Love Songs.

"The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save.

He will take great delight in you,

he will quiet you with his love,

he will rejoice over you with singing."
Zephaniah 3:17

Yesterday afternoon I was driving home from a retreat at Shasta Lake and my friend Julia said something that made me think. We were all singing random songs and she said "it's funny how many songs are about love. People are fascinated by it." It's something I had kind of been thinking about recently, and even started blogging about, but got side tracked and never did.

God designed us in such a way that we are drawn to the idea of romance. Practically every song on the radio sings it's praises. Our God is so creative, I wonder how he ever thought of the idea? 1 John 4:8 says that "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." I guess God didn't have to invent love because it was in his very nature. God is the original romantic! The Bible also tells us that we are created in the image of God so it makes sense that we are fascinated by love.

Ebo Elder, the speaker this weekend, talked about a "God shaped hole" that all human beings have and the mistake we all make trying to fill it with things that aren't God. I think love is something that easily and frequently becomes an idol to people, it definitely does for me. It was wonderful this weekend having God remind me, yet again, that his design for love is perfect.

I love how Zephaniah 3:17 says that God quiets us with his love. So true. It's really humbling to have God remind you that you don't know best. Yet he still loves. It absolutely amazes me that God, being the perfect picture of true love, would be so delighted in me! There is a worship song that I really love by Sarah Edwards that says that God is "ravished by my heart". God is ravished by me? That seems so unreal. He has written us the most beautiful love story and he sings over us the sweetest songs.

I could search the earth high and low for the sweetest love song and none could beat this:

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."

1 John 4:10

God delights in me. He rejoices over me! He pursues us with the most passionate, jealous love. It is an incomparable perfect love! This weekend God humbled me once again and taught me to surrender to his perfect love and wisdom. I'd say that's a pretty wonderful weekend!

Here are some beautiful love songs for you all to enjoy! The first two are by one of my favorite love song singers, Jason Reeves. He sings adorable songs haha. The rest are worship songs that I absolutely love! A few love songs to our wonderful savior!

Be Still.

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Selah.

Psalm 46:10-11

This weekend my small group was able to get a way and spend some time with the Lord and with each other at the coast. This was our second beach trip as a small group and, just like the first trip, it was totally blessed and so much fun!

The first night was awesome! We all had dinner together, had some time of worship, sat in the hot tub in the rain, and then ran down to the ocean! Eva brought all her instruments with so we were jamming all weekend with the shaker, drum, tambourine, and guitar. I'm sure it looked hilarious, but it was so good!

On Saturday morning we set aside a couple of hours to be alone with the Lord. We called it "be still time". It was probably my favorite time of the weekend! We were purposeful about not talking to each other or even being near each other during this time because we wanted to hear from God and spend some quality time with him. I spent my time praying, reading, and then sitting on the beach and admiring God's awesome creation!

It was so refreshing! God used that time to remind me of the many facets of his personality. One passage that stood out to me in my reading time was 1 Kings 19:11-12. God told Elijah to go stand on a mountain and wait for the presence of the Lord to pass by. It says:

"Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper."

He showed me that he is both awesome, mighty, and powerful and gentle, loving, and kind. He commands the winds and the waves and provides food for the birds of the air! He is amazing. God could have chosen to show himself to Elijah in a super showy way. He could have called down thunder and lightening and really made it a big deal. He didn't need to though. He knew just how Elijah needed to be spoken to. He is so understanding, and the way he chooses to speak to us shows so much about who God is. He is first and foremost loving!

God used all of this to grow me in the area of trust. Trust is one of those areas that we are constantly needing to grow in. I need God to show me how to trust him daily. I learn how to trust him by being reminded of who he is. His understanding combined with his awesome love for me show me that I can trust him.

Later on Saturday we brought the instruments down to the beach and sat on the rocks and worshiped. At first it was a little awkward and funny. In fact while we were still trying to get the songs started, sounding super off key and off beat, an old lady walked by us and Julia and I just started cracking up! I don't think God was disrespected by it though... I bet he was laughing too. In the end the worship time was totally awesome! There is something powerful about worshiping the creator in front of his creation! I took the photo above during the worship time... isn't it beautiful? It reminds me of heaven.

We also shared with each other what God has done in us through our small group over the two years we've been meeting. We called them "glory lists" (Tera and Julia are so creative) because they are the things we are giving God all the glory for! It was awesome and I'm so encouraged!

This weekend was wonderful! I'm blessed, refreshed, and encouraged!

Restless Soul.

The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.

Revelation 22:17

Today definitely feels like a Monday. On days like today I'm reminded that I was created for something bigger than this life. It's not a bad feeling to have though because it is truth! In Philippians Paul calls us citizens of heaven.

Recently God has been growing in me a longing for heavenly things. I feel restless. The restlessness of desires this world can't fill, and a longing to see my savior, the satisfaction of it all.

Brooke Fraser's "C.S. Lewis Song" starts by saying "If I find in myself desires nothing in this world can satisfy, I can only conclude that I was not made for here". That totally resonates with me. God has been showing me that I could have the greatest riches this world has to offer, but none of it would fill that special place in my soul that was meant to rest in Him.

I also know that we won't know full rest or peace until He returns. Romans says that "the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time" and it also says that "we ourselves groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons". I think this place of longing for God is totally blessed though. David expressed it beautifully saying, "Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me." How beautiful will it be when all of creation's longings are fulfilled! When we experience the satisfaction of our deepest desires!

