The Love of God

The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell.
It goes beyond the highest star
And reaches to the lowest hell.
The guilty pair, bowed down with care
God gave His Son to win.
His erring child, He reconciled
And pardoned from his sin.

Oh love of God, how rich and pure
How measureless and strong.
It shall forevermore endure-
The saints' and angels' song.


When years of time shall pass away,
And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
When men who hear refuse to pray,
On rocks and hills and mountains call.
God's love so sure, shall still endure
The saints' and angels' song.


Oh love of God, how rich and pure
How measureless and strong.
It shall forevermore endure-
The saints' and angels' song.


Could we with ink the oceans fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole
Though stretched from sky to sky.


Oh love of God, how rich and pure
How measureless and strong.
It shall forevermore endure-
The saints' and angels' song.

Why does summer have to end? Suddenly I lost all desire to go back to school. I just want to stay home with my family and have good homecooked meals and desserts every night and free laundry and a pool I actually feel comfortable swimming in...Plus...I just love summer...so please....let these next few days DRAG by, because I'm not ready, like I thought I was.

Random Thoughts

Hello bloggy friends. I don't have much new stuff going on, but I have some random thoughts I decided to share, luckily for you.

-I'm listening to Glee's version of "I Can't Fight This Feeling". And I am reminded of how cool it was to be able to hear this song, live, by REO Speedwagon (the original artist)(if it's a band, is it still referred to as "artist", or "artists" since it's multiple people...there are some questions your MLA book just don't answer) at the fair. Yes, ladies and gents, I was paid to stand and listen to this song with my friend Lila. Of course, there was still work to do. But it was still fun obviously.

-The word "literally" is used, reused, misused, and abused. Poor little guy. You know what I'm talking about-we all do it. These days, everyone and their brother uses the word "literally" erroneously. "I have to go so bad I'm literally about to explode." "You literally make me want to shoot myself in the foot." "I literally can't go a day without chocolate." "She literally never stops talking" ...hello? That's impossible. It's completely common for people to use the word "literally" for an impossible occurrence. I wonder what the world would be like if all the things that "literally" would happen, would actually happen. Like, if people literally exploded if they couldn't relieve their bladder soon enough, or if people literally shot things in the foot when they became annoyed.

-Disney has had a blonde princess, a brunette princess, a red-headed princess, an Arabian princess, a Native American princess, an Asian princess, and a black princess. Maybe more. It's very diverse, which is pretty cool. Also, would you like to know what Disney taught me? Every princess has an amazing singing voice.

-If I marry a man who likes peas, it's going to be awkward. Because I hate them. They literally (used correctly!) make me gag. Or at least they used to. I never eat them. When I was little, my parents were always the "eat all your vegetables before you leave the table" type. Except when it came to me and peas. They eventually stopped trying, because I could not force those pesky guys down my throat. Now, if I'm in a situation where I'm served peas and it would be rude to not eat them (which surprisingly is kind of often), I swallow them. So if my husband likes them, I guess we'll be eating different vegetables. Or, just maybe, I'll learn that eating peas is part of being a well-adjusted human being, and suck it up and eat them.

-Two weeks ago I went to Santa Cruz/Monterey with the Stoevers. Long story short, I got a pretty bad sunburn. Last week, my back peeled, and then later my shoulders started to peel. Well this week, my legs started peeling. And I'm not just talking about my thighs. My shins/ankles peeled too. Nasty, right? You're welcome for that information.

-Also, funny story about Santa Cruz. During our beach day, towards the end, some people started to get restless so about half of the group (Lindsay, both of her parents, her brother Tyler, and her cousins Natalie and Abby) went for a walk. Some of us stayed though (I for one was much too lazy to get up and go for a walk). Well, I was enjoying some light beach reading (Think by John Piper...ok, so it was pretty heavy, but good stuff) and minding my own business. The others who stayed (Zach and Jordan, their aunt Laura, and their grandparents) all minded their own business for a while. As no beach day is complete without sea gulls bothering you, we weren't surprised when some came and went throughout the day. But this time when they came, Zach and Jordan decided to start throwing them food (bad idea). Then, because they're boys and think they're funny (ok, it was pretty funny), they decided to throw food all around me-in front of me, to my left, to my right, near my towel, on my back, etc. So of course, more kept coming and surrounding me. I tried to ignore the birds while yelling at Zach and Jordan to stop it right now. Of course, that only egged them on, so they kept doing it. Once there were 30 birds (not even exaggerating) all around me, I finally started to shoo them. Eventually the boys had mercy on me and stopped. It was pretty funny though, especially because they thought I'd totally freak out and I was pretty non responsive to the annoying "rats with wings".

