Magnificent Obsession

As I reach the end of my second week of married life, I thought you might want a peek into my wedding day. It was wonderful! As I was returning to my work day commute the last couple mornings, I was listening again to the song that was played during our ceremony while we took communion. Our good friend Josh gave of his time and talent to play Magnificent Obsession by Steven Curtis Chapman. One of my favorite worship songs by SCC, I wanted to share with you what it means to me and our marriage.

Lord, You know how much
I want to know so much
In the way of answers and explanations
I have cried and prayed
And still I seem to stay
In the middle of life’s complications
All this pursuing leaves me feeling like I’m chasing down the wind
But now it’s brought me back to You
And I can see again

This is everything I want
This is everything I need
I want this to be my one consuming passion
Everything my heart desires
Lord, I want it all to be for You, Jesus
Be my magnificent obsession

These lyrics mirror the season of life I had been in prior to my first date with The Husband. God had brought me. God's grace is to always draw us back to Himself. For the wedding day, I had Josh skip this first verse and start in with the part of the song that was my hearts cry of the day.

So capture my heart again
Take me to depths I’ve never been
Into the riches of Your grace and Your mercy
Return me to the cross
And let me be completely lost
In the wonder of the love
That You’ve shown me
Cut through these chains that tie me down to so many lesser things
Let all my dreams fall to the ground
Until this one remains

You are everything I want
You are everything I need
I want You to be my one consuming passion
Everything my heart desires
Lord, I want it all to be for You
I want it all to be for You

You are everything I want
And You are everything I need
Lord, You are all my heart desires
You are everything to me

Wedding days and marriages overall are a mirror of our relationship with Christ. They are meant to teach us more about how He feels towards us, how He cares for us, how He gave His life for His beloved. With the lyrics above my heart was crying out that He would take us both as His. That our main focus would be Him even as we enter a very exciting new relationship and season of life. I am fully in love with my husband. But my magnificent obsession is Jesus. And I am beyond thrilled that He has appointed this time of my life to enter into this earthly covenant to mirror how He loves us. 
I want it all to be for You

ALSO!!!  My wonderful photographer posted a sneak peek of our wedding photos!

http://www.ginnyfilerphotography.com/2013/07/elizabeth-and-josue-are-married/

For He is kind

Sometimes we forgot the simple things. Sometimes we make things difficult and detailed. Sometimes we need to get back to basics. This is why one of my favorite verses is Micah 6:8.

He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?

We struggle to find the answers in life. We struggle to know how to interact with this world that we are in and not of. Along these lines, I offer you this passage today. Read, ponder, think and chew.

Luke 6

27 But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. 29 To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. 31 And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.32 But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. 35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. 36 Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.37 Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.

Roller Coasters

Back in 2005/2006 I wrote a couple blog posts about faith, anticipation and waiting. Below you will find those posts, only slightly edited. They were written in the time following some major family heartbreak and not long before God would open up a brand new chapter of my life by moving me to DC. The truth God taught me then still resonates within me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Blog 1

I love roller coasters. I don't have any fear because I trust the engineers and inspectors completely. I love the rush, the unexpected, the speed, the adrenalin. Some time ago, God talked to me about roller coasters and spiritual faith

I have complained that the last couple years of my life have been a roller coaster. God told me that if life is a roller coaster, then that makes Him the engineer. If I can trust a human engineer, literally with my life, and ENJOY it, then why couldn't I do the same with Him? Long story short, I should ride this roller coaster of life WITH JOY because I have total faith in my God, the designer, inspector and operator of the ride.

When the bottom seems to be falling out, I should throw up my hands and scream, not in panic, but in excitement. When things are passing me by too fast to control, I can know know that my course is set. Enjoy the ride. I need to follow the directions (hands inside the car, stay seated, ie. the Bible) and the rest is pure joy.

This thought has been an ongoing process over several months and I've struggled with the specifics of walking in this faith. I finally stepped into the coaster and sat down, figuratively speaking, but nothing happened. The ride didn't start. No rush, nothing unexpected, no speed, no adrenalin.  Did I miss something? God did want me to have faith and ride His roller coaster, right? So I waited. As I sat there, anticipation began to build. And kept building.

The Bad Apple

In many ways, I am a child at heart. G.T. and the Halo Express (the full 7 CD set) live in my car and make a regular rotation through my CD player. Happy Meals are a drive-thru favorite. Labor Day weekend on my round trip drive to the lake, I made multiple stops for the happiest of meals, the Chick-fil-a nugget kids meal. In a beautiful collision of the practical and the destined, my meals contained Veggie Tales CDs. The best of yummy fast food and roadtrip entertainment all in one??  Yes please!

