make me slightly strange but let's face it, I'm already slightly awkward and I just embrace it. So I'm embracing the idea that blogging at 2:07 in the morning is completely acceptable and normal.

The truth is, I am too excited to sleep. I just got back from leadership interviews at the BCM and I am unstinkinbelievably pumped for what the Lord is getting ready to do in that place. He is about to blow us out of the water and I can't wait! For those of you reading this that have no clue what BCM is or why this is such a big deal, let me fill you in. BCM is the Baptist Collegiate Ministries and it is commonly referred to as "the B". For this upcoming year, things are changing. We are switching from 30 years of a system that has worked fine to a new system focused on discipleship. A good verse for this I think would be

"⁸ This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." John 15:8

Oh it's amazing! The things the Lord is getting ready to do in that place I can't even imagine, but I'm ready! Interviews were just so encouraging. Seeing people with passions and hearts for all different areas of the ministry was truly uplifting. After all, diversity is what makes a ministry a ministry right.

I was reading in Philippians yesterday and the theme verse for the BCM last year came back to me.

"¹ Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. ³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, ⁴ not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

⁶ Who, being in very nature^[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature^[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!"

Philippians 2:1-8

Verses two through four really just hit me hard yesterday as I was reading. "Being like-minded"..."being one in spirit and of one mind"..."nothing out of selfish ambition"..."value others above yourselves"..."to the interests of the others"...

Those are just some highlights of the phrases that hit me. As I was reading and chewing on this powerful piece of scripture I thought about how in a ministry it is very easy to begin to lose sight of the ultimate goal. It is easy for selfish ambition to take over, sometimes even subconsciously. If we are serving for selfish ambition we are not serving in one mind. It's not possible. If my goal is for myself and your goal is for yourself then we obviously do not have the same goal. As I read these verses I thought of being like minded as serving with the purpose of glorifying God at whatever the cost to us. I mean later in this passage we are reminded that Christ showed humility by becoming us, taking the nature of a servant-the King of Glory being a servant!-, and being obedient to death. Whoa. I find it hard to be obedient in just everyday life, much less being obedient to death. Christ lived to glorify God. My prayer for this ministry as it is undergoing change and as leadership positions are being prayed over, is that our hearts are all united with the purpose of serving God to the absolute best of our abilities in the areas to which He calls us. That we are not afraid to become the servant instead of being known as "the leadership team". That we are ready to do what He calls us to do even though it might be new and unfamiliar. I am so excited for this next year! I know that God has amazing things planned and I am so grateful to be allowed to be apart of it in whatever capacity He sees fit.

Leaving you with these verses-a little stepping stone in life, a prayer for me and for all of those serving-

"In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."-Matthew 5:16

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men"-Colossians 3:23

This is my prayer and heart for the ministry next year. I know that what the Lord has planned is going to be unstinkinbelievable and I can't wait.

Life in Retrospect

Life has been interesting and not entirely easy the last year or so. I have changed cars 4 times nows. The way I have viewed things has changed significantly. My desires and plans have been continually changing. I got a dog which is a significant change in just day to day activities and I have had to say goodbye to one too many loved ones. I imagine these type posts usually come at the end of the year, right before starting off with new resolutions and goals but there is something significant about this past week. This past week marks the first event in a series of extremely crazy events that have filled my life this past year. It was my first break down. I don't mean mentally, rather my first automobile breakdown. If you knew me then, you would know that my car was like a person to me. He was a Pontiac Aztek and his name was Montez. I'm a bit of a nerd and the name came from the leader of the Aztec Indians, Montezuma (or Moctezuma or various other names), and the man who conquered them, Hernando Cortez (or Hernán Cortés if you rather). Regardless, this car meant a lot to me. This time last year, I found myself broken down on the side of the road. Little did I know that that initial incident would be the first in a year long string of incidents that would leave me utterly exhausted-spiritually, mentally, and physically. I don't have much to say at this point. My mind is still fluttering with everything that I am sorting through. As I am looking back through this past year, I am remembering the lessons that God has taught me, the things that I have learned, and how I have grown, and even more so those times when I've failed to see the significance of suffering.

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

James 1:2-6

11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace¹ for those who have been trained by it.

Hebrews 12:11

6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honorwhen Jesus Christ is revealed.

I think one of the biggest things that I have had to learn, is that regardless of our sufferings, God is right there in the midst of the flames with us. He doesn't leave us to fight the battle alone, but He protects us. He is our fortress, our stronghold, our Savior.

God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
³ though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.^[c]

⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
⁵ God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
⁶ Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

⁷ The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

⁸ Come and see what the LORD has done,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields^[d] with fire.
¹⁰ He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”

¹¹ The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Psalm 46

Suffering is a time for our faith to grow, for our dependence on God to grow, for us to be still and know that He is God and He is in control. I still haven't grasped that completely. I still find myself wondering why these things are happening and if He's still holding the reigns up there. But that's why He has given us the scripture, to be reassured in our sufferings and to prove His faithfulness. I want to end this post with the chorus to a song that is so powerful. If you haven't ever read the story behind it, you should!

