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!