yesterday, I saw LOVE fly like CRAZY… and this is what it looked like:
wow!
Author: Caroline
When I'm not riding in the backseat of my Grandpa's restored vintage car "Mable," I'm doing other things like...
rising to most adventure occasions my husband proposes /
chasing our toddler around Brooklyn /
enjoying neighbors, strangers, and friends /
making countless trips to the laundromat /
writing for various publications and for personal reflection /
loving and serving our local church /
cleaning the bathroom /
hosting small and big crowds in our home /
meeting up with a friend for coffee /
thinking
Vocation is my strange frenemy. Though I have worked and existed in many stations/places, I am convinced that each day has good work to be done and that I am equipped and prepared to do that good work.
This blog explores the tension and the intersection of a constant vocational call - to good work, neighbor love, and living in the kingdom come.
My favorite things are coffee and creating and laughing (preferably with company). I love to listen to sermons and read biographies and make tea before going to bed.
counting many blessings
We are coming up on the time of year I love so so incredibly much… Thanksgiving. I know the holiday has historical significance, but to me it is mostly a beautiful time to remember all the wonderful ways God is making Himself known in our lives.
I just recently started a journey of 129 questions and 52 weeks. For the next year, on Sundays, I hope to meditate on several questions of the Heidelberg Catechism with the help of Kevin DeYoung‘s book, “The Good News We Almost Forgot.” As I read the introduction and the first day this past week, I was struck with how this question/answer list of Bible truths is organized.
Grief –> Grace –> Gratitude
Every day I see the flaws of my sinful nature peek out my skin. Every day I yearn to be in right relationship once again. Every day I see how many ways I fall dreadfully short.
And every day I am reminded that ONLY by God’s grace am I anything more than those flaws. If God’s grace is sufficient to cover all the grief that results from my sin (and I believe that it is), my ONLY comfort in life and in death (as the first question of Heidelberg asks) is that I “am not my own, but I belong, body and soul, in life and in death, to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.” Oh, what BEAUTY it is to belong!!
The grace overwhelms me… it is too much to consider God has overcome my sin and grief and has grafted me in as His child, to BELONG to Him. What joy in this grace!
And, so friends… today as I count the blessings of facebook messages, pictures, balloons, cards, candies, and cakes, and an unbelievable amount of hugs (for today I am counting the blessings of 26 years), I am grateful.
I am overcome with gratitude for the grace God has shown me and the ways He expresses that grace through beautiful people in my life. God is so incredibly good.
let LOVE fly like cRazY
Here are the words to my favorite song of the Thanksgiving season. Just for the record, I’m so glad that every day is an appropriate time to sing these praises. Without much effort, I can call to mind the harmonizing voices of my family, gathered around a very long, harvest-laden table, singing this very song together.
When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.Refrain
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by.Refrain
When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings. Wealth can never buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.Refrain
So, amid the conflict whether great or small,
Do not be disheartened, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.
Fuerte, El es Mas Fuerte
Nothing, absolutely nothing is impossible for the God of universe who holds the whole universe in His hands. Nothing.
I praise God because this is True.
A rich man can enter the kingdom of God (Matthew 19:26), a desperate man can have hope (Jeremiah 32:27) and a young girl can carry the Messiah in her womb (Luke 1:37).
Nothing is impossible with God, Creator of heavens and earth… not tired days or dream smashers or loneliness or failures or sadness or human success or pride or busy schedules. Nothing, nothing, nothing is impossible with God.
Last Sunday, I sang underneath a blanket of stars in the courtyard of the Micah Project with some of the most beautiful and broken voices I could imagine. I love this sacred time in my week, but this past Sunday I felt even more thankful for the worship and communion.
We have been singing this song lately, by Hillsong. In English, it’s called “Stronger,” but I prefer the Spanish version, especially when I am standing next to Nelson or Wilmer. When I stand next to them I want to sing louder. I want the words to be true… I desperately want these words to be true!
The chorus is a fight,
“You are stronger you are stronger
Sin is broken you have saved me
it is written Christ is risen
Jesus you are Lord of all.”
I love that my desperate plea is one God has already answered. He is stronger. He is sovereign He is surprised by nothing and fears nothing. Nothing is impossible with God.
O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! (Psalm 8 ESV)
let LOVE fly like CrAzY
Whom Shall I Fear?
