"To Know You" - Then Sings My Soul Saturday

What's our purpose in life? What's God's goal for our lives? To make us like Jesus... to bring him glory. Paul said in Philippians 3 that

I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord...

Nearly every line of this song is rooted in Scripture, especially in the book of Philippians (mostly chapter 3). What does it mean to know Christ?

See more inspirational music at Amy's this weekend.

To Know You

Casting Crowns

To know You is to never worry for my life
To know You is to never give into compromise and
To know You is to want to tell the world about You
‘Cause I can’t live without You

To know You is to hear Your voice when You are calling
To know You is to catch my brother when he is falling
To know You is to feel the pain of the brokenhearted
‘Cause they can’t live without You

More than my next breath
More than life or death
All I’m reaching for, I live my life to know You more
I leave it all behind, You’re all that satisfies
To know You is to want to know You more
To know You is to want to know You more

To know You is to ache for more than ordinary
To know You is to look beyond the temporary
To know You is believing that You’ll be enough
‘Cause there’s no life without You

All this life could offer me
Could not compare to You, compare to You
And I count it all as loss
Compared to knowing You, knowing You

All this life could offer me
Could not compare to You, compare to You
And I count it all as loss
Compared to knowing You, knowing You

And I count it all as loss
Compared to knowing You, knowing You

Spring Reading Thing 2010

It's been a long while since I've participated in Katrina's reading challenges, but now that I'm a bit more settled in the new house and have that all-important library card.... Well, it's time to jump back in!

I am trying to avoid my tendency to put reading ahead of the other responsibilities in my life, hence my list is shorter than in times past. This also has to do with the fact that many of the books are library requests and I am not sure how long it will take to get them. The library here has a shorter check-out period than I've been accustomed to (2 vs. 3 weeks), so I may have to do the unusual (for me, at any rate) and renew some of them. I'm not sure of the rules here, but in previous libraries, renewing wasn't an option if someone else was waiting, so hopefully that won't be a problem. The online system back in CA actually showed me what my position in the holds list was, so I knew how many people were ahead of and behind me in the list; I don't have that luxury here, so I'm flying blind.

With all that out of the way, here's the list:

Books on hand

The Annotated Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery. This has been on my shelf for a good while now. 


The Wee Musketeers, Robert Bresloff. This is an Advanced Reader's Copy I received through LibraryThing. It's a kids' book and won't take long once I take the time to sit down with it. Looks like fun, and is right up Joel's alley. 

Not a Tame Lion, Bruce Edwards. Another book I've had for quite some time. I actually began this one, but it got misplaced in one of our moves and I found it again shelving books after this one. 


Shades of Blue, Karen Kingsbury. Technically not on hand, but will be arriving in the next week or so.

Books I'm waiting on

Girl Meets God, Lauren Winner. This book received a lot of buzz several years ago, but this will be my first chance to read it.

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Donald Miller. Having loved his previous books, I'm really looking forward to this one.

Take Three, Karen Kingsbury. Third in a series of four.

Before I Fall, Lauren Oliver. Light fiction... read an online review that sounded interesting.

Coral Moon, Brandilyn Collins. Another book I read a recent review of. I've read some of her work before. Light suspense, nothing heavy.

The Rise of the Black Wolf,  Derek Benz. This is second in a trilogy for young adults. Joel is currently reading the first (which I read a few years ago). I want to pre-read this one for him.

The Fall of the Templar, Derek Benz. Book three of the trilogy.

I'm also hoping to come across something good to read aloud with the kids. We have gotten out of the practice of reading aloud and I'd like to start again.

From there to here

This is part 2 of this post...

The USAF whisked us away from Ohio one wintry February day and set us down in Omaha, NE. We had been in Omaha house-hunting one weekend a few months before (November 2002) and had visited a church that just "felt" right to us. We had emailed the church before coming and had received emails from a few people there, so we weren't entirely strangers that very first visit, nor the second time after we arrived in our new home. The amazing thing about this congregation was the speed at which we became a part of things. Never before in our lives had we been invited into ministry so quickly. Our very first Sunday there, we wound up staying after church for the better part of the day and helping coach puppet and drama skits for LTC. Emily was assimilated quite quickly into the group and was given roles in both drama and puppet skits, participated in the chorus, and even caught up with the group in Bible Bowl study. Our LTC involvement lasted the entire time we were there (just a little over 2 years... we managed to get in 3 conventions before having to move again).  

Our LTC group was more than just a group of parents mentoring their kids, though. We were a small group as well... we prayed and sang together, shared our hearts and hurts, and took care of each other. This was another first for us. We'd not experienced this before. These relationships filled a void in our lives and created relationships that we are still keeping alive today.

