day 31: yhmn

You could've swept in like a tidal wave
Or an ocean to ravish our hearts
You could have come through like a roaring flood
To wipe away the things that we've scarred

But You came like a winter snow
Quiet and soft and slow
Falling from the sky in the night
To the earth below

day 30: harvest

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 

To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.
_

lately the days have been zooming by 

sleeping feels like blinking 

my laundry never gets done

theres always a due date for an assignment 

but man oh man

God is so amazing

God is so awesome

right now,

right here,

i am right where God wants me to be and God is right where I need Him to be

even closer than an arms reach

i can feel my body physically falling apart

and my mind is mush

but God by His grace has called this soul to be alive

and to worship and to rejoice.

the tide is coming in.

day 29: swirly thoughts

i asked for water
but you sent a flood
i craved rescue
but you brought redemption
i wanted just a little bit
but you gave me everything.
and my heart cant handle it
because i know i dont deserve it
but you keep insisisting
and i keep resisting
i take what you give me
so reluctantly, so painfully
because i know i dont deserve it
and i cant fathom Your heart
and how it loves so furiously
i cant see how you see,
but you insist there is goodness
in my brokenness
let your righteousness glow
through the cracks of my character
from the ashes of my pride.
my desire and your will
may it forever be that you God Almighty
be glorified.

day 28: tripped

I didn't finish my homework today.

but instead of complaining about the circumstances or talking about how I was wrong I want to show Thanksgiving.

thankful my friends who kept the night so fun and reminded me of the care free days.

thankful for my mom for always supporting me and staying with me past closing even though she worked overtime today. she stayed by my side as an act of love; a love so undeserving and yet she gives it to me anyway.

thankful for the tiny messages of encouragement and reminders of where I was and where I am heading and how good God is. how great is His love for you and it's impossible to use words to describe how amazing you are.

thankful that God is faithful, and He is moving moving moving.

day 27: commendable

"And notice this: God is not only praised by praising him directly for who he is and for his works in nature, but he is praised when we commend others, for they too are his workmanship."

it's easy to see the "wrong" in a person because we are constantly told of the "right" standard, how to live to the "right" standard, and how "wrong" people ruin the "good" standard. 

jesus came not for the healthy, but for the sick. He sought to mend the broken, not to add on to what is already complete. He saw people as the product of the wonderful Maker, and not the derivative leftovers of sinful nature. 

and in the same way God calls us to be "like Christ," i am called to see and love others the same way God does to me. 

i want to be encouraged, but to do that you must encourage others. encourage them for what God is doing in their lives, and in that way there is no idolatry, only praise. 

-

they talk so much about you, and I did the same: how hypocritical, how vulgar, and how angry you are. how everything you do is somehow negated by the type of person you are. how for some reason, the kingdom of God cant help you and you cant help, but i look back and how could we say such things about one another? i am not giving up on you, more importantly, God is not giving up on you and has never given up on you. they might be wrong about who you really are, they might be right about who you really are, but none of that matters because Jesus will never cast the stone upon you, and now I understand and neither will I. how can i judge another when God has not condemned me for who I am? you know that you yourself are the captain of your ship, and i am just shouting from the shore, so truly whatever change people want from you is going to come from your choices alone. but God is an ocean, and He will guide your ship in the way His current moves and He will reveal Himself to you again and again in hopes that people like us will one day understand. to forgive and to love is to wish nothing but the best, and I wish you nothing but the best, because that is all we can do for one another, and that's all that matters. 

day 26: eerie

I walked the same way to work today

and as I got closer to the building, a really strange joy started stirring in my heart

a joy that brought comfort and reassurance and security for my future

it lasted maybe no more than 10 seconds, but in that ten seconds I felt something, like someone was telling me "you won't believe what I have in store for you."

then I snapped out of it, stuck between fear and wonder, like the moment before a rollercoaster drop.

oh Lord I don't think I'm ready.

day 25: will

"'Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.' That’s the goal of this verse: not ferreting out the secret will of God that he plans to do, but discerning the revealed will of God that we ought to do."

Transformed.

Not improved,

But changed. 

-

The closest one has ever gotten to God was Abraham, who stood in presence of God but had to be blindfolded for his eyes could not withstand His glory. Just by being in His presence, Abraham was physically radiant. Other could not even step into the mountain of God's presence because of their sin, but by miracle and fear did Abraham approach God. 

Abraham climbed up the mountain to see God, Jesus stepped down from the mountain to see us. Jesus reached out and touched the sick, the hurt, the sinners. He let the people touch him, and the glory of God was still radiating, for even touching the corner of his cloak brought healing. 

What a God, what a savior.