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Tag Archives: Max Lucado

Psalm 5 & Max Lucado

01 Saturday Oct 2011

Posted by Becca in Uncategorized

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Tags

Max Lucado, Picnik, Psalm 5, school

Psalm 5 & Max Lucado

The bolded parts are things I’m relating to, or things I find interesting at this moment in time.

Psalm 5

Psalm 5[a]

For the director of music. For pipes. A psalm of David.

1 Listen to my words, LORD,
consider my lament.
2 Hear my cry for help, 
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.

3 In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait expectantly.**
4 For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness;
with you, evil people are not welcome.
5 The arrogant cannot stand
in your presence.
You hate all who do wrong;
6 you destroy those who tell lies.
The bloodthirsty and deceitful
you, LORD, detest.
7 But I, by your great love,
can come into your house;
in reverence I bow down
toward your holy temple.

8 Lead me, LORD, in your righteousness
because of my enemies—
make your way straight before me. 

9 Not a word from their mouth can be trusted;
their heart is filled with malice.
Their throat is an open grave;
with their tongues they tell lies.
10 Declare them guilty, O God!
Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their many sins,
for they have rebelled against you.
11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

12 Surely, LORD, you bless the righteous; 
   you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

** Does this really happen? Not much right now. I need to change that.

picnik

And Max Lucado (finally):

A Daily Blessing
I ask the Father in his great glory to give you the power to be strong inwardly through his spirit.
–Ephesians 3:16
Here is a scene repeated in Brazil thousands of times daily…
It’s early morning. Time for young Marcos to leave for school. As he gathers his books and heads for the door, he pauses by his father’s chair. He searches his father’s face. Bencao, Pai? Marcos asks. (Blessing, Father?)
The father raises his hand. Deus te abencoe, meu filho, he assures. (God bless you, my son.)
Father and child part for the day, a blessing requested, a blessing willingly given…
We should do the same. Like the child longing for the father’s favor, each of us needs a daily reminder of our heavenly Father’s love.
31 Days of Blessing

And now I need to do homework. I have to study for Monday and Tuesday’s tests, and also write a paper. Only a 2-3 paragraph paper. And the prof doesn’t even care about the information; she’s given us the information and just wants to make sure that we know how to cite things. I can put the information in whatever order I want to as long as it’s cited properly, I guess. So that will be fun. And I also have to fix something (again; this is the third or fourth time I’ve had to turn this thing in) to turn in on Tuesday. But that can probably wait until Monday, haha.

FIVE DAYS UNTIL I GET TO GO HOME!!!!!

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Lucado Life Lessons

26 Friday Aug 2011

Posted by Becca in Uncategorized

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Tags

devotional, fear, God, Grace for the Moment, Israel Houghton, Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So, Max Lucado, nerves, prayer, Redeemed, school, storm of life, storms, Tumblr

I like alliteration, okay?!?
Geez, give me a break.

I think I got my schedule mostly figured out. Stupid stress. Now I just need to figure out what to do about my work schedule… Ugh. I really hope I don’t end up working til midnight because that does not sound fun to me. 😦

So I realized tonight (as I managed to not cry in the shower) that I haven’t read my Lucado devotional (Grace For the Moment) since…like, two days ago.

So I did.

And let me tell you, I almost lost it. I almost bawled.

Here, let me share. (And hope I don’t get in trouble for copyright infringement or something. Not my book; not trying to make money! Just sharing!)

Rescued by Heaven
John 5:24
When you recognize God as Creator, you will admire him. When you recognize his wisdom, you will learn from him. When you discover his strength, you will rely on him. But only when he saves you will you worship him.
It’s a “before and after” scenario. Before your rescue, you could easily keep God at a distance…. Sure he was important, but so was your career. Your status. Your salary….
Then came the storm…. the rage….the fight…the ripped moorings…. Despair fell like a fog; your bearings were gone. In your heart, you knew there was no exit.
Turn to your career for help? Only if you want to hide from the storm…. not escape. Lean on your status for strength? A storm isn’t impressed with your title….
Suddenly you are left with one option. God.
In the Eye of the Storm

