Loss

Today it rained most drearily. And although we have all been hoping for snow - especially for the sake of my sister-in-law Hannah, visiting from Arizona - the rain seemed appropriate.

We got the news this morning that a man from our church died from a heart attack. Please be in prayer for his wife - now widow - and his two daughters, a sensitive 11 year old and a rambunctious 4 year old. Pray also for us a church family, that we can be the Body of Christ to them. Thank you.

~*~

Psalm Pstudy: 31-40

Feeling stressed? Frustrated? Bored? Insecure? Reckon some Fact:

31. My times are in His hand.


32. Jesus is my hiding place.


33. Jesus is right.


34. Jesus delivered me from all my fears.


35. Jesus fights against those who fight against me.


36. Jesus gives [men] drink from the river of His pleasures.


37. Jesus upholds the righteous.


38. Jesus is my salvation.


39. Jesus is the remover of plagues.


40. Jesus thinks upon me.


I love this stuff! Look up the actual Psalms - God said it and He cannot lie.

Random - New, Almost-new, & Timeless

New favorite Eric Ludy sermon: Wings Like Eagles (4/25/2010). I just listened to it yesterday, and it was amazing.
Timeless favorite E.L. sermon: Reckoning With Truth (10/31/2010). This may be my all-time favorite. That message, that week, changed my life for good!

New favorite song: I don't know the name of it, but one line is stuck in my head: "Love, and Joy, and Peace, and Righteousness, in the Holy Spirit, oh oh oh oh...."
Almost-new favorite song: "Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise" A new version of the old hymn, combining majestic and personal adoration of Jesus.

Almost-new favorite book: Princess. This book was fascinating, heart-rending, and at times even horrifying. It's a real life story that reveals a lot about the lives of Saudi Arabian women. After I finished reading, I walked outside into a lovely sunshiny day and felt guilty. Not that I had done something wrong, but that I was free in so many ways they might never be. God came for them to have abundant life, and He is burdened for them.
Timeless favorite book, again!: Psalms

New favorite movie: Babies. Zadok Johnson once said something to the effect of, "Who needs a TV when you have a baby around?" Just watched a film by this title that lets you watch four babies from totally different countries "from their first breath to their first steps". It's relax-paced, funny, and extremely cute. Caveat: It's not for everyone; there is cultural/maternal nudity throughout. (PG) Go find a baby near you to watch!

New favorite tradition: Giving overdue thank-you cards at Thanksgiving. The only problem is that you can never thank everybody you ought to!

Almost new & timeless favorite verse: "But the word (†) is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it." Deuteronomy 30:14

Quick Quote

Cheerful holiness is the most forcible of sermons. - Charles Spurgeon

Thanks to NRJohnson for the quote. O how I want my life to illustrate this!