For My Love...

For My Love
by, Bethany Dillon

Walk towards me
I want to hear
The heavens singing over you
When you breathe
And look at me
I want to be captured by you

Gaze into my eyes
And let me know you'd fight
Thousands, for my love
Slip your hand in mine
Ask me to dance with you tonight
Just ask me for my love

I want to hide
What's deep in my eyes
I'm scared to be known by you
But when I turn my head
And see you there
I want to be pursued

A dream I won't wake from
A story that will never end
The ground your feet walk on
Let me be there, let me be there

I know - yet another song! (also in one of the playlists to the right) This one holds a particularly special place in my heart because of the unbelievable closeness it has to a vision that was given to Marcie as she prayed for me. Here is the vision that Marcie had back in April 2005: "It was a large room. In the middle of the room was bright light and dancing. On the edges of the room, in the corners, was shadows and darkness. Jesus was in the middle of the room, dancing, laughing. You were in a corner of the room, back against the corner as far as you could go. You looked like you were enjoying watching Him, a bit intrigued. Then from the center of the room, He turned to look at you and reached out His hand to you, inviting you to come dance with Him. Your eyes got big and you tried to back up and told Him no, rather shyly. He kept asking, smiling kindly at you, His hand reached out to you." Bethany Dillon's song always reminds me of that vision and thus reminds me of the ultimate Pursuer of my heart, the One who created me and enjoys me and always wants to dance with me. So when those dark moments of loneliness and self-pity come creeping in, of wondering if there will be a man to take up the challenge of pursuing me, I lean heavily upon the knowledge that I am pursued every day by the greatest Lover ever.

"Listen to me, O royal daughter, take to heart what I say. Forget your people and your family far away. For your royal husband delights in your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord."
~Psalm 45:10-11 (NLT)

Nothing Left to Lose...Being a Christian it's like the Wind!

Even though I'm a left-brained person, music and artistry in general are most often how the Lord speaks tenderly to me - maybe because creativity doesn't come easily to me. Just last night as I was driving home from a women's bible study, He refreshed me with this song and in turn reminded me of a sermon where Christians are likened to the wind. In John 3, Christ is telling Nicodemus how "no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."

John 3:4-8
"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"

Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

We are like the wind! Where is the Spirit blowing you?

Nothing Left to Lose
by, Mat Kearney

Something’s in the air tonight .
The sky's alive with a burning light.
You can mark my words something's about to break.

And I found myself in a bitter fight,
While I've held your hand through the darkest night.
Don't know where you're coming from but you're coming soon

To a kid from Oregon by way of California
All of this is more than I've ever known or seen

Come on and we'll sing, like we were free
Push the pedal down watch the world around fly by us
Come on we'll try, one last time
I'm off of the floor one more time to find you

And here we go there's nothing left to choose
And here we go there's nothing left to lose

So I packed my car and I headed east
Where I felt your fire and a sweet release
There's a fire in these hills that's coming down

And I don't know much but I found you here
And I cannot wait another year
Don't know where you're coming from but you're coming soon

To a kid from Oregon by way of California
All of this is more than I've ever known or seen

Come on and we'll sing, like we were free
Push the pedal down watch the world around fly by us
Come on and we'll try, one last time
I'm off of the floor one more time to find you

And here we go there's nothing left to choose
And here we go there's nothing left to lose

I can still hear the trains out my window
From Hobart street to here in Nashville
I can still smell the pomegranates grow
And I don't know how hard this wind will blow
Or where we'll go

Come on and we'll sing, like we were free
Push the pedal down watch the world around fly by us
Come on and we'll try, one last time
I'm off of the floor one more time to find you

Come on and we'll sing, like we were free
Push the pedal down watch the world around fly by us
Come on and we'll try, one last time
I'm off of the floor one more time to find you


Come on and we'll sing, like we were free

Push the pedal down watch the world around fly by us

And here we go there's nothing left to choose
And here we go there's nothing left to lose

Both of the songs I've mentioned in my blog so far are included in the playlists to the right. Enjoy!

My washer and dryer - woohoo!

After two and a half weeks of waiting on the order, and then having the MENSA candidates from Lowes delivery hook up the clearly marked HOT water hose to the COLD water input on the washer...My washer and dryer are now in complete working order. Wednesday evening, I summoned up my She-ra strength to slowly but steadily move the washer away from the wall and fix the water tube situation (and yes boys I took all the necessary precautions like turning off the water source and turning off the power to the washer at the breaker box....geez, I'm not the moron here). Isn't that washer kind of sexy? I love it!

You fill up my senses...

