God

It’s a Tear-jerker

I just watched the best movie I’ve seen in a long time.  Forget Hairspray (which was a great movie too).  Check this one out here, from National Community Church, in Washington DC.

I’d also like to add a couple more personal pictures from Cotk a few weeks ago.
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This is Sabrina and Nichole, withPastor Brad.  They both got baptized a couple weeks ago, and it was so fantastic!  One of my all-time favorite things about spending time in discipleship at our church is walking with people through baptism.  It is honoring…and tear-jerking.  God is so good.  He is so faithful.  He is so full of grace.

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Time Management Tip #1

GIVE GOD YOUR SCHEDULE!

Seriously, after feeling extremely unfocused and frustrated with myself (for weeks, now), I decided to do something "drastic" on Monday.  I made some changes for the day and gave God my schedule.  I told Him that I couldn’t figure out how to do everything that I needed to do this week, that I couldn’t fix it on my own and that I needed Him to help me. 

Tonight I sit blown away at how He totally blessed me with time to work on things that I wasn’t going to have the time to work on (in the form of a random "extra substitute teacher" that they accidentally got because she went to wrong school this morning…and they gave me a sub for the day!…really).  It truly blows my mind.  Today that was equivalent to needing $1,509.14 to pay a bill and getting a check in the mail for exactly $1,509.14 the day before that bill was due.

I like God a lot. 🙂

Way More

Last night I was asked to share a favorite promise that God gives in Scripture.  I never actually got to share it (guess I took too long to figure out which one to share:) but it’s been on my heart ever since, so here are my thoughts.

Ephesians 3.20 is a verse that my best friend and I used to share with each other in high school.  If one of us was going through something that we just couldn’t see a good end-result to, we would usually pray together and share encouraging words from God on the matter.  Ephesians 3.20 was our favorite and seemed to fit most circumstances.  Even now, about 1,000 miles away, we still remind each other of it at times.

"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us…"

You’ll notice that this is not a complete sentence, however, this sentence fragment, in and of itself, states something very powerful.  It’s not necessarily stated as a promise, which is probably why I hesitated to share it last night, but it’s serves as a promise of these three things to me…

1.  He is able

2.  He is able to do way more than I can ask or think

3.  There’s a power at work within me

This morning as I was driving to work, I enjoyed my time, immersed in the presence of Jesus.  I had an older song on ("All things are Possible")  and its connection to the verse on my heart caused  supernatural faith to be built.  I found myself forcing my eyes to stay open, becuase all I wanted to do was close my eyes to worship…it was a powerful time.  That song was followed by "Power of Your Love" and once I pulled up to work I had a hard time shutting it off.  "God, we’re gonna have a great day together,"  I said, and then finally got out of the car. 

God is able to do way more than I can even fathom…sure is good to know. 🙂

Excellent Christmas!

I have to admit that this past week, spent with my family, was the best ever.  It doesn’t completely make sense, knowing that Mom and Dad were both sick about half the time, Ross got really sick, and my last night and day, I was sick.  On top of that, my grandma isn’t doin’ so great and I didn’t get together with my old friends like I was supposed to.  And, I lost at Cranium-you know this is huge for me to admit.  It wasn’t my fault though.  My brother, Dave, and I don’t think alike enough to do well on a team together. 

But…

Img_5470-we had some great conversations!

-the EAGLES beat the COWBOYS!!!  (my dad had to drag himself out of bed on Christmas Day for
that one, because he was sick)

-i got almost everything on my wish list (superficial and unsuperficial!)

-i got to hang out with Todd and Tiffany twice (don’t get to see them much)

-i got to see my grandma (pray with her, for probably the last time)

-i confirmed that i am doing the right thing by not spending money on cable…because there still isn’t hardly anything worth watching on that most of the time

–Robert told me that I looked better than when he saw me at Thanksgiving

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-He looked so adorable and teenage-like in his little American Eagle outfit (i can’t believe i love this kid
 more now than i did 11 years ago when he was born)

-Robbie (the cat) didn’t hiss at me the whole time I was there…just some of the time

**Side story-Stephanie, back when she was just dating Dave, ended up with a cute little kitten and decided to be smooth and named the cat, "Robert David Burton III"-Dave is a Jr, while my dad is a Sr.  Initially she thought the cat was a male, but later found out it was a female.  Later, when they were married and had their first baby, they named him…you guessed it!-Robert David Burton III.  My friends kept asking why they named the baby after the cat. 🙂Img_5411

–Ryder laughed hysterically when I gave him an eskimo kiss one night (this is him with his Uncle Todd)

–Ross asked me to stay with him because of the "noises" in the house-so precImg_5345ious

-he also had a priceless look on his face when he opened the stack of books I gave him for Christmas

 

-With tears in his eyes, my dad said, "…And i’m just so proud of all my kids.  They’re all married to great spouses…"  We also had tears in our eyes and completely cracked up.  (If you don’t get it, read it again and think about it…I’m not married yet.  Perhaps he was speaking in faith🙂

-$50 in gift cards to Caribou 🙂

-I found out that Dave, Steph and the family are staying in Chicago!  I’m so glad they’re not moving to Texas.Img_5488

-Robert got this cup-stacking game and we all had fun trying to figure it out

A long time ago I had the opportunity to learn that Christmas wasn’t all about getting presents, and it’s not even all about giving presents either.  I feel like a broken record to say that Christmas is all about Jesus, but it’s true.  It’s even more than that though…It’s about Who Jesus is, What He came to do, How he came to do it and the Power that He brought into this world for people to change!  I think that was it for me this Christmas.  One of the things I really wanted for Christmas was for God to show me the things He’s doing, not only in my life, but in the lives of my family members.  He did that for me this week, and it was fabulous!….the best Christmas ever!