-Favorite Bath & Body scents: Summer Vanillas in Lemon (which I think is discontinued), Forever Sunshine, Country Chic, Midnight Pomegranate, and Brown Sugar and Fig. Also, my favorite growing up was Sun-Ripened Raspberry but now that's pretty hard to find, though sometimes it still comes out.

-Having to use quarters for laundry is quite depressing. It also recommences next week.

-I'm going to laser tag tonight!! YAY!! Favorite thing to do! Well one of them. I'm extra excited because some of my friends from high school are going but so is Lindsay, so they all get to meet each other. Which is fortunate, because when I'm with Linds, I talk about the guys, and when I'm with the guys, I talk about Linds. So now they'll all have names with faces.

Encouraged

Well I know my last few posts have seemed a little downtrodden. Sorry about that, but I did want to be real with my emotions. And though I'm usually a really happy person and things can't get me down for too long, sometimes it all catches up with me and I get down, a little. Here is (one reason) why the Lord is so good: He picks you up out of the pit and sets your feet on a rock (Ps 40:2). He takes sinners and makes them new. And, He encourages us. Though I still face many of the same heartaches, He "put a new song in my mouth" (Ps 40:3) and I will continue to sing it!! This new song refers to the song of gratitude we have for our salvation. Though this new song is actually one I've been blessed to sing for the majority of my life, sometimes it helps to just reflect on who God is, who I am, and what He's done for me. It's hard to be forlorn when I have been saved from eternal separation from my Creator. "How has He encouraged you lately?" you ask. Well let me tell you:

1. Time spent with my brother. Sometimes it's the little things, like swimming in the afternoons and watching a movie at night with my eleven year old brother, that bring healing.

2. Hymns. Most people who know me know my love for hymns. Their rich doctrine and beautiful words are the perfect combination for helping anyone, through anything. Want to know why hymns are so helpful? Because they are about God, and about Christ, and about our sinful state and how He ransomed our souls by the blood of Christ to make us righteous and able to live with Him eternally, and about the victory He gives us over sin. Hymns are about Him, and what He's done. The focus is taken off of self, except to remind us of how wretched we are.

3. Time spent with true friends that are genuine, godly people. Several of my friends have helped immensely in the past week or so, some without even knowing that I've been so down. One friend, Lindsay (of course) has helped in particular. She's known I've been upset a bit lately but may not have realized the extent of it. But she posted a song called "To the Cross I Cling" by The Village Church on her blog. This song is also familiar from my trip to Santa Cruz with her family. At any rate, this song has been such an encouragement. I cling to the cross, not to my circumstances (which really are pretty great). It's all because of Christ that I am who I am, and I will forever be grateful to Him. Again, I'm reminded that it's about Him, not Laurie. This leads me to number 4.

4. The other night we were in the car, and "To the Cross I Cling" came on, and Linds said, "This is actually based off of one of the prayers from The Valley of Vision, 'The Broken Heart', almost word for word." So of course, yesterday morning I had to read this prayer for myself. Zach gave me a leather bound copy of The Valley of Vision for my birthday last year because he knew I didn't have one. (Let me interrupt my story to say that this is seriously one of the best gifts I've ever received.) Now, I'm sure he knew that this would be an incredible book for me to have, and he probably knew that it would bring immense blessing, but he may not have known that it would bring needed healing as well. Because, I don't know if you've ever read The Valley of Vision, but for me, when I start it, I can't stop. Anytime I pick up that book, I lose track of time and am humbled again and again by the rich truths found within. Unfortunately with the busyness of school and the laziness of summer, I'd never taken advantage of it, until yesterday. But ever since I picked it up and have read portions of it, I've been blessed again and again. God is so amazing in so many ways, and this book is such a precious reminder of that.

