I Peter 4:8

It's the last day of February and I want to share my most favorite verse on love:

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."
-- I Peter 4:8

I consider myself incredibly blessed to have received this kind of love in my life... from my husband, children, friends, family... and from God, who has been incredibly patient with me. I think this is one of the greatest blessings of the Christian life that we can have relationships that can extend this kind of grace and love that allows them to bend, and not have to break, as we deal with sins in each other's lives.

There's a great song by Sara Groves that came to mind when I was thinking about this verse. I couldn't find a good youtube video of it, but if you click on the link below, you can listen to the song.

http://popup.lala.com/popup/504684637827927752

When It Was Over:

When it was over and they could talk about it
She said there's just one thing I have got to know
What in that moment when you were running so hard and fast
Made you stop and turn for home
He said I always knew you loved me even though I'd broken your heart
I always knew there'd be a place for me to make a brand new start

Oh love wash over a multitude of things
Love wash over a multitude of things
Love wash over a multitude of things
Make us whole

When it was over and they could talk about it
They were sitting on the couch
She said what on earth made you stay here
When you finally figured out what I was all about
He said I always knew you'd do the right thing
Even though it might take some time
She said, Yeah, I felt that and that's probably what saved my life

Oh love wash over a multitude of things
Love wash over a multitude of things
Love wash over a multitude of things
Make us whole

There is a love that never fails
There is a healing that always prevails
There is a hope that whispers a vow
A promise to stay while we're working it out
So come with your love and wash over us

Let the Waters Rise

With less than a week left in February (How did THAT happen?!?), I thought I'd try to get back to my original intent for this month of posting verses about loving God. Do you ever feel like you get swallowed up into a black hole and before you know it, days have passed and you've completely lost yourself? Can't really explain why that seems to have happened, but it's the best description of the past several days that I can come up with...

Anyways, a few thoughts came together for me today and I wanted to get them down before another day passes by. I haven't been listening much to WAAY-FM lately because I've had this new Hallal CD playing over and over in my car -- but I had the radio on the last couple of days and this song keeps popping up and catching my attention. It's been speaking to my heart, so I thought I'd post it:




Let the Waters Rise by MikesChair

Don't know where to begin
Its like my world's caving in
And I try but I can't control my fear
Where do I go from here?

Sometimes its so hard to pray
When You feel so far away
But I am willing to go
Where you want me to
God, I trust You

There's a raging sea
Right in front of me
Wants to pull me in
Bring me to my knees
So let the waters rise
If You want them to
I will follow You
I will follow You
I will follow You

I will swim in the deep
'Cuz You'll be next to me
You're in the eye of the storm
And the calm of the sea
You'll never out of reach

God, You know where I've been
You were there with me then
You were faithful before
You'll be faithful again
I'm holding Your hand

There's a raging sea
Right in front of me
Wants to pull me in
Bring me to my knees
So let the waters rise
If You want them to
I will follow You
I will follow You
I will follow You

God Your love is enough
You will pull me through
I'm holding onto You
God Your love is enough
I will follow You
I will follow You

There's a raging sea
Right in front of me
Wants to pull me in
Bring me to my knees
So let the waters rise
If You want them to
I will follow You
I will follow You
I will follow You

So I've had this song on my mind, and then I read my friend Lisa's blog today (http://www.lisanotes.blogspot.com/) and I'm going to steal a quote from one of her posts that really made me think:

"Your love becomes trust only when you choose to believe that I brought you out of something bad to bring you into something good before you experience that something good. Then your love is sustained by confidence in My character, not by enjoyment of current blessings." (from the book, "66 Love Letters" by Larry Crabb)

To me, this quote is a bit like the lines in the song, "But I am willing to go where you want me to. God, I trust You ...Your love is enough. I will follow You." In other words, I choose to believe that You have brought me to this place in life to lead me into something good, even if I'm not seeing it all the way that I want to or even feel like I need to see it just yet. I TRUST in Your unfailing love and goodness. I so want this to be my heart! For all that God has done, it's amazing that this can even be a struggle...

Finally, this is the verse that came very quickly to mind as I was mulling these things over:

"Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."

