Lifesong . . . we did it!

OCHEC went very well. We had a great sound guy (and crew), so everything with the tech part went way better than I expected it would.

After the performance and the speaker after us, a girl, probably in her late teens, came up to me and said that listening to us and seeing how we dedicate our musical talent to God, she made a promise to God while she was listening that she would use her musical gifts - previously used completely for herself and for selfish purposes - to glorify God. If nothing else was accomplished by us playing at OCHEC, besides glorifying God, and being a great witness and blessing to this girl, then all of our hard practicing and stress and being nervous was completely worth it!

Also, thanks to all of you awesome friends who prayed for us and encouraged us the last few weeks before OCHEC.

1 Peter 4:7-11 fits so well:

But the end of all things is at hand;

therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.

And above all things have fervent love for one another,

for "love will cover a multitude of sins."

Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.

As each one has received a gift,

minister it to one another,

as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

If anyone speaks,

let him speak as the oracles of God.

If anyone ministers,

let him do it as with the ability which God supplies,

that in all things God may be glorified

through Jesus Christ,

to whom belong the glory and the dominion

forever and ever.

Amen.

Jenna is playing the piano right now, and she's playing "I Lift My Eyes Up".


Comforting words. Awesome God!!!

I life my eyes up, unto the mountains

Where does my help come from?

My help comes from You,

Maker of Heaven

Creator of the earth.

Oh, how I need You, Lord

You are my only hope,

You are my only prayer

So I will wait for You,

To come and rescue me,

Come and bring me life!

Nerves

I found this verse last night while doing devos and it helped me to calm down and not feel so stressed out about everything that is happening between now and when we move.

Lord, help me draw my strength from You.

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses.

For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought,

but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us

with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is,

because He make intercession for the saints

according to the will of God.

- Romans 8:26

Take My Hand

It feels like forever since I've posted, even though it's only been a week. Yet I feel like I don't have anything to say. Maybe it's cause I'm so busy with studying for my history exam, practicing for AOC next weekend (woot, woot) and being nervous for OCHEC.

Only 3 more days!! I'm nervous, but at the same time, the last practice, oddly enough, made me feel like we can do this. I think it's one of those times when God's peace just surrounds you. Although, I'm sure when Friday night comes, I'll be getting butterflies again.


Precious Lord, take my hand
Lead me on, let me stand
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn
Thru the storm, thru the night
Lead me on to the light
Take my hand, precious Lord
Lead me home.

When my way grows drear
Precious Lord, linger near
When my life is almost gone
Hear my cry Lord, hear my call
Hold my hand, oh lest I fall
Take my hand, precious Lord
Lead me home.

When the darkness appears
And the night draws near
And the day is past and gone
At the river I stand
Guide my feet, hold my hand
Take my hand, precious Lord
Lead me home.
Thomas A Dorsey

Humble Yourself Under the Mighty Hand of God...

I have just finished reading HUMILITY: the path to divine growth and true nobility by Andrew Murray. It is a really good book. I definitely recommend reading it. He brings out some very interesting points, and it got me thinking a lot about how I think about myself way too much. One thing that he emphasized over and over again was:

HUMILITY IS “THE SENSE OF ENTIRE NOTHINGNESS, WHICH COMES WHEN WE SEE HOW TRULY GOD IS ALL, AND IN WHICH WE MAKE WAY FOR GOD TO BE ALL.”

Here are some quotes that I found quite interesting, as well as saddening as I see my failings, and that provoked a lot of thought while I was reading:

“Our one need is to study and know and trust the life that has been revealed in Christ as the life that is now ours. It waits for our consent to gain possession and mastery of our whole being.” Page 19

“If humility is the root of the tree, its nature must be seen in every branch, leaf and fruit. If humility is the first, the all-inclusive grace of the life of Jesus, the secret of His atonement – then the health and strength of our spiritual life will entirely depend upon our putting this grace first, too. We must make humility the most important thing we admire in Him, the thing we ask of Him, the one thing for which we sacrifice all else.” Page 20

“It is even so with our humility. It is easy to think we humble ourselves before God. Yet, humility toward others will be the only sufficient proof that our humility before God is real. It will be the only proof that humility has become our very nature, that we actually, like Christ, have made ourselves of no reputation.” Page 43-44

“The humble man feels no jealousy or envy. He can praise God when others are preferred and blessed before him. He can bear to hear others praised and himself forgotten, because in God’s presence he has learned to say with Paul, I am nothing (2 Cor. 12:11). He has received the spirit of Jesus, who pleased not Himself and sought not His own honor, as the spirit of his life.” Page 47-48

