last song

My friend reminded me of these words today:

"We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed."

That leads to my last song. These 3 are what I play over and over when I feel pressed on all sides. And this is the song I like to finish with, to remind me that He who is in me is greater than the world! I love you guys. We are praying. We are with you.




"God Will Lift Up Your Head"
Give to the wind your fear
Hope and be undismayed
God hears your sighs and counts your tears
God will lift up, God will lift up, lift up your head

Chorus:
God will lift up your head
God will lift up your head
God will lift up your head
Lift up your head

Leave to His sovereign sway
To choose and to command
Then shall we wandering on His way
Know how wise and how strong
How wise and how strong
How strong is His hand


Through waves and clouds and storms,
He gently clears the way
Wait because in His time, so shall this night
Soon end in joy, soon end in joy
Soon end in joy, soon end in joy
Soon end in joy, soon end in joy
Soon end in joy, soon end in joy
Soon end in joy, soon end in joy


God will lift up your head
Soon end in joy
God will lift up your head
Soon end in joy
-Jars of Clay

more love to Portland

this is another song that brings me strength in hard times. If you need it today, please make it yours:

"Borrow Mine"
Take my hand and walk with me a while
Cause it seems your smile has left you
And don't give in, when you fall apart
And your broken heart has failed you
I'll set a light up
On a hilltop
To show you my love
For this world to see

You can borrow mine
When your hope is gone
Borrow mine
When you can't go on
'Cause the world will not defeat you
When we're side by side
When your faith is hard to find
You can borrow mine

Take my love when all that you can see
Is the raging sea all around us
And don't give up 'cause I'm not letting go
And the God we know will not fail us
We'll lay it all down
As we call out
Sweet Savior
help our unbelief

You can borrow mine
When your hope is gone
Borrow mine
When you can't go on
'Cause the world will not defeat you
When we're side by side
When your faith is hard to find
You can borrow mine

When you are weak
Unable to speak
You are not alone
The God who has saved us
Will never forsake us
he's coming to take us
Take us to our home

You can borrow mine
When your hope is gone
Borrow mine
When you can't go on
'Cause the world will not defeat you
When we're side by side
When your faith is hard to find
When your faith is hard to find
You can borrow mine

Take my hand
Take my love
Don't give in
Don't give up
-Bebo Norman

Love to Portland Friends

I have friends in Portland. Some of them I have known for years. Others have a new special place in my life. Nevertheless, I love them all. One group has really seen an unbelievable amount of hardship fall their way this week. I am praying for my friends at PUMP. Many of them have no clue the love and respect I have for them and their mission. I love them and think the world of everyone at the church. They are going to be affected as a congregation and individually with the sad news that Cascade is closing down. Then, in what can only amount to indescribable news, the beautiful Caitlin was diagnosed with leukemia completely out of the blue. Her mother is one of my favorite people in Portland, and she is such a beautiful child!

In times like these we want to reach out, offer advice and even words of encouragement. But many times, despite what we know to be true, when we are the ones suffering we just want silence. So we silently pray for you. Our hearts break and bleed with yours, and our prayers beg and plead with yours.

This song has always been there for me in rough times.

"Learning To Breathe"

Hello, good morning, how you do?
What makes your rising sun so new?
I could use a fresh beginning too
All of my regrets are nothing new
So this is the way that I say I need You
This is the way that I'm

Learning to breathe
I'm learning to crawl
I'm finding that You and You alone can break my fall
I'm living again, awake and alive
I'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies

Hello, good morning, how you been?
Yesterday left my head kicked in
I never, never thought that
I would fall like that
Never knew that I could hurt this bad

So this is the way I say I need You
This is the way that I say I love You
This is the way that I say I'm Yours
This is the way, this is the way
-SWITCHFOOT

AC/DC vs Fannie and Freddie

It would seem Obama and McCain are focusing on all the wrong things when it comes to the economy. Apparently they do not have to get the mortgage market corrected or revise the banks. Kicker checks will not help either. It would seem that all they need to do is stop a very mediocre band from releasing music! read the story here:

ACDC

These are a few of my favorite things......

Well, it was a busy week...but here are some of the many highlights


For someone as handiman challenged as I...this is a dream if it works :)...so does it work???? Just ask my back yard faucet!!!!!


My son and I picked this up at Blockbuster. We had never seen it before. It is a GREAT movie...we both just loved it!


I got to meet these kids last week and hear them perform. They were really good. More than that I was so impressed with their hearts for ministry and knowledge of scriptures. It was a joy to hear, meet and pray with them. Pick up the CD, it is good.

Hey Dad!

I just returned from surprising my son and meeting him at school for lunch. It was awesome. I wish you could have seen him when he walked out and there I was. What a blessing. Everything was so cool. I got to put faces with names of friends, see him interact with peers, watch how their daily routine plays out, meet school employees, hear stories of amazing feats in class, and much much more. I even watched him run outside and make his way ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE MONKEY BARS (which I had never seen him accomplish). It was all so wonderful.

But, I gotta' tell you, the greatest thing about it all...was Jude's face. When he saw me, that beautiful smile lit up the hall. He was beaming with joy and pride that I had come. Despite his best efforts, he COULD NOT contain it as we walked. It was priceless and it meant the world to me!

I know a day will come where that face will not be one of joy, but embarrasement, and I DREAD it. But for now, I will simply thank God and count my blessings. Go Oak Grove Rams!

Deep Thoughts

The last few days have seen my brain become deep fried. For some strange reason, I have had the MOST random thoughts. So, I thought I would chronicle a few for you here:

I was thinking about that time we dressed Bigboy up as homeless with a "Will work for food" sign in downtown Searcy for a photography project.

I was thinking how much I hate it when a person who normally talk just like me, goes into some thick and crazy accent the minute they utter a Spanish word.

I loved my conversation with my son last night. Bible class had brought up the subject of Satan, and we discussed that even though he is not as strong as God, he is still a very strong foe to reckon with. Jude added, "I couldn't even beat him with an eye poke and kick in the nuts"

I remembered that weekend at Harding where it was a cold COLD day and Homecoming weekend, and I was fighting feeling lonely and depressed, so my parents loaded up and drove over from Memphis to love on me, watch some football, take me to dinner and buy me a new sweater and gloves.

I was thinking back to our earliest days in OR and the exploratory drives Jessie and I would take.