All glory and praise

When I pray, I like to simply tell God who He is. And sometimes, He gives me a better understanding of what I am saying. Today He did that :)

Today I spoke that God is the author of creation. He alone is the author of creation. He alone deserves glory and praise.

So often we give away our praise too easily. We glorify our jobs, house, cars, earthly possessions and relationships. We idolize the fleeting things of this earth. We forget that God alone deserves ALL glory and praise; not just some of it.

"I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols." Isaiah 42:8

Enduring love

During worship, I try to think about what I am singing and meditate in the truth of the words I sing or make those words my prayer.

Today I was particularly struck by the words "forever His love endures."

Typically I think of the word "endure " as relating to physical activity. Endurance training... Enduring through a marathon race, etc.

Or I tend to think of enduring as it relates to our difficult circumstances. Enduring through a series of unfortunate events... Enduring through grieving the loss of a loved one, etc.

I was then hit with the reality of our expectation of endurance. It's fleeting. It's temporary. It lasts until the race is over or until our "luck" improves. But God's love for us endures forever!

What does forever mean? How long is God's love enduring?

God knew each one of us and loved us before time began; before he created the world and certainly before we were conceived.

...God loved us then.

God loves us just as we are, in this very moment. Despite our disobedience; despite our lack of faith; despite our rebellion; and despite our imperfect love.

...God loves us now.

God's kingdom has no end, so he will love us for all of eternity.

...God will love us always. Forever.

Now that is some incredible, enduring love!

New Years resolutions

Lately I've been acquiring bad habits and for some reason, I have been taking bad news a little worse than usual. During a recent sermon, I was convicted of putting an end to some of these bad habits.

On January 2nd I wrote:

I will trade feelings of anxiety, tension, and nervousness for God's peace.

I will trade apathy for action.

I will trade confinement for freedom.

I will turn feelings of rejection from people for acceptance in Christ.

I will trade selfishness for service.

I will trade complaints for praise.

I will trade in the things the world tells me I need to be happy for time spent with Christ and the fullness of His love.

Gym time

I met a friend at the gym today for yoga. I had a wonderful time of relaxation during yoga and used the time to allow God's peace to penetrate my heart. Reluctantly, I stayed after for some cardio time. I begrudgingly mounted the elliptical, and promised myself I'd run for 10 minutes.

At first, my attention was caught by the tv that was positioned directly in front of me. Music videos with half dressed women and conceited pop stars played and soon I became frustrated.

Then, the man on the elliptical next to me had a visitor. As I listened to the two curse incessantly, I seriously toyed with the idea of pointing out to the men the "etiquette tip" that flashed on the screen about not cursing in the gym. I grew increasingly hot; and not from my work out.

I then made the conscious decision to overt my eyes from the tv, and overt my ears from the conversation.

And I began to pray.

Soon the 10 minutes I committed myself to were up, and for fear that my incredible prayer time would cease, I just wanted to keep running!

My ten minutes turned into a half hour. I went to the gym with the intention to tone and refresh my body, and ended up leaving with a refreshed spirit.

My crafty creations

In the past few years, I've enjoyed exploring my creative side. I just wanted to share some of my creations with you.

Cloth flower hair pieces created with scrap cloth and buttons.

I made this jewelry hanger out of scrap wood and cloth and some metal hooks from AC Moore.

I made these cupcakes with my friends from Pittsburgh Laura and Tiff. They are made with colored mini-marshmallows, dyed sugar, and chewy candies.

Yearly physical

Today I have a yearly physical scheduled with my doctor (okay, maybe it's been a little more than a year). I arrived at 9:10 and am still waiting to see my PCP as I write, at 10:15.

During my waiting time, I read through several devotionals on my iPhone and spent time in prayer for the employees of this family practice and their patients .

By the time the hour mark hit, it didn't feel like I had been waiting for an hour, however I did start to become slightly irritated that I could have slept an hour more or that I wouldn't be paid for an extra hour of work.

Then I realized how much Christ is a part of every little thing I do.

I began to imagine how someone who didn't know Christ would handle the same situation. I imagine that if I did not know Christ, I would have responded with anger and extreme frustration. Instead of using the extra time to be filled up with Christ, I would have been drained by feelings of unfairness and being slighted. I wouldn't have been strong enough to summon peace and contentment into my own heart during this ridiculously long wait.

By the way, it's been an hour and 20 minutes and I'm still waiting...