new blog

I have a new blog site- www.laurelsrambles.wordpress.com . Go there to be updated on my life!! I will no longer be using this blog site.

Abide

This is something I have been thinking a lot about lately, as I write and read through the Johns, and the Gospel of John. Over and over I noticed the word "abide" and it made me wonder what application it has to me. I soon found that it has a VERY important, vital role in my walk with the Father! While I tend to casually walk and converse and be with the Lord, I found that it is not enough. It is hard to be "crucified with Christ" if he is merely someone I check in with now and then. To ABIDE I must be constant in prayer, and in constant meditation on his Word. I see a sunset, I should say, "wow! Father, you made that, thank you! (In the beginning God made the heavens and the earth)" When I am frustrated I should say, "Father, I don't understand. I don't like this; help me!(I lift my eyes to the hills, from where does my help come? My help come from the Lord who made the heavens and earth)" When life seems to crumble, and my heart feels as if it wont go on beating, I should give my tears to that bottle where he tenderly keeps them, and say "Oh my God, I don't even have words. Help my unbelief. Thank you that you know (but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words)."

I looked up "abide" in my strongs, and here is the word- Abide- meno, a primary verb; to stay (in a given place, state, relation, or expectancy):-abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry (for), thine own.

Here are some verses that spoke to me on the subject, after all, it IS the LIVING Word of God!!

John 6:56- Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood aides in me, and I in him.
When I read this John 1:14 jumped into my mind- And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. (we are to eat of that flesh!!)

John 15:4-5- Abide in me, and I in you. AS the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches, whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
When I read this verse, I think of how much I waste by not abiding in him! What a pitiful bit of nothingness I am outside of Christ! To the contrary, what an amazing thing to abide in him, thereby having HIM abide in me!Grace unknown.

1 John 2:24- Let what you have heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father.
(John 1:1- In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.)

1 John 3:24- Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

(we are commanded to love....think on that)

2 John 1:9- Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.
(James 1:22- But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, decieving yourselves.)

It has been a convicting but very good thing for me to realise, and it is amazing how perspective changes when I abide in Him, and He in me!! I can begin to see through the eyes of eternity. There is no view point quite so precious!

"And he walks with me and he talks with me and he tells me that I am his own"
Thats all for now, folks!

thoughts on a chilly day

My training for the 25k has been going quite well. I have been getting in adequate training runs, and having a blast doing them! I found a nice run for sopping wet days starting in Elk Creek, and running out around the Stony Gorge Reservoir. It has a few short steep hills, and a nice 2 mile gradual hill. I might do that run today, because we got and inch and a half or rain/hail/slush/precipitation yesterday. Good ole' Calamity Jane has been my trusty running partner. I have found that I have a lot of time to pray on these runs, and that is so nice! I am learning what an important part prayer takes in the life of a person who seeks to abide in Christ. More on the thought of abiding later- it's been on my mind a lot.

Speaking of abiding, I just finished writing Romans, 1st 2nd and 3rd John, and Jude. I cannot stress how much of a blessing it has been!! Try it. I will also write more later on what I've learned.

Shaun was here for a month, which was awesome!! Besides the scare of finding out that we could possibly be related (which I am pretty sure we are not....) we have had an awesome time. It's been great getting to know eachother more, and working together, and relaxing together, and pouring over the Word together. He is now in the air on his way to Alaska, where he will be starting his new job. We praise the Lord for that!

My seeester Michelle was also just here for the weekend. We got word last friday that she will be deployed to Iraq sometime next month. I'm gonna miss her a lot, but I am excited to see how the Lord uses her there! She is a cool chic, that one! We had a nice time running together.

I really need to go feed the cows, the wind is kicking up, and it looks like more rain is coming. It's gonna be a cold rain...I might not run today. Then again I might.

lacing up the saucony hurricanes

And so I embark on yet another grand adventure. This one is a relay race- 50k- with my friend Stephen Ferguson. He will run half, and I will run half...(16.5 miles) It is exactly 2 months from today. Today I put in a nice 40 min run on hilly trails. It was pretty mucky out because of yesterday's rain, so my pace was slowed a bit because of that. I felt great and had plenty of energy left when I got back. I had a nice salmon sandwich on wheat bread for lunch. It hit the spot!!

Also- I am almost done writing Romans! I am on the last chapter, which I will (Lord Willing) finish today. I am planning on doing 1,2&3 John next. What an amazing blessing this has turned out to be!!

Also- Shaun has been here for the past month-ish, which has been awesome! We've never spent this much time together, and it has been really great. We've gotten a lot of stuff done around the ranch, and he has gotten to know my wonderful Grandparents (mom's side) quite well, as he stays with them at night. He is an encouragement to me, and although I beat him in the card game speed ALL the time, I still like him quite a bit ;-) hehe

Oh, and speaking of wonderful grandparents, my other wonderful grandparents (dad's folks) have been having a rough week, and I would really value your prayers for them. My grandma is only 39, how cool is that!! ;-)

AND!! My sister is coming home for the weekend!!! YEAH!!! I hope that us crazy sisters (one of whom is airborne) can go night skiing this Sat. with Lee and Shaun! (and anyone else who wants to tag along)

I left the Rock

Dear God, its been a while since we've had a little talk
Cause Lord, I've stumbled on my walk
Father, I'm sorry, I left the Rock
Doubt began to fill my mind, my flesh reached out for sand
I thought to know the sand might make the rock mean more
But now I'm face down of the floor
Father, help me, Ive never needed you more

I looked for the sand, but found it not
I began to confuse it for the Rock
At first the sand was deep and the rock has no resemblance
So I struggled through for a little while
Then washed by a wave, turned hard as tile

It felt great! Another wave, another day, a farther mile...
I lost the Rock

Under my feet were such different things,
They must have lost their feeling.
What is the sand, what is the Rock,
I found by searching I know them not!

