I can only imagine.....

I Can Only Imagine~Mercy Me

I can only imagine

What it will be like

When I walk

By Your side

I can only imagine

What my eyes will see

When Your faceIs before me

I can only imagine

{Chorus}:Surrounded by Your glory,

what will my heart feel

Will I dance for You Jesus or in awe of You be still

Will I stand in Your presence or to my knees will I fall

Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all

I can only imagine

I can only imagine

When that day comes

And I find myself

Standing in the Son

I can only imagine

When all I will do

Is forever

Forever worship You

I can only imagine

This song just drives me to my knees every time. I just want to bow before God. It really makes me think if Jesus was standing here in front of me what would my reaction be.....would I sing and praise and dance for him or would I be speechless.....I think I'd probably be speechless for once in my life! He is such an awesome God, I need to remember that every minute of every day and recognise his majesty and his awesomeness. You can hear Mercyme singing this song here and it gives some background on how the song came to be written.

Only us Brits!

Tuesday evening is our youthgroup evening in my church. It was the last one this week before we break up for the summer holidays. Anyway we decided as we had been having such beautiful weather here that we would have an evening of games on the beach in Talacre, Prestatyn. It came to Tuesday and the weather took a turn for the worst. Thank goodness it wasn't raining but it was windy and not warm at all, think the temperature had dropped about 10 oC from the week before.

But in true British style we went to the beach with the kids. All of us kitted out in sweatshirts, fleeces, trousers and coats and the beach was empty. The kids insisted on attempting to play football in the wind, even though they kept loosing the ball because of the strength of the wind and sand was in our hair and mouths whenever we tried to speak. They then went for a walk to the lighthouse that is on the beach while a couple of others made sand sculptures.

There is something truly British about being on a beach in this weather and you brave it out because no matter what we are going to grin and bare it and enjoy it.

Is this only a British thing or are others nutters like us?

I am posting this in the vain hope that I can then use it as my profile photo. I work with computers everyday yet have no victory over this!

I couldn't resist......

I had to put at least 1 photo of my little nephew......gorgeous boy!

Me on a hill called Pen-Y-Cloddiau....I am so blessed to live in such a beautiful part of the country!

Gorgeous colours!

My house, in the middle there somewhere!

My feet in my Birkenstock sandals.

I love these sandals

Denbigh Castle

Well here are a couple of photos that I've managed to upload from my PC from our reunion in Stratford-Upon-Avon.
These guys were my life for the year that I lived in America and I miss them all very much. In the first photo there is Becky Hill (Isle of Man), myself and Ramona (Romania). Then in the second there is James (Kent, England), Becky Rasdall (USA), Ramona, Nici (Germany) and Becky.
It was awesome to catch up with these guys and great to see how easily we were able to slip back into conversation and bouncing humor and sarcasm off one another again.
I'd forgotten about certain traits of everyone's personalities that made them so unique; the way Ramona gestured with her hands when she spoke, the adorable flirtatious personality that Nici has, Becky Hill's infectious giggle, the dry sense of humor of James' and Becky Rasdall's wonderful sense of adventure.
I miss you guys so much and many many more. Amy wishes that she could have been with us and I wonder whether there'll ever be a time when we are all together again.
May the Lord bless you and keep you and may he make his face shine upon you.
Love you all
Emx x

"This is how much God loved the world:
He gave his Son, his one and only Son.
And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed;
by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.
God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger,
telling the world how bad it was.
He came to help, to put the world right again."

This verse (well verse 16 in particular) is probably one of the most famous from the bible, but I find that I skip over it at times. I think I know it so well that there is nothing I can learn from it.
But reading it this morning something really struck me and it was in verse 17 rather than 16.
I have often thought of the trinity in a specific way. God is the judge, Jesus is the intercessor, and the Holy Spirit is our guide and comforter. It has therefore been a subconcious thought of mine that God is an accuser as well as a judge and that it is Jesus pleading for us and presenting our case. This verse completely contradicts my thinking though.
"God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger". He sent Jesus because he loves us and wants to help us.
I don't have children but I can imagine that humnanly speaking, one of the most impossible things to do would be to send your child somewhere knowing they were going to be killed. War is bad enough but the number of soldiers that return are always a lot higher than those that die; it is not definite that you're going to die there, even though there is a large risk. But just to send your child somewhere so that people who have cursed your name, rejected you, abandoned you and failed to recognise you may have a chance to spend eternity with you is mind blowing...and he didn't do this to condemn us but because he loves us......wow. That should start changing my perception of my Father in heaven!
I hope that you get some understanding from this and it gets you thinking as much as it got me!

Voice of Truth

Lyrics By Mark Hall and Steven Curtis Chapman
Music by Mark Hall and Steven Curtis Chapman

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves

To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He's holding out His hand

But the waves are calling out my name
And they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again. "Boy, you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"

Chorus:
But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
The voice of truth says, "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of strength it takes to stand before a giant
With just a sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors
Shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand

But the giant's calling out my name
And he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
Time and time again. "Boy you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"

But the stone was just the right size
To put the giant on the ground
And the waves they don't seem so high
From on top of them lookin' down
I will soar with the wings of eagles
When I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
Singing over me

I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

© 2003 Club Zoo Music / SWEC Music (Admin. by Club Zoo Music) / BMI / Sparrow Song / Peach Hill Songs (admin by EMI Christian Music Publishing) / BMI. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

I have this song on a Casting Crowns CD. Such great words and tells us to focus on the only voice we need to.
Blessings
Ems

Jeremiah 29 :11-13

"For I know the plans I have for you,"
declares the LORD,
"plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.
Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me,
and I will listen to you.
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

This was the first bible verse that I learnt. I never really knew the significance of it, yet as I continue on with my life and on a journey that I am not sure to where it leads, I know that this verse was meant for every journey of my life and that trusting in God is my only hope for a future. That His plan has got to be infinitely better than mine, even when it hurts when dreams and hopes are broken and unfullfilled....they were obviously not part of His best for me...may I continue to trust in Him, seek after Him with all of my heart and find my hope and future in Him alone.

I'm baking!

Currently sitting in work, no air conditioning, no fan, weather.com says that it's only 19 C/66 F(yeah right!) and already I feel like I need a shower! And it's not even 9am......it's gonna be one of those days!