Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all!

my usual year end wrap up (:..

just a few things that the Lord has brought to my attention/taught me this year (through many things including you people who are tagged)..i'd call them the themes of my year..

where it began..with the homemade confetti falling..

TWO THOUSAND NINE


T-the Shepherd Himself “then she looked at the Shepherd and suddenly knew she could not doubt Him could not possibly turn back from following Him; that if she were unfit and unable to love anyone else in the world, yet in her trembling, miserable little heart, she did love Him. even if He asked the impossible, she could not refuse.” It was no longer the things that the Shepherd could give her, what came along with the Shepherded, but the Shepherd Himself that her heart wanted, longed for.

W- wait.. “wait and, in waiting, listen for His leading; be strong, thy strength for every day is stored. go forth in faith, and let thine heart take courage; there is no disappointment with the Lord..”

“the times we find ourselves having to wait on others may be the perfect opportunity to train ourselves to wait on the Lord."

"let all that i am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in Him." -psalm 62:5

“but if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” –romans 8:25
it’s the times in between..

all of my life in EVERY season, YOU ARE STILL GOD, i have a reason to sing, i have reason to worship..

O overcoming evil with good.. “every circumstance in life, no matter how crooked and distorted and ugly it appears to be, if it is reacted to in love and forgiveness and obedience to Your will can be transformed..You purposely allow us to be brought into contact with the bad and evil things that YOU WANT CHANGED. perhaps it is the very reason why we are here in this world, where sin and sorrow and suffering and evil abound, so that we may let You teach us so to react to them, that out of them we can create lovely qualities to live for ever. that is the only really satisfactory way of dealing with evil, not binding it so that it cannot work harm, but whenever possible, overcoming it with good.”

"do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good." -romans 12:21

T – sTrength..“The LORD is my strength and my song; He has given me victory.” –Exodus 15:2

“Meet today’s problems with today’s strength. Don’t start tackling tomorrow’s problems until tomorrow. You do not have tomorrow’s strength yet. You simply have enough for today.”

“I love you, O LORD, my strength.” –Psalm 18:2

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.”-Ephesians 6:10

H-heart to beat with His“"He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart." -Isaiah 40:11 and when the dividing line between His will and your heart begins to blur, consider that the two might be falling in line with one another..God has shaped your heart, shaped it to beat with His. "God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything." -1 John 3:2H

O-"our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. it is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. we ask ourselves, who am i to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? actually, who are you not to be? you are a child of God. your playing small does not serve the world. there is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. we are all meant to shine, as children do. we were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. it is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. as we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

U- jealoUs love.. He is jealous for me..oh how He loves us..

“Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” –Exodus 34:14. We constantly give ourselves to other lovers YET He still loves us persistently, steadfastly. And that love causes Him to wage war with anything that stands in the way of our relationship with Him, to weed it out of our hearts and lives. HE WILL TAKE ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING THAT HE WANTS OUT OF OUR LIVES.

"Love is a consuming fire. it is a burning, unquenchable passion for the blessedness and happiness, and, above all, for the perfection of the beloved object. the greater the love, the less it can tolerate the presence of anything that can hurt the beloved, and the less it can tolerate in the beloved anything that is unworthy or less than the best, or injurious to the happiness of the loved one. therefore it is perfectly true that love, which is the most beautiful and the most gentle passion in the universe, can and must be at the same time the most terrible--terrible in what it is willing to endure ITSELF in order to secure the blessing and happiness and perfection of the beloved, and, also, apparently terrible in what it will allow the beloved to endure if suffering is the only means by which the perfection or restoration to health of the beloved can be secured."

It may be painful, it may even be torture, but His “Love is beautiful, but it is also terrible—terrible in its determination to allow nothing blemished or unworthy to remain in the beloved.” “He will never be content until He makes me what He is determined I ought to be.” and what else would we want to be?

"the Lord God maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon mine High Places" (Psalm 18:33 and Habakkuk 3:19)

S-satisfaction..”God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him.”
The only thing that can truly satisfy the longing in our hearts in the Creator of our hearts.

And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

N-no such thing as perfect people.."Never let em see you when you're breaking. Never let em see you when you fall. That's how we live and that's how we try. Tell the world you,ve got it all together, never let them see what's underneath cover it up with a crooked smile. but it only lasts for a little while. There's no such thing as perfect people. There's no such thing as a perfect life so come as you are, broken and scared lift up your heart and be amazed and be changed by a perfect God. Suddenly it's like a weight is lifted when you hear the words that you are loved. He knows where you are and where you've been and you never have to go there again. Who lived and died to give new life to heal our imperfections so look up and see out let grace be enough. Be changed by a perfect God."

take off your mask. your identity is found in Christ and Christ alone. people need to know that you struggle because they are struggling too. let the Body of Christ work. help it by being real, by being YOU. if we're all alone, i guess we're all together in that, too..


