Tired

OK, I know it is Thanksgiving and I should be thankful.  And I really am.  I have good parents who have always loved me and sacrificed for me.  I have a sister who has some insights  that amaze me and very good at listening for the voice of God.  I have an awesomely sweet and beautiful niece.  I am richly blessed with incredible friends.  I have a very good job.  I have a roof over my head...well at least until the end of the month.

We have been looking for a house for a month and haven't found the "right" one...haven't found the one that we feel God has for us.  We are in the midst of sorting and packing which is hard and depressing work.

So with that said - I'm wearing my feelings on my sleeve.  So I'm tired.  Tired of worrying, tired of looking, tired of being anxious, tired of stress, tired of criticism (or what I perceive to be critisicm), tired of trying to please most people most of the time.  It then comes back to I'm tired of not trusting God, of not being patient with His timing, of not listening to His voice, of questioning His ways.  Which brings me back to being thankful - thankful for His patience with me, thankful thankful that He loves me anway...

Worship

Isn't it neat that worship can happen anywhere?  Everywhere?

I had a worship service in my car on the commute home last Friday.  Life is rather stressful right now.  (Right now - who am I kidding?  When is life not stressful?).  We are in the midst of looking for a place to live.  While in the process, we had a dental emergency with Addison (my 7 y/o niece).

Now Addison has had many doctor's appointments and surgical processes to insert and remove ear tubes.  Because of that she has experienced some medical phobias that involve emotional meltdowns.  Our princess becomes a "wild thang".  So having to go to the dentist, get x-rays, have a tooth pulled filled us all with dread and worry.  We began praying and called upon Mema and Papa to pray.

The baby girl sailed through the appointment and was SO proud of herself.  I was overwhelmed with gratitude for the answered prayer.  I was reminded that if God cared about this - He also cared about the roof over our heads!  That brings us back to Worship.

I was listening to the local Christian radio station and first heard Matthew West's song - Motions.  The song talks about not wanting to go through the motions or go one more day with out His all consuming passion - or go through life asking - What if I had given everything?  The next song was by Mary Mary - "take the shackles off my feet, so I can dance - I just wanna praise you!"  (Trust me - you should not reenact this song while in rush hour traffic.)  Then the radio went to the lyrics shown below.  By the end of this son - the tears were flowing.  So read (or go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-enKzeY060 and listen) and worship with me.  WE ARE LOVED ANYWAY!

You Love Me Anyway lyrics - Sidewalk Prophets

The question was raised
As my conscience fell
A silly, little lie, it didn’t mean much
But it lingers still in the corners of my mind
Still you call me to walk on the edge of this world
To spread my dreams and fly
But the future’s so far
My heart is so frail
I think I’d rather stay inside

But You love me anyway
It’s like nothing in life that I’ve ever known
You love me anyway
Oh Lord, how You love me
How You love me

It took more than my strength
To simply be still, to seek but never find
All the reasons we change
The reasons I doubt
And why do loved ones have to die?

But You love me anyway
It’s like nothing in life that I’ve ever known
You love me anyway
Oh Lord, how You love me
I am the thorn in Your crown
But You love me anyway
I am the sweat from Your brow
But You love me anyway
I am the nail in Your wrist
But You love me anyway
I am Judas’ kiss
But You love me anyway
See now, I am the man that called out from the crowd
For Your blood to be spilled on this earth shaking ground
Yes then, I turned away with this smile on my face
With this sin in my heart tried to bury Your grace
And then alone in the night, I still called out for You
So ashamed of my life, my life, my life

But You love me anyway
Oh, God… how you love me
You love me anyway
It’s like nothing in life that I’ve ever known
You love me anyway
Oh Lord, how You love me
You love me, You love me