Love the lyrics to this song...
Heal the Wound, Point of Grace
I used to wish that I could rewrite history
I used to dream that each mistake could be erased
Then I could just pretend
I never knew the me back then
I used to pray that You would take this shame away
Hide all the evidence of who I've been
But it's the memory of
The place You brought me from
That keeps me on my knees
And even though I'm free
Heal the wound but leave the scar
A reminder of how merciful You are
I am broken, torn apart
Take the pieces of this heart
And heal the wound but leave the scar
I have not lived a life that boasts of anything
I don't take pride in what I bring
But I'll build an altar with
The rubble that You've found me in
And every stone will sing
Of what You can redeem
Heal the wound but leave the scar
A reminder of how merciful You are
I am broken, torn apart
Take the pieces of this heart
And heal the wound but leave the scar
Don't let me forget
Everything You've done for me
Don't let me forget
The beauty in the suffering
Heal the wound but leave the scar
A reminder of how merciful You are
I am broken, torn apart
Take the pieces of this heart
And heal the wound but leave the scar
Add Comment
LJ says...
"Powerful!!" (6/11/09)
LJ says...
" Georgia, my dear sweet Georgia, you never cease to amaze me!! I am so blessed to call you my dear friend!" (6/11/09)
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Hinds Feet on Hinds Places
This is where I am these days...
Hind’s Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard is a beautiful allegory dramatizing the yearning of God’s children to be led to new heights of love, joy, and victory. It follows the spiritual journey of Much-Afraid through difficult places with her two companions, Sorrow and Suffering. Much-Afraid overcomes her tormenting fears as she passes through many dangers and mounts at last to the High Places. There she gains a new name and returns to her valley of service, transformed by her union with the loving Shepherd.
Hind’s Feet on High Places is a book that I started many years ago and have never finished. It’s one that I pick up every once in awhile, read a few pages or even chapters and then put aside for a bit. Not sure why other than it seems that’s how God planned it. How do I know that? It seems that every time I pick it up I can relate to where Much-Afraid is in her journey to “high places.” I think God planned it that way… in fact I am sure that He did. Since the end of April I have felt sort of “idle.” Like nothing is going on… no progress forward but not backwards either. I have a hard time dealing with idleness. It feels wrong somehow. It’s hard to explain. A couple of weeks ago I picked it up and began to read. I continue to be amazed at how He speaks to me so clearly and timely.
This is what He said to me through the words Hannah Hurnard and the experience of Much-Afraid: “Shepherd, Shepherd! Help me! Where are you? Don’t leave me! Next instant she was clinging to him and trembling from head to foot, and sobbing over and over again. ‘You may do anything, Shepherd. You may do anything—only don’t let me turn back. O my Lord, don’t let me leave you. Entreat me not to leave thee nor to return from following after thee.’ He lifter her up, supported her by his arm, and with his own hand wiped the tears from her cheeks, then said in his strong, cheery voice, ‘There is no question of your turning back, Much-Afraid. No one, not even your own shrinking heart, can pluck you out of my hand. Don’t you remember what I told you before? This delay is not unto death but for the glory of God… Will you go down this path of forgiveness into the Valley of Loss just because it is the way that I have chosen for you? Will you still trust and still love me?’ Considering how steep the descent into the Valley of Loss, it seemed surprisingly easy (not sure about that...), but perhaps that was because Much-Afraid desired with her whole body will make it in a way that would satisfy and please the Shepherd. The awful glimpse down into the abyss of an existence without him has so staggered and appalled her heart that she felt she could never be quite the same again. However, it opened her eyes to the fact that right down in the depths of her own heart she really had but one passionate desire, not for the things which the Shepherd had promised, but for himself. All she wanted was to be allowed to follow him forever.
Other desires might clamor strongly and fiercely nearer the surface of her nature, but she knew now that deep down in the core of her own being she was so shaped that nothing could fit, fill, or satisfy her heart but he himself. "Nothing else really matters," she said to herself, "only to love him and to do what he tells me. I don't know quiet why it should be so, but it is. All the time it is suffering to love him and sorrow to love, but it is lovely to love him in spite of this, and if I should cease to do so, I should cease to exist." So, as has been said, they reached the valley very quickly.
The next surprising thing was that though the valley did seem at first a little like prison after the strong bracing air of the mountains, it turned out to be a wonderfully beautiful and peaceful place, very green and with flowers covering the fields and the banks of the river which flowed quietly through it.
