April: Still, My Soul Be Still

As of late, I've noticed how much everything around me is constantly changing. This past year has been such a change. New school, new life, new experiences, new everything. I sometimes just wish that things would remain constant. I just wanted something in this world to remain constant, but as 1 Peter 1:24-25 says, "...All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the world of the Lord remains forever. A song that has encouraged me lately is Keith & Kristyn Getty's Still, My Soul be Still.

Still my soul be still, and do not fear though winds of change may rage tomorrow.
God is at your side, no longer dread the fires of unexpected sorrow.

Chorus:

God You are my God, and I will trust in You and not be shaken.
Lord of peace renew a steadfast spirit within me to rest in You alone.

Still my soul be still, do not be moved by lesser lights and fleeting shadows.
Hold onto His ways with shield of faith against temptations flaming arrows.

Still my soul be still, do not forsake the Truth you learned in the beginning.
Wait upon the Lord and hope will rise as stars appear when day is dimming.

The last verse is my absolute favorite. Although things of this world are constantly changing, one thing that I know remains the same is Christ.


Isaiah 40:28-31
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.

 He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength. 

Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;they shall walk and not faint. 


And for this... I am eternally grateful.

So, It's Been One Year...

A lot has happened in the past year:

I have...

...graduated high school...

...worked at my first job...

...gone to college...

...paid my own rent...

...joined a great church...

...joined a great bible study...

...joined an amazing a cappella group...

...made awesome new friends...

...been a year without a mother...

Without a doubt things have been different and harder in some ways. I do miss her hugs, her laughs and her fobbish english. Yet, I am glad. She's with Jesus who can provide more for her than I can. She's with her everything. And for this I'm glad. (To read more about my mom's story, click here.) I await the day where I see her again in heaven with Christ in our glorified bodies.

As mentioned before there have been a lot of changes, and most the most important my love for God has grown tremendously. I've learned to love and trust Him more and praise Him despite my condition. I've learned to be satisfied in Him alone.


Behold Him there the risen Lamb,
My perfect spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM,
The King of glory and of grace,
One in Himself I cannot die.
My soul is purchased by His blood,
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ my Savior and my God!
-Before the Throne of God Above, V.4

Thankfulness and Gratefulness

I know this isn't a song of the month. That has yet to come, however since I've yet to do an update of how things have been, I think now is the appropriate time. As I sit outside enjoying the weather, waiting for my next class and eating my lunch, I got to thinking about what God has done in my life so far. As a result of this, I am made aware of how thankful and grateful I should be regardless of my own condition.


Quick update:
School has been doing quite well. It has been crazy in the last couple months as my a cappella group prepared for competition. We found ourselves rehearsing at ridiculous times (5pm-9pm Sunday, 10pm-1230am Monday, 7pm-12am Wednesday) and whatever else. We placed 2nd at Quarter Finals and advanced into the Semi Finals where we placed 4th. To be honest, I really wanted to fly out to New York for finals, but at the same time, I'm really relieved that we didn't. If we did make it to finals, I wouldn't have been able to go home and enjoy much needed time with friends and family.

Spring Break=A-mazing.

I had a lot accomplished here. I got to paint my room because I was absolutely sick of the plain white pasty walls. I replaced this dull color with Behr's "Rejuvenate" Green. I also was able to put of a decent source of light up in my room. Do you see that little lamp in the corner of the room? Yes, that was my only source of light for the past seven years. My room was somewhat inspired by Florence + the Machine's music video "Cosmic Love". I wanted hanging lightbulbs in my room, but the were quite expensive, so I had to improvise. I also got to play around with furniture positions and what not. We also had an amazing garage sale held by the Johnson's (check out her blog). I made a lot more than I though I would've. So obviously, finding thing to sell, involves ripping one's living space apart. Although the shot of my "new room" may look organized, what you don't know is that I have a closet in the opposite corner of the room in which everything has been shoved into at the last minute due to time restrictions. Oh college, how I don't miss you.


Since I've been here in college, I've been praying for contentment, more specifically in the areas of dating/relationships and I really do believe that the Lord has granted me this. I am content with the fact that I am single and that this, at the current time, is my current ministry. Whether I am in a relationship or not, I am still to glorify God. I am satisfied in Him alone. :) As I should be. 


John 3:30-31

"He must increase, but I must decrease." He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. 

March: Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken

Luke 9: 23-27

And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.

How I yearn this to be within every second of my life. As you see, this month's song is, "Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken." I want this song to be played at both my wedding and my funeral. I love the beautiful imagery and it truly talks about how life is going to be like following Christ.  

Jesus, I my cross have taken,

All to leave and follow Thee.

Destitute, despised, forsaken,

Thou from hence my all shall be.

Perish every fond ambition,

All I’ve sought or hoped or known.

Yet how rich is my condition!

God and heaven are still my own.

Let the world despise and leave me,

They have left my Savior, too.

Human hearts and looks deceive me;

Thou art not, like them, untrue.

