wild melody

I said I'd share some of what God did in my heart at NA. Specifics. I'm going to pull from my journal so we'll see if it makes sense. Here goes. If I had to pick one word to describe what God did at NA, it'd be renew . Or refresh. (adjectives. I can’t use just one.) It began on the ride up. Jill, Heather and I took turns reading scripture out loud. We all chose very different passages yet their common theme was grace . This really impacted me. I'd been struggling with condemnation for awhile. I prayed. And prayed...but it seemed like a losing battle...When we walked into worship that night there was a word on the screen. GRACE . During worship, God came. He washed away the condemnation. How much sweeter does grace seem when you feel the weight of your sin! It is always precious , but my perspective is so often skewed…He reminded me afresh of the blood of His Son . That amazing transaction by which all my debt was paid. Forever. I was so freshly aware of my undeservi...

" I have blotted our your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like a mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you. Sing O heavens, for the Lord has done it; shout, O depths of the earth...For the Lord has redeemed Jacob and will be glorified in Israel !" The wondrous gift of salvation. It is not based on any merit we think we have, it is all by the work of Jesus on the cross. It is not nullified by our daily sins, they are covered by the blood of Christ. He is not surprised when we fail to bring Him glory. We are, because we do not fully understand how truly depraved our hearts are. Neither do we fully understand His Holiness--or we would continually be on our faces. But He understands. Completely. Yet still loves. Still chooses. Still pours out more, more, and more grace. I need this grace. Desperately.

((photocredit: for the first time i succumbed to using a web photo)) Three (3) weeks. Four (4) days. Five thousand, two hundred and thirty ( 5, 000) miles between Fl and Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. (!!) As I pray for Beks and the others in Haiti, my thoughts wander to my own trip. Because many of the other trips take place before or during Wales, my preparation has had an "eventually" mentality to it. Until today. I received our flight itinerary...and proved that I DO possess some amounts of girliness. (as my bros said: "when boys get excited, they smile. when girls get excited, they think everybody else wants to join in." haha.) It's finally starting to sink in. I'm actually going to Wales. July 12-23. With about 18 other Floridians. For 11 days. We'll be staying in welsh houses, eating welsh food, trying to understand welsh accents, serving the welsh, and {hopefully} maybe even learning a little welsh. What's the point? Ultimately, to glorify ...

"O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path 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. Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, your right hand shall hold me. 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. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the de...