the odd hours

       via: dellaorrey.tumblr.com                                   

I realized that the deepest spiritual lessons are not learned by His letting us have our way in the end, but by His making us wait, bearing with us in love and patience until we are able to honestly pray what He taught His disciples to pray: Thy will be done.

~ Elisabeth Elliot

who among the gods is like you, LORD?

Being a Christian doesn’t mean being a good person, but following the Only One who is good.

So stumble after him. Don’t think you have to run this marathon in one day. 

Sooner or later, you’ll be moving from trauma to trophies. Celebrate the small victories. 
Even then, be humble to recognize it’s all His work.

~ J.S. Park

God with us

The key to protecting your heart is not allowing it to be anywhere that Christ is not. What I mean is that sometimes we don’t allow Christ to have full access of our lives, we sing our songs and raise our hands, we read our Bibles and pray our prayers. Yet, we don’t long for God the same way we long for others. That is why we fall into bad situations, we end up repeating addictions or bad habits. We end up in the wrong relationships, and damage them in the process.

When we say to Jesus, “Lord, have Your way in me, make something new.” we are telling God to have it all, and with that submission we start to see a change in our lives, a change of obedience, of trust, and how we look at others.

Jesus is the most important thing in all of creation, it would be wise to build your life around what He wants, and what He would do. By surrendering your heart to Him, you end up guarding it so well that you will only desire those holy things that God desires. A good marriage, helping those who need help, loving the unlovable, seeking justice, bringing about Christ’s kingdom to fruition, honoring the meek in spirit, and so on.

It is not enough that we get comfortable in our routines with God, because God is not wanting a robot, He wants a child that He can show the world to. He wants to take you places that you will have to trust Him completely, and He wants to make you a pro in the field of loving others truly.

Don’t wait for that boy or girl, start participating in the grand adventure of life, because we have been called by Christ to do so; and a ship is steered by the direction of its captain.

 ~ T.B. LaBerge // Go Now

most likely ~ probably

maybe the soul is tired 

because all it needs is 

more time with the Lord.

maybe the heart is tired 

because it has been fed 

with all the wrong things.

~ 33/365 reasons to pray

the race

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

~ Romans 5:3-5

pour out

"One of the strange things about God is that He will come in as far as we allow him. We can beg to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We can talk about it, but until we are willing to empty ourselves, we will never have the fullness of the Holy Spirit in our lives. God will fill as much of us as we allow Him to fill."

- A.W. Tozer

photo via: grace upon grace

struggles of the flesh - vl 1 : easy / teach me

easy / teach me

easy to sit here and wallow in my pain,

easy to let the enemy plant lies into my brain,

easy to unforgive what i already forgave,

even when i know that it's by grace that i've been saved.

oh Lord,

oh Lord, i cry to you,

you see my wicked heart,

but your grace forgave me from the start

oh Lord,

oh Lord, i'm ashamed to even ask,

for you to show me how to love,

when i've refused to look to you above.

teach me,

teach me,

cause it's easy. 

teach me,

teach me,

cause it's easy,

to forget.

i forget.

(to be cont'd...)

photo via: purelikegolddd

food for thought: gain in doubt.

"A faith without some doubts is like a human body with no antibodies in it. People who blithely go through life too busy or indifferent to ask the hard questions about why they believe as they do will find themselves defenseless against either the experience of tragedy or the probing questions of a smart skeptic. A person's faith can collapse almost overnight if she failed over the years to listen patiently to her own doubts, which should only be discarded after long reflection.” 

- Timothy Keller

the "big" 2 3

one, big muchas gracias to all those who took the time to wish me a happy birthday today.

especially all you individuals who i rarely talk to/haven't talked to in ages.

in all honesty i'd been dreading 23 for what seems like a whole year... ever since i turned 22.

i just didn't want the day to come. 

period.

and then to add the icing on the cake, i recently came across an article on,

*rolls eyes*, facebook, that shed light as to why 23 is the worst year of your life.

oh ya? oh sick. 

awesome.

but what TRULY is so gut-wrenchingly terrible about 23, you might ask?

well... nothing.

to put it simply:

it's all what you make of it.

i'd originally assumed it to be some big identity crisis.

and, to be fair, i have re-evaluated career paths and goals,

but rather than being fearful and negative about it, 

i'm trying to use it as an opportunity to learn more about who am i.

what are my strengths/weaknesses?

what am i truly passionate about?

do i belong in another city... country?

and so on.

while in palm springs for the next 8 days, 

i figured this would be a good opportunity to spend time reflecting, 
and talking with God about all these things hammering away in my head.

and at the end of the day,
no matter where i am or what i am doing,
i am blessed (to death).

