tuning in

It is time to turn on our tuners and get rid of the static. There are many times that we live in a realm where we only hear in part, but God wants to reveal the fullness of His sounds to us. We need to walk out of the desolate places to the places that we can bring our thank offerings.
God is in the process of restoring new sounds:
"the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those who bring thank offerings to the house of the LORD, saying,
"Give thanks to the LORD Almighty,
for the LORD is good;
his love endures forever."
For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before,' says the LORD."
Jeremiah 33:11
Tune us into these sounds Lord.

His Mercy

A song that I was just listening to says, "wrapped in His mercy, I want to live and never leave." I was stuck on this thinking about the mercy of God that surrounds us and keeps us. Mercy is described as not getting what we deserve. We are wrapped in a place that He has made to keep us safe and secure.
Hebrews 4: 14-16(The Message):
Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let's not let it slip through our fingers. We don't have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He's been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let's walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.
I do know that I do need the help for sure!

reflections of the day

Well, the day is just getting started although it started a few hours ago. It seems I need time to really wake up and be able to function. I guess if I drank coffee that might happen faster. It is fall here and the snow has taken some time to fall on the ground, but the leaves are still mostly on the trees. So, I am reflecting on the changes that are taking place. It is fun when you are in between seasons and noticing one merging into the next. There are still traces of the one season and evidence of the next coming.
It is like that in our lives. Sometimes we are smack in the middle of a new season and we can remember the past and look forward to the next, but the season really captures our attention. I wasn't intending to get philosophical here, but it is important to enjoy the season of life that you are in and not be too anxious for it to change. In time, things do change and so do we. We are molded and shaped by the things going on around us and in time, those things will only be memories. Hmm...what is it that we are to learn this day? And, what is the next season going to be like? I do know that with God on my side, things only seem to get better.

Our heart

In I Samuel 16:7, it says that God looks into the heart. That is so cool that He doesn't look at who we are on the outside with things such as what we do, what we look like, how we work, but our insides.
Our heart...what is that all about? The very depth of our being. But, do we even know what is in there or how to ponder that without getting too inward?
He is looking for those "to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him." (2 Chronicles 16:9) How can our hearts become perfect?
God has the ability to change our heart and even give us a new heart that is perfect toward Him. We can keep our hearts perfect toward God by asking God to reveal and remove any thing in our heart that would keep us from loving Him with our whole heart.

Shining brilliantly

Daniel 12:3 (The Message) Men and women who have lived wisely and well will shine brilliantly, like the cloudless, star-strewn night skies. And those who put others on the right path to life will glow like stars forever.



The sun rises with simple colors blended together, touching the earth and the sky bringing light and textures. May our lives be such a brilliant display of His love that others would see and know Him.

New guitar player

This is my nephew with one of my guitars. I was giving him some lessons and trying to teach him the way to carefully strum the strings, but he likes to just pound on it. He is 9 months today. I guess it is just good that he is happy. He is also crawling everywhere now and clapping.
Oh, the joys of watching a young child learn and grow up!!

I am also watching my students as they seem really into listening to me lecture this year. I feel like telling them to read the paper or daydream, but they seem to be into listening. I guess that is good, but it is strange to notice their intensity. Maybe I have more valuable things to say as I get older??

We are...Penn State!!

beautiful day

Wow, what a beautiful day!! I was out there in the sun for a little bit, but now I am inside watching the US Open Tennis match. It is hard to look at the lovely day and stay inside, but I really like watching tennis. Soon, I will go back out to enjoy the most amazing day.
School has been going well so far. We are done with one week now.
We won our first big football game of the year, but it wasn't a big team Next weekend, it will be just so crazy here with Notre Dame coming to town. So far I have 2 tailgate invites, but no tickets...it is just too expensive for me.

Time for school again

School is starting once again next week. The students have started to move into campus which means that the streets are packed with parents and things. I was just thinking today that I miss the quiet of the summer campus. It is nice to enjoy the campus without the thousands of students running around. But, I am excited about the season ahead and the possibilities of seeing more come to know our Jesus.
We will have many new contacts with new students and new opportunities to share the life that is in us. I pray for many open hearts. It seems students are open to so many things and desire to know that which is genuine. I pray for many people to be gathered into His truth. There are so many things trying to capture their attention and minimize the reality of knowing God.

words to the song

My Beloved: Kari Jobe

You’re My Beloved
You’re My Bride
To sing over you is My delight
Come away with Me
My love

Under My mercy
Come and wait
‘Till we are standing face to face
I see no stain on you
My child

You’re Beautiful to Me
So Beautiful to Me

I sing over you My song of peace
Cast all your cares down at My feet
Come and find your rest in Me

I’ll breathe My life inside of you
I’ll bear you up on eagle’s wings
And hide you in the shadow of My strength
I’ll take you to My quiet waters
I’ll restore your soul
Come rest in Me and be made whole

