Complete Surrender

It’s a profound prayer of the heart–completely surrendering oneself to God. I heard the song “Completely” by Among the Thirsty on the radio the other day, and it has been running through my mind ever since. I can’t help but relate to the honesty of the lyrics and the urgency of the cry. As you read the words and/or listen to the song, allow the Lord to speak to your heart and to draw you closely to Himself in complete surrender.

I’m feeling so small
Standing here weeping
As I’m coming clean
Of the secrets I’m keeping
I’ve caused so much pain
To the ones I love the most
And I’m falling apart
As I carry my heart to Your throne

I am completely surrendering
Finally giving You everything
You’re my redeemer, I run to the cross
Because You are more than enough
Lord complete me
Cause I’m Yours completely

I’m letting go
There’s nothing I own
The treasures I held
Just weighed down my soul
And there’s nothing left
Inside of me
But a longing for You
And a longing to be the man that You need

I am completely surrendering
Finally giving You everything
You’re my redeemer, I run to the cross
Because You are more than enough
Lord complete me
Cause I’m Yours completely

I let Your gifts take the place of you
But You pulled up my selfishness from it’s roots
I am a broken and fragile me
But I’m where You want me to be

I am completely surrendering
Finally giving You everything
You’re my redeemer, I run to the cross
Because You are more than enough
Lord complete me
Cause I’m Yours completely
Lord complete me
Cause I’m Yours completely

–“Completely,” by Among the Thirsty

Our Connection with Pets

friends-Misty-and-Daisy-2I love my pets–my husband and I have a cat named Misty and a dog named Daisy. They bring us a lot of happiness and fulfillment.

When you are bored, they excite you with their enthusiasm and their playful attitude. When you are lonely, they snuggle up with you and make you feel loved. When you are frustrated, they somehow seem to understand–even though you can’t verbally talk to them or they to you.

It’s also been an experience watching our pets learn to become friends–well, sort of! 🙂 I brought Misty from my parents’ house to my husband and I’s house when we first got married about two years ago. It took some time for Misty to adjust to her new home, but she finally started to settle in. Then for our anniversary this past May, we adopted Daisy from a shelter.

Misty is an adult cat, and Daisy is about a year and a half old, so there was some contention at first between them. Daisy wanted to play, and Misty just wanted to lounge around and sleep! But over time, the two have found a way to co-exist, and to even enjoy each other’s company once in a while.

friends-Misty-and-Daisy

One day after bringing Daisy inside from a walk, she curled up next to Misty on our couch. It was so sweet, and thankfully I was able to snap a picture to prove it! 🙂 Seeing them doing more than just tolerating each other makes me so happy.

Our pets definitely have their quirks! Misty loves to eat, sleep, and snuggle up on plastic bags. She also cannot ignore a cardboard box of any kind. She needs to inspect it, scratch her back on it, but most importantly, attempt to get inside of it. Another thing that she likes to do is jump up on the computer chair in our office and have some “Misty time.” It’s so funny, because we’ll be looking around for her, and then we’ll check the office and she’ll peak her little head out from underneath the desk, on the desk chair. It’s one of her “spots,” and it’s just one of those things that is understood. We affectionately call her “Execukitty.” 🙂

Execukitty

Then there’s Daisy, who enjoys sunning herself inside the front glass door to our house. She loves watching people and other animals passing by (and usually can’t keep herself from being our guard dog and barking at them). She also enjoys observing squirrels as they race around our front lawn and eventually find shelter in trees.

Daisy-in-the-sun

I’m thankful to God for pets! As Reid Scott put it:

As long as I can remember, I’ve always had pets. Something about the connection you share with this entirely different species just blows my mind. My 11-year-old pit bull, Bella, has taught me so much about being a real human being.

Do you enjoy pets? What type(s) of pet(s) do you have? What are they like, and how do they make your life better? I’d love to hear from you in the comments section! 🙂

God Makes Everything Glorious


Have you ever stopped to think about the fact that you are a glorious creation of God?

I hardly ever take the time to meditate on this.

One reason for this is that it’s difficult for me to even believe! I am a sinner; I do wrong things all of the time. How is it even possible that I could be called “glorious” by a perfect, sinless God?

And yet, God tells us in His Word:

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I’d even lived one day.

~Psalm 139: 13-16 (The Message)

If everything that God makes is good (1 Timothy 4:4 / Genesis 1:31), then that means that I am good–and so are you! Our sin is not good, and we need to continually bring it to the Lord in confession (1 John 1:9). But because of Jesus Christ and what He has done for us on the cross, we can say and believe with confidence that we are glorious creations of God.

Take a moment to think about the words to this beautiful song, “Everything Glorious,” by the David Crowder Band:

The day is brighter here with You
The night is lighter than it’s hue
Would lead me to believe
Which leads me to believe

You make everything glorious
You make everything glorious
You make everything glorious
And I am Yours
What does that make me?

My eyes are small but they have seen
The beauty of enormous things
Which leads me to believe
There’s light enough to see that

You make everything glorious
Yeah, You make everything glorious
You make everything glorious
And I am Yours

From glory to glory
You are glorious, You are glorious
From glory to glory
You are glorious, You are glorious
Which leads me to believe
Why I can believe that

You make everything glorious
Yeah, You make everything glorious
You make everything glorious
And I am Yours

You make everything glorious
Yeah, You make everything glorious
Oh, You make everything glorious
And I am Yours

From glory to glory, oh, from glory to glory
You are glorious, You are glorious
You are glorious, You are glorious

And You make everything glorious
Yeah, You make everything glorious
You make everything glorious
And I am Yours

Son or daughter of God, believe it (even if you don’t feel like it’s true): We are His, and we are glorious!