You dance over me while I am unaware.

You sing all around, but I never hear the sound.

Lord I'm amazed by you - how you love me.

I've been in some figurative storms recently. They raged off and on for a few years, and feeling discouraged & defeated, I set about the cleanup efforts.

It's been going on a long time...

Yesterday, we went through a literal windstorm. Then today, I woke up to a brilliant morning. I looked outside... God had painted a picture of my life in the sky, and I was as surprised to see it outside my window as I was to see it in my life.

What a pretty day, after all that storm...

Courage

cour·age /ˈkɜr ɪdʒ, ˈkʌr-/ [kur-ij, kuhr-]

–noun

1. the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery.

Who, in their right mind, would face difficulty and pain without fear? By Webster’s standards, courage is equal to insanity.

I was once told by someone I highly respect that I am a courageous woman. I remember wondering what on earth he was thinking. Maybe Webster, and I, need to check our definition of the word…

Courage, it would seem, is nothing less than the power to overcome danger, misfortune, fear, injustice, while continuing to affirm inwardly that life with all its sorrows is good; that everything is meaningful even if in a sense beyond our understanding; and that there is always tomorrow.
-Dorothy Thompson

Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.
-Winston Churchill

Sermon Notes

The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.

Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make.

I read this and I think... WHAT? God messed up the pot? Did he get distracted and poke his finger through the side? Has God ever said, "OOPS!" Did the pot mess itself up?

This takes some comfort out of the idea that when I'm in pain, God is shaping me...

"I think I'll make a mixing bowl.... ehh okay so I'm not good at mixing bowls" *squish*

I can only think of two possible answers. 1) God is messing around.. or 2) He’s using cheap clay.

Since all I know screams that God doesn’t goof up, that leaves #2… God uses cheap, shoddy materials in his pot, and the pot suffers a beating as He shapes that mess into something useful.

I know that sounds terrible, but I find it encouraging. I, for one, know that I’m made of some pretty raw materials. If God only worked with platinum and diamonds, I’d be out of the running. Instead he works with people like me. I’ll take it, even if it hurts, because the pain means I qualify.

Thoughts on thinking...

Nurture great thoughts, for you will never go higher than your thoughts.
- Benjamin Disralei

I recently had a day where my poor brain couldn't process information, and the attempts I was making were physically painful. As I wandered through the office supply store, I said in frustration, "I JUST CAN'T THINK". I then looked down and saw a book on how to think, and found the circumstances irresistable. I bought it.

I found Mr. Disraeli on top of the first page of the first chapter, and my mind wandered off on what he had to say and I have gone no further in the book.

It is true that thoughts, while intangible, do send something out into the world that create a tangible result. This is not where I got lost. I began to wonder why it is that it is so difficult at times to rise above other people's thoughts about us.The first and obvious answer, is that somehow those thoughts somehow have become our own and that is how they affect us.

What troubles me more, is this: how do you keep other people's thoughts out of your head?

Into The Pit



















It's amazing how life never goes how you imagine it will. Wherever I'm at, I fall into the misconception that my circumstances are permanent.

It's a strange thing when you find yourself in a pit. Mostly, I wondered, "how the hell did I get myself into this mess?" I've spent days dreaming of climbing out, and wondered the whole time if I'd ever have the courage to try it.

I empathize quite a bit with Joseph - I've been in that pit, and my way out has taken me through some unexpected places... I'll confess it frightens me a bit to think of where I'll end up next, but whether its servanthood or prison, in the end, Joseph was on top of the world...