Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. Selah.
(Psalm 68:19)
I was reading this Psalm this morning. You know how there are things you kinda know about God, but they don't really dawn on you right away? This verse kind of was like that for me this morning. This verse showed me, plain and simple, that God daily bears us up. He is out salvation. Selah! I wasn't sure what Selah meant, though I've seen it in the Bible many times. So, I used my handy dandy e-sword resources and learned that Selah means a suspension of music, or a pause. In other words... the Lord daily bears us up, He is our salvation. Pause. Stop. Think about it!! God is bearing me up today. He bore my sin and my burdens yesterday and will do the same for tomorrow, but for today I need to pause and remember that the Lord is to be blessed (or adored, as e-sword says) right now because He is bearing me up, He is carrying my burdens and carrying me through this day. He is my salvation. SELAH!
Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
families away from family
I am realizing that I have got to be one of the luckiest girls in the world. It seems like wherever I go, God blesses me with amazing friends and people to call my family away from family. This never happens right away, but over time, I am constantly being blessed with new, and very different friends. A strange thing is happening lately. My American friends are using text message (smses) more and more, and my South African friends are jumping on the internet communications bandwagon (facebook, myspace...) It's amazing! In the past few days I have been able to reestablish communication with friends across the globe that I haven't talked to (or smsed) in months. It makes my heart do funny things though. On one hand it makes me so sad to think that I haven't seen my SA friends in a year and a half. So much has changed, I'm sure, and I haven't been there for a bit of it. I've tried to keep in touch, but that's so much easier said than done. I thank God for cingular, the one cell phone company here through which I can send smses to South Africa! But even smses don't convey what's really happening in a person's life. Yeah, "life is good" but what does that mean, really!? What have I missed? And what have they missed about my life? Gosh... a lot! But, on the flip side, "meeting" back up with them online makes me so incredibly happy... like maybe everything hasn't changed, and they do still remember me. Maybe they do still want to be my friend, even though I am thousands of miles away. It makes me realize that it's awesome to have people to miss and be missed by. It means that God blessed me in incredible ways during my time in South Africa. He didn't just send me there to do His work and then come home. He allowed me to build friendships with many life changing people. People who challenged me to think beyond how I'd always thought, and helped me to grow deeper in my knowledge of who Christ is. Oh, how I miss Johannesburg. I miss everything about it... the crazy traffic, the smell of feld fires, babies peeing on me on a regular basis (hehe)... Sunday night church services at NUC (and of course Mugg & Bean afterwards!), game nights at my cool flat... I miss it all. BUT!!
My how God has blessed me here. For many many months after my return a year and a half ago, I wondered if I would ever have friends like I did in SA again. My friends there were different than friends I'd had before. Many of them were studying at the Baptist College there, and were ministry minded like me. They were lots of fun (on many different levels!) but they were also strong and God-centered people. When I came back to the States, I had a couple friends, and that was it. At first I met a few people here and there, and they were cool on the surface... but there wasn't much underneath. In SA, I'd learned to look beneath the surface in seeking friendships. I'd learned the benefit of seeking out friends who are real and true people... not afraid to let you see who they really are. I found that hard here though. No one wanted to be real, and no one wanted me to see them for who they really were. I felt more alone in those first few months here than I'd ever felt anywhere, including South Africa (and I felt pretty alone for a while there before I met the amazing people I referred to already). I can't pinpoint one specific day that things changed. Well... maybe I can. Last year, the Sunday of Memorial day, Robin coaxed some of the young professionals (yps) into going to Frankie's to play putt-putt since we didn't have to work the next day. I almost didn't go... but reluctantly decided to at the last minute. I remember having the most fun I'd had in months, and then staying at Robin's house with Josh and Jon until the wee hours of the morning. And all of a sudden, I had friends. I didn't know at the time how awesome they would turn out to be. Didn't know that Josh would turn out to be a powerhouse yp leader with a quite contagious hunger for God's word. Didn't know that Robin would turn out to be a dear friend who has taught me many a things about hospitality, friendships, and dancing (thanks Robin!). Sure didn't know that Jon would turn out to be my Bible study leader less than a year later and quite possibly be the most important person in the life of my house up to this point (besides my Dad, that is!). And that's just 3 people. Tonight I saw something that rocked my world. It doesn't seem huge, but it was in my eyes. Tonight was prayer meeting at the Summit, and at the end of prayer