learn to love the rain

because the rain makes you grow 

i love it when the sun shines though=-D

butterflies are the best 

so masterfully designed 

a song for help in troubled waters, written one year ago today

April 19, 2014

You fill me with confidence.

You fill me with peace.

You wrap Your arms about me when every man in sight is gone,

When life is tormented and there is no song,

When the dance is a lie

And the move a desire;

When the world is a cold place devoid of fire;

When all is bleak and dim and sad

When I feel like one thing would make me glad;

And I stumble here

And I find there’s no one else

Only a bloody, running tear

Dropping down from the splintery cross;

I reach for You

But I find You gone

Away from the misery,

Yet in my midst still

As much as I promise,

As much as I will,

There is no victory for me alone.

I cannot win

At Your cross I bow

But I cannot stay there and weep;

Now the light is coming,

Oh Lord wake me up

Shake me

Break me

From the earthly sleep.

Take me, Lord,

Humble me low,

So I will drink the heavenly flow;

Lead me on, from this torturous symbol

The cross, and the pain, and the fears

That crumble.

Jesus,

Only

Jesus

True

Jesus, You love me

When lovers are few;

And the darkness is coming

And I feel the world groan

And I know, in an instant

I’ll be going on home.

Take me,

Transform me!

This body isn’t me;

I know I will find You in eternity…

And there, fully known,

I will recognize You

what a glorious view!

Finally,

No worry

So hold me, I  cry

Fill me with peace, in Your arms, while the song

of Your confident love

pours on and on…

forever and a day, forever and a thousand years!

You’ll be the One who dries my tears.

So when you feel the cold, when the fire dies

Bask in the Son

And let your spirit rise. 

Joy like Heaven

Sometimes, life is difficult. 
           Ok, most of the time. 
God never promised life would be easy, but He did promise that we would find joy in Him through every hardship, if we ask Him for the joy.
    My prayer for you today is that in the middle of the ugliness, the nastiness of this out-of-control world, that you would find a place of peace and rest.

Knowing Jesus is here, among us still in the form of the Holy Spirit, we can have sweet assurance. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine--oh what a foretaste of glory divine. Those are not just words. This is a promise. 

We're truly fortunate. 

If we think of all that Jesus has done for us, and how we are actually 

created in His image, 

it opens our eyes to more than the surface pain and suffering. 

If, after the wars inside, we keep going back to that sweet place, 

we find solace. 

No matter what happens, Jesus is sovereign. 

His ultimate plan is no pain, no death, no despair. 

I expect we'll be a bit like this baby in heaven at first--

just peacefully resting in His amazing home for us. 

But then we'll wake up, start moving around...

....start realizing how fantastic everything is! We won't be able

to contain our joy! 

There will be gardens, more beautiful that these ones in Japan, 

the Kawchi-Fuji wisteria gardens. 

And mountain ranges....

...for those of us who like to run around exploring all day...

rivers and places where we can really have adventures...

maybe it'll be weird at first, 

jumping off cliffs without getting hurt at the bottom, 

just getting back up, or 

better yet, flying straight off into the sky...

because in heaven, there'll be no death...

we won't be able to die. 

I'm sure we'll be so delighted,

we'll just walk around laughing and saying hi to everyone

the first 1000 years. 

I'm sure we'll have jobs to do, places to go...and 

God to worship!

There won't be any more working for the sake of money,

position, 

prominence, 

fame. 

Everything we do will be done out of pure joy

love,

and worship. 

He decidido sequir a Cristo

He decidido sequir a Cristo

he decidido sequir a Cristo

No vuelva atras

no vuleva atras

I have decided to follow Jesus

I have decided to follow Jesus

I have decided to follow Jesus

No turning back

No turning back. 

So if you're having a bad day

or just a time of longing

for rest

for comfort

for a place to call home

Take heart, 

child of God.

Be still, and know,

that He is who He is. 

And He always will be. 

 >>Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.<<

luke 18:17

Let's be kids. 

Let's be free. 

Paradox of following Christ: 

the more we grow into Him, 

the more we start looking like a child. 

Closing our eyes,

taking a risk

being blessed 

by surprises 

closing our eyes

feeling the wind in our face

being content. 

child-like faith

This is a poem I wrote back in 2012. Much has changed since then, including my outlook on life, but this reflects the feelings I have sometimes in this generation, as a young adult. 

            The cobwebs bounce in the breeze,

            The breeze is still, because summer says “calm”—

            The cat is content,

            Or seems to be—

            The dogs are tired,

            They squint like me;

            The birds keep up,

            As if bound to sing

            To the joy-lit flowers,

            As an offering.

            But there’s more than that;

            Over, through, and in,

            Every wonder note

            Is a secret hid;

            There’s a grander force, and a grander hope,

            And the grass is growing,

            By a genius stroke;

            Herbs in upward thriving

            Seem a quiet proof

            Of the Spirit guiding,

            With the deeper truth,

            Can’t we all discover,

            Under neath the grass

            How the clay is rocky,

            How it’s our own fault;

            No amending is done,

            Yet approval must come

            Tiny race, so bold,

            Is the human—cold

            Seeps the expectation of our own rights,

            Causes, dreams, entitlements;

            While the daisies starve;

            Baby’s breath, once strong,

            Withers by the heat,

            Procured by our ovens,

            Our precious cement habitats—

            Yet below the soil,

            Where the earthworms struggle,

            All is hard as stone,

            When the top-coat’s gone;

            So the cobwebs bounce,

            Who sees them spin?

            We’re off playing games,

            Watching concerts begin;

            Marching up and down hallways,

            In stiff self-made suits

            Our plastic is melting

            While the sun burns our roots;

            Yet we’re still cold as rocks!

            “Never, ever regret”

            Is the mantra proclaimed,

            So we never repent. 

"For this people's heart has grown dull,

    and with their ears they can barely hear,

    and their eyes they have closed,

lest they should see with their eyes

    and hear with their ears

and understand with their heart

    and turn, and I would heal them."

Matt. 13:15