Strangely enough, down there in the Valley of Loss, Much-Afraid felt more rested, more peaceful, and more content than anywhere else on the journey. It seemed too, that her two companions also underwent a strange transformation. They still held her hands, but there was neither suffering nor sorrow in the touch. It was as though they walked close beside her and went hand in hand simply for friendship's sake and for the joy of being together. (I can so relate to this part of her journey)
It is true that when Much-Afraid looked at the mountains on the other side of the valley she wondered how they would ever manage to ascend them, but she found herself content to wait restfully and to wander in the valley as long as the Shepherd chose. One thing in particular comforted her; after the hardness and slipperiness of the way on the mountains, where she had stumbled and limped so painfully, she found that in those quiet green fields she could actually walk without stumbling, and could not feel her wounds and scars and stiffness at all.
All this seemed a little strange because, of course, she really was in the Valley of Loss. Also, apparently, she was farther from the High Places than ever before. She asked the Shepherd about it one day, for the loveliest part of all was that he often walked with them down there, saying with a beautiful smile that it was one of his favorite haunts.
In answer to her question, he said, 'I am glad that you are learning to appreciate the valley too, but I think it was the altar which you built at the top, Much-Afraid, which has made it so easy for you.'
This also rather puzzled her, for she said, 'But I have noticed that after the other altars which you told me to build, the way has generally seemed harder and more testing than before.'
Again he smiled, but only remarked quietly that the important thing about altars was that they made the possibilities of apparent impossibilities, and that it was nice that on this occasion it had brought her peace and not a great struggle. She noticed that he looked at her keenly and rather strangely as he spoke, and though there was a beautiful gentleness in the look, there was also something else which she had seen before, but still did not understand. She thought it held a mixture of two things, not exactly pity-- no, that was the wrong word, but a look of wonderful compassion together with unflinching determination.
When she realized that, she thought of some words which one of the Shepherd's servants had spoken down in the Valley of Humiliation before ever the Shepherd had called her to the High Places. He had said, 'Love is beautiful, but it is also terrible-- terrible in its determination to allow nothing blemished or unworthy to remain in the beloved.'
When she remembered this, Much-Afraid thought with a little shiver in her heart, 'He will never be content until he makes me what he is determined that I ought to be,' and because she was still Much-Afraid and not yet ready to change her name, she added with a pang of fear, 'I wonder what he plans to do next, and if it will hurt very much indeed?'" I so wish I could express this as beautifully Hannah Hurnard. It so describes where I am on this journey these days...
Add Comment
LJ says...
"Love and prayers with you and yours on your journey." (6/2/09)
Hind’s Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard is a beautiful allegory dramatizing the yearning of God’s children to be led to new heights of love, joy, and victory. It follows the spiritual journey of Much-Afraid through difficult places with her two companions, Sorrow and Suffering. Much-Afraid overcomes her tormenting fears as she passes through many dangers and mounts at last to the High Places. There she gains a new name and returns to her valley of service, transformed by her union with the loving Shepherd.
Hind’s Feet on High Places is a book that I started many years ago and have never finished. It’s one that I pick up every once in awhile, read a few pages or even chapters and then put aside for a bit. Not sure why other than it seems that’s how God planned it. How do I know that? It seems that every time I pick it up I can relate to where Much-Afraid is in her journey to “high places.” I think God planned it that way… in fact I am sure that He did. Since the end of April I have felt sort of “idle.” Like nothing is going on… no progress forward but not backwards either. I have a hard time dealing with idleness. It feels wrong somehow. It’s hard to explain. A couple of weeks ago I picked it up and began to read. I continue to be amazed at how He speaks to me so clearly and timely.
This is what He said to me through the words Hannah Hurnard and the experience of Much-Afraid: “Shepherd, Shepherd! Help me! Where are you? Don’t leave me! Next instant she was clinging to him and trembling from head to foot, and sobbing over and over again. ‘You may do anything, Shepherd. You may do anything—only don’t let me turn back. O my Lord, don’t let me leave you. Entreat me not to leave thee nor to return from following after thee.’ He lifter her up, supported her by his arm, and with his own hand wiped the tears from her cheeks, then said in his strong, cheery voice, ‘There is no question of your turning back, Much-Afraid. No one, not even your own shrinking heart, can pluck you out of my hand. Don’t you remember what I told you before? This delay is not unto death but for the glory of God… Will you go down this path of forgiveness into the Valley of Loss just because it is the way that I have chosen for you? Will you still trust and still love me?’ Considering how steep the descent into the Valley of Loss, it seemed surprisingly easy (not sure about that...), but perhaps that was because Much-Afraid desired with her whole body will make it in a way that would satisfy and please the Shepherd. The awful glimpse down into the abyss of an existence without him has so staggered and appalled her heart that she felt she could never be quite the same again. However, it opened her eyes to the fact that right down in the depths of her own heart she really had but one passionate desire, not for the things which the Shepherd had promised, but for himself. All she wanted was to be allowed to follow him forever.
