Soap for Jesus

Waiting here, waiting for You, God, With our hopes and fears we come. ~Tenth Avenue North, Lift Us Up To Fall Ah me, I do love that band. A song that's appropriate for practically any situation. Waiting, waiting. You all know me. I am not the most patient of people. And that is probably the understatement of the year. I'm bull headed and I bash my head up a door - any door - no matter how thin or thick, until I get an answer. And if it's not the answer I want? Well. Why, at this time in my life, has God called me to wait upon Him? Over the next few weeks, a life changing decision over what I will do with my future will be made. Me being me, I want an answer RIGHT NOW. I mean, who wants to wait while it's happening? There's a great possibility of pain at the end, while, on the other, a possibility of more waiting. I'm starting to realise that as I pray and seek God's Will over this, that NO MATTER WHAT the outcome is, that He's giving me a unique growing-...

The next hymn reminds that no matter what happens at the end of the waiting period, Jesus doeth ALL things well. All the Way My Saviour Leads Me; written by Frances Jane Crosby van Alstyne. The music is written by Robert Lowry (probably most famous for "Low in the Grave He Lay"). All the way my Savior leads me; What have I to ask beside? Can I doubt His tender mercy, Who through life has been my Guide? Heav’nly peace, divinest comfort, Here by faith in Him to dwell! For I know, whate’er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well; For I know, whate’er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well. All the way my Savior leads me, Cheers each winding path I tread; Gives me grace for every trial, Feeds me with the living Bread. Though my weary steps may falter, And my soul athirst may be, Gushing from the Rock before me, Lo! A spring of joy I see; Gushing from the Rock before me, Lo! A spring of joy I see. All the way my Savior leads me O the fullness of His love! Perfect rest to me is prom...

A few moments ago, I typed out the lyrics to this wonderful hymn on Google Buzz. Travelling over the internet to the site of Cyber Hymnal , I picked up the other two verses. At a time of waiting and seeking to know the will of God, this hymn and one other keep powerfully coming back to my heart. Be Still, My Soul; written by Katharina von Schlegel and translated by Jane Borthwick. The tune is Finlandia - national anthem of Finland - written by Jean Sibelius. The Scripture running across the screen of the Cyber Hymnal page reads this. Be still, and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10 Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side. Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain. Leave to thy God to order and provide; In every change, He faithful will remain. Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end. Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake To guide the future, as He has the past. Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake; All now mysterious shall be...

We recently bought and watched the musical "My Fair Lady". Being the song lover - and the musical lover - that I am, I fell fast in love with the above mentioned song. Have nearly got it off pat already. ;) For those of you who have never heard it, here is the beauty of "I Could've Danced All Night", with the stunning Audrey Hepburn and the glorious voice dub of Marni Nixon.

Christmas. A time of peace and joy and family and loving and giving. A time to remember the cause of the celebration - the Lord Jesus, the God of all, becoming smaller than the full stop at the end of this sentence. One of the things I love about Christmas is a childish anticipation that usually possesses me at the beginning of December, a gay* abandonment of spirit, excitement at the approach. Second thing I love most is when one goes out on Christmas Day, with a smile on one's face...people walking past beam back at you and the happy greeting of "Merry Christmas!" is exchanged. For me, that symbolises a little the line, "peace on earth, goodwill to all men." This year was one of the worst Christmases. We ran a high risk of not being able to get my brother home; my sister was living on our living room floor. Most of the days were spent trying to sort problems out and waiting hand and foot on Ayanna. Out of our usual stock of mince pies, rum truffles and marzipa...

It's rare that I post a link from one blog to another. I prefer to keep them seperate so that my followers on one tend not to follow the other. However, I want to link this across as I would like all my followers to read it. :) Poema ~ Jane Johnson: First Kiss : Do you know how easy it is to destroy every defence you built up for emotional purity? For two years after God delivered me from a foolish attachment I had got deeply emotionally involved with, I fought a battle for emotional purity. For over a year, I also fought a battle with a growing attraction to a young non-Christian cadet sergeant at my Squadron. In October 2009, I learned that he was going to leave the Squadron. Suddenly. It had a shell-shock effect, because his father - our commanding officer - had been backbitten out, and it was a horrible mess. The six of us working to uphold the Squadron had become a very close knit bunch. I spent a day with my uncle and aunt. They saw I was depressed and asked why. I told them....