favorite song

Well, that's the title...though this could easily work its way to the top for me :)



The Lord your God is with you,
    he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
    he will quiet you with his love,
    he will rejoice over you with singing.”
-Zephaniah 3:17


PS- Happy 100th post to this blog!

kings and queens

This song has been stirring my heart.  Love it.



Kings and Queens
Audio Adrenaline

Little hands, shoeless feet
Lonely eyes looking back at me
Will we leave behind the innocent too brief
On their own, on the run 
When their lives have only begun
These could be our daughters and our sons
And just like a drum I can hear their hearts beating
I know my God won't let them be defeated
Every child has a dream to belong and be loved

(Chorus)
Boys become kings, girls will be queens
Wrapped in Your majesty
When we love, when we love the least of these
Then they will be brave and free
Shout Your name in victory
When we love, when we love the least of these
When we love the least of these

Break our hearts once again
Help us to remember when
We were only children hoping for a friend
Won't you look around 
These are the lives that the world has forgotten
Waiting for doors of our hearts and our homes to open

Chorus

If not us, who will be like Jesus
To the least of these
If not us tell me who will be like Jesus
Like Jesus to the least of these

Boys become kings, girls will be queens
Wrapped in your majesty
When we love, when we love the least of these
Then they will be brave and free shout your name in victory
We will love we will love the least of these
We will love the least of these (Repeat)

psalm 71 = wow.

But as for me, I will always have hope;
I will praise You more and more.
My mouth will tell of Your righteousness,
of Your salvation all day long, though I know not its measure.
I will come and proclaim Your mighty acts, O Sovereign Lord;
I will proclaim Your righteousness, Yours alone.

Since my youth, O God, You have taught me
and to this day I declare Your marvelous deeds.
Even when I am old and gray,
do not forsake me, O God,
till I declare Your power to the next generation,
Your might to all who are to come.


...it's like a heart song begging to be written.

what? 2 posts in one week?? miracle!

I just love her voice.

And this video is the cutest, sweetest thing.

Questions, Wonderings...

It's easy for me to get overwhelmed, inundated by questions, wonderings, worries.

• Can I really handle labor?
• Will I be able to go through with natural childbirth as we've been planning, through class?
• What if he arrives super early, while we're still in school?
• What if he arrives super late, when Mr. A. is away?
• What if J is really, really big?
• What will I be like as a mother?
• What will I be doing, career-wise after J arrives?
• What will I be doing, ministry-wise after J arrives?
• Will we be able to balance taking care of a baby, a house, others, and ourselves, all when we are utterly sleep-deprived?
• ...

In the midst of it all, God puts up a steady hand and says, "Hold it, Sarah." Then He lovingly directs me to Psalm 116:7.

Be at rest once more, O my soul,

for the Lord has been good to you.

I cannot, cannot forget His goodness. It's been proven over and over to me in very real ways. Even as our life will change in a dramatic ways in the next five weeks, I have to remember that He is good, and what He does is good. So - He calls my soul to be at rest and remember. He is the Provider God, my Good Shepherd, who calls me to come rest in His gentle guidance.

Yesterday's hymn leaped off the pages into my heart. Especially the end of verse 1 and beginning of verse 2:

Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.

Be still.

:)

I love listening to the radio on my way to work. Usually I prefer the morning show deejays' banter and conversation over the music (95.1 Shine FM), but this morning, I heard a song that I just love!

Beautiful!

SPRING!!!

It is spring! (Well, kinda sorta...and officially, not.) But it was beautifully warm and sunny outside. What were the signs, you ask?

:: Everyone and their mother was out and about in the neighborhood today! Including my dear little neighbor, seven-year-old Rebekah and her Barbie scooter (which, as I discovered today, has a plastic holder in the front so Barbie herself can ride along!).

:: My car radio needs not to compete with the sound of heat blasting through the vents.

:: Goodbye, winter coat with fur lining, gloves, hat, scarves... (ok, ok, who am I kidding? I never say goodbye to my scarves...)

:: I aired out the entire house today! Opened windows, doors, everything! Nothing like a fresh March breeze to blow away all the germs that have been collecting over my "sickie" weekend. AHHH...

:: I have begun browsing through sandals and flip flops online...

:: Daydreaming about spring break has officially begun (especially as everyone around me is already ON spring break this week!)

Ahh, 'tis all good. Today is a special day, and I will enjoy it for what it is. :)


Thankful for:

-Anniversaries
-Laughing & praying with the youth kids
-Sisters - by blood and by blood of Christ
-My sweet kiddos who write me notes that make me feel like a million bucks
-Sour Patch Kids
-Blogs like this one that make me crack up....
-Beautiful songs that sing my heart like this and this

{!}{!}{!}{!}

{!} Early Bird. This morning I woke up early - well, earlier than I have been waking up for most of this semester. As much as I adore sleeping, I know that deep down, I am a morning person. It made such a big difference in my day to start it off right...I've been really bad at that this semester, making excuses to myself about adjusting to a new married-life schedule and a new home to look after, blah blah blah. No more excuses. I want to be disciplined.

