More Lyrics

"You're my badlands
my grand canyon
my empty stream
you're my reservation
my second place consolation"

Again, same song from Lori Chaffer. Now, I need to admit that I don't know for sure what these lyrics mean to the author, but I do want to say what they mean to me.
But let me begin with a story. (You can probably actually find the original incident on my blog in July.) This summer my family went to South Dakota and part of our trip was visiting the Badlands. I have never really been afraid of heights. Yes, sometimes I have not enjoyed them (especially on video games? How weird!), but I've never been scared of them. Well when we went to the Badlands, I had an almost full-blown panic attack as I watched my cousin climb out on the "peaks" of the Badlands. And suddenly I didn't want to be there. I didn't want to fall off those enormously (or semi-enormously) high peaks. I just wanted to be in the car. Safe. And no where near the drop-off. So, needless to say, I did not enjoy my Badlands experience.
When I listened to this song for the first time, this is the line that made me actually listen to the song. The Badlands made me panic like I've never panicked before. I think that sometimes that's what God is to me. The things He asks me to do and the way He works in me make me panic beyond belief.

But the catch is that He always is there while I'm panicking. He sticks around when I think I'm going to fall off the cliff and when I do fall off the cliff, He catches me right before I hit the bottom.

So again I leave you with these lines: "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."

Lyrics

"You will always hurt, you will always sting
Because you won't let go of everything
Until you're quiet one dark night
And you give up the fight you've fought so long
And find that trust is not a game
That naive, stupid people play in youth
And you let it rain, you let it flood
You let it wash out all the pain
Of love"

This is my song on repeat of the month. Or semester. It's by Lori Chaffer (from Waterdeep) and it speaks so loudly to me right now. I think for a few days I'll just do the different lyrics that mean the most to me. Tonight it's these lines.
And these lines: "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."

Be Still

I could quote Psalm 46:10 from the time I was... oh 10 or so. "Be still and know that I am God." But actually being still is so different from talking about being still.

For my voice lessons, I've been studying this technique where a large part of it is being still, like completely still, and pin-pointing the places in your body where the most tension is. It's been so helpful to my lessons, but also really helpful to my spiritual life. The book on this technique talks about how hard being still is. Just a short (well, semi-short) quote for you. "Why is it that so many people dread the idea of staying still? Why do we fidget and wiggle about all the time? ... A primary motivation for all this fidgeting is that we are attempting to get away from ourselves, away from some feeling of discomfort or agitation."
This is so true for me. Physically and spiritually. Recently, I've found that the Lord has become like a good friend I haven't talked to in awhile: I still consider Him a wonderful friend, but I don't know much about what He wants in my life and our times together have become a little awkward and forced.
I think part of the remedy for this is just being still. Just like Moses told the Israelites to stand still while the Lord fought for them. It's so hard for me. I love to be going, going, going all the time. But many times I need to just be still and let the Lord do His work.

Re-Vamp

Hello everyone!

This post is to announce the re-vamping of my blog! Very soon it will have a new name and header (once I talk to Laura). I'm in a class this semester called Old Testament Prophets that has really changed my life. I serve an amazing God that loves me enough to change me in ways I couldn't even have imagined. So, I don't really want to call this blog a devotional blog, but mainly just a place where I can allow God to speak through me. A place where I can wrestle with my Creator over the things that I just don't understand. A place where I can tell people how amazing my Lord really is, although I won't ever come close to describing that. Feel free to comment or not. Read along, discuss, laugh, cry, whatever happens.

And now the thought for the day:

Recently in my OT Prophets class we were talking about Jeremiah 29. Now, I know everyone knows Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you..." But really there's a whole other story going on in this chapter. Jeremiah is writing to the exiles in Babylon. These people have been cast from their homes and forced to live somewhere else because they refused to listen to God. My teacher said exile was defined as "when we are where we don't want to be" or "spending time with people we don't like in a place we don't like." Basically, though, chapter 29 is Jeremiah telling the exiles to "Be content." One quote in particular that our (substitute) teacher said that day was, "We spend so much of our time clawing to get to something better. Be content where you are." Man. I feel like the Lord is just telling me this over and over this year. "Be content, Karissa. Be content when you think you're going to drown in homework. Be content when you get frustrated with your club. Be content when you wish so badly that you could be graduated or married or any number of things." I honestly don't think God wants me to be wishing away my life. He has me where I am for a reason and wants me to be in the moment. My parents always tell me that whatever time of life you're in is the best time of your life. Very true. And Biblical. I don't need to be complacent, but I should be content. When I am in my own personal exile (where I don't want to be or with people I don't like in a place I don't like), I pray God allows me to be content and stop clawing just to get to something better.

Have a Marvelous Monday!