tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81205993211959844662024-03-19T07:39:19.054-05:00...The closest glimpse you'll get of my heart:Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02714889236183588127noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8120599321195984466.post-87261047498297532762011-03-15T23:46:00.005-05:002011-03-16T00:44:38.080-05:00Where thou art, that is home.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFjWOlqB0bZu8xDOhSYBnje02qeGhA4ZKttmyuXx34ac48MFId62Kmn4GXaxeFOrGNpm2omoMI3Y4wULZ2R47JjM2XAL-jLabP7Cot2tBNtLX-2X8n_JYXMwdKdrvn_n77ZoqBsqMfYA4/s1600/DSC_0323.JPG"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFjWOlqB0bZu8xDOhSYBnje02qeGhA4ZKttmyuXx34ac48MFId62Kmn4GXaxeFOrGNpm2omoMI3Y4wULZ2R47JjM2XAL-jLabP7Cot2tBNtLX-2X8n_JYXMwdKdrvn_n77ZoqBsqMfYA4/s400/DSC_0323.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5584549294494147042" /></span></a><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; "><span class="Apple-style-span" >So I am sitting here, in one of those moments, when my heart and my head have caught up to each other in the art of retrospection. One of those moments, when my heart and my head realize the day is within reach, where I will move on. . . and into my story, that was long ago written.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >It's a place where peace collides with nervous energy, where passion and dreams meet reality, where amazement gathers alongside the knowledge of where I am going, and where I once was. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; "><div><span class="Apple-style-span" > </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; "><h2 class="me" style="font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; font-weight: bold; ">frag·ile</h2><sup style="height: 0px; line-height: 1.25em; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; bottom: 1ex; font-size: 13px; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "></sup> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; "><span class="pron" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; "><span class="boldface" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-weight: 700; ">fraj</span>-<span class="ital-inline" style="font-family: Georgia, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; font-style: italic; ">uh</span><img class="luna-Img" border="0" src="http://sp.dictionary.com/dictstatic/dictionary/graphics/luna/thinsp.png" alt="" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: text-top; " />l</span><span class="pron" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; ">;</span> <span class="labset" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; font-style: normal; "><span class="ital-inline" style="font-family: Georgia, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; font-style: italic; ">Brit.</span> </span><span class="pron" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; "><span class="boldface" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-weight: 700; ">fraj</span>-ahyl</span><span class="prondelim" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">]</span> </span></div><div class="body" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); margin-top: 0em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-left: 0em; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><div class="pbk" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 15px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span class="pg" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-weight: bold; display: inline; font-style: italic; "><span id="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; "><span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">–adjective</span></span></span><div class="luna-Ent" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 3px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); display: block; "><span class="dnindex" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(123, 123, 123); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-weight: bold; display: block; float: left; width: 28px; "><span id="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; "><span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">1.</span></span></span><div class="dndata" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 37px; "><span id="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; "><span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">easily</span> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; cursor: default; background-color: transparent; ">broken,</span> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">shattered,</span> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">or</span> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">damaged;</span> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">delicate;</span> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">brittle;</span> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">frail:</span></span><span class="ital-inline" style="font-family: Georgia, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; font-style: italic; "><span id="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; "><span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">a</span> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">fragile</span> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; cursor: default; background-color: transparent; ">ceramic</span> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">container;</span> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">a</span> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">very</span> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">fragile</span> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">alliance.</span></span></span></div></div><div class="luna-Ent" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 3px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); display: block; "><span class="dnindex" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(123, 123, 123); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-weight: bold; display: block; float: left; width: 28px; "><span id="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; "><span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">2.</span></span></span><div class="dndata" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 37px; "><span id="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; "><span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">vulnerably</span> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; cursor: default; background-color: transparent; ">delicate,</span> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">as</span> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">in</span> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">appearance:</span> </span><span class="ital-inline" style="font-family: Georgia, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; font-style: italic; "><span id="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; "><span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; cursor: default; background-color: transparent; ">She</span> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">has</span> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">a</span> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">fragile </span></span><a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/beauty" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-decoration: underline; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">beauty</a><span id="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">.</span></span></div></div><div class="luna-Ent" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 3px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); display: block; "><span class="dnindex" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(123, 123, 123); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-weight: bold; display: block; float: left; width: 28px; "><span id="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; "><span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">3.</span></span></span><div class="dndata" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 37px; "><span id="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; "><span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">lacking</span> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">in</span> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">substance</span> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">or</span> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; cursor: default; background-color: transparent; ">force;</span> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; cursor: default; background-color: transparent; ">flimsy:</span> </span><span class="ital-inline" style="font-family: Georgia, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; font-style: italic; "><span id="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; "><span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; cursor: default; background-color: transparent; ">a</span> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; cursor: default; background-color: transparent; ">fragile</span> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; cursor: default; background-color: transparent; ">excuse.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="ital-inline" style="font-family: Georgia, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; font-style: italic; "><span id="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; "><span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; cursor: default; background-color: transparent; "><br /></span></span></span></div></div></div></div></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Fragile. I have experienced this word first-hand. I have seen it in the eyes of my beautiful family, time and again. The fleeting moments of wondering when we'll have our hearts put together again. I know that my God has used this time at home to bring us closer, tend to each of our hearts-while gently reminding us of the importance of family. It's beautiful to have friendships, and I am not out to claim that they don't hold any meaning. Yet, God has taught me to open my eyes to home, instead of always running to and fro, to be constantly in the state of doing something. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >The sweetest moments, in these, two years, have been sitting around the table, venturing to a much deserved Sonic or Starbuck's, the sweetest moments have been the state of just being, being with my family. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >I encourage you to take a moment, look around at your home-it your's. God chose it for you. He chose the people for you. He knew what you would need, He knew who you would need. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Please don't ever discount it. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >I have lost and almost lost family, suddenly. Life is fragile, as is your family. Tell them you love them. You need them.. Friendships may fade, but you will always have your family, you will always have home. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ></span></div><blockquote><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >"But I wanted to say something about pain. Because even though I had absolutely no use for it at the time. . . pain turned out to be instructive later in a way that would change the lives of everyone. Not everyone-everyone, of course, but my everyone, the people I've been given..., </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >the ones who are mine to love. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Yes, pain is abominable, a nightmare, but pain reveals, when we've had to throw all else overboard, what is left in our personal sinking boat." Marisa de los Santos</span></div></blockquote><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >All of our hearts have known pain, a pain-leaving you gasping for breath, a pain-learned slowly, accumulating over time. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >The semblance of pain is real. It's in the invisible tracks of tears falling at random, the melancholic weariness found resting. . .just beneath the eyes. We've all known it. Haven't we?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; " ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" ></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; ">Those moments when we are struck with doubt and fear, that we can't move any further. That surely, our Lord has walked on, only to leave us behind-to gather our pieces, fight the battle alone. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; " ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; " >But you see, God is in those moments, when the pain is too real. Those moments when you have lost love, been awakened to the reality-that you finally had to let go, give it up. Those moments when a parent that has carried you, can't seem to carry themselves anymore. Those moments when everything you had planned, seemed altogether right, but just wasn't. I could go on and on. . .</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; " ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; " >Your wounds. Your pain. It all matters to Him. In light of it all, He is making all things, even broken things, new. He is making you new. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; " ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; " >And maybe, that one you had to let go of, maybe you'll see the good in it, instead of the pain-someday soon. I pray you do. I believe it is a journey towards healing, but one day, I know that you will see why you couldn't hold him/her any longer. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; " ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; " >Perhaps, your story might mirror mine, love lost-only to find a best friend in your mother. Love lost, only to fully see, that God truly, is enough. My heart doesn't feel it all the time, but it's so much easier to say it, now that I am putting my Maker in His rightful place. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; " ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; " >The wound is still there, in that regard. In a way, I think that will be the case for our heartache, our pain-we'll always have a reminder, a scar-to tell us to look upward, to keep clinging to hope. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Won't you take a moment and rest in the hope that is rightfully your's? A moment to love your family, with all that you are. A moment to see that in light of it all, your wounds, your pain, you matter to Him. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >The Author of your story is just waiting for your heart to see- He is enough- for the moments stricken with utter sadness and loss, the moments brimming with peace and joy. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >He is enough for you, and all of your pain. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >There's healing, I pray that you will begin to feel it, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >KM</span></div><div class="body" style="margin-top: 0em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-left: 0em; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><div class="pbk" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 15px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><div class="luna-Ent" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 3px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); display: block; "><div class="dndata" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 37px; "><span class="ital-inline" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; "><span id="hotword" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; "><span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; cursor: default; background-color: transparent; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div class="dndata" style="text-align: left; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 37px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><i style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></i></span></div><div class="dndata" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 37px; "><span class="ital-inline" style="font-family: Georgia, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; font-style: italic; "><span id="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; "><span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; cursor: default; background-color: transparent; " ><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="dndata" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 37px; "><span class="ital-inline" style="font-family: Georgia, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; font-style: italic; "><span id="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; "><span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; cursor: default; background-color: transparent; "><br /></span></span></span></div></div></div></div>Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02714889236183588127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8120599321195984466.post-11340352475659294962011-03-04T23:12:00.004-06:002011-03-04T23:58:57.002-06:00In light of it all, I belong.<div><span class="Apple-style-span">Part One:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; line-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><div>So I have reached the goodbye state again, it's a state that I have known all too well in my life. And as always, it gives brings a new perspective to light- about what I am leaving behind and what I am venturing toward.</div><div><br /></div><div>Today was my last day at the Goodwill...and yes, I have said that over and over, so many times that I can't even count the times that I have quit, only to come back. In fact, this time I just said: "I am not saying I won't be back, just in case."</div><div><br /></div><div>Although, I have to tell you that today will be stowed away as one of my most beautiful memories, whether it is the last time I will grace the Goodwill as home again, or become an outsider, merely a visiter.