Life....to the Fullest

 Sneak peak into one of my updates from my 3 weeks in Guatemala... I wanted to share this song that I stumbled upon early this week. It is so beautiful. And it is what my heart is singing right now.  The Lord likes to wake me up in the night...in the wee hours of the morning when all is quiet. He meets me hear. Sometimes he speaks and sometimes he just pulls me close. It makes me feel "like a child mystified". Feeling so full this morning. I haven't felt his nearness since being at Casa. Whether it is pride, business, or something else hindering me from it I'm not sure. But he awakens me out of the fog on his own anyway cause he wants me to be there...Like a child all in his space.  He reminds me why I am in love....I just want to be here. I never want to loose my wonder. Hope you enjoy this song as much as me.... Wonder by Bethal

I love my lists! So much comes to life when I simply make a list of everything I learn from a key word in a passage of Scripture. I call them my "awe-ful" lists, because what could seem boring(just listing) turns into amazing riches, leaving me in AW. Some of you know what I am talking about. Those moments when the Spirit reveals a mystery/something new...when things known become "known"....when all I can do is lay on my back, say "wow" and be in wonder of the vastness, unsearchableness, unfathomableness 🤗of YAWEH. Just been soaking in the reality of these magnificent truths in Ephesians this summer. This is who I am and some of you are...Remember. In Christ ... Ephesians 1:3~ Blessed with every spiritual blessing 1:4~ Chosen before the foundation of the world 1:6~Given Grace 1:7~ Have redemption 1:9~ Purposed to make known the mystery of His will 1:10~All things will be summed up 1:11~ We have an inheritance 1:12~ We first hoped 1:13~ We we...

I've been reading a lot from Elizabeth Elliot again. As always she puts quite perfectly into words what I so many times feel deeply but can't find a way to express. Here is a devotion that spoke to may heart the beginning of this week.... What do you do when you've been hurt and feel sure you didn't deserve it? Any who long for holiness must learn that that quality cannot be merely "bestowed" on us. Holiness is a lifetime process which requires suffering. Our human response is to avoid it in any way we can. James, "a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ," writes in his epistle(James 1:2-4): "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." If you think of those who have most deeply influenced your spiritual life, you will discover that ev...

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” ‭‭James‬ ‭1:17‬ ‭ESV‬‬ Frodo:"I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had ever happened." Gandoff:"So do all who live to see such times. But it is not meant for them to decide. All we are meant to do is decide what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world Frodo besides the work of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the ring just as you were meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought."  I love this part of the movie. I used to think that God's good and perfect gifts were things like that were always pleasant like provision for our needs, friends, family, safety, comfort, healing, etc. His good is not always defined the same as mine but it is true. Elizabeth Elliot has been a major influencer in this area of my life. I have learned that things ...

Help me to live this day quietly, easily; To lean upon Thy great strength trust fully, Restfully; To meet others peacefully, joyously; To face tomorrow confidently, courageously. ~Unknown

The trivial round, the common task, Will furnish all we ought to ask- Room to deny ourselves, a road To bring us daily nearer to God.                                      John Keble "He does not need to transplant us into a different field...He transforms the very things that were before our greatest hindrances, into the chiefest and most blessed means of our growth. No difficulties in your case can baffle Him...Put yourself absolutely into His hands, and let Him have His own way with you." Remembering that He is always preparing me for what He has prepared for me. He knows to place me where I may learn lessons that would be impossible for me to learn elsewhere. He does not displace or misplace.

My sister forwarded me this song and wow...I am sure many of us could say this song expresses a place we all have been before. It certainly does for me. To view the music video click her: Thy Will

I have been reading A Chance to Die by Elizabeth Elliot, an autobiography of Amy Carmichael. Amy Carmichael, known as one of the great historic missionaries and founder of a fellowship for girls rescued from temple prostitution. She spent fifty years without furlough. She was "Amma", mother.  But that was not the way she had planned it. In her mind she was a missionary. Mothering was not what she had in mind when she answered God's call. And as for a home...well, she had renounced all such earthly comfort. She had given up all thought of having a husband or a home. Then after 5 to 6 years of being an evangelist in India, it happened. God broke her heart for some little girls who in India were considered to "tie the mother's feet". Amy began to see that she must allow her feet to be tied "for the sake of Him whose feet once were nailed". In light of this she wrote: If Thy dear home be fuller, Lord, For that a little emptier My house on earth, ...

Below is a blog post from some friends of mine from Leticia. I am always blown away by what God is doing in their lives. Hope you find this just as encouraging as I did... His Kingdom, Right Here Part 2

“My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning. O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer; And by night, but I have no rest. Yet You are holy, O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel. In You our fathers trusted; They trusted and You delivered them. To You they cried out and were delivered; In You they trusted and were not disappointed. But I am a worm and not a man, A reproach of men and despised by the people. All who see me sneer at me; They separate with the lip, they wag the head, saying, " Commit yourself to the LORD; let Him deliver him; Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him." Yet You are He who brought me forth from the womb; You made me trust when upon my mother's breasts. Upon You I was cast from birth; You have been my God from my mother's womb. Be not far from me, for trouble is near; For there is none to help. Many bulls have surrounded me; Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me. Th...

"Jesus, break my heart for what breaks yours." This has been a prayer of mine for quite a while now. Looking back, I don't think I was exactly sure what that meant, nor what it might cost...I still don't. But I never really thought that God would call me to this nursing thing for my own "making"...never truly thought that He would use it to answer that prayer even further. I have several unforgettable faces of people I have no doubt that the Lord willed me to be assigned to care for this year during clinicals at the hospital. I have seen a lot of suffering this year. The suffering of the physical ill, the dying, the depressed, and the mentally ill. Cancer, PTSD, Schizophrenia, domestic violence, and the pain of death; these are some of my unforgettables. Death has a distinct odor... A fowl one that is easily recognizable once experienced but not easily forgettable. Sometimes it is so overwhelming and causes me to want to just stop the care that needed ...