D-dependency.."do you not realize that this world and this earthly life are arranged that sooner or later every single human soul must realize he is nothing but is absolutely dependent upon Me?" "yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live." -1 Corinthians 8:6 we don't invite God into our world, He graciously ALLOWS us to be apart of His. He needs nothing from us, yet still wants us. i am nothing and any good in me is from Him..


N-never wrong to choose to love someone.."We are only asked to love, to offer hope to the many hopeless. We don't get to choose all the endings, but we are asked to play the rescuers. We won't solve all mysteries and our hearts will certainly break in such a vulnerable life, but it is the best way. We were made to be lovers bold in broken places, pouring ourselves out again and again until we're called Home."

"No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us." 1 John 4:12

"and so we KNOW and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him." 1 John 4:16

“and sooner or later, love changes everything. for Love comes into the heart, not by trying to force it, but by accepting people as they are, and bearing all that they do against you, which is forgiveness”

too often we underestimate the power of a tough, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around..

it is Christ’s patient, persistent love, sometimes shown through His children, that changes hearts.


I-it’s not about me, it’s not about us.
“if it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." -James 4:15
"i have been crucified with Christ and no longer live but Christ lives in me.." -Galatians 2:20

N-not okay? then it’s not the end.. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." -Jesus in John 14:28

"I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." -Jesus in John 16:33

"He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; He will remove the disgrace of His people from all the earth. The LORD has spoken." -Isaiah 25:8

in the end HE WINS..and so do we!

it's ALL gonna be okay!

E-empty-God will never leave you empty. if something is taken away, He will replace it with something better. if He denies your request in a certain area, it is because He wishes to give you what is best. if He asks you to put something down, it is so you can pick up something greater. when God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better.

"He has made that which seemed the greatest torment and weakness and despair of my life, the thing I most dreaded and suffered from, into the best thing of all. what lovely plans and purposes He has, that our greatest torments and failures should become the strongest and best things in our lives. 'out of weakness He makes us strong to wax valiant in fight and overcome."

learn the lesson fast or slow, this is Heaven's law, we must let the old things go, to make room for more. we shall reap in some glad way, fairer joys than lost today.

“The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised." –Job 1:21

so I stand here lifting empty hands, for You to fill me up again..

i know i’m filled to be emptied again..

empty yourselves to others..knowing that all you give has already been given to you.think it's too little? remember, little is much when God's in it..




save your resolutions for your never new year, there is only one solution i can see here and that's Love.


i think in terms of the day's resolutions, not the year's.
daily resolution: ask yourself what are you doing today to love God and love His people..frankly, nothing else matters.


2010..bring it!


dunno what the future holds, but know who holds my future..
"my times are in Your hands.." -psalm 31:15

"let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful." -Hebrews 10:23

"may the God of hope fill you with all JOY and PEACE as you TRUST in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." -romans 15:13

happy dawn of a new day to all of you! thanks for letting me do life with you.

every sunset brings peace..as another decade fades into the dusk..

every sun rise brings hope..into Marvelous Light we're runnin..will His light shine bright through you today?



LOVE SO AMAZING, SO DIVINE, DEMANDS MY SOUL, MY LIFE, MY ALL..
and so this year..some people say they want to live more in life..well, i want to die.
(and before you take that as a suicide scare..put it in context (:)

Grace tells another story, a baby changes everything..

"for years he stumbled and wandered, getting bloodied and bruised around every bend. he had lost his way, and his vision was nearly gone, but Grace was relentless, always inviting him to come Home. that's why Grace came down at Christmas, to love and pursue us through dark days and desperate nights. try as we might, we can't outrun it." -donna vanliere The Christmas Promise



"The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth..From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another..grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." (John 1:14,16&17b)

"Christ grew in Mary until he had to come out. Christ will grow in you until the same occurs. He will come out in your speech, in your actions, in your decisions. Every place you live will be a Christmas. You, like Mary, will deliver Christ into the world."

"I want my life to be a Bethlehem. I want to be a portal through which Christ may come into my world. I want my heart to be a womb in which Jesus is not only birthed, but also a throne from which He rules and reigns." -Joanna Weave

a baby changes everything..

"but mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart" (Luke 2:19). may we do the same..

can't hide anymore..

descend into God's love

“I have no one in heaven but you; I want nothing on earth besides you.” Psalm 73:25

My friend Keith took his wife, Sarah, to Cozumel, Mexico to celebrate their anniversary. Sarah loves to snorkel. Give her fins, a mask, and a breathing tube, and watch her go deep. Down she swims, searching for the mysteries below.

Keith’s idea of snorkeling includes fins, a mask, and a breathing tube, but it also includes a bellyboard. The surface satisfies him.

