Praying the Psalms- Psalm 29

Jenny has begun a journey of praying her way through the Psalms that I have decided to join. Each weekend, we will pray through one psalm and post our prayer and/or meditations on that psalm as the Lord leads. Check out her journey and join us in Praying the Psalms.


Psalm 29
In a world of busyness and noise, I often strain to hear His voice.
This Voice that thunders with power comes to me in hushed whisper.
Heard only when I determine to seek and listen.
When it comes, the Voice breaks and flashes and shakes, refining soul.
The Voice twists the proud oak of my sin and strips bare my strength.
And I cry "Glory!"
Awesome though it is, this Voice need not be feared.
Though the shaking, twisting and stripping may bring pain, this is not the end.
Shaken and twisted and stripped bare, the King pours into me blessings and strength and peace.

Bringing Me Joy...

Anne of Green Gables Audio CDs:  I got an unabridged copy from our local library.  My boys quickly tired of Anne's antics but I've fallen hard for her.  Anytime I am alone in the car I lose myself in the goings on at Green Gables.  You can bet the DVDs are next!


The Cricket in Times Square (Chester Cricket and His Friends) Audio CDs:  All the kids enjoyed this one.  If we arrived at our destination at an important juncture in the story, my oldest would ask for us to stay in the car to continue!

Mission Statement for Moms
Kat at Inspired to Action was good enough to compile all her ideas for writing a Mom Mission Statement into a free e-book.  I downloaded it and just started working through it.  I've been meaning to do this since I wrote my Online Mission Statement and now I am!  (Kat also wrote the free e-book Maximize Your Mornings.  Michelle over at So, I Married a Mennonite will be hosting a weekly group to work through the book together so pop over there if you want join the fun.)


Not So Fast: Slow-Down Solutions for Frenzied Families
In an attempt to work on the goal of setting a slower pace to this life, I recently finished this book by writer and blogger Ann Kroeker.  I loved it so much a friend and I will be facilitating a book club discussion about it at church this winter.

I linked up to Imperfect Prose on Thursdays hosted by Emily of In the Hush of the Moon.  It was such a wonderful experience!  I really enjoyed writing my Imperfect Prose- that would have been enough really.  But the love and encouragement of those who stopped by to read it blew me away.  I encourage you to join Emily soon.

I hit publish on this post and then realized I HAD to share about Despicable Me.  The kids and I saw this movie yesterday and we all LOVED it!  I admit when I saw the previews in passing of this flick, I wrote it off completely.  I mean who takes their children to see a movie entitled Despicable Me, right?  Turns out the movie is really a beautiful story about the transformative power of unconditional love.  It made me laugh heartily as well as cry.  I highly recommend it.  I checked it out on Plugged In and Common Sense Media beforehand and you might want to as well.

Tomorrow, I am getting two hours to myself and I have determined to do nothing responsible- no errands, no appointments, no catch up phone calls.  I am considering a manicure and a pedicure followed by an hour at Starbucks with my Macbook.  That is, if I can tear myself away from Anne Shirley in the car ;)  What would you do with two hours to yourself???  


Also, please share what is bringing you joy these days!

My Shoes

Eight years ago, almost to the day, we began.
I finally grabbed hold of His outstretched hand. 
The miry clay, still warm and sticky on bare feet, but no longer able to hold me captive.

My infancy was long.  He's been a patient Father.
An involved and active Father, working many changes in this babe.
But He mostly had to carry me.  Without complaining, He did.

More than six years in, it was time to put walking shoes on.
For a while they were new and uncomfortable.  I was wobbly.
He still had to tie them for me and set me on my feet.
Teetering toward Him, His words were always encouragement.
"That's it.  You've got it.  You're doing it!"
His expectations were for little by little forward motion.

The walking shoes were soon broken in. 
Quickly became worn and a little tight.
I could not go far but they were comfortable and safe.
So He waited until I began asking for new ones.

