The Valley Song

"The Valley song" really covers, essentially, what this song is about. There are times when we go through the valley but,

"I will sing of Your mercy
That leads me through valleys of sorrow
To rivers of joy"

I've always like the name "Jars of Clay", as it is based off of the verse in 2 Corinthians 4:7, "But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to know that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us." Actually, just read the entire chapter, it's good. :)

The Valley Song

You have led me to the sadness
I have carried this pain
On a back bruised, nearly broken
I'm crying out to You

[Chorus]

I will sing of Your mercy
That leads me through valleys of sorrow
To rivers of joy

When death like a gypsy
Comes to steal what I love
I will still look to the heavens
I will still seek your face

But I fear you aren't listening
Because there are no words
Just the stillness and the hunger
For a faith that assures

[Chorus] 2x

Alleluia, alleluia
Alleluia, alleluia

While we wait for rescue
With our eyes tightly shut
Face to the ground using our hands
To cover the fatal cut

And though the pain is an ocean
Tossing us around, around, around
You have calmed greater waters
Higher mountains have come down

[Chorus]

-Jars of Clay (2003)

The tune to this is, like a lot of Jars of Clay's music, different. 

Allow me to make note about these composers/artists that I have been linking to:

"...just because we link to them does not mean that we endorse everything on the site.
The final authority is the holy and applicable, word of God..."

Likewise, I like a lot of Jars of Clay's music, but I don't necessarily agree with everything they write and believe.

                  

Two Thousand Ten {in pictures}

This year has been bursting with growth, blessings, trials, joys, and lots of ways to see His faithfulness and tender mercies.

Here are some glimpses into what we have been up to in the year 2010.

Enjoy :)

As you have read, we have the blessed opportunity to have the Hood family live with us.

Nate is one of the reasons we smile during the day--he's a cute, silly monkey.

Mr. and Mrs. H celebrating Mom's birthday.

Thanks to some dear friends being out of town for the holiday's, Mica was able to experiment with a dehydrator, we're still enjoying the delish coconut macaroons.

See her account for more yummy details!

You wouldn't know that we were in the Sleepy Hollow cemetery in the middle of November would you?

Times Square

This was one of my favorite parts of our visit to Virginia.

Naturally we had to take a picture with the shoe :)

This time with my sweet friend Maria is something I treasure.

We also went camping this year--with the Webbs!

Although, I'm afraid it will take some more time for Dom to get accustomed to getting dirty.

I had the wonderful opportunity to spend a few weeks with the

Apodaca's after the birth of Rebecca.

Group pictures can be a challenge but here is our best attempt!

So many faces :)

Our cousin Emily spent her Spring holiday with us and helped us model all of the cute scarves Dad got us from his trip to the UK (We were thankful that he was able to take quite a few trips that year, so many fun pictures and memories that we were vicariously able to make through him :)

Dom also got the chicken pox that year :(

But you can't really tell.

We also spent sweet time with the Neals!

Their friendship is treasured and we love when they make their annual visit from Dubai.

As I am thinking about this past year, Isaiah 58 is a strong representation of the hopes I have for the coming year. Naturally it's difficult to sum up all of the little things that God has shown you over the year but that passage is a good representation of what I've learned and what I strive for this year. Isaiah 58 has been both encouraging and convicting for me, I'm sure there will be future posts about it but in any case I hope that you will read it and that the Lord would use it to humble you and show you His great mercy.

May He bless you this coming year.

Thankful for His Sovereignty

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our afflictions,

that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves have been comforted by God

For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia.

For we were so utterly beyondour strength that we despaired of life itself.

Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death.

But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us.

On him we have set out hope that he will deliver us again.

You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessings granted us through the prayers of many.

2 Corinthians 1

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

His mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

"The Lord is my portion," says my soul,

"therefore I will hope in Him."

Lamentations 3

"And do not grow weary..."

"And let us not grow weary of doing good,

for in due season

we will reap, if we do not give up.

So then, as we have opportunity,

let us do good to everyone,

and especially to those who are of the household of faith."

Galatians 6

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Here is just a fresh look at this encouraging passage of scripture.

So many things come to mind when I think of growing weary of doing good:

Corrie and Betsy Ten Boom, missionaries, George Muller, Sarah Edwards, David Brainard.

These people, and many more like them, are all known for their steadfastness, patience, and faith. But I know that there were instances in which they just couldn't go any further. And whether it was this passage or another that they clung to, they didn't give up.

After all, what would The Hiding Place be like if Betsy decided that she had hid enough Jews and prayed that God would never send them another? How many lives would George Muller not have ministered to, if he just sent the orphans away? I realize that in each of these situations, God's will would have been done with or without those people.

My point is that these examples didn't allow themselves to be bogged down with the cares and burdens of this world; they didn't throw in the towel or tell the Lord they were finished. They grasped His word and held tightly onto Him, because they knew that He was the only sure foundation for their lives.