It wasn't just through LTC and small group that we felt connected. We were blessed to have reached this church just shortly before they hired a new preaching minister. So we got to be the "new folks" with him and his family. We fell in love with them all. We became regular out-to-lunch friends on Sunday afternoons, spent occasional Friday or Saturday evenings playing board games, and went to the occasional concert together.  Halle was the flower girl for their daughter's wedding the weekend before we moved away. If you're a regular reader, you know that they are still a part of our lives; Jim came to CA for Brian's retirement ceremony. 

I look back and I see how we were going through a progression of sorts... in Ohio, we learned what it felt like to be loved. In retrospect, I feel like I was soaking it all up, but not really passing it on. Then in Nebraska, the same kind of love was there, but in addition, we were equipped to display love to others. Plus, we had the benefit of getting to be involved in ministry in ways we'd never been able to before. It was amazing to me, who had always felt kind of on the fringe of things. Now that I had a taste of what it was truly like to belong, I could never be satisfied with just sitting back and letting others do everything. What I learned there gave me the passion to be involved.

If leaving Ohio was hard, leaving Nebraska was even harder. And I had even more states to scatter my tears through as we traveled from there to California less than 2 1/2 years after arriving there.

I can't help but look back on all this as we begin a new chapter of life here in Alabama. We're settling into a new church family. In the less than 2 months we've been there, I'm already finding a place to serve on the praise team. I'm looking forward to an overnight women's retreat this weekend in Nashville and hoping I get to know some folks better at that. Brian's involved in a men's class on Wednesday nights, the kids are enjoying their classes... We're excited to see what God's going to have us do here. 

Then Sings My Soul Saturday: Fade With Our Voices

Here's another favorite by Jason Gray. Jason does a lot of work for World Vision, promoting them in his concerts and this song is one he wrote for them. How do you answer his question?

Fade With Our Voices

Jason Gray

After all the songs are sung
And our prayers for Kingdom come
Did we bring honor to the words we sing?

Chorus:
Does our worship have hands?
Does it have feet?
Does it stand up in the face of injustice?
Does our worship bow down?
Does it run deep?
Is it more than a song
That fades with our voices?
Does it fade with our voices?

Lord it's you we long to please
Make our lives a melody
That we proclaim when we live in Jesus name

Repeat chorus

So if we raise our hands high
Let us also reach them out
And if we lift our voices up
Let it be the sound of love

Let our worship have hands
Let it have feet
Let it stand tall
In the face of injustice
Let our worship bow down
Let it run deep
And be more than a song
That fades with our voices
...It's more than a song that fades with our voices
It won't fade with our voices(Let it be the sound of love...)

February flurries

Woke up to snow falling this morning... no accumulation to speak of other than on the outdoor furniture, but even that was less than an inch and wound up melting by midday. But it did look pretty as it was coming down.

We're getting more and more settled. The 3 younger kids got new bedroom furniture last week; that's been a real help for them in having storage for their things. They each got a platform bed flanked with storage towers with shelves and cubbyholes for their toys, books, games, etc. It's a great set from Pottery Barn Teen that should last them many years.

I'm nearly done with the library-slash-schoolroom. We have a desk (also PB teen) coming Thursday for that room. Its arrival is providing much-needed motivation to finish sorting and culling what I need and don't need. However, some of the boxes are Brian's things... I'll have to set those aside until he has time for them.

The next rooms to focus on will be the breakfast area, our room, and the formal living room. We'd like to get a counter height table that seats 6-8 people for the breakfast area. We're looking for new bedroom furniture (bed/nightstands) for us, plus chairs/ottomans and/or a chaise for our seating area in the bedroom. And then we need to figure out if we want to get new furniture for the formal living room or move in the leather furniture from the keeping room or not.... Then that would leave us deciding what to put in the keeping room (the denim sectional from the bonus room upstairs??). Seriously considering taking the furniture out of that room upstairs and putting in some LoveSacs or something similar. After all, that room is mostly the video-gaming/sleepover/movie-watching room and really doesn't need heavy, hard-to-move furniture. Decisions, decisions...

Looking more and more like we have found a church to worship at full-time. For me, that is usually the hardest part of a move, and definitely the most important. But this time it wasn't too difficult. All of the kids are making friends easily there, and Brian and I are connecting with folks, too. Yesterday morning, the most amazing thing happened: I was recognized by a woman who was a camper at our church youth camp in SE Missouri back in the summer of 1983. She was one of the 6th grade girls in the cabin I served as counselor for shortly after my freshman year of college ended! I still marvel at her recognizing me. Once she told me her name, I certainly could see who she was, but I'm not sure I would have realized it without her discovering it first. Just another one of those cool God-things, I think! I'm looking forward to reconnecting with her.

