When Life Happens.

The intention of this blog post is not to sound like Debbie Downer, but instead to acknowledge that God is continually & forever faithful. When life happens, He is always there as the constant Protector & Provider. I would not be able to face this life without Him.

December has been an eventful month (to put it lightly).

A couple of weeks ago Rob's phone disappeared & replacing a phone is not a inexpensive venture. Thankfully he will have a nice, workable phone that will allow him to do the things he needs to do for his many business endeavors.

The clutch master cylinder in my car went out. Don't ask me what that is or what is does, because I haven't the slightest, but I do know that after replacing it my car drives much smoother.

My (fantastic, strong, patient, loving, encouraging) mother (who we lovingly refer to as Meme), & one of my closest friends, was diagnosed last week with breast cancer. At this point we do not know what stage it is, but we do know that God is our Healer & we are believing for her healing. "...I am the Lord, your Healer." (Exodus 15:26) My younger sister battled cancer 18 years ago & is a living testament to our Lord the Healer. I want to thank everyone who has surrounded us with prayer & support & request that you continue to do so as we embark on this journey as a family.

We went up to Mill City yesterday with my grandparents to get a Christmas tree. Meme & I are presently waiting for Rob to begin decorating the tree- hopefully it will involve some hot cocoa & Christmas movies too.

I will be taking a break from school to assist Meme with her treatment. I feel strongly that I need to be available to her during this time & want to serve her to the best of my abilities. She has always been there for us kids & now it's time for us to show her our support. I will still be working as much as possible throughout the course of her treatment

I am looking forward to a relaxing & joyful Christmas holiday with the people I love the most- making memories that will last throughout the rest of my life.

Cheers.

'These things I have spoken to you, 

that in Me you may have peace. 

In the world you will have tribulation; 

but be of good cheer, 

I have overcome the world.'

John 16:33 

My content little life.

I realize just how cliche it is to post a blog about the things in my life that bless me on a day like today (Thanksgiving), but I also think it's important to recall those things more often than I do & why not do that now.

First off, I am thankful for a Saviour. My life would not be the same without the ardent love & indelible grace of Jesus Christ. As we enter into the Christmas season, I never want to forget the best present of all: "For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given; & the government shall be upon His shoulder, & His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government & of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David & over His kingdom, to establish it & to uphold it with justice & righteousness from this time forth & forevermore." (Isaiah 9:6-7 ESV)

Today I get to celebrate the first of many Thanksgivings with the love of my life. It's funny when love finds you in an unexpected place & it blossoms after a casual friendship. Rob, you are my prince & you balance me in every way. Thank you for your love, support, friendship, humour, & warmth. "Whatever our souls are made of, his & mine are the same." (Emily Bronte)

My mom has always been a shining light in my life: she brightens my days & guides me (graciously) in the right direction. I love you, mom. Thank you for supporting me & bestowing love & grace all of my life. I adore the friendship that we have built through the years.

I am also thankful for my sister. She's our miracle. After a year long battle against cancer (1993-1994), she overcame & I seriously don't know how I would have survived without her. She is my hero & has brought into my life two beautiful nieces & a handsome nephew, as well as my wonderful brother-in-law- I always wanted a brother & their family blesses me always.

My father has been a caring figure in my life for always. I appreciate the friendship we have developed & enjoy our conversations & his continued wisdom. Thank you.

It's always difficult to find a church that fits you, & we not only found one that fits us, but one where the people have become family. I am so thankful for the love & support from all of the people at New Beginnings Christian Center. We love you all!

I have been with Starbucks on & off for the past three years. It's amazing to have a job that is flexible & takes really good care of you. Remember whenever you buy your coffee that you're not only buying a great product, but you're helping support me (& other baristas) & all of the benefits that my company gives to me, & you're helping keep me employed. I love my job.

There are also so many friends & family members who need to be acknowledged on here, but there's not enough time or space to do so. If you are one of the many people who has graced my life (& Rob's life) throughout the years please know that we love you & we have been blessed by your presence in our lives no matter how great or how small it may be.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Heart Like Mine

I ain't the kind you take home to mama
I ain't the kind to wear no ring
Somehow I always get stronger
When I'm on my second drink

Even though I hate to admit it
Sometimes I smoke cigarettes
Christian folks say I should quit it
I just smile & say "God bless"

Cause I heard Jesus He drank wine & I bet we'd get along just fine
He could calm the storm & heal the blind & I bet He'd understand a heart like mine

Daddy cried when he saw my tattoo
Said he'd love me anyway
My brother got the brains of the family
So I thought I'd learn to sing

Cause I heard Jesus He drank wine & I bet we'd get along just fine
He could calm the storm & heal the blind & I bet He'd understand a heart like mine

I'll fly away from it all one day
I'll fly away...

These are the days that I will remember
When my name's called on the road
They'll meet me with two long stemmed glasses
& make a toast to me coming home


Cause I heard Jesus He drank wine & I bet we'd get along just fine
He could calm the storm & heal the blind & I bet He'd understand a heart like mine


Miranda Lambert

Twelve Weeks

As of yesterday, I am officially twelve weeks into achieving my culinary degree through Le Cordon Bleu. It's funny how serious you get about your education when you have an understanding of the debt you're getting into. I have my Bachelor's degree in music & I graduated from college with a 3.49, but I was never serious about my degree. In college, my professors would let us know up front how many absent days we are allotted for the semester & I would save them up carefully & use every single one. Now my chefs also let us know how many days we can be absent, but after missing one day this cycle due to illness I realized that I would rather come in sick than get that far behind again.

Since I mentioned finances, I will admit that they have been floating around in my head a lot lately. Recently, I finished paying off an accumulative debt of over $8,000 I had racked up in credit cards & fees. It feels amazing to finally be rid of that monster looming over my head at every turn. My amazing, loving boyfriend & I also opened up a joint checking/savings account to plan for our future together. I never realized just how scary the words "joint checking" are until we were sitting in front of the banker & filling out the paperwork. In reality though, I am so happy that we are budgeting & planning together & creating healthy habits that will one day transfer over into our marriage.