If you have ever been near me when a door slams or a bell rings or a balloon pops or a loud noise sounds, you might know of my irrational reaction. It is safe to say that surprises often end with me on the floor or clutching the nearest person’s sweater.
Even if you don’t have an extremely embarrassing, undiagnosed and somewhat questionable condition like mine, you still might find yourself, at times, afraid.
We shouldn’t be surprised. A life completely void of fear would be … well, it would be heaven and we can all admit we’re not there yet.
So, what do we do with this thing called fear? There are so many things in this world that make us want to hide under the table or curl up under the covers or find a friend for comfort. Everything in our world seems impossibly broken, which has us constantly running for cover.
Maybe you fear grades or parents or the weekend or strangers or your future plans. Or maybe you fear the things you hide deep down inside yourself – those things you’ve allowed no one to know.
In Psalm 27, David shows us that fear is not something to get over or pass through, but rather something that requires daily persistence to live confident of God’s protection. He writes, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”
However easy this sounds, David does not stop with these questions. He vividly describes some of the worst enemies – the things in his life very worthy of fear. In light of these, he writes, “One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.”
David knows the only safe and secure place for his soul is where the Lord dwells. The Lord fears nothing, for He created everything.
What better place to find shelter from our fears? “For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.” Find yourself safe in the Lord today.
This appeared in the last High School Guidance Newsletter.
are you going to
let LOVE fly like CRAZY
today?
Something Sweet
This is a short article I included in my September newsletter, for those that didn’t have the patience to wait for the 30 minute PDF download 🙂
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
These are words that wake me up in the morning and carry me through both spectacular and somber days. This is the word of the Lord. This is His proclamation and promise that He is good. We know God is faithful (Romans 3:3-4) even when we are found without faith. He keeps His promises even when we have twisted His words.
God is always true, always perfect, always good. Do I sound redundant? I hope so. The blessing of this truth seems to seep in anew every time I return to it.
Recently, I’ve been re-discovering God’s faithfulness in this promise (that we can taste and see He is good) by way of baked goods, full kitchens, and Monday afternoons. Before you think that I’m about to blaspheme this beautiful verse in Psalm 34, keep reading. I believe God works through the everyday-ness of life to teach us eternal truths. Right now, baked goods, full kitchens, and Monday afternoons happen to be that beautiful everyday classroom.
Before the school year began, I had visions of laughter circles and conversation and community. How to realize these visions is… another thing entirely. I’m no expert, but I’ve been to college and I know what draws a crowd: food.
God’s design – the very way He worked out the specific details of our bodies – involves a real need for food. Sure, we distorted and perverted and twisted this real need into dependence and false comfort and momentary satisfaction. But, in the beginning, God made Adam and Eve with a body to enjoy – taste and see – food.
He intentionally chose to make us dependent on food for survival, but also capable of enjoying the necessity. He didn’t have to do that, but He did. Wow.
And there’s more.
We are all familiar with the words from Genesis 1:27, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
What I didn’t recognize until day two of Kay Arthur’s “Return to the Garden” study (in a room full of high school girls gobbling up warm cookies) are these words in 2:18: “The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’”
God knew long before extracting a rib that Adam was made for relationship. Adam was made in the image of a triune God and longed for community before he even knew what to call the longing.
So, we were made to eat and we were made to share. Let me re-phrase: we were made to eat, share, and ENJOY it. I just cannot get over this design.
The most beautiful part of my re-discoveries is a return to the thought from which all these began, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” There is a hunger in our bellies only satisfied by more of Him. Every sweet blessing is a reflection of this Truth.
As my heart wells up with thanksgiving at the way we are designed to enjoy life together (through baked goods, full kitchens, and Monday afternoons), I know my true affection is for the Creator of these marvelous things. He is, indeed, good. His design reflects our need for and our satisfaction in Him alone.
Psalm 34:8 continues, “blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.”
That is something sweet.
let LOVE fly like cRAzY
thoughts on the sabbath
I love the Sabbath. I love that God loves the Sabbath. I love that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27).
What a beautiful, precious, intentional time to pursue the Savior in rest and reflection. Today, I was reading this from Tim Challies at his blog and thought I might share it with you. I have a beautiful mess on my bedroom rug and, slightly paint-covered, have deemed myself unfit to type any more words.
In Challies’ post, he quotes Walter Chantry’s thoughts on the subject and I’m drawn to it by one word: delight.
