In all that I have found
Your evidence abounds
I've always sensed Your fingerprints
If I just look around
And yet this grand display
Will all soon pass away
So I hold onto the mighty truth
That Your love is here to stay

The love of the Lord endures
The love of the Lord endures
If there's one thing I can be sure
It's that the love of the Lord endures

Life has let me down
In wealth joy, can't be found
I've looked for peace in all of these
But I have always found

The love of the Lord endures
The love of the Lord endures
If there's one thing I can be sure
The love of the Lord endures

When I stumble, when I fall
When I'm walking ten feet tall
Your love is there day after day
Even at the worst extreme
Or after I have been redeemed
Your love is there
And it won't let me go

The love of the Lord endures
The love of the Lord endures
If there's one thing I can be sure
It's that the love of the Lord endures

The love of the Lord endures

Forever, Forever

Joy Williams - The Love Of The Lord Endures

 
Okay...so I'm doing better now. My last post was out of bitterness. At the time I was struggling with rejection and hurt from several past relationships and I couldn't understand why I always seem to get burned. Was God teaching me a lesson or putting an end to what might have been ten times worse? Well, anywho...admitting that I was harboring anger and asking for forgiveness does wonders. Also, close friends that do nothing but encourage me even when I see myself as unworthy of anything. God has blessed me with caring friends and many situations to show His love for me. So many things that I have heard this semester have seemed directed toward me. In church, we are starting to go through 2 Corintians. Today we only worked on the first few verses of chapter one and there were two verses that stuck out to me...

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. (2 Corinthians 1:3, 4)

There have been so many things that I have gone through and am dealing with...this gave me the reassurance that God has had a reason in everything that's happened. He will be here always to comfort me and He understands everything. At the same time, my experiences and pain will help me later in life to understand and comfort others around me when they are struggling.

So all said and done, I'm getting towards contentment. I am happy with it just being me and God. I love hanging out with the guys and not feeling pressure to pair up, which is kinda hard sometimes when it seems like everyone and their dog have a significant other. The desire is there, but I know that God has a lot more work to do with me and I can serve Him best if I can focus on Him and not a guy. I need to work on spending more time in God's word and in prayer, not trying to impress someone. Cheers to wet hair, no makeup, jeans, tee shirts, and flip-flops...God loves me that way and that's all I should care about.

 
*Why?

*Why does a guy feel like he has to be the center of attention all of the time?
*Whatever happened to humility and maturity?

*Why does a guy one minute want you to specifically schedule time for him and then call you on his way to hang out at a friend's house 'cause he's just as bored as you are as you sit all alone?
*Whatever happened to practicing what you preach?

*Why does a guy mention that he'd love for you to call once in a while just to say hi and then soon after find it a burden to call you?
*Whatever happened to avoiding double standards?

*Why does a guy think that you go out on a date with them to use them as a means to eating out at a specific restaurant?
*Whatever happened to going out to spend time together no matter where it is?

*Why does a guy tell you that you've been placed on a pedistol in his mind, and then do a 360 and you become just another person to pass him in his life who can be forgotten?
*Whatever happened to being consistently truthful?

*Why does a guy say he'll call back in a week and it turns into a month and a half?
*What ever happened to being a man of his word?

*Why does a guy say he cares and then allows you to walk away without trying to say goodbye?
*Whatever happened to being best friends for two years?

*Why does a guy fail to ever get the picture and be perfectly oblivious to his hurtful actions?
*Whatever happend to being observant and compassionate?

*Why does a guy suggest that you dress too modestly sometimes?
*Whatever happened to christian brotherly/sisterly love?

*Why does a guy say he's dying to spend time with and see your smile only to seem more interested in everything (everyone) else when you finally agree to make the three hour drive?
*Whatever happened to common courtesy?

*Why does a guy avoid serious relationship conversations like the plague?
*Whatever happened to brutal honesty time?

*Why?


*Why do these things still hurt so much?
*Why did God allow it all to happen like this?
*Why do I keep setting myself up for pain?
*Why do I waste these tears?
*Why do I seem to fail at having total faith in Him?
*Why do I question God?

