By Your Side - Tenth Avenue North

No Matter Where I Am

“I'll praise You in this storm And I will lift my hands For You are who You are
No matter where I am Every tear I've cried You hold in Your hand
You never left my side And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm.”
Casting Crowns

Life does not always play out the way I think or hope that it should, the way that I pray that it will. Sometimes I am elated in life and then something happens that quickly depletes me and makes it harder to find the joy. I’m thrown from the mountaintop into the valley and all “normalcy” simple escapes me. All the things that I cling to in my daily life…like peace, patience, and control over my emotions, forgiveness, love and understanding…become tough to reach and test my strength, self-assurance, and ultimately, my faith. But then, I am suddenly reminded of who I am, what is good, and what is true. And that truth is, that God has a perfect plan for my life and He is in control through it all and God is good all the time. Even when it is hard, when I don’t understand, and even when it hurts, His way is best. The valley moments and the storms of life are going to come and knowing that does not make facing them any easier – they still hurt when you are in the midst of them! But, praise God. He is my comfort in all things. He hears the cry of my heart and offers sustaining grace, strength, courage, and a peace that surpasses all understanding. Amid the pain and hurt there is hope and reassurance in an almighty God! “I want settle for the ordinary things, I’m gonna follow Him forever and all of my days!” Even when it hurts, even when it is hard! “I will lift my hands, for you are who you are no matter where I am!”

A Friday High Five

Five things that I’m love’n right now!

1.Paint! Yes I know that may sound a little crazy, but painting a room make it feel like its brand new, like a fresh start is taking place and right now a fresh new start in a fresh new room is what I need.

2.Wii Fit – I know, again crazy…but I love it and it makes me feel so good!!

3.My Friends – I have some of the coolest friends on the planet!

4.Facebook – I may need a little therapy for this addiction, seriously. Hi…my name is Shannon and Im a facebookaholic!

5.Mike’s Margareta’s…yummy…its 5:00 somewhere!!!

Merry Christmas

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year…it’s the hap-happiest season of all”. There are just so many things to love about Christmas- decoration strung up everywhere, cards to send, parties to plan and go to, new songs to sing, eggnog, Christmas movies, and family and friends to see.

Even as I sit here and write this, the house is dimly lit with the twinkling of white lights hung on our tree, Christmas carols are playing in the background, packages are wrapped and everyone is full of Christmas cheer. But still there is an even greater joy; a joy that comes in the form of profound celebration, a celebration that encapsulates what Christmas is really about. It’s a time when we can slow down our busy lives and just enjoy a silent night like tonight and remember the beauty of what's behind it all, the birth of Jesus Christ.

It would be very hard to truly enjoy the decorations, the music, the parties, and all that Christmas encompasses without the deep understanding that it is about so much more than those things, without the understanding that it was and is about the most sacrificial love that you can imagine. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. John 1:14 " What more could he have given than Himself! While you are out enjoying and celebrating the Christmas holidays, remember it is because of His great love for us we have so much to celebrate, not just at Christmas, but everyday!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Lonely in the pursuit...

I was thinking about a conversation that I had with a friend the other day. We were talking about the feeling of loneliness you have sometimes when you are in pursuit of the holiness of God and striving to be more like Him. There is a loneliness that comes when you are on that path, but your friends are not. I have found myself feeling that same way, surround by people (friends) yet feeling so alone or really more heart sick for them that they were just not getting it. I remember thinking, “do they not hear the same thing I’m hearing…how can they not be moved by this…do they not know how important this is…etc”. But, then as I got to thinking more about it I wondered how many times that had been me, surrounded by friends that were getting it and I was the one that was just not in a place to hear, see, and take it in. At least not in a way that was making a difference in me or in my life. But by the grace of God, I had friends and some family that stuck in there and continued to pray for me and take the opportunities that they were give to walk through open doors in our conversations. Over time that stuff starts to sink in. The best thing we can do when we find ourselves waiting on our friends to catch up is continue to be there, pray for them and let God lead you, you will find that He will open doors for you to talk about Him and the things that matter. They may not be moved all at once, or even at a pace you would like, but you will be planting seeds and hopefully they will respond over time. Plus, it allows them to see the change that is taking place in you as well. Above all this, the choice is theirs to make, God is there waiting. I found this verse: Did you become involved in the lives of these for repayment from them or out of obedience to me? Do you love these and look for repayment, or do you love them in obedience to me? “…God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 It is in our obedience to Him, not in our expectation of others, that our friends and families will be blessed. Don’t get discouraged by their lagging, continue to move forward, allowing God to fill you up. When you are full of Him, it spills over...

I know its been a while, but things have just been so chaotic lately. You know how the holidays are and I have been working on this Christmas project.... So, my time has been spent doing other great things, just not this great thing. Ha! For the few of you out there that have missed my wise and witty words I promise some new stuff soon! But, just in case I don't make it back on here before Christmas...Merry Christmas and God bless!

While thoughts from my previous post are still roaming around in my head, I ran across a much needed to hear (read) post that Crystal posted last month. The post was about grace and as I read the post I was struck by the fact that grace in many situations is what others will first see in us that makes us different from everyone else. When I posed the questions in my previous post (what impact (do) you have on other people’s lives? What difference have you really made?), I hadn’t really thought to deeply about how much grace could really play a part in the answers. Do you suppose that I have made an impact on someone else’s life simply because I have extended to them grace? What difference do you suppose it made to the person on the receiving end of the grace given, if any? Don’t you suppose that extending grace to others also brings about change in us as well? Absolutely!! How simple an act of Gods love in us, yet profound in that it’s not a commonality in today’s world. All of you must clothe yourselves with humility for the sake of each other, because: “God opposes the arrogant, but gives grace to the humble.” 1 Peter 5:5 I know for myself that sometimes extending grace to someone is not always my first reaction, at least not in the past. Instead, its easier to judge, criticize, and get defensive. It is that gut reaction to someone else’s actions, appearance, choices, etc…. But, giving grace really is not about the other person at all, it is in fact about me…its about growing in Christ and become more like Him, its about humbling ourselves. It is learning to see others the way God sees them so that my gut reactions is changed and in effect blessing the other person at the same time. “Grace blesses the recipient” through a heart that has been humbled by the grace first given to them by Christ. "We can heal their broken bodies and restore their fallen hearts if only we would stop judging them for how they fell apart in the first place." J.C. Ryle God was the first and truest example of grace in that he gave His son…who would be persecuted, and ultimately die to free us from our sins (read Crystals blog, she says all this, just better) and he extends that grace to us everyday, how grateful I am for that! Through out, He showed continual grace to those who had been shunned, and ridiculed because of their status or behavior. How much more so should we, who are called by his name, be willing to extend grace to others? Amazing grace, that saved a retch like me…could be all that someone else needs, could change a life…could save a life!