So Savior, hear this pitiful cry
Have mercy on this hypocritical child
And please give me what I deserve not,
And place me back upon the Rock.

I'm being a lame blogger!

I need to blog more- end of story. I have thought about it many times BUT it is not the thought that counts in a case such as this. So I will quickly update y'all on my life. I moved to Elk Creek, California (10 miles from it rather) in November. I live on a 1500 acre ranch called the Grindstone Partners Ranch. It is in a beautiful area southwest of Red Bluff. It backs up to the Mendocino National Forest, and is bordered on one side by the Grindstone River, and another side by Watson Creek. I live in a double wide shaded by two big oak trees, with big windows that look west towards the mountains. I care for the ranch, and a herd of 130 shorthorns. Every day I feed them 2,000 lbs of hay that I haul on the back of an old army jeep. My two dogs, Calamity Jane, and Dolly Parton tag along...so basically I take redneck to a whole new glorious level. I have connected with the community there in Elk Creek through the little Bible Church there in town. They decided to give me a Sunday school class, and I thought "well neat, I can be used of the Lord for me of these kids", and so I said yes...and then they gave me 5th grade through 12th!! WOW!! So I do need prayer. I love those kids. The oldest is 11th, the youngest is 5th grade (who I had the pleasure of leading to the Lord last summer!! cool deal there!) Pray for open hearts for the Gospel...pray that I may be a vessel for God's glory. In all honesty, I feel pretty inadequate... We are going through Genesis. A lot of these kids have never even heard the stories there- like the story of creation, and Adam and Eve...and it is fun to witness the first hearing of those stories. I hope these kids take the truth. I pray for them, and I hope you will too! My latest adventure is that I am going to write (as in copy down) the Bible!! My grandpa Person inspired me to do this...amazing man! I started in Romans. It's amazing how much I pick up when I not only read it, but write it. So anyhow, pardon the poor writing, I hope that I can update this more often, and write better things and such. Uh...that's all folks!! Good day.

Gazing On the Lord in Glory


I had a life altering experience with God recently.

For me, the Lord deals with sin in my life 1 thing at a time. He reveals the fact that I am voluntarily being bound by a sin, and then gives me a way out. He teaches me what’s right, what’s wrong, and how much He loves me…and see’s me as He would see His own Son. That’s amazing enough in itself. That alone is enough to make me want to serve Him whole heartedly. But this last time God had to deal with some sin in my life, it shook me to the core. I realized that God is a jealous God, and He wants me…ALL of me. What am I doing giving my life to sinful lusts and desires of my wicked heart? How did I get so far from Him? How did I let sin creep back in and get a foothold? When did God become less important than sin? Shameful.

He took me to the cross. He TOOK ME to the cross. He didn’t just show me the cross, He took me there, and it broke me. I kneeled on the floor, my hands over my head, and shook and sobbed in anguish of soul. For the first time I realized that not only did He take it for me…He took it FROM me. I could see…almost feel the sting on my back and the awful dirty wounds on my head, and my feet, and my hands. I felt so dirty, so awful and sinful and gross. I repulsed myself, and I deserved it. That wasn’t what brought on the anguish of soul…it was when I saw Him place his hands over mine and when He removed them, my skin was left unmarred, and the wounds were transferred to Him. I could see the pain reflect in His eyes, in His furrowed brow. His back…the dirt and the sweat and the blood that covered the seeping cuts and bruises…the thorns on my brow…did I really puff myself up that much? To wear a crown? It went on His head, and dug into his skin….Over this I was in anguish of soul. My heart broke within me, and the tears fell like rivers. MY SIN WAS PLACED ON HIM. He took it from me because He loves me. And because of that sacrifice I no longer have to be bound by sin…yet I fall into it time and again…and He still forgives me. The look in His eye was love. I don’t fully know what love is, but He is love, and I want to know Him more. He said I am forgiven, my sins are paid for…and just as He said to the woman they were going to stone- “Go, and sin no more.” He does not hold my sin against me. But He wants me to be fully and completely devoted to Him in mind, soul, and spirit. And the sin? It repulses me. It makes me sick to my stomach to think that I would value that sin more than the sacrifice on the cross. God’s grace is bigger. It covers me. I have repented, and I am forgiven. Seen blameless in the sight of God.

The next morning, after I gathered with my brothers and sisters to break bread together, and remember the Lord in his death I went away rejoicing like I never have before. It was a day I will never forget. God is big! He is good. And He loves me. I wish I could put into words the feeling in my heart, but it goes much deeper than that. Have you experienced the grace of God?

"I have been crucified with Christ. Now it is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me. The life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loves me, and gave Himself up for me" Gal 2:20

This hymn was called out that morning.

1. Gazing on the Lord in glory, While our hearts in worship bow,There we read the wondrous story Of the cross—its shame and woe.
2. Every mark of dark dishonor Heaped upon the thorn-crowned brow. All the depths of Thy heart's sorrow Told in answ'ring glory now.
3. On that cross, alone, forsaken, Where no pity'ng eye was found;Now, to God's right hand exalted, With Thy praise the heavens resound.
4. Did Thy God e'en then forsake Thee, Hide His face from Thy deep need?In Thy face once marred and smitten, All His glory now we read.
5. Gazing on it we adore Thee, Blessed, precious, holy Lord;Thou the Lamb, alone art worthy— This be earth's and heaven's accord.
6. Rise our hearts, and bless the Father, Ceaseless song e'en here begun,Endless praise and adoration To the Father and the Son.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes on Him will not perish but have everlasting life" John 3:16