Whattest Dwelleth in the Heavens?*

Whattest Dwelleth in the Heavens?*

*What's up?

It has been almost a month since I have written to this blog. I started another blog that focuses on emotions. Since my last post I have grown a lot but if you asked me to tell you how I've grown I couldn't put my finger on it. God is changing me that's for sure. This may sound a bit weird but I'm becoming more intimate with God. The more I read God's words, the more I feel God direct me in life the more I realize I grow deeper in love with Him. This scares me to some extent much how when you go really fast in a relationship it all hits you at once and you feel like running. It's all so overwhelming. After all the God of the universe is loving me like nothing I've experienced before. It is so amazing to feel God. From time to time I can feel God hugging me when I am distressed and a time or two I've even slow danced with Him. I know this sounds crazy. Believe me it sounds crazy to me and I'm almost hesitant to write it but it is truth in how I've felt
God. I'm probably not the first Christian to feel this nor the last but I do pray that sometime in your walk in Christ you will feel this to. God is awesomazing!

All in a days work

I hope to live like this everyday. It is a a challenge I can meet
with God's guidance:

An angel says, "Never borrow from the future. If you worry about what
may happen tomorrow and it doesn't happen, you have worried in vain.
Even if it does happen, you have to worry twice."

1. Pray.

2. Go to bed on time.

3. Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.

4. Say No to projects that won't fit into your time schedule, or that
will compromise your mental health.

5. Delegate tasks to capable others.

6. Simplify and unclutter your life.

7. Less is more. (Although one is often not enough, two are often too
many.

8. Allow extra time to do things and to get places.

9. Pace youself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over
time; don't lump the hard things all together.

10. Take one day at a time.

11. Separate *worries* from *concerns*. If a situation is a concern,
find out what God would have you do and *let go of the anxiety. If you
can't do anything about a situation, forget it.*

12. Live within your budget; don't use credit cards for ordinary
purchases.

13. Have backups; an extra car key in your wallet, an extra house key
buried in the garden, extra stamps, ect.

14. K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut). This single piece of advice can prevent
an enormous amount of trouble.

15. Do something for the Kid in You everyday.

16. Carry a Bible with you to read while waiting in line.

17. Get enough rest.

18. Eat right.

19. Get organized so everything has it's place.

20. Listen to a tape while driving that can help you improve your
quality of life.

21. Write down thoughts and inspirations.

22. Every day, find time to be alone.

23. Having problems? Talk to God on the spot. Try to nip small
problems in the bud. Don't wait untill it's time to got to bed to try
and pray.

24. Make friends with godly people.

25. Keep a folder of favorite scriptures on hand.

26. Remember that the shortest bridge between despair and hope is
often a good "Thank you Jesus."

27. Laugh.

28. Laugh some more!

29. Take your work seriously, but not yourself at all.

30. Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they
can).

31. Be kind to unkind people (they probably need it most).

32. Sit on your ego.

33. Talk less; listen more.

34. Slow down.

35. Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the
universe.

36. Every night before bed, think of one thing you're grateful for
that you've never been grateful for before. GOD HAS A WAY OF TURNING
THINGS AROUND FOR YOU. "If God is for us, who can be against
us?" (Romans 8:31)

God's mountain

I was recently listening to a song on the radio that helped me to visualize how I am at this time. The song said we must walk through the valley to stand on the mountain of God.

Lately I've been feeling rather dull and fake with God. Yeah I talk to Him but I never really get too personal. Of course I pray about serious stuff but when I do it's usually a quick and very unemotional prayer. "Dear God please help my friend Stephanie. You know what she's going through. Amen." In my heart I feel much more than what I actually present to God. I'm very impersonal in my prayer.

I am standing in a valley of fakeness. In the distance I see God and His mountain but never really feel Him close. I often find myself wondering why I feel so far away from God. I've been so dense recently that I only just realized it's because I'm not taking any steps closer to His mountain.

I'm stuck wanting to be with God and complaining that He doesn't feel close. I'm not doing anything but sitting in this valley and pulling up nearby grass patches out of boredom. Part of it is laziness. I'm comfortable where I'm sitting and don't want to get up, though I complain about being spiritually bothered all of the time. The other part of it, shameful to say is that sin is keeping me from seeing the way to His mountain. Like a thick fog, sins that I commit surround me, blinding me from God's beautiful mountain.

The solution is simple. Get up and walk. Can't see the path? Ask God to give you a light for your path (Bible) and a mighty wind to clear the fog (forgiveness). *You* have to get up and walk though. Yes, climbing a mountain can be tough but God is there to help you when you get there. For now just get up and follow His lead. He knows how to put you back on top again. We must walk through the valley to stand upon the mountain of God.

