I finished reading through the whole Bible for the first time today and just wanted to share!  :)  This was my epic grand finale:

Habakkuk’s Prayer

3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.^[a]

² Lord, I have heard of your fame;
    I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord.
Repeat them in our day,
    in our time make them known;    in wrath remember mercy.

³ God came from Teman,
    the Holy One from Mount Paran.^[b]
His glory covered the heavens
    and his praise filled the earth.
⁴ His splendor was like the sunrise;
    rays flashed from his hand,
    where his power was hidden.
⁵ Plague went before him;
    pestilence followed his steps.
⁶ He stood, and shook the earth;
    he looked, and made the nations tremble.
The ancient mountains crumbled
    and the age-old hills collapsed—    but he marches on forever.
⁷ I saw the tents of Cushan in distress,
    the dwellings of Midian in anguish.

⁸ Were you angry with the rivers, Lord?
    Was your wrath against the streams?
Did you rage against the sea
    when you rode your horses
    and your chariots to victory?
⁹ You uncovered your bow,
    you called for many arrows.
You split the earth with rivers;
¹⁰     the mountains saw you and writhed.
Torrents of water swept by;
    the deep roared
    and lifted its waves on high.

¹¹ Sun and moon stood still in the heavens
    at the glint of your flying arrows,
    at the lightning of your flashing spear.
¹² In wrath you strode through the earth
    and in anger you threshed the nations.
¹³ You came out to deliver your people,
    to save your anointed one.
You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness,
    you stripped him from head to foot.
¹⁴ With his own spear you pierced his head
    when his warriors stormed out to scatter us,
gloating as though about to devour
    the wretched who were in hiding.
¹⁵ You trampled the sea with your horses,
    churning the great waters.

¹⁶ I heard and my heart pounded,
    my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones,
    and my legs trembled.
Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity
    to come on the nation invading us.
¹⁷ Though the fig tree does not bud
    and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
    and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
    and no cattle in the stalls,
¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the Lord,    I will be joyful in God my Savior.

¹⁹ The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
    he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
    he enables me to tread on the heights.

Night-Bloomin' Cactus!

Have you ever noticed how many different flowers there are?!  It is crazy- it is currently springtime and so many different styles and colors and scents of flowers are everywhere.  It is so cool because God definitely did not have to make them that way- they could have all been the same color and design but he showed his creativity and joy as he made each one.

My sister sent me a picture of a plant she had been nursing for over a year that FINALLY grew a flower.  It reminded me of that cactus flower that only blooms one night a year (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightblooming_cereus).  How crazy is it that this beautiful flower only comes one night a year?!!  Not even in the day time- you have to be out there waiting and expecting it.

As I was on a morning walk (Sidenote: morning walks are a great way to start your day in the stillness and coolness of a spring morning) pondering the issues of life and admiring my neighbors success at having pretty flowers- it struck me that flowers are a really good representation of the relationships we have with people.  Sometimes they are constantly blooming for the summer- but some only bloom for a short season.  Sometimes they pop up where you don’t expect them and were not even looking for them. Some you intentionally start from a seed and take delight seeing them grow and blossom. Some are not where they should be, killing off other things and have to be weeded out.  Others feel like my sister’s plant- where you water and tend to it and it seems like nothing is happening. 

If you are in that situation- let night-blooming cactus be an encouragement to you… it may only happen one night a year, but it will be so beautiful when that relationship does blossom!  And it will be worth all the time and pain that went into it- but you have to be there expectantly waiting.  If you run away even for a weekend, you could miss the one night it blooms!

Here Comes the Bride

It has been way too long- life has been really busy- Acl surgery… recovery…Texas trip… weddings… my grandmother passed away… ah!  I apologize for keeping my thoughts selfishly all to me and say thank you to my friend who called me out on not writing for a while. I appreciate that someone reads and looks forward to the crazy thoughts God gives me when I give Him the time to slow my life and listen (I’m sure he has tons more to share).

This post is wedding themed.  It has been a theme of the year really… I found myself at one of my male friends weddings this spring.  It was so much fun!  While I did not know the bride, I was really excited for both of them because I knew what a solid man my friend is, what a great husband he would be, and because I saw a small glimpse of his excitement for this girl at the beginning of their relationship… He is a man of God and someone whom I know was seeking a girl to pursue and love God alongside through life. 

As we were awaiting the ceremony and guests were filing in, I got to thinking… 

[Background- I love how marriage is an amazing institution from God which represents Christ (the groom) and his bride (the church) (see Ephesians 5: 25-33 below) so that is usually something on my mind, at weddings especially] 

In the same way that I was excited for my friend and trusted the bride he had chosen because I know his character- that is how we as a church should feel every time someone accepts Christ.  Whether we know the individual or not, It is as if we are at Christ’s wedding- we know him, the groom. We know who he is and how he loves because as the church we are his bride and already experience it.  How excited are you to know that this person gets to now experience that overwhelming patient, joyous, all-encompassing, unfailing, compassionate love? We should be STOKED! That must be why the angels have a party every time a lost sheep is found! (Luke 15)

When we get to experience someone accepting him into their lives it is like being at a wedding where you know the groom and are so excited because you know how wonderful he is and how blessed that bride is going to be.  We can delight because we know that Jesus has chosen them- and because we love him we too can rejoice in his choice. His bride gets to have the ultimate groom for eternity- not just an earthly lifetime.  How delightful is that- and what a great reminder weddings are of the love that God has for us.  It makes my heart smile just thinking about it and humbled that such a perfect groom would choose us, such imperfect and broken brides.

Ephesians 5:25-33

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.