Be Still by Jeremy Camp

Lord help me now to face this battle.
My strength has failed and my eyes can't see through the waves of doubt that take me under.
In the chaos I hear You speak.

Be still and know that You are my God.
Be still and know that You are enough.
Though my heart is racing, still You're in control.
Be still and know that You are my God.

You brought me rest in times of struggle.
I lay my head down at Your feet.
The storm in me that I can't wrestle is calmed when I hear You speak.

You are faithful and Your love endures forever.
Yes, Your love endures forever.
You are able.
In You I stand forever.
Yes, in You I stand forever.

Be still and know that You are my God.

Relationship Talk

One of my friends, in a conversation regarding her blooming relationship, recently said to me, "Jess, I never thought that I would be pursued by a godly man! It's so exciting!" I agreed with her and voiced my approval of the man who is pursuing her.

Though I am very excited for my friend, a place in my heart begs the question, "What about me?"

Now it's not that I haven't experienced a relationship with a godly man; it's just that nothing has worked out thus far and there is still a desire in my heart for marriage though I am content in Christ in my singleness. But there are principles that I keep in mind when faced with relationship decisions.

1. Ladies, if you want a godly man to really pursue you, wait.

"He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favour from the LORD." - Proverbs 18:22

- Though I did not go to Bible College to get a boyfriend, it happened. But the way it happened was not ideal. I took control and expressed interest in a guy and then waited for his response for over two weeks which was, "Why not?" Those words should have raised red flags but good feelings clouded my view and I leaped into the relationship with excitement...only to be greatly disappointed when I later realized that he was not nearly as excited as I was and we eventually broke up.

- A friend whose wedding I participated in as a bridesmaid was obviously pursued by her husband right from the start. He noticed her at a young adults event at church, made his move that night, and has been pursuing her ever since.

- It makes sense that if a godly guy wants to pursue you, he will. You won't have to drop hints or make moves to express your interest. Also, Lord willing, it will happen!

- Many single ladies struggle with waiting because we may have our eye on a particular guy and it can be really tempting to try and make him aware of our interest but it is far better to be patient than desperate. Don't make marriage an idol.

2. Ladies, not all men who pursue you are godly.

"But the LORD said to Samuel, 'Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart." - 1 Samuel 16:7

- I acknowledge that it is sometimes really hard to reject a man who wants to pursue you, especially if he is good looking and seems to have a great personality because it feels really good to be liked. But if you have doubt regarding his faith, it is in your best interest to politely decline his pursuit.

- Having been set up by one of my friends with a guy who I found to be quite physically attractive and, after two dates where he and I discussed our faith in depth, I ended up rejecting him as it became clear that he had a weak commitment to the Lord.

- Let this be a test of your own faith: if you are claiming commitment to Jesus Christ first and foremost, do not allow a man to pursue you in a dating relationship unless you are certain that Jesus is his first priority.

3. Ladies, let other people help you along in this journey!

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" 
- Jeremiah 17:9
"Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety." 
- Proverbs 11:14

- This world would tell you to "listen to your heart" when it comes to making decisions about relationships but God would tell you to seek wisdom outside of yourself because, let's face it, emotions cloud our better judgement. I know this from personal experience.

- I have promised myself and my dad that I will not marry someone that he does not approve of. No matter how much my heart may try to sway me, I pray that I can keep that promise. The fact is, my dad knows me better than most people and is a very wise and godly man in the eyes of many including myself. It would be foolishness for me to not heed his counsel in this area of my life. I can also recall how he has protected me and given me great advice in the past and I have not regretted listening to him.

- Many of you ladies may not have a dad like mine but hopefully you have other godly men and women to whom you can go for counsel. The best relationships are grown in community where many people can observe you and help you along the way.


Heavenly Father,

I am thankful that You are sovereign over all and love us deeply in a way that we cannot comprehend. We are weak and I confess that I have not held You above all else in my life. Help us to surrender our hearts to You and to trust in You completely. Make us long for Your will to be done on earth before our own. May we know the depths of Your love and align our hearts with Yours that You may be glorified in and through us. Give us wisdom in our relationships that we may reflect Your love. All the glory belongs to You.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

The Cause of Christ by Kari Jobe

The only thing I want in life is to be known for loving Christ.

To build His church, to love His bride and make His name known far and wide.

For this cause I live.

For this cause I'd die.

I surrender all for the cause of Christ.