One thing that I don't have a lot of is time. My classes are butt-crack-of-dawn early & then I work afternoons & evenings. Sleep is something I hope to have over Christmas break, or maybe next summer sometime. Thankfully my job is amazing & I can look forward to it instead of dread going. Six more weeks & then it's Christmas vacation! I will be hibernating during this period of time & picking up as many shifts at work as I can...& possibly watching a Christmas movie here or there. I have never been in a relationship during the Holidays & I am so happy to be able to create new memories & traditions with the love of my life. He's a bit of a "bah humbug", so I am hoping to coerce him with a bit of Christmas cheer. 

This Christmas will be very exciting as we will have a new addition to the family- my sister & her husband are expecting their third child (& first son) any day now. My oldest niece is staying for a weekend sleepover & her little sister was very disappointed she could not join us. I made her a promise that we will have a play date just her & me soon. Being an auntie is the best!

If you are a lover of music, I have three albums to recommend to you:
"The Whole Love" by Wilco
Bon Iver's new self-titled album
"Great Great God" by Gateway Worship

I have fallen in love with Wilco. My work friends joke that we have a copy of their new album for every room in the house (four copies in total...mostly by accident). Bon Iver's album did not leave my cd player for weeks. And "Great Great God" was a song I fell in love with on my trip to Dallas back in February & I have been anxiously awaiting it's studio release, as my only copy of the song prior to was taken from a Gateway Church small group devotional. All of the songs have been on repeat in my head for the last week. Amazing.

Fisher of Men

Fisher of Men

He tied a feather to the hook for to get you to look
And by the time you know what took you, you already took
He's got a line in the water, he's a fisher of men

He put the thorns on the rose for to get you to bleed
And by the time you know what stuck you, the pain's in deep
He's got a line in the water, he's a fisher of men
He's got a lot on the line, he's a fisher of men

He's a fisher of men and he's wise as a prize fighter
He's like a soul miner mining souls on down the great divide

He put his name in my verses and his name in the hook
Before I knew what I was cooking, it was already cooked
He's got a line in the water, he's a fisher of men

And he put his name in my chorus like the dark before the dawn
So that in my hour of weakness, I'd remember it's his song
He's got a line in the water, he's a fisher of men 

Words & Music by M. Ward

ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

"There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction."

Winston Churchill

A good friend of mine wants to get a tattoo that says "change is constant, growth is optional". I love the truth in that. Because life is a series of changes, I have found myself in the midst of some recently & felt compelled to expand on my new life journeys.

One of the goals that I have set for myself before I turn thirty is to return to school. I've tossed around various degree/certification ideas over the past four years, but never settled on anything that sat well with me. At first I considered getting my CNA so I can potentially use the skills overseas on the mission field, but I have a weak stomach & can hardly handle blood when I pop a zit, so I crossed that idea off of my list. I looked into Event & Meeting Planning certifications, but they are not very prevalent in the Northwest so it too was crossed off. I looked into Communications, Journelism, Viticulture, MBA Programs, Mastors Programs in Music, among others, but all of these ideas stayed in that idea phase & never grew beyond that. I felt that it would be silly for me to take out a loan if I was not one hundred percent certain that I was pursuing something I would love & benefit from. After a lot of thought & prayer, I considered my long term dreams & goals & then established the game plan to get myself there.

Now for the unveiling... *drum roll*

My dream for the past five years has been to open up my own restaurant one day, so I decided to revisit the idea of Culinary School. I inquired at Le Cordon Bleu about the Culinary Arts program & a week later was accepted & enrolled in classes with a job lined up to sustain me through school. It is amazing how quickly & smoothly the whole thing came together. I begin classes on the fifteenth of August & start at Starbucks a week from today. I am so excited about this next series of life journeys & am so thankful for the support & encouragement I have received from friends & family along the way.

Life will certainly be busy again, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Thankfulness: Volume One

"Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;

for His steadfast love endures forever!"

Psalm 118:1

The Bible is continually telling us to "give thanks to the Lord" & what I've realized is that, not only does He deserve our praise & gratitude, but it certainly makes my perspective on life easier when I look for things to be thankful to God for. That being said, I'm going to keep a "thankfulness" list from now on...right here. I encourage you to keep a list somewhere that you can look upon & remember the grace & love of our Saviour...& to share in the praises & thanksgivings of others.

1. Thank You for Your indelible grace that covers my life & that it's not dependent upon me.
2. For covering me with Your love & showing me how precious I am.
3. For a wonderful, beautiful mother that I can look up to, who encourages me & supports me.
4. For healing my sister & establishing an unbreakable bond with her...I know that she will go on to do greater things than I ever could.
5. For a best friend who knows me inside & out...thirteen years together & counting.
6. For a church that seeks Your presence & acts as my extended family.
7. For the gift of music.
8. For all of the girl friends I have had the pleasure of getting to know through the years...they keep my life entertaining.
9. For providing for me even when things seem dry.
10. For my past that has taught me so much about myself & has given me experiences that can be used for Your glory.
11. For the privilege of an education & the continued thirst for knowledge.
12. That I get to work every week with the most amazing group of musicians & minister to Your heart with them.
13. For a really cute car.
14. For the two most adorable nieces a girl could ask for & a little nephew on the way...they bring joy to my life.
15. That I am able to live in a beautiful, green part of the world & that life really is far easier here than in many places on earth.
16. For cupcakes.
17. For a pastor who seeks after you & leads with authority & grace.
18. For a fantastic set of grandparents who have established a legacy & heritage for us.
19. That I can sit down & write when speaking fails me.
20. For my health & the promise that "By Your stripes we are healed".
21. For all of the people You've placed in my life, they continue to teach me & enrich my life.

Inspiring. Entertaining. Peculiar.

I am a quote keeper. I have a list of quotes in my phone that when put into Microsoft Word came out at a grand total of nine pages. I slimmed it down & these are my favorites. Enjoy.