Let the Redeemed Say So
Colossians 3:10
I wonder if Jesus doesn’t  muster up a slight smile as he sees his lost sheep come straggling into the fold—the beaten, broken, dirty sheep who stands at the door looking at the Shepherd asking, “Can I come in? I don’t deserve it, but is there room in your kingdom for one more?” The Shepherd looks down at the sheep and says, “Come in, this is your home.”
Salvation is the process that’s done, that’s secure, that no one can take away from you. Sanctification is the lifelong process of being changed from one degree of glory to the next, growing in Christ, putting away the old, taking on the new.
The Psalmist David would tell us that those who have been redeemed will say so! If we’re not saying so, perhaps it’s because we’ve forgotten what it is like to redeemed. Let the redeemed of the earth say so!
Walking with the Savior

The last one reminds me of a song I know…

Just thought I’d share that, because it struck me a few minutes ago as I was reading it. Especially the part in the first one about storms and relying on God and stuff. I haven’t been doing that enough this week. The other day (or was it today?) as I was walking to one of the events on campus, I did say something to God about wanting Him to take away the stress or making this a better transition or something, but I haven’t been doing that consistently. And that’s actually a little embarrassing. But I guess it shows that I’m human too, and I’m not always “in-tune” sotospeak.

All right, I think I’m going to try to sleep now. Tomorrow morning there’s a special dedication service where I guess they’re going to pray over new students or give the year to God or something, which is cool. But I’ll probably cry. Stupid sensitivity and stress and change…

Also, this just happened on my personal Tumblr “dashboard” like two minutes ago:

Lucado on Tumblr

Anyway, I think I’m going to try to sleep…

Lucado & Life While I do Laundry

23 Tuesday Aug 2011

Posted by Becca in Uncategorized

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Tags

God, holy, laundry, life, Max Lucado, perfect, perfection, sermon, stuff, Sunday, talent, time, treasure

Heh. Alliteration.

I’m doing a little bit of laundry (and by little I mean so small that I put the washer on the “ex-small load” setting) this morning to finish preparing for tomorrow, and I figured while I was waiting for it to finish I’d type a quick sermon and devotional post.

Sunday’s sermon was the second in a series of Idon’tknowhowmany, and it makes me sad that I’m going to miss the rest of them.

But anyway, Building a Life of Purpose.

Our pastor opened the sermon with photos of his sons at a cemetery this past week. Their grandfather died, and they both flew out here (the youngest boy is in another state for college) for the funeral last week.

Pastor said that as he stared at all of those gravestones and thought about the people they represented, he couldn’t help but ask himself: Am I living the life God wants me to live? Am I living a life of purpose?

His points were these:

I. If you don’t understand the purpose of life…

Life seems meaningless.
Eccl. 1:2-4

Life seems tiresome.
Eccl. 1:5-8

Example?: treadmill. Run and run and run, bet go nowhere.

Life seems unfulfilling.
Eccl. 1:8-9

Life seems insignificant.
Eccl. 1:11

II. What is the purpose of life?

Eph. 1:4-5

Eph. 1:10

Life is preparation for eternity!
Eccl. 3:11

III. How do I prepare for eternity?

1. Get to know Jesus Christ.
John 1:12

Not everyone is a child of God.
Wait, what?
See John 1:12: To all who received Him, He gave the right to become children of God.
We are all created by God, but not everyone is a child of God.
(That threw me for a loop, too.)

2. Use your time in view of eternity.
Matthew 24:44
Acts 20:24

Time > money

Pastor talked about using time to honor God, sort of. He mentioned that his youngest son received a plaque at graduation that talks about this:

This is the beginning of a new day
God has given me this day to use as I will
I can waste it or use it for good
What I do today is important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it
When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever

3. Use your talents in view of eternity.
1 Cor. 6:19-20

A lot of people have misconceptions about Heaven. (Apparently this includes me.)
We are not going to sit around on clouds playing harps all day.
Don’t expect to be an angel when you get to Heaven, either. You weren’t an angel on Earth; you’re not going to be an angel in Heaven. Angels are angels and people are people.
Neither are  we necessarily going to be doing our favorite Earthly things all day. He used the example of golfers: they’re not going to play golf all day, every day, on the best golf courses ever.
No. We’re going to be serving God. (Using our gifts for Him.)
Think God expects you to serve in Heaven but not on Earth? Think again.