All I once held dear I will leave behind for my joy is this, oh, the cause of Christ.

He is all my soul will prize regardless of the joy or trial.

When agonizing questions rise, in Jesus all my hope abides.

Jesus, my Jesus.

For Your glory, for Your name.

Jesus, my Jesus.

I will only sing Your praise.

It is not fame that I desire, nor stature in my brother's eye.

I pray it's said about my life that I lived more to build Your name than mine.

Draining

Have you ever watched a bathtub drain? It takes a long time usually, especially if the drain is clogged up with copious amounts of hair from many a dog bath...

Anyways, I felt like my energy level (which is usually really high) was drained to an all-time low this past Thursday storm-drain style.

Now that I know how draining it can be to care for people in need, I've developed some tips for the future to help me preserve my energy and care more effectively.

1. Trust in the Lord 

 - It is impossible for anyone to know exactly what they need spiritually at any given time, only God knows that and so we must trust in Him to guide us in our care for others and ourselves

"for your Father knows what you need before you ask him." - Matthew 6:8b

2. Point them to Jesus

- He is what everyone really needs and until they acknowledge Him as Lord, He will never be their Saviour

"because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." - Romans 10:9

3. Ask for advice

- Sometimes when we don't know how to care for people, it is helpful to reach out to others for insight

"Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed." - Proverbs 15:22

4. Know when to quit

- I acknowledge the fact that sometimes you can't quit caring for someone (take marriage as an example), but there are times when you have to back away due to excessive drainage caused by sin

"As for a person that stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned." - Titus 3:10-11

Happy National Hug-a-Single Day!

That was the subject of one of the many spam emails that float into my inbox on a regular basis. At first I was confused. What is "National Hug-a-Single Day"? Then it hit me. Today is Valentine's Day.

I've had many great Valentine's Days in the past and, for most of them, I've been single. All in all, I have nothing to complain about because I enjoy being single and it means that there is no pressure for me to do anything out-of-the-ordinary today. To me, Valentine's Day is a day when I get to ponder love and eat more chocolate than usual :). 

I've already written a post about singleness here so I won't go super into detail about it but I wanted to comment a little bit about how our world pities those of us who don't have a boyfriend/girlfriend, husband/wife, or partner of some kind. "National Hug-a-Single Day" implies that people who are single, such as myself, need a hug today, which could be legit (read more here) or not. Perhaps because we should be wallowing in self-pity because we have nobody "special" to love us or show love to and therefore require a hug to comfort us. I challenge this thinking because I know I am loved first and foremost by my heavenly Father and also by many people in my life and I don't feel as though I need a "special someone" all to myself to make me feel content or more loved. Plus my parents got me chocolate today so I don't feel left out ;).

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love." 

- 1 Corinthians 13

Sprinkles

There it was, sitting on a plate on the counter, chopped into two pieces, one smaller than the other, sprinkles and all.

I had just finished eating supper and thought the small cupcake would make a good dessert so I didn't hesitate to pick up the smaller portion (in an attempt to be generous) and gobble it down.

It tasted like a vanilla cupcake with sprinkles, as expected, except the texture was very crunchy.

A couple of minutes later my sister went over to the plate and said, "Where did the other half of Maggie's treat go? Did someone eat it?"

...Oops.

Maggie, in case you did not know, is my dog (Read more about her here).

I admitted to consuming the treat but was relieved that nobody witnessed the event as I had gobbled that "pupcake" down quickly without a second thought. In my defense, there was nothing stopping me from eating it and it was also just chilling on a plate on the counter, sprinkles and all, begging me to eat it.

My parents were not surprised that it was me and they had a good laugh over it all. Apparently I have a habit of just eating without thinking. Something I need to correct, and fast, before I eat any more sprinkled dog treats.

Poor Maggie only got half of her "pupcake" and I felt a little bad because, in all honesty, it tasted pretty good and I am very thankful for that :).

Mistakes were made today but I am not the only human who has enjoyed a dog treat in my family...

One day I came home from work and my brother Landon ran up to me and asked me to dare him to eat one of Maggie's treats (which were Soft Milk Bone Beef).

I thought it was weird that he would want me to dare him with such urgency but I said, "Sure, I dare you to eat one of those."

"I'll eat two!" He shouted as he shoved two beefy treats into his mouth.

Mom came into the kitchen and said, "Hey! I told you to stop eating Maggie's treats!"

The little stinker...

...at least I'm not alone :).