His Royal Throne

Last night I had a conversation with someone about guarding our hearts.  I was sharing some of my own failures in that area and about how I was realizing that the purpose of us guarding our hearts had to do with others, and not just ourselves.  It’s an area that I’ve never really been good at and when I’ve failed I have usually only seen the fatalities in my own life.  Yes, folks, everything revolves around me...in case you didn’t already know that.  I have tended to neglect how my unguarded heart could possibly hurt another person, directly or indirectly.

This morning I saw this on a deeper level, as I was worshipping and getting ready for work.  Listening to the song, "Take my Life and Let it Be", I was captured by these lines:

Take my will and make it Thine,
It shall be no longer mine;
Take my heart, it is Thine own,
It shall be Thy royal throne.

Once again, I simply stopped and listened to words that God was using to penetrate my heart.  My heart isJesus’ throne.  Why does it take me so long to put these things together?  It’s like, I need to not only guard my heart because, well, I’m a girl :), or even for the sake of other people.  My King lives on the throne of my heart.  He’s royalty!  He deserves for me to protect that special place that holds us together…my heart. 

Let Go

Dewayne_woods Ladies and Gentlemen, I have recently stumbled upon an amazing gospel singer named DeWayne Woods.  You’ve gotta check this guy out!  I referenced him a couple weeks ago when I talked about a song that kept coming across my path, "Let Go."  After searching for awhile, I ended up finding him on myspace.  The song that led me to this guy was that one song though, "Let Go."  It goes something like this:

…as soon as I stop worryin’, worryin’ how the story ends, when I let go and I let God, let God have His way…that’s when things start happenin’…when I stop lookin’ at back when…when I let go and I let God have His way…

Awesome stuff.  I am constantly looking at my story and wondering how this next chapter is going to look.  After all, I’m the type of person who regularly enjoys reading the beginning of a story and then the end of a story, only to go back and read the middle later.  I’m well aware of my final end, once I reach eternity.  I’m as aware as the Bible helps me to be anyway.  But there are always going to be several subplots to the stories of our lives.  The current story…not so sure how it’s going to end and I wonder about it a lot.  This song speaks to my heart about letting go, very well.  I have played it often these last couple of weeks, and it has served as a reminder to pray  🙂

Be encouraged to do the same.  Let go and let God…it’s a common phrase, but fitting words for any life.

O Holy Night

The other night was Church of the King’s Annual Ladies Tea.  It was such a precious night for many ladies to get together to celebrate friendship, good food and the presence of God. 

Raina Swaggerty spoke on God’s presence, and she did an awesome job.Raina

I sat at a table with a group of new friends-3 of which are from South Africa.Carolines_table_edited1

I got a chance to catch up with some friends that I don’t normally get to talk with.  And I got a chance to wear my red, glittery top that only comes out once a year….maybe if I get a date for Valentine’s Day it’ll come out twice next year! 😉

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As Jamie lead us in Christmas worship songs, I wanted to dig deeper into my heart and "get" what I was singing about.  Christmas songs are so familiar.  They’re some of the main songs that I’ve sung my whole life.  I tend to lose the "wonder" aspect of what I’m really singing about when I echo these songs with other people.  Pastor Brad talked about wonder on Sunday morning.  I pray that I will always be filled with wonder about my Savior.

We sang O Come All Ye Faithful…O Holy Night…the usuals.  A line in O Holy Night struck me as I read the words on the screen.

"…til He appeared and our souls felt its worth…"

To me it’s like this.  My soul knew that it wasn’t worth much, due to the sin I’ve committed, but my soul really felt its worth when Perfection appeared.  "He appeared and [my soul finally realized how imperfect it was]"  His holiness put me to shame…ironically enough, in His holiness, He took my shame.

O Holy Night, indeed.

***On a slightly lighter note, click on the link below to hear beautiful version of this song.  Turn up the sound.  It’s great.

Download OHolyNight.mp3

King Jesus

I wish I’d posted this yesterday, because a song has officially slipped my mind and I can’t get it back.  😦

Rarely do I turn on the radio in my car in the morning because I’m not too fond of the "John and Rhonda Morning Show"-especially when the Birthday Blessings Club comes on.  The song they play for that gets on my nerves.  I didn’t have a CD in the player yesterday morning so the radio was the next best thing to silence in that moment. 

*Recently I’ve been experiencing great, random songs on the radio.  The other day, twice, I heard Crown2004a_1 this new song by a guy named DaWayne Woods, called "Let Go".  I just downloaded it from itunes-awesome song.*

Anyway, I wish I could remember what song I heard yesterday, but I know that it was an older song-maybe a hymn-that was redone in a contemporary style.  There were two words in the song that I haven’t been able to get away from…"King Jesus".

I was singing along with the artist, not too passionately, really, when all of a sudden I realized that there were tears streaming down my face as I sang the words, "King Jesus".  Huh.  He’s my King!  In a society where we have broken away from monarchy and have declared a democracy.  In a place where "the people have a vote".  In a country where everyone lives for themselves…I still have a King.

This is not just any King.  This is a King who stood, and still stands, on the front lines of battle for me everyday.  He has taken ridicule, abuse, beatings…all for me.  His enemy did not charge into His kingdom, to come after Him…He made Himself available for all of this.  That’s my King!  He makes me proud to serve Him as King. 

This stirred deep emotion in me as I drove to work yesterday and thought about Who I was singing about.  I can’t even remember the song, but I remember those two words.

King Jesus