With countless gifts of love...

"Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name." "...designated by name to give thanks to the LORD." "...that we may give thanks to your holy name." "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever." "Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done." "With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD." "...with songs of thanksgiving..." "We always thank God for all of you..." "Give thanks in all circumstances..." "Give glory, honor and thanks to Him..." "We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty."

I have spent quite a bit of time making this list, and I know I could continue adding for days to come. May this be a small representation of the many things I am thankful for! In no special order, I am thankful for...

Jesus, pianos, fruit, picking apples from orchards, making cider, Ryan, people who are talented with their instruments, Michael, loose leaf tea, good books, Angela, her amazing friendship, clocks, Moscow, green dishes, my rain boots, Corin and Reba, my house, living in Seattle, having a job, enjoying my job, music, violins, people who play the guitar, my mom and dad, their marriage, hiking, Laura, fall colors, changing seasons, camping with my family, warm coats, electric blankets, fireplaces, Tara, the Church, E-Free, Mars Hill, the Coffee O, baking, a bed to sleep in, beautiful art, Grandma Kay, Austria, the mountains, Tauernhof, Stacey, Lindsay, and Carolyn, people who speak truth, having a Bible, Bremerton, God pursuing me with his love, the Fredericks, their unending hospitality, tuna and tortilla chips, good coffee, Bucer's, Neil, rhubarb pie, Soma, the Black Horse Band, hymns, Daniel, singing, my mom's cooking, farmer's market, Kristina, long car drives, Karl, gmail, internet access, Pullman, nursing school, Ella-Mae, Bible verse of the week, Papa, Grandma Nita and her fighting perseverance, people who take good pictures, Ryan calling from Austria, going home for Thanksgiving, honesty, Michael playing his drums, harmonizing, all the girls I graduated from high school with and that I still get to see most of them, Aaron and Joe and their family, iced americanos, people who know me well, running by water, my dad playing his keyboard at night, corn flakes and soy milk, that I am being renewed into the image of Christ, getting to go to college, graduating from college, health and dental insurance, long walks and talks with Ryan, living on Jefferson street for two years, living with Jenny, Thursday morning prayer times of old, Logos, the christians at my gym, Erica and her amazing heart for the girls in Bremerton, the few days of Sunday football I've played, reading my Bible on the bus, running around Greenlake, rain, scarves, people I can trust, the chance to give, that He is strong when I am weak, being single, not feeling alone in a new city, spending time with friends, having a family who loves me.

Thanks be to God.

Lift up holy hands

There was a concert Saturday night that I have been looking forward to for weeks. Not really even a concert...a worship night, led by a woman who passionately loves Jesus through worship and is talented while doing it. I figured it would take me about fifty minutes to get there, so I planned my evening accordingly, but very quickly I felt that there was something trying it's best to keep me from getting there. I got off work Saturday an hour and a half later than I was expecting. No problem, I still managed to leave my house on time...well 45 minutes later I actually got out of the city. I chased down a gas station in downtown Seattle but got stuck in traffic, got to a convenience store that had everything but gas, got stuck in construction trying to make it to a real gas station before running out of gas, got stuck in traffic again because of a huge accident on I-5. I felt that choice looming before me: am I going to give in and be frustrated and let that affect my attitude for the evening? Or am I going to recognize the spiritual battle and pray that God would protect my attitude and prepare my heart to worship Him? Praise God for his mercy- that amazing night of worship would have been hard for me to sit through had my heart been soured by frustration and annoyance. Instead it was a night of worshipping with a newfound freedom, one of those nights where everyone else in the room begins to fade away and it's just me and God. Where I can sing at the absolute top of my lung because the room is just full of people praising Jesus. To lift my hands unashamedly. I have realized there have always been things to hold me back from worshipping in true freedom; not good things, but areas of immaturity, like being too concious of what others will think. But God has continued to pursue my heart and convice me of his love, his amazing love. "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks."

Demands my soul, my life, my all

Reckless (rěk'lĭs)- "defiant disregard for danger or consequences." Being reckless for Jesus. That is what we are called to, and really that is what life is all about, and yet how often do we really live a life that could be considered reckless for the cause of Christ? To live in utter disregard for the danger or consequence of proclaiming Jesus and the Cross, proclaiming and living the Truth with boldness. I love to read christian biographies, stories of people who are giving their lives and living recklessly for Jesus. They inspire me. Jim Elliot, Keith Green, Amy Carmichael, Hudson Taylor, Jonathan Goforth, Jo Shetler. There is something within, some deeply rooted passion, that stirrs with excitement when I read it, hear of it, their lives, passion, dedication, recklessness. And yet I let myself be content to just live vicariously through them. Why? What is holding me back from being the one who is "sold out", who is giving my all for something that is entirely worth it? "Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all." O Lord, that I would give my all. That I would count everything the world has to offer as rubbish compared to the surpassing glory of knowing Christ.

"But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves." James 1:22. I have been freshly challenged by this unwavering call to be united in truth and action, because we prove what we really believe deep down by how we live. We will not hesitate to say that we believe God is all powerful, that He created the heavens and the earth, that He is good, that He cares for his creation and is our only hope for salvation, that Christ is our only hope of glory, that we have been loved with an unquenchable love. But if we really believe that, why do we let anything else get in the way? Why do we not live every day of our lives in the complete freedom and reckless abandon that comes from being loved as a child of God? We say that we believe the Bible is God's word, completely true, living and active. That through His word God reveals himself, and has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him. If we really believe that, why are we not constantly longing for and spending time in the word? Why is it not our first priority- to spend time day and night reading the word of life and growing closer to our Savior? May we each be doers of the word, living representations of true belief. May we be reckless in our pursuit of Jesus!