I Cor 13:7

Chicago Style Gymnastics Meet

I have definitely fallen off the wagon in the past few days in terms of trying to post a daily thought on growing more in love with God. So this post is to show you what I've been up to... :)

Last Thursday, Anna and I traveled with several of her fellow gymnastics team members to Chicago to the largest women's gymnastics meet in the world! 4300 gymnasts of all ages descended on the city this past weekend for this huge event. It was held at Chicago's Navy Pier, which was a really neat venue. We had girls competing at Levels 7, 8 and 9 on Friday and it was a busy day of competition. Anna had a really good day on the Vault, Bars and especially her Floor routine. (you can see that video down below) The Beam continues to be her nemesis, but she gets better each time on that, so it's all good. :) On Saturday, we took to the streets of Chicago and did a lot of sightseeing and shopping with Anna's friends and coaches - so that was a lot of fun. Here are some pictures from our adventure:

Anna, Autumn and Anna (Daily) with the skyline in the background. At some point, we were trying to figure out if the tall building in the background was actually the Sears tower, but it turned out to be the John Hancock Tower. It was early on in the trip and we were still trying to get our bearings. ;-)

We arrived Thursday afternoon and the first thing we found near our hotel was a mall. :) And the most fun store we found was the Lego store... go figure. That's Anna with Indiana Jones and below are the 'moms' with Lego Grandma... Darlene, Misayo, Tonya and me.

This is a Lego replica of the Marriot hotel where we were staying. It really did look just like that, except for the dinosaur tail! ;-)

We had beautiful, sunny weather while we were there - but there was a good bit of snow around and it was VERY cold! The girls didn't seem to mind it at all, though. :)

A little fun in the pool on Thursday night.

The view from the Navy Pier as we arrived for the meet on Friday afternoon.

I loved these balloons they had at the entrance to the meet - fun!

Here are the girls waiting for their turn on their floor routines. Time to get serious...

This was the view from the top of the Willis (Sears) Tower looking across Lake Michigan. I was absolutely captivated by the size of this 'lake.' It wasn't like any lake I have ever seen - stretching on to the horizon, even with the view from 103 floors up! ... amazing.

The next few pictures were taken in the plexiglass 'boxes' that were hanging on the side of the building. I can't believe I actually walked out into one of these things - it was pretty scary, but worth it, to get the picture! :)



The girls (and coaches!) had the crazy idea of doing handstands on the glass! yikes!

Uh, no.... I don't do handstands - especially not 103 floors up looking down at the ground through glass! ha But I did face my fears and get out there long enough for this picture. :)

After the Willis Tower, we were trying to make our way to Oprah Winfrey's studio. One of our coaches, Nicole, is a big fan and really wanted to go to the "O" Store that was supposed to be next to the studio. The problem was, we had no idea how to get there. We had bus passes, but no directions. After talking to a cab driver we decided to try walking... fortunately, about that time, a man saw that we clearly looked like tourists from out of town and offered his assistance. He actually walked with us down to the right bus stop, got us on the right bus, rode with us, had the bus driver stop at a place where there wasn't even a bus stop, and walked us right down the street to Oprah's studio! :) He was very funny - and had quite a few stories along the way about Chicago, it's history, and all the corruption in it's government. haha. I wasn't quite sure at times if we were really going to get where we were going, or what we'd gotten ourselves into with our 'tour guide,' but he turned out to be a pretty genuine 'good samaritan' and I don't really think we would have made it to the "O" store without him! I was pretty impressed with the friendliness of people in Chicago - especially for a big city. You usually don't find that, so it was a nice blessing. :)

So it was a fun weekend - a good meet - a neat experience in a new city. I'm really proud of Anna and all the girls. It's just amazing what they can do with their gymnastics. And it's felt like a really, really long weekend now that we've had an extra snow day tacked onto an already 5 day weekend... I'm looking forward to getting back into a 'normal' routine tomorrow... and I hope to get back to my plan for posts that I started with at the beginning of the month!

One last thing - here's a video of Anna's floor routine:

All is fair in love....