They are a little big but He says I need the room to grow.
They are not really my style, either.
Made for the outdoors, for climbing and exploring.
Hiking boots? For a girl who likes the safety and security the indoor spaces provide?

I put them on. 
I trust His gifts.  They are good and perfect.
He has shown Himself trustworthy these eight years.
I've had them almost a year. 
I still can't go anywhere in them unless I am holding His hand.
But we like it that way.

My feet are stepping places I never thought possible!
Stomping on strongholds I had long given up hope of overcoming.
Walking into victory.

All the while, stopping frequently, for rest and refreshsment.
Kicking off heavy boots to dip sore feet in still waters.
Lying down in green pastures, with tears streaming, I rejoice in callouses.
Reminders of our adventure so far.

Ahead looms another mountain. 
Ominous and treacherous.  Peak shrouded in dark, angry clouds.
I've been shouting at it to move.
But He wants us to scale it.
And strangely, I do, too!

 Joining Emily in celebrating redemption and making a theology of the arts through my imperfect prose.

WANTED: Your Bloggy Advice

Just wanted to mention something I added to the blog last week for those of you who read my posts in a reader or via e-mail.  If you are on Facebook and want to interact there, please click over to the blog and "like" the Page I created on Facebook.  Then you will get any pics or posts I add on FB in your Live Feed there.  It will be purely for fun- a way to interact and share a few laughs- as this place seems to be where I mostly share my "deep" thoughts :)  

Also, I need help trying to figure out a new commenting system for the blog.  I hate knowing that if you comment you will not see my response unless you subscribe to the comments of each post.  I know how often I forget to do that so I assume you might, too.  I already tried one system that I was not happy with- can't remember the name right now.  I was going to switch to Disqus and actually added it to the blog and deleted it right away when I realized it had deleted (temporarily, thank goodness!) the comments made through blogger from my last post.  If you have made the switch to Disqus, do you know if there is a way to avoid that?

Finally, I would love to get your thoughts and advice on something.  I've been blogging for 7 or 8 months now but have not shared this place with many friends and family that are very dear to me in real life.  It's starting to feel a little strange- almost deceitful- that some of those closest to me do not even know this blog exists.  My hesitancy to share it with some is that, as I mentioned earlier, I share some of my deepest thoughts/struggles/journeys here and I worry that they just won't get it.  (Many of these people are not believers.)  If you have worked through this already and would be willing to share your decision and reasoning, I would love to hear!  Feel free to share in the comments or via e-mail at onethingspoken(at)gmail(dot)com.

Multitude Monday

Here are some of the things I was thankful for this week:

• 543. Hunting for- and finding- my "Ebenezers"
• 542.  Moments like these

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• 541. Carnival rides on the boardwalk

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• 540. Sunsets

539. His first banana split

538. Dancing with my three favorite dance partners to a live band
537. BOTH boys were chosen to "assist" during the magic show

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• 536. Unusual modes of transportation- horse and carriage rides, surrey bikes and boat cruises

535.  Boogy Boards!

• 534. Beach weather everyday
• 533. A Holy Experience
• 532. Wifi at our condo!
• 531. Seeing beauty rise from ashes
• 530. Reading the Word with the sea breeze on my face and the surf's pounding in my ears

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  You can find my running list of 1,000 gifts in the sidebar and read why I got started here.

Praying the Psalms- Psalm 28

Jenny has begun a journey of praying her way through the Psalms that I have decided to join. Each weekend, we will pray through one psalm and post our prayer and/or meditations on that psalm as the Lord leads. Check out her journey and join us in Praying the Psalms.



Psalm 28

"The LORD is my strength and my shield; 
       my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. 
       My heart leaps for joy 
       and I will give thanks to him in song."  Psalm 28:7

Father God,
You ARE my strength and my shield
When I place my trust in You, I am helped...
     to do the things I never thought I could
     to see things I never saw before
     to walk confidently in Your promises
     to love
     to watch beauty rise from ashes
     to change and grow without even trying
My heart leaps for joy, Lord
And I cannot help but give thanks to You...
     in song
     in word
     in the living of this life!
In Jesus' name, amen.