"Jesus is the ‘I AM’ not the ‘I WAS’ or ‘I WILL’...He is your present help in time of need...TODAY!"- Pastor Judah

"The difference between cowards and champions is in what you do, not how you feel.” - Leon Fontaine

"The most unhappy people are the ones who always undervalue what they have & overvalue what others have." - Reverend Run

"Whatever our souls are made of, his & mine are the same." - Emily Brontë

"Grow old with me! The best is yet to be." - Robert Browning

"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams" - Dr. Seuss

"Real love stories never have endings." - Richard Bach

"Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with." - Mark Twain

"The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials." - Chinese proverb

"I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind.
Some come from ahead and some from behind.
But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see.
Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!"
- Dr. Seuss

"There are no shortcuts to any place worth going." - Helen Keller

"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...it's about learning how to dance in the rain." - Vivian Greene

"Our lives end the day we become silent about the things that matter. " MLK Jr.

"To love at all is to be vulnerable" - CS Lewis

“A Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t.” -Charles Spurgeon

"'I did' beats 'I will' any day." – Cyle

"Belong. Believe. Behave." - Judah Smith

"Our most basic emotional need is not to fall in love, but to be genuinely loved by another- to know that love grows out of reason & choice, not instinct. I need to be loved by someone who chooses to love me- who sees in me something worth loving." - Gary Chapman

"Don't let your issue become your identity." – Mike

“If you cannot find peace within yourself, you will never find it anywhere else.” —Marvin Gaye

"God responds to priests not politicians. Politicians pursue the heart of people, priests pursue the heart of God." - Zach Neese

"We can't measure something that's immeasurable." - Thomas Miller

"Gods joy and peace end where we stop them, when we take ourselves out of the equation. He is unending!" - Pastor Judah

“God’s raising up a generation that would rather carry a sword than a title.” -Damon Thompson

"You could get your heart broken or you could have the greatest love affair of your life, but you'll never know unless you try." - When in Rome

"The enemy will try to steal a gifting that's not yielded to the Holy Spirit." - Kari Jobe

"Hey! The moon followed me!" - my neice

"We're meant to lose people we love, how else would we know how important they are to us." - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

"Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality" - Warren G. Bennis

"Praise is an explosion of faith that allows you to run straight into the loving arms of Jesus." - Darlene Zschech

"I'm an early bird & I'm a night owl, so I'm wise & I have worms." - Michael Scott

"The right manner of growth is to grow less in one's own eyes." Thomas Watson

"First priority is God's presence before His plan. His plan is a byproduct of a life in His presence." - Elijah Waters

"Holiness isn't rules put ON a believer, it's the reality of God withIN a believer" - Elijah Waters

"Give your best today & I will better your best tomorrow" - God (Judah Smith)

"Favor is a result of grace which is a result of God's choosing you." - Judah Smith

"Respond to God, don't react to life." - Judah Smith

"Jesus was radical!! Anything short of being a radical believer can't be normal Christianity. Radical Christianity has become rational Christianity. Let's get disgruntled." - Pastor Bowles

"Sometimes to lose balance for love is part of living a balanced life." - Eat. Pray. Love.

"You don't need a man, Liz, you need a champion." - Eat. Pray. Love.

"The will of God won't take you where the grace of God can't keep you." - Pastor Stan

“We are all mortal until the first kiss and the second glass of wine.” - Eduardo Galeano

"Love, it will not betray, dismay, or enslave you—it will set you free to be more like the man you were made to be." - Mumford and Sons

"Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for." -Epicurus

"Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” - Howard Thurman

"Faith is not believing in my own unshakable belief. Faith is believing an unshakable God when everything in me trembles & quakes." - Beth Moore

"You can't lead people to worship unless you worship." - Tommy Walker

"God didn't send His Son to make bad people good, but to make dead people alive." - Leonard Ravenhill

"Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world." - Walt Disney

"God isn't looking for perfect vessels, He's looking for yielded vessels." - Catherine Kulhman

"Yeah! I went hunting once. Shot the deer in the leg...had to kill it with a shovel, it took about an hour. Why do you ask?" - Michael Scott

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act but a habit" -Aristotle

"Successful men do daily what unsuccessful men do occasionally." -Pastor Brent Sparks

"I don't dream at night, I dream all day; I dream for a living." -Steven Spielberg

"Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men." - Goethe

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

“They tricked us into reading a book by enticing us with promises of vulgarity.” - Cartman

“Feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme, get on up it's bobsled time!” - Cool Runnings

“I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best.” - Marilyn Monroe

“I shall keep the silence of my heart with greater care, so that in the silence of my heart I hear His words of comfort, & from the fullness of my heart I comfort Jesus in the distressing disguise of the poor. For in the silence & purity of the heart God speaks.” - Mother Teresa

“My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start. So far today, I have finished 2 bags of M&M's and a chocolate cake. I feel better already.” - Dave Barry

“The only way to get started is to stop talking and start doing!” - Walt Disney

‘No statue has ever been erected to a critic, but to the people they have criticized, many statues have gone up.” - Glenn W. Turner

“Think of it as an investment in personal expression.” - Piano Shop on the Left Bank

“One day, a person will come along who will make you realize why it never worked with anyone else.” - Cyle

'You'll regret the things you didn't do more than the ones you did.' - Cyle

“I don't know what it is with girls & vampires!” - Darren

“If you focus on what you've left behind, you'll never be able to see what lies ahead.” - Ratatouille

“You rap like Charles Barkley” - Tyler

“I just got this like eight years ago!!” - Tina Fey

"If love be rough with you, be rough with love; prick love for pricking, & you beat love down." - Romeo & Juliet

“Shelly, I'm like Ariel & you are my fish!!” - my neice

“The level of rock depends on the size of your guitar strap.” - Jordan

“An apple's the gateway to steak.” - Paul

“If we don't know where we're going we'll find a sign in anything.” - Abbey

“The goal is soul.” - Gretsch

“I long to accomplish a great and noble task; but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.” - Helen Keller

“If we will walk with God for a lifetime, we have to be willing to embrace mystery.” - Pastor John Stumbo

“I like your Christ, I do no like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” - Mohandas Gandhi

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” - Helen Keller

“Get out of the bitter barn & play in the hay!” - Phoebe

“Begin each day as if it were on purpose.” - Hitch

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” - Eleanor Roosevelt

“Whenever I'm about to do something, I think "would an idiot do that?" And if they would, I do not do that thing.” - Dwight Schrute

“You can observe a lot by watching.” - Yogi Berra

“If you always do what you've always done, you'll always have what you've always had.” - Cyle

