A Few Thoughts

I love this song so much...I love the book of Hosea. sigh. Its a convicting read and kind of tough but also incredibly FULL of hope.

ACRES OF HOPE
by Shane Barnard and Robbie Seay

He will allure her
He will pursue her
And call her out
To wilderness with flowers in His hand
She is responding
Beat up and hurting
Deserving death
But offerings of life are found instead

She will sing
She will sing
Oh, to You
She will sing as in the days of youth
As You lead her away
To valleys low
To acres of hope
Acres of hope

Here in the valley
Walk close beside me
Don’t look back
For love is growing vineyards up ahead
You have called me master
And though you’re in the dark here
Call me friend
And call me lover and marry me for good

She will sing
She will sing
Oh, to You
She will sing as in the days of youth
As You lead her away
To valleys low
To acres of hope
Acres of hope

How the story ends is
Love and tenderness in Him
Not safe, but worth it
So the valley’s up ahead
Or the ones we live
We’ll sing together
We’ll sing together

We will sing
We will sing
Oh, to You
We will sing as in the days of youth
As You lead us away
To valleys low
To acres of hope
Acres of hope

“Lord, sustain me in the valley. Give me ears to hear Your sweet tender voice and lead me in to acres of hope in this dry and weary land.”
"Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt. ‘In that day,’ declares the LORD,’you will call me 'my husband'; you will no longer call me 'my master. (Hosea 2:14-16)

We went to Cement City today. It was amazing. I so needed to be back in that Church. I like it so much. The sermon was on Isaiah 63 (so wonderful). It was a really convicting sermon. I'll share a few points.

-God's name is at stake in His people. He won't forsake His people for the sake of His name (and glory)--this should empower me to pray unceasingly, faithfully and persistently for God's agenda (standing on the Word of God).
-Give God no rest until He moves for the sake of His name and His glory in your life.
-God is faithful and so we can have faith in Him--because of the bountiful evidence of His trustworthiness.
-God pities His people when they are in their most desperate condition--In their affliction, He was afflicted (v9)
-If you make God your enemy He will make Himself your enemy--He will make you miserable to bring you, broken, back to Him and to shower His steadfast love and mercy on you.
-God's reputation is the God who saves the chief of sinners.
-He leads and works in His people to make for Himself a glorious name--your praying will show if you believe it.

I had such a bad week last week. It was low and empty and so focused on ME. I got so caught up in school, my workload, the Moody application, relationships, worrying about my future...I completely lost sight of God and the glory of His name. It was such a hopeless week because I was not feeding myself with eternal things. I was not filling my life with the Word or even with the Praise of God's working in my life. yuck. I am so glad for a new week. I thank God that His mercies are new every morning. I thank Him that I can wake up tomorrow and praise Him for who He is--never changing, always loving and merciful, never forsaking. I learned so much over the past week. crazy! I feel so full of thoughts and emotions. I want to just talk to people about it...but I don't even know where to begin. I feel exhausted from the way I acted last week--weak and feeble, following my own way--but I feel so excited about what I'm learning and that I get to have a NEW week this week! And aside from all this, there are so many fun things in the future that I am SO looking forward to. Oh! First I have to tell you that I dropped latin. I know! It's kind of sad. But I was taking 17 credits and working 12-14 hrs. at the store. I was getting so far behind, so stressed, and just couldn't do it. So now I have some extra time to read and hopefully study the Word some more. I'm dedicating that hour of time that I would have been in class to reading Piper's Future Grace. I'm very excited about it. I also decided that, even though I'm not allowed to "study" at the store (no homework, etc), I'm going to memorize Scripture. I'm starting with 1 Corinthians 13 on love. I feel like it is fitting because God is teaching me whole lot about what it means to love--and love well. It is a wonderful gift to treasure God's word.

So, the main events I'm looking forward to in the coming months:
1. An awesome day of traveling home to tucson for spring break with Piko (Mar.18)
2. Spring Break (and you know...THE WEDDING!!!)
3. Having lunch with my mom and dad when I'm home and hiding out with Luke a few times when we just need to escape from some of the weedingness (don't think I want to escape the planning and preparation and the helping...but I think luke and I need to bond a lot too...I know I'll need to, it isn't an easy business watching your big sis leave)
4. Luke flies into Lansing!
5. The Guster concert that same night!!!!!...fun times with amazing friends who I LOVE!
6. 4 days spent with my BROTHER! woohoo!
7. Easter weekend with roommates...hallie, me, hannah and donna going to Kentucky! (at least that's the temporary plan)
And who knows what other fun things will come up...hmmm. Hallie and I have to dance in a field as soon as spring hits. I want to take her to the coffee shop in coldwater. I still really want to go to Josh's lake but we'll see if it works out.

Can I just say that God blessed me in so many ways this year...and He continues to. I am amazed...speechless, really.

I feel confused sometimes about my future. There are so many possibilities and different ways that God can lead. I really need to work on NOT trying to figure everything out. sigh. I'm trying to rely on His promises and rest in the knowledge that His name is at stake in His people...He is in total control.

I have to go study for a Physics final tomorrow and then read a whole lot for English...Rousseau (fun). I love you all so much! I have a list of people I want to write to but I've had such a hard time staying on top of things...I'm looking forward to this week, though, and some extra time to catch up. I will do my best.

A Special shout out to my AMAZING friend ALLIE...her birthday was yesterday and even though I was working for 8 hrs., I was wishing myself at Taylor :) And don't expect your present right away, It's in the process of getting put together. I love you so much, Allie!!