But we have these treasures in jars of clay...

Tonight I was sitting here going through my dashboard, looking through the blogs that I have found via Pinterest. The majority of the blogs I follow were the source of pins, or in the case of one, was linked from Pinterest to one blogger to the second blogger. 


Did that make sense? 


~~Well, it did in my mind.~~ 


Anyways, through two blogs in particular, I feel as though I have been blessed. The first has a playlist, rotating through music. I went so far as to leave the page up to listen to it! The first song was an acoustic version of Jesus Loves Me by Andy Leftwich. I've listened to it cycle through a couple of times tonight! 


Not growing up in the church, I missed out on the traditional hymns. In my car, my radio plays K-LOVE constantly and I know the contemporary songs; at our church before we moved I was able to sing along with everything At church now, I play my clarinet and do not sing the hymns and am still not very familiar with most of what I play. Later on down the list is are arrangements of I Have Decided to Follow Jesus and of  Jesus Loves Me. It made me think- no matter how "old, slow, boring, etc." that the old hymns seem sometimes, the message has always been the same. Without the traditional hymns, the contemporary music couldn't follow. 


Take the Gungor Band for example. One of their songs I have had in my head is titled Beautiful Things. They sing that God makes "beautiful things out of dust" and also makes "beautiful things out of us."

All this earth
Could all that is lost ever be found
Could a garden come up from this ground at all?

They remind me that God can take the driest ground, the most barren land and turn it into a beautiful garden. He makes all things new and turns them into beautiful things. No matter how dry we are when we first turn to Him, He makes us into fertile and beautiful gardens. His power and love is shown through His "garden" so to speak.

Below is one of my favorite passages, 2 Corinthians 4:7-18. I love what it says- that we are afflicted but not crushed because we have Jesus! We should not waste our time on momentary and "transient" problems, because waiting for us are heavenly, permanent, ETERNAL beauties! 

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.
Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. ~2 Corinthians 4:7-18 ESV
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Another six months...

Almost to the date.

Sorry folks, I've been busy!

(And I say folks like there are people that read this... HA! If in fact you do, please say hello!)

See, wha' ha' happen was, we moved. Across time zones, from Lexington, KY to Jackson, TN. With two dogs. A job for my husband (his first post-collegiate, teaching job!). My last semester of college (!!!!).

As hard as it was to goodbye to all our friends in KY, I was glad to get out of Cat Country. I terribly miss IBC,  the Young Married Class, Pulse, the weekly Bible studies, and the general fellowship I got to experience for a year. However, it was very nice to move back towards home, to people I have known for years, and to the church where my husband and I were married a year and a half ago. I was glad to finish school, finally, and to get everything behind me.

I feel so blessed for our time spent in Lexington. We spent our first year as husband and wife there, I had some fantastic times when I was subbing, and I know that God put us right where we needed to be.

I can say the same for being back home. We are near family (literally 5 minutes from my in-laws), I student taught (4-12 music), and learned so much. I even won an award- the Carl Seale Student Teacher Award- nominated by my teachers and selected by a committee in the College of Education! I was daggum proud of the work I did this semester and it feels very nice to be recognized. Now, the plan is to not disappoint later! And that whole find-a-job thing... I know that when the right position opens, God will put me there. One of my best friends from Lex was going through a job hunt; I looked up to her faith in those four months, and I just hope I can be as patient and as faithful as she was.

'K.

In my abundant time off (read: when I could not sleep at night), I re(-re-re)read Jane Eyre. Every time I have read the book, I find something to take away from it. This read through, I had to wait until the last chapter, and almost to the last page of the book, to find this gem:


"I know what it is to live entirely for and with what I love best on earth. I hold myself supremely blest-- blest beyond what language can express; because I am my husband's life as fully as he is mine." 


This read was the first time since I married my man, and it might be more accurately put that it was the first time since before we started dating, many moons ago. When I read the book in high school and early college (both times, just because...) I did not have someone in that aspect of my life and, while her words were pretty and poetic, I could not relate. I now know what it is to live for someone, to know that they live for me, and that I will do anything in my power to let him know it, too.

Love you, Tony.

~

Ok, I'm out. Tony has been in bed for a few hours now, and the pups have been asleep for almost as long. I think I shall join them!

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O Praise Him

So... It's been a while!

When I started this blog, it was certainly not with the intention of six months passing before posting again, but you know how life is... between dealing with some losses in my life, another puppy(!), being sick myself and taking care of two sick pups... Life took over!

This is Alex- he's a sweetheart!

And here's Lillie- the result of a day at the dog park!

However, no matter how much life gets in the way, I know that God is always in control. I know that He will not allow anything that gets in the way of His plan for me to touch me, or harm me, or change me. This is not to say that I won't have hardships, and that I won't have trials, but this is to say that if it's in HIS plan for me, I will be OK!

The church service Tony and I attend is known as Pulse; it is a more contemporary service aimed at people in their teens through their 20's and 30's, but the Message is still the same. There are more people wearing jeans and Converses than their are suits and ties, and the music is more guitars and K-LOVE than it is an orchestra and a hymnal, but His word is what is preached. In the front row are three or four boys (I say boys- they look about 22) that fully belong to Him. I love watching them during the worship songs- they are not ashamed to raise their hands for His glory or to go to their knees in prayer. They remind me of another young man, from a YouTube video. It's in the morning in New York City, people are getting their coffees, the streets are wet and puddled from a rain the night before. A young man steps out of his apartment, puts on his headphones and starts to walk. As his music plays and the lyrics start he starts to silently sing along. As the music picks up, so does his response. As he is walking, other people are looking at him but he pays them no notice; he is praising his Lord.

Near the end of the song, powerful in itself, he crosses the street, stops in the median and raises his hands, singing out loud.Cars are passing him, people are walking around him, maybe grumbling about the crazy guy blocking the sidewalk, but he doesn't care. As he falls to his knees and prays, a mother rushes her child past him; cars are trying to make the left turn in front of him; the city keeps moving.

What isn't seen, however, is how he might have affected the people who saw him that morning. What if he was the only reminder of Christ for a passerby, for a driver in a taxi, or for that child that is rushed by his mother?

What is I am the only reminder of Christ for someone in my life, someone that I pass by? What if hearing K-LOVE when my car windows are down, or when I'm humming a tune walking through the halls at school, is the only opportunity for someone to hear that they are loved, that God loves them? I should be as unabashed as those guys in the front pew, but I stay in the back so that when I come in late I don't disturb anyone else, so that only a few people can see me.




You can try to fix your broken empire
Put bricks on a cracked foundation
But you'll be building castles on the sand
There's power in the blood of Jesus
Your father's screaming Just Come Home!
He's reaching out His hands!

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