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; ">I was graced with a beautiful last day at my beloved Goodwill: cards, hugs, a chocolate cake, sweet company, love and much laughter.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; ">God opened my eyes to see that He has used me. I have been broached with many questioning eyes, as to why I have returned in the past. People that just assume since you graduate, surely you will move on from the life of retail. I'll admit with those questions, my heart has been taken a back, every single time. I have felt not good enough. I have felt weak and helpless.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; ">Yet, all of those saddening thoughts were gently replenished, with all things good. Today, God picked me up from those falls, He graced those wounds with His healing presence. He brought to light that I was doing something good, I was doing something for Him. The smallest of things were noticed, and I received an abundant amount of love to send me off.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; ">I was able to eat cake and reminisce. I was able to trade Bible stories for Eminem lyrics. I was able to enjoy the people, that I was given to love. I was able to be love and feel loved. I was reminded that I will always have a home. I was given the chance to see that there was a purpose in this time of waiting, spent hanging clothes, calling the Goodwill home.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; ">So with this, I remind you, that wherever you are, God is using you. You might not see it until you leave, but just trust it. Believe it. Otherwise it's easy to choose misery, to claim you aren't good enough, because you haven't made it in their judging eyes. With this being said, it's my prayer, that you will experience this </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; line-height: 14px; ">kind of love often, because it, in itself, is truly healing.</span></div></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkCeRzZEPFN07P14jqRJ3VMkhhYmnfvw7yiHdZ1x6c02OPUhSWKbxgMoMHrjycdz4Nx4J3ULHJuSKkmR2ZX2AIfMQDwPiy-Jy8iVZQocGamMPdm2cHDppa6JbAQo92KbIoCcYj1TF9vjA/s1600/DSC_0007.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkCeRzZEPFN07P14jqRJ3VMkhhYmnfvw7yiHdZ1x6c02OPUhSWKbxgMoMHrjycdz4Nx4J3ULHJuSKkmR2ZX2AIfMQDwPiy-Jy8iVZQocGamMPdm2cHDppa6JbAQo92KbIoCcYj1TF9vjA/s400/DSC_0007.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5580468112369653234" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDBUv8j8ZllVSGII5-TPHOkwqomY4sLtmqoAesrmmRUEJyb_g6Er00T8XMhiPNh5Ay1viO_A23nkH7Qmypg5NaQuFeIALQwrzfcP73tBO48YVCmWpi3m2DCBdgLrsrm8fMJKIsM3ZHAeE/s1600/100_2515.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDBUv8j8ZllVSGII5-TPHOkwqomY4sLtmqoAesrmmRUEJyb_g6Er00T8XMhiPNh5Ay1viO_A23nkH7Qmypg5NaQuFeIALQwrzfcP73tBO48YVCmWpi3m2DCBdgLrsrm8fMJKIsM3ZHAeE/s400/100_2515.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5580468104591249122" /></a></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHQvaOO5kS80E7thju35lA_-I39a6PtpxWCyZKF64KuMiUFGRIDd9rDm-G0NXXcu0nwhWNl0I_41fsHICtCx7mDnu8QeHIjAfNIUa35vd2iMS8TNonrkCvjsKm4-UIItqi03QNAxJJmhQ/s1600/DSC_0009.JPG"><span class="Apple-style-span"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 265px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHQvaOO5kS80E7thju35lA_-I39a6PtpxWCyZKF64KuMiUFGRIDd9rDm-G0NXXcu0nwhWNl0I_41fsHICtCx7mDnu8QeHIjAfNIUa35vd2iMS8TNonrkCvjsKm4-UIItqi03QNAxJJmhQ/s400/DSC_0009.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5580468099629614802" /></span></a></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Part Two:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">I am beginning to see the crossroads, that awaits me. With the help of my friends, I was able to rid myself of the "accumulating addiction of things." Useless things. I garnered the courage to truly begin to hold all things loosely, in light of the kingdom.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Empty hangers, a floor completely covered in clothing, bags, hats, shoes and jewelry. I was able to release them. My heart has finally come to the realization that they don't have a hold on me anymore. My heart has finally realized that with God I am brave enough to release-not just tangible things, but people. Because it's all out of my hands.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">I haven't reached the destination, I won't until I am sitting side by side with my Beautiful Maker, but I can truly sing with all of my heart- "take my heart, take all that I am." Whatever He needs me to rid myself of, I am full of readiness to give it all, to go.</span></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_o-MIw2AmnN481rm96e4aJ4Xo-doQ31NXVYVZ3gt2Qf0qvLwY4BpPNXtYaruHznpzPVZHUkH7SezLgu5mGcAsZmV0klkd59GrpRR7mxr8HSohb-WEug4KzgXIrXkkYggdUQLDtaPoemk/s1600/DSC_0075+%25282%2529.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_o-MIw2AmnN481rm96e4aJ4Xo-doQ31NXVYVZ3gt2Qf0qvLwY4BpPNXtYaruHznpzPVZHUkH7SezLgu5mGcAsZmV0klkd59GrpRR7mxr8HSohb-WEug4KzgXIrXkkYggdUQLDtaPoemk/s400/DSC_0075+%25282%2529.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5580468090925247746" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPNAdpRxBjW_jIz6raBrE03COKfEUImKbIBKZ5fADB-YU9RFbl2GnSTsouzo0A0onNGET6XEI40di6fVD0Vk_4tGMxPhf6giJ3DouPudet3LelDrYcltNa9lItjuO-njZaNpUqT0pMFZw/s1600/100_2513.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPNAdpRxBjW_jIz6raBrE03COKfEUImKbIBKZ5fADB-YU9RFbl2GnSTsouzo0A0onNGET6XEI40di6fVD0Vk_4tGMxPhf6giJ3DouPudet3LelDrYcltNa9lItjuO-njZaNpUqT0pMFZw/s400/100_2513.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5580468085054975426" /></a><blockquote><div><span class="Apple-style-span">"I mean, yeah, it's big. It's colossal. But I <i>get</i> it. I belong right where I am. That's an amazing feeling."</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">I smiled. "But you always seem that way. You always have. Like wherever you are, you're at home."</span></div></blockquote><div style="font-size: small; "></div><div style="font-size: small; "><br /></div><div style="font-size: small; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div></div>Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02714889236183588127noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8120599321195984466.post-80038343733462207172011-02-28T21:32:00.004-06:002011-02-28T22:47:57.288-06:00"it is only with the heart that one can see rightly."<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" >What makes the desert beautiful," said the little prince, "is that it hides a well somewhere..."</span></b></span></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: ARIAL; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; " ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; ">I have been living in the desert for awhile. I have been walking alone for awhile. Hope has been lost some, along the way, but no matter how much pain I was bearing...I've kept moving. I've faintly kept searching. . .</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; ">These past couple of weeks, God has brought my friends to my home, not once, but twice. Not just one, but five in just a matter of weeks. I can't rightly find the words to depict the gratitude that rests upon my heart for receiving the gift of being, with people I love the most, people who know the real me. People who see my tears, before they even begin to fall.</span></span></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmuN7Fq2qRo3BLTZ8lG0IPCzf7t9wC_zCxhZnuH4U3LeQ2uadfmsG0TuD8xcSdE1hYDBsEF23FkB6N9euZxcqKuuDvyHaKxNI5J39UV_qtUrkEjNYmpD0Rp3ptZIKddfM5AbAkKgt-78o/s1600/100_2504.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmuN7Fq2qRo3BLTZ8lG0IPCzf7t9wC_zCxhZnuH4U3LeQ2uadfmsG0TuD8xcSdE1hYDBsEF23FkB6N9euZxcqKuuDvyHaKxNI5J39UV_qtUrkEjNYmpD0Rp3ptZIKddfM5AbAkKgt-78o/s400/100_2504.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578966998338730882" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNxIbkemRHfX-jyMJkiLuASCuzoxEP8gIqp8nd-8BOS6HNR6uPdA1bVN8GF7dLWxocVAOBPD-4gzIpawRQV7XSMFg1TWztumTFlgyGBXXcnLCiesaKlwKHrrF3_YOvPqzjkDUaeRP9Q_g/s1600/100_2499.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNxIbkemRHfX-jyMJkiLuASCuzoxEP8gIqp8nd-8BOS6HNR6uPdA1bVN8GF7dLWxocVAOBPD-4gzIpawRQV7XSMFg1TWztumTFlgyGBXXcnLCiesaKlwKHrrF3_YOvPqzjkDUaeRP9Q_g/s400/100_2499.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578966588283391858" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; ">It's a beautiful reminder, it's the hidden well-that my heart has been longing to stumble upon. It's the place of rest, refuge, my soul needed-was crying out to find. My God knew that this time of my life would be one of reckoning, unthinkable heartache, dire weakness. My God knew that my heart would be spent with tears, before their arrival and on after. My God knew that this would be a time of acknowledging the wound, and fighting to move forward, to one day, soon... to get there... where my heart needs to be. He knew that being with those I love would replenish the lost hope, speak life into my weakening spirit, would be more than enough.</span><br /></span><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; ">Days were spent in laughter and nearing tears, a searched car, Goodwills, all-nighters, Oscars, imitations, a jam-packed car, weeding out the temporal belongings, mastering the art of packing, discovering music, local eateries, taking pictures, sitting in company over coffee, talking of the deeper and simpler.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; ">I'll always remember seeing four faces and hearing their screams of joy at my door. I'll always remember what God has done for me, and thank Him for what He has yet to do. In the coming days, changes will be occurring, but even still, I will carry you with me.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; ">I wouldn't have been able to stay at CBC- had you not been in my life. I wouldn't have been able to venture past this fresh heartache, begun the walk into healing- had you not been in my life. I wouldn't have 58+ empty hangers, the ability to release everything material, hold things loosely- had you not been here.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; ">It's such a blessing. Friendship. I often forget how much so. Cause I allot myself the excuse of hiding out, more often that not. So with these two visits God has shown me that it's okay to need friendship. He has shown me that I need friendship.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; ">Thank you for being used by Him, traveling all this way to keep me company-preparing my heart for what soon awaits me.</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgfrqSFvxtbnN4CVqLF8Y5fIwwZ4Chl9GqAIGBos0gXTb_DVZcazM0ZRK7pNzyozfLUs4fRyLVhJ4OaCi9eQwkv2t6PAtd6s2HqNUUwYjX4GTkLxfXoY1ddpC6pbAJhdfVRtZsgc7Dzg4/s1600/DSC_0314.JPG"></a></span><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgfrqSFvxtbnN4CVqLF8Y5fIwwZ4Chl9GqAIGBos0gXTb_DVZcazM0ZRK7pNzyozfLUs4fRyLVhJ4OaCi9eQwkv2t6PAtd6s2HqNUUwYjX4GTkLxfXoY1ddpC6pbAJhdfVRtZsgc7Dzg4/s1600/DSC_0314.JPG"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><img style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 265px; " src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgfrqSFvxtbnN4CVqLF8Y5fIwwZ4Chl9GqAIGBos0gXTb_DVZcazM0ZRK7pNzyozfLUs4fRyLVhJ4OaCi9eQwkv2t6PAtd6s2HqNUUwYjX4GTkLxfXoY1ddpC6pbAJhdfVRtZsgc7Dzg4/s400/DSC_0314.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578966578469547746" /></span></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; ">Sure, things may not be the same. We don't call the dorm home anymore, we aren't walking distance away. We have work keeping us occupied, we have countries on our hearts, love in our hands. We have surpassed those glory days of staying up late and the many bouts of Gilmore. We have nations to reach, families to keep, passions to find.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><blockquote>Yet, we have each other. We can look forward with hope, without living in the past. We can hold all things loosely, because He holds everything together. We can be still, because He is with us.</blockquote></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; ">So when phone calls are few and far between, when hope seems to hard to hold onto, when you are standing in the desert-in search of your hidden well. Remember that I am here for you, that I keep you in my prayers, carry you with me. When the strength is lacking and weakness is robbing your heart of any peace, look up to Your Maker, with your honest heart. Tell yourself, that He is all you need. He is your hiding place, your single rose, a little water, your ray of light. Because He is faithful. His love never fails, and you, you are His beloved.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><blockquote>"People where you live," the little prince said, "grow five thousand roses in one garden... yet they don't find what they're looking for..."<p>"They don't find it," I answered.</p><p>"And yet what they're looking for could be found in a single rose, or a little water..."</p><p>"Of course," I answered.</p><p>And the little prince added, "But eyes are blind. You have to look with the heart."</p></blockquote></span></span></div></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWWKJp6JOmKHi4ZPq6L8JT93ipoAEZlXkXLOTIeN63mfHnXYfx4Es_rK32OLZnmTnRM3W-PFA2HnMR3CNaSW_8Gvl8Y1fAR8ErkdUuULo1BxXh1TpyBvfWAwegovwCn8xKnObxF_J1Vg4/s1600/DSC_0013.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWWKJp6JOmKHi4ZPq6L8JT93ipoAEZlXkXLOTIeN63mfHnXYfx4Es_rK32OLZnmTnRM3W-PFA2HnMR3CNaSW_8Gvl8Y1fAR8ErkdUuULo1BxXh1TpyBvfWAwegovwCn8xKnObxF_J1Vg4/s400/DSC_0013.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578966572329290482" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs1G2waproC_z_chviFXvakB8N0L4u_YK3uif5XQfycYQN2NwJQrwGpfEhAnCyQ5irxTY6MpYO2oxN6vQgMha3A18ARDEDyb-CCW_ZB6QizX0O8lYQacDyGcxWE37eMxpNzx24bY_4BFU/s1600/DSC_0011+%25282%2529.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs1G2waproC_z_chviFXvakB8N0L4u_YK3uif5XQfycYQN2NwJQrwGpfEhAnCyQ5irxTY6MpYO2oxN6vQgMha3A18ARDEDyb-CCW_ZB6QizX0O8lYQacDyGcxWE37eMxpNzx24bY_4BFU/s400/DSC_0011+%25282%2529.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578966559840669570" /></a></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span><br /><p style="font-size: small; "></p></blockquote><p style="font-size: small; "></p></span></span></div></div></div>Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02714889236183588127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8120599321195984466.post-54838119431955328772011-02-17T22:04:00.007-06:002011-02-17T23:29:20.514-06:00<span class="Apple-style-span" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmM40HE9jnOhzF0mEKTfPSoAzvn27-2nlHOMBulmHDmxkO9zjJrtNaGiUEGZ672HM_CqEDHXvqQjOp7eryjqeVJ6EWSTOYNHkHWwVzBo_OXSDGb9xh-YfGvAl4o5edraqYGXUyOZHKDGw/s1600/mi+amiga_218.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmM40HE9jnOhzF0mEKTfPSoAzvn27-2nlHOMBulmHDmxkO9zjJrtNaGiUEGZ672HM_CqEDHXvqQjOp7eryjqeVJ6EWSTOYNHkHWwVzBo_OXSDGb9xh-YfGvAl4o5edraqYGXUyOZHKDGw/s400/mi+amiga_218.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5574896455307422722" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><span class="Apple-style-span">There's a girl who lost herself in hopes and dreams, and likes to think that there is more to life, than it seems.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span">There's a girl who would give anything to pack her things and go, to the home, You have always known.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">She's fought the stares of many, and faced rejection, time and again.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">She's pondered the worth of her life, when all was too hard to understand.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">She's fallen to pieces and picked herself up off the ground.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">She's been lost and she's been found.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">There's a girl that has lost things, she will always miss.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">There's a girl who questions herself, as to why of love, she always been dismissed.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">She's battled life in rhymes, immature to some, she's certain.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">But that's okay, because she has always strayed from spoken word, to hide behind the curtain.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Each moment has been more than she could ask for,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">and she knows, all of her knows, You have something great in store.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">And, all of her knows, that it's time she come clean.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">The valley of shadows, is where she stands, and she waits for You to become seen.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">She's fragile, needs to be mended,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">and have her heart tended.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Somewhere, along the way, hope became hard to hold onto...</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">and she no longer knew-</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">where to go. what to do.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Tears kept, hand held,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">by her Maker, her Beautiful Saviour.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">You, You, alone know.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">What her heart feels too afraid to show.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">You know much it hurts, to be told to let go of the one You love.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">You know the pain of being of told to wait,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">that You can't go, others will go in your place, and You know the hurt feelings that will cease to abate.