Other desires might clamor strongly and fiercely nearer the surface of her nature, but she knew now that deep down in the core of her own being she was so shaped that nothing could fit, fill, or satisfy her heart but he himself. "Nothing else really matters," she said to herself, "only to love him and to do what he tells me. I don't know quiet why it should be so, but it is. All the time it is suffering to love him and sorrow to love, but it is lovely to love him in spite of this, and if I should cease to do so, I should cease to exist." So, as has been said, they reached the valley very quickly.
The next surprising thing was that though the valley did seem at first a little like prison after the strong bracing air of the mountains, it turned out to be a wonderfully beautiful and peaceful place, very green and with flowers covering the fields and the banks of the river which flowed quietly through it.
Strangely enough, down there in the Valley of Loss, Much-Afraid felt more rested, more peaceful, and more content than anywhere else on the journey. It seemed too, that her two companions also underwent a strange transformation. They still held her hands, but there was neither suffering nor sorrow in the touch. It was as though they walked close beside her and went hand in hand simply for friendship's sake and for the joy of being together. (I can so relate to this part of her journey)
It is true that when Much-Afraid looked at the mountains on the other side of the valley she wondered how they would ever manage to ascend them, but she found herself content to wait restfully and to wander in the valley as long as the Shepherd chose. One thing in particular comforted her; after the hardness and slipperiness of the way on the mountains, where she had stumbled and limped so painfully, she found that in those quiet green fields she could actually walk without stumbling, and could not feel her wounds and scars and stiffness at all.
All this seemed a little strange because, of course, she really was in the Valley of Loss. Also, apparently, she was farther from the High Places than ever before. She asked the Shepherd about it one day, for the loveliest part of all was that he often walked with them down there, saying with a beautiful smile that it was one of his favorite haunts.
In answer to her question, he said, 'I am glad that you are learning to appreciate the valley too, but I think it was the altar which you built at the top, Much-Afraid, which has made it so easy for you.'
This also rather puzzled her, for she said, 'But I have noticed that after the other altars which you told me to build, the way has generally seemed harder and more testing than before.'
Again he smiled, but only remarked quietly that the important thing about altars was that they made the possibilities of apparent impossibilities, and that it was nice that on this occasion it had brought her peace and not a great struggle. She noticed that he looked at her keenly and rather strangely as he spoke, and though there was a beautiful gentleness in the look, there was also something else which she had seen before, but still did not understand. She thought it held a mixture of two things, not exactly pity-- no, that was the wrong word, but a look of wonderful compassion together with unflinching determination.
When she realized that, she thought of some words which one of the Shepherd's servants had spoken down in the Valley of Humiliation before ever the Shepherd had called her to the High Places. He had said, 'Love is beautiful, but it is also terrible-- terrible in its determination to allow nothing blemished or unworthy to remain in the beloved.'
When she remembered this, Much-Afraid thought with a little shiver in her heart, 'He will never be content until he makes me what he is determined that I ought to be,' and because she was still Much-Afraid and not yet ready to change her name, she added with a pang of fear, 'I wonder what he plans to do next, and if it will hurt very much indeed?'" I so wish I could express this as beautifully Hannah Hurnard. It so describes where I am on this journey these days...
Add Comment
LJ says...
"Love and prayers with you and yours on your journey." (6/2/09)
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
long lost friends...
A long lost friend from WNJ found me on Facebook... she went to the easysite. After spending hours reading the whole thing she left the sweetest message. I wanted to share part of it. I read it the beginning of May and was going through my FB mail and reread it. She reminded me of a conversation I had with Rachel when she was four... I needed this today! "...you came to work one night and told me something she had said and it had shocked you. She had told you that day that she loved Jesus and she wanted to go be with him. You said you were shocked that a 4 year old would say that. I asked you what your response was to her and you said that you wanted her to be with Jesus but just not yet." I had totally forgotten about it but now I remember it clearly and what a precious memory. I am so glad to be reminded that she loved Him, not that I ever doubted it but just neat to be reminded how young she was with a heart for Him. And so glad she is where she wanted most to be. I needed it today... last night I discovered that the girls did not have enough "fast girls" to make up a mile relay team. It really hit home and probably had a lot to do with why I did not sleep last night. It was Rachel's favorite race. Anyway, just thought I would share.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Something about Thursdays...
