He gives and takes away, and then...

For some time now I have been hit pretty hard with dreams waking up.  Various nightmares, hardships, and identity stabs.  But through it all, the Lord has awakened me with such sweet revelation, aimed at completely counteracting whatever worry has consumed me in my dreams.

This morning was particularly sweet!

In my dream, I was losing the things I most cared about, and the people who I respect the most were advising that what I was chasing was not right for me. I was losing everything, and at the Lord's doing.

I awoke so upset and downhearted, and fearful that I was clinging to things that were not from the Lord.

But He put this phrase in my mind: "The Lord gives, and He takes away, but He always ends with giving. If He is not giving, it is not the end."  What sweet encouragement!

Then He took me through the relationship of the world and Jesus:

-He was with us in the beginning
-Then the fall led Him to have a degree of separation.
-We waited for thousands of years [with various givings and taking aways of the Lord- all in line with our obedience and disobedience], and then He returned to us!!
-Then He was taken away at His death.
-Then He rose on the 3rd day and was with us again
-Then He ascended to heaven, and we were seemingly without Him. [mt 28:20]
-Then He sent the Holy Spirit to be with us
-Many will be put to death for love of Him
-And then He will return to us, never to leave again!!

And so we can know this of Him: He does indeed give and take away, but He always always ends with giving for those who love Him. If He has not given, it is not the end.

Be encouraged by the original proclamation:

"Naked I came from my mother's womb,
and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away;
May the Name of the Lord be praised."
-Job 1:21

What a glorious response on Job's part- in the place of taking away, still He says may the Lord's Name be praised!

But what's great, is that He DIDN'T go to the grave naked!

"After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. [...] The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part."
-Job 42: 10, 12a

The Lord gives, and He takes away, but He always ends with giving! If He he has not given, it is not the end.

Georgia's White Christmas!

That's right, folks- we have a White Christmas in GEORGIA!! That hasn't happened, oh... since the EIGHTEEN HUNDREDS!!  Crazy!  And I have the pictures to prove it!

Montana Adventures!

I flew up to Montana this week to hang out with Seth in his old stompin grounds! Oh the adventures that ensued! :)

Here's a pictorial overview:

Well, his dad is a potato farmer.  Naturally, we had to dive down his cellars of potatoes!

Then we headed over to the grandparents' house where we goofed around on the new tractor! I'll be honest- we stood around just taking crazy pictures for a long time! haha. But I'll spare you the masses of photos.

Later, we took a drive over to Bozeman. The view, obviously, was just horrendous.  I basically wanted to close my eyes the whole ride.

I won't even POST any pictures from our fourwheeler/sledding extravaganza!  Of course, that's only because we broke both the sled and the camera in the process! Needless to say- that was some good snow sledding! Alas, no pictures.

But don't worry- we had another camera on hand! For anybody who has known me for a while, you know I absolutely adore shooting! We threw out some bottles and a milk jug down the pasture in the back yard, and did some target shooting from the back deck!

And then before driving me back to the airport, we opened presents and whipped out the guitar.  Well, really, little Maximus played the guitar! Awesome jam session- he's quite the little musician!

There are plenty more where that came from, but that's the gist of it all.

It was an incredible trip, and I miss them already! And some good ole country adventures!

But then again... I'm at home in Georgia... I haven't exactly left the country life! Fun times a comin'!

Boyfriends and Fly-Bys

So someone's boyfriend decided to do a fly by or two at their girlfriend's work last week!
A good handful of us went outside to witness the event.
Not going to lie- the last time around I nearly peed my pants! Which would have given my co-workers one more thing to tease me about!
I was mostly ok though... the guys trying to fix the satelite on the roof of our building, however...
Haha. Let's just say they had one of my co-workers text them the picture, claiming that no one would believe them!

I think he likes me. :)

And Now, Our Feature Presentation

This was the latter part of my letter to God this evening, and I figured I would share it with you.

"Do You ever feel like we're in two different places?
 Well, I imagine not- no.
 But I do sometimes. Sometimes I feel like we're in two completely different countries watching the same movie of my life. Exept that You are watching the extended version with all the little side bits and deleted scenes of which I am completely oblivious.  Or maybe, moreso, it feels like we are in this great movie club- where we meet together to discuss the last scenes of the movie, and the characters, and where we see the story going?! Except, again, I keep skipping out on the meetings and truthfully, hardly paying attention to the movie at all! Yes- the movie of my life. I don't really want to do that, though. The movie doesn't mean nearly as much when I'm not diving into it with You. And I don't understand half of it without Your guidance, anyway."

