Joy unspeakable... and full of glory.

I don't know how He does it...

Makes me smile from ear to ear

As I tramp around campus

Determined to please Him.

And when worries come along

"you steady my heart".

You're always there

the Constant that keeps it beating.

I don't deserve this,

But You are so good to me.

Jesus,

How do I express...

How do I confess...

My deep love and desire for You?

Oh, how I've missed this,

this bliss.

You are the joy radiating from my smile.

The very rays of the sun.

Jesus, You are...

Lovely.

In You...

...every fear, insecurity, and care melts away.

When Your love fills my heart,

my shortcomings and failures,

whatever You would call them,

they fade in the inexpressible, glorious sea of Your grace.

Lord,  I'm amazed

at the way You care for me...

the way You love me.

I love You dearly.

Please cover me in Your peace

that surpasses all that we could ever know and understand.

He said...

Do you know the way you move me...

When I look in your eyes?

Do you know what I see?

Do you see the way I rejoice over you!

When you reach for me,

When you sing and sing,

When you dance without restraint,

When you speak in confidence...

When you feel you've fallen,

When you're in a place that you can't see the light,

I am there in the midst,

In the midst of your struggle.

Do you know...

"...afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not 

forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed..." (2 Cor. 4:8-9)

Do you know that I will never leave you,

that I've never left you,

never once stepped away from your side?

I feel the pain as every tear falls from your eye.


You were created for love

Created for joy,

Created for life,

Created for such a moment as this;

Spend it here with me.

Let me give you life.

I wanna live every day like...

...it was my last. Even if it were my very last day spent with you, I can joyfully say that right now I am satisfied with the last twenty four hours spent with you and that, that is how I would like my every day to be.

Today started out like any other day:

1. I woke up.

2. I had not enough time to spend with you. And it wasn't seeming to work out how I had kept planning it to be.

… but wait… I stopped. I stopped to spend time with you. I sacrificed time I knew I could be spending with a friend and chose to spend it with you. That is what you desire, my time, my heart, all of me… just as I am.

Then, I missed chapel, the place where I was supposed to experience you the most. Or, so I thought…

I procrastinated on homework to the point I had to miss a class and finish my major assignments during the class period.

(But wait… before you start to judge me, let me state my case and why I believe there was a turn around to my day)

I’ve always known that God “desires mercy, not sacrifice”, that He looks at the heart. And there was a moment when I discovered that since “nothing was hidden from His sight” and I had chosen to spend the moments of my day that I could’ve decided to worry with Him instead, things turned out very differently than they would’ve if I had not chosen to keep my eyes on Him. As I worked on homework and read the Scriptures for class, something began to stir in my heart. Just as I prayed many times before to see this reading as not only another time to read His Word, but to dig deep; His Holy Spirit began speaking and leading me through. Words jumped off the page, and my passion was reignited.

That wasn’t the only prayer answered today. I began to pray for those around me, trusting that God had the ability to move in their lives using the words He lead me to pray. I no longer worried about praying seemingly repetitive things. I was talking  with my Daddy, my Comforter, my Provider… the good and faithful God.

And as the day draws to an end (and really while another one begins) my heart is full to overflow. I pray that I may be a blessing to those around me tomorrow and that I am able to, with an ever-increasing glory, reflect my Father and Savior in all that I do.

Focus.

How do I describe what has happened in the last few days?

It always seems to be best when it spills out in the excitement and joy that comes from knowing His goodness.

After a summer of discovering more about my Father and who I was in Christ Jesus, I stepped into a land of giants. Just after finding out more about my purpose, my calling, and about being confident in who God made me to be, I had to stand before these monsters. They taunted me with things like, "where is your God now?" And I began to believe He was distant. Though He stayed coaching me and cheering me on, His voice was drowned out as I began to change my focus to these jeers.

Trust me.

My grace is sufficient.

"Sarah, you know me. I'm right here. I've never left You."

I can hear Him now as I rest in His embrace.

And now it all makes sense. As I start to look back at the number of times He seemed to say, "Look up, Sarah, look at me." Maybe that's why I had to have two people tell me in two separate times of prayer that they saw a vision of Jesus right in front of me, face-to-face. Jesus so desperately wanted me to know He was right there and that He never left my side. Furthermore, He wanted me to know that I should fix my gaze on Him and let everything else fade from my sight.

I still can't get over His amazing grace, mercy and care.

He continues to show up in my life in ways that I never would've imagined and I love it. O, how I love my Jesus!

Take a look from up here...(flying high)

So many things have happened since DTS. Sometimes it feels like not so much has happened. And the world keeps spinning on past me. If I let it, it flies by in a whirlwind of colors and tests and schoolwork and events to attend. Then I remind myself or the Holy Spirit, rather, calls to me closer to Jesus, calls me to fix my eyes on Him. It is then I remember that who He has made me to be, that He made me new. And not only that, but He is making me new. He saved me, he called me and delivered me from sin and death. Yet, there is that process of sanctification. That is the beauty of his gift of salvation, the indescribable process and experience of getting to know Him and becoming more like Him.

And so I ask myself, "What has been standing in the way of me being completely moldable?" I want to stay in that continual state of brokeness, being His humble servant and vessel.

I know that surely nothing can separate me from Your love. And that Your love truly casts out fear. I know that Your Spirit lives in me, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. Freedom from fear. I know that You have set me free from sin and death, so why do I act like it still tethers me to the ground when I was made to fly? What is it that breaks a spirit, like the baby elephant that has every capability of being free? If only we knew our capacity! He said greater things we will do... how can we achieve those things if we never set our sights on the impossible? take our dreams to new levels? We know that nothing is impossible for our great God. We must look beyond the constraints of our limitations. Believe in what He sees; what He saw in you from the beginning. Learn to love without boundaries. Take risks, even if it means dying. For the One who gave it all came to be an example for all. We have to give everything for the sake of sharing the Good News, to show the world just who our loving God is, to share the love of Christ.

Don't live life in fear. Take a step outside. Enjoy the sunshine. And, above all... break free and fly!