Sarah, however, convinced him to take the plunge. Forty feet offshore, she shouted for him to paddle out. He did. The two plunged into the water where she showed him the twenty-foot-tall submerged cross. “If I’d had another breath,” he confessed, “the sight would have taken it away.”

Jesus waves for you to descend and see the same. Forget surface glances. No more sunburned back. Go deep. Take a breath and descend so deeply into His love that you see nothing else.

-Max Lucado

and when you are so submerged in His love, you will realize that you have all the love you ever need. you will no longer find yourself searching for something you already have. we already have all the love, all the approval we need. if you continue to search for love in other places, on the surface, you will end up unsatisfied, unfulfilled, and most likely broken and hurt. so instead of searching, just dive on in. His love is a never flood. it never takes, only pours out. and when you are sinking in His love, a fountain of love for others will surge out of your life. you will begin to love like Jesus.

i no longer am in want of the things You can bring, all i want is You more than anything.

at home with His love

“Abide in My love.” John 15:9 NASB

You grow familiar with the surroundings. You don’t pull in the driveway and ask, “Where is the garage?” You don’t consult the blueprint to find the kitchen. To abide is to be at home.

To abide in Christ’s love is to make his love your home. Not a roadside park or hotel room you occasionally visit, but your preferred dwelling. You rest in him. Eat in him. When thunder claps, you step beneath his roof. His walls secure you from the winds. His fireplace warms you from the winters of life. As John urged, “We take up permanent residence in the life of love” (I John 4:16 MSG).

You abandon the old house of false love and move into His home of real love"

-Max Lucado

I'm packing up my boxes, renting my U HAUL and moving to a new home. You're welcome to come visit, but here's the deal..you have to promise you'll stay forever. I know you will because upon entry you won't want to leave. I will not put this house up for rent, I will not sell it, even on the days in which I want to be a child again, running away from home. But this home is storm proof, sound proof, indestructible I tell you. This house is built on solid rock. It's not going to fall. Here I will find rest. Here I will wrap up with my Security Blanket and just rest. Here I can just sprawl out everything, myself and just everything that bothers me. I can lay on the floor weeping. Here is my safe haven. They can't find me here. I don't have to be anything but me. I can hang the mask on the wall when I walk through the door. I am not being pulled like a tug-o-war rope back and forth. I stay here, content. It's comfy here, with a candle burning. Here I am home, rocking in my Father's lap in His massive rocking chair. Here He is holding me in His arms. He is quieting me with His love. My Father is wiping the tears from my eyes as He rubs my back. He is saying, it's all going to be okay. You're home..

Home is where the heart is, and mine is resting upon Your lap.

loaded with Love

"He...loads me with love and mercy."
-Psalm 103:4 (NCV)

"It's time to let God's love cover all things in your life. All secrets. All hurts. All hours of evil, minutes of worry.

The mornings you awoke in the bed of a stranger? His love will cover that. The years you peddled prejudice and pride? His love will cover that. Every promise broken, drug taken, penny stolen. Every cross word, cuss word, and harsh word. His love covers all things.

Let it. Discover along with the psalmist: "He...loads me with love and mercy." Picture a giant dump truck full of love. There you are behind it. God lifts the bed until the love starts to slide. Slowly at first, then down, down, down until you are hidden, buried, covered in his love. "Hey where are you?" someone asks. "In here, covered in love."

-Max Lucado

Hinds' Feet on High Places

sooooooo amy has a new favorite book..

"the lessons of accepting and triumphing over evil, of becoming 'acquainted with grief' and pain, and, ultimately, of finding them transformed into something incomparably precious; of learning through constant glad surrender to know the Lord of Love Himself in a new way and to experience unbroken union with Him--these are the lessons of the allegory in this book."

"the Lord God maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon mine High Places" (Psalm 18:33 and Habakkuk 3:19)

“every circumstance in life, no matter how crooked and distorted and ugly it appears to be, if it is reacted to in love and forgiveness and obedience to Your will can be transformed..You purposely allow us to be brought into contact with the bad and evil things that YOU WANT CHANGED. perhaps it is the very reason why we are here in this world, where sin and sorrow and suffering and evil abound, so that we may let You teach us so to react to them, that out of them we can create lovely qualities to live for ever. that is the only really satisfactory way of dealing with evil, not binding it so that it cannot work harm, but whenever possible, overcoming it with good.”


"to love does mean to put your SELF into the power of the loved one and to become vulnerable to pain, and you are very MUCH-AFRAID of pain are you not..but it is so happy to love. it is happy to love even if you are not loved in return. there is pain too, certainly, but Love does not think that very significant."

“nothing My Father and I have made is ever wasted..and the little wild flowers have a wonderful lesson to teach. they offer themselves so sweetly and confidently and willingly, even if it seems that there is no one to appreciate them. just as though they sang a joyous little song to themselves, that it is so happy to love, even though one is not loved in return..”