O while Thou dost smile upon me,

God of wisdom, love, and might,

Foes may hate and friends disown me,

Show Thy face and all is bright.

Go, then, earthly fame and treasure,

Come disaster, scorn and pain

In Thy service, pain is pleasure,

With Thy favor, loss is gain

I have called Thee Abba Father,

I have stayed my heart on Thee

Storms may howl, and clouds may gather;

All must work for good to me.

Soul, then know thy full salvation

Rise o’er sin and fear and care

Joy to find in every station,

Something still to do or bear.

Think what Spirit dwells within thee,

Think what Father’s smiles are thine,

Think that Jesus died to win thee,

Child of heaven, canst thou repine.

Haste thee on from grace to glory,

Armed by faith, and winged by prayer.

Heaven’s eternal days before thee,

God’s own hand shall guide us there.

Soon shall close thy earthly mission,

Soon shall pass thy pilgrim days,

Hope shall change to glad fruition,

Faith to sight, and prayer to praise.

© 2001 Bill Moore Music.

Although the world will despise and forsake me, I still have Christ. I have the one who saved my soul to cling to and with that I am content and ever praising Him. Another verse that comes to mind is: 2 Corinthians 12:9-10. Despite my own condition, I still have Christ. He is everything or he is nothing. I sometimes cringe at how different my life would be if it had not been for Jesus interceding in my life. My heart cannot fully express enough my gratitude and contentment in Him. Jesus died for this undeserving race. We are in debt for a eternity beyond comparison. 
This last Sunday, I was discussing with my friend at church about how truly happy I am there and it is ultimately where I am happiest. Why? It's the communal worshipping of our Lord! Everyone shares a similar view of who God is and what he has truly done for us. We all share the same love for Him. We know the truth and we rejoice in this. As the song discusses, life is short and who are we to assume that this life is ours to live? Life is but a mist in the air. Life is not ours, but it is God's. I encourage you to live life not in vain, but for Christ. 
Pray for me in sharing the Gospel among my friends who are unbelievers. I understand that it will be offensive and will possibly change and/or strain relations with them. I hope that they understand that it is out of love that I am inclined to share the truth with them. It is because I love them and care about their spiritual wellbeing, that I am willing to put myself worries of maintaining a relationship so that they too can have Christ. Pray for strength, endurance, and continuity in my sharing of the Gospel. Pray that I take advantage of every opportunity that I have to share the Gospel and embrace it. Thank you.
Soli Deo Gloria.

February: The Wonder of the Cross

 Well, February is coming to a close and I have yet to select my song of the month.


February has been one of the most hectic months so far in my college career and for a while I wasn't prioritizing well. There would be days where my a capella group would come first and then my school work and vice versa. It's been hard. I just didn't make the conscious decision that it was okay to say no to some things. I was swimming in all the commitments that I've agreed to. Although my life commitments have been bobbing up and down in the water, so to speak, I know that one thing remained constant throughout. God's grace could not have been more prominent in every aspect of my life. He has given me the grace to accomplish everything that I have foolishly accepted, and he has given me strength to accomplish these tasks to the best of my ability. One song that has been weighing heavy on my heart this month is "The Wonder of the Cross" by Vicky Beeching. The lyrics are as follows:


O precious sight, my Savior stands,
Dying for me with outstretched hands.
O precious sight, I love to gaze,
Remembering salvation’s day,
Remembering salvation’s day.
Though my eyes linger on this scene,
May passing time and years not steal
The power with which it impacts me,
The freshness of its mystery,
The freshness of its mystery.

May I never lose the wonder,
The wonder of the cross.
May I see it like the first time
Standing as a sinner lost,
Undone by mercy and left speechless,
Watching wide eyed at the cost.
May I never lose the wonder,
The wonder of the cross.

Behold the God-man crucified,
The perfect sinless sacrifice.
As blood ran down those nails and wood,
History was split in two, yes,
History was split in two.
Behold the empty wooden tree,
His body gone, alive and free.
We sing with everlasting joy,
For sin and death have been destroyed, yes,
Sin and death have been destroyed.

May I never lose the wonder,
The wonder of the cross.
May I see it like the first time
Standing as a sinner lost,
Undone by mercy and left speechless,
Watching wide eyed at the cost.
May I never lose the wonder,
The wonder of the cross.

So basically amidst all my commitments, I was constantly reminded of the cross and all that Christ has done for me. It's so easy to go about my life and just casually address the topic of Jesus dying to save those he elected from eternal damnation. Because you know... he only died for us. It's no big deal. FALSE. Christ suffered the full wrath of God that was rightfully ours, but the perfect lamb was slain instead. How wonderful the gift that we have been given. We can never graduate from the Gospel. A friend of mine used a good example to explain how essential and important the Gospel is to our faith. She said learning the Gospel is like learning the basic alphabet. However, I doesn't stop here, I continue to use this alphabet for the rest of my life to read and learn more things by reading. The same goes from the Gospel. Let us never become casual with Christ or take the Gospel lightly.