Are you doing anything in your life right now to use your gifts for God?

4. Use your treasure in view of eternity.
1 Tim. 6:18-19

The youth pastor brought up Matthew 6:19-20 after the sermon. That was the theme verse at a Junior High event last week. (I didn’t go to that one. I should’ve. They went rollerskating. SO COOL.)

And because I can’t remember where exactly in the sermon all of my notes fit, I’m going to put the rest of them here.
(I did screen on Sunday, so I went through the sermon and wrote some notes, but possibly not quite as many as usual.)

A life without purpose is a life not worth living.
No wonder we’ve had so many teen suicides in the last year or so.

Atheistic humanism says you came from nowhere and you’re going nowhere, but for right now, while you’re alive, you have dignity and value.
Um… no. That’s irrational. If you came from nowhere and you’re going nowhere, life is pointless. There is no dignity or value to it.

You’ve heard of the circle of life, yes? It’s a Buddhist concept, and it makes a wonderful Disney song, but it’s not Biblical. Life is linear, headed for a climax.
You were made to last forever. (Eccl. 3:11)
God cares more about preparing you fore eternity than He does about making you happy right here, right now. Yes, He wants you to be joyful and fulfilled, but NOT at the expense of being unprepared for eternity.
This life is the dress rehearsal, the warm-up, for eternity.

~*~

Lucado time!

Perfected
Hebrew 10:17
“[With one sacrifice] he made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (Heb. 10:14).
Underline the word perfect. Note that the word is not better. Not improving. Not on the upswing. God doesn’t improve, he perfects. He doesn’t enhance, he completes….
Now I realize that there’s a sense in which we’re imperfect. We still err. We still stumble. We still do exactly what we don’t want to do. And that part of us is, according to the verse, “being made holy.”
But when it comes to our position before God, we’re perfect. When he sees each of us, he sees one who has been made perfect through the One who is perfect: Jesus Christ.
In the Eye of the Storm

And now I think my laundry is about done! Well, one of two loads. Going to go finish that and run a couple of errands and … probably find food. That might be good.

God Sees Our Value

16 Tuesday Aug 2011

Posted by Becca in Uncategorized

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

beautiful, Beauty, Bible, Brandon Heath, content, devotionals, envy, Give Me Your Eyes, God, Jesus, lessons, Max Lucado, MercyMe, MikesChair, one-of-a-kinf, Someone Worth Dying For, Tumblr, unique, value

^Today’s Max Lucado devotional.

I haven’t actually shared the verses before, just the references. Today, I’m going to change that.

God does not see the same way people see. People look at the outside of a person, but the LORD looks at the heart. –1 Samuel 16:7
God sees us with the eyes of a Father. He sees our defects, errors, and blemishes. But he also sees our value.
What did Jesus know that enabled him to do what he did?
Here’s part of the answer. He knew the value of people. He knew that each human being is a treasure. And because he did, people were not a source of stress but a source of joy.
In the Eye of the Storm

This reminded me of a couple of songs that I know and enjoy.

And then this happened last night on my personal Tumblr:

Tumblr

I added the text at the bottom when I reblogged the photo.

Also this one:

gorgeous

And also this one:

17mag

And then this one:

envy

Those are just a few of the things I come across on Tumblr that deal with wanting to be someone else, or not being satisfied with who you are. And it makes me sad. I get that envy sometimes, too, but I’m learning to be happy with who God created me me to be. Which is the whole reason I started this blog. When I fall into that comparison trap, I have to remind myself that I am amazing just the way I am. There is no one else on Earth quite like me.

I hope you know that, too.

Building and Strengths

14 Sunday Aug 2011

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Bible, building, church, faith, lessons, Max Lucado, sermon, strengths

This morning’s sermon was the first in a series titled Time to Build. Today’s was Building A Life of Faith.

Jude 1:20
Hebrews 11:6

Hebrews is like the Faith Hall of fame.

Faith is… (something that always involves risk)

Believing when you don’t see it.
Heb 11:1
It’s visualizing the future in the present.
“I’ll believe it when I see it” should perhaps be changed to having to believe BEFORE you see it. If you are an architect or an artist (the two examples our pastor used), there is a vision in your head that you have to believe will work before you begin a project.
What’s your call? What’s God calling you to? Does it look impossible? It’s not.

