Wednesday, April 14, 2010

God Is Near

God is always near to His children, even we stray away from Him. This is very convicting to me, for I have not always been close to God, and have strayed away from Him many times, yet always, He takes em back and forgives me. We serve an awesome God!

Friends may lead me astray,
But God is always near.
Others may cause me to turn away,
But, always, God is near.

Though I may stray far away,
Still He watches over me.
Though I choose to go my own way,
Still, He watches over me.

When I return and plead,
“Lord forgive me!
You’re all I need.
Please, Lord, remember me!”

Lovingly, my Father said,
“Child, you wandered far away;
From me you fled,
But I was with you all the way.”

It was then that I cried.
I don’t deserve His love.
But still, He was by my side,
My loving Father above.

Child, Rest In Me

Something that I've always had trouble with is resting in and depending on God. I'm a very stubborn and independent person, which I will be the first to admit are two of my greatest weaknesses. Through my (almost) two years here at college, I've had to let go of a lot of my independence due to struggling with my asthma and other physical problems, and I've had to let go of my stubbornness enough to admit that I need help. I was thinking about all this today when I wrote this poem:

“Child, rest in Me,”
My Father gently says.
“Child, rest in Me.”

Stubborn though am I,
I pull away
“I can do it!” I cry.

“Child, rest in Me,”
He says once again.
“Child, rest in Me.”

Still I resist
I want my way
“I can do it!” I insist

“Child, rest in Me,”
Is all that he says.
“Child, rest in Me.”

Suddenly, I stumble and fall!
“Lord, help me!
I need you!” I call.

“Child, rest in Me.”
No chiding, simply,
“Child, rest in Me.”

“Father, I need you,
I need Your help
With all that I do.”

“Child, rest in Me.
I will help you,
Only rest in Me.”

Update Once Again

Yes, it really is me, and I really am updating once again!! I'm on a roll here!! lol :D

It's been very busy here ever since Spring Break. Right after Spring Break was Spring Bible Conference. It was super busy, but it was totally worth it! All the messages were fabulous. There were way too many good messages to pick a favorite.

This past Saturday was Medieval Mayhem at college. This is a competition between all four leagues (Patriots, which is my league, Conquerors, Knights & Maidens, and Watchmen). We play various games such as Jump the Creek, American Eagle, relays, etc. It was a lot of fun, although by the end of the day I was completely and totally exhausted. Thankfully, my asthma pretty much stayed under control and I was able to participate in most of the games.

After Medieval Mayhem, Christy and Nate asked me to take pictures for them, so we went over to the caboose in Lattimore and I had a blast taking pictures for them. They are so cute together!!! I love photography, and it's always fun to take pictures of couples.

Sunday kicked off the Spring Revival at Emmanuel Baptist Church, my local church when I'm down here at school in NC. Evangelist Paul Crow is preaching, and all the messages have been wonderful!! I think each message has spoken to my heart. Although it's going to be super busy, it's going to be a great week. I'm helping in the Welcome Center every night except Thursday, and I'm in the nursery that night. Add to that schoolwork, and classes, as well as trying to recover from Saturday still, and it equals exhaustion, but I don't mind.

As of right now it is 23 days until graduation!! I cannot wait!! Although in some ways (okay, okay, a lot of ways) I'm going to miss being down here, at the same time I am very ready to be done with school.

Coming up right on the heels of graduation is Holly & Andrew's wedding. I'm so excited!! It's going to be a crazy week at our house, though. Nicole gets in on Sunday (She's riding back from NC with Holly). Andrew's family, as well as Christy & Caleb are getting in on Wednesday afternoon, and Jenn is coming in sometime that day as well. On Thursday, we decorate the church, and that evening Mandy will get in. Friday the Risingers get in, and, of course, the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner are that night. Saturday is the wedding, of course, so that will be a crazy day. after the wedding we're having a bunch of people over to our house for a cookout. The next morning everyone who has not yet left is leaving, and Holly and Andrew will be flying out for their honeymoon. That night, the mixed quartet from Ambassador will be at my home church (New Lexington Bible Church) and Laura and Christina who are traveling with the quartet, are staying at our house that night. John and Esther Uit de Flesch, who are also traveling with the quartet may also be staying at our house, depending on if anyone else in our church volunteers to keep them. Then, Laura and Christina will be back at our house on Wednesday and Thursday nights while they're at other churches in the area.

On top of that, one of our dogs is going to have puppies any day now, so we will have our hands full keeping track and taking care of the puppies.

It's going to be a busy few weeks, but hopefully after all that is over I'll have a chance to rest and catch up on my sleep.

As far as a job, I'm leaving that in the Lord's hands. I have submitted my resume to my dad's work, and it will be submitted to another place sometime next week by a friend who knows of a job opening. Once I graduate and the wedding is done with, I will start sending it out to more places, but right now I'm just too busy to start looking for jobs.

When I go home, I will be teaching the children's Sunday School class at my church for the summer, as well as teaching a teen girl's class one Wednesday a month. I will also be doing some secretarial work for the church to help my pastor out. He has needed a secretary for awhile, but because we're such a small church, we do not have the money to pay one. This is the thing that I' looking forward to the most, as I would love to work as a church secretary.

Well, that's about all for now. I will try to update again before the wedding sometime, but don't get your hopes up! I have a lot of projects to finish up before finals, and after finals is graduation, then the wedding, so I don't know if i will have time to update at all.