Oh, Praise Him.

I just began a devotional in my Bible app by "She Reads Truth" on prayer. Woah. Just letting these passages sink in this morning. So thankful for the beauty of The Word and convicting reminder. He is worthy of my praise and His goodness should be continually on my lips. 

1 Chronicles 16:7-36

English Standard Version (ESV)

⁷ Then on that day David first appointed that thanksgiving be sung to the Lord by Asaph and his brothers.

David's Song of Thanks

⁸ Oh give thanks to the Lord;call upon his name;
    make known his deeds among the peoples!
⁹ Sing to him, sing praises to him;
    tell of all his wondrous works!
¹⁰ Glory in his holy name;
    let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!
¹¹ Seek the Lord and his strength;
    seek his presence continually!
¹² Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
    his miracles and the judgments he uttered,
¹³ O offspring of Israel his servant,
    children of Jacob, his chosen ones!

¹⁴ He is the Lord our God;
    his judgments are in all the earth.
¹⁵ Remember his covenant forever,
    the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
¹⁶ the covenant that he made with Abraham,
    his sworn promise to Isaac,
¹⁷ which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
    to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
¹⁸ saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan,
    as your portion for an inheritance.”

¹⁹ When you were few in number,
    of little account, andsojourners in it,
²⁰ wandering from nation to nation,
    from one kingdom to another people,
²¹ he allowed no one to oppress them;
    he rebuked kings on their account,
²² saying, “Touch not my anointed ones,
    do my prophets no harm!”

²³ Sing to the Lord, all the earth!
    Tell of his salvation from day to day.
²⁴ Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous works among all the peoples!
²⁵ For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
    and he is to be fearedabove all gods.
²⁶ For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
    but the Lord made the heavens.
²⁷ Splendor and majesty are before him;
    strength and joy are in his place.

²⁸ Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
    ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!
²⁹ Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
    bring an offering and come before him!
Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;
³⁰     tremble before him, all the earth;
    yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
³¹ Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice,
    and let them say among the nations, “The Lordreigns!”
³² Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
    let the field exult, and everything in it!
³³ Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy
    before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth.
³⁴ Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    for his steadfast love endures forever!

³⁵ Say also:

“Save us, O God of our salvation,
    and gather and deliver us from among the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
    and glory in your praise.
³⁶ Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
    from everlasting to everlasting!”

Then all the people said, “Amen!” and praised the Lord.

Psalm 100

English Standard Version (ESV)

His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

A Psalm for giving thanks.

100 Make a joyful noise to theLord, all the earth!
²     Serve the Lord with gladness!
    Come into his presence with singing!

³ Know that the Lord, he is God!
    It is he who made us, andwe are his;
    we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
    and his courts with praise!
    Give thanks to him; bless his name!

⁵ For the Lord is good;
    his steadfast love endures forever,
    and his faithfulness to all generations.

My view from the plane on the way to Ethiopia in June.

What's that you say? People are real?

So there's a little bit of my heart over at The Forsaken Children's blog today. Thankful for the opportunity to share some of the thoughts God's been stirring in me lately and praying anyone who reads will hear Him speaking and not my feeble words.

Here's a snippet from my post:

It was in the airports that I finally realized something : people are real.

I know, hold the phone, right? Yes, people are real. I’d been hearing about TFC and Ethiopia and these street kids for three years now. A couple in our “Sunday School” class is involved with TFC and have been on several trips, so I’d heard their testimonies, seen their pictures, read their blogs, and, most importantly, seen their lives change as a result of their experiences in Ethiopia. God had been spurring me towards missions, both locally and globally, for a while, and He began using this couple to prick my heart for this place. BUT, however passionately they spoke and however heart-tugging their photos were, Ethiopia and its seas of precious children living on the streets was not really real to me.

You know how this is, don’t you? You hear about this beautiful destination from a friend, but, until you see it for yourself, it just seems like a dream. Or everyone tells you how having a child will rock your world, but you don’t really “get it” until the nurse puts that baby in your arms for the first time or you’re up at 2 a.m. with him/her screaming their lungs out. Or you see the commercials for sponsorship of starving, hopeless children in impoverished countries, and they seem like characters in a movie until one of them is glued to your lap and puts his finger on your chest and says, ...

You can click the ellipsis above to continue reading.

All's grace,

rachael

Who am I, Lord?

Disclaimer: The line spacing and hyperlink color issues on this post are driving me batty. Maybe I'm a little OCD? I can't get them fixed though. Fellow bloggers, is WordPress easier to deal with?

Considering it’s been six whole months since my last post, and before that, posts were pretty sparse, it’s safe to say a lot of life has happened that I haven’t been recording here. I hate that because this writing (and photographing) thing is probably my favorite “outlet,” and I have the memory of a goldfish so I need to log my thoughts and smatterings of life to have any hope of recollection. But I’ve just had to resign myself to the fact that during the school year, my days are just too jam-packed to squeeze in writing for myself. (Especially this year when I changed schools and grade levels mid-October! Ahh! But a really good “ahh!” God is so good.) So in lieu of blogging, I’ve been thankful for Instagram—it’s like a quick, mini blog for me. Anyway, that was an extremely long and maybe pointless introduction to the real reason I’m writing today: I’ve just returned (on 6/17) from a mission trip to Ethiopia. And I’m not the same. And that’s what I was praying for.

