The Prodigal by Ryan and Meghan Baird
You held out Your arms, I walked away
Insolent I spurned Your face
Squandering the gifts You gave to me
Holding close forbidden things
Destitute a rebel still, a fool in all my pride
The world I once enjoyed is death to me
No joy, no hope, no life
Where now are the friends, that I had bought
Gone with every penny lost
What hope could there be for such as I
Sold out to a world of lies
Oh, to see Your face again, it seems so distant now
Could it be that You would take me back
A servant in Your house
You held out Your arms, I see them still
You never left, You never will
Running to embrace me, now I know
Your cords of love will always hold
Mercy’s robe, a ring of grace
Such favor undeserved
You sing over me and celebrate
The rebel now Your child
© 2009 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP).
Bethany’s DARE graduation and Winning Essay on Alcohol and Drugs
Bethany’s class voted her to be their DARE graduation representative, based on the essay she wrote about what she learned through DARE. The funny thing is, the night before her essay was due, she was so upset claiming “I just can’t write non-fiction! I’m terrible at writing non-fiction!” And, then her essay won. Go figure. She’s a smart cookie.
Tim Keller on Spiritual Disciplines
Tim Keller:
I am neither of advanced age nor a young man, but I know why Simeon could not imagine taking things “more easily.” It was because the praising, the hoping, and the resting becomes better and better if you are willing to give it daily attention for years and years. The one hundredth time through the Psalms or the Proverbs will yield astonishingly sweet, comforting, and convicting insights, because the more you know the Bible as a whole the more sense its particular parts make. And the more you know your own heart the more you know how to work on it, how to move past your discouragement, your peevishness, and your self-pity. But it takes years of relentless discipline. It is similar to how it takes years of practice to enjoy the power of playing the piano beautifully, but what we are talking about goes beyond even that in complexity and depth.
http://www.redeemer.com/news_and_events/newsletter/?aid=46
A Miles of Smiles Adventure…
My dear friend Amanda will be moving to Tumaini in Kenya, for the next two years. She will be working at the school and orphanage that I visited this summer with the most amazing team from all over the country.
I am so very proud of her, and am eager to watch her heart involvement with these kids that she loves so much. She is part Kenyan, I am sure.