It's going to be a busy week. One of the nearby rescue missions is coming to pick up some of our old furniture we have stored in our single-car garage tomorrow. I have an appt. in the afternoon, then CR in the evening. We have church Wednesday night. Thursday is the furniture delivery, then an early dinner out with my sister and her husband before we take in a local concert (Jeremy Camp, Chasen, The Afters, and Jason Gray.... I'm going mostly for Jason Gray, but looking forward to all of them). I will be ready for a quiet night in on Friday!

Then Sings My Soul Saturday: Temporary Home

Saw/heard this one for the first time Friday morning and was moved to tears. How much we need to remind ourselves that what we have now is temporary.

Temporary Home

Carrie Underwood

Little boy, 6 years old
A little too used to being alone
Another new mom and dad
Another school
Another house that'll never be home

And when people ask him how he likes this place
He looks up and says with a smile upon his face

This is my temporary home
It's not where I belong
Windows and rooms that I'm passing through
This is just a stop on the way to where I'm going
I'm not afraid because I know
This is my temporary home

Young mom on her own
She needs a little help got no where to go
She's looking for a job looking for a way out
Cause a halfway house will never be a home

At night she whispers to her baby girl
Someday we'll find our place in this world

This is our temporary home
It's not where we belong
Windows and rooms that we're passing through
This is just a stop on the way to where we're going
I'm not afraid because I know
This is our temporary home

Old man, hospital bed
The room is filled with people he loves
And he whispers don't cry for me
I'll see you all someday

He looks up and says
I can see God's face

This is my temporary home
It's not where I belong
Windows and rooms that I'm passing through
This is just a stop on the way to where I'm going
I'm not afraid because I know
This was my temporary home

This is our temporary home

Then Sings My Soul Saturday: That's What I Love About Sunday

I think I liked this song from the very first time I heard it. It's not your typical "praise and worship" kind of song, but it does say a lot about what used to make Sundays such a special time for many of us. I think we've gotten out of the habit of celebrating Sunday the way we used to. For many, it becomes another day to run errands and get all the "stuff" done we didn't get done during the week. Maybe we need to take a few more naps or "not do much of anything" a little more often.

That's What I Love About Sunday

Craig Morgan

Raymond's in his Sunday best,
He's usually up to his chest in oil an' grease.
There's the Martin's walkin' in,
With that mean little freckle-faced kid,
Who broke a window last week.
Sweet Miss Betty likes to sing off key in the pew behind me.

That's what I love about Sunday:
Sing along as the choir sways;
Every verse of Amazin' Grace,
An' then we shake the Preacher's hand.
Go home, into your blue jeans;
Have some chicken an' some baked beans.
Pick a back yard football team,
Not do much of anything:
That's what I love about Sunday.

I stroll to the end of the drive,
Pick up the Sunday Times, grab my coffee cup.
It looks like Sally an' Ron, finally tied the knot,
Well, it's about time.
It's 35 cents off a ground round,
Baby. cut that coupon out!

That's what I love about Sunday:
Cat-napping on the porch swing;
You curled up next to me,
The smell of jasmine wakes us up.
Take a walk down a back road,
Tackle box and a cane pole;
Carve our names in that white oak,
An' steal a kiss as the sun fades,
That's what I love about Sunday,
Oh, yeah.

Ooh, new believers gettin' baptized,
Momma's hands raised up high,
Havin' a Hallelujah good time
A smile on everybody's face.
That's what I love about Sunday,
Oh, yeah.

That's what I love about Sunday,
Oh, yeah.

Join us at Amy's for more music.

Then Sings My Soul Saturday: Shine

I hope you enjoy this song taken from Philippians 2, one of my favorite chapters of the New Testament.

Shine

Matt Redman

Lord we have seen the rising sun, awakening the early dawn,
And we're rising up to give you praise.
Lord we have seen the stars and moon, see how they shine,
They shine for you,
And You're calling us to do the same.
So we rise up with a song, and we rise up with a cry
And we're giving you our lives.

We will shine like stars in the universe,
Holding out Your truth in the darkest place.
We'll be living for Your glory,
Jesus we'll be living for Your glory.
We will burn so bright with Your praise O God,
And declare Your light to this broken world.
We'll be living for Your glory,
Jesus we'll be living for Your glory.

Like the sun so radiantly
Sending light for all to see,
Let your holy church arise
Exploding into life,
Like a supernova's light,
Set your holy church on fire;
We will shine.

Join us at Amy's for more songs.

Last post of the old year

Greetings from Huntsville, AL! We've been in our new home for just over a week now. A lot has happened since my last post. I attended the last CRNA resident graduation of my husband's military career, flew here and back from CA, attended/participated in my husband's retirement ceremony, threw a dinner party (catered, thank goodness) for 75 or so of our closest friends and Brian's work colleagues, rode over 2500 miles in the RV from CA to AL, celebrated Christmas, and hosted another dinner for 15 here in our new home.

