What I've Been Up To: Past & Present

It's one of those days. Indecisive skies, one minute cloudy with signs of rain and the next too sunny to handle. That's the Valley for ya! Today was my last day of summer school so I bid farewell to Mexico's Contemporary Lit. and all of it's fascinating Novelas. I want to share a blog post that I planned on sharing weeks ago but I just couldn't find the right time or moment. It'll help make more sense of what I want to get at.

{Excerpt} ///The past two weeks have been interesting. Let's just say they involved one can of beach glass paint, a few trips to Lowes, long nights spent with my best friend in the world, my sister hiding in my closet on the only patch of carpet left, the living room turning into my bedroom, and me crashing on the couch with two pillows and my corral-colored blanket. It all started the week I got sick and after that my Dad made the decision to get rid of the carpet; However, while my family and I just let the idea roll off our backs my friend told my dad he'd take it out himself. He did. I love him so much. Lord knows him and I were expecting wooden floors after the drastic change but because of finances that project has been on hold. So here I am now lying down in my comfy bed tonight with bare wood left after being stripped of it's old carpet. I must say though that the view of the lights flashing outside my window and the stars slightly above are gorgeous. Really. It's been a long time since I've stopped and looked. Sometimes God leads us into peculiar situations, uncharted territory, only so that we can stop for a little while and enjoy the view. My nights spent on the couch had their reward too: midnight Bible readings by the lamp next to my momentary "bed" and getting to watch the moon through the half circle window above the front door. All these changes made me think of how one small, seemingly insignificant event, can become a catalyst for something big. I'm learning to love and appreciate the small, the lowly, the underestimated. God works wonders with these sorts of things. It reminds me of how much He would insist that Israel's armies be as small as possible. God is easier to see when the loud background is faded out. What I've been learning is that the good, the bad, the ugly, and the just plain weird are a way of God saying "I'm still here." Those small things that you can't seem to find joy in are going to cause something bigger to show up and the right door will open because God is faithful...He is full of faith. When God asks us to have faith in order to see Him He's asking us to place Him above all else as number one in our hearts, with single-hearted devotion.///

Joining past and present thoughts now. I drove up in my Dad's Dodge truck (borrowed momentarily) today after school and walked inside the kitchen to find a medium can of white paint waiting for me on the table. Let's just say that after the second day of painting my friend and I made a few slip ups (oops lol). We finished though, kinda, and that's what counts. Goodbye dark pink and hello beach glass! My floor still isn't set up but my parents decided to put my bed in anyways because I think they were starting to feel so bad about me sleeping on the couch. So I am now in my room, on my bed, sipping jugo de jamaica (jamaica juice), with a grateful heart. In a bit I'm probably going to watch Hallmark Movie Channel (because I love their sweet movies) or wedding shows on TLC while I paint, go for my night run, and then get in some Bible reading time that I'm craving so much of.

My Expression: {2}

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The words that come out of our mouths have power. What were to happen if we were to speak life 100% of the time? Unmeasurable and glorious things for sure. I challenge you and I as children of God, as worshipers, to choose our words wisely. Let us glorify the Lord with our mouths. Guard your heart and store inside of it all that will cause your lips to bless the Father.

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(Psalm 103:1-5)

Praise the Lord, my soul;all my inmost being, 

praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul,

    and forget not all his benefits—who forgives 

all your sins and heals all your diseases, who 

redeems your life from the pit and crowns you 

with love and compassion, who satisfies 

your desires with good things so that your 

youth is renewed like the eagle’s

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Our souls should have many reasons to sing! The Lord here promises us six beautiful benefits: to forgive our sins, to heal our diseases, to redeem our lives, to crown us with love and compassion, to satisfy our desires with good things so that all of these things together will cause us to be renewed like eagles.

Let us be grateful. In the natural sense before I even step up to an altar to sing before the Lord I remember how good He has been to me, how faithful, and how loving. From all that love welled up inside of me come real lyrics that bring liberation by the Holy Spirit and ultimately lead to spontaneous and intimate worship (lyrics often times prophetic or more personal that the Holy Spirit wants to convey or a song from me to Him). We have many reasons to sing, to play our instrument, and to express our worship in whatever way that we do but the greatest of these reasons is love. Never forget your first love. Don't sell it, trade it, push it aside, or substitute it. There is only one God who can do the things that God can do and for this and for who He is, all praise and honor are directly for Him. So may the words that come out of our mouths glorify the Lord. If we stumble then let us change our mentality and try again because before we even get a chance to touch the cold floor God's mighty hand will sustain us.

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(Psalm 37:23-24)

The Lord makes firm the steps

    of the one who delights in him;

²⁴ 

though he may stumble, 

he will not fall, for the Lord 

upholds him with his hand.

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Summer Surprises!