Angels show up in the strangest of places

I think I met an angel today. She seemed like a normal person looking for help.-- It all started when me and my friends went to go see my friend Amber and her newborn baby Moira at the hospital. We weren't sure where to go so we went into the hospital at the front entrance. This is where we met the lady. She asked us where the nearest hotel was because she had missed her bus. We told her it was about half an hours walk from the hospital. She was hoping she could catch a ride with us but we weren't too sure of her at first. We said we were at the hospital to see a friend and were on our way up so we went our separate ways. We had to go back to the car to get to the other side of the hospital and as we started the car we noticed a huge storm rolling in. We thought about the lady and so we decided to pick her up and give her a ride to a hotel so she wouldn't get wet. We ended up driving a few places looking for a place for her to stay that was affordable.
During that time we talked with her a bit and came to the conclusion that she was a very nice lady. She seemed a bit strange to us with her thick accent and her slightly limited English dialect, but she sure did have a heart for God. During the time we were driving she would oddly wave her hands as if she were praying intently with them. I noticed they moved in my direction one of the times and I felt that she was praying over me. I felt a part of me changed inside and I knew it was something that I had asked God to help heal in me spiritually. Somehow, though she was saying silent prayers as she moved her hands, I understood what she was doing. It was almost as if she knew our struggles and she was praying over each one of us. The way she talked pointed to God. She kept saying halleluia and asking us if we sang it as well. I think she was refering to a hymn. She seemed so odd to me and I couldnt help but think what if this lady was an angel. She
might be an angel in disguise. Just before we left her at her hotel room we prayed for each other aloud, dropped her off, and me and my friends went back to the hospital to visit our friend. I couldnt help but praise God the whole night afterwords feeling as though we helped an angel unawares. --I really believe we met an angel and helped her just like the story where the people unknowingly gave a disguised angel shelter and protection. Do you think you might have met an angel in disguise? You might have even helped one of them out without even realizing it. Just remember to help as best you can those in need because angels can show up in the strangest of places.

More than friends

Hey-did I tell you you're beautiful.
I missed you again.
Hey-did I hear you crying
I'll be your best friend.

To: you

I'm far too different and a huge dork so the best I can do is be your friend even if I love you more than that. I'd never live up to what you find attractive. But I'll be there for you always and again. I find myself angry with the world sometimes but to see you smile turns my greatest of anger to thoughts of just how beautiful my world can be. I find myself lonely till you walk in turning my greatest of lonliness to thoughts of forever spent with you. I'm a dreamer I know but I do love you so and someday... Someday... Well we shall see but please know you are always in my dreams, yeah the love of my dreams. Please stay with me even if we just stay friends. I love you more than that but its ok. I'm fine with your incredible friendship. Maybe someday you will come to love me too. -Jesus

What up, God?

Praying... Something people just don't get. They don't know how. A pastor says all these fancy words and you really have no clue how reciting out of a book or saying fancy words to God seems fun or even real. What if I told you that prayer, no.. actually talking to God is a lot of fun and easy. Don't know the lingo? No problem. God isn't stupid. He understands exactly what you say even if you don't know how to say it or you don't exactly word it right. The best part is that God wants to listen to you. He wants to hear you talk to Him. He won't tune you out like so many people do. You know, how when you love someone with all your heart you hang onto their every word? Maybe you've had someone who did the same with what you said. That's how God is. The creator of the UNIVERSE hangs on your every word and loves to hear you voice. If thats not mind-blowingly awesome/crazy I don't know what is. Even more just like when you haven't seen your love in a month He wants more than anything to at-the-very least talk to you. Pretty spiffy.

Where's a post it when I need one

I feel like lately I can't remember anything and the stuff I do remember is so pieced together I can barely recall any details about it. I wish I could just put a post-it note on my brain and check it so I can remember, say... my date next Friday or when the heck my parents' birthdays are. And I KNOW its not old age because its been this way for as long as I remember (pun intended). Anyway forgetting the previous joke (...) People keep telling me to write stuff down but by the time I find a pen and paper I completely forget what I was gonna write. Okay so say I finally do remember to write something down, I immediately lose the piece of paper or spill something all over it making it yet another waste of ink in my life (remember school?) Basically this blog is going to end up being one huge advertisement for the post-it brand. I mean there are just so many shapes and designs whoever invented that was a genius... Anyway back on track. I'm really glad God is there for me cuz if He wasn't I'd be talking about Jesus to someone one minute, the next I'd be like who's Jesus again? (okay so maybe not that dramatic but I'd never remember the verses I learned when I was five. Point made?) Also I'm really thankful there is a Bible. Can you imagine people back way in BP (before plumbing... or was it BC) they had to memorize the entire freeking thing!!! If I did that and tried to recite it back I'd be like "In the beginning Jesus wept because he was an only begotten son who got swallowed by a giant fish thingy (not whale). Oh yeah he was a wee little man and he got spewed out of God's mouth and He had some disciples dudes who's heads sponateously combusted (don't try this at home) and moses parted the waters so they all could cross the sea of Gallilee so they could go hang out in the desert of where it rained bread and they had drinking fountains made of rock. The end. Which just goes to show how glad I am that we can actually have the Bible to reference God's word. So in the end buy lots of post-it notes, keep a pen handy, and please make sure you get your Bible stories right even if you have to look in the Bible because you can't remember.