No Coincidence

I’ve been reading a Psalm a day since the 1st. Today is the 22nd.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that today, the 22nd, also the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, this is what I read in Psalm 22:

³Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
⁴In you our fathers trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
⁵To you they cried and were rescued;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

⁶But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
⁷All who see me mock me;
they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
⁸ “He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him;
let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

⁹Yet you are he who took me from the womb;
you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.
¹⁰On you was I cast from my birth,
and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
¹¹Be not far from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is none to help…

…²⁷All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before you.
²⁸For kingship belongs to the LORD,
and he rules over the nations.

²⁹All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
even the one who could not keep himself alive.
³⁰Posterity shall serve him;
it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
³¹they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,
that he has done it.

Dear Father,

I pray for the young women in this world who are pregnant, who are scared, who are desperate. I pray that their hearts would find solace & peace in Christ alone, the only place true peace exists. I pray that you would remind them of the joy that there really is growing inside of them. I pray that they would feel your presence.

And, O Lord, that they would not be deceived. That they would not be lead to terminate, that they would not be lead to do something they would always regret. I pray, Father, that you would put Your people to work. Help us to FIGHT, and even greater than fighting that we would LOVE. Put us to work Lord. Let us LOVE these women & their babies during the pregnancy AND after. Please keep us from the temptation of judgment. Let Your light shine THROUGH us to them, let us be a safe place for them to come.

And God, I also pray for those who have had abortions. Let them know there is comfort in Christ Jesus. Let them know that there is LOVE in Christ Jesus. Let them know there is a grace & forgiveness that never ends IN CHRIST JESUS. And, again, PUT US TO WORK, Father. Let us love them & point them to CHRIST. Let us not point fingers or mock or judge, because that is not Christ in us. But let us love, & help & give a shoulder to cry on.

Please give the pro-life movement a victory in this country. Please let your people come out in massive numbers & demand the RIGHT to life for those who don’t yet have a voice.

Put us to work.

In Jesus’ loving & forgiving name,

Amen

T-Shirts

Some t-shirts that made me chuckle.

sMitten

Are these not the most adorable mittens ever? They are so ridiculous, but I can’t stop giggling.

Reminders

I know I’ve posted these videos various places before, and I do again because watching them always gives me chills and reminds me of what Christ has placed in the very core of my being.

Bublé

Michael Bublé really knows how to write and sing songs to make girls absolutely swoon…

Safe Keeping

There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one,  not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket — safe, dark, motionless, airless — it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell. I believe that the most lawless and inordinate loves are less contrary to God’s will than a self-invited and self-protective lovelessness…

We shall draw nearer to God, not by trying to avoid the sufferings inherent in all loves, but by accepting them and offering them to Him; throwing away all defensive armour. If our hearts need to be broken, and if He chooses this as a way in which they should break,

so be it.

-C.S. Lewis (The Four Loves)

Don’t you love when music lyrics are so close to what you’re feeling it’s strange?

All at Once

All at once,

The world can overwhelm me

There’s almost nothin’ that you could tell me

That could ease my mind

Which way will you run
When it’s always all around you
And the feelin’ lost and found you again
A feelin’ that we have no control
Around the sun
Some say
There’s gonna be the new hell
Some say
It’s still too early to tell
Some say
It really ain’t no myth at all

Keep askin’ ourselves are we really
Strong enough
There’s so many things that we got
Too proud of
We’re too proud of
We’re too proud of

- J. Johnson

Peaceful Thought Amungst a Chaotic Mind

“There is another way to be set free from “praise too dearly loved” and from the power of “shifting fashion.” Our unblessed soul was made for God. Our head was made to rest on his breast. And when it does, we are set free from fashion and the fear of man.” – John Piper

A Little Reflection

While reading through my journal full of all my travel & Capernwray thoughts, I came across a prayer I had written down that I like because it’s exactly what I was thankful for from beginning to end & even now:

April 22, 2009

O, Lord, in the quiet of this morning, this beautiful sunny morning, I ask that You would fill my heart, soul, mind, body, and spirit with satisfaction in Jesus.

I am thankful for coming to this place. I am thankful that You brought me here. I’m thankful for the rolling green hills when I look out my window to the left, I am thankful for the sweet English garden  I see when I look out my window to the right, I am thankful for the warm sun shining down on a cool and crisp morning, I am thankful for the birds I hear chirping and the sheep I hear baa-ing. I am thankful for roommates who are kind, helpful, and fun. I am thankful for speakers who give insightful teachings on Your Word, but are humble and know what they say can be flawed. I am thankful You brought me here with a good friend and I am thankful that even after spending the last month seeing each other non-stop we can still giggle and have fun together. I am thankful You have kept me healthy and even the few times I have felt unhealthy You have had Your hand of healing and comfort upon me. I am thankful You have calmed my nerves. I am thankful for a family at home who cares for me so much and for the prayers they give to You on my behalf. I am thankful for good friends at home who love me and pray for me and even write me while I am away. I am thankful for my relatives who also love and pray for me, and who encouraged me when I was feeling uncomfortable or scared with the idea of being here.

I am thankful for Your Son who died for me so that I may be free from the chains which held me in a place far worse than homesickness; thankful that the only reason I ever feel homesick is because I miss my Heavenly one. Thankful because I am never far from my real Home – thankful that one day I will spend with You in all eternity. Thankful that I am free.

Amen.

Far Away Places Up Close