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As of lately so many new things have been going on in my life. Something that I'm truly excited about this summer is a worship camp that Daniel and Me are going to start. God put in my heart the need for youth to have something in their lives, something that will take their minds off of them and their problems and put them on God and His promises. Words cannot express how I feel. Oh yes they can!...Grateful! With a grateful heart I announce that our camp will be called "Lifesong Worship Camp." I will be teaching basic vocals and Daniel will be teaching guitar basics, well as basic as basics can get anyway. I really feel like this is going to be a summer that I will never forget. Thursdays we'll be having music classes at home and Bible study will be on Fridays. We've already got some students in line and I just can't wait to see their faces the moment that they make a connection with God. I still remember when I did. And from those moments and beyond I am grateful for everything and everyone that I have met along my journey because God has used them to keep me climbing up to higher spiritual dimension. I just can't wait!

Another biggie is the fact that I love the Bible: I insist on reading and journaling. I mean, if I must be a slave to something, I might as well be a slave to God's word. So far I'm about to finish the book of Numbers on my one year Bible reading challenge and then will go on to the Book of Deuteronomy! Sadly, though, the one year thing doesn't really fit in to the picture so much anymore, what can I say? I love meditating on the word so much and journaling the revelations that God gives me that time just doesn't seem to matter. Those midnight sessions are my favorite times because the house is quiet and it's just so easy to press into the overflow of God's Spirit. It feels so peaceful to just lie down and crack open my two books and get to highlighting. The fasting get's me feeling stronger and the praying relaxes every bone in my body. Who needs a spa, right? Love the gym as well! Kudos to my gym for making me feel so pumped every time I go!

Lastly my friends, As you all now, I also started a new blog that was born from deep within my heart. You see worshiping God to me is like drinking water and breathing air. It's a necessity that I'm wired with, that I just wanted to share with others. I felt it necessary in a dying world of worshipers to awaken something in my reader's hearts that would draw them into what true worship is. Forgetting about the me, me, me and recognizing Him, Him, Him. Opening our eyes to what we are allowing to enter our bodies and go straight to our hearts: this involves what we hear, see, and where we go. I'm excited to begin this new project that the Lord put in my heart because if I am taught something new, my first instinct is to share it with others. Enjoy my lovely bloggers and don't forget to post a comment or two! God bless!

Thanksgiving: A Grateful Heart

Greetings friends! I hope everyone had a blessed thanksgiving! Yesterday was a great day- I got to spend time with those I love and took many trips down memory lane with a very special someone. This morning I woke up and began to really ponder over the things I am grateful for and how sometimes I might only say thank you do God for those obviously important people and things in my life, but...I want to dig deeper...I have too. God's done so many wonderful things for me that might even go unnoticed. Kind of like those prayers that He answers that we forget ever asking. I don't ever want to forget...God is faithful! You are faithful Lord and you keep all of your promises. I just want to take this time to thank the Lord for those special and subtle petitions He's answered and blessed me with: they might not make since because it's sort of an inside-prayer type of thing between God and I but I'm sure someone out there could relate to some of these thank yous.

(Psalm 136:1) Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.

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Thank you Lord for our first encounter. That day when you found me where I was and took me in your arms and promised to never leave me. Thank you for your sacrifice Jesus...for my salvation...where would I be without You?...Lost...completely lost and lonely, in need of You father. Thanks so much for placing me in the right place because many months ago I made a prayer to you in church for You to transition me and transport me like a chair where You wanted me to be. Like always you kept your promise! Thank you for being with me in those times when I felt so sensitive and fragile like a glass vase. I felt like I couldn't take the pain...I didn't want to sing anymore. It wasn't your fault! What was I thinking at that time, feeling like You'd abandoned me. You didn't. You watched as I helplessly fought to breathe through those agonizing tears and gasps of air. You broke through the silence, through the sadness in my heart and gave me once again a reason to live for. Thank you, thank you, thank you for giving be the ability to praise You, God, with my voice. Thank you for accepting my life song! I love you for putting by my side my best friend on this earth and for allowing us to praise you together. When the notes of my heart and strokes on his guitar meet our worship becomes the best part of us that we can give You. Thank you because I'm not alone. Thank you because you've not only given me family in Christ to love but for the family You have given me that lives to serve you. Thank you for that day in the bathroom when I asked you for a favor asked as a simple joke between me and I- You made it happen. My parents were blessed that day in church. Thank you. If I kept going Lord, I think Blogger would run out of text space because I could go on and on. You've done so many things, oh so many things. I want to say thank you for the little big things that You do for me: Thanks a bunch for the parking space you had ready for me at school, You know how close I was to being late for UNIV and how badly I didn't not want to walk all the way from where I was "supposed" to park. Hee hee. Thank you! Gracias Padre santo! Many many thanks for helping me exactly afford that package of scan trons right before my American Heritage quiz. Whew! That was a close call. Thank you. I'm so grateful for the opportunity that you've given me to meet these new teens at the church that you have Daniel and I worshipping in. I just want to ask you for one thing before I go on and I know that You are listening: Please guard their hearts...they've gone through so much and they need you to show them Your way. They're willing to worship you Father but a pray for a complete transformation in their life to the point that they are filled with so much love that they no longer remember their past. Keep them safe always Lord...Thank You.

All that I have thanked you for father is just a tiny truffle of what You deserve to hear, God, but all of this comes from me and from the bottom to top of a grateful heart. Thank You.