I think we've all had our times of thinking "It's not fair!...." I know I have. And you can fill in the blanks there with anything you like. This past couple of days of reading through the bible has found me in Exodus as God is going over the laws that He wants the Israelites to follow. As I was reading through them, the thought that kept coming to mind is that as much as we sometimes want to accuse God of not being fair, He really, from the start, goes out of His way to make sure that there was plenty of 'fairness' to go around!

He very specifically lays out how the Israelites were to handle just about any dispute that could come up between them. You can tell that He really has a soft spot for widows and orphans and is severe in His judgement towards anyone who mistreats them. He sets up very detailed rules and consequences for everything from murder, to stealing, to accidental injury and even how to lend money.

Speaking of detail, I found this one interesting... "If a thief is caught breaking in and is struck so that he dies, the defender is not guilty of bloodshed, but if it happens after sunrise, he is guilty of bloodshed." (Ex 22:2) huh? I feel like I must be missing something in the importance of whether this happens in the night or in the light of day, but I don't know what it is... maybe someone out there who is smarter than me can shed some light on that for me. ;-)

Anyways, here's the point - God wants us to be fair with each other. I think that He has been MORE than fair with us! If you don't think so, (and sometimes I don't) then just HONESTLY ask yourself if you'd really like for God to give you what you think you deserve. Now there's a question! yikes...

The only person that it seems God hasn't been fair with is Himself. When all is said and done, He put Himself here on the earth in the form of Jesus, allowed himself to be mistreated, misunderstood, falsely accused, denied justice, and utilmately executed for crimes He did not commit. And all of that to save US from our inability to live under the laws of 'fairness' that He created in the first place!

So they say, "All is fair in love...." Well, all IS fair in God's love, not because of anything we have done, but because He has made it fair.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

Praise God that His love for us drove Him to take on the 'unfairness' of the cross so that we might escape the 'fairness' of His judgement on our lives!

Exodus 15:13

In your unfailing love you will lead
the people you have redeemed.
In your strength you will guide them
to your holy dwelling.

This verse came by way of my daily Bible reading today. I just finished up the plagues yesterday and today I was reading about the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. This verse is part of Moses' and Miriam's song of praise to the Lord for delivering them from Pharoh. I think it's neat that the idea of God being strong and God being loving that prompted my verse from a couple of days ago, shows up in this verse too... I think I've got a theme going here. :) But I'm also stuck on the word redeemed. Here's what Merriam-Webster has to say about it:

Redeem:
1 : to buy back : repurchase a : to get or win back
2 : to free from what distresses or harms a : to free from captivity by payment of ransom b : to extricate from or help to overcome something detrimental c : to release from blame or debt d : to free from the consequences of sin
3 : to change for the better : reform
4 : repair, restore

I'm just amazed at how God does this for us over and over again. He did it in a big way for the Israelites, bringing them out of a cruel captivity under Pharoh. He has certainly redeemed my life in the same way - rescuing me from the captivity of sin. And He continues to do that time and again, even when I fail Him.

It's a little bit scary to see, just 3 days after the Israelites had safely passed thru the Red Sea, that due to a lack of water and some difficult days in the desert, they were already wishing they could go back to the captivity that they had just been set free from! It seems so absurd when I read it in black and white in my Bible - but how about in my own life? How easily am I tempted back to the very things that I have been redeemed from? What kind of 'difficulty' does it take for me to lose sight of God's power and His plan and start grumbling and complaining - wishing for the "good ole days." I can forget so quickly - forgive me, Lord.

You know, the Israelites wouldn't have lasted beyond 3 days after the Red Sea if it hadn't been for God's UNFAILING LOVE and STRENGTH leading them. He is so patient. And I know I certainly would have no hope if, once redeemed, I was left to my own power to finish the journey. Praise God that I'm not - He is always there for me and I am so grateful. :)

Psalm 62:11-12

One thing God has spoken,
two things have I heard:
that you, O God, are strong,

and that you, O Lord, are loving.
Surely you will reward each person
according to what he has done.

