Oceans

For as long as I can remember song lyrics have had a huge effect on me. I'm so thankful that God has blessed people with the ability to create amazing song lyrics that draw my attention to Christ. I'm also thankful for the beautiful way people create the music so these lyrics just flow out of my mouth. I'm definitely one who loves to harmonize and appreciates the music we sing in church. 
In the last several months there have been some great new worship songs in the Christian Music industry. We've been singing Hillsong United's "Oceans" for the last couple of months at my church. I love this song. As I was driving home tonight I was singing along to this song on the radio and the words to the bridge hit me even harder than before.  

"Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior"

I've sung this bridge countless times and never really let the words sink in. So often I put a border on how much I'm going to trust the Lord. "I'll only trust you with this, and not with this." Why do I put that border on my trust in Him when I know that what He will do is so much greater than anything that I could possibly do. There is no limit to what Christ can do! Over the last couple of weeks I've been struggling with trusting God with everything. I feel like I've been on an emotional roller coaster. One minute my faith is totally focused on Christ and the next I'm doubting and full of anxiety. I know that God is working at growing me closer to Him. The second half of that bridge is my prayer right now. "Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander and my faith will be made stronger in the presence of my Savior." I know that as I trust God with EVERYTHING He will cause my faith the grow. 

The mess is coming to an end!

Well, for once I have an excuse for my crazy messy house/apartment...whatever you want to call it. I'm in the process of moving. By next weekend I should be all moved in to my new place. I'm really excited about it. It is a little bigger than where I am now and the location is so nice! But I think most of all I'm excited about a fresh start. As I've been packing and gradually moving things to my new place I've been purging. I have so much stuff. And a lot of it I don't need. My prayer is that I'm getting rid of enough stuff that I can enjoy the new space and not feel like it is totally packed like my current home is. A fresh start is going to be wonderful!

Here are some pics of the new place. Danika made sure to pose for every picture I took. :)

The living room is a little smaller than my current home. I may be surprised when I move my furniture in though. We'll see. All of the other space is bigger though.

Not sure why

I'm not sure why God allows certain things to happen in our lives. When hard things come up our initial reaction can often be "why Lord!" That has been my reaction today. Why did today have to go like it did? It wasn't a crazy life changing thing, but it was hard. In the midst of that I was reminded by a friend that God knows and for whatever reason He has me going through this trial. It makes me think back to a recent message I heard in church. "God is sovereign over every situation in your life. And since God sovereignly places us where we are, where we are is a place of worship." So my response needs to be to worship Him, surrender, and seek Him. It definitely is a hard thing to remember, but I really want that peace that I know God will give me when I seek Him.
So if nothing else because of this trial I am learning that through the trial I can and need to worship Him. I'm reminded of the worship chorus: "Lord, I need You. Oh, I need You. Every hour I need You. My one defense, my righteousness, Oh God, how I need you!" I think that song will be on my lips all day tomorrow.