My heart resonates with this song:
i'm so messy and distracted/ undisciplined and tactless here on the inside/

and yet it swells with this chorus: Spirit, draw me to my knees/ captivate all of me, all of me/ here before You, honestly/ captivate all of me, all of me


{!} Christmas Music. It's funny - last year, I was totally not into Christmas music (maybe because they started playing it ALL THE TIME even before Thanksgiving...). I would immediately switch on a CD when I got into the car. Now I find myself singing along at the top of my lungs on the way to school. I really like this version of Carol of the Bells by BarlowGirl - so crisp and clean! Looking forward to my first Christmas in our new home - and, of course, going back to Shipp to celebrate!


{!} RealSimple. Thank you, Ali, for this subscription! Honestly, I'd never heard of it before, but I really like all the little stories and the DIY ideas, shopping/budgeting advice, and even used a couple recipes for Thanksgiving dinner. Don't tell anyone, but I think Mr.A. likes it too.


{!} Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing. What a great hymn. How true - that He IS the fount, the source, the beginning point of Every Blessing. Favorite line ever = Tune my heart to sing Thy grace.

little smiles.

There is always a reason to be joyful, to be hopeful. I was really struck by this truth during our youth prayer meeting on Tuesday. Joy is always an option with our God, and I love that.

I also love how He gives us little smiles through other things as well.

Here are my Friday Five:

1. CONTIGO TRAVEL MUGS. My coffee drinking has gone through much change over the years. I never drank a drop of coffee all throughout college, despite all the hookups I could have had since many of my friends worked at Starbucks. Nope - I was very content with my Short Steamed Cider- yummy. But when I went to Korea in the following years, I began to curiously eye the little Dixie cups of sweet instant coffee they served in restaurants after the meal...and my love for coffee was born. Once I started teaching in MD, I got quite dependent - to a scary point where I could drink 3-4 cups a day and that was normal. I decided to go cold turkey and gave it up for a year. Since then, it's gotten to a more normal consumption level :) After all, as Mr. A. reminds me, caffeine is a drug...
At the beginning of this year, I had a travel mug that looked something like this:
But it leaked a lot and our relationship soured over time.


THEN. Syunie told me about these phenomenal travel mugs (at Costco) and I rushed over to see what the fuss was all about.

It wasn't everything it was cracked up to be.... it was more! :D

Not only does it never ever leak or accidentally spill (vacuum-sealing between sips prevents this and therefore I can just drop it in my bag and go!) BUT it keeps my coffee/tea HOT for 4 hours! I also tested out the cold factor. After all, I am most definitely a person who needs to consume cold things cold, and hot things hot. Anyway, I poured in some juice with a few ice cubes and five.hours.later....it was cold...AND the ice cubes had not melted! The packaging even states that cold drinks stay cold for up to 12 hours. A M A Z I NG .



2. BLISS. Oh my. I was craving chocolate earlier this week and picked up a bag of chocolates while running errands. I was looking for Dove, since it is silky smooth goodness, and when I popped one in my mouth at home, it was just beauteous. Then I realized that it wasn't Dove - it was Hershey's Bliss! It was ohmygoshsogoodyouhavetotryit. And yes, the center did indeed melt away in my mouth.



3. STARFIELD. I love the lyrics, the vocals, the sound, the heart of worship! Finally got out to a concert last night (it seems like so long since I've been to a concert!) and enjoyed worshiping with them again. One comment, though? The harsh bright spotlights shining in my eyes, blaring electric guitar and loud screaming fans did make me wonder why I like concerts so much. I felt like an old geezer but the acoustic part of the concert was my favorite :)



4. FALL. We had a Fall Festival at school today, and despite a few crazy moments, it was a success! The kids had a blast and left happily clutching their mini-pumpkins. As for me, I loved being outside with them, making leaf rubbings, playing Steal the Pumpkin, and Apple, Apple, Pie! (our fall version of Duck,Duck, Goose). After my daily and constant monitoring of their volume, their "walking feet," and their attentiveness in class, it was good to just let them RUN and SCREAM and PLAY HARD. I feel bad for the kids, since the most time they are allotted for recess is 15 minutes (and that's on a good day). Today was a great day to make up for it. Pictures forthcoming :)



5. MILLIONAIRE. I recently discovered some earlier episodes that are available online via streaming and it is such a weakness of mine. If I were an actual contestant, I would fail horrendously (I have been known to even get the $100 Q. wrong...) but it's such a motivation to grade papers, since I put it on as background noise :)

!!!!!

Starfield is coming to MD!

scc

For some reason, these days I've been watching and reading a lot about the Chapman family. I've always found Steven Curtis Chapman's songs to be really catchy (e.g. Let Us Pray, Yours, etc.) and I grew in such respect for him and his entire family after the release of his love album dedicated to his wife of 25 years. They have 3 biological children and adopted 3 little girls from China, and their lives are an amazing, amazing testimony of the love of Christ.

Last May, there was a tragic accident in which their youngest daughter, Maria Sue, was struck by a car (with her older brother behind the wheel) and she passed away. I remember hearing about it and not even being able to comprehend the hurt and pain the family must have been experiencing... it was painful even hearing the news of a family I've never even met before. And I wondered, how would they cope?

From recently stumbling upon and reading their blogs and watching their family interview on Larry King Live (thanks, youtube), I see God's grace all the more abounding in their lives. I am so encouraged and inspired by their faith in His goodness, even through tragedy and pain. And surely, He is good.


I want to adopt.