Windblown smiles

I love you, Elizabeth!!

Hour by hour

It is our duty and delight to choose obedience hour by hour.

-John Piper

"Not as I will,

But as You will."

Matthew 26:39

One of the best things

...about Florida is all of the delicious, fresh picked oranges. They are the absolute best! My mouth waters just thinking about them.

And I'm sorry about my lack of posting here on my little corner of the web. For all of you that check in -- sorry there hasn't been anything new! The worst of it is, I really don't even have any sensible excuses to offer. [sigh]

Psalms 21:6

"You have made him exceedingly glad with Your prescence."

In His prescence is fullness of joy.
Is that me? Does my life radiate from the exceeding gladness of simply being in His prescence?

There is a whole world of differance between those who look ony for their own happiness in this world and those who know that their true happiness lies in the will of God.

-Elisabeth Elliot

Cheerful surrender

O God whose will conquers all,
There is no comfort in anything apart from enjoying Thee
and being engaged in Thy service...
I am well pleased with Thy will, whatever it is,
or should be in all respects,
And if Thou bidst me decide for myself in any affair
I would choose to refer all to Thee,
for Thou art infinitely wise and cannot do amiss,
as I am in danger of doing.
I rejoice to think that all things are at Thy disposal,
and it delights me to leave them there...
I can of myself do nothing to glorify Thy blessed name,
but I can through grace cheerfully surrender soul and body to Thee.

Front page of Surrender: The Heart God Controls

My constant companion

The kleenex box! [smiles]

I'm so glad that germs can't be spread through blogs. Or else you'd all be having some serious flu bug like we've been struggling with. I'm over the worst now, except for my nose. It must not have gotten the message that I'm better, for it keeps running...and running...and running.

In God's hands

Don't try to hold God's hand;

Let Him do the holding and you do the trusting.

"For I, the Lord your God will hold your right hand..."

Isaiah 41:13

Your Divine Valentine

A Valentine may play a love song for you,
but God sings you the sweetest love song in the universe.

"The Lord your God…will rejoice over you with gladness, He will keep you quiet with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17

A Valentine may give you flowers,
but God sent you the most beautiful rose of all, Jesus.

"I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys." Song of Solomon 2:1

A Valentine may take you out to dinner,
but God has invited you to the most amazing feast ever given.

"Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!"
Revelation 19:9

A Valentine may bring you chocolate,
but God provides you with something even sweeter, His Word.

"How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!"
Psalm 119:103

A Valentine may be far away, but God is always with you.

"I am with you always." Matthew 28:20


A Valentine may give you something,
but God has given you everything.

"God gives us richly all things to enjoy."
1 Timothy 6:17

A Valentine may love you for a lifetime,
but God loved you before you were born and will love you for all eternity!

"Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love…with loving-kindness I have drawn you." Jeremiah 31:3

[author unkown]

Perfect Love

If I truly love my Savior,

no sacrifice will be too great.

no valley too low.

no calling too hard.

no night too dark.

no path too lonely.

no discipline too painful.

no cross too heavy.

no service too lowly.

...if I truly love my God.

Perfect love.

The Father has it for me.

He gave the greatest sacrifice --

walked the lowest valley.

lived the hardest calling.

suffered the darkest night.

trod the loneliest path.

bore the heaviest cross.

was humbled to the lowest service.

...for He truly loved me.

Perfect love.

Trusting...

God often takes a course for accomplishing His purpose directly contrary to what our narrow veiws would prescribe.

-John Newton

"I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.

I will praise Your name forever,

And in the presence of Your saints I will wait on Your name, for it is good."

Psalms 52:8-9

Too sweet not to post:

Our precious little miracle baby!

A testimony....

...of our Almighty God's protecting hand.

For more details of this morning's events, please visit our family blog.

UPDATE:

Never, NEVER, take life for granted.

I just got back from our wrecked bus. We were able to go back to the bus and pull everything out...or everything we could get to! As I sorted through the broken plywood, lifted up the collasped bunks, avoided all the splintered glass and jagged metal edges -- while looking for the things we needed, gathering our clothes, and digging for shoes, I was once again in total shock that even one person had walked out of the bus... let alone fifteen!

God is so merciful. I don't even want to think about the "if's" that are all out there. I could be posting on my blog an urgent plea for prayer for any number of my family members. But we are all here, hugging, laughing, crying, in total awe of what God did.

God is good. All the time.

A choice

If a man or woman honestly wishes to be a follower of Christ, the oppurtunity will present itself. Christ will say, "Here is your chance. Now, in this situation, you must make your choice. Will it be self? Or will you choose Me?"

-Elisabeth Elliot

"I have set the Lord always before me...
Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will rest in hope...
In Your prescence is fullness of joy."
Psalms 16

Eternity is being changed

The past two days our family visited Mexico -- it was so incredible! I wish I were a great author, so I could tell everything in such a way that you might feel like were there, too; seeing the things I saw, feeling the emotions I felt...

I have had the privilege of meeting world-changers. No -- you've never heard their names lauded on TV or read their names in the newspapers, and if you met them on the street, you'd never know the impact they are making.

It may seem small.

But sometimes a hug means the world to a child -- knowing somebody loves them. And if they are pointed to their heavenly Father at the same time, eternity might be changed.


To read the rest of my thoughts, as well as see more pictures of our time in Mexico, click here to read the whole post!

Blessed to be a blessing

"I will pour water on him who is thirsty,
and floods on the dry ground."
Philippians 4:18

The influence we exert in the world is created by our relationship to Jesus Christ, and our relationship to Jesus Christ is revealed by our influence.