"Love is begun by time & time qualifies the spark & fire of it" - Shakespeare

“I'm madly in love with you, and it's not because of your brains or personality.” - Little Miss Sunshine

“I was finishing dinner at a restaurant last night. The waitress asked, 'you want a box for that?' I said 'no, but I'll wrestle you for it’.” - John Mayer

Identity: Treasured Possession

When I meet new people I experience a lot of anxiety. It is not because I dislike meeting new people—people are one of the things I am most passionate about, but I fear that I make a bad first impression. A few weeks ago, I was preparing to attend an event where I would be meeting some important people. The anxiety I felt leading up to that point was overwhelming. I spent a lot of time in prayer prior to it, just to saturate myself in the Lord’s presence & finally I decided to pray over my insecurity of bad impressions. The Lord immediately spoke this to me very clearly, the way a Father would: “You are my delicately planned treasured possession—I did not make a mistake when I created you”. At this point I began to weep because I was reminded of how much my Daddy loves me & how proud He is of me even when I let my insecurities get in the way.

“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine." Exodus 19:5

Over the past few weeks, I have been preparing music for a few upcoming weddings. One wedding is relatively soon & the couple has asked me to sing & play “My Beloved” by Kari Jobe at a point in the ceremony. The words in the song speak of the husband & wife romance between God & His people—something that should be mirrored in the relationship between husbands & wives on earth.

In the New Testament, Jesus tells two stories describing how much we are worth to Him—the first of a man who discovered a hidden treasure in a field, he went & sold everything he had to buy this land & make the treasure his own. The second is of a merchant in search of pearls, he comes to find one pearl that has “great value” & he sells all of his belongings to buy this pearl. (Matthew 13:44-46) To the man who bought the field, the treasure was so valuable that he protected it until he could make it his own. To the merchant, he found one pearl that caused all other pearls to fail in comparison & possessing that one pearl meant more than all of his securities in life.

Gary Chapman, author of The Five Love Languages, wrote: “Our most basic emotional need is not to fall in love, but to be genuinely loved by another—to know that love grows out of reason & choice, not instinct. I need to be loved by someone who chooses to love me—who sees in me something worth loving.”

God loves us in this way. He chooses to love us & His expression of that love was to send His Son to earth as a man to die a horrible death on a cross to redeem us & call us back to Him. He sees in us something of value—something to be treasured. He will go to any lengths to express His love for us, all we need to do is accept His grace & choose to love Him in return. We are His treasured possession.

Identity: Priests

* I was asked to write a short segment for the June edition of our monthly church bulletin. Coming up on June 22nd I will be teaching on praise & worship then we will have an extended evening of corporate praise & worship, so I was hoping to use the article as a preface for my sermon. As it turns out, I may have dug into something new entirely, & I am now planning to write a series of blog articles on our identity as defined by the Bible. They will hopefully be weekly installments released every Wednesday. I would like to invite you to follow along as I journey to discover the deeper meanings of our identities in Jesus Christ.

In our culture we seek to be identified by obscurities. We strive to be our own person & control who or what defines us, but the trouble is we have lost sight of our true identity by not wanting to be identifiable. Webster’s dictionary defines identity as: “sameness in all that constitutes the objective reality of a thing: oneness; distinguishing character or personality of an individual: individuality”. By this definition, it is safe to conclude that our identity not only speaks to our uniqueness, but also to our unity. For example, my name is Michelle Perdue & I am a Christian—the first of course speaking of my individuality & the second to my heritage & oneness as a follower of Christ. As devoted followers of Christ, it is important that we seek out how the Bible identifies us in order to effectively function in our identity in Christ & not lose sight of who we are.

“You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. . . You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” 1 Peter 2:5,9

In the Old Testament, priests could only be male descendents of the house of Levi. We are now under a new covenant of Grace through Jesus Christ & all of us as Christians are called to be priests. I am a priest. You are a priest. Now that we have been identified as priests, it is important that we study out our “job description”. Our responsibilities as priests can be found in Deuteronomy 10:8: to carry the Ark of the Covenant, to minister to the Lord, & to bless the people in His name.

Our first duty is to carry the Ark of the Covenant—or to carry the presence of the Lord. We have the responsibility of carrying His presence with us, because our bodies are vessels (1 Corinthians 3:16) in which the Holy Spirit dwells—which means that we have the opportunity to allow people to encounter the presence of God every place we go. We are called to create “meeting places” between God & man. As we learn to identify with this, we should also consider how we interact with people as carriers of the Lord’s presence.

Our second duty is to minister to the Lord. Ministering to God means that we are here for His glory, His desires, His pleasure, His will, His entertainment, to serve & honor Him. It is not our role to be consumers of worship or to receive from worship, but to minister to God in worship. Our worship is full obedience & submission to God. The posture of our bodies should express & reflect the posture of our hearts toward God.

Our final duty as priests is to bless His people. A common Levitical blessing goes like this: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you & be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you & give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26) The purpose of this blessing is not for the desires of the people; instead the purpose is to call out everything they need for their futures—preparing their destiny.

Let us make a commitment, today, to come together as a unified family & discover the ways that Jesus Christ identifies us & learn to function in our identity to bring glory to His Name & draw people toward our glorious, loving Saviour.

I am pretty sure this IS how it works...

Romance & Chivalry.

When we look at classic romance stories they generally have a common theme wherein the two lovers strive to overcome obstacles (whether it be internal or brought about by an outside source) that keep them from being together: Romeo & Juliet, Elizabeth Bennett & Mr. Darcy, Tristan & Isolde, Odysseus & Penelope, Robin Hood & Maid Marian, Eloise & Abelard, Lancelot & Guinevere, Cleopatra & Mark Antony to name a few. In some stories the lovers end up together & in some they are tragically separated. The part that impassions us is the fight. We love to see the ardent love between two people struggle against all odds & sacrifice of themselves in order to end up together. As a woman, I'm infatuated with the chivalry of it all- watching the man view the woman as a treasured possession who's honor he's brave enough to defend.