Yes, being hospitable is tiring; yes, your life will be very busy and sometimes stressful when you minister to others. You can feel weighed down and tired when you carry someone elses burden, but isn't this what believers are called to do? This ought to be our joy and desire. Not because we want to appear holier or better than anyone, but because we truly love our brothers and sisters in Christ and want to encourage and uplift them in a way that truly will: by prayer and always pointing them back to the scriptures for their every comfort, consolation, hope, and peace.

That is a true friend.

So, what am I working on?

Being grateful for every opportunity to do good to others, giving a testimony by my works of what He has done in my life; no matter what the time frame.

Being grateful that He is using me in their life and simply serving in the way that He sees fit and for as long as He sees fit.

"We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ."

1 Thessalonians

"Don't Waste Your Cancer" or your mornings for that matter.

Recently I have been thinking about the scripture passage I posted a few days ago.

It has been interesting to see how the Lord has reminded me of it.

As I began reading more in Job and Lamentations I thought of the beautiful portions that we sing in hymns and place on our walls in frames,

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see.

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

What I hadn't thought about was the "Morning by morning" that the author experienced.

Usually when I think of the "Morning by morning" I typically think of hot buttermilk pancakes and orange juice, but the author was experiencing a time of suffering.

To sing His praises while enjoying fresh strawberries and while going through a dark affliction are two very different things.

So, I was thinking about this when I read John Piper's Desiring God blog and I would highly encourage you to read it; particularly the most recent post Don't Waste Your Cancer.

It deals mainly with a man who was recently diagnosed with cancer but it can apply to a varity of situations, whether you know someone who is seriously ill or perhaps you are or have been ill yourself. It was challenging and provided complete answers to some common statements and questions.

“My joy will be in you, and your joy will be made full. Your grief will be turned to joy. No one will take your joy away from you. Ask, and you will receive, so that your joy will be made full. These things I speak in the world, so that they may have my joy made full in themselves” (selection from John 15-17)

Hope for Broken Spirits

Tonight as we studied Psalm 147, I noticed several very encouraging passages.
Recently I have had occasion to really ponder on what it means to present to God a broken and contrite heart as in Psalm 51:17:

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart,

O God, you will not despise.

Through different instances in my life I have known more what it is and what it looks like to be utterly broken. I've seen in the lives of people very dear to me, what it is to come to that place where you feel so completely stripped of every sense of joy, peace, or delight. Enough to feel physically taxed to the point of exhaustion. It's painful to watch someone experiencing this time; and yet the beauty of it is:

that this, along with a contrite heart, is what God considers as a sacrifice.

Our sovereign, gracious, righteous God considers this place of pain and grief a sacrifice.

So I understand the "broken heart" bit, however it was the term "contrite" that I was unsure of the meaning. And after reading up on it, knowing the meaning changed my first understanding of this text. Here is a part of Mr. Webster's 1828 definition of the word contrite:

"Penitance; deep sorrow for sin; grief of heart for having offended an infinitely holy and benevolent God. The word is usually understood to mean a genuine penitance, accompanied with a deep sense of ingratitude in the sinner, and sincere resolution to live in obedience to the divine law. "

~John Newton

"Hence, broken hearted for sin; deeply affected with grief and sorrow for having offended God;

humble, penitant; as a contrite spirit."

~Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary

So I had this in mind when I read the following in Psalm 147:

Praise the Lord!

For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.

The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel.

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.

The Lord lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground...

the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,

in those who hope in his steadfast love.

So you see,God brings us to the painful, humbling place but because He is merciful and loving,

He doesn't leave us there.

"He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds."!

This is a source of great comfort to me when I see my loved ones at this place; because I hold fast to the latter part of the chapter:

"...the Lord takes pleasure in

those who fear him,

in those who

hope in his steadfast love."

It's during the difficult times when this is all I can cling to, anything else would be leaning on my own understanding and we all know how that turns out.

When you love someone so deeply, their joys become yours; their interests become apart of yours; when they are in pain, you are grieved. It's just what comes with that choice.

Something that I have to work on is not acting from the heightened pain emotion; mostly I find it best to let the Lord be the only person to whom I cry out, and then not speaking at all is best.
What is hope you ask? Well, according to Mr. Webster the exact definition of hope is:

"Hope: 1. A desire of some good, accompanied with at least a slight expectation of obtaining it, or a belief that it is obtainable. Hope differs from wish and desire in this, that it implies some expectation of obtaining the good desired, or the possibility of obtaining it.
Hope therefore always gives pleasure or joy; whereas wish or desire may produce or be accompanied by pain and anxiety.
2. Confidence in a future event; the highest degree of well founded expectation of good; as a hope founded on God's gracious promises; a scriptural sense.

'A well founded scriptural hope, is in our religion, the source of ineffable happiness.'