"And see if there be any grievous way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting!"

Psalm 139:24

hope continually...

                      

                                    

                  

                      

 

had a real nice wrap to my week with a solid sunday.

Mr. Red Cafe was calling my name so i caved & went back again with della and rob.

we ate till we couldn't move which then forced us to just sit 

and take in each other's company.

the subject of "trust" and "hope" have been resonating a lot with me the past few weeks.

reminding myself to surrender everything i have to the Lord as i have a tendency

to try and take over my own plans for the future.

but also feeling super encouraged by friends and family- even through moments of doubt.

and moments of "where are you God?"

meditating on these verses this week:

But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more.

Psalm 71:14

Is not your fear of God your confidence,

and the integrity of your ways your hope?

Job 4:6

Not only that, 

but we rejoice in our sufferings, 

knowing that suffering produces endurance,

and endurance produces character, 

and character produces hope,

and hope does not put us to shame, 

because God's love has been poured into our hearts

through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Romans 5:3-5

destroying fear.

 spent my morning with this one today... along with a handful of other awesome "Westsiders".

at the beginning of september i began going to wednesday morning prayer at my church.

7 am, bright n early.

i went for a little over a month & then one wednesday decided, "i'll just sleep this one out".

week after week i continued to make excuses not to go.

little did i know that my dear friend, della, had been praying for me all along- to come again.

this morning the Lord helped me get out of bed and walked me into the church.

i realize now the underlying reason that i was avoiding wednesday mornings:

i was intimidated by prayer.

sitting in a circle with a group of individuals that either i hardly know or don't know at all can be a tad frightening.

aside from the fact that these are amazing, Christ-loving people, 

i believed that they were offering prayers far "better" than my own.

so often i struggle with finding the "right" words to say.

and just living in fear of judgement from others...

something we all struggle with from time to time.

so before hand, i just prayed that God would just give me wisdom and confidence and destroy whatever misguided insecurities i had about prayer.

and PRAISE!

He did just that.

whatever fear i was experiencing was coming all from The Enemy. 

of course he didn't want me to go to prayer on Wednesdays.

of course he was going to put obstacles on my path to prevent me from going.

just feelin' real blessed that i was able to overcome this silly fear of mine today.

all with help from the Lord.

this verse speaks so much power and truth:

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, 

but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

Romans 8:26

Such knowledge is too wonderful.

"You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.

Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, Oh LORD, you know it altogether.

You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; is is high; I cannot attain it."

Psalm 139:3-6

do not be anxious about your life.

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, 

what you will eat or what you will drink, 

nor about your body,

what you will put on.

Is not life more than food,

and the body more than clothing?

Look at the birds of the air:

they neither sow nor reap not gather into barns,

yet your heavenly father feeds them.

Are you not of more value than they?

And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his life?

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,

and all these things will be added to you.

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow,

for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.

Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Matthew 6: 25-27 & 33-34

meant to be

there are no coincidences. 

there is no luck.

through the good and bad,

count them all as blessings.

forget regret.

every decision you've made

was meant to be.

mink patter

i'm not one to wear much color.

but i think that pink in the winter time is nice.

i turn away .

I turn away  

and close my heart-

to the promise of love

that is luring.

For the past has taught

to not be caught,

in what is not

worth pursuing-

To never do

the things I've done

that once had led

to my undoing. 

- Lang Leav

You.

YOU

There are people I will never know

and their lives will still ensue;

those that could have loved me so

and I'll never wonder who.

Of all the things to come and go,

there is no one else like you.

The things I never think about-

and the only thing I do.

- Lang Leav

"reminding myself that good things take time"

"i'm teaching myself to slow down, soak in the last bit of summer, 

capture every sunset, love deeply with conviction, and put the work away.

i'm reminding myself that good things take time, 

and important things should always be reoccuring thoughts- thoughts that won't leave you."

- skylar gee 

(a quote posted from her instagram)

Psalm 139

You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.

Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.

You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.

v. 3-6

If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night," even 

the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. 

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful as your works; my soul knows it very well.

v. 11-14 

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 

If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.

v. 17-18

Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 

And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

v. 23-24