Dear Refuge of My Weary Soul

Dear Refuge of My Weary Soul

Dear refuge of my weary soul,
On Thee, when sorrows rise
On Thee, when waves of trouble roll,
My fainting hope relies
To Thee I tell each rising grief,
For Thou alone canst heal
Thy Word can bring a sweet relief,
For every pain I feel

But oh! When gloomy doubts prevail,
I fear to call Thee mine
The springs of comfort seem to fail,
And all my hopes decline
Yet gracious God, where shall I flee?
Thou art my only trust
And still my soul would cleave to Thee
Though prostrate in the dust

Hast Thou not bid me seek Thy face,
And shall I seek in vain?
And can the ear of sovereign grace,
Be deaf when I complain?
No still the ear of sovereign grace,
Attends the mourner's prayer
Oh may I ever find access,
To breathe my sorrows there

Thy mercy seat is open still,
Here let my soul retreat
With humble hope attend Thy will,
And wait beneath Thy feet,
Thy mercy seat is open still,
Here let my soul retreat
With humble hope attend Thy will,
And wait beneath Thy feet

Heard this story at church this morning...

In 1960, Israeli undercover agents orchestrated the daring kidnapping of one of the worst of the Holocaust masterminds, Adolf Eichmann. After capturing him in his South American hideout, they transported him to Israel to stand trial. There, prosecutors called a string of former concentration camp prisoners as witnesses. One was a small haggard man named Yehiel Dinur, who had miraculously escaped death in Auschwitz. On his day to testify, Dinur entered the courtroom and stared at the man in the bulletproof glass booth- the man who had murdered Dinur's friends, personally executed a number of Jews, and presided over the slaughter of millions more. As the eyes of the two men met-victim and murderous tyrant-the courtroom fell silent, filled with the tension of the confrontation.
But no one was prepared for what happened next.
Yehiel Dinur began to shout and sob, collapsing to the floor.
Was he overcome by hatred...by the horrifying memories...by the evil incarnate in Eichmann's face?
No. As he later explained in a riveting "60 minutes" interview, it was because Eichmann was not the demonic personification of evil Dinur had expected.
Rather, he was an ordinary man, just like anyone else. And in that one instant, Dinur came to the stunning realization that sin and evil are the human condition.
"I was afraid about myself," Dinur said, "I saw that I am capable to do this...exactly like he."

Dinur's remarkable statements caused Mike Wallace to turn to the camera and ask the audience the most painful of all questions: "How was it possible...for a man to act as Eichmann acted? Was he a monster? A madman? Or was he perhaps something even more terrifying...was he normal?"

We Wait For You

"Solid Ground" by Shelly Moore Band

Hearts are broken, walls fall down
Oh the walls come crashing down
Pillars of strength, now piles of rubble
In tears we try to make sense of this puzzle
Seasons will change
Colors will fade
These notes will be heard no more
One day the pain
Will cease to remain
Because this was never a story about me

Hearts are hurting, faith is shifting
But our souls don’t rest on sand
A picture of youth, now reminds us of glory
Because this was never a story about me

For now we cry
Wiping the tears from our eyes
And we wait for You
We wait for You
You are making all things new


Revelation 21:3-5-"And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."

These things made me laugh...

These are all from the Fail blog, it's pretty funny:

This is suppose to stop food from getting into your hair.






This one is definitely my favorite!!!

Drops Like Stars

Drops Like Stars is a book written by Rob Bell. Most people have mixed feelings about the other books he has written, some people really like him while other people don't believe that he speaks complete truth, but this book, in my opinion, is awesome! It might simply be because of where I am in life right now but reading this book has been so good for me. The book is very easy to read, it took me a little more than an hour to read it and reading is definitely not a strong point of mine.
These are some of my favorite quotes from the book:
-"If we aren't careful, our success and security and abundance can lead to a certain sort of boredom, a numbing predictability, a paralyzing indifference that comes from being too comfortable" (p.38).
-"Pain is a way of making us more honest" (p.43).
-"The first Christian insisted that when Jesus died on the cross, this wasn't just another execution by the Roman Empire. They believed this was divine, in flesh and blood, hanging there on the cross, bloody, thirsty, suffering. A God who isn't somewhere else-remote, detached, distant-but among us, feeling what we feel, aching how we ache, suffering like us" (p.66).
-"There is an extraordinary, beautiful art to knowing what to take away" (p.88).
-"You can own something and not possess it. You can possess something and not own it" (p.94).

