friend of sinners

Jesus, Friend of Sinners
(by Casting Crowns)


Jesus, friend of sinners, we have strayed so far away
We cut down people in Your name, but the sword was never ours to swing
Jesus, friend of sinners, the truth's become so hard to see
The world is on their way to You but they're tripping over me
Always looking around but never looking up I'm so double minded
A plank eyed saint with dirty hands and a heart divided


Oh Jesus, friend of sinners
Open our eyes to the world at the end of our pointing fingers
Let our hearts be led by mercy
Help us reach with open hearts and open doors
Oh Jesus, friend of sinners, break our hearts for what breaks Yours


Jesus, friend of sinner, the One whose writing in the sand
Made the righteous turn away and the stones fall from their hands
Help us to remember we are all the least of these
Let the memory of Your mercy bring Your people to their knees
Nobody knows what we're for, only what we're against when we judge the wounded
What is we put down our signs, crossed over the lines, and loved like You did

Oh Jesus, friend of sinners

Open our eyes to the world at the end of our pointing fingers

Let our hearts be led by mercy

Help us reach with open hearts and open doors

Oh Jesus, friend of sinners, break our hearts for what breaks Yours

You love every lost cause; You reach for the outcast

For the leper and the lame; they're the reason that You came

Lord I was that lost cause, and I was the outcast

But You died for sinners just like me, a grateful leper at Your feet

'Cause You are good, You are good and Your love endures forever

You are good, You are good and Your love endures forever

You are good, You are good and Your love endures forever

You are good, You are good and Your love endures forever

Oh Jesus, friend of sinners

Open our eyes to the world at the end of our pointing fingers

Let our hearts be led by mercy

Help us reach with open hearts and open doors

Oh Jesus, friend of sinners, break our hearts for what breaks Yours

And I was the lost cause, and I was the outcast

Yeah...

You died for sinners just like me, a grateful leper at Your feet

This song has been on my heart so much today. It came on the radio, and I almost broken down thinking about the depth of the lyrics and what they mean.

This verse in particular hit me strong:

Jesus, friend of sinner, the One whose writing in the sand

Made the righteous turn away and the stones fall from their hands

Help us to remember we are all the least of these

Let the memory of Your mercy bring Your people to their knees

Nobody knows what we're for, only what we're against when we judge the wounded

What is we put down our signs, crossed over the lines, and loved like You did

In light of the current events going on, it's hard to remember that even the people we despise, the ones we long to see come to justice, are still loved by God.

He doesn't love their sin. He loves the person.

And I'm reminded... He doesn't love my sin. But He loves me.

My prayer for the victims of the CO shooting is that they will find rest, peace, comfort, and God's healing hand on their lives during this time. Physical healing, emotional healing, and spiritual healing. I pray that they will draw near to HIm.

My prayer for the suspect of the CO shooting is that He will feel conviction, guilt, shame, and sadness over what he's done.

But I also pray that through this, he will realize his sin and his need for God.

Our God is an amazing, outstanding, miraculous, and forgiving God. He is also a just God.

Praying for those whom we consider monsters is so hard.

But Jesus was a friend of sinners. Let us not be blinded by our longing for justice that we forget the need for God in every person's life.

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my junky wall

(This is my 100th post! Yay!!!)

Do you have a wall like this in your kitchen?

Yep. There are 6 light switch (with a total of 7 light switches)/outlet things on this one small expanse of wall. It's located on the back of my counter, and is the main part of my kitchen that is seen when you first glance into the room.

I'm sure it's functionally necessary. However, I consider it to be an aesthetic disaster! It's just so... I don't know. Switchy...or something.

A couple days ago, I couldn't take it any longer. I had to take action and make this portion of wall not so yucky.

First thing that came to my mind? Let's just move all of these electrical things to another place!!!

(Don't worry Dad, Aaron, and Bobby. Keep reading. I won't be calling you for electrical help!)

It's okay. You can laugh in my face.

I may be able to change a door nob, replace a doorbell, and fill in numerous nail holes (all skills that I've perfected since buying my house), but electrical work is definitely nowhere on my resume.

So I nixed that idea.

What else could I do? A fun curtain to cover it up? (nixed.) Paint all of the white parts yellow to match the wall? (almost did this. but nixed.) Really loooong flat screen TV that fits perfectly in this spot? (okay. that would totally ROCK! but nixed.)

See? It's tough coming up [good] with ideas for deyuckifying this wall!

And then I thought about my amazing paint skills. ha!

Well, really it's more like I got hives thinking about painting something worthy enough to actually hang in my house. But, I decided on a plan. And I'm SO EXCITED to do it!!

I went today and picked up all of the supplies.

When I told the guy at Lowe's (you know, the one that was lucky enough to be the first to ask if I needed any help) what I was doing, I couldn't help but laugh at the look on his face. Yeah. I really did laugh out loud. More than once. or twice. He thought I was a nut.

He made my plan a bit more complicated, and I almost threw in the towel at that point. But, I persevered and learned more about what needed to be done (by asking questions that were totally silly to him, I'm sure), and I did the first step this afternoon.

Want to see?

Tada! There's now a board on my wall!!

What will the finished project be?!

Stay tuned!!!



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chasing the sunset

Izzy and I set out on a walk to chase the sunset tonight.

Well, I reckon we were really trying to find the sunset.

I could see above the houses in my neighborhood that it was full of pretty pinks and blues tonight. I couldn't wait to see it!

One thing that makes me want to live at the beach is the sunsets. An unobstructed view of God's beauty. It's so hard to catch in a subdivision.

So, Izzy and I walked. And walked.

I tried to choose the best no dog route I could think of. Since I run in my neighborhood so much, I remember where many of the dogs live. And since Izzy is not a dog type of dog (yeah, weird, eh?), I thought it'd be best to avoid the dog houses (ha!).

We had a hard time finding a good spot for a picture.

This was the best we could do.

We caught a few of the pinks!

And then we were racing the thunder and lightening back to the house.

Izzy insisted on pottying in every other yard though, so that slowed us up a bit. But we returned safely!

Have you chased any sunsets lately?

Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Psalm 73:25-26

Such a powerful scripture. In our weakness, we find God's strength. Out of heaven and earth, He is our constant, our purpose. Our portion.

Forever.

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What's been going on?

What a week!! We've had some serious fun at VBS this week!

We've had an average of about 30 kids each night, which is great!!

I challenged the kids to raise $125 for missions this week. We'll give the money raised to a girl in the church that is overseas right now.

As of last night, we've collected $180!! WOO! We're hoping to reach the $200 mark tonight, which is Family Night!

Speaking of challenges, I challenged myself to run 30 minutes everyday for 30 days (Sundays being my rest days). It was going GREAT until I fell and skinned my knee last Friday.

I haven't run since. Sad!

But, my knee is healing nicely and feeling better, so I'm hoping on running today.

52 in 52 has been rough the past few weeks! No real excuses other than me being busy with school work and VBS prep the past couple of weeks. I didn't even realize that I hadn't posted about it last week until last night.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13

joy, peace and hope

I want it to overflow!!!

Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit.

Psalm 147:5

This is our theme verse for VBS this week! My prayer for them is that they've truly experienced God's amazing power as they learn about Him this week!

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