Oh how he loves us...

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

He loves us,
oh how He loves us,
how He loves us,.

We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…
He loves us,
oh how He loves us,
how He loves us.

(John Mark mcMillan)

Every little thing is gonna be alright

So I’m still struggling with job issues.

As the job I have come to love becomes increasingly redundant, I note with dismay that financial demands don’t go on holiday but rather just invite confusion to come and stay.
Do I get a new job? Do I find a second job? Where do I even start looking? And it’s so much more than ‘should I stay or should I go’ when your emotions and fulfilment are wrapped up in it!

And yet somehow, I’m at peace. I have such an assurance that God has got this, that he will provide and that his plans will prevail.
“Go in peace, the journey on which you go is under the eye of the Lord” Judges 18:6 (ESV).
I like the way the Good news bible phrases it “You have nothing to worry about, the Lord is taking care of you on this trip”

I came across an article called “Finding a job, Keeping the faith” on a Catholic news site. (I’m neither Catholic nor big on following news sites, but somehow God creates these ‘coincidences’). The Pope was quoted on an address he gave to young people in Rome:

“My life has been willed by God since eternity. I am loved, I am necessary. God has a plan for me in the totality of history: He has a plan specifically for me."
The author goes on to say...
It is a dramatic paradigm shift for the job seeker, rightfully concerned about cell-phone and car-insurance bills that can't quite be shelved to eternity. But it is a mantra to keep you plugging away: "I am loved, I am necessary." And it is pretty amazing that God's plan for you, though it doesn't match your timeline, stands to be noticed in "the totality of history."
So take a deep breath and the long view. The master's plan is unfolding right now.

Yep...His plans are unfolding...

I hope it’s not some kind of sacrilege to use Bob Marley to sum up what the Pope says, but “every little thing is gonna be all right...”

Cookies for Chris

List #65 bake cookies for someone.

I love to bake. And even more so I love to bake for other people. Yesterday I whipped up a batch of amazingly chocolatety cookies for a new friend of mine.

I haven’t known Chris long, only a few months really and yet he has already had an incredible impact on my life.

Over the last few years and for various reasons I haven’t had very good experiences with boys...I’ve been left broken, confused and quite frankly completely unsure how to relate to the male species. And then suddenly this year, starting out at a new church, I’ve had the privilege of meeting not boys, but men. Honourable, righteous and courageous men. Guys who are genuine, who admit their imperfections, who chose their battles wisely, who listen to me and who look me in the eye.

Chris is one of them. He makes me laugh, he’s seen me cry, he’s dealt with my misplaced anger, he listens, and he speaks wisdom into my life. He’s teaching me guitar and he’s teaching me a new way; proving wrong all the ‘truths’ I’ve come to believe.

How good it is to finally meet the ‘good guys’, to have friends, to have brothers.

The prince of my childhood dreams might just be real, but to believe it I’ve first had to meet his brothers. And bake them cookies.



Choc chip cookies

Ingredients
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup flour
• 1 1/2 cups oats
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 slab milk chocolate- chopped
• 1 slap dark chocolate- chopped
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
2.In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in the egg and then stir in the vanilla.
3.Stir dry ingredients into creamed butter and sugar. Add chocolate chips.
4.Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes in the preheated oven

enjoy!!!