“all the fairest beauties in the human soul, its greatest victories, and its most splendid achievements are always those which no one else knows anything about, or can only dimly guess at. every inner response of the human heart to Love and every conquest over self-love is a new flower on the tree of Love. many a quiet, ordinary, and hidden life, unknown to the world, is a veritable garden in which Love’s flowers and fruits have come to such perfection that it is a place of delight where the King of Love Himself walks and rejoices with His friends. some of My servants have indeed won great visible victories and are rightly loved and reverenced by other men, but always their greatest victories are like the wild flowers, those which no one knows about.”

“only Love can really understand the music and the beauty and the joy which was planted in the heart of all created things.”

“then she looked at the Shepherd and suddenly knew she could not doubt Him, could not possibly turn back from following Him; that if she were unfit and unable to love anyone else in the world, yet in her trembling, miserable little heat, she did love Him. Even if He asked the impossible, she could not refuse.”

“it is not contradiction, only postponement for the best to become possible.”

“remember is always safe to obey My voice, even if it seems to call you to paths which look impossible or even crazy.”

“the heart knoweth its own sorrow and there are times when, like David, it is comforting to think that our tears are put in a bottle and not one of them are forgotten by the One who leads us in paths of sorrow.”

“I love doing preposterous things..why I don’t know anything more exhilarating and delightful than turning weakness into strength, and fear into faith, and that which has been marred into perfection. If there is one thing more than another which I should enjoy doing at this moment it is turning a jellyfish into a mountain goat.”

“nothing can do you any real harm while you are following the path of My will.”

“don’t ever allow yourself to begin trying to picture what it will be like. believe me, when you get to the places which you dread you will find that they are as different as possible from what you have imagined..”

“Love is beautiful, but it is also terrible—terrible in its determination to allow nothing blemished or unworthy to remain in the beloved.”

“He will never be content until He makes me what He is determined I ought to be.”

“it is the loveliest movement in all the world…to cast oneself down is to abandon oneself to ecstasy and joy indescribable.”

“at first sight perhaps the lead does look terrible..but as you can see, the water itself finds no terror in it, no moment of hesitation or shrinking, only joy unspeakable, and full of glory, because it is the movement natural to it. self-giving is its life. it has only one desire, to go down and down and give itself with no reserve or holding back of any kind. you can see that as it obeys that glorious urge the obstacles which look so terrifying are perfectly harmless, and indeed only add to the joy and glory of the movement.”

“always go forward along the path of obedience as far as you know it until I intervene, even if it seems to be leading you where you fear I could never mean you to go..”

“TRUTH cannot be understood from books alone or by any written words, but only by personal growth and development in understanding, and that things written even in the BOOK OF BOOKS can be astonishingly misunderstood while one still lives in the low levels of spiritual experience and on the wrong side of the grave on the mountains..”

"every acceptance of His will becomes an altar of sacrifice, and every such surrender and abandonment of ourselves to His will is a means of furthering us on the way to the High Places to which He desires to bring every child of His while they are still living on earth."


if even ONE of those quotes spoke to you, you NEED to read Hinds' Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard..trust me, you'll love it.

"Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person's ultimate good as far as it can be obtained." -C.S. Lewis

when storms rage..

"It was when I was happiest that I longed most...The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing...to find the place where all the beauty came from."


life is beautiful. and as we tend to define what makes it this way we tend to forget where the true beauty lies..in the trials. you see "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world." lately i have become more aware of the beauty which lies in my trials. as i am still amidst them, i find that it is the hope that some day soon they will turn to beauty that keeps me going most days. but on top of that i have been able to grasp a new concept which i was reminded of again today.



GOD CHOOSES OUR TRIALS FOR US! this just boggles my mind. just think about it..no only are we created for a purpose, but He picks the trials He allows in to our lives so that He can mold us into the people we are and to prepare us for what only He knows is to come. our valleys are His mountain peeks as He gives us a chance to fight, grow stronger, and cling to Him with all we have. and not only does He plop us down and throw us into the fire of trials..BUT HE WALKS THROUGH THEM WITH US! HE GIVES US THE TRIAL AND THE DIRECTIONS TO FIND OUR WAY OUT!!! it's kind of like walking with a blind fold on yet having someone hold your hand and walk you all the way through, directing you, and preventing you from going way off track or doing really awful damage. but the thing is you have to RELY on Him. you have to acknowledge His presence and LET HIM CARRY YOU! (and remember that sometimes His way of being there for us is sending angels, or even people here on Earth to help us through. i am a strong believer that God reveals Himself through other people in the body..that He does His work through others..you don't have to do this alone, and you don't have to feel like God is too distant..He IS here among us. He is in you and me, His children).