Scenes from a Family Beach Vacation

If you read this post, you know we have escaped again for a week at the beach- this time with Daddy!  We are having a wonderful time and seeing God bring beauty from ashes.  Last year during our beach vacation, we were having a family reunion of sorts with my husband's family.  Upon arriving, his mom fell, took gravely ill and was hospitalized here.  At the end of the week, she was transported home via ambulance- a three hour trip.  Sadly, she never made a complete recovery and we lost her a few weeks later.  


It was a very difficult week for all of us.  My husband was back and forth to the hospital (45 minutes each way) every day while I was continuing the vacation routine with the kids, putting on a happy face for the them.  We were not even sure we would come back to this place this year but because it is a place of many happy memories for our family, my husband bravely and selflessly decided to return us here.


So, here we are and God has been faithful to continue healing our hearts and restore this place to a place of happy memories for our family.

I pray He is meeting you wherever you are today- bringing beauty from ashes and healing your hearts!

What I Want to Remember

“Lord I have heard of Your fame;

I stand in awe of Your deeds, O Lord.

Renew them in our day,

In our time make them known;

In wrath remember mercy.”  Habakkuk 3:2

As I’ve mentioned already, I’m going through Beth Moore’s study on Believing God.  It’s my third time- either I’m a really slow learner or this study and His Word are so rich and deep they must be revisited and digested over time.  I prefer to believe the latter ;)  


Anyway, I just watched the Week 3 session, which focuses on Believing God Can Do What He Says He Can Do.  The session was brimming with wonderful expository teaching on this topic.  What penetrated my heart most, and what I want to share and remember, was Beth’s teaching on how to discern the difference between what we can request from God based on His Word and what we can claim. 

God’s Word is clear.  If we have the right heart, we can go before God with boldness and make any request of Him.  

"Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."  Hebrews 4:16

And He is able to do anything- He is the God who performs miracles!  

However, there are certain things that we can claim as ours based on the Word of God.  Please understand that I do not practice a "name it and claim it" theology, neither does Beth espouse one!  What she is suggesting is that we, as New Covenant believers in Christ, have been given promises from God meant for us that we can and should claim!   

In order to know what we can claim, we need to know what God has promised us through His Word.  Then we must pray in faith, believing God can do what He says He can do, and ask Him to fulfill His promises.  And then wait expectantly for the answer.  Beth delineates a cycle of unbelief that often cheats us of the promises of God before we even ask.  She discusses how we see little (in terms of the miraculous from God) so we believe little.  And because we believe little, we see little.  God desires faith- an active, continual believing.  In response, He will act in our lives!  


Now, here's the part I want to remember- need to remember- now and when the storms come. We've established that we can ask for anything from God and we can claim those promises that were given to us under the New Covenant from His Word.  If we want to see God move, we must pray in faith.  Under these conditions, we will see much affirmatively answered prayer.  But, in this life we will have trouble- we will probably not see every prayer answered in the affirmative.  In our lives and circles, we will see marriages broken, loved ones sick and dying, financial ruin, etc.  


But when we have prayed in faith, according to His Word, and we do not get the response we requested, we can rest in this- God is still working!  We, as New Covenant believers, can rest in the truth that God will work first on those things He has promised to us in the New Covenant, whose glories far surpass the Old.    So, what does He prioritize in the New Covenant?  The internal.  He will work first on that which will purify us.  

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."  2 Corinthians 4:16-18

I don't know about you but that just makes my heart sing!  I can ask anything, I can claim the promises meant for me and I can rest in the knowledge that He hears it all.  And He will give His answer in the light of His objective- to purify our hearts and makes us more like Jesus!  


That just gives me such freedom- freedom to ask, to claim, to believe, to wait in expectation!  How about you?