5.  God Himself. "Jehovah-Rapha" means that He's the God who heals. "El Roi" means He's the God who sees-sees our suffering and will help us, if we humble ourselves and ask for it. "El Shaddai" means God All Sufficient-He is all we need. "Jehovah-Shammah" means The Lord Who is Present- He's here with us, and has promised to never leave us or forsake us. When reflecting on God and who He is and what He's done, it's hard to be discouraged for very long.

Bittersweet

This week has sure had its share of ups and downs. I've babysat my brother every day which I thought would be monotonous but it's been really fun. We've swum almost every day and even though I have skinned knees from the bottom and sides of the pool, it's always the highlight of the day. Also, I've been finally figuring things out for school, such as how I'm going to get all my stuff down there and buying books. I took my bridesmaid dress to the lady who's going to alter it yesterday so that was another thing to check off the list. The Lord's been teaching me a lot through I Corinthians and that has been an immense blessing.

There have also been some hard things this week that I've had to deal with. On top of that (or maybe because of it), I haven't been sleeping well. I've learned that I'm a worrier-something that constantly needs to be brought to the Lord-which definitely robs me of sleep. I'm often tired and feeling emotionally drained. Some things just really hurt and as much as you try to ignore them, you can't. It partially makes me want school to hurry up and get here already so I can escape certain problems (which makes certain other ones worse though), but I know that I can't ever run away from problems because that does no good in the long run.

And then tonight. I ended this hard week hanging out with three great friends from high school, who all really love the Lord and desire to serve Him. It's great to hang out with people and have the chance to reminisce about the good ole days, and to both laugh a ton and have good conversations. I needed that tonight, and the Lord always is faithful to give us what we need.

Lamentations 3:22-23 says, "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." I love this because it reminds us that His love is steadfast and unceasing. No matter what comes, good or bad, the Lord loves us the same way and gives us enough mercy for both the good days and the bad.

A hymn that has helped me today

Some days life is just peachy. Even when the tough things come, you're ready for them and can handle them.

Other days, not so much. On these days, it seems like so many things affect you more than normal and you just need comfort. Well here's the comfort I've found because today (actually the last several days) has been hard.

What a Friend We Have in Jesus

What a friend we have in Jesus,

All our sins and griefs to bear.

What a privilege to carry

Everything to God in prayer!

Oh, what peace we often forfeit,

Oh what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations?

Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged-

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful,

Who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness;

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy-laden

Cumbered with a load of care?

Precious Savior, still our refuge-

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

In His arms He'll take and shield thee,

Thou wilt find a solace there.

Blessed Savior, Thou hast promised

Thou wilt all our burdens bear;

May we ever, Lord, be bringing

All to Thee in earnest prayer.

Soon in glory bright, unclouded,

There will be no need for prayer-

Rapture, praise, and endless worship

Will be our sweet portion there.

I love that the second half of the last verse ends with hope. We are assured that heaven will be sweet because we will forever be praising our great God.

This is my personal blog, and though I often talk about things I like or what's going on in my life, I don't always talk about myself. I think. Anyway, here are some things about me that you might not know.

-I've always liked school. I've always looked forward to summer ending and school beginning. This increased in high school and college. Though class is often boring and homework is a pain, school is what I know. I'm used to seeing my friends daily and having random funny things happen-especially now that I'm in college. [Sidenote: this summer has been the exception. After coming home from a month in Maine, I had a few days of nothing before starting my job at the fair. This took up 2 and a half weeks, often with crazy hours. After the fair ended and we took everything down, leaving Cal Expo at 3:30 am (of course with a trip to Denny's to hang out one last time with fellow carnies until 5 am) last Monday morning. I babysat with Lindsay all day Monday, then came home early that evening, to spend one night at home before heading to Santa Cruz with the Stoevers. I got back on Friday afternoon. Anytime asked, I answered that I was not ready to go back, not ready for summer/freedom to end. Until today...when I got that itch for education back.] I love learning and I love the social aspect of school. Now that I'm in college, there's also dorm life to look forward to. [Sidenote #2: I don't know who my roommate is going to be this year-it's in God's hands. Needless to say, I'm apprehensive/nervous/excited to see who God has in store.]