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">You know much it hurts her, to be without the knowledge of the someday-</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">she'll get to venture to the Baja, be there, to stay.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">You know that this is somewhere, she's wanted to be for so long,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">You know that this, this beautiful place, is truly, where she belongs.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">So hard to sit here, and be told it's not time;</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Two years have passed and in the eyes of most, she's in the same place,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">that waiting state, with just another rhyme.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Her heart can't bear to let another two years pass,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">in all reality, she doesn't feel that she could truly last.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">A dire need to proceed,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">A call she must heed.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Years, have come, and years, have gone.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">She will hold out for hope, of a new dawn.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">She's clinging to the belief that there is healing, yet.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Thankfully, You won't leave her, nor forget.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Cause without You, her life could no longer be revived.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">She'd be dry bones, without the breath of life.</span></div></span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirSE5cI8lFJ1IZriOzNWLdNpZEKbwBZGs3cnss_EzsaZcGb8WJIn_bv-EvQ_UxFhRxmfP86nnS-DGyPfQh2XEbbHf2HS-n0MHJfQOG0Iwd1LCfI_NjJydQVzMPpQPoyAMDK8e70QDMryg/s1600/followed+heart.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirSE5cI8lFJ1IZriOzNWLdNpZEKbwBZGs3cnss_EzsaZcGb8WJIn_bv-EvQ_UxFhRxmfP86nnS-DGyPfQh2XEbbHf2HS-n0MHJfQOG0Iwd1LCfI_NjJydQVzMPpQPoyAMDK8e70QDMryg/s400/followed+heart.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5574895102285337122" /></a><br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div>Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02714889236183588127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8120599321195984466.post-28470966088436263752011-02-12T00:28:00.004-06:002011-02-12T00:39:23.748-06:00it's here, where you find your heart. . .<div><span class="Apple-style-span" >I have been waiting for the perfect words to come. Ready to welcome them, with open arms, a pen to meet paper, an attempt to portray every emotion felt within the past week or so. The time hasn’t come and even as I am typing now, it doesn’t seem like that “perfect time” to write. Yet, there is a fear that life and the routine will get the best of me. That the words, the emotions felt- will all retreat before they are ever written, that they will soon fade from my memory. </span></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Even now, although days have fallen in between my sweet time in the Baja- tears are falling because it feels as though I just left, moments ago. It was a short trip with a clustered few of people, most of whom were experiencing my home for the very first time. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >I actually set out to be open to putting myself out there, reckoning with my shyness for once, rather than keeping hidden from all, but the children. It wasn’t easy, but a lot of this trip was a challenge for me. I was placed in a position where my language skills were needed, even with all of the mistakes. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >I taught the children’s class every night, and Beatriz made sure I knew that she was there to help, if need be. Although deep down, I knew that I needed to try it, by myself. So the children and I embarked on the journey with Daniel and the lion’s den. . . A few mishaps along the way, but all in all, the verse was whispered and shouted, laughter and joy were evident in their twinkling eyes, surely at my mistakes, but that was okay. To be with them, was enough. Between teaching the children’s class and tarring roofs the days seem to have passed too swiftly, only to be rudely awakened to our last full day, Sunday. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Church was held and benevolence runs were soon after, another challenge awaited me. I went with Mark, Beatriz and company, I was the only one in my group with the ability to translate.. Beatriz encouraged me every step of the way and twice we were both left to falling into a heap of tears at the plight of the women we were visiting. It was though I was bearing Beatriz’ pain and she was bearing that of the women we were visiting. I can’t begin to even describe what that felt like. Nor what it meant, to sure, struggle with translating the prayers and stories, but to be able to understand nearly everything they said and to feel, truly feel their pain. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >All of my dear boys and sweet Aurelia were noticeably distant from the church the entire time we were there, yet thankfully Saturday night, the Lord opened the door for me to visit their house with Mark, Monte and Misha. I was able to see Jose for the first time in a couple years, and though not much was spoken of worth meaning- it was such a joy to be with all of my dear boys at the same time, to laugh, with an ongoing chattering of Spanglish in the background, such a joy. Jose remembered our “bufanda” joke from years ago and gave me a beautiful scarf and Aurelia graced me with a blanket as we were leaving. Two items, I will forever cherish for the rest of my life. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Monday came swiftly after, and yes, I do realize that my story is mere rambling at this point, lacking any chronology, whatsoever, but in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter. These are moments that mean the world to me, moments that I will never forget. And if no one finds any worth to them, that is okay. I know that in the days ahead, my eyes will fall upon this myriad of thoughts and find hope in them. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Monday was a day of picture taking and time spent relishing the company of beautiful children for a few hours, passing too quickly for me to get my bearings, before I realized it, the inevitable goodbye had come again. We gathered in a circle with some people from the church, held hands and spoke with our Maker, no tears had fallen until I found Aurelia in the circle afterwards, and then I couldn’t hold them in any longer… After a few moments with Aurelia, I turned to say my goodbyes to Beatriz, and she could fully see that I was a complete mess. She reached out to me and took me in her arms, proclaiming how special I was to her and God, how grateful she was for my work, and over and over, “No, te llores, Cristina…” The tears were unrelenting, because after these short couple of days an answer to prayer had taken place before my eyes, the closeness, the friendship, I had desired with Betty was a reality. Just knowing that, probably was cause for a great deal of my tears…</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Tuesday we arrived at the airport, my flight was canceled- what should have been an arrival of 10:30 that night into Evansville, became a 10:45 pm departure out of San Diego, with a 10:15 arrival time the next day into Evansville. A good 9.5 hours I had the company of myself and the bakery that sat directly across from me, so with that time I curled up under the rainbow colored blanket Aurelia gave me and listened to the song, “Bones,” by Hillsong…and the tears returned to be my company, because I can say with an utmost certainty this was the hardest goodbye, yet. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >I went to the Baja, this time, in need of a great deal of healing, in need of a date-foreseeable in the future of when I could return without fearing goodbyes, in need of close-knit community. I went to the Baja, [my sixteenth trip to Mexico, perhaps?] empty, heartbroken, in dire need to begin to feel again, unbeknown to all those around me. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >And what can I say, but God surely knew my need. He knew that this trip would do wonders for my heart, and my dry bones spent, from traveling in the desert. He knew that a reunion with my beautiful people would reawaken what I feared had been lost with time, and that being able to share my story, tell of my passion would leave my heart encouraged to keep up the pursuit-even when it seems that I’ll never get there.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >So it is with this trip I have found a little bit more hope, the strength to keep moving towards the day of when the Baja will truly, become my home- even among the constant prodding to reconsider my placement, give it all a little more thought until everything is completely figured out. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >I can tell you with a certainty that God has aligned my heart with the people of the Baja for reasons known only to Him. Cause my life was all but planned to be spent close to home, in the shadows of my teaching mother, with a hidden voice- until God reached out and fastened my heart to a place, foreign to everything I knew, and bid me to come and die to everything I had planned . . . And learn to find my voice and begin to speak, to love and live fully in the heart of the Baja, among those I so dearly love. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Your answer is where you find your heart. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >“Jesus is wild, amazing, unpredictable. He touches people He shouldn’t; He weeps with whores and dances with poor people. He heals what is broken. And he doesn’t talk an awful lot about doctrine. Instead, He talks a lot about faith-the kind that means you step out into the unknown. You are willing to try to love, to give up some of your power, to let go of control. To trust something. To even begin to believe down in your guts somewhere what God seems to be saying over and over. It’s your willingness to trust something that makes you well. You are enough. It is enough.”</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">“For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. For the Lord has called you like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, like the wife of a man’s youth when she is cast off, says your God, “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great compassion I will gather you…” Isaiah 54</span></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhleQkZEYquMILvpwln8DtqSVNfQP_gFfWbo_Y7Sg7yPgE5lwHJuWHmSDh-7fB8Z4vfGLJH3CF7JhTb4j76vxlsQcG60MSiYwLlKPK8KJ17ixxqIYLY7fzkO41DPYg6TeZIBMOoA0-FwIY/s1600/100_2395.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhleQkZEYquMILvpwln8DtqSVNfQP_gFfWbo_Y7Sg7yPgE5lwHJuWHmSDh-7fB8Z4vfGLJH3CF7JhTb4j76vxlsQcG60MSiYwLlKPK8KJ17ixxqIYLY7fzkO41DPYg6TeZIBMOoA0-FwIY/s400/100_2395.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5572687460906583250" /></a></span><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u><br /></u></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqfMed8vybhxqNKAbg22G3IxgDxff5cxpkiINDhYdrRILyr5zqLqF7xJ9urjrfulXFyiLLnaTiIbH5fJyi6SSlnCKpf9Zf1oxTHJ8grYYuzzgnyCcshl1czlHd90qxGbENXRz2_MM-AGI/s1600/my+boys.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqfMed8vybhxqNKAbg22G3IxgDxff5cxpkiINDhYdrRILyr5zqLqF7xJ9urjrfulXFyiLLnaTiIbH5fJyi6SSlnCKpf9Zf1oxTHJ8grYYuzzgnyCcshl1czlHd90qxGbENXRz2_MM-AGI/s400/my+boys.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5572687450224732738" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxLtleqo1cCGhHErGCcI0CahAjst2FmzybIX5s5CLhvXQKHf6oFPaBSa6LrgYGEjHbBZMqnCcS2vhsI0uWWI1L0xQB_T9GZDLlJkyRjoh-2_sNcf43KcMFC2vgGD9sGXhExV-5i5BeLe8/s1600/your+children.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxLtleqo1cCGhHErGCcI0CahAjst2FmzybIX5s5CLhvXQKHf6oFPaBSa6LrgYGEjHbBZMqnCcS2vhsI0uWWI1L0xQB_T9GZDLlJkyRjoh-2_sNcf43KcMFC2vgGD9sGXhExV-5i5BeLe8/s400/your+children.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5572687440303797154" /></span></a></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div></div>Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02714889236183588127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8120599321195984466.post-1253777034951201792011-01-23T00:21:00.004-06:002011-01-23T00:47:15.614-06:00to be known<span class="Apple-style-span" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTc1oNBSQOplms2LhP24qhwiqFB5kUgHEx5r_QsCkrvf5pfHh18Hei0TxoqkhAa4Nlb4ok3PcvFrbamxXcAceHblRZqWcfpmg6AivNblQB0kBynBZJmXf-pDcp47QrZBMe-o3DGcLXs1w/s1600/remarkable.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 302px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTc1oNBSQOplms2LhP24qhwiqFB5kUgHEx5r_QsCkrvf5pfHh18Hei0TxoqkhAa4Nlb4ok3PcvFrbamxXcAceHblRZqWcfpmg6AivNblQB0kBynBZJmXf-pDcp47QrZBMe-o3DGcLXs1w/s400/remarkable.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565268950462724274" /></a><br />I went to meet those venturing with me on the Baja trip today for breakfast. I'm not one to enjoy social outings, it's hard for me to put myself out there in groups of people, even those I am closest to. I am often lonelier in groups of people, than when I am by myself, lost in a book surrounded by the comforts of home. </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Yet today, was somehow different. It's as though God knew I needed to be reminded that He is taking care of me, even in the moments when I feel the most alone. He knew that this morning, especially, I would need to find joy, find enough hope so I could make it through the day. And He came through for me. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >I was able to speak up about how much love I have for a place so foreign to me. I was able to listen of this coming week's plans and dream about that moment when I step out of the van and into home. I was able to forget the pain that has been ravaging my heart for quite some time and remember that in the midst of it all, God is still God. God sees me, He knows me. He is my refuge. When I am weak, thankfully He is strong. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >I am returning to the Baja in six days. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Thankfully, there is still hope for me, because I am second. . . </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >go here : <a href="http://iamsecond.com/#/home/">http://iamsecond.com</a></span></div>Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02714889236183588127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8120599321195984466.post-29901575719361348402011-01-23T00:00:00.004-06:002011-01-23T00:09:31.177-06:00needs.<span class="Apple-style-span"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIPawEAKfo27hU7YBRaZOwjp8E7wI7WGrFhT_WvPPHWsgDqaIsu4vS4J_IQbW35yDfB-ifeq8-NLssDnnTKYcukLJD9qcYx9Q5MHCPHtUKqQxL_AaYdu5-7uj4aHjsI_rup56Fu9GICOc/s1600/100_2231.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIPawEAKfo27hU7YBRaZOwjp8E7wI7WGrFhT_WvPPHWsgDqaIsu4vS4J_IQbW35yDfB-ifeq8-NLssDnnTKYcukLJD9qcYx9Q5MHCPHtUKqQxL_AaYdu5-7uj4aHjsI_rup56Fu9GICOc/s400/100_2231.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565258973537114914" /></a><br />Tonight I will set my heart out to be joyful on the smaller things:</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Mom's text to me while at work: "OMG I just got a bag full of clothing from Old Navy for 12 dollars!"</span></li></ul></div><div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Mom's spontaneous decision to venture back to Old Navy, just so I could go take a peek at the clearance. </span></li></ul></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Tonight I am grateful for my sweet, beautiful mother, because I am surely convinced I couldn't live this life without her. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Tonight I am grateful for my family, that never leaves me. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Tonight I am grateful for my family and my God, because life would be unlivable without them. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">It's such a beautiful consolation to have a shelter of people around you, when you seem too fragile to walk any further. Thanks be to God, who knows just what I need, before I can begin to acknowledge it myself. </span></div>Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02714889236183588127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8120599321195984466.post-74576028627826015992011-01-12T21:58:00.003-06:002011-01-12T22:16:37.735-06:00truth is: i need to be carried.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px; ">broken-hearted i come<br />my cup is empty, my mouth is dry<br />see how quickly i fall<br />burdened with darkness<br />heavy in lies<br /><br />i want to cry, but i can’t<br />i try to stand but i fall down again<br /><br /><b>i need You to carry me</b><br /><b>i need You to carry me</b><br /><b>i need You to carry me</b><br /><b>when i am weak</b><br /><br />o this can’t be enough<br />to just say i’m sorry, to confess my fault<br />when i’ve hurt You so much<br />and now i am asking for You to do more<br /><br />i want to cry, but i can’t<br />i try to stand but i fall down again<br /><br /><b>i need You to carry me</b><br /><b>i need You to carry me</b><br /><b>i need You to carry me</b><br /><b>when i am weak</b><br /><br />i'm always weak...<br />when I first met you I drew you in close to me<br />your weaknesses covered with strength and security<br />I've never left you, nor will I ever leave<br />child believe, child believe<br /><br />but you are strong...