Multitude Monday

Here are some of the things I was thankful for this week:

• 529. Sunday service away from home but still with my brothers and sisters
• 528. Mini golf, arcades and ice cream
• 527. 20 minutes of peace- eyes closed on the beach, afternoon sunshine and the sounds of pounding surf
• 526. Safe arrival at our vacation destination
• 525. Sand and surf again- this time WITH DADDY!
• 524. Smiles plastered on their faces as they exit VBS

523. Fighting in the Spirit for what He has promised- victory, the abundant life
522. Honest, earnest prayers
521. Making my life about One Thing
520. Pursuing Soul Satisfaction
519. Believing God

• You can find my running list of 1,000 gifts in the sidebar and read why I got started here.

Praying the Psalms- Psalm 27

Jenny has begun a journey of praying her way through the Psalms that I have decided to join. Each weekend, we will pray through one psalm and post our prayer and/or meditations on that psalm as the Lord leads. Check out her journey and join us in Praying the Psalms.

Psalm 27 

Wow, this psalm is so packed with personal meaning for me, I am not sure where to start or how to focus my meditation and prayer this morning!

"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?" Ps 27 :1

The Lord is the stronghold of my life!  Oh, how I want to be able to proclaim this with absoluteness like David!  I have some strongholds in my life that I am praying and working toward victory over.  I long for the day when He has broken those chains and I can declare the Lord is THE stronghold of my life!

"When evil men advance against me
       to devour my flesh,
       when my enemies and my foes attack me,
       they will stumble and fall.
 Though an army besiege me,
       my heart will not fear;
       though war break out against me,
       even then will I be confident."  Ps 27: 2-3

They WILL stumble and fall, my heart WILL NOT fear, even then WILL I be confident.  I have once again immersed myself in a study about Believing God.  Faith is certainly about the WILL, our decision to believe God despite our circumstances.  And when we do place our will, our faith, our hope in Him, He promises to renew our strength.  With renewed strength, I want to live my life with the conviction and confidence David expresses in the two verses above!

"One thing I ask of the LORD,
       this is what I seek:
       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 seek him in his temple."  Ps 27: 4

I want my life to be about ONE THING- to dwell in the house of the Lord forever and to gaze upon His beauty!  Not just in Heaven but also while I am here on Earth.  If I can focus in on the Lord and His beauty, on this ONE THING, everything else will fall into its proper place and perspective in my life.  If I can fully trust this ONE THING, I can do all things through Him.  If I will pursue soul satisfaction in just ONE THING, I will be empowered to love and serve those He puts in my path.  Oh, how I want my life to be about ONE THING!

"Hear my voice when I call, O LORD;
       be merciful to me and answer me.
 My heart says of you, "Seek his face!"
       Your face, LORD, I will seek.
 Do not hide your face from me,
       do not turn your servant away in anger;
       you have been my helper.
       Do not reject me or forsake me,
       O God my Savior.
 Though my father and mother forsake me,
       the LORD will receive me.  Teach me your way, O LORD;
       lead me in a straight path
       because of my oppressors." Ps 27: 7-11

I love David's passion, his honest beseeching and faith in the above verses!  I am learning to pray more earnestly and honestly- reminding Him of His promises to me.  It does not come naturally to me- at times, it feels irreverent- but reverence without honestly is not reverence at all, is it?  So, I am pouring my heart out before Him, disappointments and all, so that it will have room for Him to fill with His teaching and love.  

"I am still confident of this:
       I will see the goodness of the LORD
       in the land of the living.
 Wait for the LORD;
       be strong and take heart
       and wait for the LORD." Ps 27: 13-14

Yes, Lord, I am still persuaded, dare I say, confident of this: I will see Your goodness, Your power, Your strength, Your might increase in my life!  I will wait for You, in You.  And I will gaze upon Your beauty as I wait for You to work Your wonders.   And soon, I will declare with David, the Lord is THE stronghold of my life!