Obeying when you don’t understand it.
Heb 11:7
I’ve been told that Noah had never seen rain, and so had no clue what the heck rain was and why he’d have to build a giant boat.
Heb 11:8
Abraham lived in what was modern-day Iraq and was 75 or so years old when God gave him his “mission” to travel to another land with Lot and then eventually end up the father of Israel.
Our pastor mentioned growing up, how parents have to kind of help direct their children. He said that God is wiser than parents, and that if you ignore Him, you will miss out. (Basically.)

Giving when you don’t have it.
Heb 11:4 — It’s how, not how much, and attitude, not amount. When you give, you give either out of reason or revelation. If you give out of reason, you give based on what you feel you can afford, not based on faith. If you give out of revelation, you give based on what you believe God wants you to give, out of faith.
Malachi 3:8 — Where your money is, so is your heart. Or at least, it’s an indicator.
2 Cor 8:3
You can never out-give God.

Persisting when you feel like giving up.
Heb 11:27 — 40 years; the focus was on God, not the people
Our pastor asked three good questions, and gave three little snippets…
1. Do you always feel like being nice to people? …No. — If you acted on that, how many friends would have?
2. Do you always feel like going to work? …No. — So would you still have your job?
3. Do you always feel like reading your Bible? …No. — Would you grow in your faith?
Eph 3:20
It’s not living on feelings.

Thanking God before you receive it.
Heb 11:30 — They gave a shout of victory and thanksgiving BEFORE the walls fell.
Mark 11:24
You can’t fix it, but He can.
Faith = believing is doing something even though you don’t see it.

Trusting even if you don’t get it.
Heb 11:39-40
Have you ever used a vending machine? Has you ever been really looking forward to that Twix or that 3 Musketeers or whatever thing from that machine that you really love, and the vending machine just eats your money and doesn’t you give your treat? have you ever kicked or shaken that vending machine?
Do you treat God the same way you treat that vending machine?
He’s not a vending machine. He does not give you things that are bad for you. (Not that a Twix on occasion is bad for you… Moderation, right?) He gives you what is best for you.
God hears and answers every prayer. He just doesn’t always answer the way you want Him to. It’s Yes, No, Not yet, or I have a better plan.
Character > Comfort
Holy > Happy
Genuine holiness –> lasting happiness
Living by faith does not mean you will have no problems.

It was a really interesting sermon, and he challenged us to think about which of these aspects we need to work on.

Now for the “Strength” thing.

Today’s Max Lucado devotional! (Which I am posting because I feel like it.)

What Are Your Strengths?
Romans 12:6
There are some things we want to do but simply aren’t equipped to accomplish. I, for example, have the desire to sing. Singing for others would give me wonderful satisfaction. The problem id, it wouldn’t give the same satisfaction to my audience…
Paul gives good advice in Romans 12:3: “Have a sane estimate of your capabilities” (PHILLIPS).
In other words, be aware of your strengths. When you teach, do people listen? When you lead, do people follow? When you administer, do things improve? When are you most productive? Identify your strengths, and then… major in them…. Failing to focus on our strengths may prevent us from accomplishing the unique tasks God has called us to do.

Ten More Personal Questions (Or, another Flawless Friday post)

12 Friday Aug 2011

Posted by Becca in Uncategorized

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

10 personal questions, family, Flawless Friday, fun, Glee, HealthyTippingPoint, Max Lucado, personal, random, school

So Caitlin at HTP did this recently and I thought it would be fun.

And it kind of works as a Flawless Friday post!

Flawless Friday!

What are you really good at?  What are you really bad at?

Good at: being a friend, blogging, reading, listening (most of the time), helping, learning, being me…

Bad at: math, telling directions (when I’m not in my house), worrying (as in, it’s a bad habit), clothing and fashion stuff, keeping up-to-date on devotionals!!…

Have you ever been in a car accident?  What happened?

I have not. I have been in almost-accidents that would’ve been my fault because I was not paying attention. My sister’s been in two accidents, neither of which were really her fault. The first one was actually caused by a deer who didn’t bother to check where my sister’s car was before it tried to cross the road. Silly deer.

Why did you attend your college?

