A Time

There is a time for sitting by rippling streams and a time for battling raging waters.
There is a time for singing hymns and a time for listening to country music.
Sometimes we write out thoughts and other times we yell phrases to get the same result.
One day we chill out and relax, the next we cram for tests and complete crazy amounts of work.
There are days set apart for long phone calls with friends, shopping trips, dancing in the rain, pumpkin spice coffee, and good books. But even more are the days for diligent study, frugality, and the work of life.
There is a time for texting everyone and a time for setting people aside and turning to God.
There's a time for brutal honesty, when the air needs to be clear and facades exposed. Yet often we find it is the time for tact and loving concealment of truths that will only cause pain.
There's a time for answering the question and a time for questioning if they need the answer. 

There's a time for walking away from a comfortable conversation with an old friend to introduce yourself to a new one and there's a time to stay and talk to the same person for hours.
There is a time for silence so deep it shouts and a time for noise so loud you cant hear your own thoughts.

Some moments are for laughter, others for tears.
There was a time for miraculous healings and now is a time for faithfully waiting.
There is a time for pain, just know that joy will follow.
There's a time for space, don't fear it, just trust. 

There's a time for storms, but have hope as your anchor. 

Happy moments are for good memories and painful lessons are for learning.
Doors are there to be walked through, faith is for making that leap, and Scripture is for lighting the way.
There is a time for standing up to face a spiritual fight and a time for fleeing temptation. 

Sometimes the good in life is clear but sometimes blessings come through raindrops and tears bring the healing we need.

A time for crawling through the mud of spiritual warfare and a time for opening your arms under the cleansing water of God's grace. 

There is an evening for golden sunsets and one for dark storm clouds full of pain. 

Letting go and holding on both have there own place.
Moving forward and looking back are two steps in the same race.
There's a time for waiting patiently and one for rushing ahead.
Amongst all of this...
There is always time for love

A War Already Won

Our God is really really good. In the midst of the bad in our lives, He gives us His promises, He gives us friends, and He gives us encouragement. As I was fighting recently, a good friend of mine sent me a poem she had just written. It was the kind of thing that you read and you think, "wow, I really needed to hear that" and then read it again and again. Her words have really blessed me by reminding me Who my Savior and King is: He is the One Who has already won the war. I wanted to share these words with you this week and I hope you are encouraged through them like I was. 

This is,
"A War Already Won",
by Maggie Hayes.


I know you’re hurting.
I know this weight is crippling,
That it seems like the sin keeps winning
And that the only option is to lose.

I know why you keep hiding;
Shame you feel is gripping,
Guilt continues piling,
But please know I’ve been there too.

I know what it’s like to keep loosing,
To keep pretending,
To twist a rubber band for coping.
I’ve been abused too.

I know it’s not the same thing.
There’s difference in struggling,
But I want you to know there is a new beginning
And some really good news.

Alone, is something you are not.
Forsaken, is something you are not.
Unforgivable, is something you are not.
Unworthy, is something you are not.

Someone went through complete abandon so you may not be alone.
You don’t get to sit here in self pity because of what you have done, someone has given you an opportunity to live.
Choose life.
Someone was completely forsaken so that you may be known.
I know this thought might be scary, and give you an uneasy feeling, but it’s so sweet to be known by Someone who cares.
To not have to carry this burden of cares.
Someone who says, “come. Come. come. Lay down your sin I will set you free. My burden is easy. Please take it instead and I will carry all this weight in your head.”
You’re completely known.
Someone was beaten, crucified, and buried so you may be forgiven. Come confess and let go.
Someone is rest to the weary soul.
Someone doesn’t grow tired of us coming and asking to be forgiven no matter how far we’ve strayed. But in the end our debt is paid because that Someone who was beaten, crucified, and buried rose from that grave. Paying the debt we deserved.
You’re forgiven.
Someone Worthy died in your place.
You are priceless and redeemed,
seen as spotless before the King so there’s no more reason for shame.
Live life a son or daughter of the Someone who saw you and said,
“You’re worth it.”

I know you are fighting.
And like me, possibly losing,
But we can come carrying
All the weight and lay it down
At the feet of Jesus our Savior and King.

what am i?

we are not even worthy to be crushed beneath His feet but He walked the earth and left us as a footprint, an image of Himself. this was the genesis of our race, from dust but for a glorious purpose.

what am i to deny Him the glory He deserves? yet i turn again and again away from the King that gave me life. what am i to hope for anything beyond punishment for my fallen state?

what am i that God would create a glorious paradox for me? that on the cross, justice would meet mercy? what am i that when You rose from the grave it was my name on Your lips? You said those 30+ years were worth it if just i believe. You said it was worth it for me.

what am i to be "hidden in Christ" as though sin were nothing more than the villain in a giant game of hide and seek and i already safe in a heavenly peace that conceals me from view?

what am i that i am set apart to be raised up in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet sound? my flesh will finally die and i will be raised up to what is imperishable.

paradise was lost but it will be regained when even the lost bow a knee before our returning king. what am i to get to look forward to witnessing that? what am i that the God who created the rock that would travel the world and end up at a factory which makes it into plastic that becomes the pen i write with, what am i that that God would notice me? the God that created the stars and commanded them seven years ago to send out light to illuminate the sky on a wonderfilled night in Kansas so that a girl would look up and see His love for her, what am i that that God would choose me, love me, save me?

what am i to question God? yet even David, the man after God's own heart, wrote out laments, wrote out prayers, wrote out his desperate questions in the dark. we are allowed to express our doubt to Him, loudly we can question where He is and why He won't take away the pain. what are we to be allowed to do that without getting struck down immediately? but He still gives grace and leans down in the middle of a storm to whisper replies to our shouts.

holiness strikes fear so deep we would never run to our Maker but He ran His race for us, throwing aside the sin that entangles us He nailed our separation from God to the cross and across the world His last words, "It is finished" have brought hope to creatures such as i.

Created. Fallen. Forgiven. Saved. Hopeful.

this is what i am. loved with a crazy love i can't understand. i am but dust, a frail weak frame known fully from birth. i am but a sinner, loved and called. a footprint of a perfect God, i was created from dust for a glorious purpose.