Everyone Who Calls on the Name of the Lord

(This is a long time overdue)

[Intro Story: Almost every Sunday after church, Josie goes down to Pastor Jeff and gives him a hug and maybe a note she wrote him during the sermon]

At church on Sunday, March 13, Pastor Jeff gave altar call after his message. Mom was explaining to Josie about salvation and what Jesus did for us. After church, Josie went down to Pastor Jeff as usual, and she told him that she raised her hand (during the altar call) because she "loves the Lord so much and she loves God and that God made everyone so beautiful and Jesus died on the cross for her sins."

God is doing some great things in her heart!

"I Go to College with Lauren"

At the beginning of March I got an email from my mom with this picture:

Josie had packed up her toys and clothes in these bags and went at sat in the suburban, because she was going to college with Lauren! My mom wrote in the email, "She's waiting out in the car now. I'm not sure what to do with her! But it's cute!" Fortunately, I got to go home a few weeks later for spring break!

And just this weekend, Josie, Heidi, and my dad made a visit out to see me (and for Heidi to look at Corban). So Josie did get to go to college with Lauren. But she was disappointed she didn't get to take me home! It was so good to see them! 3 1/2 more weeks!

I have found the one my soul loves.

"When I found him whom my soul loves,

I held him and would not let him go."

Song of Solomon 3:4

Good Things.

Even when there's stressful things and tough things... I can still confidently say this:

"Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise His holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord, may I never forget the good things He does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagles..." Psalm 103:1-5

This whole Psalm is soooo good! I think it just might be my favorite =)

Lord, help me to always remember the good things You've done for me. Open my eyes to see "good things" in each and every day. They're always there, because You ONLY give good things. I just need help seeing them sometimes, especially on really "bad" days. I'm so thankful for the good things You've given me. You've spoiled me, given me way more than I deserve! Thank you for my great running buddies and friends here at Corban, Mel, Courtney, Christi, and Amy. Thank you for my family. Thank you for Jason. Thank you for the really pretty cherry blossom trees! Thank you for this successful track season! Thank you for life. You are so good. Help me to say that regardless of the day or season of my life.

Choosing Joy

This was from my Girlfriends in God devotional by Mary Southerland, and I thought it was a great reminder for myself:

"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 4:18

God promises that if you know Him you will know true joy. Joy is not merely happiness but rather an unshakable confidence that God is in control. Therefore, He is our one and only source of joy and stands ready, waiting to saturate every circumstance with His presence. As His children, joy is ours to claim. If so, then where is it and why do we not experience a sense of confident celebration as we go through each day?

Maybe it is because of the “joy stealers” who lurk in the shadows, waiting to crush joy wherever they find it.
Choosing joy requires us to identify and eliminate the “joy stealers” in life. You may be allowing a person to take your joy. Maybe some painful experience from a shadowed yesterday is an obstacle of joy in your life today. Perhaps a fearful circumstance or a broken dream is the culprit.

I know life can be painful. I know life is often hard and unfair. I also know that God is in control. Therefore, if God really is God (and He definitely is) then we can and should be people of joy. I have read the final chapter of the Book and we win! Nothing and no one can take your joy without your permission. So, don’t give it! Choose joy!

Let’s Pray
Father, forgive me for my shallow attitude about joy. I confess that my version of joy is often nothing more than an emotion or feeling based on current circumstances. Help me fix my eyes on You, the Author and Finisher of my faith. I want to live my life against the backdrop of eternity, exchanging temporary happiness for eternal joy. I pray that I will learn to choose joy in whatever lies ahead.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.

Answered Prayers

"In the 3,000 meter steeplechase, Cross finished fifth with a school-record time of 12:13.51 bettering her previously set Cascade Collegiate Conference qualifying time. The second-year Warrior ran the second fastest time in the conference this season, as she broke Corban's school-record by more than six seconds." To read the full article, click here. The race, the Willamette Invitational, took place on Friday, April 1.

I'm very thankful for how my track season has been going, especially after a not so great cross-country season! And I'm definitely giving God the credit! This is a career best steeple time for me! I also finally broke 20 in the 5k, on the TRACK no less! Just before spring break I ran a 19:52 at the Willamette Dual Meet. (Maybe I need to run on Willamette's track more often?). I never expected to break 20 on the track. I can't handle running in circles! But I did. It's all God. And it totally goes back to the idea of surrendering my timeline. I expected to break 20 in cross this season, and even hoped to break it last year. It didn't make sense that I wouldn't! I was a bit confused that I didn't. But God know what He was doing. And He still answered my prayers, but in HIS timing.

The Giver of Good Gifts

James 1:17 "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."

Chapel yesterday was a very good an inspiring message about God being the Giver of Good gifts. Of course this is something most of us know in our head, but can forget in our heart. Either that or we don't surrender our timeline to God and we get impatient with His "lack of giving." (Think Abraham and Sarah...using Hagar). Sometimes we don't expect gifts from Him, or we expect them to occur in a different way, so we miss out on the gifts He does give. Sometimes we think we are entitled to more and more and more, and we take for granted the gifts we do have. Sometimes we think we are unworthy of any gift He might give, so we pass up the ones He offers. Pray this week that God will open your eyes to the gifts He has given you and that He wants to give you. Surrender your timeline - after all, this is GOD, the Creator of the Universe, that we're talking about. He has perfect timing.

Something else I think we (or at least I) do, is want gifts that are not good for us. We don't even realize that they're not good, and we get upset with God because we're not getting it. But He only gives us good gifts, and sometimes that means not giving us something we think we want. For example, there is this awesome wedding blog site, WeddingBee. It's a collaboration of blogger brides who get chosen to write about their wedding planning and then recap for about a year or two once they are married. Every so often they have open applications for brides to apply. I love to blog and I love wedding planning, so part of me wanted to apply. I thought it would be something good and it was something I wanted. But I never did apply. Now looking back, I realize how not good it would have been for me to be a wedding-bee blogger. I can barely do homework as it is! I don't need any more distractions. But initially I thought this was something good for me.

As a small piece of evidence of His good gifts, I have an exciting story! (Exciting to me anyway!) Back in December I ordered my info cards from Vistaprint at a steal of a price! I only paid shipping & handling for 100 cards! They turned out beautifully and I was very happy about the look and price! Then over spring break, as we were putting the invitations together, we realized two things: 1) my mom's phone number was wrong on the info cards and 2) one of the hotels we listed was not one we wanted to recommend anymore. Since the cards were so inexpensive to begin with, we though, "No big deal, we'll just reorder." But I ordered the original cards during a special promotion. I waited a few days...but no promotion came. I was getting anxious about having to pay full price for the cards, which would be very disappointing. I began to pray about it. [Side note: something cool from my devo last night -- we are God's children, therefore when things matter to us, they matter to God.] Last night I just felt like I should email the company and explain the situation, just to see if they could give me the promotion. Guess what? This morning in my inbox was an email saying they had added the promotion to my account! Vistaprint is great! God is awesome! [PS: this is my shameless plug for Vistaprint - sign up for their emails so you can be notified of promotions - and order when the price is right! You won't be disappointed with the product for your price!!]

I'm thankful God is the Giver of Good Gifts. I'm praying that throughout this very stressful week, I can keep my eyes open for the good gifts He has for me.

Oh, and one more good gift: tonight a girl took my shift at work!! Now I can get more homework done and hopefully still sleep! Thank you Jesus!