The movie ends up being this confusing and sordid tale where the supporting characters take over and I'm left completely bewildered to anything the main character is doing.  When I don't meet with You and lose myself in our conversations, I lose all appreciation for the movie in the first place.  I get so behind, and when I finally am forced to look back into the movie, I am still trying to sort out what happened 5 scenes ago!

I don't know why I do that.  Because, let's face it- I love movie/book discussions!  And this is a really, really great story! Seriously- I love it!

So, let's do this! I've got the popcorn, I'm sitting down, and I'm pressing start.

Back to our Feature Presentation!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT56fr3ggLc

O What Peace We Often Forfeit

The road where I grew up. Taken after a hard rain.

This has been a mixed season for me.  Full of countless blessings, and soft pain.  The picture above is the echo of my heart.  Even though it has been (and continues to be) a hard rain- it is still beautiful. 

I'm finding myself sensitive to so many things around me- everything means more these days. Every word is meaningful, and every song is felt in my depths.

This song came to my mind, seemingly from no where, but obviously from the Lord...

It is the song of my heart these days.

"What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear.
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.
O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials or temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge; take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer.
In His arms He'll take and shield thee; thou wilt find a solace there."

What a Friend We Have in Jesus
Words: Joseph M. Scriven, ca. 1855
Music: Charles C. Converse, 1868

I'm bigger than you

I traveled over to Myrtle Beach a few weeks ago to see Seth! Being that he works 7 days a week, these couple of trips to Myrtle have resulted in my first times spent alone on the beach! (Which I would recommend to anyone.)

This last trip, I found myself on a secluded portion of beach, away from the exhaustive crowd of the hotel's beach front, and ended up falling in love with the family who beached near me!  It was a couple in their early thirties, and their little boy, who was probably no older than 6.

It was already a perfect place to spy on God! The Carolina sun beat down with a fierceness that was, thankfully, abated by a constant sea breeze, and every wave roared with His power. But nothing spoke of God so profoundly as this beautiful family!

The mother's care for her husband and son, mixed with the comfortable conversation with someone I can only assume was a close friend, was a good start. But my heart was sold when the father raced his son to the ocean, picked him up, and carried him deeper into the ocean!

Hand in hand, they waded into the ocean, until the waves were too much for the little boy. At this point, he picked up his boy, and walked out until the waves crashed on both of their chests. I couldn't help smiling, what with the little boy's squeals being carried to shore on the wind. Looking up, the Lord stole my heart even further.  The father proceeded to take his boy, swing him over his shoulders, and wade out even deeper! I cannot say who was having a harder time breathing- the Father, who walked out so deep that the waves went over his head at their peak, or the little boy, who laughed so hard each time he knew he was the only one above water.

"How great, the Father's love for us!" As they ran back ashore with the little boy yelling to his mommy, "Did you see?! Did you see?!", the father's face beamed with delight. He knew he had made his little boy joyful.

My daddy once told me something about the Lord, which was so simple, and so wise. In a season of hardship and fear, he said to me: "What if the Lord just wants you to be happy?"

The words of a loving father.

The father was not perturbed one bit at having salt water repeatedly slapping him in the face! He was gleaming! It was his delight to throw his boy on his shoulders, and to carry him out in the ocean- which was in itself quite dangerous for the boy. But in his father's arms, he was safe, and having the time of his life!

Later the husband and wife sat together, while their son played in the ocean by himself. They called to him constantly saying, "Not too far!", while he yelled back, "I can do it! I can do it!" When he went further than his knees, the father went out and gave him a stern talking to- expressing their concern, and warning him not to go any further.

Sweet, Lord. Can we go as far into the ocean by ourselves?! Absolutely not. But how He delights watching us play, and hoisting us on His shoulders to go deeper than we could ever go on our own. He is so good!

Later the father and son had a race from the beach to the mom. The little boy ran with every bit of strength he could muster, and the father put in just enough effort to come in a close second, joyfully taking in the boasts of his son to his mother.

I want God! The Father, who lets his son barely beat him in a race- just to make him run his fastest, while stirring in him the belief that he can run the race and win it. And He smiles and laughs as his son tells him how fast he is! And the Father affirms it as truth.

He races us, so that we may run our fastest! He stays with us, to maintain our purpose! He delights in our triumphs! And He affirms us with exclamations of our abilities! He warns us when we wade further into the waters than we can handle, and lifts us on His shoulders to go deeper.

And I get to KNOW Him!! So... I'm off to have the time of my life!! God bless!