Earlier today I was thinking about the voice of God and what it must sound like. And I don't mean the still small voice, I mean the audible voice of God, and I don't think my human mind can fathom the sound.

But this is what I've come up with. It's powerful, mighty, booming, yet quiet, gentle, and loving... all at the same time. Able to make you feel extremely loved and at peace, while at the same time fearful.

I read this in Psalms yesterday:

Psalm 77:16-18
 The waters saw You, O God;
         The waters saw You, they were afraid;
         The depths also trembled.
The clouds poured out water;
         The skies sent out a sound;
         Your arrows also flashed about.
The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;
         The lightnings lit up the world;
         The earth trembled and shook.

The waters were afraid, the thunder of His voice... the earth trembled. We serve a mighty & powerful God.

After service at my church on Wednesday nights, the Pastor encourages us to stick around and pray. It's great.

Tonight, as I sat there, praying for my unsaved family... praying for their salvation, praying that God would use me and bring other Christians across their path to share Christ with them as well... it hit me. That stranger, that coworker, that person you have an opportunity to be a witness to, is someone's mother, sister, dad, brother...someone else could be praying the same prayer - that God would bring a Christian across their path, and you... are that Christian. I am that Christian...

I've prayed this so many times but tonight... it was so clear. If we want God to use others... we have to let Him use us!

So here's to letting God use me and you, to answer other people's prayers.
Think about it.

... a question I've been hearing all morning, yep, I'm home from Texas, got in last night!

I asked a coworker this question after telling her how much fun I had on my trip to Texas, how nice it was and all the stuff we did. She had gone away for the weekend. She then begins to list every complaint, everything that didn't go quite right, every bump in the road, etc, and 5 minutes later still didn't say anything about what she was going for - her niece & nephews graduation parties. Not one pleasant thing to recall from a weekend away?

It made me realize that I did not once mention to her my ipod freezing at 5:30am right before my 6am flight out of Rochester to start vacation and it not working until I got to Texas - 2 flights later, or the people I sat next to, or the delayed flight, or anything like that about my trip. I'm so thankful for a different perspective, for a God who blesses me through the less than pleasant things, and the grace He gives me when I need it.

I'm so thankful: I choose to dwell on the blessings (and not just regarding this trip), I had the opportunity & the money to go, I made it there and back and had no major flight issues! I have so much to be thankful for. I am a blessed girl.

More to come on the things I actually did on this trip! It was great!

Have you ever had someone who wasn't saved tell you to press on and hold onto your faith? Did they tell you how hard life is going to get and to stay on the path despite how hard it's going to get? That people will respect you because of this? I did.

This past Saturday I found myself at a backyard wedding. You know, the kind of wedding where God is excluded, not mentioned once, a-justice-of-the-peace sort of wedding. Lots of people, lots of food, and lots of alcohol.

At one point during the festivities I found myself seated next to a man that my dad has known for about 20 years. A man I would not mess with, tall, opinionated, and able to crush you with one hand.

He was sharing thoughts with me and a young (childless) couple there on raising children and using physical punishment (a.k.a. spanking). He was telling us the importance of it and what it instills in the child while this other young couple was disagreeing, saying that they would never punish their children in such a way.

The conversation continued just he and I, as he told me of some of the hardships he and his family have faced, including a story of how his daughter (my age) has been beaten 3 times by men and put in the hospital due to utter disrespect for others and not listening to her parents. wow.

I shared that I was a Christian, some of my convictions, I told him about my life style and how it's changed. I even shared some verses that were relevant to specific aspects of the conversation. It was great. I gained his respect big time, and though he's not a Christian, he told me over and over to hold onto my faith, that this world is a tough place and it's not going to get better. He said down the line people with respect me more for sticking to my faith and not wavering. Wow.

Press on.