-I love food packed with flavor. Anything really sweet, really salty, really sour, really spicy...you name it, I like it! Bold flavors are what I crave. On the other hand, pasta and saltines (though salty, they're still pretty bland) are some of my favorite foods.

-I love kids. I believe in the tradition of getting married and then having kids. But I used to see marriage as a means to an end (read: having my own kids). Thankfully, as I've grown older, I've learned that in a family, the most important relationship is between husband and wife, not parent and child. But I still love kids just as much.

-I love bright colors. But lately I've loved bright colors that have been muted. I don't know if that's the right term for it. This is what I mean:

-I eat my burgers upside down. I don't know why I do it. I just have for a long time. I think it's because it's easier to put my thumbs on the top and the rest of my fingers on the bottom. It's awkward to pick up and put down a burger that's right side up.

-Shots freak me out. Giving blood doesn't. Make sense to you? Me either.

-Cupcakes. Cake pops. Red velvet. Cheesecake. Love them all. Love making them, looking at them, talking about them, eating them.

-I'm not huge into flowers. I mean, don't get me wrong, I think they're pretty. But I don't know lots about them, or have a favorite, or have a particular desire to have a garden. I'm not even huge on getting flowers from people. I do appreciate the gesture, but I'm just not much into them.

-I'm unusually indecisive.

-Country boys/cowboys will always be appealing to me. I love the simplicity of the lifestyle, appreciate the hard working lifestyle, and happen to find them pretty attractive. Story time-last year for Outreach Week at TMC, I went to Bear Valley which is in Tehachapi, CA, which is in the mountains. It seems like almost everyone who lives in Bear Valley owns horses. Some of the boys in the youth group were authentic cowboys (no, I was not attracted to them-they were like 4 years younger and I was there to serve) and one had a rope with him. One of my friends asked if he'd teach her how to "lasso" and he looked at her almost like she was an idiot and said "Lasso is Spanish for rope. It's just called roping, not lassoing."

-I'm a jeans & tshirt kind of girl. Not really huge on makeup either-my every day routine is my Clinique 3 step facial washing/cleansing/moisturizing system, then eyeliner, then mascara. Truth be told, I'm not really into fashion/trends, as you can see by what I wear on a daily basis. When it's cold, I'm a huge hoodie person...so I pretty much look the same every day. Sue me, call me boring, do whatever you want. It's just how I am.

-Love socks. Cute socks and plain black socks are my favorites. I've gotten socks for almost every birthday/Christmas/Valentine's Day/Easter in the last few years.

-Food network and crime dramas. Pretty much all I ever watch on tv. Oh, and I watch the Bachelor/Bachelorette on hulu too.

-Bows. I love them. Ribbons tied into bows, headbands, bows on shoes, bows on baby clothes...I just think they're all adorable.

-I remember song lyrics from when I was a little kid. It's bad. Like remember-songs-from-Patch-the-Pirate-we-sang-in-church-when-I-was-6-years-old bad.

-Telling jokes is my thing. I have like 8 that I reuse and recycle all the time. It's bad when I'm in a group and I forget some of my jokes and then my friends tell them for me. Not kidding. I use them a lot. But I always like to hear and share jokes! So if you have any good ones, send them my way. Okay, they don't have to be good. Mine sure aren't.

-Cheetos and cheese stick nachos. Take a small bowl of cheetos, tear up a cheese stick and put it all over the cheetos, and microwave. Try it-seriously. It's good. Recipe compliments of my friend Andrew my senior year of high school.

-I always use blankets, even in the summer. I especially do while watching tv or reading-any time I'm on a couch. When I'm sleeping, I like lots of pressure on me, so I use lots of blankets then too. I don't know if it's partially because I'm always cold or if it's just that I always like pressure. But I love blankets.

These are some of the things that make me, me. Sorry if this is incredibly boring. Also, sorry for any grammar/punctuation mistakes. It's getting late and I'm tired! Proofreading (which I generally love) is not high on my list of priorities.

Cute Things

This picture's been on my phone since January and it still gets me.

sleepy little guy

ice cream log cake

bee cupcakes

This kills me it's so cute/funny/pathetic.

Reminds me of someone...

Old couples holding hands.

Lord, may this be me in 60 years.

What a Savior

Love this song [What a Savior]. Laura Story has tons of great songs, by the way.