New blog ...

I have started a new blog ... I might use this one for my devotionally thoughts but the other one will be mine and Jack's life ... especially our upcoming summer in Africa!
Check us out:
http://jackandtl.blogspot.com

A new porch ...

I have found a new porch to rest on ... my new house. Well, I moved into Jack's trailer when we got married and it has a BIG front porch!! It has always been nice but then we moved my rocking chair over and now its home :-)

So again I have to thank Caedmon's Call for this thought :-) Their music is good seriously ... this is from Overdressed and the name of the song is Sacred.

"when I forget to drink from you I can feel the banks harden - Lord, make me like a stream to feed the garden"

WOW! Seriously read it again (now) ok. When I forget to take time with the Lord either in prayer or reading his word is it any wonder that I'm ill - NO! My banks are hardening and I am not a flowing stream. Now my Mom will tell you that I am a babbling brook :-) (hehehehe - guess I talk a lot) but seriously when I am truly in fellowship with the Lord my life should be a stream to feed those who are dying either because of heat or lack of care. If I myself am dry and dying I can't do the job the Lord has called me to do.
The head pastor where I am interning this summer has challenged the staff to be more intentional about sharing the gospel and then he holds us accountable to it - we have to report on Monday mornings. Yeah, if I'm not a babbling brook that week the whole staff knows. ick! Praise the Lord for accountability!
Psalm 1 is a great chapter to memorize. "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers."
Be a babbling brook ... :-) It's fun!!

Blogging again ...

I'm gonna blog again ... a lot has changed in the last year :-) I'm married for one! and I LOVE IT!!! Totally recommend it!!! and I'm about to graduate!!! Stay posted for more interesting stuff .... :-)

Love these lyrics by Mercy Me.

"... In Christ, there are no goodbye
And in Christ, there is no end
So I'll hold onto Jesus with all that I have
To see you again ..."

"... I close my eyes and I see your face
If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place
Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
I've never been more homesick than now."

guess I'm just homesick for Jesus ...
Oh for the nations to hear .... that He may come back!!

The Back Porch has changed ...

The Back Porch has changed at our house ... It's not quite as friendly and inviting as it once was, there isn't necessarily anything back there to welcome you (besides the rockers and swings) , you see our dog always ruled the roost on the back porch and we had to say goodbye to her yesterday. She was quick to greet you and always thought you were out there for her - no matter the real reason you were out there. It was pretty much awful - not what I wanted for the day after Christmas. While others were fighting and pushing returning things at the mall we were talking things over with a vet and wiping our wet eyes. We cried a lot and continue to as we think of her. She was a companion for the whole family. For Billy, the dog that he wanted at sixteen. He trained her and raised her right. For Me, well she abused me but for summers like this last one she was my partner at work, and managed to take me for a brisk walk every evening. For Mom, she was a companion on days of sickness and a protector when Dad was gone. For Dad, she would do anything. She was always under his desk at work and under foot when it was time to go. For Men at ARC's in three different cities, she was therapy - she made it like Home for a lot of men recovering from Drug and Alcohol addictions. She always wanted to be in the middle of everything - She was the best dog a family could ask for. She had a personality like no other - Oh how we miss her!! Praise the Lord we have a God that comforts even when we mourn the death of a dog. The Back Porch at our house has changed ... I am so thankful for a savior that doesn't!!!
Bless the Lord, Oh my Soul and ALL that is within me Bless HIS HOLY NAME!

Quick verse ...

After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward. " (Genesis 15:1)

I could write for days on all the comfort this brings to me ... Real quick (I am taking a break from writing papers to write about something that actually matters to me!) ... (1) the LORD says do not be afraid but He makes it personal He says Abrams name ... The Lord knows my name and wants to comfort me ... AMAZING!!! (2) He is my shield - He is going to be my protection, the thing between me and harm ... not hard times but even in those He will protect me and teach me (3) My reward - He is ALL that I need - HE is sufficient ... no matter what life brings my way as long as I get HIM what else could I want?!?!

Oh the comfort of this verse as I am bogged down by the weight of school ... PRAISE HIM!!!

My new favorite chorus:
"My chains are gone, I've been set FREE!!! My God my Savior has ransomed me, like a flood HIS mercy reigns, UNENDING LOVE, AMAZING GRACE ..."

Back to papers and projects ...

Truly Believing ...

(Sorry it's been so long - like forever - School is busier than EVER and of course life is CRAZY - but the Lord is so faithful to teach me - I just don't always have time to "blog it" for ya'll to read)

This Sunday during church I was reading further ahead than the preacher was preaching and I ran across this verse that I have read a gazillion times but something on Sunday made me think ...
John 4:42 "They said to the woman, 'We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."
WOW! They knew when they heard His voice that He was not "just a great man" but truly the SAVIOR OF THE WORLD. How often do I think that He died for me and for my sins and He's mine all mine. All of those things are true, He is mine and He did die for my sins but He truly died for EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE. The gospel is not just for the middle/upper class white american its for the poor homeless man in San Francisco, and the businessman traveling back and forth to asia and it is for the CEO in South Africa trying to make it and the young children in Russia living in an orphanage. It is truly GOOD NEWS to those people who have not heard.
This also bring to mind the many americans who have grown up in the church especially the Bible Belt who for so long have relied on "Mamma and Grandmamas" faith that they have yet to make it their own. How true this statement can be for them when they no longer believe because of what they have heard but now they have truly experienced Him and His grace.
Oh how sweet - His grace - Amazing Grace.

John 4:23-24 " Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is Spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."