<br />when I first met you I drew you in close to me<br />your weaknesses covered with strength and security<br />I've never left you, nor will I ever leave<br />child believe, child believe<br /><br /><b>i need You to carry me</b><br /><b>i need You to carry me</b><br /><b>i need You to carry me</b><br /><b>when i am weak</b></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;">"carry me," jenny and tyler<br /></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px; "><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px; "><b>---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px; "><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px; "><b>i just need You to carry me, cause I'm too weak. </b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px; "><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px; "><b>it's been a hard, hard week. i don't have the strength to pour out the words, nor the courage to bear my heart, here. i just need You to carry me. </b></span></div></div>Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02714889236183588127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8120599321195984466.post-83537707810566805532011-01-04T22:15:00.004-06:002011-01-04T22:43:42.596-06:00<div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."<div><br /></div><div>I am thankful that You love me. I am thankful that You are with me.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>I am not alone.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>I haven't been left to fend for my own heart, piecing it all back together.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>For You are with me.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-2486" style="line-height: normal; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top; ">12</sup> Moses said to the LORD, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-2487" style="line-height: normal; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top; "><br /></sup></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-2487" style="line-height: normal; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top; ">13</sup> If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”</span></div><div><p><sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-2488" style="line-height: normal; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top; ">14</sup> The LORD replied, <i>“My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.</i>”</p><p><sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-2489" style="line-height: normal; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top; ">15</sup> Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. <sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-2490" style="line-height: normal; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top; ">16</sup> How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”</p><p><sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-2491" style="line-height: normal; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top; ">17</sup> And the LORD said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”</p><p><sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-2492" style="line-height: normal; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top; ">18</sup> Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”</p></div><div>Weary, wounded, the light is gone here, so won't You please, show me Your glory?</div><div><br /></div><div>I believe. I trust. No longer will I ask for clarity, I will wait for You-when my heart desires to cave in upon itself, when the pain beckons me off in the distance, when it's seems to be too much of a battle. . .</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(85, 85, 85); line-height: 21px; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; ">"He says simply, “I know, my son, I know.”</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; ">And that is an incredibly tender thing to say as someone’s expectations crumble.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; ">And I think it’s something God still says to us, even today.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; ">“I know, my son, I know. I know, my daughter, I know. That thing you wanted is not going to happen. Not the way you’ve always dreamed. I know this hurts. I know this stings. I know you feel like I am distant or not aware of where you are and who hurt you and what you think life was supposed to be like. I know in moments like this you doubt that I can count the hairs on your head or have your best in mind. But please, I am not done. I have barely started to reveal your life to you. I am the God who satisfies your desires with good things. That is me! And when it comes to your hopes and your fears and your dreams, I know, my son, I know.”</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; ">I think of this moment as the “soft x.”</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; ">I think of the tenderness of Israel with his arms outstretched and crossed. I think of our desires and our dreams and the times they don’t work. And above all, I think of a God who wants to tell you he hears you, he loves, he knows you. He is not disconnected or disinterested in who you are and who you want to be. Today, he says,</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; ">“I know, my son, I know.”</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; "><i>"The soft X</i>." <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; "><a href="http://stuffchristianslike.net/2010/12/the-soft-x/?awesm=fbshare.me_AYBUW">http://stuffchristianslike.net/2010/12/the-soft-x/?awesm=fbshare.me_AYBUW</a></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; "></span></p><div>I will remember that apart from You, I am nothing. My very soul clings to You.</div><div><br /></div><div>Because You know the hurt, the fight. . . You know me, and right where I am.</div><div><br /></div></span></div></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9-CuPVuYGFGkXLfEEWX0Z6bwf6TMjB5GaoYDFxVx73IY5PacxrmvXLdreHawzVfRLEctUTR3hqBezhK8Bw6i9Ss7RITSSqKJJIMhOwdfrVk2IbgUu37wqbl5LasjXj-sgIbqxTg1iWxQ/s1600/mi+amiga_225.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9-CuPVuYGFGkXLfEEWX0Z6bwf6TMjB5GaoYDFxVx73IY5PacxrmvXLdreHawzVfRLEctUTR3hqBezhK8Bw6i9Ss7RITSSqKJJIMhOwdfrVk2IbgUu37wqbl5LasjXj-sgIbqxTg1iWxQ/s400/mi+amiga_225.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558557162572540802" /></a><br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; "><br /></p></span></div>Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02714889236183588127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8120599321195984466.post-69782816727249540592011-01-02T22:22:00.004-06:002011-01-02T22:45:48.680-06:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPlutHO6CvcPe48sGG9u-398bjhIum1R7O8dBAhdE8lDOS-eAJQ9q-hhdMaqPDPhTBRelwQdlEpuc3PZ0IyVrRZg4u-gFVYUZ003NnWx2p3nSnIohUSyMBnx3wqjEqIvb_cPXA8I_77Po/s1600/wanderings.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 354px; height: 332px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPlutHO6CvcPe48sGG9u-398bjhIum1R7O8dBAhdE8lDOS-eAJQ9q-hhdMaqPDPhTBRelwQdlEpuc3PZ0IyVrRZg4u-gFVYUZ003NnWx2p3nSnIohUSyMBnx3wqjEqIvb_cPXA8I_77Po/s400/wanderings.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557814767117596450" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span">Sitting alongside family, </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span">tears became all she could see. . .</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">suddenly. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">She could barely keep breathing, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">keep her family from seeing. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">The tears fell down her cheeks, unrelenting. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">She spoke in gasps, quieter than a whisper. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">The reason was unknown to those beside her-</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">even her. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Clenching a Bible, tightly with her shaking hands, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">rushing in prayer to not leave anyone unmentioned, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">to Your throne, she ran. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">The tears kept falling, the fears kept holding. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">and still, she was unknowing. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">What could cause such an undeniable torrent of tears? </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">What could leave this traveled girl clinging to You, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">barely staying above the current of her fears? </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">What could leave her heart so stricken, at a loss at what to do? </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Powerless, broken, fainthearted, a heap of tears, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">somehow with all her might, still clinging to YOU. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">thankfully, a dear friend kept praying for the wounded girl, when no more words were exchanged, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">thankfully, she knew grace her with company and lyrics from afar. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">thankfully, she was met with family, taken in their open arms. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">thankfully, they held her tightly, praying and keeping her heart from more harm. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">thankfully, that in the midst of one of her darkest days, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">her family, her remedy, knew just what to do, and just what to say. . . </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">..........................................................................................................................</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">"And your eyes must do some raining if you're ever gonna grow,<br />but when crying don't help,<br />you can't compose yourself,<br />it's best to compose a poem.<br />An honest verse of longing, or a simple song of hope.<br />That's why I'm singing, 'Baby, don't worry- cause now I've got your back.'<br />And every time you feel like crying, I'll try and make you laugh.<br />And if I can't, if it just hurts too bad, then we'll wait for it to pass.<br />And I will keep you company for those days so long and black.<br />And we'll keep working on the problem<br />that we know we'll never solve-<br />of Love's uneven remainders,<br />our lives are fractions of a whole.<br />But if the world could remain within a frame<br />like a painting on a a wall,<br />I think we'd see the beauty there,<br />we'd stand staring awe<br />at our still lives posed<br />like a bowl of oranges.<br />Like a story told, by the fault lines and the soil."<br /><br />~Bowl of Oranges, by Bright Eyes<br /><br /><br /></span></span></div>Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02714889236183588127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8120599321195984466.post-45956888314228748682010-12-30T23:05:00.003-06:002010-12-31T00:04:15.592-06:00always running away...<span class="Apple-style-span" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbPmKMRjXhZe3w3wyfs0hTPFyNYT0TcYRkM4WucQar1mM6SaQ71smD99a2Q5q57HSw0qqBKNkXE7WCHkh4XSnr9H_HyhXR-d-ovF1Kk64zgW3vWOCQudAdwcmH64-qhzR0bb8RBXnTJgI/s1600/lily+in+the+field.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbPmKMRjXhZe3w3wyfs0hTPFyNYT0TcYRkM4WucQar1mM6SaQ71smD99a2Q5q57HSw0qqBKNkXE7WCHkh4XSnr9H_HyhXR-d-ovF1Kk64zgW3vWOCQudAdwcmH64-qhzR0bb8RBXnTJgI/s400/lily+in+the+field.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556722594981217218" /></a><br />Where do I go, from here?</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >How do I move, from this place?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >This place of utter brokenness and despair, undeniable shame. What have I done, but ran from You? </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >You are enough. Isn't that so? </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >So why do I choose to beckon words to be heard from another in Your place? </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Why do I race to find comfort in Your people, instead of falling into your open, loving arms?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >All is easier said than done, in this battle raged upon my soul and trembling heart. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Moments are claimed, when I have it all together, everything inside composed, all in one piece. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Seconds pass, when I find myself amidst shards of broken glass, my heart, everything in pieces. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Here I am, not put together, not in one piece. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Here I am, lost and found. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Here I am, broken and mended. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Here I am, alone and Your's. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Here I am, take all of me. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >So that I might see past the smoke, and find the truest and purest of all loves, Your love, alone. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >I cannot reckon that anyone will ever fill my emptiness. I cannot reckon that anyone will ever know me, as I am known by You. I cannot reckon that anyone will ever love me, as I am loved by You. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >I want to love You more. I want to spend, and gladly be spent for You. I want to be right where You are. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >I don't have everything together. Yet, I have a heart full of hopes and dreams to do something, be something more for You. Take all of me, so that everyone will know-will know Your name. Because You loved, You loved a people, undeserving. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >I just can't bear to see You, left behind anymore. I just can't bear to know that You aren't thought of in my every waking moment. You took my place. It's time that I begin to live truly, live fully alive. It's time that my heart, my life, is a living sacrifice, a testament. It's time that I bear Your markings, more than upon my wrist. It's time that people know that nothing will deter me from giving You my everything, loving You, with everything. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >"The Lord protects the simple; </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >when I was brought low, He saved me. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Return, O my soul, to your rest, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >For you have delivered my soul from death, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >my eyes from tears, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >my feet from stumbling. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >I walk before the Lord in the land of living. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >I kept my faith, even when I said, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >"I am greatly afflicted." Psalm 116: 8-10</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div>Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02714889236183588127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8120599321195984466.post-47428347172803112762010-12-29T23:11:00.004-06:002010-12-29T23:40:15.186-06:00empty of words, stumbling through prayer. .<div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Stumbling onto the page, again. . .</span></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >She sits and stares at the white-washed screen,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >begging for your long-lost words to be seen.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><i>Nothing.</i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><i>Nothing </i>glares back at her.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><i>Nothing</i> at all.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >But her thoughts cannot seem to stall,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >with the time it takes in between,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >the lengthening scenes.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Days seem like years,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >and her heart is battling those very same fears.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Dreams have been dreamed,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >and thoughts have been thought.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Her heart's cry this very night, "what can you make of this?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Is there something I could have missed?"</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >It is a wound that is deep, and a scar companied with years.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >It is a battle that has been fought with many, many tears.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >It is a girl's heart that has been spent,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >with just thoughts, at what this all has meant.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >And the days seem like years,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >and her heart is battling those very same fears.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >You have chosen her to love the children, the people,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >everyone beneath Your steeple. . .</span></div></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Does her heart matter in the grand scheme of things?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Should she be a girl graced with one of those dainty, beautifully picked rings?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >A lot of thinking these past few days, without accomplishing much, or so it seems. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >I almost gave up to sleep tonight, rather than stopping here to record these inner ramblings of a trembling heart. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >I almost gave up to sleep, rather stopping to breathe, to just breathe- to be with my Maker.