so when you're wondering why you're in a trial, why God lets Satan run rampant around and allows him to have his hand on you..REMEMBER THAT GOD'S GRASP IS FIRMER! Satan may be able to be able to have you in his hand, but HE CAN NEVER TAKE YOUR LIFE!

when we are precious to God we become important to Satan. but in those moments when we begin to fight Satan off and he attacks us even harder..the Lord is faithful at being glued by our side. even when we don't FEEL His presence, we can take great comfort in KNOWING that HE IS WITH US. we must cling to Hebrews 13:5..we must cling to truth.




remember..these trials, this pain, these moments in the valley..He brings them upon us because HE LOVES US and His goal is to use them to urge us to fall deeper into His love, the only love that will get us through these moments of our lives.

when all you have is God, you have all you need. and through these times where you feel lost in the wilderness with no strength to even begin to find your way home, when the waters rage and the winds are violent, know that there He will speak to you tenderly, reveal Himself to you, wait out the storm, and bring you safely to shore, He will bring you safely home. anchor yourself to Truth.





"so much is distilled in our tears, not the least of which is wisdom in living life. i have learned that if you follow your tears, you will find you heart. and if you find your heart, you will find what is dear to God. and if you find what is dear to God, you will find the answer to how you should live life." -ken gire

"patience means awaiting God's time without doubting God's love."

unfailing Love..

empty handed..

do you ever wonder why we cling so tightly to certain things in our lives? is it because without them we don't know who we are? are we afraid that if we let them go we will loose everything? do we worry that it couldn't get any better than how it is? either way the love of these things, the way they make us feel, and the satisfaction we get from them keeps us from the full Love experience. instead of finding our joy, fulfillment, and identity in Love, we find ourselves in an identity crisis each time life rips the rug out from under us.


sometimes we spend our whole lives chasing after something and when we finally reach the finish line, we realize that we were running after the wrong thing all along. we are left tired and burnt out and getting back on the track is the hardest thing to do. many people decide never to get back in the chase.


why is it that we are never satisfied? because we are looking for satisfaction in the wrong things. love of things, of people, of power. when it all comes down to it there is only one thing that matters..love God. love people.

sometimes Love will take things away from you to draw you back into His arms, into His embrace. you see He wants our full hearts..not just pieces that we are willing to let go, that we are willing to give, not just the leftovers..Love wants your WHOLE HEART..and trust me, He is the only one worth giving it to. the world continues to take and rip apart your heart..but i promise the only thing Love does is pour back into it, heal it, guards it, and keeps it beating.


realize that when He takes something or someone you "love" away from you, He is not doing it to leave you with nothing. trust that Love will never leave you empty handed. know that He loves you too much to just plop you down and observe you fumble your way through to the end. find who you are in Him. live with arms open wide..

"God will never leave you empty. if something is taken away, He will replace it with something better. if He denies your request in a certain area, it is because He wishes to give you what is best. if He asks you to put something down, it is so you can pick up something greater." -roy lessin

you can't receive with full hands..empty your hands so that you can grasp His sweet love.

it's the little things..

so yesterday as i was in traffic on 30 i came to yet another realization about how love can change things, even the rarest, most out there situations in which choosing an action, love would be the last thing to come to mind..

so here's the scene: bumper to bumper traffic in the heat of the day..radio blasting with my tunes, AC on high, and just wanting to get back on the hill which i live upon, i approach a fork in the highway..a car in the lane next to me, a couple cars ahead turns on its blinker, as it needs to get over so it can merge onto another highway. as we sit there bumper to bumper, all moving like snails down the road, nobody will let this poor little car over..how selfish are we? why are we rushing through life? why are we so rude? come on cars..you aren't going anywhere..help a brother out and just let him over!! so as the cars ahead of me kept going, i just waited (i am sure the car behind me wasn't the happiest), let the guy over, and then kept going..this same situation occurred at least five more times. then it came my time to get over, and guess what..nobody would let me over! (but just because we don't get in return doesn't mean we shouldn't stop giving) i waited and waited and obviously finally got over or i wouldn't be here typing this right now (= but that's beside the point..

after driving for awhile, i finally reached what i thought was the bottle neck..two stalled cars (we all know how anything on the side of the road steals our attention and causes us to slow down)..but as we passed those i began to saw debris on the road..and then i found myself in the nightmare of a three car accident..to the right there was a man in a black expedition, and the air bags were fully exposed..as i looked into the window to make sure he was okay, i saw him there on his phone, shaking and trembling, his windows smashed out and his car smoking..to my right i saw a man sitting on a median type thing on his phone, his car a few feet away not as bad as the car before, and then a third car that was barely touched..

as i got away from all the traffic and began smooth sailing the rest of the way back, i played the scene back in my head..and i asked myself a question..how many car accidents would be prevented if we would drive in love? i personally believe quite a few..



i guess in essence what i am trying to say is that the word love has been so feminized and romanticized that we forget what it really was meant to be and we tend to put limits on it. or we sometimes find ourselves putting up this big blockade, trying to protect ourselves from it because "the l word" is something that makes us shudder..when really it is not love at all that we are afraid of..it is the things that for so long have been called "love" that have been falsely defined or labeled as so..

i guess what i learned out of this is that it is the little things that make living in love apparent..things like letting someone over on the highway, a daily act that you can easily do each day..so what if it slows you down a little? enjoy the scenery, smell the roses..

love is everywhere, in everything.. can you see it? do you show it?