Jonathan Acuff is my hero...after Jesus of course!

Recently a friend told me about a book called 'Stuff Christians Like' and if you have any sense of humor at all you will enjoy this book! I know that this book has been blogged about recently but it deserves more than one!
These are some of my favorite things from the book:
-Breaking up with your small group-p.20
-Having a spiritual excuse not to have a spiritual discipline-p.28
-Developing subtle signals to let people know you're a Christian-p.32
-Feeling slightly disappointed when someone accepts our fake offer of generosity-p.45
-Using "let me pray about it" as a euphemism for "no"-p.60
-The metrosexual worship leader-p.80, there is also a scoring system to see just how metro a worship leader is hahaha
-Raising our hands in worship-p.87-90, this one might be my favorite because it lists 5 common types of hand raising!!!
-Finding typos in the worship music-p.97
-Losing the will to clap during song-p.100
-Mid-prayer music that materializes out of nowhere-p.107
-Telling testimonies that are exciting right up until the moment you became a Christian-p.125
-Encouraging the downtrodden by reminding them, "God doesn't promise us an easy life"-p.129
-Giving out tracts instead of Halloween candy-p.142
-Dominating the "please turn to..." Bible race at church-p.152
-Judging people that use the table on contents in their bible-p.159
-Sprinting to your car after church-p.165
-Side hugs-p.181
-Temporarily suspending our faith when we get behind the wheel-p.184
-Throwing the devil under the bus for everything-p.184
-Confessing 'safe sins'-p.193
-Guilt Trips-p.198
This book is a must read!!!

The Barn

I went to Western this weekend for Keleher's birthday and I got to see the Barn, not to be confused with the Dub, because the barn is about 100 times it's size! Haha Seriously, Ash and Carrie's room alone is about the size of the Dub...the whole thing! My favorite thing about the Barn was the deck and the view. They have a ton of places to sit on the deck and because it's pretty much on top of a mountain, the view is gorgeous!!!

Some of the other things I liked:
-The sinks in the upstairs bathroom-the sinks are really fun looking...even though they are kind-of tricky to turn on.
-The exercise trampoline in the front-this thing kept me occupied for a long time, it was really fun!
-The layout of the house-the layout of the house is really fun and different.
-Nicole's room/Entertainment room-this is where the magic happens! ;) This room is really big and there are lots of windows that fill the room with sunlight (that sounds really cheesy but oh well). There is plenty of space for a dance party and there are also a couple couches and some tables incase a dance party is too much at the moment. This seemed to be the room that everyone flocked to when they wanted to chill out and relax. If this room were a person it would totally be a Jack of all trades and a master at all as well!
-The residents of the barn-Last but not least, I'm a huge fan of all the people living in the barn! They are an interesting mix of people but it seems to be going good so far! :) You girls are AWESOME!!!
The only thing I wasn't a fan of:
-No phone service in the house-if you are waiting for an important phone call, you should probably wait out in the front of the barn or in the 7 distinct places in the house that Nicole says you get service in.

So overall the Barn is great! To Ash, Carrie, Nicole and Clontz, thanks for letting me experience how awesome the barn is, hopefully I'll be allowed back! These are some stolen pics from the weekend (credit to Catie Chance)...enjoy:
Happy Birthday Keleher!!!

Time at the river...the 3rd pic looks like Carrie is getting baptised! hahaha



Katie, before she got shocked my the electric fence...she was ok she barely hit it.

Inside the Barn and Outside the Barn:

Good Times...good times

These are some of my favorite times at the LP this summer!

Sarcasm and the Gospel held us together all summer! <3 them!


Women's Social 80's





Mini golf is a must in MB!