I attended the first one, a local community college, for two years because 1) I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to major in and didn’t want to spend lots of money on classes I wouldn’t need, 2) to save money!!, and 3) to kind of get used to the fact that I was going to college. I was not ready to go to a four-year school.

Describe your morning routine today.

Well, since noon is no longer morning, we’ll go up to then. But be warned, I have crappy habits in the morning.
Woke up (at 10:45), showered, ate potato salad, and hung out on the internet.
That’s pretty much my summer routine: get up after 8, maybe shower, chill, and munch on random food throughout the day.

Have you ever snooped through someone else’s things? Did you find anything interesting?

I don’t think I have really… Maybe a couple of times, but I don’t really remember. I think I went through a purse someone left at my house once to make sure I knew whose it was…

What do you think happens when you die?

I believe in Heaven and Hell, so… Heaven or Hell. The latter of which would suck.

Are you superstitious?

Nope. Not unless you consider going to church as much as possible superstitious.

Do people think you are younger or older than you actually are?

Older, mostly because of my obsession with learning. I’ve talked to a couple of people who’ve said that if they hadn’t known everyone in their graduating classes, they would’ve thought I was their age. I think it’s mostly because of my attitude or the way I speak or something.

How did your parents’ relationship influence you?

I have to be honest, my parents argue a lot. My dad’s hearing aids don’t always seem to work. We have to yell at him for him to hear us sometimes. My mom gets frustrated easily. They argue over things that I think are kind of stupid.
But that doesn’t mean they don’t love each other. They get along fine most other times.
Watching them has gotten me thinking about how I want my marriage to be. It’s gotten me thinking about traits I want in a husband. It’s made me decide that I want to talk to my husband about how to handle arguments BEFORE arguments happen, and to be loving in my responses and not crabby. Basically it’s just helped me rethink marriage in general and how I want mine to someday work.

What were the three happiest moments of your life?

THE three happiest moments? I don’t know. It’ll probably change over time, but for now three of my happiest moments are (in order of when I thought of them, not of greatest importance or anything):

1) getting accepted into this 4-year (and then later finding out I owe them no money for my first semester!!!!!!!)
2) This is going to sound weird, but the “aftermath” of my best friend’s death has made me rather happy. Like, the fact that even though she’s gone, she’s still influencing people. That makes me pretty happy.
3) I guess getting this (like the last half of the post) off my chest was a pretty happy moment… I’d been debating telling you that for a while and then I did it and it was kind of freeing.
I notice nobody commented on that, though, which is kind of interesting to me…

And since I’m thinking of it, I’m going to grab my Max Lucado devotional and see what today’s thought is! Yesterday’s was on seeing the unseen, and today’s is on patience.

Infinite Patience
Romans 5:4-5
God is often more persistent with us than we are with ourselves. We assume that if we fall, we aren’t born again. If we stumble, then we aren’t truly converted. if we have the old desires, then we must not be a new creation.
If you are anxious about this, please remember, “God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again” (Phil. 1:6).
A Gentle Thunder

In other news, I might be going to the 3D Glee Concert movie … thing … tomorrow with a friend. I’m kind of excited. I mentioned it last night and she decided we should try to go. And I think we’re going.  I’m not a fan of 3D glasses (or the extra price), but that’s okay.

A Parent’s Precious Prayers

10 Wednesday Aug 2011

Posted by Becca in Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

best friend, birthday, Facebook, Max Lucado, missing you, not alone, prayer

Today’s Max Lucado devotional holds a special spot in my heart…

Isaiah 54:13
Never underestimate the ponderings of a Christian parent. Never underestimate the power that comes when a parent pleads with God on behalf of a child. Who knows how many prayers are being answered right now because of the faithful ponderings of a parent ten or twenty years ago? God listens to thoughtful parents.
Praying for our children is a noble task. If what we are doing, in this fast-paced society, is taking us away from prayer time for our children, we’re doing too much. There is nothing more special, more precious than time that a parent spends struggling and pondering with God on behalf of a child.
Walking with the Savior

See, this was my “second mom”‘s status on Facebook today:

birthday

And this was her post on M’s wall today:

birthday2

See that? Praying for her daughter even though she’s not here anymore.

This is a woman who has befriended and prays for her daughter’s killer, who can’t wait until said “killer” (excuse me for the negative wording, I can’t think of another at the moment) is out of jail in a couple of months.