Brian's retirement ceremony went well, even though not all went as planned. Originally, my sister and I, along with her husband, were going to sing the national anthem. I contracted some kind of upper respiratory bug on my way here a few days before the ceremony and lost much of my voice. Pam then seemed to pick up the same thing, so that by the day of the ceremony, neither of us was in much shape to sing. Thankfully, Emily stepped in and saved the day by singing with Kirk. They received compliments from several people, many of whom said it was the best they'd heard at a military ceremony. It was a decidedly unique ceremony, in that we opted for a non-military chaplain to deliver the invocation. Our dear friend Jim prayed only as he could, and it meant so much more to us to have him praying over Brian than someone who would not have known us as well. There were appropriate amounts of solemnity, tears, and laughter... the latter especially coming at the music played for the recessional: Sweet Home Alabama.

That night, we had a catered dinner at a local banquet hall. The food was great and the room was packed. I had ordered a custom cake from a great place in Vacaville (think Ace of Cakes or Cake Boss) and I was thrilled with how it came out, and it generated a lot of conversation. I wouldn't be surprised if the bakery gets some more business based on that cake. (BTW, it tasted great as well!)

We left CA Saturday morning (the 19th) and made it to the Palm Springs area before deciding to stop for the night. It was after dark and neither driver (Emily was following in her car) had really had a full night's sleep the night before, so they were ready to call it quits. The next day, we traveled around 800 miles through AZ and NM and on into TX, stopping at a KOA in Van Horn, TX. That was one long day! We passed through 3 time zones and were into Central Time when we stopped, so it was 2 hours later than we realized... 11:30 pm! We crashed quickly that night. The next day we left around 8am. Brian and Emily were bound and determined to make it to Huntsville without staying over another night. For anyone wondering, the distance from the KOA in Van Horn to our home is 1244 miles. And yes, we did it. Emily actually took the lead after lunch and beat us to the house by about an hour, but the RV pulled up in front of the house at 3:15 am on Tuesday. We were delighted to see that elves (my sister, her husband, and at least one of their sons) had been at work in our house in expectation of our arrival. They had put the kids' beds together and set them up (ours was ready already) and also dug out some of our Christmas decorations and had hung our pre-lit garland on our fireplace mantels. And they'd turned up the heat as well!!

Unpacking seemed to be a slow process. I was still recovering from whatever I had; Brian had contracted it as well. But we managed to get the kitchen put together by Christmas Eve. The night before that, Pam & Kirk came over and helped with some unpacking. Kirk and Halle got our Christmas tree put up and decorated. On Christmas Day, we had a big lasagna dinner here. Pam & Kirk came, along with 3 of their sons and 2 of the sons' girlfriends, plus another young couple who are good friends with their family. Our table extends to 10 ft. long, and that was just enough to hold all 15 of us. I envision a "kids' table" in our future some day!

So here we are on New Year's Eve... nothing big planned, just a night of Beatles Rock Band or other video games, movies, and pizza with Pam and Kirk (and maybe some of the boys?? Don't know yet if any of them are coming.). Still lots of unpacking to do, but it'll be there tomorrow... and the next day.... and the next...

Happy New Year!!

The now and the not yet

And so it begins. The packers (5 men) arrived yesterday on time (a first, I believe). They set straight to work and worked without stopping. In what has to be a record, they had our belongings boxed up and ready for tomorrow's truck in about 5 1/2 hours. We had bought them lunch, but they were so close to finishing, they kept working and took it to go. I'm sitting here in the house now, waiting for a mattress delivery (the 3 younger kids are getting new ones; all moving up to full-size beds).

We have all of our necessary goods for the next few weeks with us in the RV, which is set up in the base RV park. Sure will be an interesting time between now and when we arrive in Huntsville! The dogs are happy to be there; they love it in the RV. The younger kids do as well. Emily... not so much. But she will do fine, I'm sure.

I am planning on flying to Huntsville to meet the moving truck when it arrives. I'll be able to see that the furniture is placed in the right places and maybe even get the phone/internet/cable installed while there. Hopefully I will get back in time for Brian's students' graduation dinner on the 11th.

We are here for just 17 more days. Brian's retirement ceremony is the 17th. My sister and brother-in-law are flying in from AL, Brian's sister is coming from MO, and our friend Jim is flying from Omaha the day before. We'll head out on the 19th to make our way across the country. The last time we drove between Huntsville and here, it took 5 days. Hoping it doesn't take any longer than that, this time. Praying for good weather and safe roads!