“Let the discovery of the lack of this grace stir us to larger expectation from God. Let us look on every brother or sister who tries or vexes us as God’s means of grace. Let us look on him or her as God’s instrument for our purification, for our exercise of the humility Jesus, our life, breathes within us.” Page 50-51

“Let us take His yoke upon us and learn from Him, for He is meek and lowly of heart. If we are but willing to stoop to Him, as He has stooped to us, He will yet stoop to each one of us again, and we will find ourselves equally yoked with Him.” Page 91

And some Bible passages Andrew Murray referred to:

“How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?” John 5:44

“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” John 13:14

“For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” John 6:38

OCHEC and Butterflies

"shiver"

OCHEC is in one and a half weeks . . . butterflies have started finding their way to my stomach. Are we ready girls? It makes it even more real to me when I see the website and our picture on there. Ahhh!!

Here's a verse I think we can stand to read a lot in the next week:

"Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established."
Proverbs 16:3

Music . . . again

I love my family. We are so musical, is sometimes scares me. Right now, I am in the middle of studying for my music history exam, and in the same room, Kim is listening to music (Kutless: Better is One Day, Strong Tower), and just down the hall in the living room, Jenna is practicing the piano, and no doubt Steven and Aaron are listening to something on the computer downstairs. And if I know Amy, she is probably trying to amuse herself at work by singing.

I wonder what we would do without music. I think I would be lost. But then, sometimes I think too much about music and not enough of the One who gave us this amazing gift. Here is a verse I found the other day. My family sings after every meal either from the hymn book, or with guitar in the living room, so I just found this verse kind of interesting. I don’t know why, but I never really thought of Jesus and His disciples singing before.

“Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it . . . and when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” Mark 14:26

The footnote in my Bible says, “This mention of singing is a reference to the Passover liturgy. Jesus and His disciples sing Psalm 115-118, the traditional close of the meal.”

Satan's Got You BUSY

My mom forwarded this email to me. It is scary to think that this is what is behind all of our busy schedules. Are we being sucked in by the devil unawares? Read the whole thing, you'll be glad you did. It's worth a few minutes in your busy schedule, trust me.

Satan called a worldwide convention of demons. In
his opening address he said, "We can't keep
Christians from going to church. We can't keep them
from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth. We
can't even keep them from forming an intimate
relationship with their Savior. Once they gain that
connection with Jesus, our power over them is
broken."

"So let them go to their churches; let them have
their covered dish dinners, but steal their time, so
they don't have time to develop a
relationship with Jesus Christ. This is what I want
you to do", said the devil: "Distract them from
gaining hold of their Savior and maintaining
that vital connection throughout their day!"

"How shall we do this?" his demons shouted. "Keep
them busy in the nonessentials of life and invent
innumerable schemes to occupy their
minds," he answered.

"Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, and borrow,
borrow, borrow. Persuade the wives to go to work for
long hours and the husbands to work 6-7 days each
week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their
empty lifestyles."

"Keep them from spending time with their children.
As their families fragment, soon, their homes will
offer no escape from the pressures of work!
Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear
that still, small voice. Entice them to play the
radio or cassette player whenever they drive. To
keep the TV, VCR, CDs and their PCs going constantly
in their home and see to it that every store and
restaurant in the world plays non-biblical music
constantly. This will jam their minds and
break that union with Christ."

"Fill the coffee tables with magazines and
newspapers. Pound their minds with the news 24 hours
a day. Invade their driving moments with
billboards. Flood their mailboxes with junk mail,
mail order catalogs, sweepstakes, and every kind of
newsletter and promotional offering free products,
services and false hopes."

"Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines and
TV so their husbands will believe that outward
beauty is what's important, and they'll become
dissatisfied with their wives; wives will be too preoccupied with lossing weight.
Keep the wives too
tired to love their husbands at night. Give them
headaches too! If they don't give their husbands the
love they need, they will begin to look elsewhere.
That will fragment their families quickly!"

"Give them Santa Claus to distract them from
teaching their children the real meaning of
Christmas. Give them an Easter bunny so they won't
talk about his resurrection and power over sin and
death."

"Even in their recreation, let them be excessive.
Have them return from their recreation exhausted.
Keep them too busy to go out in nature and reflect
on God's creation. Send them to amusement parks,
sporting events, plays, concerts, and movies
instead. Keep them busy, busy, busy!"

