Praise to the Lord, the Almighty

Praise to the Lord, who over all things so wondrously reigneth,

Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!

Hast thou not seen how thy desires have been

Granted in what He ordaineth?

Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;

Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee.

Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,

If with His love He befriend thee

Trust in the LORD

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 

In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

- Proverbs 3:5

These verses, which my mom had us kids memorize as little children, come to me when I most need them and bring sobbing tears as they push past the muck to dive into the core of my heart. Where would I be without the word of God hidden in my heart? I shudder to think.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. - Hebrews 4:12

Pain. Why is trusting the Lord hard and painful? Trust must not be settling for a half hearted leaning on the Lord but lodging itself deeper into my heart, and in fact guarding against the alternative of real destructive, long lasting pain that comes from going my own way and leaning on my own understanding. Growing pains exist - they hurt. But without them, we would not grow. As a pre-teen, I do not understand or see any purpose or end of those stretching pains, but they do not last forever and I reap the results as just a few years go by and I become a woman instead of a little girl.

The Gardener prunes. The fire refines. And my Father gives good gifts to his children, never bad ones. And even in the midst of a prune, in the heat of the fire, I can know that the grace of God is enough. He is more than enough for me, and all joy and peace is made available to me, purchased by the blood of Christ, for each and every moment. Not only at the end of the race, but also in the midst of exhausting effort of the run. Not only when the gold is refined, but even as dross is burning off. Why? Because the end has already been sealed. I have already been bought and the victory has been won. I know which team I am on, and his team has already won. So I can run with joy, even through the fog. When I can't see a step ahead on the path, I will trust the one who does and who promises to lead me to the end - to the greatest victory celebration ever to be had. We cannot even conceive.

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. - 2 Corinthians 4:17-18

God is too wise to be mistaken

God is too good to be unkind

So when you don't understand

When you don't see his plan

When you can't trace his hand

Trust his heart

-Babbie Mason

My friend Sara

Sara Rankin has some great quotes up on her blog. They are so good. I wish I could repost them all here, but instead I'll let you just head over to her page.
I'm thankful for this single lady. I'm so glad she has become an extended part of our family. I can remember picnics at the Boronow's old house back when she was a college student at Millersville University and first coming to our church. Our family and our church is so much richer because of the blessing of Sara God has put in our lives. Love you girl!

Delightful Details

Thursday May 26th I ran some errands at the end of my work day and just soaked in my drive time, enjoying the scenic travel. Sometimes I like to pretend I'm a tourist and drink in my surroundings. This time I pulled out my camera and took some video from the car window of everything from downtown Lancaster to the farmland of Lancaster county. I'm not putting all of those up. But when I got home, I also took the below silent video.

So often when I come home at the end of a day I walk from my car to the door with blinded eyes and a full mind. I would say, however, that almost always there is a sense of welcome, refuge, and pleasant relief at finally arriving home at the end of a day. But how many times I miss soaking in the beauty of the details God intricately holds together in this small sample size of his much larger creation. Although it is the same path, the same home, each day - each day the surroundings are actually unique and wonderfully made by God in how they are affected by various variables like time, weather, people, and animals.

I often think the same when I arrive to work at the church farm property in the mornings. There may be a haze over the hill, or the sun may be shining quite brightly and warm even in the early morning. Snow may cape the roof of the barn, or spring flowers may be swaying in a summer-like breeze. Birds could be chirping, or obnoxious turkey vultures may line the peak of the barn with their wings spanned out to dry. Grass may cover the hill where our building will one day be, 3 feet long and rippling in the wind like waves on the sea - or the farmer may be mowing down grass for hay, mimicking the effects of a barber's razor.

When I stop, even for just one full minute, to observe and enjoy these details I get to experience delight in God's creation. His creation reflects himself, and can deliver a contented joy to my soul.

Below is that clip from the other Thursday. I love our home and the life and care that is cultivated here. I like how this moves from the detail of our front door to the driveway out to the road. Maybe I'm too sentimental, sappy, or cheesy, but it reminds me of the beauty of receiving nourishment from such a home and then taking it out on the road to wherever and whoever God may direct you to that day.

Matthew 6:25-33
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 nor gather into barns, and 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 span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more cloth you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

photo: Crossway farm property

taken on Matt's phone Easter weekend

In My Heart

In my heart there is a stirring

One that did not start with me

A love to worship my Creator

To show His love for all to see

I will worship

I will honor

I will exalt the Lord above

All my days

I'll sing the praises

Of His great redeeming love

In my heart there is a treason

One that poisons all my love

Take my heart and consecrate it

Wash it in Your cleansing blood

Tie me to the Rock unchanging

Tie me to His wondrous Cross

I'll fix my eyes upon the Savior

All other things I count as loss

Tie me to the Rock unchanging

And his great redeeming love

(c) Sovereign Grace Worship

In My Heart on King Of Grace CD

I have a Great Shepherd

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me besides still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. - Psalm 32:1-4

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. - Psalm 145:3-6

How awesome it is that I have a God of unsearchable greatness who also condescends to be my shepherd? I want to spend my days seeking to continually discover more of the unending, unsearchable, and unchanging greatness of my God - resulting in much praise to him for who he is and how he relates with his children.

NEXT 2011

So, NEXT 2011 was this past weekend. I may try to go through some notes and put them up here, or I may not. But for now, here is one.

R.C. Sproul:

When we have the Truth on our side, we have reason on our side, and we ought to be proclaiming it with all our lives.

Sproul also spoke for the first time ever without a tie, in honor of CJ. How accommodating.
But seriously, Josh Harris was right when he said one day you will tell your grandchildren that you heard Sproul speak live. His message was excellent, and you can find all the conference main session messages here.

And if you're interested, you can check out a few quicky-like snap shot photos of our time here.

Below is a silent video of the session opening for Next.