I've been reading through the Old Testament beginning back in February. My purpose in that is to develop a sense of God's processes- we're under a new covenant through Jesus Christ, but He's still the same God that He was before time began & His grace & love for us have not changed. In the Garden of Eden, before the fall of man, God was able to be present with Adam & Eve. Because they had not sinned yet, His holiness would not kill them. After the first sin, it created a separation between God & man. Reading through Exodus 19, God descended upon Mount Sinai in a thick cloud to be present with His people. Throughout the Old Testament, we are continually made aware of His desire to be with us & to create a way to overcome the separation in order that we will end up together, as was purposed. He's burning with passionate & irrevocable love for us.  As the Author of love & chivalry, our courageous God provides the ultimate expression of His love- He defends our honor, fights for us, dies for us, & rescues us from our fate in order that we can experience the intimacy of His presence as was intended from the beginning. We are His treasured possession.

It's funny that I adore the classic love stories & overlook the fact that I'm in the midst of experiencing the greatest romance the world has ever known. My prayer is for God to daily sweep me off of my feet, & I look forward to growing more in love with Him at every moment.

"Always dance with the One who brought you."

Flip flops = love.

If I could wear only flip flops for the rest of my life I would be perfectly satisfied. I love them. The only thing better is going bare foot. I wear them in the sun, in the rain, in the snow, in the water, in the grass...there's no bad setting because they are perfect! Today's beautiful weather only serves to deepen my flip flop addiction.

Three years ago while I was living on the East Coast I purchased a pair of black Reef flip flops on a weekend trip into New York City. Not only was it an excellent weekend, but my new favorite shoes were a constant reminder of all the East Coast memories. After three years, however, the shoes began to get a bit tired (but still in remarkable condition considering how often I wear them). Well last week I was at Nordstrom with my sister & hanging up on the wall I saw an identical pair of my flip flops! I tried to buy them but accidentally left my wallet at home, so I returned today (wallet in hand) to purchase a pair of black Reef flip flops. (!!!)

My feet are quite happy now & eagerly awaiting summer.

Cupcakes

I love cupcakes. I love to bake cupcakes & I love to decorate cupcakes & I love to eat cupcakes. I think they're so cute & petite. Just because I love cupcakes doesn't mean I can maintain a healthy diet eating only cupcakes...& it doesn't matter that they're vegan. If I was to eat only cupcakes for a full week, my stomach would be churning & I'd be on a sugar overload & my body would be craving something of substance.

There are a lot of good Christian books & commentaries out there. There are also a lot of misleading Christian books & commentaries. I have a few that I highly encourage & have read through quite a few times, but I can't find nourishment for my soul by reading Christian books & commentaries. In order to maintain a healthy spiritual diet it is critical that we spend time seeking the Lord's presence, reading our Bibles, & praying. The thing about Christian books & commentaries is that they are a person's opinion. A person's opinion- people prone to expressing their thoughts as "truth" instead of "a possible interpretation". Everything that I hear I seek out for myself in my Bible. When I hear something that I know isn't of the Lord I don't keep perverting my mind with that person's opinions hoping to hear something "good"- a little leaven ruins the WHOLE batch. Our spiritual selves are craving something of substance that can ONLY be satisfied with the Word of God. We've become a generation that needs to be entertained instead of one that can dig in deep & discover the revelations in the Word.

I want to be a part of a generation that seeks the face of God & the culture of Heaven instead of feeding an appetite for tolerance.

My encouragement for you is to crack open your Bibles & find out what the Word of God says for yourself.

Don't be mislead.

** I listen to a lot of sermons in my down time.
Here is a list of my favorite pastors to listen to:

Judah Smith (The City Church)
Alex Mendoza (New Beginnings Salem - my pastor)
Robert Morris (Gateway Church)
Chris Hodges (Church of the Highlands)
Elijah Waters (The City Church / Generation Church)
Larry Stockstill (Bethany World Prayer Center)
Jonathan Stockstill (Bethany World Prayer Center)
Joe Champion (Celebration Church, Texas)

Sigh No More

Serve God, love me and mend
This is not the end
Lived unbruised, we are friends
And I'm sorry
I'm sorry

Sigh no more, no more
One foot in sea and one on shore
My heart was never pure
And you know me
You know me

But man is a giddy thing
Oh man is a giddy thing
Oh man is a giddy thing
Oh man is a giddy thing

Love it will not betray you
Dismay or enslave you, it will set you free
Be more like the man you were made to be
There is a design, an alignment, a cry
Of my heart to see,
The beauty of love as it was made to be

- Mumford & Sons

Transparency

In the minimal free time that I have, I have been reading through Larry Stockstill's book The Remnant. I'm going to share a lengthy portion of the preface here because I just cannot seem to stop considering it these past few days.

"I'm going to shake this nation. The words thundered into my spirit on an airplane somewhere over Oklahoma. . . . When I returned home that evening, the Lord spoke to me again about His promised shaking, that it would begin with the body of Christ and would be unlike anything we had ever experienced before. I asked the Lord to begin by shaking me, waking me out of my own lethargy and sleep. I then shared this word with a small group of pastors I meet with monthly in Baton Rouge for fellowship and accountability. Finally, I preached on it that weekend at our church, Bethany World Prayer Center, where I have been pastoring for almost twenty-five years. We all took the challenge to allow the Lord to stir the smoldering coals of our hearts and awaken us from the stupor of apathy. . . .

"As painful as God's shaking has been (and will continue to be), it  has awakened a new breed of pastors and laypeople alike who will ask the tough questions: Where has the glory gone (God's glory, that is) in the American church? When did we make the shift from laying it all down for the sake of Christ to joining the latest "bless me" club? When did the simple, pure gospel of the Savior become about "me", "my", and "mine"? What happened to the transparency and integrity that marked the church for centuries, when following Christ meant hardship, denial, and even death? . . .

"However, the question becomes, how much longer will God tolerate our duplicity? It is amazing to me that as our churches grow larger, our nation seemingly grows darker morally. The church seems obsessed with growth and 'relating' to America, but it reminds me of Samson before his haircut. Though engaged in immorality, Samson continued to function in his gift for years, but he no longer carried his anointing.

