Its hard when you so desperately want to go, and then you're called to stay for a season :( And watch a lot of other people go as well....
*sigh*
OK, pity party over. Time to go preach myself some truth!
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Monday, October 1, 2012
Steadfast love...and sovereignty
So, just have to write a post to tell about the amazing goodness of the Lord...
I have recently been in need of a new ipod. I use the word "need" loosely, because ipods are things that fall under the catagory of "definitely can live without it." However, as a dance teacher, it is a blessing. My dear little 4gb ipod nano, which I've had since about 2007, has been wonderful. My one and only complaint was the size - unfortunately, 4gb was not enough to hold all the songs I would need to teach, and also have some non-teaching songs on there as well. Every time I needed a new song on there for teaching, some other song (or sometimes album) would need to go away. And then it became a matter of, "which of this music will I miss the least?" and vote something off the island. It got old really fast.
I'd been researching both Ipod Classics and the Ipod touch for a while - Amazon, the Apple store, Craigslist....just hadn't made any major decisions...and also didn't exactly have a ton of money to buy one either.
And then....my old voice teacher (who I haven't seen or talked to in years) contacted me on Facebook, asking if I was still looking for an ipod (I'd made some frustrated ipod-related status on facebook a few weeks earlier). She had an 80gb ipod classic sitting at her house that wasn't being used. I responded saying yes!! And asked how much she was selling it for...
And it turns out she wanted to give it to me. She felt like she was supposed to...
Wait. You're giving me an ipod classic? For free? No way.
I may or may not have cried a little bit. Its just so like the Father to do this! To know that I could use one, and didn't necessarily need an ipod, but would be so blessed by this! Wow. Amazing...just a reminder of the Lord's faithfulness and goodness even in a more challenging season.
And if I'm honest, there have been a lot of moments like that since I've moved back to Colorado. Getting to spend time with my family. Being able to spend some time with sweet friends from far away, and be encouraged by them. Being blessed by friends here at home. Even little silly things, like a pair of skinny jeans that I'd wanted to buy and then someone gave some to me. Or a Starbucks card. Or watch the Lord time the strikes of a lightning storm with some song about His power that "happened" to be playing on KLOVE radio. The blessings have been varied, but they are always personal.
I've written quite a few posts about the Lord's goodness on His blog. I don't know why I am sometimes so surprised by it...perhaps walking through some rougher paths have made me more aware of His almighty power and sovereignty to the point of forgetting His unfailing love and grace. I can't say that I believe the Lord to be One who will never directly cause or make bad (at least, bad according to our definition) things happen in our lives (although He does love us with a great and jealous love), but I do know that any storm, whether "sent" by Him or not, has been at the very least, permitted by Him. And with any storm there comes along side of it some sort of reminder of His goodness to help us remember His lovingkindness.
Its one of the amazing things that I really do love about the Lord - the fact that He is indeed sovereign and Holy and God Almighty, the one who is surrounded by thunder and lightning around His very throne. He cannot be tamed or controlled by any force... or as C.S. Lewis puts it in his book, The Lion, the Witch, and Wardrobe (speaking of Aslan)
And like the character of Aslan of the story, He is the God who has also drawn near to His prodigal sons to reunite them to Himself, and bring many sons to glory. His love for us, and His desire to glorify Himself were His motivation. He has done this at a very costly price to Himself - His own life. Amazing. And this is the gospel - not to create perfectly safe, temporally happy, and easy lives for those who put their trust in Jesus, but to ultimately bring glory to Himself. Which, seeing as that is our ultimate purpose as well (as His creation), leaves us feeling even more fulfilled as we do what we were created to do - glorify our Creator God. He is more than worthy of my obedience, and my waiting upon Him, for His love and His purposes do not fail!
Anyway, just some thoughts :-)
I have recently been in need of a new ipod. I use the word "need" loosely, because ipods are things that fall under the catagory of "definitely can live without it." However, as a dance teacher, it is a blessing. My dear little 4gb ipod nano, which I've had since about 2007, has been wonderful. My one and only complaint was the size - unfortunately, 4gb was not enough to hold all the songs I would need to teach, and also have some non-teaching songs on there as well. Every time I needed a new song on there for teaching, some other song (or sometimes album) would need to go away. And then it became a matter of, "which of this music will I miss the least?" and vote something off the island. It got old really fast.
I'd been researching both Ipod Classics and the Ipod touch for a while - Amazon, the Apple store, Craigslist....just hadn't made any major decisions...and also didn't exactly have a ton of money to buy one either.
And then....my old voice teacher (who I haven't seen or talked to in years) contacted me on Facebook, asking if I was still looking for an ipod (I'd made some frustrated ipod-related status on facebook a few weeks earlier). She had an 80gb ipod classic sitting at her house that wasn't being used. I responded saying yes!! And asked how much she was selling it for...
And it turns out she wanted to give it to me. She felt like she was supposed to...
Wait. You're giving me an ipod classic? For free? No way.
I may or may not have cried a little bit. Its just so like the Father to do this! To know that I could use one, and didn't necessarily need an ipod, but would be so blessed by this! Wow. Amazing...just a reminder of the Lord's faithfulness and goodness even in a more challenging season.
And if I'm honest, there have been a lot of moments like that since I've moved back to Colorado. Getting to spend time with my family. Being able to spend some time with sweet friends from far away, and be encouraged by them. Being blessed by friends here at home. Even little silly things, like a pair of skinny jeans that I'd wanted to buy and then someone gave some to me. Or a Starbucks card. Or watch the Lord time the strikes of a lightning storm with some song about His power that "happened" to be playing on KLOVE radio. The blessings have been varied, but they are always personal.
I've written quite a few posts about the Lord's goodness on His blog. I don't know why I am sometimes so surprised by it...perhaps walking through some rougher paths have made me more aware of His almighty power and sovereignty to the point of forgetting His unfailing love and grace. I can't say that I believe the Lord to be One who will never directly cause or make bad (at least, bad according to our definition) things happen in our lives (although He does love us with a great and jealous love), but I do know that any storm, whether "sent" by Him or not, has been at the very least, permitted by Him. And with any storm there comes along side of it some sort of reminder of His goodness to help us remember His lovingkindness.
Its one of the amazing things that I really do love about the Lord - the fact that He is indeed sovereign and Holy and God Almighty, the one who is surrounded by thunder and lightning around His very throne. He cannot be tamed or controlled by any force... or as C.S. Lewis puts it in his book, The Lion, the Witch, and Wardrobe (speaking of Aslan)
Safe? Of course He isn't safe....but He's good. He's the King.
And like the character of Aslan of the story, He is the God who has also drawn near to His prodigal sons to reunite them to Himself, and bring many sons to glory. His love for us, and His desire to glorify Himself were His motivation. He has done this at a very costly price to Himself - His own life. Amazing. And this is the gospel - not to create perfectly safe, temporally happy, and easy lives for those who put their trust in Jesus, but to ultimately bring glory to Himself. Which, seeing as that is our ultimate purpose as well (as His creation), leaves us feeling even more fulfilled as we do what we were created to do - glorify our Creator God. He is more than worthy of my obedience, and my waiting upon Him, for His love and His purposes do not fail!
Anyway, just some thoughts :-)
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