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Because sleep is just so much easier, than acknowledging the battle that I have fought to rid myself of so long ago, as being a part of who I am, today.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >It is a night when I don't know how to pray, but I am begging the Holy Spirit to intercede for me.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >I just want to be where You are, in Your presence.</span></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3T2dGmn5rQ0-PD2eehd-tVKswTpwV6jweyz0tNOu_XJ2KNyhcte0Ok9hGnN0oluOZrDfWcP3hDzTqDvz7qJ8yFWCoYXHaPRiWHpjvBWwmqQ8cpZDcmVojUZQE4bGqjQ2JuXSAMY-z_ZE/s1600/not+forgotten.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 347px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3T2dGmn5rQ0-PD2eehd-tVKswTpwV6jweyz0tNOu_XJ2KNyhcte0Ok9hGnN0oluOZrDfWcP3hDzTqDvz7qJ8yFWCoYXHaPRiWHpjvBWwmqQ8cpZDcmVojUZQE4bGqjQ2JuXSAMY-z_ZE/s400/not+forgotten.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556345377498886194" /></span></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div>Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02714889236183588127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8120599321195984466.post-35162134579952595392010-12-25T23:10:00.004-06:002010-12-25T23:59:48.398-06:00The light of Heaven shines, where you are...<div><span class="Apple-style-span" >It's that time of year. The time of year, most greatly welcome with hearts brimming over in undeniable joy. That time of year, where memories are made beneath the lights of a tree, the candlelight beaming throughout a full sanctuary, the arms of a family's love, the distinct blessing that all is well, because God is graciously, abundantly, always enough.</span></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >This year, I experienced the altogether blessing of Christmas. The beautiful joy that comes with this season. If you know me, you know that this means a lot coming from me. The past few years, this time of year has held nothing special, if only instead it has been a time where pain seemed all the more glaringly prominent. The hospital became the home away from home, tears would fall without warning over losing or almost losing someone dear in our lives, tension robbed our hearts of normalcy. Brokenness was my family.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >This year, God has given me holidays that bring me to joyful tears. It's as though He has been whispering, "I know you couldn't handle anymore holidays with lost hope. I know you needed to be able to look back on these last few moments with your family with utmost fondness. So here you are, darling girl of mine, here's for holding out hope, for clinging to me with clenched fingers. I have heard your cries. Here you are when the days on the field leave you missing home. Remember your father sitting in his chair, alive and well, laughing at Home Alone 2, your mother with tears in her eyes declaring that was the greatest present she has ever been given, your church being lit by candlelight- with your pastor singling you out in a crowd of thousands pledging prayer for your years to come, your family of four whole, mended, but no longer broken. Tears of joy in the eyes of all, not sorrow. These are your's to remember when the days seem to be more than you can bear. I have heard you. I hear you and I see you. I know you. I know that you needed a Christmas where the light of heaven shined upon you. I know that you needed your family together, with a bond strengthened by the years past. I know that you needed silence to be broken, so that is why I graced you with one last gift. Take heart, for I am always with you, here and on the field to come."</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >All I can say is this is a Christmas to remember. And if you are out there and a hospital has became a home, depression has taking its' toll on you or someone in your family, if all you can feel is loss and pain taking hold of you. I pray that tonight, You will be reminded that it is enough to cling to Him. He is enough. I pray that you would be comforted that You have a Maker who knows where you are, He knows who you are. Heaven's light shines upon you. There is still hope. There is always hope. You are not alone in this.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >So dear Maker, take hold of this child whose eyes have fallen upon a rambling of words, take hold of the daughter struggling to see that in light of everything, all that has been lost, that You are enough, take hold of the son who has fallen out of your light and ran from your sight out of fear that he'll never be enough, take hold of your daughters and sons this very night. . .may Your presence become all the more evident upon their hurting hearts, may they see that their very wounds and hurts are not discounted in Your eyes, that everything the hurt, the joy, the pain, the beauty, everything matters to You. They matter to You. This very night hope is found, because Heaven's light shines upon even this, even these hearts.</span></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1H6O5Yy4pMxARTvDna_DYTST0SQUGJxgK1-OEs4CRUcwX2WC6GKvbc2tk3AA7VVGQRqdw92XoSwK09X_PCdVAH0GZ4iYYa-7JpCDERSw3a_Iy77hRstFwZNhazjaeqfHB4mwEuNbvSOk/s1600/heaven%2527s+light.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1H6O5Yy4pMxARTvDna_DYTST0SQUGJxgK1-OEs4CRUcwX2WC6GKvbc2tk3AA7VVGQRqdw92XoSwK09X_PCdVAH0GZ4iYYa-7JpCDERSw3a_Iy77hRstFwZNhazjaeqfHB4mwEuNbvSOk/s400/heaven%2527s+light.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554866357893396258" /></a><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><u><br /></u></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span>Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02714889236183588127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8120599321195984466.post-83779659848881641312010-12-16T22:27:00.003-06:002010-12-16T22:29:17.140-06:00Within Reach<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; "><span class="Apple-style-span" >You are stronger. It’s a truth that with each passing day seems to grow within me.</span></span></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >I’ve known my share of goodbyes and reckoned with the price of heartbreaking pain. I’ve lingered at the thought of letting go and laying down, when life seemed to get the best of me. I’ve ran from you and resisted Your voice within, with all that I am. I’ve fallen prey to the lies that somewhere along the way, You left me, without hope, without reason, without the strength to move on. I’ve given in to the doubts that I am not good enough, and will never be. I’ve clung to people in Your place and…scarcely have I wanted to let go easily.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >In the midst of all that I have done and all that I am; Your steadfast love never ceases, Your mercies are new every morning. I’ve failed You. I’ve written you off and chosen to flee when everything seemed to be falling apart, time and again.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >But I was never too far out of Your reach…I was always within it.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >For all of this, tears of thanksgiving are beginning to fall down my cheeks, because my every cry has been heard. Despite my running and all of my misgivings, I am loved. Despite everything I have done, You love me. You love this daughter whose hope was once lost, whose voice was once unheard, whose reason was once overshadowed. You spoke life into me through Your word, Your time, and Your beautiful people. And every last one, whether in present or past, rest upon my heart to this day. Tonight, it’s a prayer for them. For each and every one. That they might know You and all of Your love. That they might reckon with the doubts, the pain, the past and find they were and always will be within Your loving reach, as You beckon them home.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >And I’ll stand with heart abandoned, because all I am, is Your’s. It’s Your’s. Only Your’s.</span></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwWqFcHNccTPJLYf_z-UclKMTJAL_q5YJ2Ard-8soNue4aRuIeu8XHlyrilyti1W0zDXFnuyGfoQwRGQcccWBMy2iBZrgOa7nEvexi9yIaFj4G7mE1DV9mysiBi4mQlDuRlfvO0s90QO4/s1600/escaping.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwWqFcHNccTPJLYf_z-UclKMTJAL_q5YJ2Ard-8soNue4aRuIeu8XHlyrilyti1W0zDXFnuyGfoQwRGQcccWBMy2iBZrgOa7nEvexi9yIaFj4G7mE1DV9mysiBi4mQlDuRlfvO0s90QO4/s400/escaping.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551503277056073698" /></a><br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div>Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02714889236183588127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8120599321195984466.post-53641409528944854132010-12-14T23:15:00.002-06:002010-12-14T23:42:27.995-06:00endure. . .<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc9LHVQd5EUVroYV5MWmeWGQKKXcw9AAAyZHd2c58LXC80cXnO5Bbm5HWG_yD1ZYo83c2t8BwUnm6Af5K9iv78HxB9yVSW4_PrMRUyNLJl3VlZHtvoCmLK9OE1AmOElmeoDGlE6ZcSSa0/s1600/here.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc9LHVQd5EUVroYV5MWmeWGQKKXcw9AAAyZHd2c58LXC80cXnO5Bbm5HWG_yD1ZYo83c2t8BwUnm6Af5K9iv78HxB9yVSW4_PrMRUyNLJl3VlZHtvoCmLK9OE1AmOElmeoDGlE6ZcSSa0/s400/here.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550780088437366754" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" >I've been seeing the following word quite a bit lately: <i>Endure</i>. </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >With each sight of this word, my heart draws strength from somewhere deep within. It's a battle. Yes, it's a battle. My Maker never said it would be otherwise. He knew the nights of my tears; He knew the cries of anguish that would burden my heart and try to keep me from moving. All in all, I find this to be greatly comforting. More than anything, really. . .my God knows me. He holds me. He is enough for me. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Sure, there are days when He doesn't seem to be enough. There are days when I doubt that He is even with me. There are days when I am weary of fighting anymore. There are days when all I can do is look about me and declare hopelessness and love as being completely lost upon me. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >But in the midst of these days. All of my days: He is faithful. Yes, He is always faithful. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >My Mom has a quote on the refrigerator that reads: If you believe your God is enough, then you'll always have enough, because you'll always have God. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >At times, I forget this. I say He is enough in my mind, but fail to believe it in my heart. Loneliness creeps in and tempts to overtake my heart and rob me of my faith. Doubts settle and tell me that there is something wrong with who I am, and that is why to this day, at twenty-three I still have yet to experience a date, a boyfriend, a hand holding my own. With the doubts and loneliness come the tears and fears, the blurred vision of seeing my Father reach out His hand to me and beckon me home. It is in these moments, that I lose sight that He is enough. It is in these moments, that I feel completely and utterly <i>alone... Where is my Maker? Why has He left me? </i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Where is my Maker? </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >He is right beside me. He has tears in His eyes and He is whispering, "Beloved daughter, I am here, why can't you see me? I am enough for you. Trust me. It is enough. You are enough. So won't you endure. I'll endure it with you."</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Maybe you need to hear these words tonight. Maybe you don't, maybe everything is fine, you have hopeful eyes and a joy brimming within your heart. Maybe you need to stow them away to read again, when you are facing the desert. Wherever you are, I pray that you know that You are never too far out of His reach. That you are known and dearly loved. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><i>Dearheart, endure. You are not alone. You will never walk alone. I am enough for you. </i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div>Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02714889236183588127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8120599321195984466.post-374635146867392362010-12-01T13:35:00.004-06:002010-12-01T14:06:43.831-06:00facing rejection<span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Sometimes there are just days when the battle seems that all is lost, when life seems too much to bear, when all you can do is just cling to the hope that you know is promised. Sometimes the comfort a friend offers, mentioning a common understanding, does nothing to heal the ache in your heart. Because there are times when they don't understand. There are times when they are in a different place than you are. There are times when they have hope, and your's is lacking. </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">All this to say. Thankfully, we have a Saviour who knows our rejection. A Saviour who hears our cries from Heaven. A Saviour who knows us, who gets us. A Saviour who hasn't left and isn't leaving. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I have been dealt many goodbyes in this life, the life of a vagabond, a traveler. With these goodbyes, some friendships have been lost; some have been left to collect dust with fond memories. Yet in everything, my God has been here, and here He remains. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Sunday morning was a battle just to get to church. It was a day when the Enemy tried everything he could to stop me from making the trek into my Father's house. And lo and behold, the message was practically taken from the book "Captivating." Highlighting the pain and the hurt that comes from being a woman who declares herself unloved and unworthy, left to live this life alone. A woman scarred with rejection. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A message that left me in tears, vulnerable to any onlooker, but the tears wouldn't stop. Throughout the entirety of the message, my heart knew it was written for me. Because I had all but forgotten or truly never seen that my Saviour knows me, knows my very rejection. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">There is a price that comes with vision. A price that comes with dreams. Sometimes we aren't one to acknowledge the price. Sometimes we and everyone else will just claim that all is well, and all shall be well. We will overlook the wait, in hopes for a sudden answer, a balm for our hurt. Sometimes we will just disguise ourselves to be okay, "sure I'm fine, I am stronger than that now. I let that go long ago." When truthfully on the inside, we are crying out, because for some reason it's still a struggle to think that we might have to live this life alone, to think that we are still not where we thought we would be. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Our Saviour knows us. He knows our rejection. He knows how to reach us when we were are crying with invisible tears. Whether it is a Sunday message, or an article our hearts stumble upon online, or elsewhere. He knows how to reach our hearts and reminds us that we will never walk alone. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"I thought I was ready, but I wasn't prepared for what He was calling me to yet. I needed to struggle, I needed to doubt. I needed to let go of the controls. If God called me to do this, He would open the doors, not me. And at the same time, somewhat paradoxically, I needed to have unwavering resolve to pursue the vision He put in me. What happens when your dreams don't happen easily, quickly or how you thought they would? How do you deal with the delay? It's in those seasons our foundation is laid. Our response determines everything else. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A lot of people give up. They get distracted. They get packed social schedules. They choose an easier path and eventually the dream that once consumed them fades away. If something comes easily and without sacrifice, it's rarely significant. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">God has put dreams in each of us, something we can contribute to the world that no one else can. What your's? And what are you doing today to pursue it?</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If your dream is worth doing, it won't be easy. But rather than give up when obstacles arise, push through. Embrace the process. Embrace how you'll change." -Cameron Strang, RELEVANT</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion." Philippians 1:6</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">You are His, dear heart. "He is the keeper of your heart." He is at work in you. Your heart matters, so much so that when you are hurting. . . He bears the pain of your rejection with you. He knows you. He understands, when no one else will. </span></span></div>Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02714889236183588127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8120599321195984466.post-66146684305934089202010-11-26T23:43:00.005-06:002010-11-27T00:10:39.453-06:00A Maker's Love<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 16px; "><p style="text-align: justify; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I stumbled upon this beautiful post written by Jamie, TWLOHA, yesterday and I felt compelled to share it. It's so fitting for where I am and where I have been and I can't help but think that maybe, you need to read these words too. So here you are:</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"I wonder if it's possible to get to a place of being thankful for your story, for the dreams that feel fractured, for things we loved but lost. I wonder if it's possible to get to a place of believing that we are shaped by all of it, that we are stronger and wiser for what we've walked through. What if the things that ended - the things that broke and break your heart - what if it was the end of a chapter but the story keeps going? What if life comes back? </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">What if love comes back? </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">What if you would not be who you are and you would not know what you know if not for all those sleepless nights? </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I'm starting to believe those things, that the best is yet to be, that life comes back, that the dreams that live inside me are there for a reason, that life is not just a tragedy, not just a story about losing. It is also a story of surprises and grace and hope coming back, of conversations and moments that feel like miracles. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I share this quote every night on stage but it's taken on a new meaning lately. I've been reflecting on it off stage, sharing it with friends and believing it more than ever. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small; "> </span></p><p style="text-align: justify; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"I suppose that since most of our hurt happens in relationships, so will our healing, and I know that grace rarely makes sense to those looking in from the outside." </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">- The Shack by Paul Young</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></p><p style="text-align: left;font-size: 11px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: georgia; line-height: normal; font-size: small; ">I should probably be falling asleep before the work morning comes all too soon, but I have words on my heart that are begging to be written and be acknowledged. This Thanksgiving was the first Holiday without tears in four long heart-wrenching years. The first Holiday where I could relish in the quaint simplicity my sweet family offers, spent in laughter and joy, rather than worry and pain. I struggle with Holidays and have since my Grandfather left us a week after Christmas when I was a junior in high school. </span></p></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">They have always had loss attached to them since then. . . A story that will be left unspoken, until another time. Yet, this Thanksgiving it was almost as though God was wanting me to see what the Holidays could be, the joy that most every one associates with just mere talk of the time of year. . . And since this will probably be my last Thanksgiving with my family before I am off to pursue this life He has set me apart for . . . He created memories that I could look back upon fondly, memories that would spur me to keep moving in the days of coming loneliness as I embark on my journey. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I have a thankful heart. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A heart that has been told of the secret of love. A heart that has been told that on the days of sorrow and pure joy my Maker is always enough. A heart that has been revived and reminded that there is hope, ever still. A heart that is akin to loss, love, pain and joy. A heart that can reckon that each and every moment of my life was orchestrated and apart of His good and perfect plan. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I have a thankful heart today. Sure, there were days when I felt that You surely had left me, but now I see You were just as present then, as You are now. Thank You, for tearing down the walls of my heart. Thank You, for Your beautiful people who have poured themselves into my life. Thank You, for my dear family. Thank You, that there is still four of us. Thank You, for pain. Thank You, for LOVE. </span></span></div>Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02714889236183588127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8120599321195984466.post-65869649165755312042010-11-21T22:46:00.003-06:002010-11-21T23:15:45.663-06:00<span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">These past few days have been an absolute whirlwind of emotions:</span></span><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Awakened to a sudden sadness that stole my very breath. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Encouraged by the hope that You're all I ever needed. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Abandoned and left to memories of what once was. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Wounded with an oppressing ache of loneliness. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Sheltered in the arms of my Maker, who never leaves, and always loves. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Overjoyed at where You are taking me. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Tuesday, I fell asleep soundly. Wednesday, I awakened to an undeniable sense of grief, emptiness, loss. A pain so harsh that my knees felt weak and too feeble to step out from the covers, be awakened from sleep. My heart felt paralyzed, abandoned, empty. . . I couldn't put words to my sadness, the ache that closed in around me. I still can't. A part of me still, and will always be with you. It's a journey from here, and on into freedom. He is my Shelter, my refuge, my very strength. He is my reason on the days of all-encompassing sorrow, and brimming joy. He is enough for the heartache, the wounds, the emptiness. He is more than enough for all of me. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The enemy tells me that I'm not enough, that the fleeting feeling is all I will ever experience. That I'll never have a hand to hold. That I should just lay down on the coming Wednesdays of my life and just not move any further. Because I will always be left to fight alone. And what are these? LIES.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">My Maker has tears in His eyes when the lies take hold. He whispers ever so gently, "Little Girl, I am not, I won't let go. When the shards of brokenness leave you empty, when the ache of your heart takes away your breath, when the thoughts of what could have been are all that you have left. . . take heart, and don't fall prey to his lies, that all that awaits you is demise. You are my beloved. You are beautiful. You are known. You are not your own. There is shelter, there is rest, there is refuge.. here in My arms of love."</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div></div>Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02714889236183588127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8120599321195984466.post-17020134165349592662010-11-04T22:17:00.003-05:002010-11-04T23:20:53.252-05:00<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOAvRPlskixZePyRCiE3j8USi4cplC0Jw0RJO2pYpM2lfkKzYuDQ91ZWIozwE_AsJz3D51BJqjJLan1MHLuP817rd4JUFCxxLTkABLqwu1FNlhPhD0etcPj08q7r1v8rqUoArgBs0wbwo/s1600/beautiful+soul.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOAvRPlskixZePyRCiE3j8USi4cplC0Jw0RJO2pYpM2lfkKzYuDQ91ZWIozwE_AsJz3D51BJqjJLan1MHLuP817rd4JUFCxxLTkABLqwu1FNlhPhD0etcPj08q7r1v8rqUoArgBs0wbwo/s400/beautiful+soul.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535900225590607698" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large; ">"For Christ plays in ten thousand places,<br />Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his<br />To the Father through the features of men's faces."</span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large; ">Gerard Manley Hopkins<br /></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">I am sitting here quite in awe of my Maker. Captivated by all He is and what He has done.</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">He's taken a girl, once wary and uncertain of speaking out, consumed with doubt. . .</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">that He would use me. That He would love me. That I could move for Him. That I could give up love for Him. That my calling was too big for my heart to bear.</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">And what has He done? But lead me into His Word, His arms of love. Where peace was found. Where waiting became welcomed, instead of unwanted. Where faithfulness is evident. "I am restless, until I rest in You."</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">She was lost in Your words. . .</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">and then Your tears were heard-</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">falling from the clouded sky.</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">You were acknowledging her wound,</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">because it didn't pass You by.</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">The teardrops on her window,</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">was Your delicate way of saying You know-</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">of the moments,</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">her heart has been spent.</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">of the dire need,</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">for affirmation, mere acknowledgement.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">of the fragile state...</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">the wait.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">But You are God of the broken people,</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">wounded, once off Your easel.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">You are a mender of hearts and their million pieces;</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">You are God, and Your love never ceases.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">You know the ache of being unloved,</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">and You had the strength to look up.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">You know loss,</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">and its' cost.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">And to think that You know and love all of me, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">that You see. . .</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">that I am not alone, never will be,</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">is something altogether beautiful and beyond me.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">I found out today, that I have been accepted into an internship with NOE International starting in March. I will be teaching English, loving His children. I will finally be home in my beloved country, Mexico. It's been a long time coming. He is faithful. His timing is perfect. And suddenly, I am little girl giddy with ideas of newsletters, support raising, brimming with tears of joy and hope. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">My God is taking me home.</span></span></span></div></div></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></span></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOLsxPASLNW84pLvs2wwgK2YwuYt3ayg9QzFHpU8cdVLBIHnapXG5ztQOEp1iWIc9D-5St3FfodlycHX2m7wSrg_Ef6O6qRSi3846D5W2hBTxvgA_cDZYIE7rUbrC9QVKO_c1H6YMOxxQ/s1600/camino.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOLsxPASLNW84pLvs2wwgK2YwuYt3ayg9QzFHpU8cdVLBIHnapXG5ztQOEp1iWIc9D-5St3FfodlycHX2m7wSrg_Ef6O6qRSi3846D5W2hBTxvgA_cDZYIE7rUbrC9QVKO_c1H6YMOxxQ/s400/camino.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535915428167581442" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><u><br /></u></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOAvRPlskixZePyRCiE3j8USi4cplC0Jw0RJO2pYpM2lfkKzYuDQ91ZWIozwE_AsJz3D51BJqjJLan1MHLuP817rd4JUFCxxLTkABLqwu1FNlhPhD0etcPj08q7r1v8rqUoArgBs0wbwo/s1600/beautiful+soul.jpg"><br /></a></div>Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02714889236183588127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8120599321195984466.post-31908714395211052642010-10-31T18:27:00.006-05:002010-10-31T19:37:44.765-05:00In the shelter of each other we will live. . .<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">Life has taken at toll on me these past couple of weeks. . .</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">But in the midst of undeniable pain, my God has met me constantly right where I am. Even on the days when my eyes have just wanted to fall to the ground and do anything but look up to Him; He has lifted me up and held me close.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">Tears fell as I listened to Aaron Shust sing a song I had heard so many times before, but what felt like for the very first time: "My Saviour lives, My Saviour loves, My Saviour's always there for me." Following that song he went on to tell a story of a man who traveled to India and asked Mother Theresa to pray that he would find clarity. She replied, "You need not pray for clarity. You need to trust. I will pray that you will trust."</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">So many days have lately been spent in the company of both silence and of dear friends with tears crying out for clarity. How applicable to me, it was and still is.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">In these past few weeks I have had to look to Him; I have had to trust Him more than ever before. I have had to acknowledge with both my head and my heart that He is enough. He is more than enough for me. In the wake of pain, heartache, He is enough. Always, enough.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; "><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b><span class="Apple-style-span" >"And it’s out of my hands, it was from the start</span></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b><span class="Apple-style-span" >In light of what you’ve done for me</span></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b><span class="Apple-style-span" >In light of what you’ve done for me</span></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b><span class="Apple-style-span" >You lifted my head, set me apart</span></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b><span class="Apple-style-span" >In light of what you’ve done for me</span></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b><span class="Apple-style-span" >This is what you’ve done for me</span></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b><span class="Apple-style-span" >It’s out of my hands</span></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b><span class="Apple-style-span" >It’s out of my hands"</span></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" >I recently stumbled upon Jars of Clay's new album, Shelter, which was inspired by a series of essays written by various authors. The lyrics have been perfectly fitting for me. To know that it's all out of my hands and to be able to rest in that truth, is something altogether beautiful.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b><br /></b></span></span></span></p></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">These past few days I have had to give things up and pursue others. I have had to trust and stop begging and fighting for clarity. I have found my Father in the words of a well-known song, and a mixture of altogether new ones. I have found my Father in the words of His own writing that have often gone overlooked and misunderstood. I have stumbled upon the goodness of His love, all the more these days, and my eyes have once again seen the beauty in the breaking, and the taking.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: right; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large; ">"In the shelter of each other the people live."</span></div><div style="text-align: right; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px; "><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" >To all who are looking down</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" >Holding onto hearts still wounding</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" >For those who’ve yet to find it</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" >The places near where love is moving</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" ></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" >Cast off the robes you’re wearing</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" >Set aside the names that you’ve been given</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" >May this place of rest in the fold of your journey</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" >Bind you to hope, you will never walk alone</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" ></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><em><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" >In the shelter of each other, we will live, we will live</span></span></span></em></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><em><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" >In the shelter of each other, we will live, we will live</span></span></span></em></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><em><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" >Your arms are all around us</span></span></span></em></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" ></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" >If our hearts have turned to stone</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" >There is hope, we know the rocks will cry out</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" >And the tears aren’t ours alone</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" >Let them fall into the hands that hold us</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" ></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" >Come away from where you’re hiding</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" >Set aside the lies that you’ve been living</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" >May this place of rest in the fold of your journey</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" >Bind you to hope that we will never walk alone</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" ></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" >If there is any peace, if there is any hope</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" >We must all believe, our lives are not our own</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" >We all belong</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" >God has given us each other</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" >And we will never walk alone</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" ></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Charis SIL', charis, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: normal; "><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">Isaiah 54:5-7, 10:</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>"For your Maker is your husband—</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; line-height: normal; font-size: small; "><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>the LORD Almighty is his name—</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; line-height: normal; font-size: small; "></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; line-height: normal; font-size: small; "><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; line-height: normal; font-size: small; "></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; line-height: normal; font-size: small; "><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>he is called the God of all the earth.