Hope
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
(Emily Dickinson)
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Psalm 118
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
2 Let Israel say:
"His love endures forever."
3 Let the house of Aaron say:
"His love endures forever."
4 Let those who fear the LORD say:
"His love endures forever."
5 In my anguish I cried to the LORD,
and he answered by setting me free.
6 The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
7 The LORD is with me; he is my helper.
I will look in triumph on my enemies.
8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in man.
9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in princes.
10 All the nations surrounded me,
but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
11 They surrounded me on every side,
but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
12 They swarmed around me like bees,
but they died out as quickly as burning thorns;
in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
13 I was pushed back and about to fall,
but the LORD helped me.
14 The LORD is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
15 Shouts of joy and victory
resound in the tents of the righteous:
"The LORD's right hand has done mighty things!
16 The LORD's right hand is lifted high;
the LORD's right hand has done mighty things!"
17 I will not die but live,
and will proclaim what the LORD has done.
18 The LORD has chastened me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.
19 Open for me the gates of righteousness;
I will enter and give thanks to the LORD.
20 This is the gate of the LORD
through which the righteous may enter.
21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
you have become my salvation.
22 The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone;
23 the LORD has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25 O LORD, save us;
O LORD, grant us success.
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD.
From the house of the LORD we bless you. [a]
27 The LORD is God,
and he has made his light shine upon us.
With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession
up [b] to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will give you thanks;
you are my God, and I will exalt you.
29 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
his love endures forever.
2 Let Israel say:
"His love endures forever."
3 Let the house of Aaron say:
"His love endures forever."
4 Let those who fear the LORD say:
"His love endures forever."
5 In my anguish I cried to the LORD,
and he answered by setting me free.
6 The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
7 The LORD is with me; he is my helper.
I will look in triumph on my enemies.
8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in man.
9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in princes.
10 All the nations surrounded me,
but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
11 They surrounded me on every side,
but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
12 They swarmed around me like bees,
but they died out as quickly as burning thorns;
in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
13 I was pushed back and about to fall,
but the LORD helped me.
14 The LORD is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
15 Shouts of joy and victory
resound in the tents of the righteous:
"The LORD's right hand has done mighty things!
16 The LORD's right hand is lifted high;
the LORD's right hand has done mighty things!"
17 I will not die but live,
and will proclaim what the LORD has done.
18 The LORD has chastened me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.
19 Open for me the gates of righteousness;
I will enter and give thanks to the LORD.
20 This is the gate of the LORD
through which the righteous may enter.
21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
you have become my salvation.
22 The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone;
23 the LORD has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25 O LORD, save us;
O LORD, grant us success.
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD.
From the house of the LORD we bless you. [a]
27 The LORD is God,
and he has made his light shine upon us.
With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession
up [b] to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will give you thanks;
you are my God, and I will exalt you.
29 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
reminiscing the motherland
1. Is reminiscing a verb?
2. I passed my teacher tests, whoo hoo! i guess i really AM a genius! ha!
3. 1 week and 2 days left of student teaching...whew, hallelujah, praise the Lord, let me do a little jig! this has been the hardest semester ever! except for maybe when i was in 10th grade and hated everything...ha ha
4. curses on golddigger...my kids love to sing that, especially the jamie foxx part and let me just tell you, that dang song gets in your head and NEVER leaves
5. it's finally cold - which is all fine and good because i like winter clothes (not winter, just the clothes) - except that my teacher still keeps the room at -50 degrees and so i am so stinking cold by the end of the school day that it takes a good hour of slippers and hot tea and blankets and books about fire-breathing dragons before i warm up! (not that any of those things are bad, i do in fact thoroughly enjoy them)
6. I'm finally realizing that i am moving in a mere month...and that is kind of weird...and sad
7. it WILL be nice to live near mountains again though!
8. God has already begun to provide $ for Africa and I am amazed, stunned, overwhelmed, near tears every time i think of it
9. I am lonely for the motherland (that would be costa rica) lately (hence the title) ... the other day i saw some comercial that had a jeep (or some kind of car like that) driving along a beautiful beach that had a jungle-y background and thought "oh, that looks like home!" and then realized a second later, "wait just one minute, that doesn't look anything like home" (as i am from new mexico, which is wonderful and beautiful (really, don't push me, i'll throw things at anybody who says new mexico is the ugliest place on the earth, just try it), though sadly lacking in both beaches and jungles) I don't know if it's strange that i get homesick for costa rica...i did only live there 4 short months...but i loved it so and i'd love to return someday... At any rate, it was pretty weird to find myself legitimately thinking that a beach-n-jungle scene looked like 'home.'
