How Great Is Our God

so my last post was about learning to be "real" with God, and yet (in an ironic way, but not, b/c God is deep like that) today i was also reminded that no matter how down i might feel, at my very core, i can't help but give glory to God.

i just bought the new passion cd this week, and i was listening to "How Great Is Our God" this morning as i drove to work. and surprisingly, i found myself getting kinda emotional just listening and singing these words.

my CG group is going thru a study right now called "A Life of Worship", and last week we studied and talked about how our original purpose is to bring God glory (isaiah 43:7). as i was singing this song this morning i think this really rang true with me. and as the song went on you could hear more of the audience singing and less of the worship leader, and you could just sense there were thousands of people there all singing "how great is our God"! i was just blown away by the thought of all these people giving God the glory and praise He totally deserves.

it's crazy how life might bring us down at times and how tired we may be, yet by singing five simple words that gives our creator all the glory it helps us to realize our true purpose and brings us so much joy...HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD!!

How Great Is Our God (Chris Tomlin)
The splendor of a King, clothed in majesty
Let all the earth rejoice
All the earth rejoice

He wraps himself in Light, and darkness tries to hide
And trembles at His voice
Trembles at His voice

How great is our God, sing with me
How great is our God, and all will see
How great, how great is our God

Age to age He stands
And time is in His hands
Beginning and the end
Beginning and the end

The Godhead Three in One
Father Spirit Son
The Lion and the Lamb
The Lion and the Lamb

Name above all names
Worthy of our praise
My heart will sing
How great is our God

Something To Think About...

i read an article online a couple of days ago that has been on my mind lately. i've been struggling for the past few months with the road God has called me to follow. some days and weeks are better than others, but i realized a while ago that there isn't a "quick fix" to this and that this is probably one of those times in my life where God is doing some "refining" and i just have to wait and trust him to see me through it.

but then i read this article and it made me think and gave me some encouragement b/c it reminded me that my relationship with God isn't about doing all of the "right" things and saying all of the "right" words to Him. but instead, like in any relationship, saying the "right" words when you don't really believe it just makes the relationship worse.

"We sometimes think that God only wants to hear nice, adoring things from us. Our prayers are often limited to praise, repentance and requests. But how often do we tell God how we really feel? How often do we tell God that we’re scared, and it doesn’t feel like He’s calling the shots? The absurd thing is that we act like God doesn’t know. If God knows the number of hairs on our head, He certainly knows how we feel. When we come before Him and offer nothing but praise when we’re angry or frightened, we’re lying. Don’t get me wrong; praise is often most important during our darkest times, but we can’t lie about how we feel."

i think i've gotten to the point as a believer where i feel like i've been through enough dry and dark times that i assume that i just need to hold to what i know about God and wait it out. but i was reminded that God doesn't want us to just "survive" these times, but he wants us to be refined and to be changed by them. he wants us to come to him with our frustrations and feelings so that he can take them and change them into true praises.

i also read this quote recently from C.S. Lewis:
"God is always comforting but never comfortable."

keep talking, God, keep talking...

Friday Night Lights

so...we played hard and lost. it was kind of a shocking loss especially since we did so well during the season, and even beat this team twice during the regular season. but, the other team just improved a ton, and i think our team was just not used to playing from behind and with pressure. despite the nerves and tension, though, i thought we still played pretty well.

for most of us this was our first season playing volleyball, and i think next year we'll be even better now that we have some experience. i can't wait for next season! the thing i enjoyed the most, even though it was probably part of the reason we lost, was that our team just had a lot of fun playing together. as one friend put it, we're like the smiling little kid in outfield that is just happy to be in the game.

ok, maybe i shouldn't speak for everyone on the team, but that's definitely me. the reason i love to play games and sports of any kind is b/c i enjoy the competition and playing with friends...yeah, winning is fun too but i'm usually just happy to be able to play. it was a great season...i'm going to miss it.