We are His beloved

There is a new CD that I just got by Kari Jobe . I think she is incredible, her voice is beautiful and her song "My Beloved" is awesome. It really ministered to me. As a person who loves to worship Jesus, and who understands the importance of telling the Lord how I feel about him and pouring my love out to him, this songs has great importance b/c it is written as if the Lord is singing to me. It is amazing to hear how the Lord feels about us, to know he loves us. Let the Lord sing His love over you while listening to this song and others on her myspace.
It is just such an amazing thought to think about His great love towards us.

all my young fun family

Just to be fair I really need to post a photo of my niece(Kate) and 2 nephews(JR and Joey). The two that look very Italian live in Texas and were just here a couple of weeks ago. So, we did a cute little photo, but they just weren't into it like we wanted. They have a lot of energy and basically run non-stop. We had a lot of family time and playing in the park time.

my nephew

Yesterday, I got to spend about 5 hours with my nephew, JR. He is only 7 months now. We had such fun and life is so simple when around him. I think I was just enjoying the quietness and joyfulness of being with him. He has such a fun laugh and smile. He sits up now and imitates my sounds. He loves standing, but can't do it on his own yet. And, he loves me and gives me lots of kisses.

winds are blowing

There were some very strong winds blowing here in my yard last night. It was not just in my yard, but all over and the lights even went out.
(Psalm 104:4 )He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants.
What are the messages that He sent to us last night?

sardinia

I just returned from a wonderful time on the island of Sardinia. It was great to just enjoy the beauty of God's creation and be fully engulfed in the smells and the sights. I loved my times of exploration of places that were off the main roads. There is so much history there and so much diversity of views. You have the ruins, the sea, and the mountains. Along with these are the winding roads that seem to go to the most amazing places.

Getting ready

Now, I am getting ready for a fun trip to the land across the ocean.
I am flying out to London on Monday and then to Sardinia. I went there last year for a few days and was so in love with it that I had to return. This time for 7 days and a different part of the island. It is like paradise and I can't wait to see more.
Check back for some more updates.

Many words

Today, I read about 30 ten page papers and several other papers and certainly find the abundance of words is overwhelming.

Ecclesiastes 5:7
Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore stand in awe of God.

So...I will stand in awe of our God instead!!!

time to reflect

Today I was reading in a book by Henri Nouwen. He made a good statement that I wanted to share.
" A life that is not reflected upon eventually loses its meaning and becomes boring."

What a great reason to ponder what is going on in our life. When we do we take time to find meaning and significance in what we are all about.

April 14

I am sitting here reading my paper and thinking about my dream last night. It was one of those fun dreams that had lots of things in it, but no real connections. I was driving with some friends and we went from sunshine to snow and then down a road that took us to some international place. As we stood thinking about where we were, we neglected to look at a most amazing view. The view was very intricate and a mixture of styles. An old lady noticed I was going to take a picture and asked if I wanted a print of it. She said it was Irish and Spanish. I waited for her to bring it to me, but as I thought of what she said I was confused. There was a huge drop off the road to see the amazing city. My friends were standing on the edge and I was worried. For some reason my camera did want to take the picture. The one guy that was with me started being recognized by people walking by. So...what does it all mean??? And, should I even ponder it or just enjoy the nice trip I took while I slept.

St. Patrick

I arise today

I arise today

Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.
Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today

I arise today through the strength of Heaven

Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In preachings of the apostles,
In faiths of confessors,
In innocence of virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.
the rays of the sun,
the radiance of the moon,
the splendor of fire,
the speed of lightening,
the swiftness of the wind,
the depth of the sea,
the stability of the earth
the firmness of rock.

worship and physics

Quantum physicist & inventor David van Koevering says:

The fingerprints and signature of God are seen in the science of sound, and in the purpose, results and physics of worship. The physical characteristics of our universe - from the cells of the human body to the stars reveal God's glory, and they tell us how we can advance His kingdom through worship!

snow abounds

Here in State College, PA we have an abundance of snow on the ground. It has been so fun watching it just fall and fill the empty spaces. I went out on my cross country skiis and enjoyed the blowing wind and freezing temps blowing on my face, but making my skiis slide all the better.
We also did get a day off of Penn State classes last week.
Now, I am working hard to put together a test for my students in the non-verbal communication class. The question is how hard I want to make it. Mostly, I just want to know that they understand things and are ready to move on.

Now it is February! Wow, what a fast January. But, it is finally cold
outside and snow has fallen.
I just spent some time with my nephew, JR, tonight. He is so cute and
simple. God is holding us closely and comforting us just as I hold him
to keep him in a safe place.

Back in the classroom

It is that time again for fun in the classroom. We are now into our second week of classes and all is well. I am teaching one new course called non-verbal communication. It is a lot of fun and a great way to learn more about how we communicate and being better at it.

For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge—I Cor 1:5

purpose in life

God want us to live a life that is called out and with a purpose.
What is your purpose in this life and how is it different today
than when you first came to know Jesus?
Solomon: After talking about the futility of life when lived as though this world and all it has to offer is all there is, Solomon gives these concluding remarks in the book of Ecclesiastes: "Here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). Solomon says that life is all about honoring God with our thoughts and lives.