At the moment...

I'm listening to this song over an over. I listened to it probably 5 or 6 times in a row on my drive home yesterday. Sometimes it made me incredibly peaceful, some it brought tears down my checks. Mostly, it resonated through me as the cry of my soul at this place in time. Be all my hopes, Lord.


Only You

By: David Crowder Band

Take my heart, I lay it down
At the feet of You Who's crowned
Take my life, I'm letting go
I lift it up to You Who's throned

And I will worship You, Lord
Only You, Lord
And I will bow down before You
Only You Lord

Take my fret, take my fear
All I have, I'm leaving here
Be all my hopes, be all my dreams
Be all my delights, be my everything

And it's just You and me here now
Only You and me here now

You should see the view
When it's only You

Click here to watch and listen to this song...and enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPs-2hn5ZOg

~Birthday Excitement~

Well, when all is said and done, I handled turning 31 MUCH better than turning 30! I had a sweet 'girls night out' at Cocina Superior, grabbed "mall cookies" for dessert, and headed back to my apartment to play celebrity Taboo...fun times were had by all. (And I'm very impressed by Sarah Dunn's knowledge of modern pop culture!!)

Saturday was a little more, shall we say, interesting. Heidi and I planned to meet at Ashley's and head out to Moss Rock Preserve for a fun little hike (on what turned out to be one of the most beautiful days I've seen around here for what seems like FOREVER!). Unfortunately on the way, Heidi got a ticket. So arriving late, we all jumped in her car since she had Isaiah, who wasn't feeling well that morning. Arriving at the Preserve, Heidi was in the process of unbuckling Isaiah from the car seat when he threw up. Fun. So she got him out and set him on the ground where he puked a couple more times. Ashley and I helped get him cleaned up and suggested we go back. Nope! When he seemed settled enough, we loaded him in the back pack (complete with do-rag and sweater) and headed off for our hike. He promptly fell asleep and we actually had a great hike!

After the hike, we picked up some chicken salad from Ashley Mac's in Bluff Park and ate out on Ashley's back deck. On the way home, my car started steaming from the upper right side of the hood. I pulled over to check under the hood and realized my radiator had exploded and radiator fluid was everywhere. Some nice man (Thanks Mr. Kelly!?!) pulled over to help, filled my radiator full of distilled water, and found the hole in the upper hose. I drove to the Goodyear in Vestavia and had both hoses replaced. My roommate brought me home but I had to ride my bike back to get my car. It was my first use of my new Mountain Bike I got for Christmas...go figure!?

When I got home, I was so antsy and the weather was so incredible, I went for a four mile run. Ah.

I got dinner with Jeff at Baha Burger (can you believe they were out of sweet potato fries?!) and then we watched WALL-E (which by the way, is quite the disturbing little animated film).

It was a great day and I can't believe how beautiful the weather was. So thankful to have enjoyed it practically all day long!

The End

What Wonderous Love Is This, O My Soul

It's been a full few weeks and I have learned so much that I feel like I've barely had time to process it all. But it's been incredible.

I few weekends ago, I did something very un-Karen-esque...totally spontaneous, and well worth the craziness. I drove to Atlanta (Woodstock actually) on a Sunday after church to see "Travis Cottrell and Friends" (Cindy Morgan and Beth Moore!) in concert and filming for a new live CD/DVD. I stayed with my friend Karen that night, and had a great time catching up. Waking up at 4am to drive back to Birmingham for work at 730am Monday morning (and pretty much risking my life because I was too stubborn to pull over and get coffee even though I was totally nodding off!?!?!) was totally worth watering a friendship, the amazing concert worship experience, and wise words from Beth Moore. All I had to write on during the concert was a Publix receipt...but here are just a few things I needed to hear from this woman:

Sometimes we resist true worship because we don't feel real...whether we are feeling betrayed, confused, doubting, etc. But our transparency is our liberty!...to come in our true state -- as broken people in need of mercy. However, we must come willing to receive. If we are honest with ourselves, there are times we just don't want to do this. In those times, we must cry out to the Lord, "HEAL MY 'WANT TO'!" Come, pour out your all to Him, so as to make room for Him to pour Himself in.
If you've been devastated and brought low because of something/someone in this world, and you stand up again, and Jesus is the only One you see...you've stood up in victory. You've won!
And lastly: Even Peter needed a "shut-up-and-listen" talking-to from God. If you want to know Who Jesus is, see what God has to say in Scripture about His own Son. "My Beloved." God declares His love for Jesus to Peter, right there on the top of Mt. Sinai (see Matthew 17) Flip over a few pages to John 15:9. Jesus is speaking to His disciples: "Just as the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you, abide in My love."

Do I 'abide' in the love that God the Father has for me, His child? Do I believe it? If I can grasp that kind of love, it will change how I see God, how I see others and definitely how I see myself. "Oh righteous Father, although the world has not known Thee, yet I have known Thee; and these have known that Thou didst send Me; and I have made Thy name known to them, and will make it known; that the love wherewith Thou didst love Me may be in them, and I in them." (John 17:25,26)

"The mystery that has been hidden from the past ages and generations; but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of Glory." Colossians 1:26,27

What wonderous Love is this.