Beauty

I love it when a good song gets stuck in my head, when a few good lyrics just keep coming to mind. That rarely happens, right? It's usually the song you hate that won't ever leave your mind. But there are times, wonderful times, when you keep thinking of a song you actually like.

Lately, I've had a few lines of a Sara Groves song stuck in my head. The lines are:

"And I want to add to the beauty
To tell a better story
I want to shine with the light
That's burning up inside"

Part of the reason they're stuck in my head is that they're really nicely sung, and I love to sing. But part of the reason they're stuck in my head is that they're how I feel. You know, they remind me of part of 1 John:

"1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4We write this to make our joy complete."

I added the italics because I love that verse. "We write this to make our joy complete."

I guess I love it because that's why I write. And maybe that's why I love the lines of that song, because I want to add to the beauty, because I want to understand and tell about the beauty that I've seen. The beauty in which there is light, and no darkness.

Sometimes getting lyrics stuck in your head isn't such a bad thing. Sometimes those lyrics explain a greater truth.

A Picture

I realize I don't normally post pictures here, but I thought I'd just post one from my trip to El Salvador. It's a picture of me with four children from the orphanage.

Javier, Laura, Jordan, and Alberto. They're all really sweet kids, and I had a lot of fun with them. We took pictures, played soccer, ate hamburgers. It was a great time.

I hope you enjoy the picture!

:)

Sara

Love

I have an old journal of mine. It's from first grade. I was six, and I had to keep a journal for class. I wrote all sorts of odd little things, some of which make no sense to me now, but I'm sure they meant something at the time.

My journal entry for February 7, 1985 was "Love is no fake." The letter "o" in the word "Love" is a heart, of course. I'm not sure what made me write that. I have to wonder what we were studying in class. Maybe we read from Corinthians that day?

Whatever the case, I think about how true that sentence is. On February 7, 2008 I went to El Salvador, meeting up with my parents in Houston. We landed in San Salvador and headed to the orphanage by taxi, and when we got there we were greeted by children who immediately hugged us. They immediately hugged me, even though they didn't know me at all. And I see how true it is that love is no fake.

While I was in El Salvador, I met people who told me about how they came to know God. What stood out to me is that they all spoke of God, of Jesus, touching their hearts. And I knew what they meant. I knew that feeling of finally knowing in my heart, where it truly matters, that all of this stuff is true, that it has the power to change a life. That God is no fake.

I sometimes wish I could make more sense when I talk about God, when I talk about what He has done in my life. But how do you explain what happens in your heart? How do you explain a change that makes no logical sense?

I guess the only thing to say is that, at some point, God touched my heart. And, at that point, it all made sense. Even though it made as little sense as the love those children showed to me, a stranger. But, that is love. It makes little sense, and yet, it is real.

It's been a few days...

Well, it's been a bit since I last posted, and I didn't want anyone to worry that I'd been trapped under snow or lost my way in the terribly thick, gray fog that settled over the cornfields yesterday. In truth, I very nearly got lost in the fog. But so did everyone else.

I also wanted to write today because I won't be writing for a few days. On Thursday, I'm heading to El Salvador to visit the orphanage that my parents work with. Don't worry though. I'm not moving to El Salvador, just visiting for a few days. I'm really looking forward to it because I've never been there before, and I'm also looking forward to it because it's really hot there.

Also, unrelated to weather but related to things that are happening in my life, I started volunteering at the pregnancy center. Obviously, I won't be saying a whole lot about my work there, but I can tell you that the women who work there are really wonderful. They are funny and warm and just really sweet. Also, they had cake. And, well, if you know me at all, you know how I feel about cake. I absolutely love it. One of the other volunteers is taking a cake decorating class, so I'm hoping there might be more cake to come...not that that's why I'm volunteering!

Well, that's the important news for now! In other news, I've been reading through Psalms lately. I don't have any real method to it; I usually just pick one or two or more and then read. Starting in March, I'm going to take part in a Bible Study that focuses on Psalms. Perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself by doing so much reading before the study starts, but the Psalms are so comforting and encouraging.

Here's something I found that you might love:

Psalm 91: 14-16

14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation."

See how wonderful it is? How encouraging, comforting, loving? Well, that's why I'm reading them. They're good on these gray and foggy days. And, I think they'd be good even for those of you who are blessed with blue skies and warm weather.

Now, I will go pray extra hard that I don't fall into the sin of coveting your warm and beautiful weather. ;)