summer

Isaiah 54

 ¹ "Sing, O barren woman, 
       you who never bore a child; 
       burst into song, shout for joy, 
       you who were never in labor; 
       because more are the children of the desolate woman 
       than of her who has a husband," 
       says the LORD.

 ² "Enlarge the place of your tent,
       stretch your tent curtains wide,
       do not hold back;
       lengthen your cords,
       strengthen your stakes.

 ³ For you will spread out to the right and to the left;
       your descendants will dispossess nations
       and settle in their desolate cities.

 ⁴ "Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame.
       Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated.
       You will forget the shame of your youth
       and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.

 ⁵ For your Maker is your husband—
       the LORD Almighty is his name—
       the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;
       he is called the God of all the earth.

 ⁶ The LORD will call you back
       as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit—
       a wife who married young,
       only to be rejected," says your God.

 ⁷ "For a brief moment I abandoned you,
       but with deep compassion I will bring you back.

 ⁸ In a surge of anger
       I hid my face from you for a moment,
       but with everlasting kindness
       I will have compassion on you,"
       says the LORD your Redeemer.

 ⁹ "To me this is like the days of Noah,
       when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth.
       So now I have sworn not to be angry with you,
       never to rebuke you again.

 ¹⁰ Though the mountains be shaken
       and the hills be removed,
       yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken
       nor my covenant of peace be removed,"
       says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

 ¹¹ "O afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted,
       I will build you with stones of turquoise, ^[a]
       your foundations with sapphires. ^[b]

 ¹² I will make your battlements of rubies,
       your gates of sparkling jewels,
       and all your walls of precious stones.

 ¹³ All your sons will be taught by the LORD,
       and great will be your children's peace.

 ¹⁴ In righteousness you will be established:
       Tyranny will be far from you;
       you will have nothing to fear.
       Terror will be far removed;
       it will not come near you.

 ¹⁵ If anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing;
       whoever attacks you will surrender to you.

 ¹⁶ "See, it is I who created the blacksmith
       who fans the coals into flame
       and forges a weapon fit for its work.
       And it is I who have created the destroyer to work havoc;

 ¹⁷ no weapon forged against you will prevail,
       and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.
       This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,
       and this is their vindication from me,"
       declares the LORD.

oh gosh

Oh my gosh. This summer is flying by. When this summer is over I am going to college. That is super exciting. That is super scary. I don't even know what my life will look like.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”
                                 Philippians 4:6-7

Sometimes the world has really good ideas. Especially when it comes to college. For instance, the honors program lady told me that it was a really bad idea for me not to live in the honors dorm because I wouldn't be surrounded by people who wanted to be diligent like me. She told me I would probably fail. Well, I have a very good reason for choosing not to live there. God worked out a perfect roommate situation, and I feel way more comfortable living with her instead of living with a bunch of geniuses in East Hall. The honors lady had great advice. It was based on many studies.

I am a very logical person. I really want to base my life on logic. Logic just makes sense. Lately, I'm realizing that God doesn't necessarily call us to be logical. He calls us to be faithful. This is really scary to me because I can't decide if I'm being stupid or faithful. God did give us common sense for a reason, but God also told Noah to build a giant boat.

It may sound like I'm on my way to having a radical faith, but could I just be trying to justify my stupid actions? When I get hurt maybe I'll realize that it wasn't my faith, but my stupidity. Right now I don't know what God wants me to do. I really don't. Logic has a solid answer, but does God want me to be logical?

Maybe I just don't want to be logical about this, because then I'll know I'm stupid. But what does God want?

to be added to...

Sometimes songs completely describe exactly how you feel. Sometimes I wonder if I write songs in my sleep and people come steal them. Then I remember that I can't write songs, so I guess other people just feel the same as me...Also, sometimes Itunes plays the perfect song when it is on shuffle. That is also scary.