A woman who suggested praying over cars and parking lots after the accident.

A woman who inspires me constantly, just as her daughter did, and still does.

And this was my birthday message for M:

birthday3

Short post is short. I can’t really connect thoughts all that well today, probably because I am both tired and miss my best friend…

Anyway, I hope that you have a lovely day, whatever you’re doing.

And know that if you’re missing someone, you aren’t alone in those feelings.

~*~

Update: Check this out!

prayingforyou

One of my favorite ladies (who happens to be my boss’s wife, but whatever) messaged me this afternoon and told me she was praying. For me. How cool is that?!

Very cool, that’s how cool.

God’s Plans

08 Monday Aug 2011

Posted by Becca in Uncategorized

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20th, believe, best friend, Faith Fitness Fun, Getting out of the Boat, God's Plans, Heaven, Jesus, lessons, Max Lucado, passion

This was August 5th’s Max Lucado devotional, but I wanted to share it.

God’s Plans
Psalm 37:4
When we submit to God’s plans, we can trust our desires. Our assignment is found at the intersection of God’s plan and our pleasures. What do you love to do? What brings you joy? What gives you a sense of satisfaction?
Some long to feed the poor. Others enjoy leading the church…. Each of us has been made to serve God in a unique way…..
The longings of your heart, then, are not incidental; they are critical messages. The desires of your heart are not to be ignored; they are to be consulted. As the wind turns the weather vane, so God uses your passions  to turn your life. God is too gracious to ask you to do something you hate.
Just Like Jesus 

This one stuck out to me because it reminds me of these two posts. Oh, and also part of this one. Scroll down to the paragraph about Living the Dream.

How about we check out today’s Max Lucado devotional?

Safe to Believe
Romans 6:5-6 (Message version)
Don’t you love that sentence? “It was the signal of the end of death-as-the-end.” The resurrection is an exploding flare announcing to all sincere seekers that it is safe to believe. Safe to believe in ultimate justice. Safe to believe in eternal bodies. Safe to believe in heaven as our estate and the earth as its porch.  Safe to believe in a time when questions won’t keep us awake and pain won’t keep us down. Safe to believe in open graves and endless days and genuine praise.
Because we can accept the resurrection story, it is safe to accept the rest of the story.
When Christ Comes

 This one is actually kind of special to me right now, with the idea of being able to believe in Heaven.

See, in two days, on the 10th, it will be my best friend’s 20th birthday.

She’s going to be celebrating in Heaven with Jesus.

Because I believe in Jesus and His resurrection and ascension, I believe that my best friend is in Heaven and that someday I will be there with her.

But first I have to fulfill my duties here on Earth as an ambassador of Christ, living each day the way He would like me to and discovering everything He’s got in store for me.

Care to join me on the journey?

What a weekend.

07 Sunday Aug 2011

Posted by Becca in Uncategorized

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

cake, candles, cousins, drive, family, fun, funny, Max Lucado, road trip, wedding

So, I had a stupid moment.

Yesterday morning as we were driving to go get my grandma and bring her with us to the wedding, Mom and I realized that I wouldn’t be getting internet. Unless I had a Wi-Fi card thingy or something. Which I do not. So I had to make do with music and sleeping, really.

It was a long ride. Five hours is hard. Not as hard as two days to DC or Tennessee, but hard.

We had to be there two hours before the wedding so that my grandma could be in some photos. So I sat around at the church in my dress and tried to keep myself entertained.

Then came the wedding.

It was great!

The prelude (on piano) was lovely, and then came the start of the ceremony.

The bride (my cousins)’s brother-in-law and the groom’s brother (or, one of his brothers) were ushers, and walked people in.

They lit the candles—or tried to. There were six candles each for them to light, and either because of pre-lighting for photos or because of vents and air, only three stayed lit for each of the ushers. The top three for one and the bottom three for the other.

My family was sitting in one row and we giggled back and forth that “Gee, I hope the candles by the Unity Candle stay lit!”

The guys tried to get their candles to all light, but eventually they just gave each other this look and walked out. To a round of applause, of course!

And the groom escorted his mother and his new mother-in-law up the aisle.

Then he and his father and the pastor came out together and sat down.