meeting, they introduce the new members and if you know them, you go down and pray with them. Tonight 3 young professionals joined. When the invitation was offered to come down and pray with them, practically the entire 3 rows of YPs got up to go pray with our friends. Amazing. Priceless. This is our family. This is the family I have when I can't go home. We're an eclectic bunch, to say the least. We have our share of issues and differences, but what family doesn't?? I know I'd be lost without them... without their contributions of event planning, witty humour, prayers, home repairs, late night conversations, and who knows what else!? Many of these friends are studying at the local seminary. Many have done missions in the past, or plan to in the future. Even my new roommate (the one, the only, Leanne!) is called to missions, and understands my heart more than I ever thought anyone besides my Mom and lifelong best friend could! God has blessed me once again. I don't deserve this! I have done nothing special to earn these friends, and that's what rocks. God gives freely and without holding back when we earnestly seek and desire to do His will. I sure have been trying lately, but I know it's not my doing, but His! He is the reason I have the friends I have now. He has brought each and every one of them into my life for a purpose. I couldn't be more in awe of His goodness to me than I am right now. He is faithful to do as He promised in Psalm 68:8 (a verse I found and clung to in a lonely time in SA)... "God sets the lonely in families." Praise be to the God who keeps His promises!
Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81
My how God has blessed me here. For many many months after my return a year and a half ago, I wondered if I would ever have friends like I did in SA again. My friends there were different than friends I'd had before. Many of them were studying at the Baptist College there, and were ministry minded like me. They were lots of fun (on many different levels!) but they were also strong and God-centered people. When I came back to the States, I had a couple friends, and that was it. At first I met a few people here and there, and they were cool on the surface... but there wasn't much underneath. In SA, I'd learned to look beneath the surface in seeking friendships. I'd learned the benefit of seeking out friends who are real and true people... not afraid to let you see who they really are. I found that hard here though. No one wanted to be real, and no one wanted me to see them for who they really were. I felt more alone in those first few months here than I'd ever felt anywhere, including South Africa (and I felt pretty alone for a while there before I met the amazing people I referred to already). I can't pinpoint one specific day that things changed. Well... maybe I can. Last year, the Sunday of Memorial day, Robin coaxed some of the young professionals (yps) into going to Frankie's to play putt-putt since we didn't have to work the next day. I almost didn't go... but reluctantly decided to at the last minute. I remember having the most fun I'd had in months, and then staying at Robin's house with Josh and Jon until the wee hours of the morning. And all of a sudden, I had friends. I didn't know at the time how awesome they would turn out to be. Didn't know that Josh would turn out to be a powerhouse yp leader with a quite contagious hunger for God's word. Didn't know that Robin would turn out to be a dear friend who has taught me many a things about hospitality, friendships, and dancing (thanks Robin!). Sure didn't know that Jon would turn out to be my Bible study leader less than a year later and quite possibly be the most important person in the life of my house up to this point (besides my Dad, that is!). And that's just 3 people. Tonight I saw something that rocked my world. It doesn't seem huge, but it was in my eyes. Tonight was prayer meeting at the Summit, and at the end of prayer meeting, they introduce the new members and if you know them, you go down and pray with them. Tonight 3 young professionals joined. When the invitation was offered to come down and pray with them, practically the entire 3 rows of YPs got up to go pray with our friends. Amazing. Priceless. This is our family. This is the family I have when I can't go home. We're an eclectic bunch, to say the least. We have our share of issues and differences, but what family doesn't?? I know I'd be lost without them... without their contributions of event planning, witty humour, prayers, home repairs, late night conversations, and who knows what else!? Many of these friends are studying at the local seminary. Many have done missions in the past, or plan to in the future. Even my new roommate (the one, the only, Leanne!) is called to missions, and understands my heart more than I ever thought anyone besides my Mom and lifelong best friend could! God has blessed me once again. I don't deserve this! I have done nothing special to earn these friends, and that's what rocks. God gives freely and without holding back when we earnestly seek and desire to do His will. I sure have been trying lately, but I know it's not my doing, but His! He is the reason I have the friends I have now. He has brought each and every one of them into my life for a purpose. I couldn't be more in awe of His goodness to me than I am right now. He is faithful to do as He promised in Psalm 68:8 (a verse I found and clung to in a lonely time in SA)... "God sets the lonely in families." Praise be to the God who keeps His promises!
Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Sunday, April 15, 2007
in His time
I bought my house almost a year ago. I knew it would be a challenge. It's 80 years old, and was a foreclosure house with lots of issues. A guy gave me a great estimate on the major repairs, and my plan was to have him finish them before I ever moved in. A couple weeks later he got sick. (Convenient, eh?) He never could come do the work, so I had another guy give me an estimate. Basically, after asking me how my realtor convinced me to buy this house, he said he'd let me know if he thought it was "worth fixing." He never got back with me. I had a third guy from the Summit come and give me an estimate, and his was pretty reasonable, but still over $1000. I figured I'd just take a part-time job, and wait till the summer to be able to get the work done. Then I found out that Kevin, a guy who helps out on the first impressions team on Sunday mornings (as do I) remodels old houses for a living. How I had not known that previously, I have no idea. I asked him if he could come check the house out and give me an estimate. He came out a week or so later on a Sunday afternoon. On Monday night he called me and said to find out who was willing to come out and help (young professionals from the Summit). He also said that he was able to get everything donated. I was floored. I was humbled. And I was in shock for a good 30 minutes. :) That was a month ago. Yesterday a year of prayer and tears came to fruition. Around 10 young professionals came out ready to work, and work HARD! They dug deep ditches for the french drains, cleaned out a nasty crawl space, jacked up the floor, installed a sump pump, fixed the front stairs, installed the french drains, ripped up carpet, installed new (well, new to me) hardwood flooring in the living room, and I'm sure I'm missing something... As I watched all of this unfold, I had to stop myself from tearing up many times. Was this really all happening? Indeed, it was. This is what the Church is, my friends. I don't have a clue how people ever make it without family like this. Where would I be without the Summit? Where would I be if God has not sovereignly placed me here almost 5 years ago (wow... it really has been that long!)? I don't even want to think about it. I'm sitting in my living room as I type this. I look around and see the handiwork of so many summit members in this one room alone. Thanks guys, you've made this house a home.
I uploaded all of my pictures from this weekend onto facebook. Let me know if these links don't work for you!
Work day page 1
Work day page 2
here are a few random shots... but the links above have almost 100 pictures, so take a look!
Link to other pictures: http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81
I uploaded all of my pictures from this weekend onto facebook. Let me know if these links don't work for you!
Work day page 1
Work day page 2
here are a few random shots... but the links above have almost 100 pictures, so take a look!
Link to other pictures: http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81
Monday, April 09, 2007
weekend projects
This past weekend I had so much fun at home! I have started to learn how to sew (I'm still nowhere near ready to fly solo... I still need much more teaching from my Mom!). I also got to make and decorate cookies with my nephew, Brian, and color eggs with my other nephew Zachary. Fun time!
Check back next week for pictures of the house projects that will FINALLY be done on the 14th!!!
Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81
Check back next week for pictures of the house projects that will FINALLY be done on the 14th!!!
Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81
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