I believe in the sun even when it's not shining
I believe in love even when I don't feel it
And I believe in God even when He is silent
And I, I believe

I Believe in Love-Barlow Girl

I don't know where this blog may find you, but I hope that regardless of your current situation you are clinging to His love and knowing that He is seeing you through. He is our fortress, our refuge, and our strength-that means something right.

²⁴ Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”-Mark 9:24

18 Hours and Counting

It's been a while since I have posted and it hasn't been because of a lack of things to say, but just because I have been so busy. This semester has been absolute chaos but full of fun and sweet fellowship with friends. I recently just got back from a mission trip in New Orleans with 99 of my closest friends! And by recently I mean, 6 hours ago. The trip was truly amazing. I was blessed beyond belief by the people I worked with, the music I was able to worship to, and the lessons from God's Word that I heard each night. I just want to share a little bit of my experiences and the lessons that God has brought through each experience.

Where are my motives when I am serving the Lord?

I worked on the sex trafficking and prostitution team this past week. There were six of us girls on the team and we all had these ideas built up of what we were going to be doing as our mission work. Needless to say, our ideas didn't fall in line with God's ideas that much. We had expected to be out in the field more, but instead we found ourselves far removed from the field and in the background. Our attitudes were not where they should have been. Through a friend and through some sweet time with Him, God quickly revealed to all of us that our motives were all wrong. I allowed pride to get in the way-the desire to go and tell everyone about my awesome experiences and the amazing things that I did in New Orleans. I wanted to do big things for God so much so that I had been praying for weeks that God would do phenomenal things and He did-I just never expected them to be in me. He taught me that first day that no job He gives us is too small. We are to take responsibility for every job that He gives us-not just the ones that we deem important. Later in the week He even dropped a verse right in my life to go along with that lesson He was teaching me. It comes from 1 Corinthians 15:58 and it says

"So my dear brothers and sisters, stand strong. Do not let anything move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your work in the Lord is never wasted." (NCV)

Am I giving the Lord my all in the jobs that He gives me?

Along the same lines as having pure motives, He taught me that each job we are given, we should take seriously. We should approach each job with the mindset that this is for my Father, my Creator, the one who loves me beyond comprehension and because of that love I want to give Him my all and do everything I can to serve Him and Him alone. Colossians 3:23 says,

"In all the work you are doing, work the best you can. Work as if you were doing it for the Lord, not for people." (NCV)

Am I trusting COMPLETELY in Him to guide me, take care of me, and have the best plan for my life? Essentially am I resting in the fact that God indeed knows best?

This is one question/lesson I have been struggling with a LOT over the past few days. As I was in the middle of this amazing mission trip where God was truly showing up, my uncle who recently found out he has cancer went into the hospital with things looking really glum. Losing him is truly a sad event, especially since I'm not sure where he stands with the Lord, as far as I know, he has never had a relationship with Christ. I can't understand it and I've been fighting God on this one for the last couple of days. Frustration and anger overwhelmed me as I asked God why he is giving my family yet another heartache to endure. Why is my dad having to lose yet another person that he loves. It's not fair. And that's all I could say.

I got back to Athens and took a short break before heading back on the road towards north georgia. I came straight to the hospital and that's where I am now. I have been awake for over 18 hours at this point and 11 of those 18 hours I spent in a car crossing state and county lines. On my way from Athens to home, God used one of my favorite things to minister to my angry heart: music. I had my iPhone on shuffle (thanks to my wonderful roommate for letting me borrow her adapter so that my phone would not die) and song after song of encouragement and love continued to pop up. The first song that really hit me and let me know that it was God pouring comfort on me was Mountain of God by Third Day. I encourage you to check out all of the lyrics, but just to keep this post on the shorter side, I will only put the chorus up. It says,

Even though the journey's long
And I know the road is hard
Well, the One who's gone before me
He will help me carry on
After all that I've been through
Now I realize the truth
That I must go through the valley
To stand upon the mountain of God

I though to myself,"Well dang. God isn't just leaving me here to struggle through this stuff alone. He isn't just hoping I'm going to make it through the other side. He is guiding me. It makes me think of a giant maze (I really love those things, even though I'm absolutely terrible at them). He isn't just throwing me into the maze hoping that I will eventually find my way out. No, He is guiding me every step of the way and the struggle that I'm dealing with, makes the idea of victory and freedom so much sweeter.

The second song that hit me was Hold My Heart by Tenth Avenue North. This song is phenomenal because it's so real. This song summed up exactly how I have felt this past week.

How long must I pray, must I pray to You?
How long must I wait, must I wait for You?
How long 'til I see Your face, see You shining through?
I'm on my knees, begging You to notice me.
I'm on my knees, Father will you turn to me?



One tear in the driving rain,
One voice in a sea of pain
Could the maker of the stars
Hear the sound of my breakin' heart?
One light, that's all I am
Right now I can barely stand
If You're everything You say You are
Won't You come close and hold my heart



I've been so afraid, afraid to close my eyes
So much can slip away before I say goodbye.
But if there's no other way, I'm done asking why.
Cuz I'm on my knees, begging You to turn to me
I'm on my knees, Father will you run to me?