At this point, I had a brain fart.

“Shouldn’t [my uncle, the father of the bride] be up there???”

…Duh.

He’s the father of the bride. He’s walking her up the aisle.

Hahaha.

But anyway, the rest of the bridal party’s entry was successful, and they all looked very nice, and then came the bride.

This is one of the first (and only!) times I’ve ever seen her in a dress, and she looked gorgeous.

(I’d seen her in the dress for photos, too, but still.)

My uncle’s voice cracked a little when he gave his “Her mother and I” answer to the pastor, which makes sense, because she’s the youngest and the last one to get married, you know?

The beginning song (THIS! Only not the Italian. Which always makes me think of Quest For Camelot.) was a duet, sung by a couple from the church I would assume.

Then my dad got up and read Romans 12:9-18, which I thought was an interesting passage for a wedding.

The pastor’s message was nice—he told us that he was going to speak directly to the bride and groom, so if we wanted to we could tune out for the next 15 minutes or so.

First he brought up that he’d been thinking about it, and marriage is a legally binding contract as well as a spiritual one. He was thinking about how my cousin and her husband will probably sign plenty of contracts over the years: they’ll buy cars and perhaps a new house…

But this is the only contract that people will come to celebrate with them.

So that was cute.

Anyway, the message he shared contained references to both the bride and the groom’s occupations, and I liked it a lot.

My cousin is an art teacher, and her husband is a construction worker (and part-time farmer, but we’ll get to that later).

The pastor started with the groom, speaking about foundations.

See, the groom helped build the church we were in. Or at least, he helped with the remodel. The pastor spoke about how after they broke ground, it seemed to take forever for the addition to be completed. But see, the construction guys (the groom, his father, his brothers) knew what they were doing. They knew that thing shad to happen in order, and in specific times, or else things would be messed up. They could have skipped steps to save time, but then the church wouldn’t have had a roof, or no foundation, or something. (The pastor explained it better; I’m summarizing.) There had to be a foundation, and things have to be done in their own time and in the proper order. The pastor talked about how in marriage, you must plan and purpose, just like you do in building things. It was a really nice illustration!

Then he went on to speak to my cousin.

This year is the 10th anniversary of 9-11, and my cousin had her art class(es) create a panel for the special event that the church is planning. It’s a gorgeous silhouette (we looked at it after the service) of the New York skyline—with the Towers still included. The pastor tied in something he had said earlier, about their families and being raised by loving Godly people. He spoke about how we all want to continue to do things the way we were raised, and how we are all prideful and that can get in the way. He said that just like my cousin’s art piece, those things have to fade into the background for a marriage to work. That really kind of struck me, because lately I’ve been thinking about compromise…

So anyway, it was a wonderful message and a great wedding. I’m so glad I sat through over ten hours of driving time to be there. 🙂 (No, seriously. It was worth it.)

Then came the reception!

Oh, man. Let me tell you.

You know it’s a party when the dance floor is filled with children, some of whom know the words to the music by heart.

I had so much fun watching and taking pictures and videos of my cousins and the other kids.

But before that, we had to find places to sit and be dismissed to go get food!

We sat at one of the bigger, square-ish tables (that was actually two pushed together I suppose) RIGHT NEXT TO THE CAKES.

Yea, I said cakeS. Plural.

It’s a groom’s-side tradition to have multiple cakes along with the big one. (In this case, three-tiered.)

The groom’s uncle made the cakes, and they were amazing.

There were like 12. I had two slices.

One of my little cousins had probably like six pieces, the little stinker.

All I know is that when I was in line for my first piece, he was getting his second, and continued eating throughout the night.

Oh, the food.

We didn’t eat cake first…

It was a buffet. Of foods that the bride’s father will eat. He’s a little picky, and I guess he decided that if he was paying for the food, it would be food that he was going to eat.

So we basically had meat and potatoes. And salad. Pretty good.

And then came the speeches. The bride’s sister was matron of honor, and gave a really nice speech. She talked about how she’s known her sister for a long time (we all laughed) and how she’s never seen her sister happier than she was yesterday. It was very sweet. And then she poked a little fun at the groom being a part-time farmer. Her husband is, too, and so she had a little something to tell her sister about the best and worst things about part-time farmers: they’re never home in the spring and summer.