I’m still trying to process everything I saw and experienced while I was there and praying that God will continue to work out all that He taught and is teaching me into my daily life back here at home in the U.S. So I’m sure this won’t be the only post that revolves around this place on the globe that now has a huge chunk of my heart. Actually I wasn’t even planning to write today, but as I was filling out the trip evaluation form (something our church asks each team member to complete), my answer to one of the questions became a bit longer than what is probably typical for a response on a “form;” hence this post.

This question led me to explain probably the most significant thing God revealed to me while in Ethiopia.

Q: “How has your perspective and understanding of God changed because of your experience?”    

A (expanded a little in this post): I think this experience gave me a more tangible understanding of a truth I have been trying to learn for the past couple of years now (first presented to me in a book I read, One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp): “All is grace.” I had a moment during/after our debrief on Monday night (6/10) where I was really wrestling with the fact that these precious kids I had just been with all day, two of whom were going to sleep in a tree that night, didn’t “deserve” this terrible, poverty-stricken, lonely, hopeless life they were living. I remember thinking, “They didn’t ask for this, didn’t do anything wrong—they’re just kids—kids who were born into a mess.” And then it hit me—and hit me hard—just like these kids don’t deserve this “bad” life, I don’t deserve my “good” one—my abundance of family, friends, material comforts, and assurance of Hope. Of course, I have always said that everything I have/am is a blessing from God and that I am thankful. But I didn’t fully understand at the heart level that what I view as my hard work and accomplishments doesn’t make me “deserve” this “good” life I live. I deserve nothing. Who am I, Lord? And just this morning I read Job 38-42 and was reminded vividly that there is none like God and man is powerless in comparison to Him.

God speaking to Job:

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?

Tell me, if you understand.”

Job 38:4

“Have you ever given orders to the morning,

or shown the dawn it’s place,

that it might take the earth by the edges

and shake the wicked out of it?”

Job 38:12-13

{I have to say as a nerdy English teacher who gets a real thrill out of the use of great imagery, I was wishing I could high-five God when I read these two verses. I mean, seriously! The dawn taking the earth by its coattails and shaking the wicked out of it?! Who but God could orchestrate that image?}

“Do you give the horse his strength

or clothe his neck with a flowing mane?”

Job 39:19

“Do you have an arm like God’s,

and can your voice thunder like His?”

Job 40:9

Job’s response to God:

“I know that You can do all things;

no plan of yours can be thwarted.”

Job 42:2

So to answer the question, I think this mission trip experience re-centered and, more importantly, elevated my view of God and humbled my view of self. He is the Sovereign Creator and Sustainer of the universe and yet He gave all up for me and daily pursues me in my mess. When I have the right view of God, worshiping him with my life—being on mission with Him—becomes a joy and the only natural thing to do.

And if I truly believe that God is good—only and wholly good— and that He is sovereign, then I can trust that all—the good and the bad— is a gift. Somehow—even the despairing mess of many of Ethiopia’s children’s lives—all is grace.

I’ve quoted this musing from G.K. Chesterton on my blog before, but I just have to again:

            Here dies another day

      During which I have had eyes, ears, hands

      And the great world ‘round me;

      And with tomorrow begins another.

      Why am I allowed two?

So as jumbled and rambling as it is, there’s my first post on Ethiopia. I wondered what it might be. There have been and are a myriad of things swarming through my mind and heart since I hit the ground there and then returned here. I journaled pages and pages throughout the trip, and there are countless images of faces, especially the sweet little ones, that are seared in my mind. I’m praying for the grace not to forget and to continue putting His love in action here in the U.S. and somehow there, too.

*If you are interested in reading a day-by-day account of our trip, you can visit The Forsaken Children’s blog. I was blessed to have the opportunity to try to capture the time for our team and those supporting us back home.

A few of my favorite snapshots (in a really weird order and only from my phone since I mainly relied on one of our awesome team members who acted as photographer all week!)…

{Loved hanging out with these fun boys at the half-way home and watching the one in blue show us his dance moves!}

All the girls except for 2 on our team!

{The little boy who stole my heart and stuck to me like glue for most of the week.}

{God's majesty on the flight into Frankfurt, Germany on the way home.}

{Again God's great artistry from the plane on the flight to Ethiopia after our brief stop in Sudan}

{Loved getting to know this sweet and hilarious girl from the half-way home!}

{On a street near where we stayed. The domes have chickens for sale in them.}

{View of the city, Addis Ababa, from a restaurant.}

26 Things {12/19/12}

My hubs...He's 26 today.

 

 And here's 26 reasons why I love and am thankful for him...
 

1. He loves sports and wants me to watch games with him.

2. He followed me to Starkville, and he cheers for the Bulldawgs.

3. He has an entrepreneurial spirit.

4. He tells me he loves me at least twice a day.

5. He makes me laugh.

6. He forgives quickly.

7. He takes care of our yard.

8. He takes care of our cars himself (oil changes and anything else they need.)

9. He is wise with finances, but knows we can't take it with us when we go.

10. He helps clean our house.

11. He helps me grade papers.

12. He loves me unconditionally.

13. He sends me funny texts. And sweet ones, too.

14. He reminds me to chill out and that "every little thing is gonna be alright."

15. He never gossips or says anything negative about anyone.

16. He is not easily angered.

17. He plays with Reggie (our puppy child.)

18. He is an awesome uncle to Taylor and Lane.

19. His big brown eyes. (Really, just his handsomeness all around.)

20. He loves music and concerts.

21. He tolerates my love of antiques even though they aren't his style.

22. He works hard.

23. He works out.

24. He is supportive of my dreams.

25. He likes putting Christmas lights on our house.

26. He can figure anything out.

Happy Birthday, baby! I love you. A lot. A lot.