While I flew down 81 and 66, I was listening and learning about temptation from LarryBoy. Who knew a superhero cucumber had so much to teach me? I was so impacted by this CD that I went online and spent a few dollars to buy a used copy of the original DVD. I'd encourage you to do the same (or you can rent it from Netflix if that's your thing.)  I loved that the very basic illustrations of temptation they used for kids are things that are TRULY impacting our lives today. We think of temptation as sex, drugs and rock n roll. But hey! There is so much more that we deal with DAILY!

Remind Me

(Yes, it's been too long since the last post. I think the earthquake scrambled my brain. And the hurricane was distracting. And there are always excuses. And natural "disasters" are my favorite ones to use. So hard to argue with for the most part!)

In the last few years, I've forgotten so much. My zeal, faith and hope have slipped away. This year, God has been restoring me. Remind Me Who I Am by Jason Gray has been my prayer since I first heard it.

When I lose my way,
And I forget my name
Remind me who I am
In the mirror all I see
Is who I don't wanna be
Remind me who I am

If I'm Your beloved can You help me believe it

Tell me, once again
Who I am to you, who I am to You
Tell me, lest I forget
Who I am to you, that I belong to You
To You 

The truth can be so simple and so easy to forget. We go looking for something more complex. Who are you? You are the beloved of God. It's WHO YOU ARE.

As well as having lyrics that touch my soul, Jason's music sounds great. Give him a listen. If the song pricks your heart, try to find quiet time later today to listen again and make it your prayer as well.

Jason also recorded a three minute video talking about the song and why he wrote it. It's well worth the listen.

RMWIA (what, you don't make acronyms out of song titles?) is the first single off of an album releasing a week from today. This week you can listen to the WHOLE THING streaming as a preview right HERE. (yes, you have to register, but it's worth it) I very much enjoyed his last album and I'm looking forward to downloading this one.

Lazy Monday

Sometimes I wish I was rich. If I was, I'd pay someone to stop my procrastination. What's the difference between the physical shape I'm in and the shape some of these movies stars are in? A personal trainer. I have a gym membership that includes classes. I have time. What I don't have is a person I PAY to make sure I DO IT. (not at all to downplay the training and expertise of physical trainers!) In my fantasy world, this person would come to my home, so I'd also be motivated to make my house visitor ready on a regular basis.

This weekend my pastor started a sermon series on Keywords. It's a fun concept since you never know what he's gonna throw at you. He started with PROCRASTINATION. As he taught and shared scripture, something became clear to me. I'm lazy. That wasn't the main or only focus of his teaching, but it was the one that applied to me.

Backwards = Forwards

I adore technology. My Droid is my BFF. My laptop is my bread and butter. My fiber optic wireless internet is a beautiful gift. I live in anticipation of the day I can go 4G. These things allow me to be on constant communication worldwide. And yet, there is an emptiness that they multiply.

All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. ~ 1 Corinthians 6:12

FaceBook has had power over me for some time now.  A year ago this month I took a month away from it and that was was wonderful, but it pulled me back. If I didn't log in, how would I know when someone I was friends with 15 years ago got married? WHAT IF I MISS SOMETHING??  Only weird people don't have a facebook!

I've also found that status updates and tweets leave me without anecdotes when I see my friends face to face.  "I saw the most beautiful rainbows yesterday" "I know, I saw your pic on facebook" "Oh"  *awkward silence*  How much better is it to have a few moments genuine conversation about something than to exchange a sentence or two over the internet? On the flip side, do you ever expect your friend to know what's happened in your life, only to find they didn't read facebook that day?? Oh the horror! They must not really love you! Wait, is that an overreaction?

July 31st I will be deleting my account. I love all 316 of you that are my "friends" over there, but it's time to kick the habit. I've started a new account that for now will be family only.  I've also started a page just for this blog. Anyone and everyone is welcome to "like" the blog page and keep in touch that way. I'll be blogging more often in an attempt for my internet communication to be RICH & FOCUSED and not 140 character snippets. You are also welcome to follow me on twitter where I'll still be tweeting, but that account will be much more of a news-ticker than anything else. Please do not be offended if I don't follow you back.

My internet communications with people will be here on this blog and through email.  I know, I know, how 90's of me! Sometimes you have to go backwards to go forwards.  I want my communications to be intentional

Further suggested reading: http://www.boundless.org/2005/articles/a0002438.cfm#

And because bulleted lists are my favorite, here are the ways to know when a new blog is published:
(useful since 98% of you come here from my facebook statuses)

• Subscribe with an RSS reader.  Look for the button over there  ---^
• Subscribe by email.  Also over there ---^
• Follow my twitter account.  Over there ---^
• "Like" the blogs Facebook page  Over...well, you get the idea.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
January 2012 edit:

Be sure to read the FOLLOW-UP POST almost six month later!

The trouble with fruit. | Stuff Christians Like – Jon Acuff

The trouble with fruit. | Stuff Christians Like – Jon Acuff

I'm linking to this post from SCL because it mirrors my post last night about self-discipline.