Love, i'm sorry for the opportunities You have given me to show Your love that i have overlooked or turned down selfishly..teach us how to love, teach me how to love..to love Your way..and may the glory always be given to Your name..

Love wins..

the more and more i find myself in seasons of life, i realize that i have the choice whether i spend my time during that season mopping around, confused, less than happy, frustrated, and taking these feelings out on others..or to throw a little james 1:2-3 in the mix and consider it pure joy and add in a little love.

it's not about having joy for the trials, but in the trials, because you trust in the Lord's unfailing purposes, love, protection..the Lord has spoken through others and through His Word to point out to me that in this season, as in many seasons of my life, my Father is not wanting me to try to understand His ways, not to figure Him out, or even what He wants me to do out.. but to recklessly trust Him. He knows what is next, that is why He is simply preparing me for whatever that may be..

..and sometimes Love has to put us in situations that bring pain and confusion, so that people can see that "this happened so that the work of God might displayed in [our] life." -John 9:3

in the end Love wins, Love always wins.












"Everyone says that love hurts, but that's not true. Loneliness hurts. Rejection hurts. Losing someone hurts. Envy hurts. Everyone gets these things confused with love, but in reality, love is the only thing in this world that covers up all the pain and makes someone feel wonderful again."

so in these seasons i choose to love, i choose Love, i choose to trust, i choose to win, i choose to enable others to do the same..


"It's a big world, we are hoping
For a big change, we are broken
In the fading light of a dying sun
We cry for redemption

There is hope, there is hope, there is hope
But everyone who's lost will be coming home
And everything that hurts will be whole again
And love will be the last thing standing

Can't stop, you can't stop the seasons
Don't stop, don't stop believing

Keep on dreaming of the day when it all will change
Believe in the end, love wins
If you're waiting for the time when your sun will shine
Oh, look above cause love wins

If it hurts you, just breathe in
When it pains you, just believe in
The radiant light of the morning sun
We can find our redemption

Love is strong, love is strong, love is strong
It's been there holding you all along
Everything thrown away will be new again
And love will be the last thing standing

Can't stop, you can't stop the seasons
Don't stop, don't stop believing

Keep on dreaming of the day when it all will change
Believe in the end, love wins
If you're waiting for the time when your sun will shine
Oh, look above cause love wins













Keep on dreaming of the day when it all will change
Believe in the end, love wins
If you're waiting for the time when your sun will shine
Oh, look above cause love wins

There is hope, there is hope for my lonely soul
There is hope, there is hope to be made whole
There is life, there is life to be set free
There is life there is life surrounding me
There is hope, there is hope for my broken heart
There is hope, there is hope for a brand new start
There is life, there is life give me eyes to see
There is life, there is life you have captured me

Keep on dreaming of the day when it all will change
Believe in the end, love wins
If you're waiting for the time when your sun will shine
Oh, look above cause love wins

Keep on dreaming of the day when it all will change
Believe in the end, love wins
If you're waiting for the time when your sun will shine
Oh, look above cause love wins"

-"Love Wins" Robbie Seay Band

Love is the remedy..

"Here we are
Here we are
The broken and used
Mistreated, abused
Here we are

Here You are
Here You are
The beautiful One
Who came like a Son
Here You are

So we lift up our voices
We open our hands
To cling to the love
That we can't comprehend

Oh, lift up your voices
And lift up your heads
To sing of the love
That has freed us from sin

He is the one
Who has saved us
He is the one
Who embraced us
He is the one who has come
And is coming again
He's the remedy

Here we are
Here we are
Bandaged and bruised
Awaiting a cure
Here we are

Here You are
Here You are
Our beautiful King
Bringing relief
Here You are with us

So we lift up our voices
And open our hands
Let go of the things
That have kept us from Him


He is the one
Who has saved us
He is the one
Who forgave us
He is the one who has come
And is coming again
He's the remedy

Oh, I can't comprehend
I can't take it all in
Never understand
Such perfect love come
For the broken and beat
For the wounded and weak
Oh, come fall at His feet
He's the remedy
He's the remedy

So sing, sing

You are the one
Who has saved us
You are the one
Who forgave us
You are the one who has come
And is coming again
To make it alright
Oh, to make it alright
You're the remedy
Oh, in us
You're the remedy

Let us be the remedy
Let us bring the remedy"

"Remedy"-David Crowder Band


choose to love..

