Totally Love Tuesday

 

 

a friend lent me this book.  i began crying in the DEDICATION.  never done that before.  i know the story already and am already amazed.  (okay that was YESTERDAY.  i finished the book last night… had to just keep reading.  such a powerful real honest authentic testimony.  i think everyone needs to read this book.)

But on May 21, 2008 their world was changed forever. One of their young daughters was hit by a car, driven by their 17-year-old son, in the driveway of their home. In the months that followed, Mary Beth struggled with understanding God’s plan for her life and why their beautiful, full of life girl was taken from them.

In Choosing to SEE: A Journey of Struggle and Hope Mary Beth Chapman shares the story of her life and her struggle to find a new normal following the death of her daughter. This is an open and honest book that is full of laughter, sadness, faithfulness and the promises of God.

 

 

 

i love lost.  and love this blog about MY LOST MOMENT.  so i had to add my own lost moment to it…

 

 

 

really loving this album by hillsong united, not sure old it is but some of the songs have been popping up around the place at other worship things and i loved them. have ituned just selected songs (take heart, aftermath, bones etc) and they’re JUST RIGHT NOW songs, songs for right now, speaking to my heart, and my heart speaking to God.

 

 

last night, or rather this morning at about 5am i woke up.  when i wake up in the night i often listen to sermons in attempt to fall asleep, that sounds bad eh, and to keep my mind occupied but resting.   this morning i listened to all of the first message in Mars Hill (Mark Driscoll) series called REAL MARRAIGE and it was good.  heart stretching.  eye opening.  real.  brutally honest.  convicting.  encouraging.  i think i have a good marriage but i want the best marriage i can.  and i know that marriage has pointed out in me lots of flaws.  and if we’re not intentional in building then things can come unstuck.  this was near the end of the message and sums up what i want.  a testimony.  for the glory of God.

 

 

What’s your testimony right now? Or is your life just a biography? “I did this, they did that, so we’re stuck here.” Or is your story actually God’s story? “I did this, they did that, Jesus died, so we have hope, we have forgiveness, we have life, and we have Christ.” And I’m not just talking in a theoretical, theological way. I’m talking in a day-by-day practical way. I’m talking in the integration of the living, resurrected Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world in the hard stuff of daily life; not just the ethereal, theological, theoretical, but the practical and the painful. That’s a testimony.

Grace and I have a testimony. The biography was not great, but the testimony, though it’s really hard for me, to be honest with you, because I like being a leader. I like being respected. But more than that, I like God to be glorified. And I can’t be of any help to you unless I’m honest with you, and you can’t be of any help to each other unless you’re honest with each other.

And if we say that Jesus died for sin, but we don’t talk about our sin, what we’re saying is we don’t really believe that his death was for us, and we don’t believe that his resurrection is the hope for our new life together. We have a lot of hope for you. We tell you our testimony, not because that in and of itself would make a great book. It wouldn’t. It would make a great horror film. But because you may be in a place that’s not great, and what you don’t need is another preacher and his wife just telling how everything is great, and if you buy their products, yours can be great, too. I think what you need is two repentant sinners to tell you that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, and together with him, you can have a testimony, and to invite you to him together to have that testimony. If the story of your life and marriage was concluded right now, would it be one you’d be happy to have your great-grandchildren read? If not, then get Jesus involved and keep writing that story, by the grace of God.

We want you to have a testimony. Our testimony is that he’s forgiven us of sin, and he’s allowed us to forgive one another. I can tell you that there is no bitterness in our marriage, but there is Jesus. He’s given us the Holy Spirit to live new lives. We’re not loving one another with the love that we have. We’re not serving one another with the power that we have, that the Holy Spirit really is God. He really is alive and well, and he really is alive and well in us, that Jesus really has been a perfect friend to us both, and so that perfect friendship is taken care of, and he’s helping us to be better friends to one another.  Mark Driscoll – New Marriage, Same Spouse

 

 

 

today i downloaded THE LOFT SESSIONS by Bethel worship. its brand new today.  not even in america yet.  yay for been a kiwi.  so far i have loved every song!

Recorded live in a refurbished rustic loft, the Bethel Music team gathered friends and family for several nights of worship that set the stage for this ground-breaking recording.  The Loft Sessions explores new territory for Bethel Music, merging an array of acoustic creativity with the modern melodies of original songs by Brian and Jenn Johnson, Jeremy Riddle and emerging artists Steffany Frizzell, Hunter Thompson and Matt Stinton.  One of the standout tracks from The Loft Sessions, “Come To Me,” was written by Jenn Johnson.  Seeing the news of earthquakes and other natural disasters happening all around the world, she wanted to know what God was saying through all the chaos.  Jenn heard the Lord saying, “You don’t have to worry about anything, just come to me.” Prolog Review

 

 

and as always.  i love Jesus with all i am and all my heart and all my soul and all my days. For His glory and the building of His kingdom and the rescue of the lost.

 

 

 

 

so what are you totally loving this week?

… check out what other peeps are loving whatever day of the week it is over at Paisley Jade