An Honest Look

It's been a week since I wrote my Online Mission Statement and posted my online hours in the sidebar.  On the whole, I would say things are much improved, praise the Lord!  Not perfect, but much improved!

I have been leaving my phone charging down stairs in the evenings as Andrea suggested, which makes it more cumbersome to go online while hanging with my husband.  I have been adhering to the hours I posted for the most part.  There were many days this week that I was unable to go online during those hours so I would allow myself small blocks of time, when the kids were otherwise occupied, to do so.  I tried to make sure I did not exceed the amount of total time online than I originally planned for.  While I did not tally it all up, I do think I spent considerably less time online than I had planned for this week.  I truly do thank God for these victories because, in my flesh, I would be (and had been) checking that phone every time I turn around.  

As you can see from my Pages links above, I read a lot of blogs.  So this week, I spent some time deciding on which blogs delighted and inspired me most and bookmarked them into days of the week.  This way instead of trying to read every single blog every day, I only read a few a day- leaving me some time online to blog myself!

The last thing I want to work on in this area is to try to make reading REAL, LIVE BOOKS an automatic subsitute for online reading.  There were a few times this week when the kids were occupied, all my chores were done and I had some unexpected "free time."  I automatically defaulted to checking Facebook or e-mails or Google reader.  So, I am praying that God will help me make that change as well.

Are you celebrating a victory this week?  Please share!  Even what one might deem a small vitcory like this, can make a huge difference in your quality of life!  Go out and live today :)

Satisfaction

We had a Women's Prayer Breakfast at church this past Saturday and I am still thinking about the DVD teaching by Beth Moore we watched and the discussion that followed.

Extraordinary Women-A Woman's Prayer Life 

Beth taught on Psalm 63- exhorting and encouraging women to enter into a "sacred romance" relationship with the Lover of our souls.  Let me tell you, and I am not exaggerating, every woman in that room was BLOWN AWAY by the teaching.  And the informal discussion that followed was so deep and soul baring that once again we were all moved.  If you have occasion to host a small group of women in your home or church to view this DVD and discuss the content, I urge you to do so!

And since I do so want you to see and discuss this teaching IRL, I won't go into too much detail about the message.  I will share a few thoughts about the message and subsequent discussion that spoke to me personally with the intention of whetting your appetite for more :)  

"My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; 

       with singing lips my mouth will praise you."  Ps 63:5

God wants us to have souls that are satisfied with the richest of foods.  Not ones that are subsiding on the crumbs from under the table!  An satisfied soul is the product of the pursuit of God.  We can know God for years, decades even, without receiving the abundant life He offers.  We receive salvation upon receiving Jesus, we pursue satisfaction of soul by earnestly seeking a love relationship with God throughout our lives.

"O God, you are my God,
       earnestly I seek you;" Ps 63:1 

We were created with the needs for affirmation, love, attention, affection.  Only He can satisfy these soul needs.  And when our soul needs are not satisfied, we default to other means to obtain this satisfaction.  Beth goes into great detail about how we seek to get these needs met outside of God and encourages us down the right path- to Him!  Since that is the heart of the study, I won't elaborate on this even though I SO WANT TO :)

Much of our group discussion focused on the freedom many of us received from understanding that God created us with these needs.  We are not weak because we need love, affirmation, etc.  Many revealed their needs, their strongholds, their secrets and many more nodded their heads in agreement to the struggles of others.  We all left encouraged to receive God's unfailing love completely and to empty ourselves of our strongholds and sin so that He can fill and satisfy us.  We left excited to begin or refresh a deep love relationship with the Lord and a passion to pursue satisfaction in Him!

If you do (or already have) see and discuss this teaching, please come back and let me know what you thought!