Since coming back from Stream Franklin this last weekend, I've been playing a song over and over again on the new Hallall worship CD (At the Cross) that I bought there. It's called "Your Love is Strong." It's one of the most beautiful songs I've heard in a long time... and I believe it at least partly comes from this verse in Ps 62. As much as I need to know that God loves me, I have really needed to know this week that God is STRONG. Strong in my life, in my heart - strong enough to fight for me when I can't -- and I'm SO thankful that HE IS that strong. :)

Your Love Is Strong

Heavenly Father
You always amaze me
Let your kingdom come
In my world and in my life
You give me the food I need
To live through the day
And forgive me as I forgive
The people that wronged me
Lead me far from temptation
Deliver me from the evil one

I look out the window
The birds are composing
Not a note is out of tune
Or out of place
I look at the meadow
And stare at the flowers
Better dressed than any girl
On her wedding day

So why do I worry?
Why do I freak out?
God knows what I need
You know what I need

Your love is
Your love is
Your love is strong

The kingdom of the heavens
Is now advancing
Invade my heart
Invade this broken town
The kingdom of the heavens
Is buried treasure
Will you sell yourself
To buy the one you've found?

Two things you told me
That you are strong
And you love me
Yes, you love me

Our God in heaven
Hallowed be
Thy name above all names
Your kingdom come
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven
Give us today our daily bread
Forgive us wicked sinners
Lead us far away from our vices
And deliver us from these prisons

Wish I had a link where I could download the song -- you can go to YouTube and listen to Jon Foreman's version of the song -- but to me it's so much more beautiful the way that Hallal does it... so I recommend going to www.cdbaby.com/cd/hallalmusic3 and buying the CD! :)

Psalm 42:1-2

As the deer longs for streams of water,
so I long for you, O God.

I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I go and stand before him?

When I thought of this idea a few days ago of blogging scriptures about how God loves me or I love God, I figured that all the verses that would come to mind or that I would find would at least have the word 'love' in them. I guess I thought that if something didn't just come to mind that I would at least start my search for a verse with the word 'love' in it. :) But this morning, as I took a minute to see what verse would come to mind, this is the one that 'popped' into my head. I almost considered not using it since it didn't have 'love' in it - but then, it's been on my mind all day and well, I decided that it's just silly to be that legalistic. ;-)

ANYWAYS, several times in the last couple of weeks, I've gone to bed and then found myself feeling really, really thirsty. So I lay there and try to decide if it's really worth it to get back out of bed, into the cold, and go get a glass of water. But the longer I lay there, the more I know I have to get up - I just can't get to sleep feeling that thirsty.

Now speaking of getting up --- I am NOT a morning person. I usually sleep as late as I can to still get where I need to be. :) But I decided at the beginning of the year that I wanted to read thru the Bible in a year and keep up with that daily. The only way I knew I would really stay on top of that would be to get up early in the morning and do my reading first thing, before everyone else gets up. SO, I've been getting up at 6:00 every morning to spend that time with God and do my reading... and you know what I'm finding? That even though it's really cold, and I'm usually very tired, my longing to be with God outweighs all of that. I actually look forward to getting up! :) It's been such a blessing. I really feel like I'm growing in my love for God as I spend that 'quiet' time in the morning and start my day with God.

I John 3:1-3

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.

I love the word lavish in this verse. It's such a rich and extravagant word and to think that God lavishes His love on me is a wonderful thought. :) When I think about how much I love my own children and how far I will go to show them that, it really touches my heart to think that God loves me even more than that.

I also love the confidence in the statement "And that is what we are!" There is no doubt, no fear... just a great expectation that not only are we loved, but we have the hope that we will one day see God and be like God. How amazing is that?

So what is my response to all of this? That hope and that love motivates me to purify myself and live to please Him ...and just be grateful that I am so blessed to be a child of God. :)

February is for Love...

My desire this month is to focus on falling more in love with God day by day... and so I thought I'd post a scripture each day about God's love - either His love for me or mine for Him. The very first scripture that came to mind was the greatest 'comandment' of all:

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matt. 22:36-40

I think it's a good way to start off -- devoting my heart, soul, and mind to loving God with everything I have - I'm looking forward to what verses will surface throughout the month and what I'll learn about God's love along the way. :)