"How can an individual continue to grow a huge church or ministry and yet be struggling with secret sin? The answer is simple: a person's gift will make room for him and attract the notice and attention of others. Furthermore, that gift, though legitimate and God given, can be operated in pride and arrogance rather than in submission to God. This was Satan's problem: unbroken, unyielded giftings.

 "In the church world, education, connections, manipulation, innovation, entrepreneurship, and aggressiveness can amplify a person's gift. The fact that someone's ministry continues to expand and looks exciting is no guarantee that the person is operating in the anointing.

"The anointing operates in brokenness and is yielded at the cross. The anointing focuses people on Jesus instead of a person. It is 'pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy' (James 3:17 NKJV). The anointing submits to the correction of others, is transparent, and operates in relaxation and peace.

"When we begin to force ourselves, assert ourselves, and promote ourselves, we are moving in our gifting. Unless we daily bring our giftedness to the cross and allow it to be broken, we can easily move into the pride and curse that Satan suffered in heaven.

"God is calling for change. . . . We have a unique calling in the body of Christ. We each exert influence in our families, churches, and communities. Our lives are our ministries, and as such, they must reflect only the highest standards of integrity."

- Taken from The Remnant by Larry Stockstill
(Purchase the book on Amazon.com.)

After all of that I'm not sure that there's much I need to say. There are so many things to focus on & take from the selection above (& the entire book for that matter), but for the sake of space I am going to share an area in my life that has been a struggle lately.

I like to compartmentalize my life. I want to keep my relationship with the Lord in a box, my ministry in another box, keep my personal/family life in a third box, & then again my educational/professional life in a fourth box- there must be more boxes, but this is all I can think of at the moment. I'm a private person who doesn't necessarily want everyone to know the joys, pains, temptations, & victories that I experience daily. I put barriers up to keep people out, the trouble is that's not ministry. How can I be real, genuine, & transparent with people if I won't share what is going on in my life or what God is showing me?

I want to be available to people.

I want to be transparent with people.

I want to serve people as they walk down a path that I've been down before- both rough paths & joyous paths.

I want to encourage people to explore their God-given gifts & abilities & to submit those at the cross as worship to a great God!

I want to be used by the Lord to build a team that effectively equips people, so they are able to minister to God through praise & worship in an unbridled manner, both corporately & privately.

I want to walk in integrity & live a life of ministry that reflects the indelible grace of God & the ardent love of my Saviour, Jesus Christ.

So this is my first step at becoming more transparent. No more boxes, no more walls.

I want to daily submit my gifts & will to His will & to seek His presence & operate in His anointing through brokenness & humility.

I want to be shaken by God.

"Forever You will stand
Your kingdom has no end 

O Holy God I stay amazed
You are so much more than words could ever say
O Holy God I pour out my praise
On the One who never ceases to amaze"

flats & soles

I'm not the technologically savvy type of girl. If you were to ask me for a screwdriver, I would ask you "plus or minus?". So naturally, having a tire go flat on me this past weekend left me feeling like a helpless female. I don't know the first thing about changing a tire. Thankfully on of the pastors from my church & his step-father came out to put my spare tire on. The spare is this little baby thing that has a warning on it informing the driver not to drive faster than fifty miles per hour. However, I forgot that little recommendation until I was on the freeway on-ramp yesterday pissing everyone off by driving forty-five in a sixty with my hazard lights flashing.

When I think of tires, I automatically think of Les Schwab, so I made my way over there after work this morning to get the tire fixed. Everything started off pretty well- he asked what tire was flat & I confidently informed him that it was the back right tire. I also told him that it has a locking lug nut (Silly...? Probably) & then my terminology took a turn for the worse as I stated that the "screwy thing" was also in the front along with the "panel-y" thing that covers the lugs. He chuckled a little bit as I put my hand to my forehead & confessed that I'm not very good at this.

Thankfully the van is confidently mobile again & I can drive over fifty miles per hour. If only they had someone who could fix this huge hole in the sole of my shoe so I wouldn't have to buy another pair for two more weeks of work.
 
 

The London Soap Dilemma

I ran across this a few years ago while in college. Even now when I read it I laugh ridiculously hard. That being said, enjoy & happy laughing.

___________________________

Attached is some correspondence which actually occurred between a London hotel's staff and one of its guests. The London hotel involved submitted this to the Sunday Times. No name was mentioned.

Dear Maid,

Please do not leave any more of those little bars of soap in my bathroom since I have brought my own bath-sized Dial. Please remove the six unopened little bars from the shelf under the medicine chest and another three in the shower soap dish. They are in my way.

Thank you,

S. Berman

Dear Room 635,

I am not your regular maid. She will be back tomorrow, Thursday, from her day off. I took the 3 hotel soaps out of the shower soap dish as you requested. The 6 bars on your shelf I took out of your way and put on top of your Kleenex dispenser in case you should change your mind. This leaves only the 3 bars I left today which my instructions from the management is to leave 3 soaps daily. I hope this is satisfactory.

Kathy, Relief Maid

Dear Maid -- I hope you are my regular maid.

Apparently Kathy did not tell you about my note to her concerning the little bars of soap. When I got back to my room this evening I found you had added 3 little Camays to the shelf under my medicine cabinet. I am going to be here in the hotel for two weeks and have brought my own bath-size Dial so I won't need those 6 little Camays which are on the shelf. They are in my way when shaving, brushing teeth, etc. Please remove them.

S. Berman

Dear Mr. Berman,

My day off was last Wed. so the relief maid left 3 hotel soaps which we are instructed by the management. I took the 6 soaps which were in your way on the shelf and put them in the soap dish where your Dial was. I put the Dial in the medicine cabinet for your convenience. I didn't remove the 3 complimentary soaps which are always placed inside the medicine cabinet for all new check-ins and which you did not object to when you checked in last Monday. Please let me know if I can (be) of further assistance.

Your regular maid, Dotty

Dear Mr. Berman,

The assistant manager, Mr. Kensedder, informed me this A.M. that you called him last evening and said you were unhappy with your maid service. I have assigned a new girl to your room. I hope you will accept my apologies for any past inconvenience. If you have any future complaints please contact me so I can give it my personal attention. Call extension 1108 between 8AM and 5PM.

Thank you.

