Beautiful

You're Beautiful by Phil Wickham



Isaiah 52:7
⁷ How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, "Your God reigns."

Isaiah 61:1-3
¹ The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,

² to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,

³ and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.

Broken Keys

If You Want Me To
Ginny Owens




The pathway is broken
And The signs are unclear
And I don't know the reason why You brought me here
But just because You love me the way that You do
I'm gonna walk through the valley
If You want me to

Chorus:
Cause I'm not who I was
When I took my first step
And I'm clinging to the promise You're not through with me yet
so if all of these trials bring me closer to you
Then I will walk through the fire
If You want me to

It may not be the way I would have chosen
When you lead me through a world that's not my home
But You never said it would be easy
You only said I'd never go alone

ya oh oh no

So When the whole world turns against me
And I'm all by myself
And I can't hear You answer my cries for help
I'll remember the suffering Your love put You through
And I will go through the valley If You want me to

Sometimes I feel like the piano in that picture. Broken, beyond repair, and that I can't be used any more. I feel like I'm in a valley, and I'm low and unreachable. But God reminds me that He is always with me. No it may not be comfortable or fun or a mountain top experience, but like the Hebrews roaming around in the wilderness, God provides for me all that I need, and there may even be a river at the bottom of the valley, where I can be refreshed and renewed.

The Free Gift

2 Corinthians 3:17-18
¹⁷Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

I feel that a veil has been removed in my life, in regards to the freedom that Christ offers.

I grew up thinking that forgiveness was not something given, but something earned. At some point I began applying this to my relationship with God.
Even though...

Romans 6:22-23
²²But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Within the last couple months, God has been showing me over and over again that I cannot earn forgiveness. My works will not make righteous nor keep me on a path of righteousness. By thinking this way, I am negating the power of God in my life, and rejecting His grace.

The work that God has been doing on my heart.
It is much like...

Isaiah 61:1-3
¹ The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,

² to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,

³ and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.

I was recently asked why I worship God, am I Lemming, or is there really purpose to my worship. I worship because of the freedom that Christ has bestowed on me. I worship because of the love that God has shown me. I worship because of the free gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus.

Keeping It Simple

Okay, well after reading a couple comments (cause there were only a couple to read, :)), I have decided to consolidate. Yes, I am going to be homeschooling, and it would make a lot of sense to keep everything as simple as possible. Don't want to get overwhelmed, and that is so easy for me to do! ;)

Sadly I will be saying goodbye to The Shallow End and All Shapes and Sizes. But it will be for the best. So, expect a variety of stuff here!

Beauty From Ashes

I was blessed recently to spend time with a very dear friend. It is really a funny story about how I finally gave in to the blessing!

On Monday, I was presented with an opportunity to take a road trip. I really didn't pray about it, but was just excited that I was getting out of the house, and I was going to spend time with my husband, even if it was in the car for 4 hours!

But as the trip wore on, things didn't go as I had planned. We didn't leave when I wanted, and the traffic was terrible. Because of this and what seemed to a growing pile of obstacles, I wasn't going to be able to spend time with friends or family. I began to get discouraged and felt as though I hadn't thought entirely through my road trip, and maybe it would have been better for me to stay home. I was really beating myself up.

Stacy was so wonderful, I love that God has blessed me with him. He saw it differently. He saw that God's hand had provided an escape, an opportunity, and I should not allow the circumstances to rob me of what God was doing.

So, long story short I arrived at my friends, and almost immediately she says to me, "I'm so glad you came, it is God's will for you to be here..." I was floored! Stacy had been saying it, and now she had said it. And I hadn't even mentioned to her how I was feeling.

The point of me telling this, is that I realized how great my God is. He loves me so much, that He would reassure me of something so simple. But also, He restored to me this friendship, in such a way, that He has filled a need in my life. I have a mentor, and counselor, and a friend and sister in Christ.

Years before, the friendship was dead. It had been brought to ashes, and I had no hopes of ever being friends again. There was so much hurt (on both sides), so much pain, anger, disappointment, it had been utterly destroyed.

Isaiah 61:3
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,

By God's provision, what was dead was brought to life, and it was so that He would be glorified.

In pondering and thinking on this, I realize that in all my relationships, I have to trust God. I can't be afraid to let go of those that need to be let go of. If a friendship seems to be dying, I can only trust God, and that He will either bring it to life again, or replace it with new life, but all of it is for His glory.

I have seen a miracle in my friendship, and because of this, I can hope in God. I can hope in God in my relationships, in finances, in decisions, in all areas of my life. And if there is a part that seems to be dying, in God's time according to His will it can be resurrected.

Hello Again

Wow!

I'm back!

I know it has been awhile. There has been so much going on. But I certainly have lots to share. I am rethinking my blogging style. I would appreciate your input.

Right now, I have 4 blogs, make that 5, I have one on Wordpress that never gets used! I think I need to combine some of them. Maybe combine the blog where I am counting God's blessings with this one, completely nix "The Shallow End", and forget the Wordpress blog all together.

My dilemma is this. I don't want to monitize this or the blessing blogs, they are really meant to speak and share what God is showing me, and maybe it will bless others, too. But I am wanting to blog about my homeschooling experience, and possibly make it something that people can use as a reference. So, what to do, what to do....

With that said, I am so excited about God is doing in my life right now. He is doing great things in my marriage, with my kids, He has blessed me with a new church and for the first time I am beginning to truely understand the freedom that is found in Christ! I will have to expound on that in the future.

I'm looking forward to future blogs, and sharing what God is doing!

Love you all, and I pray that God blesses you!