As an aside, can I just mention that I just discovered Beth Moore last year.  What is up with that?!?  How did I go 7 years as a Christian woman without ever even hearing of her?!?  And now, well, I am kind of a groupie.  But not in a weird, stalker way :)  I have just been so incredibly blessed, encouraged and challenged by her rich teaching that I seek it out whenever I can.  And I just love her heart- she is so open about her shortcomings and so in love with Jesus now- that it gives me hope for myself.  Her life and ministry show what God can and does do with a woman is faithful to Him.

FYI- I believe the link above is affiliated with my Amazon account so if you click on it and buy the DVD, I get a credit of some sort with Amazon.  Honestly, I am not fully sure what that credit is or if that is even the link associated with my Amazon account but I wanted to be open with you in case it is!  No one asked me to review this DVD publicly, I just couldn't help myself :p

Multitude Monday

Here are some of the things I was thankful for this week:

518. Learning how to slow

517. Learning to just love him

516. An online mission statement

515. This teaching

514. Reignited passion for Him

513. Food, Fellowship and the Word at Woman's Prayer Breakfast

512. Visit to see friends who recently moved

511. Company will replace ripped furniture!!!

510. Cracked iPhone

509. Friends exploring the museum with us

508. Spending the day at the local art museum with the kids

507. The men and women, then and now, who fight for our freedom

506. Freedom- to worship, to speak, to dissent, to organize, to protect self

505. Convincing the kids that watching the fireworks on TV can be just as much fun as watching them live ;)

504. Cousins making and breaking sand castles

503. A day spent lakeside with family

• You can find my running list of 1,000 gifts in the sidebar and read why I got started here.

Praying the Psalms- Psalm 26

Jenny has begun a journey of praying her way through the Psalms that I have decided to join. Each weekend, we will pray through one psalm and post our prayer and/or meditations on that psalm as the Lord leads. Check out her journey and join us in Praying the Psalms.

Psalm 26

While I have not led a blameless life nor has my trust been unwavering,
I do invite You, Lord, to test me and try me, to examine my heart and mind.
For if I hope to walk continually in your truth,
if I hope to walk in victory,
I must allow You access to my heart and mind.
I am not afraid of this Lord.
Not because I am innocent in and of myself.
But because of Your unfailing love.
A love that is every before me.
The redeeming, merciful love of Jesus.
In Him, I receive innocence and blamelessness.
In Him, my feet rest on level ground.
Help me, Lord Jesus, to abide in Your love!
In Your Name I pray, amen.

Music and Worship

I co-lead a monthly Children's Worship at our church.  My partner and I endeavor to impress upon the children that there are a myriad of ways available to worship God.  In addition to worshipping God in song, we discuss how one can worship God through movement, prayer, reading and/or memorizing the Scriptures, acts of service and sacrifice and the list goes on. 

Yet, almost invariably, no matter in what manner I begin to worship God, I often find myself singing His praises in the end.  There is just something about the poetry of lyrics and the visceral essence of music that reaches to the depth of my soul like the spoken or written word rarely does.  That is certainly not to say that the Word of God (and many gifted writers and bloggers ) do not move and inspire me.  Of course, they do!  But when I am worshipping God in Spirit and in truth, I often find that it is in song that I am most easily able to express my heart to Him.

So, I thought I'd share with you the praises that are my lips as of late.  As you listen, I pray you are moved to worship Him- the only One who is worthy of glory and honor and praise! 

And would you please share with me the songs that are moving you to worship theses days?  Feel free to leave a link to the YouTube video in the comments :)

Mighty is the Power of the Cross by Chris Tomlin

King of Glory by Chris Tomlin

Amazed by Lincoln Brewster

Cover Me by Bebo Norman

For Who You Are by Hillsong

From the Inside Out by Hillsong

None But Jesus by Hillsong

The Stand by Hillsong


This last one is unusual in that there are no lyrics to these songs.  I am so blessed by the beauty of these songs that I listen to as my heart is ministered to by the wise and wonderful words of Ann Voskamp that I could not leave them off the list.
The Playlist on A Holy Experience