 
Bounce, bounce back
Shake it off, get right on track
I'm moving on
Gotta put it in the past
Bounce, bounce back
Snap your fingers and just like that
I let it go
Gotta let it fade to black
Like a river
Cry all my tears
I have to spin through it
Dry it off, I'm outta here
Bounce, bounce back
Shake it off, I'm right on track
I'll be moving on

Stacie Orrico - Bounce Back

 
Sitting here in the soft lighting of my room just listening to the soothing voice of Nat King Cole and the sun setting defiantly on the horizon, I wish this could last forever. The simple satisfaction of knowing that little things like this can make me content...just me and God...no body else. And yet as I sit here in this moment, I wonder why I am still longing for more. Why am I looking for someone to fill this void? I've learned the hard way that no one on earth is really capable of making my life complete, especially without God there. In my head, I know that God is all that I need and He will never let me down, and still my heart longs for someone...it's like I'm just asking to get hurt again. As I continue to pursue things selfishly, I just end up getting hurt. Why haven't I learned my lesson? When will God decide that I am ready? I don't feel like I am and yet I can't accept it. I try to hard to be friends with everyone, but things always get messed up and then get weird. Okay, time to focus on God, follow his leading, and forget my selfish desires. No more excuses for me...

 
ATTENTION:

***Because of misunderstandings that frequently develop when Easterners and Californians cross states such as Kansas, Iowa, Missouri or Nebraska those states' Tourism Councils have adopted a new policy. In an effort to help outsiders understand the rural Midwesterner's mind, the following list will be handed to each person as they enter the State.


1. That slope-shouldered farm boy did more work before breakfast than you do all week at the gym.

2. It's called a 'gravel road.' No matter how slow you drive, you're going to get dust on your Navigator. I have a four-wheel drive because I need it. Drive it or get it out of the way.

3. We all started hunting and fishing when we were seven years old. Yeah, we saw Bambi. We got over it.

4. Any references to "corn fed" when talking about our women will get you whipped...by our women.

5. Go ahead and bring your $600 Orvis Fly Rod. Don't cry to us if a flathead breaks it off at the handle. We have a name for those little 13-inch trout you fish for...bait.

6. Pull your pants up. You look like an idiot.

7. If that cell phone rings while a bunch of mallards are making their final approach, we will shoot it. You might hope you don't have it up to your ear at the time.

8. That's right. Whiskey is only two bucks. We can buy a fifth for what you paid in the airport for one drink.

9. No, there's no "Vegetarian Special" on the menu. Order steak. Order it rare. Or, you can order the Chef's Salad and pick off the two pounds of ham and turkey. Yeah, we have sweet tea. It comes in a glass with two packets of sugar and a long spoon.

10. You bring Coke into my house, it better be brown, wet, and served over ice.

11. So you have a sixty thousand dollar car. We're real impressed. We have quarter of a million dollar combines that we use two weeks a year.

12. Let's get this straight. We have one stoplight in town. We stop when it's red. We may even stop when it's yellow.

13. Our women hunt, fish, and drive trucks--because they want to. So, you're a feminist. Isn't that cute.

14. Yeah, we eat catfish, carp too--and turtle. You really want sushi and caviar? It's available at the bait shop.

15. They are pigs. That's what they smell like. Get over it. Don't like it? Interstate 70 goes two ways—Interstate 35 goes the other two. Pick one and use it accordingly.

16. The "Opener" refers to the first day of deer season. It's a religious holiday. You can get breakfast at the church.

17. So every person in every pickup waves. It's called being friendly. Understand the concept?

18. Yeah, we have golf courses. Don't hit in the water hazards. It spooks the fish.

19. That Highway Patrol Officer that just pulled you over for driving like an idiot...his name is "Sir"...no matter how old he is.

Now, enjoy your visit and then go home...ASAP!

 
I Promise

Lord, You know my heart
And all my desires
And the secret things I'll never tell.
Lord, You know them well.
Though I may be young,
I see and understand
That at times, like sheep, we go astray
And things get out of hand.

So I promise to be true to You,
To live my life in purity
As unto You, waiting for the day
When I hear You say,
"Here is the one I have created
Just for you."

Until then, O Lord
I will be content
Knowing that true love will come someday.
It will only come from You.
'Cause I have seen the suffering
That loneliness can cause
When we choose to give our love away
Without a righteous cause.

So I promise to be true to You,
To live my life in purity
As unto You, waiting for the day
When I hear You say,
"Here is the one I have created
Just for you."



Written by Johnny Ramirez, Jaci Velasquez