He will hold me fast

When I fear my faith will fail,
Christ will hold me fast;
When the tempter would prevail,
He can hold me fast.

He will hold me fast,
He will hold me fast;
For my Savior loves me so,
He will hold me fast.

I could never keep my hold,
He will hold me fast;
For my love is often cold,
He must hold me fast.

I am precious in His sight,
He will hold me fast;
Those He saves are His delight.
He will hold me fast.

He’ll not let my soul be lost,
Christ will hold me fast;
Bought by Him at such a cost,
He will hold me fast.

He will hold me fast,
He will hold me fast;
For my Savior loves me so,
He will hold me fast.

- Ada R. Habershon

My Maker

Truth is such a beautiful thing. I never realized how much so until this summer, as I've had to sit under the lies of science and false doctrine. Yesterday was one of the hardest classes yet. As my teacher took a tangent, I started getting excited - that pulsing feeling that I usually get when I get to share the gospel with someone. That heart-pounding tingle that says "Let me talk! Let me tell you about Jesus!" I thought we were headed in a good direction. Then he stated one of the most ridiculous falsehoods I've ever heard and my heart kept racing, only now it was in anger. I know many of you who read this have sat beneath the teaching of secular professors, and I don't know if they affected you or not, so don't think I'm silly or that I'm overreacting. The truth is - all those women were sitting there, most of them probably caring less about anything Biblical, and when he said those things, they were spoon-fed lies. I wanted to stand up in class and refute everything he said point by point.

Truth is truth. That's why it's so beautiful. I am so thankful I have absolute truth I can bank my whole life upon. So grateful for the Word of God to rest my soul in.



This is tonight's sunset. The third night in a row we have had an absolutely gorgeous display in the west. The Lord has been showing me so much of His beauty this summer. In nature, but also in His Word. It seems that He really, truly wants to prove to me that He is my Maker. I never doubted it for a moment, but it is so amazing to see Him point out His truth to me in His word as reaffirmation of WHO HE IS.

For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens: God himself that formed the earth and made it: he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord: and there is none else. (Is. 45:18)

For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. The sea is his and he made it: and his hands formed the dry ground. (Ps. 95:3-5)

AMEN? Praise the Lord with me - let's exalt His name together!

As the seasons change...

Life is like a wheat crop, I think. It starts out poking through the well-worked earth, tender and green, looking out timidly at the big world, wondering what its destiny could be. It doesn't waver, though. It slowly, steadily grows, nourished by the sun and rain, until it is buried by the winter snow. Through the barren winter, the only real beauty in the brown Kansas world is the green wheat, like a child who brings sunshine into the world through their simple faith and innocent spirit.



When spring comes, the wheat suddenly grows into a thick, lush carpet of green that waves in the wind. It faces one of the hardest times of its short life...the dangers of hailstorms, the violent March winds, lashing, pounding rain at any unexpected time, or the threat of May tornadoes to tear its fields up or scatter sheets of metal or wrecked irrigation systems or the floor boards of a house over it. A beautiful crop could be wrecked in a moment, or, through steady growing in spite of the wild weather, could stay lush and thick and fruitful for the harvest. Just like it is a teenager's life, fragile and full of unexpected twists and turns, and many storms to weather.


Finally, the wheat has ripened. It's life is full. Now is when the sun shines down, hot and bright, shimmering on the golden rippling fields. It seems done growing, yet it never is. Those heads full of kernels slowly continue to harden. Each night they soften, then harden in the sun again in the morning. It seems to be resting at last, and yet, waiting for something. An adult's life seems full, golden, mature. Yet it is never truly done. What a beautiful thing is the life of a person who, although they have faced storms and wild weather, is going on quietly and steadily, trusting and waiting.



And then the wheat is cut. Gently severed from its stalks, it is worked through the machine and processed to the point where its grain is ready to travel to the buyer. Somehow, I can never imagine wheat complaining, even if it is being removed from its lifelong home. As I ride the combine, the wheat seems to be shouting, "Hurrah! I'm being cut at last! I'm ready to go - to die." I don't think you have to be an elderly adult to come to this point in life, I think it's more that you just have to come to a surrendering point at any age, but there is no more beautiful thing than the life that is ready to be harvested - ready to die for its master. What I guess I mean is, "To live is Christ, to die is gain."



