In Christ Alone,

my hope is found.
He is my Light,
my Strength,
my Song.
This cornerstone,
this solid ground,
firm through the fiercest
drought and storm.

What heights of love
What depths of peace
When fears are stilled
When strivings cease
My comforter,
My all in all.
Here in the love of Christ I Stand.

There in the ground
His body lay
Light of the World
by darkness slain
Then bursting forth
In Glorious day.
Up from the grave
He rose
again.

And as He stands
in victory,
sin's curse has lost
its grip on me
For I am His,
and He is Mine.
Bought with the precious
Blood of Christ.

No guilt in life,
No fear in death.
This is the power of
Christ
in
me.

From life's first cry
to final breath
Jesus commands
my
destiny.

NO POWER OF HELL
NO SCHEME OF MAN
CAN EVER
PLUCK
ME
FROM
HIS HANDS.
Til He returns
or calls me home.
Here in the power of Christ
I'll stand.

Till He returns or calls me Home
Here in the power of Christ
I'll Stand.

Here in the power of Christ I'll STAND.

Journal writing

is so extremely therapeutic.
Words cannot describe how it feels to look through the journal you just completed.
Say you have a goal of writing a book?
Seeing that many pages so completely filled in with writing fills my heart with immense joy.
It's like, I just wrote a book. Full of my thoughts about everything.
And years from now,  looking back on my life right now,  I'll have so many memories to go by.

We pray for blessings,

we pray for peace.

Comfort for family,

protection while we sleep.

We pray for healing,

for prosperity.

We pray for your 

Mighty Hand

to ease our 

suffering.

And all the while,

You hear each spoken need.

Yet Love is way too much

to give us lesser things.

'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops

What if your healing comes through tears

What if a thousand sleepless nights

Are what it takes to know You're near

What if trials of this life

Are Your Mercies in disguise?

We pray for wisdom,

Your voice to hear.

And we cry in anger

when we cannot 

feel You near.

We doubt Your Goodness,

We doubt Your Love

As if every promise

from Your Word

is not enough.

And all the while,

You hear each desperate plea.

And long that we'd have faith

to believe...

'Cause what if Your Blessings come through

raindrops?

What if Your Healing comes through

tears?

And what if a thousand sleepless nights

Are what it takes to know You're near?

And what if trials of this life

Are your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us,

When darkness seems to win

We know,

The pain reminds this heart

This is not...

this is not our home.

'Cause what if Your Blessings

come through raindrops.

What if Your healing 

comes through tears

and what if a thousand

sleepless nights

are what it takes to know You're near?

What if my greatest disappointments?

Or the aching of this life?

Is a revealing of a greater thirst...

this world can't satisfy?

And what if trials of this life...

the rain, the storms, the hardest nights

are Your Mercies in disguise?

Listen.

Matthew 7: 21-23

Not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to me as 'Lord', but they still won't enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The decisive issue is whether they obey my Father in heaven. On judgment day many will tell me, 'Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.' But I will reply, 'I never knew you. Go away; the things you did were unauthorized.'

Well don't say goodbye,

don't say hello.
We're just standing on the surface.
Don't say alright, don't say I know.
I promise it's not worth it.
I wanna know who you are,
Even if you're falling apart
Reach in and touch your scars,
And all the shame you've kept in your heart.

It's not enough, it's not enough
Just to say that you're okay
I need your hurt, I need your pain
It's not love any other way

So let's not pretend,
Stop your parade
Trying to convince me
That you're alright,
And everything's okay
Yeah, do you even know me?
'Cause I already know you are,
And all the things that kept us apart
So reach in and touch My scars,
And know the price I paid for your heart

That it's not enough, it's not enough
Just to say that you're okay
I need your hurt, I need your pain
It's not love any other way

A broken and contrite heart
I will not despise
Come as you are
I won't close my eyes
I won't close my eyes
I won't close my eyes
I won't close my eyes....

'Cause it's not enough, it's not enough
Just to say that you're okay
I need your hurt, I need your pain
It's not love any other way.

Respect is a LOST Art.

I think respect is...broken beyond repair. What it actually used to mean and what it means now are two different things. Our parents came from the previous generation. And our grandparents came from before then. They had respect.

To me, respect is taking someone else's opinion, agreed or not, and accepting it.
...respect is talking nicely to someone, even if they don't deserve it.
...respect is opening the door for an elder.
...respect is listening quietly.
...respect is talking only to people's faces and not behind their backs.
...respect is doing what you're told without complaining.
...respect is doing what you're asked, and something additional.
...respect is answering with respect.
...respect is reaching out and taking the time make a difference in someone's day.

Respect has changed the world. When our parents were kids, and their parents were kids, things were different.
As respect changes, and the definition is degraded, it changes the world. The less respect there is, the less of a world we have.

"We don't respect people because they deserve respect. We respect them, because we're respectful people." *

Jesus demonstrated to us how to live:
"You have heard that the law of Moses says, "Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For He gives His Sunlight to both the evil and the good, and He sends rain on the just and on the unjust, too. If you love only those who love you, what good is that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect."*
I imagine how different this world would be if we obeyed that continuously....

*Youth pastor's wife.

*Matthew 5:43-48

I wonder...

...how different this world would be..
if every single person knew that they were loved with a love so unconditional,
you can't wrap your mind around it.
If they knew...
that someone died for them.
"Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." *

If every single person knew that and understood it in the way that
God intended,
this world would be a different space....

*John 15:13 NIV