Love sacrifices..

again you decide to "take one for the team," you decide to do something you would rather not, tearing down your selfish nature, you decide to think of the other person, even though it may inconvenience you a little, make you feel uncomfortable, or force you to SACRIFICE something else. you decide to be selfless. to put the other person and their feelings above your own. but you get no thanks at all..hurts a little don't it?

now it's your turn to call upon your friends. you are in need of some support, but you turn to your left and to your right and find that nobody is there. the friends which you have selflessly given all that you could possibly give to them have fled to fulfill their own selfish desires. it was too inconvenient for them. all you need was a simple favor, one you would have done for them in a snap of the fingers. all you are asking is for a few minutes of their time. but they are nowhere to be found. they bail on you. excuses. after all the sacrifices you made, nobody seems to care enough to put their own agendas aside for a minute to give you a little something in return.. gets kinda old doesn't it? doesn't it make you want to give them a taste of their own medicine?

but here's the thing..Christ became the perfect Sacrifice, the greatest Sacrifice..He laid down His life for His friends. and yet we hardly ever give Him near enough in return. (so for all of us who get worn out of endlessly giving and giving with no receiving, just imagine how the Lord feels! and take comfort in the fact that He is right beside you in that..even though His sacrifice was much greater than yours ever was..)we find it so hard for us to sacrifice even a little of our lives, time, thoughts, heart, money..and ironically none of that we really own. and despite our hesitancy to sacrifice in return, our Father just continues to sacrifice and pour out more and more upon us, lavishing us with Love of many forms, when we selfishly hold onto things that don't matter, staying in our comfort zones. DON'T HOLD ON..SURRENDER..the Lord begs for us to sacrifice our lives. He already holds them. but until we surrender fully to Him, His work cannot fully manifest in us. lay it all down at His feet..true sacrifice leads to more abundant, meaningful receiving, sometimes maybe not in the way we would have planned, but in an even greater way. that's just the way Love works..

so if we really want to grasp what Love really is, it is time to start laying down our lives for our friends. no, that is not me giving you a license to go kill yourself in honor of your friend. it is not me saying that you have to always do whatever it is that your friend asks of you. it is just me advising that when you are in a circumstance where you must make a decision about sacrificing or being selfish, it is never wrong to choose sacrifice, even for people that are not even your friends! forgo your agenda for the day, let go of your selfishness, give up something. you may never know how much that friend, that person needed you that day. look at the motives behind your decision. don't make excuses. be real. we all know when we are doing something out of our own interest. if you find that the motives of your decision are selfish, maybe it's time to ask the Lord to help you rethink that choice. ask Him to give you a sacrificial kind of love, the love that He showed to us as He reached out His arms and selflessly laid down His life..


[i just want to write a little note of thanks to my parents who have sacrificed EVERYTHING for me at times..they have ALWAYS been there through the years for me..all i have had to do is just call and they would come running just as fast as they could, helping in anyway possible..they are prime examples of sacrificial love.]

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." -John 15:13

thank God for the friends who give up their entire day, just to make sure you get through yours okay..

Love never lets go..so when do we?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIAdgLR1ZGw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx5Y9DhoLJQ&feature=related

go watch those and then come back to my post..

now, i sometimes have trouble with writting stuff like this just because sometimes it's so hard to put experiences into words..you want to capture your thoughts, the moment..well here's my attempt..both of these songs have meant alot to me through the past year of my walk with the Lord. but it wasn't until last night that i realized why.

coming to college was a turning point, running away from to running back into the arms of my Great Love. i guess back then i had thought that my Father was disappointed in me and had wanted nothing to do with me. i had let Him go, grasping onto other things. so it would make no sense that He would still be holding onto me. last night was one of those nights where you find yourself crying at the feet of Jesus and it is sometimes at those times where the Lord speaks to us the most, when we're broken..and this time He did. through one of these songs He spoke loud and clear. He never let go of me, He always held on..even when i didn't want to be in the palm of His hand, even when i was unaware. i realized at that moment that when i decided to reach out my hand and hold onto Him again, that it was no shock to Him, because all along He had been holding on, He never changes, He is always the same. my Father was holding my hand through it all..happy moments. difficult moments. every moment. now i understand why these songs mean so much to me, they tell my story..of a Love that never let goes..a Love that has pretty long arms that continue to reach us no matter how high or low we find ourselves..

but i also learned something else last night as i was trying to take control and get things done my way. as humans we are always trying to hold onto something. there are things we never want to let go of..situations, plans, people, places, possessions..and the list goes on. i came to the realization that if we really want to see the power of a Love that never lets go, we have to let go so that Love can do its part. we have to let go of situations and plans so that Love's will shall be done. we must let go of people so that we don't interfere with what Love's work in their hearts and lives, and so that we don't find ourselves holding onto them, loving them more than Love. we must let go of places so that we can go where Love leads, where our love is needed. we must let go of possessions because they are meaningless and will slip through our fingers like sand. we must let go of all of these things because we find ourselves slipping away from His grasp when our hands are occupied holding onto these.

but one thing i know for sure..the only thing that matters is holding onto Love. get a firm grasp on Love, hold tight, and never let go..

