~ He Sees ~

Feeling as if her heart would break,
Stinging words, they had lashed out.
The tears she held, so deep within,
Revealed her anguish and doubt.

They cut as if a two-edged sword.
She fought the emotions within.
But, in the recesses of her mind,
Words echoed time and again.

In the stillness of the night,
She knelt to voice her plea.
Within her soul, she plainly heard,
"Fear not, because He sees."

He knows your deepest heartaches.
Unnoticed? Not even one.
He's interceding for you,
For, you see, He's God's own Son.

There's nothing that could be hidden.
All things lay before Him bare.
Toss your burdens on the Lord.
He loves you and He cares.

Choose to walk in love and joy.
Let your heart be filled with peace.
All your pain will soon recede,
Just remember that He sees.

© 2003 by Marie Williams

This is pretty much where I'm at at the moment

25th February

Well the day is nearly here when I will no longer feel I can say I am in my early/mid twenties. As of Friday I will be 26.....hmmm food for thought on that one.
Anyway some people I share my birthday with

Sean Astin - Samwise Gamgee from Lord of the Rings
George Harrison - Beatles
Zeppo Marx - The youngest of the Marx brothers
Pierre Auguste Renoir - French Impressionist painter.

It will also be National Doodle Day !! Get down to your local Lloyds Pharmacy and get doodling for charity.

Have a fab day everyone!
Love Em x x

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

1 Corinthians 13:4-12

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This is how we've come to understand and experience love:

Christ sacrificed his life for us.

This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers,

and not just be out for ourselves.

1 John 3:16

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Wow,

How powerful are those words. Those commands on love that I know that I don't live by. It highlights the sinfulness of myself and the glory and perfection of God.

If I remember the awesome sacrifice that God did for me, I should be able to remember the sacrifice that I can then give to others. To love them unconditionally, no matter what.

Highlights so many things in my life that need to change.

Freezing our bums off and nearly dead after climbing 199 steps from the shoreline! 

Three musketteers on the beach 

Whitby Pier 

The Fab Four after a relaxing and well fed weekend! 

Time Out

I have this dream at the moment;

To be sitting on the shore of Lake Michigan
Watching the sunset as God paints the sky.
A slight breeze whispering through the dunes
The warmth of the day still palpable.

The times that we shared there
The prayers that the sand will never disclose.
But we know our Father heard
For there was no ceiling to halt them.

There was a freedom
A childlike abandonment of life and responsibility
Friendships we thought would never end
A time we thought would stand still.

Dreams

Been thinking about this one a lot lately.
I feel that since living at home and undergoing much strain in certain situations I have lost my dreams.....did I ever have any? Am sure that I did.
So something I am trying to do at the moment is to recapture those dreams, rediscover them and pursue them to discover if they are part of Gods plan.
1) To be rid of fear for the future. Not your normal conventional dream I know but something I have discovered is constantly in my subconcious. With all the talk regarding pensions and we are not saving enough for the future and never being able to afford a house of my own on my current wages this is something that I crave. Most certainly a dream I know God wants me to accomplish and something that will have to be tackled every day!
2) To gain more indepth knowledge of the Bible, maybe through Bible school. A friend of mine went to Torchbearers bible school in Sweden and talked about the tranquility, peace, silence and space that she had during this time. I crave that so much. To have an oppurtunity to be refreshed, equipped and challenged with no other distractions for a period of time.
3) To work abroad. Not enitrely sure where and doing what but it is a desire I have my heart. One thing i cannot imagine though is doing it alone. Which leads onto my other dream.
4) To be married. I desire to share my life with someone so much. To have a family and be part of a team. To have some one to share thoughts, dreams and struggles with and to be devoted to a God pursuing life with that one person.
5) To relearn the clarinet. This is one that I know I can get started on immediately, I just need to find a teacher!

Our automated responses

This really struck me last night.
We were waiting for a youthgroup to arrive and a man from our church was chatting to Esther and I. He asked me "How are you?" and without even thinking I responded "Very well thank you". I never even thought about it. If I had I would have been the first to admit that in some areas I am not feeling "very well" at all. But why do we give these automatic responses? It took me back to my time in America and the differences in greetings. They couldn't quite understand when I would say "Hello", walk slowly past and say "You OK?". To them that was an indication that I had seen something that wasn't "OK" in their demeanor. Whereas in Britian we use it merely as a greeting. But are us British in the wrong for doing that? Do we therefore not take time to listen to the answers that people want to give? Have we created an "automated response" in ourselves and others by our hasty greeetings? I don't know. Just a thought.
Any responses?