If Grace Is An Ocean We're All Sinking

He is jealous for me
loves like a hurricane, I am a tree
bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions
eclipsed by glory.
And I realize just how beautiful you are and how great your affections are for me.

Oh, how He loves us so.
Oh, how He loves us,
how He loves us so.

We are His portion and He is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in his eyes.
If grace is an ocean we're all sinking.
So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss,
and my heart beats violently inside of my chest
I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about
the way

He loves us
Oh, how He loves us.
Oh how He loves us
Oh, how He loves
Oh, how He loves us
Oh, how He loves us
Oh, how He loves

Summer

I miss it so much that I just tried on all my summer clothes in my dorm and danced around in my flip flops listening to joshua radin which is my summer car ride with the windows down music.

It's raining outside. So it put me in a good mood haha

:)




...Sorry if you don't like feet. I don't either, but I'm just way too excited about wearing these babies again.

I Am...

-craving In-n-Out
-missing my friends at home SO much I didn't even know missing people this much was possible
-desperate for God to be the only one I listen to
- wanting to go to Disneyland
-wishing Spring Break were tomorrow
-dreading the week ahead
-looking for solid friends
-waiting for people to grow up

Arielle and NU collide

So Arielle came to Kirkland last weekend!!
It was amazing.
All my friends loved her and it was so great having a little taste of home here with me. I love her so very much!!






We went on a ferry ride. It was so beautiful!!











gum wall :)


then Mt. Dew pong haha




TWO WEEKS UNTIL I'M HOME FOR SPRING BREAK!!

But this I know with all my heart.

Amazing.

"Why should I gain from his reward?
I cannot give an answer.
But this I know with all my heart,
His wounds have paid my ransom."

I am so in awe of Jesus every time I hear these lyrics. How on earth is it possible that I am saved, that my sins are taken care of because of a sacrifice made my someone before He even knew me, or should I say before I cared to know him. Why should I gain from his reward? Why am I allowed to live a life full of blessings and far from the punishment of sin? I am so blown away when I think of this. It doesn't seem fair. It really doesn't seem fair that not everyone on Earth cares to know this Jesus that did this for us. He deserves so much, God deserves so much more than we as human beings can give him. I wake up every morning, go to class, come back, sleep, and not once close my eyes and thank God.

Another song says
" I need a song to sing to you that I have yet to find."
I feel that is so true. I want to say so much to God and sing to him how thankful I am but I just can't find the words. I pray my heart would reflect that thankfulness.

HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD!!!

In A Funk

That's how I'm feeling.
This weekend was nothing short of an adventure.
I drove over to eastern washington with my friend Alyssa.
The drive is about 4 hours, a little over and it's literally a straight drive.
It's really pretty though at a certain point when your going through the mountains, snow everywhere and frozen waterfalls. I even saw a deer in the snow! It was beautiful! Alyssa laughed at me for that one cause she says she sees deer all the time. Spoiled Washington kids ;)

Anyways...I want so badly to write about everything that happened but seriously...all the memories are a blur. Here is what sticks out the most to me though...

I GOT MY FIRST SPEEDING TICKET! ARE YOU JOKING ME!
ugh...stuuu washington! I was going 81 in a 70 haha but still.
The cop was quite good looking though an considering what had already happened that night, Alyssa and I just cracked up about it.
$144 later...I'm broke pretty much.

But yes that was just on the way there...

So today I have just been all stressed about money and school work and how I have slacked like crazy the past two weeks. BLAH it's all catching up to me.

AY YI YI

But God is good :)

Joy

" To miss out on joy is to miss out on the reason for your existence." -Lewis Smedes

God created us to be joyful. I believe we are glorifying him the most when we have so much joy overflowing inside of us that we cannot help but pour it into others. I don't know about you but I don't remember making a difference in someones life when I was having a bad day. No one benefits from it, especially not yourself.

Yes trouble and bad days will come and happen more frequently than I would like but
"the joy of the Lord is my strength"
I'm reading "The Life You've Always Wanted" by John Ortberg for my christian thought class and it's bomb. I just read the chapter on joy which is why I'm writing this. He suggests something so easy and I'm guessing something so beneficial to fix this problem of being "joyless." Ortberg says, PRACTICE CELEBRATION. Isn't that cool?
Surround yourself with encouraging people, turn your music up in the car and sing, eat your FAVORITE food (don't even think about calories ;) ) call your best friend and talk about your favorite memories, and while doing whatever makes you joyful, thank God for giving you life to enjoy all of it. I believe if we do this a little everyday, and our hearts are filled with more joy, that our lives would be different and our ministry would be more affective.

Today I thank God for:
-a dry sunny day
-time for rest
-Arielle coming to visit me in a week
-His answering of my prayers
-Chipotle (which I'm getting later)
-the community here at school