The Family

Someone asked me at our Young Adults Bible study last night if myself and one of the guys we were talking with were related. I told her that I was an adopted member of his family, which is sort of true and totally awesome.

It all began back when one of the brothers from the family (there are 11 kids in total) moved to Regina with his wife and my parents quickly befriended them. I joined a co-ed soccer team with them and played a few seasons before heading out of town to Bible College.

A couple of years later, I was at home from Bible College during Christmas break and I realised that my flight was scheduled to bring me back to school two days before it was going to be open again for the next semester. Then my parents discovered that the family lived near the small town where my Bible College was and so it was offered that I stay with them for the weekend until the school was open.

To be honest, I was super nervous about this. I had never met the family and I did not even know what they looked like. All I was told was that they were very nice people. So I got off the plane hoping that they would know who I was, and they did!

Making a good impression quickly became my goal as I knew that the family was solid in their faith and had raised their kids really well (the previously mentioned brother and his wife as well as another brother had moved to Regina and I noted that they are all people of good character).

After spending some quality time meeting more of the family and playing pool, ticket-to-ride, and "power Uno" (the family's own invention), I was invited to "Wing's Night" where we ate many chicken wings and watched She's the Man together. I also attended church with the family and got to witness their great musical talent and engage in some theological discussion during Sunday school. I'll never forget those first moments I spent with the family because I did not feel like a stranger at all.

They later dropped me off at school and I was known as "that girl" to the family for a while after that until the family moved to Regina and now they know my name (except some of them are trying to get one of the grandkids to call me "Kevin" just to bug me because he is the only two-year-old I know who can pronounce my name properly). I also get to see them on a regular basis at church and on the soccer field as I have been a part of what is known as the family's team due to the fact that most of the team is official family.

All that to say, we go way back and I am always treated like part of the family any time I am around them (teasing and all) and I am very honoured to be known as an adopted member. :) 

Without You by Jeremy Camp

I'll walk beside You
As You lead me through still waters for my soul
I place my hope in all You are, yeah

And I know You'll guide me
To places where there's beauty to behold
There's no other place I'd rather be, no

Cause I've been down the other road
Where fear and doubt
They take control
And I won't go there anymore

And I won't make a move
Without You
I won't make a move
Without You
Right by my side
So I will wait for You
To lead me to
Any place where You need
I won't make a move
Without You

I've walked through the fire
And every step You never left my side
In You is where my help comes from, yeah

Cause You lead, I'll follow
No matter if the places seem so cold
My heart's desire is You Lord, yeah

And I've been down the other road
Where fear and doubt
They take control
And I won't go there anymore

And I won't make a move
Without You
I won't make a move
Without You
Right by my side
And I will wait for You
To lead me to
Any place where You need
I won't make a move
Without You

And I'm letting go
I give You control
It's not my will
But Yours I'll follow

And I lay my life
Down at Your feet
And I know

I won't make a move
Without You
I won't make a move
Without You
Right by my side
And I will wait for You
To lead me to
Any place where You need
I won't make a move
Without You

Take my heart, it's Yours
Your hand, I'll hold
You lead, I'll go
And I won't make a move, no

God Will Provide

He always has provided for me.

Even things that I did not need or expect, extra blessings on the side.

There are times, however, when God provides discipline. Something that is hard to be thankful for.

I unexpectedly got sent home from work today. Though I understand that my employer does not want to waste money (who would?), I know that I enjoy working with people and I did not realize that my boss did not want me to partner up with my coworkers to accomplish the day's tasks as it appears to him that more talking than work is happening. Now I understand what my boss expects of me and I will work hard to make it right in the future. Sometimes I have to learn lessons the hard way and thankfully it promotes character growth.

I hold myself to the standards of God and therefore I try to work hard no matter what. The tasks that I am given I complete quickly and efficiently because I know that God is watching me and I work for Him first and foremost. It's time to step it up another notch.

"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality." - Colossians 3:23-25

This month I can tell that God has been working in my heart, humbling me in little ways. He is calling me to love others and to keep myself accountable to His truth when I am tempted to judge. The journey has been hard lately but I know that God is always at work and will continue to draw me closer to Himself. A good father disciplines his children, and God is my good Father.

"Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you. So you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him." - Deuteronomy 8:5-6

"My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights." - Proverbs 3:11-12

"Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty. For he wounds, but he binds up; he shatters, but his hands heal." - Job 5:17-18