Psalm 43

I was reading Psalm 43 today and verse 4 really stuck out to me...
"Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God."
I just had this vivid picture in my mind of God on his throne, watching over His children. It was such a comforting thought. He is All Mighty and All Powerful, but so loving at the same time. Wow. And that He is to be my JOY and my DELIGHT. How often do we forget this? Too often.

Sunny Days

Sundays at Capernwray. They're so great. You couldn't ask for a more relaxing day out of the week. It's so funny, because out of any day of the week, if the sun decides to show its face, it's on a Sunday. I feel like this is the Lord's way of telling us that it's a special day. And of course, today, the sun was shining (but only for a few hours, because it's England you know).
So, today was a "long" day on my running schedule/log dealio. Even though the sun was shining, the wind was not so friendly (as usual). As I ran along, I felt so miserable because it was almost as if I was running in place! I almost tried praying that the wind would stop, but that would be a little rediculous right? God isn't going to stop the wind just so my running will be easier. Instead, a thought popped into my head. If I just press through the wind and persevere through the next hour or so of running, I will only become stronger. This helped me through the remainder of my run, which was still miserably hard, but hey, it'll pay off, right?
What's funny though is that this directly relates to what I'm learning from a book that we're reading here as one of our assignments. The book is, "If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat" by John Ortberg. The book is currently talking about "getting out of the boat" (the boat being your comfort zones in life-things you may cling to) in order to walk on the water (walking with Jesus and truly experiencing God's calling on your life). The only problem with walking on the water is that usually there are strong winds (challenges and distractions) that will try and bring you down and divert you from walking with Jesus. Although, as you face these winds and persevere through them, you'll become resilient to them and you'll become stronger and stronger. As you face struggles in life and push through them with the Lord, you produce a strength that can withstand more and more.
So anyway, that's what I thought about while I was running today. Running's so great. It's my time to be solo with God, processing things like this ;) A good way to release my energy and any stress that is trying to creep in.
I talked to my Dad tonight on the phone. He's gotta be the wisest person I know. Why was I so blessed with a family like the one I have?
And Sara Eccleston, this girl is amazing. My buddy from Seattle, WA!! God never ceases to teach me things through this girl. She's so encouraging and uplifting. She's a girl who truly lives her faith. Hallelujah.
It's going to be a great week.

Well, it's a lovely (meaning windy and rainy) Saturday at Capernwray Hall in Lancashire, England. I am finally settled back in at school after a short and sweet Holiday break at home in good old Spokane. It was so good to see my family and eat GOOD, healthy food! Hah. I'm super excited to see what the Lord has in store for me for this second term. Since I've been back, He's filled me with such an astonishing and surpirsing joy! This is such a blessing to me. It makes up for the dull weather :) I am so content in Him and where I am right now.
This upcoming week, we're having someone lecture on Apologetics. How exciting! This is something I've been interested in learning more about, so it will be so good. The next 3 months are going to fly by. I'm praying that I'll soke up every second of it and grasp on to everything the Lord teaches me. Next thing I know it, I'll be saying my good-byes to this castle in england and all the wonderful people who fill it.