Photo Contest

My Photo Contest ends Saturday, so if you haven't gotten your entries in you better do it soon! :D

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Photo Contest

I haven't gotten any submissions yet. Please submit, time is running out!
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Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me....
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.

T'was Grace that taught...
my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear...
the hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares...
we have already come.
T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far...
and Grace will lead us home.
.
When we've been here ten thousand years...
bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise...
then when we've first begun.


Have you stopped to consider this song. To me it's just one of those old hymns that we sing. I don't think I've ever stopped to consider the lyrics. Simple tune, simple words, but words that have so much depth and meaning underneath.
This song is all about grace. Where would we be without grace. We were wretched, lost, blind, and fearful. We were worse off than that, but this is what the song describes. But grace, that amazing grace, appeared before us. Was given to us. Now it is precious in our sight. And we we've no less days to sing God's praise, then when we first begun.
I don't know about you but as for me, I really need to start paying more attention to the hymns I sing.

Photography Blog

Y'all should check out my Photography blog! 

Click here to check it out!

Love Divine

We sang this song last night at evening service, and I just wanted to share it.

Love Divine by Charles Wesley  

1. Love divine, all loves excelling, 
 joy of heaven, to earth come down; 
 fix in us thy humble dwelling; 
 all thy faithful mercies crown! 
 Jesus thou art all compassion, 
 pure, unbounded love thou art; 
 visit us with thy salvation; 
 enter every trembling heart. 

2. Breathe, O breathe thy loving Spirit 
 into every troubled breast! 
 Let us all in thee inherit; 
 let us find that second rest. 
 Take away our bent to sinning; 
 Alpha and Omega be; 
 end of faith, as its beginning, 
 set our hearts at liberty. 

3. Come, Almighty to deliver, 
 let us all thy life receive; 
 suddenly return and never, 
 nevermore thy temples leave. 
 Thee we would be always blessing, 
 serve thee as thy hosts above, 
 pray and praise thee without ceasing, 
 glory in thy perfect love. 

4. Finish, then, thy new creation; 
 pure and spotless let us be. 
 Let us see thy great salvation 
 perfectly restored in thee; 
 changed from glory into glory, 
 till in heaven we take our place, 
 till we cast our crowns before thee, 
 lost in wonder, love, and praise.

Hindsight

Understanding why
Life is so uncertain.
Never knowing why things are happening.
Feeling stuck and going nowhere.
Why now, why me.
Nobody seems to understand.
Fighting within.
Flesh against Spirit. 
Patience.
Trusting in the Lord.
Knowing that everything is for our good
Even when we can't see it now.
Trusting in the grace that I have so often
found comfort in.
Moving forward one step at a time.
If we knew in advance what would happen
Would we truly grow?
Hindsight.
Causing us to look back
to see how far we have come
But only by the grace of God.

Photo Contest

 

I'm hosting a winter photography contest. Click here to learn more.

A Sight to See

White covered trees

standing out against the pale gray sky.

What a sight to see when one is awakening.

Sipping coffee.

Watching as the sun rises over the hill.

What a sight to see when one is awakening.

Second cup.

The sun glistening off the white covered trees.

What a sight to see when one is awakening.

Grabbing camera.

Brilliant blue sky causing awe.

What a sight to see when one is awakening.

Seeing

the Glory of God being displayed. 

What a sight to see when one is awakening.

Deborah's Song

I never realized how poetic Deborah's song is! I just had to share it!

 

 “That the leaders took the lead in Israel,

that the people offered themselves willingly,

bless the Lord!

 “Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes;

to the Lord I will sing;

I will make melody to the Lord, the God of Israel.

“Lord, when you went out from Seir,

when you marched from the region of Edom,

the earth trembled

and the heavens dropped,

yes, the clouds dropped water.

The mountains quaked before the Lord,

even Sinai before the Lord, the God of Israel.

“In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath,

in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned,

and travelers kept to the byways.

 The villagers ceased in Israel;

they ceased to be until I arose;

I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel.

When new gods were chosen,

then war was in the gates.

Was shield or spear to be seen

among forty thousand in Israel? 

My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel

who offered themselves willingly among the people.

Bless the Lord.

“Tell of it, you who ride on white donkeys,

you who sit on rich carpets

and you who walk by the way.

To the sound of musicians at the watering places,

there they repeat the righteous triumphs of the Lord,

the righteous triumphs of his villagers in Israel.

“Then down to the gates marched the people of the Lord.

“Awake, awake, Deborah!

Awake, awake, break out in a song!

Arise, Barak, lead away your captives,

O son of Abinoam.

Then down marched the remnant of the noble;

the people of the Lord marched down for me against the mighty. 

From Ephraim their root they marched down into the valley,

following you, Benjamin, with your kinsmen;

from Machir marched down the commanders,

and from Zebulun those who bear the lieutenant's staff;

the princes of Issachar came with Deborah,

and Issachar faithful to Barak;

into the valley they rushed at his heels.

Among the clans of Reuben

there were great searchings of heart.

Why did you sit still among the sheepfolds,

to hear the whistling for the flocks?

Among the clans of Reuben

there were great searchings of heart.

Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan;

and Dan, why did he stay with the ships?

Asher sat still at the coast of the sea,

staying by his landings.

Zebulun is a people who risked their lives to the death;

Naphtali, too, on the heights of the field.

“The kings came, they fought;

then fought the kings of Canaan,

at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo;

they got no spoils of silver.

From heaven the stars fought,

from their courses they fought against Sisera.

The torrent Kishon swept them away,

the ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon.

March on, my soul, with might!

“Then loud beat the horses' hoofs

with the galloping, galloping of his steeds.

“Curse Meroz, says the angel of the Lord,

curse its inhabitants thoroughly,

because they did not come to the help of the Lord,

to the help of the Lord against the mighty.

“Most blessed of women be Jael,

the wife of Heber the Kenite,

of tent-dwelling women most blessed.

He asked for water and she gave him milk;

she brought him curds in a noble's bowl.

She sent her hand to the tent peg

and her right hand to the workmen's mallet;

she struck Sisera;

she crushed his head;

she shattered and pierced his temple.

Between her feet

he sank, he fell, he lay still;

between her feet

he sank, he fell;

where he sank,

there he fell—dead.

“Out of the window she peered,

the mother of Sisera wailed through the lattice:

‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?

Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?’

Her wisest princesses answer,

indeed, she answers herself,

‘Have they not found and divided the spoil?—

A womb or two for every man;

spoil of dyed materials for Sisera,

spoil of dyed materials embroidered,

two pieces of dyed work embroidered for the neck as spoil?’

“So may all your enemies perish, O Lord!

But your friends be like the sun as he rises in his might.”

God's Great Salvation

I heard this sermon last night at Second Parish in Portland, ME.
I liked it so much I just had to share it!

God's Great Salvation. Deborah's Song.

Corrie's Art

If any of you have a facebook and haven't already, would you mind "liking" my friends page?
She is a great artist! Thanks so much!

 Here's the link:

Corrie's Facebook Page

Christmas

I had a wonderful Christmas! And I was very blessed to be able to spend it with my family in PA!