"And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve
them in gossip and small talk so that they leave
with troubled consciences."

"Crowd their lives with so many good causes they
have no time to seek power from Jesus. Soon they
will be working in their own strength, sacrificing
their health and family for the good of the cause.
It will work! It will work!"

It was quite a plan! The demons went eagerly to
their assignments causing Christians everywhere to
get more busy and more rushed, going here and there.
Having little time for their God or their families.
Having no time to tell others about the power of
Jesus to change lives. I guess the question is, has
the devil been successful at his scheme?

You be the judge! Does "busy" mean:
B-eing U-nder S-atan's Y-oke?
Pass this on, (if you aren't too BUSY)!

Revelation

At Living Worship in Guelph a week and a half ago, after singing Salvation Belongs to Our God near the end of the evening, a friend shared these amazing verses with Cassy and I. I have read them a lot lately. Imagine being with such a great multitude of every tribe, tongue and nation. We can only have a taste of such things here on earth.


Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders;

and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice:

"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!"

And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:

"Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!"

Then the four living creatures said, "Amen!" And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshipped Him who lives forever and ever.

After these thing I looked, and behold, a great mulitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying,

"Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"

All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, saying:

"Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen."

Revelation 5:11-14, 6:9-12

Carol-Lee Dancing??

Miss Long, my employer and the owner of the ballet studio I work at actually had me dancing today.

Yup, that's right. I actually got out from behind the piano and danced with the kids.



It must have looked really funny or something because some of the kids waiting for that class to be over and theirs to start were peaking in the door and pointing and laughing at me. After all, I've never danced in my life, and all the kids I was dancing with were about 7 years old and wearing body suits, little skirts and ballet shoes and there was me, wearing jeans, a sweatshirt and pink stripped socks. Of course, the helper for that class was dancing too, but at least she knows how to dance!!


Of the two and a half years I've worked there, none of the teachers have made me dance. I wonder if I'll be asked again any time soon . . . not likely!!

It was fun though. But not fun enough for me to get a crazy idea like taking dance lessons . . . definately not! I'll just stick to my music.

Offering

My sisters and I were listening to Third Day last night while we played cards. This is like, the best song ever . . . only because of the awesome piano in it. Actually, this is one of few songs I have ever heard that I actually love the music and the words are awesome too. This is one of my all time favorites. Go listen to it.


Magnificent, Holy Father
I stand in awe of all I see
Of all the things you have created
But still You choose to think of me

And who am I that You should suffer
Your very life to se me free
The only thing that I can give You
Is the life You gave to me

This is my offering, dear Lord
This is my offering to You God
And I will give You my life
For it's all I have to give
Because You gave Your life for me

I stand before You at this alter
So many have given You more
I may not have much I can offer
Yet what I have is truly Yours
Mac Powell, recorded by Third Day

la-de-da

My head aches.





I just spent all of my waking hours so far today living and breathing music. Memorizing music history, teaching three piano lessons, practicing piano, doing other music homework . . . that's from 9 this morning until now, almost 5.

Of course, I did devo's and had lunch break and a short coffee break in that time as well.


Oh, my head aches. And all I can hear in my brain is Chopin's Waltz in E minor. You gotta love practicing . . . and memorizing . . . music. I think I need a walk.










"The aim and final reason of all music should be nothing else but the glory of God and the refreshment of the spirit." J. S. Bach

He's Alive and I'm Forgiven

O Sacred Head, Now Wounded

Bernard of Clairvaux

O sacred Head, now wounded,

With grief and shame weighed down,

Now scornfully surrounded

With thorns, Thine only crown;

O sacred Head, what glory,

With bliss till now was Thine!

Yet, though despised and gory,

I joy to call Thee mine.

O noblest Brow and dearest,

In other days the world

All feared when Thou appearedst;

What shame on Thee is hurled!

How art Thou pale with anquish,

With sore abuse and scorn!

How does that visage languish,

Which once was bright as morn!

What Thou, my Lord, has suffered

Was all for sinners’ gain;

Mine, mine was the transgression,

But Thine the deadly pain.

Lo, here I fall, my Savior,

‘Tis I deserve Thy place;

Look on me with Thy favor,

Vouchsafe to me Thy grace.

What language shall I borrow

To thank Thee, dearest Friend,

For this Thy dying sorrow,

Thy pity without end?

O make me Thine forever;

And should I fainting be,

Lord, let me never, never

Outlive my love to Thee.

