Be Still & Blog.... already.

The needs across all cultures: food/water, shelter, clothing (appropriate clothing ie. no flip flops and t-shirts in Siberia- hypothermia anyone?) There they were posted on the board. Teacher becoming student not just of the classroom but of His classroom as I observed and took notes of all that these little ones were learning- I was being schooled too. The concept so basic that across all cultures the needs of people to survive are the same. We may be in a remote village in East Asia or the middle of Memphis, TN but we have the same basic needs. These temporary needs only being met for the moment and pointing us to our greater need.my greater need... to know Him and be filled with Him.   Food - " I am the Bread of Life " John 6:4 Water- He is the living water. "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked and him, and he would have given you living water." (John 4:10)...

The heavens declare the glory of God, the sky above proclaims His handiwork. (Pslams 19:1) Science class. Little ones defining what makes something living or non-living. What do living things need to give them life? The Sun. "it's the source, it's the energy source that gives life" is the anthem through the classroom. If they only realized this truth pointing to a greater, more beautiful one. Eyes peer outside only to find a tree bent and twisted. They wonder how this tree ended up this way... It did whatever it had to do to stretch toward the Sun, to drink deeply from the source that would give life. Even as it's branches and trunk were twisted about- the tree has steadily grown upward. The Sun- it's glorious, so powerfully bright, it's impossible to look straight on without shrinking back (or going blind), and just think if you got too close, you'd melt in a hot minute. "Its rising...

The sky being painted as the first glimpses of sunlight pierce the fading darkness creating a beautiful display of color. The rhythm of feet pounding on the pavement while crunching through piles of leaves.  The birds singing their morning song. The crispness of fall air.  My heart full of wonder at the details of His creation as one  foot steps in front of the other. No time for toes to stay curled beneath favorite blankets. There is a race to run, 26. 2 miles to cover in just a few short weeks, and all of these shorter runs are just practice, small trials for the bigger one. I'm learning how to pace, how to hydrate, to manage time- who has time to go practice 14 miles?? or wants to?? Learning how to push through even when everything in me wants to quit, and when I want to quit I think of the end goal, and press on. Running- if you know me, you know I weirdly love it. But one of the reas...

  "Turn your eyes upon Jesus   Look full in His wonderful face   And the things of earth   Will grow strangely dim    In the light of His glory and grace"   This is the image that comes to mind every time I sing this hymn. Some of my sweetest friendships looking out over Belo Horizonte. The sun was setting over the city but if you were looking straight out into the sunset, everything was completely faded out (the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace). It was as if you couldn't help fixating on the beauty of it. Then if you looked down into the city and took your eyes off the light... you could see the details of the city clearer.. the city lights, the cars, the people, the buildings but we would have completely missed out on that sunset if we had kept looking down. Instead, we sat there in awe of the His beauty and...

  At work one day, I noticed a bumble bee at the window. The bees had been an annoyance on the porch but one had moseyed inside and then realized his predicament and tried to get back out. Unfortunately, there was a window.   As I saw it struggling to get out   the window, I was reminded of the verses in 1 Peter 5: 5 and James 4:6 where it says “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble…”   God opposes the proud…   hello… literally the Creator of the universe opposing His creatures because of their pride.   I think of this in terms of a wall in front of you and if there is a wall in front of you. You probably aren’t going anywhere, anytime soon.   You can try to push through the wall but like the bee who was wearing his self out banging against the window you’ll probably end up pretty weary. I felt sorry for him and got the broom to see if he would crawl up on the end of it long enough for me to help him through the door. He crawled on ...

Ok, so this post has nothing to do with the title except for the fact that I talk about birds... consider yourself warned and lower your expectations:) I’ve suddenly become fond of birds (most of them, anyway). I used to not notice them and thought they were kind of gross since they leave a mess on your car and sometimes on you if you’re not careful(yes, it's happened to me before). But now, I sometimes get a little giddy? inside when I see a bird…it’s kind of like I have an inside joke with the bird that the rest of the world doesn’t know about. This change of heart has only come about in the last year. When I was on training staff at Maranook one of the girls would sing “His Eye is on the Sparrow” which I knew but I guess really hadn’t paid attention to the words. Or at least didn’t see the significance of them in my own life. Now every time I see a bird, I find myself singing “His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me.” N...

It happened.. is happening. The entrance into blogging world. weird but no worries, I won't be taking it by storm or anything.  Why would I name my blog this?  Well partially because that's what was available… but mainly because “Cease striving and know that I am God" (Psalms 46:10a) has been the constant theme of my life for over a year. Because I am a grace-earner who for the most part has no idea and who still struggles with being still before Him. (if there was a grace-earners anonymous I'd be there weekly) Yet, His grace is sufficient and His power is made perfect in my (and your) weaknesses so we can boast all the more gladly of our weaknesses! Thankfully, He didn’t just say “be still and know that I am God” and leave me to figure it out but has been patiently working this out in my life over the past year. I wouldn’t say this season of life has been easy; at one point I remember asking Him if I could really trust Hi...