</span></p></span><p><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>The LORD will call you back </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">a</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small; ">s if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit—</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small; "></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small; "><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>a wife who married young, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small; ">only to be rejected," says your God.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">For a brief moment I abandoned you,<br />but with deep compassion I will bring you back.</span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">Though the mountains be shaken<br />and the hills be removed,<br />yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken<br />nor my covenant of peace be removed,"<br />says the LORD, who has compassion on you."</span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">There are doors opening that I have been waiting for for years. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">The field is not as far off, as it once was.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">And my heart is speechless, overwhelmed and absolutely joyful.</span></p><p>My eyes fell upon these few lines in last night's reading:</p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large; ">"You-<i>you</i>-were worth dying for.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large; ">And you are beautiful.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large; ">You are holy.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large; ">You are free."</span></p></div></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk205iETQ5KPjoT1Dujpsr7thhu7KFocPclcsq8lQmSM5hL_ow936Tpxi4JCYyhpQQlXvLRIR7oC3R4yeMeDxLXEifGTaryOlaC2JPK7OALzW415pVE9uVcLzg9JW1MOZorh0_SU_QB2E/s1600/mi+amiga_238.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk205iETQ5KPjoT1Dujpsr7thhu7KFocPclcsq8lQmSM5hL_ow936Tpxi4JCYyhpQQlXvLRIR7oC3R4yeMeDxLXEifGTaryOlaC2JPK7OALzW415pVE9uVcLzg9JW1MOZorh0_SU_QB2E/s400/mi+amiga_238.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534373401062023426" /></a><br /><div><p><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"It's out of my hands. It was from the start. You've lifted my head. You've set me apart. . ."</span></span></p></div>Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02714889236183588127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8120599321195984466.post-73347933888917816762010-10-06T16:59:00.005-05:002010-10-06T18:08:26.660-05:00Heavily Burdened<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaWrvt-v58N8aXOyp2t6r1UtRn_WzCUaz5jzzvc92RNKZUqSvteZuCmrLTyjB0ZdwojfhQPmZ0JjLxbB7C0eA60ctBDTHYS05Cu8FooSfxaarDhVPaV1OEtEZ3bXBLVOaLJAyiwAkjWrA/s1600/passion.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaWrvt-v58N8aXOyp2t6r1UtRn_WzCUaz5jzzvc92RNKZUqSvteZuCmrLTyjB0ZdwojfhQPmZ0JjLxbB7C0eA60ctBDTHYS05Cu8FooSfxaarDhVPaV1OEtEZ3bXBLVOaLJAyiwAkjWrA/s400/passion.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525065269069260898" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">her feet want to pick up the pace, and follow her heart</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">there has been a wait here, but everything within just wants to set out, to start-</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">to unfold the beginnings of a journey unknown, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">to bask in the glory of it all, that You long to be shown</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">to reunite with the part of her that has been lost, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">no matter how great the cost. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">it's a struggle and a daily fight, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">the days seem to be getting closer and more in sight... </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">but there are still bits and pieces that need to be refined, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and it's all she can do to be in the moment, because Mexico may be out of sight, but it never has been out of mind. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">there's a constant pull to run home, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">there's a constant pull to cease to roam, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">there's a constant reel of images, keeping her company, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">there's a constant longing to just be-</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">to be apart of something bigger and grand...</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">to take part in everything, that You have perfectly planned. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">the routine and the lists must have her attention, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">but it is getting harder these days, to even give them an honorable mention.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">when the brown-eyed beauties are holding her heart, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">despite the distance, and them, being so far apart.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">when she is lost in the comforts of her memories, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and they, become all she sees. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">she is waiting, but there's a readiness within her, more than ever before, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">there's a longing to move home and see everything that You have in store. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">to reach for the hands of the beautiful deep chocolate-eyed children,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">to pick up their pieces and carry them. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">to hold the mothers, who feel lost and all alone, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">to remind them that they are not their own. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">for that day when her heart can rest in knowing that she is there to stay, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">without having to prepare herself for the visit's final day...</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">For that day, when her feet and her heart are finally, in the same place.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Today is one, where I feel that nothing is accomplished, where I have been lost in the memories and the hopes of tomorrow. I just can't gather the courage and the fight to finish what has been set before me. The idea of having three essays and three tests in front of me no longer seems to be a feasible feat, but instead scares me. Yes, it scares me. Three essays and three tests scare this college graduate into an abyss of avoidance. So I willingly choose to come here, to this haven of mine, rather than sitting down and telling myself that it can and will be accomplished. Today. It can and will be accomplished today. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I'm a mess, I tell you. An absolute mess. And there are days, when I can put up quite the disguise, but today had you been around me...I think you would have been able to tell otherwise. I just take more on these days, rather than let things go. I fear complacency in one place, so I choose to take on something else simultaneously. I have moments when I feel courageous, and then I feel weakened and empty to the very core. Two jobs and two classes are getting the best of me....</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Because there is a dire readiness in my heart and soul that just wants to go home, to get the field that stole a piece of my heart, eight years ago. To get there, always looking up, without looking back... </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span><span></span></span><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; color: rgb(84, 85, 89); line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" >A veces te fallé, mas tú fuiste fiel,<br />Tu gracia me levantó, me basta tu amor,<br /><br />Dios eterno, tu luz por siempre brillará<br />Y tu gloria, incomparable sin final.</span></span></span></div>Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02714889236183588127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8120599321195984466.post-7295312730138752010-10-06T10:42:00.002-05:002010-10-06T10:55:44.167-05:00A Night Like This:<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhThLX3hHHug6-gQTtzorUU4s3nWXY3QEpzXBHDRtHyiqjLwmFJWszfoOspMOwcZkQ4D1UMWM52yjOkddvULcEhiypT9MqNBZmTd_W8kz29Ir6Lfqj7ZpuYJrktaT9BTwAp4nQijqnDXrQ/s1600/the+sun+sets.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhThLX3hHHug6-gQTtzorUU4s3nWXY3QEpzXBHDRtHyiqjLwmFJWszfoOspMOwcZkQ4D1UMWM52yjOkddvULcEhiypT9MqNBZmTd_W8kz29Ir6Lfqj7ZpuYJrktaT9BTwAp4nQijqnDXrQ/s400/the+sun+sets.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524962193295496258" /></a><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It’s a Tuesday night. A quiet, still Tuesday night. A night not without plans, until just a couple of minutes ago. When suddenly, the phone conversation was declared to have been one-sided if we kept the tradition…and the skype session was deemed impossible with the failing internet. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I am not going to tip-toe and flail into a drama frenzy, instead I am going to look up. Because this place that I am in, this very moment, is exactly where God wants me. This past week I spoke to my friends, many times in tears, that my heart, my feelings seemed to be getting the best of me. That I just couldn’t find the balance I knew was there all along. My voice trembled and shook with the riveting heartache of not knowing if this is from Him.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I have struggled and still remain to be struggling with where I am. This place is so unfamiliar. I don’t know where I am going; it’s fair to say that I don’t even know what I am doing. And yes, this night of broken plans doesn’t solve everything. It isn’t a quick fix. I don’t see the remedy glaring back at me. But what has been accomplished is that I once again, have gently been reminded that to Him, I should go. When I am faced with tears, hurt, struggles, joy, love…that I should run to Him. First and foremost. I look to other people rather than looking up, more often than not. And tonight, God took away those options and my eyes looked up. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">And there’s shame. Shame because God had to take them away from me, for me to give Him my full, true attention. Why is this a constant fight for me? My God loves me. He loves me. He saw fit to bring me into this life and place me in His plan for a greater purpose, than my own. He takes me back. Time and again, my Father waits for me, He beckons me onward and into His arms. And I run. I run faraway from Him and into the arms of another. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So what am I left with tonight? A heart that is speechless, because my Father pursues me. A heart that is full, because my God is enough for me. A heart that is sure, because my God is my hope, the anchor to my soul. A heart that is broken, because my God delights in me. A heart that is alive, because my Father breathes life into me. A heart that though weary, broken, torn, misunderstood, and weak is a heart that still matters to Him. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I don’t have everything figured out. I won’t ever have everything figured out. Yet, I can look back on a night like this and know that my God is for me, that He will sustain me. I can look back on a night like this and know that come what may, my God will be here, that He isn’t leaving me. If I must give up everything for Him, everything even love, I will. Because I don’t want to miss nights like this one. I don’t want to give anyone His place. Only He is deserving. Only He is worthy. Only He is enough. No one. Not one will ever satisfy the hunger my heart knows, the emptiness my heart has felt. No one. Not one. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">“Because God so deeply desires unbroken fellowship with us, He loves us right where we are, regardless of how entrenched in sin we’ve become. However, He loves us far too much to just leave us there.”</span></div><div><br /></div>Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02714889236183588127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8120599321195984466.post-9301885164030618232010-10-01T23:00:00.005-05:002010-10-02T00:03:07.723-05:00the way i see it...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixZw2MrhINKS83TrfDIbaoJ2QMUNGl6Ahg_Vm2wRo_Tqg-5viCnQakLO-lV4gwGTjFY3NCKqt6X2fbrWv-BM-NM9mTkhyU197Dd_XHZh_L1odff2-gSha7ONSPa1wdLASPxHWhqC35i8M/s1600/the+way+i+see+it+3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 304px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixZw2MrhINKS83TrfDIbaoJ2QMUNGl6Ahg_Vm2wRo_Tqg-5viCnQakLO-lV4gwGTjFY3NCKqt6X2fbrWv-BM-NM9mTkhyU197Dd_XHZh_L1odff2-gSha7ONSPa1wdLASPxHWhqC35i8M/s400/the+way+i+see+it+3.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523307588347628530" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEichYmnLLZBLdLgN3hwOUgiv_eAHnQRo4fuztCV64ft3v0OxX-gPaVH3SGZe1ov3iCKjrsIi-Zrdx9-N9WKNAZseTx_FQj1usXgdblh-5BmtBhVHYVzLYnCltJynPLODhKxTZwA1SsURGI/s1600/the-way-i-see-it.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEichYmnLLZBLdLgN3hwOUgiv_eAHnQRo4fuztCV64ft3v0OxX-gPaVH3SGZe1ov3iCKjrsIi-Zrdx9-N9WKNAZseTx_FQj1usXgdblh-5BmtBhVHYVzLYnCltJynPLODhKxTZwA1SsURGI/s400/the-way-i-see-it.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523307585333279586" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It's a weird feeling...going from bustling busyness and constant company to this, a quiet Friday night by myself, lost in thought. Although I wouldn't change anything. </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I think, well I know, that God is gracing my heart with peace, a peace that can leave what I once knew and called home, a peace that can remind my heart that I can be still amidst everything unknown. There is a gentle peace that wasn't here before and it might just be that before, I was looking to everything and everyone else. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >I wasn't looking up. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Yet, if I have learned anything, it is that no matter how hard I try I cannot hold onto people. I can love them with all that is within me, I can fight for them on my knees...but in every instance, there comes a time when I just have to hold them out in my hands and give them over to Him, cause that is where that belong. We belong to Him.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >"You cannot hold onto anything that wants to go. Do you understand what I'm saying? You just got to love it while you got it, and that's that." Maybe it should be written- that we cannot hold onto anything that God wants us to let go. It's something I fight daily and just when I think that maybe I have finally come to terms with it, I falter. I look backwards. I justify my reasoning, instead of looking up. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I am not saying that I am moving on and leaving everyone behind. Rather, I am giving God, the place that He has deserved all along. I am learning the art of going to Him with my pain, my fears, and my doubts. I am learning that He is always going to be here, and that is such a beautiful comfort...in the midst of the seasons, because the seasons will change. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I don't want to keep running from my Maker. I don't want to lose myself in life, for my cause. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >I want to run to Him on the lonely nights and the nights of unremitting tears. I want to become lost in Him. I want to lose myself all for love's cause. I want to become broken and poured, and not let this calling of mine become ignored. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">There is nothing like Him. There is no one like Him. If I don't choose to look up, my heart will remain empty. If I don't choose to look up, my company will be misery. If I don't choose to look up, there will be an ease to give up, to lay down. If I don't choose to look up, I will lose sight of all of the pretty things, the beauty about me. If I don't choose to look up, the light will fade with the heartache and the pain. If I don't choose to look up, I won't be able to choose life. So I will look up, because I know that You are more than enough. I know that YOU are the ONLY exception. Nothing compares to Your love. No one. Not one. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So in this moment, this very place. I surrender. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Calisto MT', 'Times New Roman', Times; font-size: small; white-space: pre; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"I'm giving you my heart, and all that is within</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I lay it all down for the sake of you my King</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I'm giving you my dreams, </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I'm laying down my rights</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I'm giving up my pride for the promise of new life</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small; white-space: pre; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small; white-space: pre; ">And I surrender all to you, all to you</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small; white-space: pre; ">And I surrender all to you, all to you</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small; white-space: pre; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small; white-space: pre; ">I'm singing You this song, I'm waiting at the cross</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small; white-space: pre; ">And all the world holds dear, I count it all as loss</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small; white-space: pre; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small; white-space: pre; "></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small; white-space: pre; ">For the sake of knowing You for the glory of Your name</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small; white-space: pre; ">To know the lasting joy, even sharing in Your pain." </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; "><pre><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; white-space: normal; font-size: small; ">You brought me out of silence. You brought me out of pain. You brought me out of darkness. YOU brought me out, when I was running...You met me and my brokenness and You took a hold of me and said, "it's gonna be alright." You have done this time and again. You are constant, steadfast. YOU ARE FAITHFUL.</span></pre></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The little girl in me that trembles at love is going to reckon with her past, and tonight she is just going to surrender. It's all Your's, God. Everything is Your's. I am Your's. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" >I hear you breathing in<br />Another day begins<br />The stars are falling out<br />My dreams are fading now, fading out<br /><br />I've been keeping my eyes wide open<br />I've been keeping my eyes wide open<br /><br />Ooh, your love is a symphony<br />All around me, running through me<br />Ooh, your love is a melody<br />Underneath me, running to me<br /><br />Oh, your love is a song<br /><br />With my eyes wide open<br />I've got my eyes wide open<br />I've been keeping my hopes unbroken<br /><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" >I surrender it all here. I don't know what will become of me, or where I am. I do know that I can trust that You have my best interests at heart. I can trust that I matter to you. I can trust that my heart matters. Because Your love is a symphony, it is more than enough for me.<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; "><div id="qt0501938" class="soda"><div class="sodatext"><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-large; color: rgb(51, 0, 51); ">..the whole world has an aching heart, it's up to me to use my voice, and do my part.</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-large; color: rgb(51, 0, 51); "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-large; color: rgb(51, 0, 51); "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-large; color: rgb(51, 0, 51); "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-large; color: rgb(51, 0, 51); ">so i surrender all to You, all to You. </span></div><p class="linksoda" style="margin-top: 0.75em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: x-small; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></p></div></div></span></span></span></span></span></div>Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02714889236183588127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8120599321195984466.post-25493869852513137942010-09-30T22:18:00.004-05:002010-09-30T23:08:34.864-05:00Fighting for HOPE.<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">So my eyes beheld a weariness just a little over a week ago. My spirit had seemed to be weakening with the passing of each day. My footsteps became slower and more intentional, because moving just a step forward took everything from within me. And then...</span></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">Then I was able to pack my bags and look forward, rather than behind.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">I was able to board a plane and leave what my life has become, behind me for a week, without looking back.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">I was able to return to a home of mine, and there, I was able to love His people, that I love to love.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">I was able to venture to see a dear, beautiful friend of mine that I hadn't seen in 501 days.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">I was able to relish in coffee outings, taco stands, smoothies, shopping, church, photo shoots, sunsets, tattoos with some of my closest friends.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">I was able to be still and sit for awhile in beloved company. I was able to dance in the parking lot and not be ashamed.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">I was able to bask in my Father's presence with beautiful people. I was able to cry and be held. I was able to just be.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">What a revival of the spirit that is, what a welcome renewal.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">You may not have known how much this trip was needed. You may not have known that in the days before my arrival it was hard to keep moving, to keep breathing...that everything seemed to just be closing in around me. You may not have seen the weariness, until the tears began to fall. All this to say is that God used you. He used you to lift me out and remind me that I am not alone. He used you to show me that I am still His, that He is still here with me.</span></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHdouVh7KuriXX53epA1Uf3gYlokKssqJCNf66had8QOXGrJAD3f1BWug2uQOfFD1l5J9Zw7g5KZqV1lGTXqIQlST5egAZ6i-xgpdgzUX2iDXGF0ctJ4VMbD9VMSzWG1Icb0l-Rw9Qe-8/s1600/A+LOVE+TATT.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHdouVh7KuriXX53epA1Uf3gYlokKssqJCNf66had8QOXGrJAD3f1BWug2uQOfFD1l5J9Zw7g5KZqV1lGTXqIQlST5egAZ6i-xgpdgzUX2iDXGF0ctJ4VMbD9VMSzWG1Icb0l-Rw9Qe-8/s400/A+LOVE+TATT.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522923957618607234" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjPPcHxO9g5SonZieRnPl3Bh3_6EZIz7NfAQMHCf8oppI7xG-yzD34PxOMDekfbdx7zA_ZXADEQ_nLTso1ytNOkhy1VmR4FN6eyFQoXPtqKAXbHjMOlgw2B9i21yMyRsIFP1EASUSNkqg/s1600/ANCHOR+TATT.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjPPcHxO9g5SonZieRnPl3Bh3_6EZIz7NfAQMHCf8oppI7xG-yzD34PxOMDekfbdx7zA_ZXADEQ_nLTso1ytNOkhy1VmR4FN6eyFQoXPtqKAXbHjMOlgw2B9i21yMyRsIFP1EASUSNkqg/s400/ANCHOR+TATT.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522923952003582178" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The dynamics of friendships have changed, I can see it...it just cannot be denied. I guess I want you to know that you should just talk it all in, because you will miss it. Take everything in with the people about you, the people that have stood with you through it all. Don't let them go so easily. Fight for these remaining moments. Fight for those beside you, when they are too weary to fight. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Don't you give up hope. I say this for each of you and I am saying this for myself. There is so much left of this life. So choose life. Choose to wake up and behold His steadfast love and mercy that is your's for the taking. Choose life, over misery. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Say what needs to be said. And stop holding everyone at arm's length while they are right there in front of you, okay? Because I am sure someone among you needs to know that they are not alone. Someone needs to know that you will fight for them. Stop holding back and love until there is nothing left of you. God's love and strength will see you through. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"We all need to be carried, and we all get to carry. And it's grace that holds us up so we don't collapse under the weight of it all.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Yes, the world is beautifully broken, and it wraps us up in both extremes. But in the end, our story comes back to us. Humanity is wonderful and flawed because I am wonderful and flawed. Humanity is wonderful and flawed because you are wonderful and flawed. And when we confess the simple truth of both to each other, we embrace the grace and mercy our Father has given us. Then somehow all those broken pieces come together in an awkward mosaic and we find life. We find healing. We find hope. Yes, we have been broken. Sometimes we've been broken a lot. Some of us think we've done too much, or had so much done to us that we're not worth being rescued....The one, solid, faithful promise of truth in all of this is that we are being rescued. And it's time for you to tell someone about it. It's time for you to speak freely....Confess the beautiful and the broken. Because someone is waiting on you to speak."</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">-Permission to Speak Freely, by Anne Jackson</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">These are just the fragmented cries of a girl that has been blessed to feel it all. I haven't made it yet. I don't have it all together. I just know that you deserve to cherish each moment that God places within your palms. I know that you deserve to be rescued. I know that you deserve to speak freely. I know that you will look back on these days and that, they will give you strength when it's lacking. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So take hold of those closest to you and keep fighting for them....even when it is hard to keep up the fight. Hold onto the hope, the steadfast anchor of our souls. Hold onto love, because it binds everything together in perfect harmony. Hold onto each other. There is more to this life-more than pain, suffering, tears, loneliness and depression. The beauty of it all is that He knows you. He is right where you are. You haven't been left and He isn't leaving. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Take heart, dear friend. You are loved. And He is enough. All is not lost. Your friendships don't have to be left collecting dust or stowed away in your memories; open your eyes and you'll see that there is still hope. A near revival, so pray and seek, dear friend. Pray. Seek. Wait. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">He is faithful. In these past few days, you have all done your part to show me that there is truth to those three words. My heart is brimming with gratitude that God brought me to you...and continues to do so in the times that I need it the most. Prayers are being said for you without ceasing. You are dearly loved. You will never be forgotten. I carry you with me. I carry you in my heart. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">For the days when you need a sunset, a piece of hope, written with you in mind:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Hebrews 6:18</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">II Corinthians 7:4, 10-11</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Philippians 1:3-11</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Psalm 40</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Lamentations 3</span></div>Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02714889236183588127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8120599321195984466.post-50022085857041395402010-09-15T01:34:00.000-05:002010-09-16T00:02:42.942-05:00the little things, the unfinished things...<div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">So these past few days have been a tad difficult. There's a busyness, in that I haven't seen my Mom since Monday, and I live with her. We are all constantly going... Dad had a wreck two days ago and no one was hurt, but if you know my past, you know he is fragile. God has brought him out of it, but it's still a daily thing. It just reminded me of how fleeting life is. How it is so easy to get lost in the routine and then come home to hearing the news that something more, like that happened. Instantly, my mind reverts back to two years ago. It just shows me that I need to delight in every moment, every opportunity, that my God gives me.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">"If we believe our affairs are in God's hands, every event, whether joyous or tragic, will be taken as part of His plan." -Phillip Keller</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." Psalm 91:1<br /></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div></div></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJpDwwjEcdU21xmiahYQ834tcIpnGeSvVhqcrd1TXdj9SfR7jYo6Tr3yKCjoWNlf57BKoiZqOCdnOJG_Ykd4k_-gqs5w-c836DZIc9Mn71DP3LnsjcO5hBYU5K0Xn4GCpxJipGf7BzXng/s1600/loneliness.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJpDwwjEcdU21xmiahYQ834tcIpnGeSvVhqcrd1TXdj9SfR7jYo6Tr3yKCjoWNlf57BKoiZqOCdnOJG_Ykd4k_-gqs5w-c836DZIc9Mn71DP3LnsjcO5hBYU5K0Xn4GCpxJipGf7BzXng/s400/loneliness.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517210247984236322" /></a><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">Yesterday, was one of those days when you seem to wake up with the sense that it's going to be a hard day, for whatever reason, you just don't feel like moving. That was my yesterday. So I went to work and I tried to shake off the feelings, and God placed little things in my day...to remind me that He was with me. I saw Him in Jean Marie who paid for the woman's items behind her. I saw another customer do the very same thing for some one else. I heard him in the laughter of Granny, Steve and Dallas going about their joker-like selves.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">And I saw him in the guy at Starbucks who made me laugh over my paying in gold coins, the other barista replied, "don't you always just feel like a pirate, when you pay with gold coins?! Retrieving my drink that was only supposed to be a grande, to be graced with a venti.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">"Life is the total sum of what you do with the moments given you." -Erwin McManus</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">It's the little things, I tell you. The unfinished things. God placing me back in the Goodwill, because my time there was unfinished. The little things. Waking up to an email, and knowing that I am not alone in my thinking. It's the little and unfinished things, that God is using to open my eyes to Him.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; font-size: small; ">Lyrics to "Keep Looking Up," by Landon Pigg</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">Like a little locket hangs</span></span></span></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">Round your little neck so closely to your heart<br />So shall I be forever<br />I know you're going somewhere new<br />And I know it's never gonna to feel like home to you<br />But this time the only way around is through<br /><br />So keep looking up, on past the birds<br />And keep looking up past the clouds<br />And when you reach up and clear away the stars<br />I will be there where you are<br /><br />Like a little locket hangs<br />Round your little neck so closely to your heart<br />So shall I be forever<br />And even if you run away<br />Put on all your dark clothes, hide in shadows<br />Just remember one thing<br /><br />Keep looking up, on past the birds<br />And keep looking up past the clouds<br />And when you reach up and clear away the stars<br />I will be there where you are<br /><br />I will be there where you are<br />I will be there<br /><br />Keep looking up, on past the birds<br />And keep looking up past the clouds<br />And when you reach up and clear away the stars<br />I will be there where you are<br /><br />Keep looking up, on past the birds<br />And keep looking up past the clouds<br />And when you reach up and clear away the stars<br />I will be there where you are<br /><br />So closely to your heart</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: tahoma, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 15px; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: tahoma, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: normal; font-size: 16px; "><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">So I will keep looking up.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">Because I have my commutes, my every minute, to talk to my Father, who is always here for me. Who uses coffee outings, skype sessions, emails, texts...the little things and unfinished things, to remind that it is all going to be okay. That He will see me through, the days when I can't seem to keep my feet moving. He quietly whispers, "just look up, I am seeing you through, My strength prevails, when there is no strength left in you."</span></span></div></span></span></span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKiC_XY9KkzVkaRHgkrHEtu0tb78wWw7rYW01Y5K-lJTy6FIH_QywEqbvYO36mSCxlhUMsB1B3k5CZ7ZVptILYJ46MedvaAiaMcD672hOpSomz8HKwtAdgmpfsGj6b_QIqciR4FHnma4M/s1600/strength.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 284px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKiC_XY9KkzVkaRHgkrHEtu0tb78wWw7rYW01Y5K-lJTy6FIH_QywEqbvYO36mSCxlhUMsB1B3k5CZ7ZVptILYJ46MedvaAiaMcD672hOpSomz8HKwtAdgmpfsGj6b_QIqciR4FHnma4M/s400/strength.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517210245350371506" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02714889236183588127noreply@blogger.com1