The best man (groom’s friend)’s speech started out fine, but then he got himself into a little hot water with our family and earned himself some playful boo-ing. He started out by talking about how not too long after they started dating, the groom came over to his house and was talking about wanting to ask my cousin to marry him. But see, engagement rings are just so expensive! And his friend pointed out that you know what, they’re expensive, but what else gives you a life-time committment…

of a dishwasher?

That got my family boo-ing a little.

But the groomsmen all went together and bought the bride a gift to kind of welcome her into the family so to speak. And he pulled out what I think was supposed to be a stuffed sunflower? I couldn’t quite tell. But it was cute.

THEN came the cake, and the dancing.

It wasn’t a very big dance floor, and it was right next to the bar, so… that was a little different.

But it was so much fun to watch the kids dance.

Several of the little boys attempted to break dance, which was adorable.

It was a good night.

And something that I found interesting was the timing in my Max Lucado devotional book.

On August 4th, the lesson was about marriage, like how we’re Christ’s bride.

You Have Captured God’s Heart
Isaiah 62:5
Have you ever noticed the way a groom looks at his bride during the wedding? I have. Perhaps it’s my vantage point. As the minister of the wedding, I’m positioned next to the groom…
If the light is just so and the angle just right, I can see a tiny reflection in his eyes. Her reflection. And the sight of her reminds him why he is here. His jaw relaxes and his forced smile softens. He forgets he’s wearing a tux. He forgets his sweat-soaked suit. …When he sees her, any thought of escape becomes a joke again. For it is written all over his face, “Who could bear to live without this bride?”
And such are precisely the feelings of Jesus. Look long enough into the eyes of our Savior and there, too, you will see a bride. Dressed in fine linen. Clothed in pure grace… She is the bride… walking toward him….
And who is the bride for whom Jesus longs? … You are. You have captured the heart of God.
When Christ Comes

How awesome is that? That’s the whole point of my starting this blog, to learn more about capturing God’s heart so that I can someday capture the heart of the special man with whom I will share the rest of my life.

Being at a wedding and thinking about weddings and watching stuff on TV about weddings has gotten me thinking about mine.

I know I don’t need to yet, but it’s okay to get ideas beforehand, right…?

My dad has told me to elope, but with our family, that’s not happening.

Last night he told me “no glassware” at the reception, to which my mom replied, basically, “Good luck with that.”

Don’t worry, Dad, I have to find a boy you approve of before I start thinking seriously about a wedding…

I think I might be going…

29 Friday Jul 2011

Posted by Becca in Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Christianity, devotional, Grace for the Moment, Islam, Max Lucado, once in a lifetime, opportunity, school, trip

I got responses back from both people I emailed about the January school trip, and they told me this:

  1. I am eligible.
    a. There is only one prerequisite according to the professor, not the multiple ones I thought there were.
    b. My credits make me exempt from said prerequisite course.
  2. There is still room.
  3. There is a meeting during the first week of school about the trip.
I’ve been thinking about it, and talking about with a friend (admittedly I have not really prayed about it; oops!!) and I came up with this list:
  1. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, probably. At least, it’s a once-in-my-school-career opportunity.
  2. It’s Egypt and Israel. Jesus lived in Israel. I will most likely be in many of the same spots Jesus was.
  3. We’ll be studying both Christianity and Islam.
  4. The description says historical readings AND READINGS FROM THE QU’RAN! I’ve been wanting to check out the Qu-ran for a while now. …Plus other assigned literary works. You know. It’s a Literature course thing.
  5. We’ll meet Christians who live in traditionally/mostly Islamic areas.
  6. AND we’ll meet Westerners who live in both countries and see how relationships with people work and whatever.
I’m at least going to go to the meeting, if not sign up for the trip.
I’m thinking I’ll probably go. It would be an incredible experience.
Speaking of experience, I move in at school in just over three weeks.
If I’d bothered to read yesterday’s Max Lucado devo yesterday, I might have been a little less afraid. It was about trusting Christ, essentially.
Today’s was on fear.
They came at just the right time.
I’m nervous about moving in.
But at least my roommates seem really nice and I don’t have to worry about bringing much extra stuff—they’ve got it pretty much covered. That’s a plus. 🙂
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