Amazed

What I awoke to this morning....... I am continually amazed at things  God gives us to enjoy

You dance over me while I am unaware
You sing all around but I never hear the sound

Lord I'm amazed by You
Lord I'm amazed by You
Lord I'm amazed by You
And how You love me

You paint the morning sky with miracles in mind
My hope will always stand
For You hold me in Your hand

How deep how wide
How great is Your love for me

Trust

I have unanswered prayers
I have trouble I wish wasn’t there
And I have asked a thousand ways
That you would take my pain away
You would take my pain away

I am trying to understand
How to walk this weary land
Make straight the paths that crooked lie
Oh Lord, before these feet of mine
Oh Lord, before these feet of mine

When my world is shaking, heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave your hands

When you walked upon the earth
You healed the broken, lost and hurt
I know you hate to see me cry
One day you will set all things right
Yeah, one day you will set all things right

When my world is shaking, heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave your hands

Your hands that shaped the world
Are holding me They hold me still

 

--Your Hands, JJ Heller 

My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. 
-- Exodus 33:14

Ever feel like the lyrics in that song?  I do... especially being a Type A personality I like everything to be planned out.  I like lists.  A lot.  I make grocery lists, to do lists, packing lists.  If it can be made into a list I have done it.

Cast all your anxieties upon Him, because he cares for you

--1 Peter 5:7

 When life and everything that goes with it is hanging in the air, it is hard for me to do anything but worry.  Worry about how to fix, how to solve, and try to plan out every detail in each possible situation.  Trying on my own to make sure that everything will be okay, everything will work out.  I do this only to find out that I have made the situation worse, wasted too much time, or made myself feel horrible by being overly anxious about the whole situation... one that I most likely have no control over what so ever.

So do not fear, for I am with you;
   do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
   I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.  

Isaiah 41:10

God tells us to do things differently.  It is never easy, but is anything He asks of us?  I find that this is always an area I struggle with... being quiet, trusting, and relying on God.  I spend too much time trying to rely on myself, plan, and fix.

See, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too hard for me?

--Jeremiah 32:27

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride... The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.  

-- Psalm 46:1-3,7


And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 
--Romans 8:28

Monkey Bread... yummmm

New feat today.... Monkey Bread!  Family fellowship is on Tuesday and I had to think of something I could make in advance and freeze (we don't have an oven/stove in our apartment yet).  My husband works at Teen Challenge of the Midlands.  It is similar to a treatment facility but more of a year long mentoring program for men (teens and women are at other facilities) who have any addiction be it drugs, alcohol, gambling, work... anything that takes God's place as number on in your life.

Anyway... Tuesday, family fellowship... the staff each host a group of students in their homes and serve some snacks, get to know each other more, hang out and fellowship.  So, my mother "supervised" me in making homemade monkey break from her cinnamon roll recipe for the first time.

 The only problem... we might have put a few too many rolls in the bunt pan

I think they turned out all right, just a few edges that had spilled over.  We even had left overs and made some cinnamon bread to share with the rest of the family.

I even learned how to make butter cream frosting which I will make Tuesday to drizzle over the Monkey Bread.

Glorious

You make everything glorious
You make everything glorious
You make everything glorious
And I am Yours
What does that make me?"

-- David Crowder, Everything Glorious 

My husband and I were listening to this song on the way home from my parents Christmas eve and I had a new revelation.  God is perfect, he makes no mistakes, and everything his makes is beautiful.  Satan wants us to believe that we are worthless, evil, and never good enough.  

Do you ever feel like this?  I do.  Satan is pretty good at sneaking thoughts and lies into our minds without us even realizing it.  He wants us to believe that we can't do anything right and will always fail.  But it isn't true.  No matter what it is we have or haven't done God loves us.  He made us, he created us, and loves us despite who we've been.

For you created my inmost being;
   you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
   your works are wonderful,
   I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
   when I was made in the secret place,
   when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
   all the days ordained for me were written in your book
   before one of them came to be. 

 --Psalm 139: 13-16 

We can't believe the lies that Satan whispers to us.

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.."

 --John 10:10 

My father informed me of a new favorite artist.  JJ Heller.  If you haven't heard of her before you need to look her up.  My husband and I are doing worship for my parents church on January 2nd.  We are practicing one of her songs to sing.... It is hard not to cry every time I hear it, much less sing it!  It just reiterates and shows me HOW MUCH God really loves me... no matter what. 

He cries in the corner where nobody sees
He's the kid with the story no one would believe
He prays every night, "Dear God won't you please...
Could you send someone here who will love me?"

Who will love me for me
Not for what I have done or what I will become
Who will love me for me
'Cause nobody has shown me what love
What love really means

Her office is shrinking a little each day
She's the woman whose husband has run away
She'll go to the gym after working today
Maybe if she was thinner
Then he would've stayed
And she says...

Who will love me for me?
Not for what I have done or what I will become
Who will love me for me?
'Cause nobody has shown me what love, what love really means

He's waiting to die as he sits all alone
He's a man in a cell who regrets what he's done
He utters a cry from the depths of his soul
"Oh Lord, forgive me, I want to go home"

Then he heard a voice somewhere deep inside
And it said
"I know you've murdered and I know you've lied
I have watched you suffer all of your life
And now that you'll listen, I'll tell you that I..."

I will love you for you
Not for what you have done or what you will become
I will love you for you
I will give you the love
The love that you never knew

 

-- JJ Heller, "What Love Really Means"