I'm sitting in my apartment reminiscing and missing my Grand Parkway family a bit - about to listen to Neil's sermon entitled, "The Amish Go to a Home Show" which has me quite intrigued. This week I've had lots of time to be lost in my thoughts and converse with God as I painted ceiling tiles. And He's refreshed me, reminding me of where I've been and how He drew me here - and one of those ways He spoke to me was through John Denver's "Annie's Song." Marcie had played it for me well before we sung it in church as part of worship - and this week He brought it to my mind again, and I just had to download it from iTunes. In case maybe you've forgotten this song or never heard of it before let these lyrics wash over you:

Annie's Song

You fill up my senses
like a night in a forest
like the mountains in springtime,
like a walk in the rain
like a storm in the desert,
like a sleepy blue ocean
you fill up my senses,
come fill me again.

Come let me love you,
let me give my life to you
let me drown in your laughter,
let me die in your arms
let me lay down beside you,
let me always be with you
come let me love you,
come love me again.

let me give my life to you
come let me love you,
come love me again.

You fill up my senses
like a night in a forest
like the mountains in springtime,
like a walk in the rain
like a storm in the desert,
like a sleepy blue ocean
you fill up my senses,
come fill me again.

Nehemiah

I am heading into week four of a study on Nehemiah with the Women's Ministry at Southeast Christian Church. For those of you who aren't familiar with Nehemiah, he followed the call of God to beseech his king for permission to go to Jerusalem and organize the Israelites' rebuilding of the wall surrounding the city. There was a note written at the end of Week 1 in the study that has continued to stick with me, "Nehemiah is a message of hope and restoration. What God did for them, He will do for us. He will take the broken places of our lives and rebuild them for our protection and His glory." Isn't that comforting? He will take the broken places of our lives - our sin, areas of our lives affected by generational sin...all of that and we are not bound by those broken aspects of our lives because He will rebuild them and make them healthy. For me, it was the most reassuring to know that I am not bound by the destructive cycle of my family tree. God is taking those faulty and battered walls of my childhood and replacing them with healthy boundaries and functioning gates of communication. It is FAR from being complete, but I am excited about the work He is doing in me even though it is often painful and feels slow-going.

In Week 2, it was during the lecture portion of the study that God chose to impress upon me the importance in asking for permission before suddenly asking for His protection and provision. In chapter 2, Nehemiah asks for permission from the king before then asking for his protection and provision. It hit me - how often do we make our own plans and run ahead of God, and then turn around and ask Him to protect and provide for us? Thankfully, I can say that was not the case with my move to Louisville, but having a "planner" personality I still know that I have done that very thing on many occasions.

And now for a morsel for you to chew on from Week 3 of my study. Often in Scripture water is a symbol of the Word of God. Well, of all the gates that were destroyed by the Babylonians the only gate that did not need to be rebuilt by Nehemiah and the Israelites was the Water Gate. Intersting, huh? The Water Gate (symbolic of the Word of God) stayed standing.

Craziness...

Been a couple of weeks now since I last blogged - not for lack of things to blog about - just lack of time and energy. Part of what sucked the energy out of me is that City on a Hill was in the midst of doing some pick-up shots for the Easter Pageant at Southeast Christian Church. To see some behind the scenes photos of the filming take a look at the January 25th blog post on the Southeast Easter Pageant website. Below, you'll spy a photo of me as a Mary Magdalene stand-in. They put a wig on me and teased some of my own hair, darkened my hands and arms - all to get a back shot of me as Jesus (Shane Sooter) reaches out and takes my hand.



The weekend after the film shoot, the craving to be girly struck me again at the beckoning of my co-worker, Cassie - and I got acrylic nails for the first time. Yes friends, somehow even after being in several weddings, I had managed to remain a manicure virgin until the age of 28 - shocking, I know. I still remain a pedicure virgin, but I am sure that one of these days my sister's insistent nature will get the better of me and I will succumb to the temptation of getting a spa pedicure. Here are a couple of photos of my "oh-so-girly" french nails:



And this past week or so has been its own adventure...the girls at City on a Hill (Cassie, Molly, Amanda, and myself) have been tasked with painting the ceiling tiles in ALL the offices. Now, you might be thinking, "that's not too bad, you just pull them out of the ceiling, paint them on the ground, let 'em dry, and put 'em back up in the ceiling." Well, that's what we thought too....oh, except for the silly insulation sitting on top of the ceiling tiles which was in rectangles almost the exact size of the ceiling tiles themselves. Thus, we decided against pulling out all the ceiling tiles and hazardous insulation - and instead we have been painting the super-absorbent, porous, nook and cranny littered ceiling tiles with long-reaching, neck-straining paint rollers and doing touch-up painting with paint brushes while sitting atop ladders. Thankfully, my dear co-worker Molly, aka Sunshine, has lovingly kept us liquored up on soda and chocolate - while the males (guests and co-workers alike) who wander through the offices take their lives in their hands by continuing to offer us unsolicited advice and chuckling. The only one among them to not partake in this treacherous offense is our co-worker and wise sage, John McGrath. As of today, only 3 offices left to go! Did I mention this is also my FIRST time painting a room, as well? I'm losing my innocence one week at time...sigh.