No Scheme of Man....

I hope I can be "authentic" with you. ("Authentic" is one of our life group leader's favorite words... He's always telling us that we should be authentic.) And I feel that I can be with you.

I feel like I can tell you that I'm terrified right now, that I don't know what tomorrow will hold for us. I feel like I'm being cryptic, because unfortunately, I'm not allowed to share exactly what's going on with us, so I can't make you understand what my fear's founded on. Once everything's said and done, I'll share a little more.

For now, please be praying for me and sweet husband, and for all other parties involved.

Yesterday, we had an awesome praise and worship time at church. The choir sang a song that I just stood and wept to, tears streaming down my face as I looked heavenward and had a sweet conversation with God.

"In Christ Alone"
Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2001 Kingsway Thankyou Music

In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev'ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow'r of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.

My favorite part of this whole song is a line in the very last verse:

"No power of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from His hand; Till He returns of calls me home- Here in the power of Christ I'll stand."

No matter what evils plot against me, nothing can change that fact that God's arms are permanently wrapped around me. Till my dying day, or when Christ comes back to Earth, I can stand firm in that knowledge.

It look me a while to realize that just because I'm a Christian doesn't mean that I won't have to face hard times. In fact, the opposite is true. Because I'm a Christian, God guarantees that I will face hard times. That Satan will be a presence fighting for a hold in my life. But nothing, nothing, can change the fact that God will walk through this fire with me. Amen to that.

Bleck.

You know what I love an awful lot??

Breathing.

Sounds basic, but I've been under the weather for 2 1/2 days or so, and breathing is not coming easily. This nastiness started out with a wicked cough that I felt all the way down in my chest. The kind where you sit still afterwards and just say "Owww" until it stops hurting so much.

Then on Sunday, the cough was there full force, and in comes the congestion. I figured I just had a cold of some sort, but I didn't know that colds were contagious. Apparently this one is, because Brian was right there hacking along beside me.

Bless his heart, he got no sympathy from me. Usually when he's not feeling well, I try to take care of him and tend to his needs. Not this time. This time, I would have bet money that I felt worse than he did, so he was getting no sympathy from me. Even if he was moaning louder... Which he was. Men always do... :)

Yesterday, we both were still not feeling well, so I decided to stay home from work. Brian had to go in for a meeting, but he kept feeling better as the day progressed, which was great. I am slowly starting to feel better, but have spent the last few days not breathing well.

I'm all stuffed up!! Which is very entertaining when you're trying to talk on the phone. People start off with the polite "Do you have a cold?" I answer with a just-as-polite "Yes, but I'm starting to feel better..." And the conversation continues, until I start to get out of breath, because I've been talking for a few minutes, and not being able to breath through my nose, I only get little breaths between sentences. Then I try to sniff, and start coughing, which activates the drainage. This is all happening in the other person's ear, as they politely try to ignore the fact that there's a mucus factory on the other end of the phone.

Once you're done gasping for air, you hear a "Hmmm. You still don't sound so good. Maybe you should call me back when you're feeling better."

I wonder if it was the hacking cough, or the blowing of the nose that turned them off? I may never know...

SippityDoodle

One of my good friends, Nikki, has started a new business called SippityDoodle in downtown McKinney.

You take your beverage of choice (not required, but essential, I feel) to their painting studio, and an instructor leads you through the creation of a painting you get to take home at the end of the session.

We had so much fun trying out this fun new venture (thanks for the experience, Nikki!!) that I decided to blog about the importance of a dry run for a new business on my PRstore blog. I rarely mix the two blogs, but I wanted to point you there because there are more details about Nikki's business and some more fun pictures, too!

PRstore Blog


Beautiful Liz getting ready to start her painting



Christy becoming an extension of her painting (see, she's a bird, like the birds in the painting...get it??!?)

Maybe you had to be there...

This was a wonderful Valentine's Day treat. Thanks again, Nikki! By the way, the grand opening for SippityDoodle is March 12, and the first class will be on March 13 (that's Friday the 13th, people. We're tempting fate.)

Be on the lookout for links to Nikki's website once its live. You're going to love this place!