One tear in the driving rain,
One voice in a sea of pain
Could the maker of the stars
Hear the sound of my breakin' heart?
One light, that's all I am
Right now I can barely stand
If You're everything You say You are
Won't You come close and hold my heart.

So many questions without answers, Your promises remain
I can't sleep but I'll take my chances to hear You call my name
To hear You call my name



One tear in the driving rain,
One voice in a sea of pain
Could the maker of the stars
Hear the sound of my breakin' heart?
One light, that's all I am
Right now I can barely stand
If You're everything You say You are
Won't You come close and hold my heart.



Hold my heart, could you hold my heart?

My prayer for the day-or rather the night-is that these questions become real to me. I think so many times the things I learn are only abstract, they don't ever translate into real life. But as I'm sitting here beside my uncle, my heart broken for him, for the city of New Orleans, for the girls I didn't get to work with, and for people all over in similar or worse situations, I see these questions beginning to become 3D-to translate into real life. I pray that I not only watch the questions become real life but I also watch the response to the questions become real life: that I serve with pure motives seeking for only Him to be glorified, that I serve Him with all that I have regardless of my imposed importance of the task, and that I trust in His will regardless of what pain that may bring. I know that I was supposed to be on that trip to New Orleans and God answered my prayers as I prayed for Him to do something phenomenal. He did something phenomenal in me. It only took me crossing three states to be still and listen to Him. As I'm going on being awake for my 19th hour with several hours left before I can go to sleep-I'm hoping I can find time to be still and listen as He teaches me something else. I challenge you to do the same-be still and listen, you'd be surprised how much you can hear once you stop trying to figure everything out.

Hold my heart.

Restored

Restore-verb; return to life

-verb;restore by replacing a part or putting together what is torn or broken

-verb; bring back into original existence, use, function, or position

I am broken. Such an easy sentence to type-an easy thing to nonchalantly say without full understanding or meaning. But to be truly broken is, I think, one of the hardest things to admit to. For the longest time I thought of being broken as being at the lowest of lows, finding myself at rock bottom struggling to find a light to see my next step-until I got to that point. Yes that was rough, and yes during that time I was broken, but more bitter than broken. I'm recently learning the true meaning of broken but just for good measure, I looked it up, and by the way there are a lot of definitions.

Broken-adj; physically and forcibly separated into pieces or cracked or split

-adj;lacking a part or parts

-adj;out of working order

-adj;weakened and infirm

-adj; thrown into a state of disarray or confusion (This was probably my favorite because I seem to find myself confused a lot)

-adj; imperfectly spoken or written

-adj; subdued or brought low in condition or status

This next one really hit me hard and made me think.

Broken-adj;tamed or trained to obey

Sheesh. I've recently been dealing with a lot of stuff. I've had family problem after family problem. It seems that every week it's a new illness, new problem, new family member and honestly after a while it gets old. I've stopped myself several times this past week from just going on and on about my family stuff-I'm sure people are beginning to think that it is all just made up-I mean seriously. But through all of these problems, I've been trying to hold it together. I didn't want to be "that girl" who fell apart just because things got hard. But tonight I became "that girl". I couldn't handle it anymore. Being completely transparent here, I honestly have been "that girl" for a while now and just refused to admit it. I was broken-emotionally, mentally, spiritually. I had been weakened, I was lacking strength, I wasn't myself, I was confused (which isn't necessarily anything out of the ordinary), I'm definitely imperfectly spoken, and I had been brought down from a place of smoothness and easy living to a really rocky, pointy, dark, and dusty place where I feared at any minute the ground was going to collapse beneath me and I would never be recovered. I was broken in every sense of the word, except I wasn't. That last definition says that to be broken is to be tamed or trained to obey. Never once did I think that all of these things were occurring in order for me to have a chance to obey God. I never once thought that I was thrown into this unfamiliar place in order for me to be given the opportunity to listen and respond the way He called. I mean I knew I was in this for a reason, but I thought it was to learn something, not to just simply learn to obey. Talk about your wake up call-I guess I overslept through that one.

God showed me Psalm 71 one night last week when I was struggling with the whole idea of being broken. Verses 20 and 21 really stood out to me and just poured comfort out on me. It says, "You have given me many troubles and bad times, but You will give me life again. When I am almost dead, You will keep me alive. You will make me greater than ever, and You will comfort me again." Talk about encouraging and comforting words. Here I was focusing on the bad and forgetting the hope that I have in a God who loves completely. He also showed me a verse in 1 Corinthians 1.

"Even the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength." - 1 Corinthians 1:25.

This verse astounded me. There aren't even words to describe it. It's hard to fathom God having foolishness or weakness but the point of the verse is just so powerful regardless. That even at His weakest point, He is still so much stronger than we are. Wow. Wow. Wowwwwwwwww.

So here I am, being broken into obedience. I don't know what about yet, I don't know what I am waiting to obey, but He does. I take comfort in the fact that He will comfort me, and He will give me life again. He will restore me.

Restore-verb; return to life

-verb;restore by replacing a part or putting together what is torn or broken

-verb; bring back into original existence, use, function, or position

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