Are we delighting in the Sabbath today?
let LOVE fly like cRaZY
saturday smiles
need a reason to smile? here are four.
age old faith
Is it true? Am I really cracking open the cover of yet another book? I have pictures and napkins and bent pages marking so many books still clinging to “in-the-middle-of” status. Yet, the summer stack (in all its glossy newness) is under my window and it catches the light just right in the afternoon.
I know. I have an unhealthy appreciation for the written word. That aside, today I am starting something different and possibly brilliant. I don’t want to judge a book by its first few pages, but if I did I would be searching for a purple ribbon. Kevin DeYoung is an author I admire and follow not just because I read his books and blogs, but because I know someone who knows him and he assures me DeYoung is the real deal.
So, this afternoon, I picked up “The Good News We Almost Forgot” and I’m headed to a coffee shop to meet up with some students. They will probably be reading Cosmo or NYLON or the newest, trendiest vampire thriller. I’ll be there, with my book about the Heidelberg Catchechism like it ain’t no thing.
I hope (for my more than your sake) that this book uncovers some of the roots the saints in previous generations saw clearly.
And so it begins.
Related Articles
- Sexual Detox Is Now Available! (challies.com)
- Sovereign Grace Ministries 2010 Pastors Conference (joshharris.com)
music+memorization=GENIUS
Lately, I’ve been working on study skills workshops for several classes. Our students struggle to manage time, organize their materials, and (most importantly) recall the information they cram into their brains the night before a test.
I think these things are universal, but my job is not to figure out how similar are the struggles… I want to encourage the students to push through! In the process of all my searching (I didn’t have all those education courses, so it’s all new to me), I found some amazing resources.
I got so excited about this “Periodic Table of Elements” song that I showed it to everyone who came into my office (and some who happened to be standing outside!). Then, I started to look up more about this man, Tom Lehrer, who set all kinds of information to music. Two things made me love this: 1) learning happens 2) music happens.
After all my rambling about the beautiful gift and calling to THINK, I’ve been more aware of how thinking happens around me. How do the students think? How does the staff think? How do I think? What is my purpose, my methods, my result?
As I watched this video, I couldn’t help but make connections. We are made with minds to think and to seek knowledge. This, from the recent Desiring God National Conference,
“Knowledge that is loveless is not true knowledge. It’s imaginary knowledge, no matter how factual it is: ‘If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God’ (1 Corinthians 8:1-3)
Knowing as we ought to know is a knowing for the sake of loving. Loving God and loving people.” -J. Piper
So, if our knowledge – the true kind – has something other than empirical (numbers and words on pages with red grades glaring up top) implications, then maybe our ‘knowing’ must come about in a way that remains in our life after gradebooks close.
And for this reason, I love that our “knowing for the sake of loving” can come about as it did for David… through music. He wasn’t memorizing God’s attributes on a list so he could spit them out at the end of the week and move on to the list of God’s commands. No, as David was singing and playing and creating, he was hiding God’s Word in his heart.
How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes! With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth. In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word. (Psalm 119:9-16 ESV)
I love this.
I love that even the process we choose to seek after knowledge can reflect our love for the Lord and can more firmly set the knowledge into our hearts. How many times have you praised God through the words in Psalms? When we set out to find our very strength in the Word, it becomes more than just memorization. It becomes bread.
Here’s a little example of Tom Lehrer in action.
News and Updates
Well, friends, I think I successfully imported my old blog posts from Musings of a Foreign Heart to this wordpress blog. It was … surprisingly easy. I just had to find the button! I’m a little sad to see that electronic “leaf” officially turned, because it was my beginning as a blogger. I’m sure I’ll recover.
I finally finished my September Newsletter (in October) and so I wanted to use this post to kind of explain all the functions and buttons and drop-down menus of this new blog. I’m excited to offer more information about some of the ministries I have the privilege to work with and also provide a more accessible way to link to newsletters.
At the top of the page, you’ll see the the categories. You can click on each one to find out more. Several of the buttons have drop down menus, so don’t be afraid to check those out as well.
I’ll use this post as an example – there is now a NEW newsletter posted under Honduran Horizon newsletters. It’s the September edition. If the pull-down menus confuse you, here is the link.
So, you should check that out… and then hop on over to some of the other pages – especially the Honduras ministries!
Please leave questions and comments about what is confusing or annoying or delightful 🙂
I’m just trying to
let LOVE fly like CRAZY
MUSINGS IN THE MIDST 