Elaine Carmen, Housekeeper

Dear Miss Carmen,

It is impossible to contact you by phone since I leave the hotel for business at 745 AM and don't get back before 530 or 6PM. That's the reason I called Mr. Kensedder last night. You were already off duty. I only asked Mr. Kensedder if he could do anything about those little bars of soap. The new maid you assigned me must have thought I was a new check-in today, since she left another 3 bars of hotel soap in my medicine cabinet along with her regular delivery of 3 bars on the bath-room shelf. In just 5 days here I have accumulated 24 little bars of soap. Why are you doing this to me?

S. Berman

Dear Mr. Berman,

Your maid, Kathy, has been instructed to stop delivering soap to your room and remove the extra soaps. If I can be of further assistance, please call extension 1108 between 8AM and 5PM.

Thank you,

Elaine Carmen, Housekeeper

Dear Mr. Kensedder,

My bath-size Dial is missing! Every bar of soap was taken from my room including my own bath-size Dial! I came in late last night and had to call the bellhop to bring me 4 little Cashmere Bouquets.

S. Berman

Dear Mr. Berman,

I have informed our housekeeper, Elaine Carmen, of your soap problem. I cannot understand why there was no soap in your room since our maids are instructed to leave 3 bars of soap each time they service a room. The situation will be rectified immediately. Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience.

Martin L. Kensedder, Assistant Manager

Dear Mrs. Carmen,

Who the hell left 54 little bars of Camay in my room? I came in last night and found 54 little bars of soap. I don't want 54 little bars of Camay. I want my one damn bar of bath-size Dial. Do you realize I have 54 bars of soap in here. All I want is my bath size Dial. Please give me back my bath-size Dial.

S. Berman

Dear Mr. Berman,

You complained of too much soap in your room so I had them removed. Then you complained to Mr. Kensedder that all your soap was missing so I personally returned them. The 24 Camays which had been taken and the 3 Camays you are supposed to receive daily (sic). I don't know anything about the 4 Cashmere Bouquets. Obviously your maid, Kathy, did not know I had returned your soaps so she also brought 24 Camays plus the 3 daily Camays. I don't know where you got the idea this hotel issues bath-size Dial. I was able to locate some bath-size Ivory which I left in your room.

Elaine Carmen, Housekeeper

Dear Mrs. Carmen,

Just a short note to bring you up-to-date on my latest soap inventory.

As of today I possess:
- On shelf under medicine cabinet - 18 Camay in 4 stacks of 4 and 1 stack of 2.
- On Kleenex dispenser - 11 Camay in 2 stacks of 4 and 1 stack of 3.
- On bedroom dresser - 1 stack of 3 Cashmere Bouquet, 1 stack of 4 hotel-size Ivory, and 8 Camay in 2 stacks of 4.
- Inside medicine cabinet - 14 Camay in 3 stacks of 4 and 1 stack of 2.
- In shower soap dish - 6 Camay, very moist.
- On northeast corner of tub - 1 Cashmere Bouquet, slightly used.
- On northwest corner of tub - 6 Camays in 2 stacks of 3.

Please ask Kathy when she services my room to make sure the stacks are neatly piled and dusted. Also, please advise her that stacks of more than 4 have a tendency to tip. May I suggest that my bedroom window sill is not in use and will make an excellent spot for future soap deliveries. One more item, I have purchased another bar of bath-sized Dial which I am keeping in the hotel vault in order to avoid further misunderstandings.

S. Berman

Randoms

- I hate fake plants, but they seem to be the only ones I can keep alive. My dream of planting a garden should be monitored closely by someone other than myself.

- I killed a hamster once because I sat on it...accidentally. R.I.P. Hammie. *moment of silence*

- I always turn lights off if I don't need them, it's not that I'm anal about the utilities or anything, it's just habit.

- I will always love Bryan Adams' music...& whenever "Everything I Do, I Do It For You" comes on I freak out saying "I love this song" & then I'm a sucker until it's over.

- I keep random lists in my phone. Examples: "Bible Notes", "Books", "Bucket List", "Gift Ideas", "Missing Items", "Movies", "Restaurants", & "Summertime Activities".

- I am blessed to have strictly platonic guys that I can talk about guys with.

- Oatmeal is my breakfast of choice. I was recently informed that putting peanut butter in it is the best & I can now attest to the fact that peanut butter in oatmeal is ambrosial.

- I have fuzzy bunny syndrome, but the song "Kill the Turkey" by Gregory & the Hawk is hysterical!

- I cry at weddings & baptisms & anytime a person does something truly heroic.

- I enjoy reading the dictionary & the thesaurus.

- I love a good pair of blue jeans.

- I think Nickelback is the worst band I've ever heard. No apologies.

- My top five vacations ever: Disneyland, New York City, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, & the Oregon Coast.

- I complain about the rain, but secretly (just between you & me) I love it.

- I like to leave notes for myself on mirrors & windows with a dry erase marker.

- I have aspirations to travel to various countries to live simply & serve people.

- Sometimes I read an article on Wikipedia & I keep clicking on links until it's been hours & numerous articles & I feel enlightened. Then I remember that Wikipedia isn't a credible source.

- My favorite boys live in Virginia. Also, they're seven & five years old.

- The day after I watched "Spinal Tap" for the first time I found a "Build Your Own Stonehenge" kit & bought it impulsively on the spot. It was necessary.

- A day with just music is a good day.

- I hate math, but I love sudoku.

- My weakness is a nice smile & a good sense of humour.

- I sleep with a fan, it's very relaxing. That's probably why I always get sleepy when I hear fan noises.

- My favorite smells are bonfires, babies, & Jackson guitars...but not together.

- I love meeting new people & having new conversations, but I could also spend a week alone & not even notice the lack of human interaction. I tend to describe myself as an "outgoing introvert".

- When I listen to Chicago I find myself singing along with the horn parts.

- Whenever I hear a new good song I listen to it on repeat for days.

- Cozying up in front of a fireplace with a big blanket, hot tea, & a good book is so relaxing for me.

- Not very many people knew I could sing until I got to college.

- I have a box full of one-pound bags of coffee in my closet.

- Sometimes when I make mix cds the songs should be read into a bit...but not always.