Mark 15:21-32

Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross. And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of the Skull. Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it. And when they crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take. Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him. And the description of His accusation was written above: THE KING OF THE JEWS. With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left. So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with the transgressors.” And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself, and come down from the cross!” Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.”

I hate to think that in a sense, we are the ones mocking, beating, pounding the nails, accusing. When I think of it that way, the passage almost seems more horrible, and yet simply amazing because He was still willing to died for me.

Matthew 28:1-8

Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.” So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.

Here is the joy in the cross and the empty grave. To think that Christ did all of this for me to make me His child and call me His daughter, and save me from my sin. Truly, amazing grace that saved a wretch like me!

Have a great Easter weekend everyone. Meditate on the love of our Savior and be refreshed by the hope His resurrection brings.

Happy Birthday Kim

It's Kimberly's 15th birthday. I can't believe it is only one more year and she will be driving. Everyone is growing up way too fast. Like, in one month, I'll be (gulp) 19!! Where did time go? I remember when I was in Kindergarden without a care in the world and now I am almost done my first year out of highschool and one year into getting my ARCT. Shiver.

Time, it's changing me

It's hard to see who I am

Touched, I'm touched by many things

So many things I don't understand

But seasons pass and I discover

Above all this there's another

Helping my to hold on to what is timeless

So the autumn can color me gold

And the winter can dress me in snow

But it's You I see, the timeless part of me

In the springtime I'm young once again

In the summer I dance in the wind

But it's You I see, the timeless part of me

Change, whether it's good or bad

You know I'm glad You're in control

Oh Lord, if I don't understand

I know Your hand will shield my soul

(Levi Kreis)

?????GOT SKILLS?????

I am dedicating this post to a friend of mine. Most of you probably know him: Jon (other wise known as "Noj")Verbinnen. Jon, this totally reminded me of you. Thanks for lots of fun times!! (And sharing countless ‘skills’ :)

We all have different skills. For instance, I can squish my eyebrows together and then upward. When I do that, it makes a giant M in the middle of my forehead. I can also play a song using only my hand and armpit.

Juggling is another skill I have. I can also spin around 87 times without falling down. That’s not all. Did you know I can pogo four times in a row? (I also know how to fill in small holes all over our front yard caused by the pogo stick.)

I have many other skills, too. In fact, the ones listed above are probably only 50 percent of my skills – so not even half. And God has a reason for all the skill He gave me.

Sometimes when people are sad, I can use my skills to cheer them up. One time a lady sitting next to me was crying, so I leaned over and said, “Today my forehead will be brought to you by the letter M.” I then squished my eyebrows together and upward.

She started laughing so loud that everyone else at the funeral stopped and looked at her. I think they were amazed at how I was able to use my skills to cheer up this really sad lady.

It was kind of uncomfortable, though, because no one said anything. They just stared at us. Even the guy who had been talking just stood there. It was totally quiet except for the sound of blood rushing to my dad’s face. He was sitting on my other side. I looked over and he was making a W with his eyebrows.

I knew I needed to do something quick, so I used another one of my skills. I quickly started playing “Amazing Grace” under my arm. It’s one of my dad’s favorite songs. Plus, I thought it was appropriate for a funeral.

I would like to point out that the song wasn’t my best performance, though. My hand was kind of cramping, and my armpit was really sweaty. My dad quickly took me outside and played a different tune. But the point is that my skill cheered up that lady.

Another time I used my skill to help my mom. While we were putting up our Christmas tree last year, she discovered that one of her four antique Christmas ornaments had broken.

Right after it happened, I walked in the room with a bowl of popcorn so my brother could string it and put it on the tree. (I’m no longer allowed to be near a needle, but I’ll cover that in another story.) Mom was crying.

I love my mom, and when she’s sad I come to her rescue! So I knew just what to do. I started juggling! She looked up as I grabbed these three Christmas ornaments lying beside her and tossed them into the air.

”Bob!” she yelled. “My antique Christmas ornaments!”

That was followed by about 40 seconds of silence. Finally, my mom said, “Wow! Where did you learn how to juggle?”

“Dad taught me,” I said, concentrating on my juggling pattern.

“That’s amazing,” she said, smiling. “I’m so proud of you! Now stop it, because I only have three of those left.”

Skills are a gift from God. But just like everything else, we can choose to use them for good or for bad. I hope you use your skills in the right way. Now if you will excuse me, I’m trying to learn a new song, and I have to go find my triangle. (Another skill I have that doesn’t make my hand smell as bad as my other form of music.)From the Adventures of Average Boy by Bob Smiley as told to Bob Smiley.