Jesus, Lover of My Soul

We sang this wonderful hymn yesterday, and I wanted to share it. Such poignant words!

Jesus, Lover of My SoulJesus, lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is high.
Hide me, O my Savior, hide, till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide; O receive my soul at last.

Other refuge have I none, hangs my helpless soul on Thee;
Leave, ah! leave me not alone, still support and comfort me.
All my trust on Thee is stayed, all my help from Thee I bring;
Cover my defenseless head with the shadow of Thy wing.

Wilt Thou not regard my call? Wilt Thou not accept my prayer?
Lo! I sink, I faint, I fall—Lo! on Thee I cast my care;
Reach me out Thy gracious hand! While I of Thy strength receive,
Hoping against hope I stand, dying, and behold, I live.

Thou, O Christ, art all I want, more than all in Thee I find;
Raise the fallen, cheer the faint, heal the sick, and lead the blind.
Just and holy is Thy Name, I am all unrighteousness;
False and full of sin I am; Thou art full of truth and grace.

Plenteous grace with Thee is found, grace to cover all my sin;
Let the healing streams abound; make and keep me pure within.
Thou of life the fountain art, freely let me take of Thee;
Spring Thou up within my heart; rise to all eternity.

Down Memory Lane

I'm once again working on scanning old pictures from my photo albums so that I have them in digital format and and can burn them to discs for safer keeping. It's a huge project, but fun in many ways.

I'm currently in the Summer of 1992. What a mix of emotions those pictures bring back!

And here, just to see if Shawna is reading my blog...

What an artist!

The Best Bread I've Made ...

... in a long time!

I've been trying for the last few years to "cheat" and use my Cuisinart to make bread. It just doesn't work for me, and I've had dissapointment after dissapointment.

So on Tuesday, I decided to "really" make bread. I was sooo delighted with the results!

Are You Weary of Being the Giver?

I do not know of any helpmeet/mother who does not occasionally weary of being the giver. It is easy to be overwhelmed by all that is required of us. The demands of being a wife, a homemaker, a mama, etc can be draining, and I have seen in myself and the women I love the tendency to get drained dry, to come to the point where we have nothing left to give. The modern human response to this weariness is often something along the lines of, "I've just got to get away!" I have bought into this thinking more often than I'd like to admit. I'm not saying there is anything inherently wrong with "getaways," but they are not God's ideal answer to the dilemma.

Recently some thoughts in Elizabeth George's book A Woman After God's Own Heart really struck me. She says, "What happens when you and I do slip away to be with God in study and prayer? We receive. We take in. We are nurtured and fed. We insure our spiritual health and growth. When we spend time with Christ, He supplies us with strength and encourages us in the pursuit of His ways." (Emphasis mine)

There we stand, drained and weary, longing for someone to "give to us for a change." There He stands, ready, waiting, and eager to GIVE to us. And we don't have the time/energy/desire to take a few minutes a day to spend in fellowship with Him. We will not make the effort to develop the habit of "walking" with Him, of practicing His presence no matter our location or activity. We give and give until we are dry, while the greatest Giver of all waits for us to accept His filling, His giving. Getaways are all well and good, but the true answer is in abiding in Him, not in escaping His call on our lives.

I was both broken and blessed by this realization, and began to look at some of the ways in which the Lord wants to give to us. Would you like a peak?

Psalm 29:11 ~ The LORD will give strength to His people; The LORD will bless His people with peace.

Psalm 84:11 ~ For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

Psalm 119:130 ~ The unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.

Proverbs 3:34 ~ He gives grace to the afflicted.

Matthew 7:9-11 ~ Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!

Matthew 11:28 ~ Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

John 14:27 ~ Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.

Romans 5:5 . . . and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Romans 8:32 ~ He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

2 Thessalonians 2:16 . . . our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace . . .

James 1:5 ~ But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

1 John 5:20 ~ And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

So, my fellow weary woman, I want to encourage you - Go to the Giver!! He's ready and waiting to fill your weary soul with blessings beyond what you can ask or think!

A Prayer

Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes, all my own desires and hopes, and accept Thy will for my life. I give myself, my time, my all, utterly to Thee to be Thine forever. Fill me and seal me with Thy Holy Spirit. Use me as Thou wilt, send me where Thou wilt, work out Thy whole will in my life at any cost, now and forever.

~The daily prayer of Betty Scott Stam, a worker with China Inland Mission. She and her husband were led to execution by decapitation while their baby lay behind in the crib. Quoted by Elizabeth George in her wonderful book, A Woman After God's Own Heart.

What to do with an imperfect spouse

This is such a terrific article, I had to share it.
Go read it!.

Maternity Clothes

I have more eternally significant things to blog about today, but I feel compelled to share with you that I am so glad it is starting to feel like spring! Besides all the usual reasons, there's my maternity wardrobe. And my size. Or maybe it's the way my maternity wardrobe and my size are fitting together. For a little while longer....

You see, the cute summer clothes that I had looked forward to wearing closer to "term" fit me now. Not fit as in, "I'm pregnant-enough-looking to avoid looking ridiculous wearing this outfit" but fit as in, "Hmmm... won't be able to wear this much longer." The large end of my maternity wardrobe is all summer stuff, hence the rejoicing over springlike weather.

About the size issue... I started this pregnancy about 25 pounds heavier than I would have liked to have been. I'm 25 weeks along and I've gained 30 pounds. The midwife is not concerned about the weight, but she has cleared me to start watching my carbs if it will make me feel better. I'm not too worried about the weight myself, because I think a big part of why I just couldn't lose it before I got pregnant was because of the estrogen dominance issue. I feel very confident about getting it off after the baby arrives.

In the meantime, it won't be long before I'm going to run out of clothes that fit! For now, though, I'm just going to enjoy wearing my summer clothes. I shall consider myself the beacon of coming warm weather!