- I love to play card games & could do it for hours.

- Sometimes when I think of funny memories I find myself laughing out loud really hard...which, to other people around, may make me look quite crazy.

- I'm not very observant...my head is in the clouds most of the time.

- I've watched "Friends" so much that when I watch it now I feel like the seventh friend.

- Urban Dictionary cracks me up more than it should.

- I thrive on simplicity, but my life is generally busy. Can someone explain this to me?

- My family is huge & I always look forward to seeing them.

- I think there are more cars that I hate the look of than cars that I like the look of.

- Whenever I sing popular songs from the mid-nineties it reminds me of an extreme water fight with Cyle, Kristyn, & Tommy at camp while the campers were sleeping.

- I love to fold laundry, but I think that hanging clothes up is the worst chore there is.

- In college, my friends joked that I loved to eat my "plate of one thing"...& I still do that.

- I'm horrible at remembering names.

- Jane Austen is my favorite author.

- I still believe in chivalry & look for that in men.

- There are certain things you just can't "skimp out" on.

- I love watching sports, but I'm not a raging fan of any one team.

- Flip flops = love

- I love swimming in rivers & lakes & oceans.

- Peaches & pears are my favorite fruits.

- Water with cucumber & lemon in it is the most refreshing thing ever!

- The movie "Cars" made me cry.

- ...so did "Monster's Inc."

- Summer 2005 was the best ever & summer 2008 (the summer of the ocho) was a close second. I estimate that it comes in threes so summer 2011 should be amazing.

- My nieces are my favorite cuddle-buddies.

- When I visit the humane society to pet puppies (yes, I do it occasionally...) I always want to bring home every animal. Even those Alanis Morissette commercials make me cry.

- The greatest romance of my life is Jesus Christ.

March Resolutions

I’ve never really been the “New Year’s Resolution” type. Maybe a new year just isn’t enough motivation for me to keep a resolution, or maybe I just never bought into the whole thing. On that note, I’m making a March resolution—it could have been a February one if I had realized sooner that I need to make a change. I want to be present with people. One of my cousins is a pastor in Texas & he writes a blog called The Empty Pulpit. In a recent blog entry entitled “Jesus Didn’t Die on the Cross so You Could Go to Another Meeting”, he discussed how so many meetings he has attended throughout his ministry could have taken much less time. At the end of his blog he wrote this:

               

“I shared a wonderful meal this morning with a member of my church. After about an hour he asked, ‘When do you have to be at the office?’ I told him, ‘There is nothing at the office more important than this conversation.’

“That’s all I have to say about that.”

That last bit hit me…hard. It got me to thinking about the many times that I’ve been with a person (or group of people) & haven’t truly been there. Sometimes I am texting & sometimes my mind is thinking about what I am going to eat for lunch (mmmmm…pasta!). Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with texting or considering my meal plans, but when it prevents me from fully engaging with the person who is trying to make use of my presence then I am basically telling that person they are not important.

Last night I was having dinner with two amazing people that I care very much for, but the entire time I kept checking my phone & conversing with other people. I realized halfway through the meal that I was being a total butthole & that these important people deserved my full engagement. Sometimes we need to put the phone away or turn off the outside thoughts & just enjoy the people we are with.

All of that being said, while I was in Dallas for the worship conference last week, the Holy Spirit renewed my sense of direction & my calling. One of the things He made very clear to me is that I need to set apart Wednesdays to spend time in His presence. As a woman I am so easily distracted. I constantly have fifty things rolling around in my head & so many times I will realize in the midst of a project that I did not finish the project I had just been working on. My goal is to free myself from distractions & be fully present in whatever situation I am in—to put my cell phone & iPod away long enough to notice all of the things I consistently overlook.

I will no longer be available on Wednesdays; they are now dedicated to drawing near to my Lord. I am unsatisfied with remaining where I am at—I want to continually seek His presence & move closer to Him.

Barista Diaries - Ice Scrapers

After a day like today, I knew there were many things I wanted to post about, but now that I'm getting around to it I can't remember all of them.

Have you ever noticed that people literally misuse the word "literally" far too often? "That guy just literally pulled out a million dollars to pay." (Really?) "That lady just literally chewed my butt off!" (Your butt must have been massive before that incident.)

Allow me to define the word "literally" to avoid any further confusion:

Literally

–adverb

1. in the literal or strict sense: What does the word mean literally?

2. in a literal manner; word for word: to translate literally.

3. actually; without exaggeration or inaccuracy: The city was literally destroyed.

4. in effect; in substance; very nearly; virtually.

I would like to introduce people to a new word. Figuratively.

Figuratively

–adjective

1. of the nature of or involving a figure of speech, especially a metaphor; metaphorical; not literal: a figurative expression.

2. metaphorically so called: His remark was a figurative boomerang.

3. abounding in or fond of figures of speech: Elizabethan poetry is highly figurative.

4. representing by means of a figure or likeness, as in drawing or sculpture.

5. representing by a figure or emblem; emblematic.

Allow us to review. Literally would refer in accuracy to something that actually happened. While figuratively gives a person the room to make their exaggerations through a figure of speech. Please note the difference & embrace your new-found knowledge.

Now that I've made the distinction, a man literally pulled out his ice scraper & began banging on the drive-through window because my speed wasn't urgent enough for him (I should note that I wasn't moving slowly). That was a first for me. He certainly did not win any cool points today, in fact I'm pretty sure cool points were deducted on account of him being such a butthole to a complete stranger. 

"Faithful God"

If I call will You come?
When I cry do You hear?
I believe every tear is caught up by a faithful God.
So I will cry until You come,
Cast my cares into Your arms.
I can't see past this storm, but I'm counting on a faithful God.

Faithful God,
You hold my life secure,
All my days are Yours.
I believe
My God is like a fire defending me
Faithfully.

I believe You still heal,
& demons still bow
I'm convinced there is power in trusting in a faithful God.
So I will praise 'til You appear,
& set Your foot upon this shore
I declare that every foe is subject to my faithful God

I know that You are mine
& I am Yours, I am Yours.
& I know Your faithfulness,
It will endure, it will endure.

- Zach Neese "Faithful God"
Gateway Worship