Mighty Is.

Dear Friend,
I wanted to thank you for being so open and honest in sharing your testimony with me this past weekend. Although I haven't known you for that long, Christ shines through you in ways that are so evident. You truly walk with Him daily, His love shines through you, and you have a genuine desire to serve Him wholeheartedly. As you shared with me some of your deepest hurts and struggles and how God brought you to the place you are now, I was once again amazed at the power of my God. Thank you for being so vulnerable in sharing your past with me, to allow me to marvel at His great mercy and goodness once again. We are not worthy of such a calling, but I am thankful that He has called both of us on this journey.

Thank you for encouraging me to stand amazed...



What can take a dying man and raise him up to life again?
What can heal a wounded soul?
What can make us white as snow?
What can fill the emptiness?
What can mend our brokenness?
Brokenness

Mighty, awesome, wonderful
Is the holy cross
Where the Lamb laid down His life
To lift us from the fall
Mighty is the power of the cross

What restores our faith in God?
What reveals the Father's love?
What can lead the wayward home?
What can melt a heart of stone?
What can free the guilty ones
What can save and overcome?
Overcome


It's a miracle to me
And It's still a mystery
It's a miracle to me
The power of God
For those who believe

Dates with Daddy.

I can't remember many times that it was just my dad and I hanging out when I was little. Growing up in a family with five kids, being alone by yourself was rare and getting a parent all to yourself? Even more rare. However, I remember one night specifically. I was probably around 7 or 8, and I had this hot (and I mean hot) pink winter coat. I don't remember why, but it was decided that my dad and I were going on a date- just the two of us. I can't remember where we went to dinner (I'm thinking Bob Evans for some reason), but the part I remember most is going shopping after dinner at the Woodville Mall. (For those of you who live anywhere near Toledo, it is a known fact that the only thing left in Woodville Mall these days is a Sears and an Andersons.) Anyways, we went shopping, and he bought me purple gloves and purple earmuffs that matched my coat. I don't know why this memory is so vivid in my head, but I will never forget my date with my daddy.

Within the past week, the weather has taken a turn for the better and I have been going for a walk almost every day after work. I like to call them my walks with God. I spend my time walking just talking to Him, sharing what has been on my heart and mind recently, praying for my friends, my family, students, co-workers, even people I barely know. I haven't been keeping up with my Beth Moore study as much as I should. I haven't been spending that much time in the Word. I've just been talking with Him. I've been honest, brutally honest. I talk with Him freely about what I'm struggling with- needing to trust Him more, not making my own plans and asking Him to bless them, being a woman after His own heart, wanting to love Him more and asking Him to help me do just that.

Pastor Thomas spoke on Sunday about God wanting our hearts- our whole hearts. He talked about David and how much of a mess he made of his life, but he got one thing right- He was a man after God's own heart, and God honored that more than any religious traditions he kept or didn't keep.

I want to walk in His truth, and I want to be a woman after His own heart.

"Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name." Psalm 86:11

A Love Like That.

Note: I feel like I need to acknowledge my long intermission before I write again, so- sorry it's been so long. Life has me going crazy.

A few weeks ago a co-worker of mine was telling me about a marriage conference she went to the weekend before with her husband. She said the conference was excellent, and even though they've been married for 35 years, they really enjoyed it. At the end of the conference, each couple had the chance to renew their vows in a smaller chapel at the church if they wanted. Her and her husband decided to do it.

With tears in her eyes she said to me, "You know, 35 years ago I was looking into his eyes and we were excited about life and our future together and all that was to come and had such anticipation on that day. When I looked at him on Saturday, all I could do was cry...because we won't have another 35 years together. And I know I'll see him in heaven, but I won't be married to him there. I mean, who knows how many more years we have together."

She was crying in my office at 8:30am on a Tuesday morning because 35 years wasn't long enough...

Yeah, I want a love like that.