Lately there is something about Thursday. Last Thursday, I really missed my daddy and it all started with Tuna Fish salad. Yes tuna fish salad… He loved it when I made tuna fish salad, he loved how I made it, he said it was his favorite. I was crying before I ever started chopping the onions. Oh how I miss him… then I started missing her…
Tonight I was reading facebook posts and read that there was no girl’s mile relay team. They didn’t have enough “fast” girls for that relay. She was fast and LOVED that race, it was her favorite! Oh how I miss her…
Oh how I miss them…
Add Comment
Marie says...
"We're leaving to go to the Regional Track meet today, and Rachel has been on my mind all week. I wish she was going to be down on that track today. Stephanie is one of the girls running and I know her and Rachel had such a good time last year. I'm sure her heart is heavy. I hope Rachel pushes them today. Can't you see her cheering them on? Take care lady. Love, Marie" (5/15/09)
Emiley Wright says...
"The song Jordan wrote, "At Heaven's Door" is amazing, I love it! I hope I get to see you again soon! Love you! " (5/16/09)
Tonight I was reading facebook posts and read that there was no girl’s mile relay team. They didn’t have enough “fast” girls for that relay. She was fast and LOVED that race, it was her favorite! Oh how I miss her…
Oh how I miss them…
Add Comment
Marie says...
"We're leaving to go to the Regional Track meet today, and Rachel has been on my mind all week. I wish she was going to be down on that track today. Stephanie is one of the girls running and I know her and Rachel had such a good time last year. I'm sure her heart is heavy. I hope Rachel pushes them today. Can't you see her cheering them on? Take care lady. Love, Marie" (5/15/09)
Emiley Wright says...
"The song Jordan wrote, "At Heaven's Door" is amazing, I love it! I hope I get to see you again soon! Love you! " (5/16/09)
Friday, May 8, 2009
Show Us Where you Live Friday - LIVING ROOMS
Welcome to our home... we live in an old farm house in North Texas. It is situated in the middle of our own little secluded part of the country surrounded by trees. I was raised in the big city but always longed to be a country girl. I am living my dream, love it!!! We have filled our home with antiques handed down from our families and favorites that we have collected in the 20 years that we have been married. Again, welcome to our home...
this is our living room, the view from our dining room
an old wash stand, it was Chris' mom's. I deocrated it with one my nativities. It's probably one of my favortes. The oil lamp was Chris' grandma's and of course there is a family photo. I love pictures...
Almost forgot the lamp was a bargain from a dollar store, I love bargains!!!
My FAVORTE desk ever, it was the first antique I ever picked out. When I was 14 or 15 my parents took me to pick it out for my bedroom. It too has one of nativities on top. Yes I leave them up all year!
I wish you could see these better, the one on the left is a page from my great grandmother's high school yearbook. She graduated in 1919. The picture on the right is a pencil sketch with a letter she wrote me when I was 5. Again, a precious treasure from my great grandmother.
The chair in the corner was made by my great grandfather when my mom was a little girl. Our family has always called it the "lady" chair even when my brother and my son used it. They did not appreciate that very much but more ladies have used it then boys or men. The framed art above the chair us a pencil sketch of a bull rider. It came from the historical Last Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas. The hotel was built and operated by my grandfather and his brothers for many years and later sold. In February of 2007 it was imploded, sad day...
Yes, I love pine cones. When we travel I look for them and then bring them home for my baskets. Some if these come from my great great grandmother's yard, she is who I was named after. I love family names... Georgia Gail, that's not southern or anything is it? And yes, another nativity. One of my children bought it at the Christmas Store at school one year... precious.
Psalm 46:1 I have had this since I was 16... it has hung in my dorm room and every apartment or house that I have lived in. These words are so true!
Another favorite... The Lord hath set before thee an open door and no man can shut it. Revelations 3:8 My daddy gave this to us years ago. He passed away in October of 2008, also precious treasure.
As you can see, I love old and sentimental things... and feel free to drop by
www.easysite.com/fulenwiderfamily. There is much more to learn and see about our family there. It is my prayer that all of my blogs bless all those who read them. God is GOOD!!!
I hope you have enjoyed a tour of our home. Have a blessed week everybody!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Chris Tomlin - I Will Rise (Live)
I heard this in the Explorer on my way to work one afternoon... I so needed a sunroof so I could raise my hand in praise to HIM!!! Still gives me chills!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
