O Come All Ye Faithful

O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
Oh come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;
come and behold him, born the King of angels;
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.

Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation,
sing, all ye citizens of heaven above;
glory to God, glory in the highest:
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.

Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born this happy morning;
Jesus, to thee be glory given;
word of the Father, now in flesh appearing:
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.

And It Was Good

I've read the creation story in Genesis many times, but last night I read it a little differently. I didn't just read the words, I tried to picture it as I went through each day. I know my small mind didn't do justice to what actually happened, but I was struck again by just how big my God is. He spoke it and it was and it was good.

Please Pray for Amanda

Update 11/24/07
Amanda is home with her mom. The mother of two of Amanda's friends told Stacey where she was...with her boyfriend. Thanks to those who prayed.

One of my best friends, Stacey Fischer, and her family are searching for Stacey's niece. Amanda ran away from home either late Monday night or early Tuesday morning. Please be in prayer for this family, that the Lord will keep Amanda safe and bring her home soon.

Photos of Amanda Anderson

O Holy Night

One of my favorite Christmas songs is O Holy Night. I've heard that, and other Christmas carols, for years and I can sing the songs without thinking about the lyrics. I'm sure I'm not the only one. The other night, as I was driving home from somewhere, O Holy Night came on and I actually listened to the words. It's amazing to me that at this time of year, people sing songs about the Saviour of the world and don't give it another thought. Next time you are listening to Magic 96, your reheasal cd, or your iPod, and one of these songs comes on, think about the words you are singing. Here is one of my favorite versions of O Holy Night.



O Holy Night

Oh holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appear'd and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
Oh night divine, Oh night when Christ was born;
Oh night divine, Oh night, Oh night Divine.

Led by the light of Faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,
Here come the wise men from Orient land.
The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friend.

He knows our need, to our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before Him lowly bend!
Behold your King, Behold your King.

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name.

Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,
His power and glory evermore proclaim.
His power and glory evermore proclaim.

Well, That Was Different

Dreams fascinate me. I love to hear people talk about their dreams and what they think they mean. I'm not really into dream interpretation, but I do believe that our dreams are often a representation of things going on in our lives. At least that's been true for my life.

I have had three reoccurring dreams throughout my life. The first one was during my childhood and is too weird to try to explain. The second one started in college when my grandfather got sick and I still have it some times. The third has only been part of my sleep for the past, probably 3-4 years. I'll try my best to explain it. The setting is never the same but the general idea of what I'm doing never changes...I'm running. At least I'm trying to run. I'm never running from anything or anyone, but toward something, and I never know what that something is. When I say I'm trying to run, what I mean is, I'm not running very well. My feet and legs don't work properly, I'm not getting very far or running very fast, and it's very laborious. As I watch myself try to run in my dream, I get frustrated and begin thinking that I'll never get to where I'm supposed to be going.

Last nights dream was different. I was still running, and like the other dreams, I have no idea why. But as I was doing so, I remember coaching myself to help me run faster, and it worked. In this dream, I ran fast, my feet and legs did exactly what they were supposed to do, and I actually got to my destination.

I don't want to read too much into this, after all, it was just a dream, but I have thought about this all day and really wonder why, all of a sudden, I was able to run and run well.

Farewell to Shadowlands

I love the Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis. The final book of the series "The Last Battle," paints an incredible picture of Heaven. Bob used the following excerpts in his sermon today.

"It was the Unicorn who summed up what everyone was feeling. He stamped his right fore hoof on the ground and neighed, and then cried: 'I have come home at last! This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now. The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this.'"

"The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning."

"And as [Aslan] spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before."

Mine's Broken

I'm reminded more and more every day just how broken our world truly is. Children are facing death because they can no longer fight with the cancer that is literally taking over their little bodies. Adults take in orphaned or abandoned children, not because they want to care, provide for and love them, but because they will get a measly little check every month. People I love are going through dark, seemingly hopeless times in their lives and are quickly losing the ability to believe it will ever get better. Believers who were once rock solid are now questioning their salvation. I could go on but I'm sure you have your own examples.

By nature, I'm a "fixer". I want to make things better for people; cheer them up; offer them hope. But what I'm learning as I watch so many people I care about go through such poo, is that I can't fix them. And even if I could, it's not up to me to fix their situations. For some reason, this is where the Lord has them for now. Each time I move into "fix it" mode, the Lord gently pulls me back and reminds me that ALL I need to do is love them, pray for them and continue to speak truth to them. He will take care of the rest.

I didn't hear a lot of what Bob said this morning at church. My mind and my heart were on other situations. But one thing I did hear, repeatedly, is that we are exiles here on earth; this is NOT our home. And while we are here, we will suffer and life will suck at times, but this should point our hearts to our true home, with Christ, in Heaven. And there, Jesus will be all we want, not just all we need, our affections won't be divided, we won't despair over sin, hope will be fulfilled, bodies will be made whole again, and people we love will no longer struggle.

Oh how I long for that day.

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like...

CHRISTMAS!!!!!!! I'm so excited about the Christmas season! I've been listening to Christmas music for a few weeks now, thanks to 2 of my friends who started talking about it and singing it even before then. I've changed my music to reflect the season; hope you enjoy!

Highly Recommend

I went to see "Martian Child" tonight with some friends. It far exceeded my expectations and there was a clear gospel message in the end. I HIGHLY recommend anyone see this movie. I look for Bob to use clips from it in the near future.

I also recommend that you take tissue with you. You would have to be dead inside to not cry!

Where Did That Come From?

This is going to be so random, but here goes anyway. Two things were on my mind most of the day: foster children and sporks. I know, the two are completely on opposite ends of the importance continuum but that's how my brain works sometimes.

Foster Children: We have A LOT of foster children in our school. What's up with that? Why is it that some parents can't seem to take care of and do right by their children? For the life of me, I don't understand! If I think about it for too long, it makes me angry. I've considered becoming a foster parent on more than one occasion but I don't think my roommate would like that very much. So, if I can't become a foster parent right now, what can I do? Any thoughts?

Sporks: That's all they use in the lunchroom at school. Who in the world came up with the idea to combine a fork and a spoon? I know some people think they are wonderful but lets be honest, they don't serve either purpose well.

So there you have it...my big thoughts for the day.