The most wonderful part about all of this is that I have so much hope. Feeling restless doesn't have to mean feeling despair or lost. Because of Jesus this feeling is more like excitement! Excitement for things to come, and a longing for a clearer view of my creator, God.

He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Revelation 22:20

I've been really enjoying posting songs that I like lately, so here is one that I have been loving! I recently added Bethany Dillon's newest album Stop and Listen to my music library and have been listening to it over and over for the past couple of days! This might be my favorite on the album it's called "Get up and walk".

Captivated.

The word captivate is defined as: to attract and hold the attention or interest of, as by beauty or excellence; enchant. I love that!

I've been feeling a lot of joy lately! It could be the sun coming out of the clouds again, but I think it's more than that. I've been enjoying God lately. I feel like that definition is just the perfect representation of where I am with God right now. Captivated. It's so beautiful!

Why then, is it so easy to let distraction; that sneaky enemy of mine, creep right into my thoughts? Sometimes the smallest moments of distraction can leave me feeling frustrated and defeated. I end up feeling as though I've forgotten to fear God. After all, how could anything captivate my heart in place of Him?

The Bible tells us to "take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:5). Easier said than done right? Well, a comforting thought is that we have a sympathetic savior who looks at our hearts and knows exactly what we need, even when we don't! I don't ever want to feel like God has to compete for my attention, but I also know that we can't muster up any devotion, it has to come from God. So what do I do when I'm faced with these annoying moments? I pray! And I'm so glad that when I don't have words to pray, God gives them to me! What a faithful God I serve.

Now, I can't say that I've got this "taking every thought captive" thing in the bag, but I can say that God is teaching me how to bring any distractions, worries, or cares to Him. He sees my heart. He knows what I need. He even gives me words to pray. And, finally, he gives me peace. (And joy!) :)


I don't know if you followers like hymns, but I discovered this beautiful one yesterday via my Pandora mix at work! Enjoy! :)
All The Way My Saviour Leads Me by: Chris Tomlin

Beyond Comprehension.

"Then Manoah inquired of the angel of the Lord, 'What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes true?' He replied, 'Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding.' "

Judges 13: 17-18

I read this passage a while ago, like maybe last week, and when I read it I just had to stop. It was one of those moments when you need to take a second to let it soak in and really think about it. Anyway, yesterday Eva and I were driving home from Eugene and in the car we were listening to some Matt Chandler sermons and it just brought me back to that verse. In the message Matt was talking about the characteristics of who God is. He said that we will often be breathless at the view of the Grand Canyon, but we don't revere the one who created it. He went on to talk about God's glory and beauty. He called God "stunning" and that everything we see here on earth that takes our breath away or brings us to our knees in awe is just one glimpse of one aspect of the original beauty that is God.
Wow. We serve an amazing God.
He also talked about how our language can't extend as far as to describe who God is or how awesome he is.
I love that in this verse we can also translate "beyond understanding" as "It is too wonderful". God is just so beyond anything that we can wrap our minds around. It amazes me.
Just some thoughts I had to share! Heres the link to the sermons if anyone wants to listen! I can't remember the title though!

Also to end here's a song I'm loving lately! (Also thanks to Eva! She is just so influential in my life haha)
"Shadowfeet" By Brooke Fraser

The Best.

I am so happy to have an amazing, fun friend like this.
My roomie Karissa Holmes and I have been BEST friends since the 7th grade.
I absolutely love her!
We met in Mr. Nakashima's science class and have some pretty hilarious memories together.

Apparently we haven't changed much over the years...

Senior Year

My Finals Week Wisdom.

I've been having trouble thinking of things to blog about lately, but I don't want to disappoint my faithful two followers so I think I'll give it a shot now.

The last couple of weeks I've been having a kind of 'mid-college crisis' which is not good, mostly because I am pretty far past that halfway point and it's time to get serious and just get done. I think I have been feeling a little overwhelmed by papers and normal stresses of college life and that has resulted in me feeling kind of uncertain about what I'm majoring in and what my future might look like. I think I have a bad attitude about it all too, I feel like what I'm studying isn't necessarily what I'm passionate about. Then again, I think no matter what I study and what I do I won't feel passionate about it because a career isn't my end all. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to work in my industry someday and hopefully I will enjoy what I do, but I don't think the result of that will be my fulfillment.

Well, you are probably thinking that is obvious.... we don't get fulfillment from careers, but only from the Lord. Still, I think that God is wanting us to, in everything we do, have diligence. In Colossians 3:23 God tells us that "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not men."

I think I have trouble with that idea. But also, I think that God honors the efforts we put into those things. My friend Anna helped me see that; diligence in one area of our lives can result in diligence in other areas. It's one tool that God can use to grow us. My problem is that I want God to give me the desires of my heart, like a husband someday and a family, but I don't want to first be diligent and steadfast with the things he has trusted me with. I don't feel passionate right now about my career path, but I do feel passionate about my future family. It's not that I need a degree to be a blessing to my future family, but the tools that pour out of that, like discipline, really will be a blessing. Sometimes I'm so focused on the things God isn't giving me, that I ignore and neglect the things he's blessed me with. Going to school is such a blessing, one that a ton of people don't get the chance to experience. I need to be thanking the Lord for that blessing and really giving it my all.

The past couple of days I've been wanting God to show me things in myself he wants to change, to discipline me. I think he has shown me this one, so now I just need to be faithful with that and get some studying done! :)