Midnight Pondering | Personal

(rooftop of The Messenger coffeehouse, Kansas City... there’s something to being able to overlook a whole city lit up under cover of night. Isn’t it beautiful?)

“Jesus didn’t need to be told, for he already knew what was in the heart of man”

I just read this in the book of John the other night before heading to bed, and it hit me like a stone.  

Before I say what’s on my heart, 

He knows.  

Before I know what’s on the heart of my peers, He knows.  

Before I find out what tomorrow holds, what it doesn’t hold that I beforehand expect (can I get a witness?), yes... in my travels, in work changes, the curves or bends in relationships... He knows.  

When I’m hurt by another’s weakness, when my own requires an apology: He knows, and He knew when I didn’t.

What makes my life complete, whole, SET APART from the “old” man I would be, the dead man I would be, the joyless, peace-less, purposeless, strength-less woman I would be: 

It’s that at all times, HE KNOWS.

It’s part of the grand adventure of the Christian life: that we’re not always in the know! Jesus knew; God knows.  Both when I do myself, and when I don’t. There’s no more hiding, when in the light of His greatness you realize there’s nothing to hide - it’s all already seen.  There’s less surprise at turns of events, because we know who’s at the helm and who has been standing there all along with sure footing.  There’s no more dismay when one is in question, because He knows already and wants to be sought!

Ah to live THIS life!! The life in which He — the Captain of our hearts — knows, and we love living that way.  Dependent, not always in the know... and in this, at rest and exceedingly happy.

He is sovereign, and He is indeed sufficient.

Sunday afternoon exploring is so much fun with this girl! We may be 14 years apart — but it’s such a gift 🎁 

<3 Anna

Bringing our Best | Personal

Surely one should bring the best she has, whatever that is, to the work of God's world?

For what are they, both of them, the one just as much as the other, but listening to 'what the people will say', to opinion, to the 'voices from without?'  

And as a wise man has said, no one has ever done anything great or useful 

by listening to the voices from without.

And now, you think these things trifles, or at least exaggerated.  

But what you 'think' or what I 'think' matters little.  

Let us see what God thinks of them.  God always justifies His ways.

Oh, go your way straight to God's work, 

in simplicity and singleness of heart.

(Florence Nightingale, Notes on the Field of Nursing)

Reflections on Business, Worship, and How They Fit Together | Personal

I'm coming back to the heart of worship

And it's all about You,

It's all about You, Jesus

I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it

When it's all about You,

It's all about You, Jesus

(The Heart of Worship)

You know those songs that you heard so many times growing up  (Hillsong's Songs 4 Worship CD's, anyone?), and how there's just no way that they can't be forever ingrained into your childhood memory?  This song is one of them, and this morning I again found myself humming out the chorus as I was getting around for the day.  When I actually got to thinking about the simple, well-known words I had going through my head, I was reminded of why I'm here. WHO I'm living for.  

It's all about you, Jesus.

Why is it that losing sight of that is so easy??

I want my personal life and the interactions I have with others to reflect Someone who's worth reflecting.  But I want all corners of my life to do the same... more than anything I want my home world, business, and everything else life entails to shout Jesus' name.  I want my days as a whole to sing a song of worship to the Lord, whether I'm at the grocery store, doing my studies at home, picking up my camera, or writing an email.  To declare God and His glory because every little thing I do flows from a heart that can't help but worship Him.

Every minute thing we do needs not be anything we "just do".  What if it might become our unique and personal avenues of enjoying and worshiping the Creator of beauty, art, light, our very souls... a way of expressing our adoration for this One.  So even if we're just washing the dishes or running an errand - let it be transformed, by just a change of outlook, into an act of worship remembering the moment by moment presence of One we long to delight!

Well, that's the end of my rant tonight.  Kudos to those of you who read all the way through!!  Try taking a break from the computer and go pull out one of those inspirational "kiddie" songs or stories you used to enjoy... just maybe, you'll find a small gem that will bring you a renewed, more child-like perspective!

"The Lord is risen, indeed!" | Personal

"Our religion is little because our God is little.  Our religion is weak because our God is weak.  Our religion is ignoble because the God we serve is ignoble.  We do not see God as He is.

The Psalmist said, "O magnify the Lord with me" (34:3).  "Magnify" may mean one of two things: "make it look bigger than it is", or "see it as big as it is."  The latter is what "magnify" means as the Psalmist used it.

If you want to examine a very small amount of matter, you put it under a microscope and magnify it to make it look bigger than it is.  But it is impossible to make God look bigger than He is.  When we say "magnify the Lord", we mean try to see God somewhere near as big as He is.

