The summer is almost over, (very) sadly enough. It is difficult to imagine how I have been so blessed, but then again, we serve the God who is Love...so it's not that hard to imagine. Bullets on this summer:
- Summer Staff- sweet Windy Gap and all the amazing brothers and sisters we served with there!
- Rockbridge with Chesapeake YL- so blessed to know and love those girls!
- Sheville- our community is changing...we are all growing together still, sharing in the heart of Jesus
- Voice- found out that I have vocal nodes (callouses on my vocal chords), was not allowed to talk for a week in hopes of healing them, do not know what this year will look like but I am growing in this challenge of trusting the Lord!
- Josh and Ally's wedding- oh my goodness...what a BEAUTIFUL picture of the Gospel, a celebration of Christ in Josh and Ally with our closest friends and family, thank you for letting me be apart of that wonderful weekend
- Maine vacation with my family- who knew the Braham family was so adventurous! Rock climbing, flying in open-cockpit airplanes, white water rafting, mountain biking, and lots of hiking made for an exhausting and super fun week! Thanks mom, dad, and Austin =)
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| eno nap? heck yes |
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| So blessed by and grateful for this family |
I will arise and follow you over
Savior please, pilot meOver the waves and through every sorrow
Savior please, pilot me
When I have no more strength left to follow
Fall on my knees, pilot me
May your sun rise and lead me on over the seas,
Savior pilot me
Oh Lord...
This summer has brought about much more uncertainty than I had planned...who plans on or likes being uncertain? Nonetheless, I am being stretched and even demanded to rely on Him who sends the uncertainty. How unnatural it feels to trust the One who sends "ambiguity," but that is the grace in it...having faith that His unknown (to me) plans are more beneficial to me and to His kingdom brings me more joy and peace than I can ever produce myself! I want to and must TRUST that He is wholly for me, that He is sovereign and holy and can do nothing but glorify Himself, not at the cost of our joy or the good of others, but for and through them! The desire to be led by His Spirit and His Word is alive and compelling me to trust His lead...
I love this song because it doesn't make sense. To the World, the text and all its implications are not the most uppity or compelling- it says that we cannot do it ourselves, we need something/Someone to lead us, and that Something won't even save us from suffering. However, to those of us blessed ones who are in this life to know and fall more in love with Christ, it can be a freeing proclamation of His sovereignty and that He is trustworthy and good enough to lead us. The light-heartedness of the flutes, head-voice, and ukuleles, et cetera, describes that precious peace we have when we are in trusting Him. Manning says in Ruthless Trust that God enjoys and cherishes our love, but may even long for our trust: to say, "I love you" is not as risky and bold as saying, "I trust you."
We went to my sweet Nana and Papa's house earlier this summer, it was a very special visit. My Nana loves keepsakes, she loves pieces of our family's history, and she loves people, particularly our family. She has kept years and years of letters, poems, gifts, any little thing that shows someone's heart. She showed me a scrapbook full of these treasures. I loved hearing about my family, but mostly I love seeing Nana's heart for people, I love tearing up with Nana. We stumbled on this poem that her grandma wrote; it has seemingly become a little mantra in my heart, something I hold very dear:
Lord, for today my desire is to love you by trusting you, for you alone are good, you are holy, and you are worthy of all of me. Whatever tomorrow holds, whatever your plans for my school look like, wherever you have me sing, whoever you have me love, Jesus, won't you lead me? Savior, please pilot me!
Psalm 119:32- I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free! v. 35- Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.
Galatians 5:18- But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.I guess the point is that God is sovereign- He is wholly good and wholly just, He has control and the grace to love us through that control. With this gift, through Christ, is life! Fullness! Joy! Freedom! Abandon to the world, including myself, my selfish desires, my dry regard for His people. There is literally no need or point in worrying, we are set in eternity; His glory is already marked by our faith and how He has chosen to grow and use us.
I love this song because it doesn't make sense. To the World, the text and all its implications are not the most uppity or compelling- it says that we cannot do it ourselves, we need something/Someone to lead us, and that Something won't even save us from suffering. However, to those of us blessed ones who are in this life to know and fall more in love with Christ, it can be a freeing proclamation of His sovereignty and that He is trustworthy and good enough to lead us. The light-heartedness of the flutes, head-voice, and ukuleles, et cetera, describes that precious peace we have when we are in trusting Him. Manning says in Ruthless Trust that God enjoys and cherishes our love, but may even long for our trust: to say, "I love you" is not as risky and bold as saying, "I trust you."
We went to my sweet Nana and Papa's house earlier this summer, it was a very special visit. My Nana loves keepsakes, she loves pieces of our family's history, and she loves people, particularly our family. She has kept years and years of letters, poems, gifts, any little thing that shows someone's heart. She showed me a scrapbook full of these treasures. I loved hearing about my family, but mostly I love seeing Nana's heart for people, I love tearing up with Nana. We stumbled on this poem that her grandma wrote; it has seemingly become a little mantra in my heart, something I hold very dear:
Myself: By Ida Virginia Royster, "Gaga"
I keep myself serene and calm, I will not let anything alarm.
My inner peace, my self-control, assured that Christ is the Captain of my soul.
Lord, for today my desire is to love you by trusting you, for you alone are good, you are holy, and you are worthy of all of me. Whatever tomorrow holds, whatever your plans for my school look like, wherever you have me sing, whoever you have me love, Jesus, won't you lead me? Savior, please pilot me!