He'll show you when it's time to hold on, time to let go..

Love looks beneath, Love has a greater purpose..

today one of my coworkers placed something on my desk and said "amy, read this.." to him i replied.."this is my kinda stuff.." little did he know that it was something i needed to hear at the time. can you say Godwink?! (if you don't know what that means i will explain at a later date) so here it goes..

"God calls us to be faithful, not successful. He calls us to follow those dreams that are in our hearts and to pursue them with all our might. Sometimes they will proceed in ways that make them a 'success' in world terms, but other times it may feel more like futility. Sometimes we'll be able to witness changed lives, and sometimes the only life we can see changed is our own.

God's scorecard is different from ours. He does want to bless us, but His scorecard doesn't use money or material possessions or fame or status. He judges by the state of our hearts and our desire to serve Him.

But the LORD said to Samuel, " Don't judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn't see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."1 Samuel 16:7

Don't ever sell yourself short. God's purposes are greater than man's purposes. There is much to do and much that you are capable of doing. What kind of world do you want? Think anything. Just be careful what you wish for.

Start now to be uncommon."

can i get an amen?

Jesus loves the little children..

"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." -Luke 18:16-17

Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow black and white, they are precious in His sight..Jesus loves the little children of the world.

i choose to love..

the Lord blessed me with the amazing experience of getting to fill in with the DBU rec team for the past two weeks at a preteen camp. there i met a brother in Christ, an illusionist, Drew Worsham. there i found out about a great movement/story of some of his friends. here is their story..

"When Jana and I first got married, we talked about adoption and how that might be something we’d like to do someday. Something we should do someday. I filed it in the back of my mind along with things like running a marathon, traveling the world, and living in our dream home. We would talk about it ever so often, and I would daydream for a moment, and then file it again, as if it was this distant place that I would never actually visit.

A few months ago, we daydreamed about it again. In the midst of trying for our second child, Jana and I imagined what our lives would be like with a kid who didn’t look like us. I’m the careful one. I always choose wisely. I calculate risk. That makes it hard for me to live the adventure sometimes. But Jana is the dreamer. So carefree and ready to drink life up no matter what it tastes like. So outside my comfort zone. I always thought that if we were supposed to actually do it, I’d have this Moses and the burning bush experience that told me to adopt. Jana is my burning bush sometimes.

After me being gone for a few days with the band, I came home, and she said “I’ve decided that it’s never wrong to choose to love someone”. If I’ve learned anything in our eight years together, I’ve learned to give pause to Jana’s seemingly “off the wall” insights. Believe it or not, I think that she and I are together for good reason. God has been teaching us a lot about loving people. I think it’s easier to love God than to love people. People are hard to love sometimes. A lot of the time. I realized early on that love isn’t a feeling, it’s a decision. A selfless commitment that requires much from it’s giver, and she was right.

We have the resources, the ability, the time, the desire. There’s no reason not to that’s greater than the reasons for choosing to love. We’ll be the first to confess that we don’t have everything figured out. First cars, college education, Weddings, and everything in between. I don’t think as humans we were meant to have it all figured out. If we did, what purpose would faith have? There are so many unknowns in the adventure we call life. So many choices to make along the way. But Jana and I resolve to live in the here and now. To not worry about tomorrow. And for this day, this hour, this time, we choose to love."

http://ichoosetolove.wordpress.com/


i hope that today and everyday you will choose to love.

"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked." -Luke 6:32-35

no greater love..

a famous philosopher, miley cyrus, once concluded that life isn't about where you end up, not about the destination, but about the journey, the climb.

so i figured that as i go through my life, my journey, my climb, i wanted to document pieces of it..so here i am..blogging.

this blog is one about of a life committed to living in Love. no, not the romantic oo la la type. but about a greater kind of Love. One that laid down His life for His friends. one that never fails. one that never ends. the love of Christ, no greater love than that.

lately, i have just been more in awe and captivated with the love Christ so freely pours out on us. so many times people take our love forgranted, they take part of us that they don't deserve. they abuse our love. but the Lord never takes from us. His love is like a never ceasing fountain that showers us. i think the best way to love the Lord is to love His people. therefore, His love is the one that inspires me to take action. i have come to the conclusion that the best way to show Christ to others is to simply love. love takes all kind of forms..and as i continue to discover them..i wanted to share.

may you everyday, in everyway, live in Love..