This is what I want to do.  This is what, by His help, I have dedicated myself to." (A.W. Tozer)

I read this in a book a week or two ago, and it came back to me tonight as I was thinking about what we're celebrating this weekend.  Thinking about the many wonderful things that were a result of what took place - the opportunity we each have to experience a second chance and a new life, to walk through each day's trials with a Helper and Friend in our hearts, and the hope of a place in Heaven where we'll be with Him forever.  

To accomplish all that, our God couldn't be a little God.   He couldn't be a weak God.  He couldn't be an ignoble God.  He is all-powerful... powerful enough to become a man in the world His own hands created, powerful enough to bring to life what was dead, and powerful enough to give sinners like me a way out of our darkness and destruction.  He is a powerful and mighty God!  And the GOOD NEWS?  The God who raised the crucified Jesus and defeated death forevermore is the same God who continues to work in our world today and resides in the hearts of those who believe in Him.

This Easter, let's worship our all-powerful and almighty God. Let's take the time to ponder what a great King we serve, and let's try to "see God somewhere as big as He really is"!

"You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being." (Revelations 4:11)

Colorado Skies | Personal

A little later than planned (don't we all love "technical issues"! =), but here's the starry skies I promised in the post about our trip! I haven't experimented with...



A little later than planned (don't we all love "technical issues"! =), but here's the starry skies I promised in the post about our trip! I haven't experimented with night-sky photography much, so when we went to Colorado (and the mountains made for some breathtaking scenery... in case you didn't know ;-) I knew it was the prefect place for me to try it out!  I was SO amazed at how beautiful the skies were every. single. time. the 30-second exposure stopped and a new image appeared onto my LCD screen. Even though the long exposure reeled in more light for the resulting images than you could see with the human eye, it looked just as amazing. I only wish there was a way to capture it all exactly the way it was in person! The open sky so vast and twinkling with starry clusters rolled out above you as far as the eye can see; the low, thin clouds that hovered slowly beneath them; and! to top it all off - the silhouette of mountaintops on the horizon. The perfect backdrop for some experimentation. =)

Being there and experiencing the beauty of Colorado, and even now looking back at these pictures on my computer screen - I am reminded of what an absolutely amazing God I serve. Isn't it enough that He created such wonders for our eyes to behold? That He knows each star by name? But He is so so much more than that. He doesn't change like the clouds do as they move across the sky; He is never-changing, always-constant. He can't be contained like the stars in a galaxy, or be created like His hand created the universe; He has always been, always will be. He isn't subject to the boundaries of nature, night and day, any season; He is omnipresent, able to do anything He wills in any way He wills. And yet... He stoops down low enough to love us. With that love that is indescribable. 

It's kind of like the way you feel when you stand beneath the stars at night out in a wide and open country field here at home in Missouri... or looking out from a window in a cabin atop a mountain in Colorado.

You're speechless.

That big yellow star? Saturn! One of the reasons I made up my mind to get the tripod out and take these. ;-)

This here below is a compilation of 15 photos taken 30 seconds apart. Isn't it crazy to think that the earth is rotating that much in just 7.5 minutes!?

A Welcoming to the New Year | 2013

Wow. Is it really 2013? When I think over the past year and look into the next, the first thing that comes to mind is the Lord's great faithfulness. Seasons come and go; we begin to make plans and set goals for the new year, and all the while—year after year—He remains the same. Isn't it amazing that we can serve a God like that? May we each learn to love Him more deeply as we step into this new year—and amidst all of the lists of goals, desire to make knowing Him more our first priority.

Thank you so much to each of you have allowed me the privilege of taking your pictures, as well as those of you who have left comments, written notes, and encouraged me on! 

May God bless each of you with a wonderful 2013.

The Beauty of a Thorn | Personal

The many locust trees on our acreage don't usually make for a very pretty view. ;-) The long, sharp thorns growing along the locust's trunk and branches seem...

A Celebrated Life | Personal

So... we went to a beautiful funeral last week. Seems rather odd to call it beautiful, as a funeral is a sober event, yes? But we were celebrating the life of a beautiful person. She wasn't even yet 30, yet in the time we would say wasn't enough to even leave a legacy--she behind left one that testified such a wonderful picture to many of Christ and His work in her life. 

This brought me to wonder... 

What will those who know me remember about my life when the Lord takes me home? A life full of joyful service, a witness to God's abundant grace and love, or a life that's full of me?

Will I be a life celebrated?

It was indeed a beautiful funeral. 

What a more perfect way to go about celebrating another follower entering heaven to see Jesus face-to-face then to worship the Lord in song praising Him for His goodness!