10. that's all i have for now...this week's top ten...if you will
2. I passed my teacher tests, whoo hoo! i guess i really AM a genius! ha!
3. 1 week and 2 days left of student teaching...whew, hallelujah, praise the Lord, let me do a little jig! this has been the hardest semester ever! except for maybe when i was in 10th grade and hated everything...ha ha
4. curses on golddigger...my kids love to sing that, especially the jamie foxx part and let me just tell you, that dang song gets in your head and NEVER leaves
5. it's finally cold - which is all fine and good because i like winter clothes (not winter, just the clothes) - except that my teacher still keeps the room at -50 degrees and so i am so stinking cold by the end of the school day that it takes a good hour of slippers and hot tea and blankets and books about fire-breathing dragons before i warm up! (not that any of those things are bad, i do in fact thoroughly enjoy them)
6. I'm finally realizing that i am moving in a mere month...and that is kind of weird...and sad
7. it WILL be nice to live near mountains again though!
8. God has already begun to provide $ for Africa and I am amazed, stunned, overwhelmed, near tears every time i think of it
9. I am lonely for the motherland (that would be costa rica) lately (hence the title) ... the other day i saw some comercial that had a jeep (or some kind of car like that) driving along a beautiful beach that had a jungle-y background and thought "oh, that looks like home!" and then realized a second later, "wait just one minute, that doesn't look anything like home" (as i am from new mexico, which is wonderful and beautiful (really, don't push me, i'll throw things at anybody who says new mexico is the ugliest place on the earth, just try it), though sadly lacking in both beaches and jungles) I don't know if it's strange that i get homesick for costa rica...i did only live there 4 short months...but i loved it so and i'd love to return someday... At any rate, it was pretty weird to find myself legitimately thinking that a beach-n-jungle scene looked like 'home.'
10. that's all i have for now...this week's top ten...if you will
Saturday, November 12, 2005
waiting
sometimes i am so impatient...
today, while doing some of the study that melissa and i are doing, i learned some things about waiting and, while i'm till trying to digest what i read, it seems like putting it into writing might begin to make what i learned real. In this study, there is a story about a girl named ruth and a boy named levi...levi has asked ruth to marry him and ruth is waiting, waiting, waiting for levi to come for her. The story is a parallel of us being the bride of christ, waiting waiting waiting for him to come for us.
i am impatient like ruth in two major ways: impatient to begin my life with M and impatient to be who I want (ought) to be... being impatient for M makes me a total whiny crybaby and (i think) a heavy weight on his back...it makes me selfish and blinds me towards everybody else as i'm consumed with me...and, since i know that that isn't right and that i shouldn't feel or act the way i do, i get so frustrated because i'm not "moving along" on that path to perfection like i think i should be, because i'm not who i want to be...and i am impatient for God to change me and to make me perfect.
The study today said that waiting should be purposeful - that, as i wait, I should be 'waiting on' other people... and so i realize that, in waiting for both M and for Jesus, I am becoming who I ought to be. As I wait for M, i should be trying to become the kind of woman who would be a wife that brings honor to her husband - and this kind of wife is one who's eyes are not on herself but on others and what she can do for them...As I wait for Jesus to come for me, I am becoming the kind of bride that brings honor to Him. If I am waiting, then I'm not through yet... and i'm not just waiting, i'm waiting with the purpose of growing, changing, becoming...
Strap used to say that you should be an A+ person who looks for and marries an A+ person...and I have been frustrated by my lack of A+ness lately - but i'm realizing that, though I've found an A+ person, i (and probably he) have more to learn before we can be A+ people together - so while we wait, i should take hope in the fact that i am becoming a more fit partner for him...
Maybe waiting isn't so bad after all...
today, while doing some of the study that melissa and i are doing, i learned some things about waiting and, while i'm till trying to digest what i read, it seems like putting it into writing might begin to make what i learned real. In this study, there is a story about a girl named ruth and a boy named levi...levi has asked ruth to marry him and ruth is waiting, waiting, waiting for levi to come for her. The story is a parallel of us being the bride of christ, waiting waiting waiting for him to come for us.
i am impatient like ruth in two major ways: impatient to begin my life with M and impatient to be who I want (ought) to be... being impatient for M makes me a total whiny crybaby and (i think) a heavy weight on his back...it makes me selfish and blinds me towards everybody else as i'm consumed with me...and, since i know that that isn't right and that i shouldn't feel or act the way i do, i get so frustrated because i'm not "moving along" on that path to perfection like i think i should be, because i'm not who i want to be...and i am impatient for God to change me and to make me perfect.
The study today said that waiting should be purposeful - that, as i wait, I should be 'waiting on' other people... and so i realize that, in waiting for both M and for Jesus, I am becoming who I ought to be. As I wait for M, i should be trying to become the kind of woman who would be a wife that brings honor to her husband - and this kind of wife is one who's eyes are not on herself but on others and what she can do for them...As I wait for Jesus to come for me, I am becoming the kind of bride that brings honor to Him. If I am waiting, then I'm not through yet... and i'm not just waiting, i'm waiting with the purpose of growing, changing, becoming...
Strap used to say that you should be an A+ person who looks for and marries an A+ person...and I have been frustrated by my lack of A+ness lately - but i'm realizing that, though I've found an A+ person, i (and probably he) have more to learn before we can be A+ people together - so while we wait, i should take hope in the fact that i am becoming a more fit partner for him...
Maybe waiting isn't so bad after all...
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