Friday Night Lights

Saturday is Almost HERE!

i'm so excited for this saturday i woke up on wednesday (yes, WEDNESDAY!) thinking it was saturday! i was so sad to find out i had to wait 3 more days.

why am i so excited? b/c this saturday is the semi-final and championship games for the michael chang league. and my team, Friday Night Lights, totally ROCKS! this entire season has been so much fun, i still can't believe i didn't discover how much fun it is to play volleyball until this year.

anyways...if you're free on saturday, come on out to blaine methodist church at 12pm to cheer on our team in the semi-finals. if we win that game then we'll be playing for the championship at 4pm!!! (we'll be the "stylin'" team in the red team shirts)

Help! Calling on my "Fix-It" brothers out there!

grrr...i've had enough with our lame toilet...we need help! i had a conversation with a friend today regarding our house's toilet problem, and i've decided that i have NO problem asking a guy for help...i just don't know who to ask! so i'm calling out for some help from my brothers out there. if you know anything about fixing leaking toilets...could you please help some sisters out?! (now, i'm not excluding or saying that other sisters can't help us out too. it just seems like there would be more brothers out there that like fixing things, and yes, i know we could call a plumber. but i really don't think it's that big of a problem yet, and i would hate to get a $$$ bill that could have been easily fixed with some help from our friends.)

ok, here's the problem: our toilet is constantly leaking water into the bowl and our water bill is going sky high! i tried replacing the (red) "flapper" thing twice, but no luck. i think the problem has to do with that gray, rubber seal thing that is surrounding hole in the tank. please help!

UPDATE: Yay! Our toilet is now fixed...Thank you soooo much Ryan! You Rock!

More Than Fine

tonight i gave a lesson at basic, and i just gotta say "yay God!". this past week was pretty stressful for me b/c i did not have a clue on what to share on, and i usually like to at least have a general idea before the week before i share. i did a bunch of brainstorming and talked to some friends, but it didn't really all come together until today. yay God!

Not only did He help me put together my sharing, but he also spoke to me and taught me about things i've been struggling with in my own spiritual life. i've been struggling and kind of arguing with God these past few months about why i'm still serving in the youth ministry. i've been tempted to follow my impulses and just drop it all, and just doing my "own" thing. but then today God reminded me again of the life i chose to live when i decided to follow Him. it is not an easy road, but it is not one that is void of blessings and good times either. God met me where i was at today and that's why He is so awesome and worth following! yay God!

here are some crazy pics from tonight's electric fence game (not the type of pics you want the student parents to see):


yes, that is someone being thrown over the rope!

Spring Youth Retreat 2005

last weekend was our spring youth retreat, and i got home and realized i didn't take a single picture while i was there. pretty lame, huh? but at least a lot of other people did!

some things that stood out to me this year:
1) i was a jr high small group leader and was reminded why i enjoy working with both jr high and high school students...they're both special in their own ways
2) i didn't sleep in the same room as all of the students...i think i got the best sleep ever at a retreat this year
3) i was also thoroughly impressed with the retreat accommodations...no, it wasn't like the berachah "hotel", but i enjoyed the setup of the cabins, appreciated the "little" things they did to make the cabins "nice" and i even enjoyed the food! (ok, yes, i've gone to many, many retreats and have become quite a retreat critic)
4) God really challenged me with the group of girls i had...they were asking a lot of science type of questions...i'm not a science type of person, and i was once again amazed how God can appeal to and draw so many different types of people
5) God was seriously amazing Saturday morning when we stepped outside our cabin and saw that the weather was absolutely gorgeous even after it was predicted to rain all weekend

Yay God!

2 More Days To Go...

man, this has been a tough week. our youth retreat is coming up this friday in 2 days, and i'm starting to see the light at the end when friday will finally be here. i've kinda forgot what it's like to plan a retreat and work full-time at the same time. last year, i was totally blessed to be able to focus on planning the retreat without having to work too.

but this year, God's also been sustaining me and teaching me even more about relying on Him and not on my own strength. well, i'm pretty much forced to since i couldn't do it without Him! i just pray i continue to seek Him for strength, and that i focus on the blessings and joys and not on my diminishing patience and energy.

keep on praying! cause God's listening and has already answered many prayers!