"My child, hear My voice, and give no heed to the voice of the stranger. My paths are straight, and they are narrow, but you shall have no difficulty in finding them if you watch Me. I am guiding you. You need not look to people for direction. 

You may learn much by fellowship with the saints, but never allow any to take the role that is Mine--to direct your steps. As it is written, 'The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord;--not by the preacher, not by some Christian worker, but by the Lord. 

Trust Me to do it, and give Me the time and the opportunity to do it. Be not hasty, and lean not on your own intelligence. Rest in Me. I shall bring to pass My perfect will in your life as you believe and live in faith." 

I woke up this morning, read this passage in "Come Away my Beloved", and knew it was for me. I need not be swayed by the opinions of others. God's is the only one that matters. The only one that can truly be truth. We all need to hear this at one point or another. Not by our might, but God's. HE is it. The final end all. We can do nothing without him, but with him we can do anything. 

Give God the time to work in your life. To show you his will, and lead you down his paths. I know I need to. I can't go on without that. 

I pray you who read this will be blessed by what God has just blessed me with. 

Sense and Sensibility...

Often times I find myself so relate-able to characters in stories. I find that I am in part Eowyn from Rohan, I am Christine Diae from the Opera House. But recently I have watched the movie "Sense and Sensibility". In it I have understood myself. It has played a nearly final role in this part of my personality. In this movie Elanor is the oldest sister out of three. Her father dies leaving them destitute. Her mother is devastated and cannot go about her duties so Elanor picks up the reins. Shes bears every burden, is entrusted with every secret (even the ones she never thought she would hear). When she finally finds what she believes is true love, it leaves suddenly. Edward comes back into her life but not physically. An un-welcomed friend confides in Elanor her deepest of secrets. She has been engaged to Edward for five years. Elanor has to endure this, she has given her word not to tell a soul. This reserved sister has to now keep a secret in that breaks her heart every moment of her waking life. Until, by chance, This friend Lucy falls for Edwards brother; Robert. In the end, Edward finally spills all to Elanor. He loves her and is giving his full heart towards her. All she could do between sobs was smile. Hysterical from keeping all of that emotion in for the past months. 
Sometimes I feel like Elanor Dashwood. So proud, yet so willing to let others be in the lead. Our pride comes from within and from our souls. We cannot let people in. There are walls which a sledgehammer could not break if it wanted to. We are so afraid that our vulnerability will make us out the fool that we never show too much emotion. Here, I will give you an example. 
Say I really like this guy who I know, but the only emotions I show are friendship and distance. My heart wont allow me to show what I really feel. I am not saying I should tell him flat out "Hey you! I like you a lot and we should get married and make babies!". No that would not accomplish anything. But if you show no interest, he will show no interest. 
Back to the story. Elanor has the duty pressed upon her to tell Edward that there is a way for him and Lucy Steel to be married right away. She convinces herself that he is doing his duty and she should not interfere. Had she said "I love you Edward, don't marry her!" things might have turned out differently. But she didn't and Edward convinced himself that she felt only friendship towards him. 
A wiser woman than me gave me some advice about men. When you don't show them that you are at least interested, they wont go for it. They wont want to pursue you. Why knock on a locked safe with bars and a guard dog. 
It is our vulnerability that makes us who we are. God made us all unique. In our own ways we can share and love. He gave us that ability. But being human and flawed, we don't always see how beautiful we are. Beautiful disasters, but beautiful. Creations of God. Yes we are wretched sinners but that is not all. Christ died so we could live. Relationships and Marriage are apart of Gods plan for our lives. Hollywood has nothing to do with it. Even though I just gave you a run down on a Hollywood movie. 
Sometimes I want so badly just to be loved by someone. Not like in the movies where they ride off into the sunset together, but truly loved. Committed. God calls us not to marry based on love but to love the man or woman you marry. Because that love commitment is what God intended in marriage. Not some passion flame that looks like love. Passion and romance grow in your relationships. 
I know I am rambling with this. Its kindof just a stream of thought really. But I wanted to get it down before I forget and maybe, just maybe, another like me can understand themselves a little better. 


Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
   If this be error and upon me proved,
   I never writ, nor no man ever loved. 
Shakespeare's Sonnet 116 

What have you to be proud of?

Sometimes I wish that I could go back to the days when all I cared about was the color my nails would be, or how long I would get to play outside before dinner. As children we didn’t have a care in the world. Our biggest worries existed in a bubble about as big as we were. We could only stretch so far because of our limited understanding. But as we as humans get older, wiser and more mature; our awareness gets a little bigger. We start to see things with new eyes and a new perspective. And along with that new perspective comes new learning, and with it responsibility. Growing up in a Christian home, one was never without some responsibility. My parents, God bless them, always tried to work in some way to get us up and moving. But we wouldn’t have it. Any responsibility and we would complain until their ears were numb from it. But that’s another story for another time. Speaking of my parents, I miss home so much. I miss the closeness of people who love me and who know me. I miss the warmth and familiarity. Everything was so certain in the old days of my childhood. Nothing changed, summer turned to fall turned to winter, turned to spring again. Christmas is right around the corner and I cant wait to fly home and see my wonderful crazy, movie quoting family. There are 24 days until Christmas everyone...Be sure to know that your family is always there for you and God will never leave you nor forsake you. 

"Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. For his anger is but for a moment, and His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning." Psalm 30:4-5

I Will Wait for You

This video is so powerful. I believe that every woman who has ever been pressured to be married, especially those inside the bubble we call bible college, should watch it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igCj3jsbcqs&feature=relmfu

What time do you think we have...

"When I am afraid I will trust in you." Psalm 56:3
That is a sign that a little child made and is now hanging opposite me as I sit in this classroom. What comes into our minds when we think about God? A.W. Tozer states that that thought is the most important thing about us. How we perceive God, is how we perceive ourselves and the world around us. Over the past few days I have come to the realization that God is so great. By great I don't mean the high school phrase used to describe your day. I mean GREAT, awesome, magnificent. He is so big to me! There is nothing my God cannot do.
Coming back from a retreat in Hana there are a few things that I have learned. I am nothing with out Christ, but I am something within Christ. I have nothing if not faith. I do not own tomorrow, God has given me right now. I hope that if you are reading this you are encouraged. Though my smile may not be as bright, nor my voice as loud, I will rejoice in the Lord. He has been with me in every situation, circumstance and happy moment in my life. All of these things could be diced and individually made into a blog but I chose to squish all of my thoughts onto one. So I apologize if it seems a bit jumbled. My time in Hana this past weekend was amazing and here are some pictures to help you get the idea of why.

 

A Haleakela Sunrise...

"I see your face in every sunrise, the colors of the morning are inside your eyes." - Phil Wickham  

April 2011

Happy Easter

I find myself in a bit of a dilema... Not only do I not have a clever status update but I don't have anything really to say. Today was an excellent day, we celebrated our freedom in Christ. Leslie and I found ourselves in a bout of nastalgia today. You see church has been at the core of our childhood and adolecence. Christmas Eve was the biggest church service Easter Sunday took a close second. So you see our expectations were high. But just as with everything that happens when you come to a new place, it's never the same. We live in Hawaii, on an island called Maui. Ofcourse things will be different. And why shouldn't they be? Needless to say the church was filled to the gills so to speak and everyone was happy to be there. People who loved us were surrounding us at every corner and it felt like home. To say that it was a dissapointment is untrue. It was just different. I am learning that different is an experience one is constantly apart of. I say all of that to say this, Just because it felt different doesn't mean that God didn't move today. Jesus Christ moved in so many lives and hearts I am sure of it. This weekend was the capstone to a great week and the transition point of the semester. 

I hope this makes sense and I am not just rambling on. I probably am. But if you are reading this, just know that I love you! God loves you and thats how it should be. (Inside family thang) 

Sometimes I wish I was more clever, eloquent or just bold. Why oh why do I settle for less than what God has presented me with? I am scared. like a little kitten fuzz ball who has lost his way. So ready for someone to scoop me up in thier arms but not ready to take the food and the nutrients that they offer. 

HOW IN THE WORLD DID I JUST PULL AN EXAMPLE FROM THAT!

Now I know that I'm tired...

Anyways! Goodnight Dear Friends and Family!

Happy Easter!!!

Blessings out of Buffetings

Our power went out at approximately 4:00 pm on Friday April 1st.  This was my dinner...because of lack of power...I ate junk. My initial thought was "April Fools." But alas it was not, the power did not come back on until the next Monday April 4th. Despite this dire situation, God turned it into a blessing. 1) I got to use candles. 2) We got to visit with other condos. 3) I learned how best to serve each of the girls. God used others to show me where I was faulting. I praise God for this weekend because he broke me and showed me how to be better. In many other ways as well but in this aspect he was focused. Jesus gave me new life again this weekend! Praise God for power outages.

Everything...

Find Me Here
Speak To Me
I want to feel you
I need to hear you
You are the light
That's leading me
To the place where I find peace again.

You are the strength, that keeps me walking.
You are the hope, that keeps me trusting.
You are the light to my soul.
You are my purpose...you're everything.

How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?

You calm the storms, and you give me rest.
You hold me in your hands, you won't let me fall.
You steal my heart, and you take my breath away.
Would you take me in? Take me deeper now?

How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?
And how can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?

Cause you're all I want, You're all I need
You're everything,everything...

This song has affected over 16 million lives. A skit was performed to the music by Lifehouse and a new way of seeing Jesus Christ's love came to light. 

Last semester God gave me the desire to do this skit. Although it wasn't applicable last year God has brought it to life this semester. Practices have already begun. The cast is God given and ordained. I chose to direct the skit and not be in it. I want God to work through me, and the cast in such a real way. The performance will be on Good Friday at Calvary Chapel South Maui. 

Pray that God brings people to him through this skit. Pray that he prepares their hearts for what is to come!

I hope all of you who read this can make it out to the service on Good Friday...May Jesus Bless your day today!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyheJ480LYA This is the Everything Skit!