I want my life to be like the wheat that ripples in the wind. A field of wheat at any stage of its life makes this Kansas girl's heart smile and her throat hurt, but watching that wheat, gently being swept into the combine, accomplishing its final and ultimate purpose, is a beautiful thing. Through all the storms and seasons in life, I want to keep growing and changing and trusting. And I long to be content in the Lord's will - so in love with Him that I can truly say, "For ME to live is Christ, to die is gain."

(First photo by Tim Skiles)

Summertime doin's

Today I mowed Grandma's lawn and discovered that mowing is the perfect time to memorize viruses and their family classification names. Quite. I also memorized Psalm 95 and praised the Lord loudly with it as I putt-putted around the yard. When I got home, although I knew I needed to do homework and such, I wasn't through with the outdoors, so I decided to shave Eduardo. *ahem* I decided to wash our Buick. See, from a month of traveling every day on a muddy road, the white Buick looked like a rustic woodcutter with a week-long growth on his chin. In other words, he had mud up to the windows. Armed with a scrub brush, a rag, an ice cream bucket, and the hose I proceeded to give him a shave. Now he's nice and white again. Rebekah came up and asked me for the hose at one point and I informed her that Eduardo was shaving up nicely. That name just popped out of my mouth...honest, I didn't purposefully name the Buick that. What a strange name for a car. Well, I still have homework to do...I haven't gotten any closer to having that done. One more day of speech class! Wow, that went so quickly in some ways. However, it does seem like I've been in summer school for a year now, too, though. :) I'm so thankful to be able to get 8 hours of classwork out of the way! Praise the Lord for that! Well, I'm in a writing mood, so I'd better go get that speech done. Enjoy your summer days and don't stick around in the air conditioning too long...I don't think we were made to be refrigerated beings. :) Get out and soak up some sunshine!

Even the little things

Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation...

Oh dear. This verse hit me out of the blue sometime over the past year at school. For some reason, even though I knew the Bible said "Do everything without complaining..." I never attached all that much import to it. Until, that is, I realized that it said "that you may be blameless and pure." You mean, Lord, that complaining keeps me from being pure? Oh. That's why I'm not supposed to do it.

I can't complain...ever...and stay blameless?
Not even when my teacher keeps going back to the origin of bacteria...4.6 billion years ago?
Not even when he makes a crude joke about the reproduction of viruses?
Not even when my head aches in lab and I have to sit four feet away from a creepy looking human body model?
Not even when I can't think of a subject for my persuasive speech for the life of me?
Not even when my family irritates me? Or doesn't appreciate me? Or doesn't understand me?
Not even when I'd rather be at camp?
Not ever?

No...I guess not.

Instead:
I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Oh, ok, I've got it! I get to praise you instead of complaining. I can praise you...
When you give me ten minutes before class to sit outside at school and read my Bible because we got there early.
When two of my big speeches are over and went really well.
When you give me ideas for my persuasive speech.
When I get to spend the day with a good friend at KBC.
When my little sister comes down to my room randomly to say hello.
When the puffy white clouds rest against the light blue sky and the golden wheat waves against that backdrop.
When there are ice cream cones after supper.
When a friend emails me out of the blue.

Yeah...and not only then...but also when things happen that aren't so pleasant. I can praise you in my microbiology class, too. :)

I always wondered what a lazy summer looked like....

...and I'm still wondering. :)

Apparently, it's not the normal thing to nap on the grass beneath trees at the park nowadays. At least, not in Pratt, anyway. That would account for the reason that nice policeman interrupted mine on Monday. I had just gotten comfortable, with few or no ants crawling up my arm and the poking sticks in my side were starting to fade out of my consciousness when I heard a faint "Are you okay?" I smiled dreamily and mumbled "Mhm," to myself. Then, louder, "Are you okay, miss?" Jerked awake I hastily sat up. "Um, yeah, um, I was just taking a nap. Sister's in the car. I'm fine." I blinked hastily and wondered foggily if there were leaves in my hair or why he was looking at me so strangely. "Well, alright then. I was just driving by and wanted to make sure." He left. So did I. I must admit I wonder if he felt even the slightest pang of guilt for waking a poor sleeping girl out of her lovely nap in the sunshine. At least he asked me before he tried to give me CPR or something.

Anyway...I'm sorry it's been so long since I blogged. I wonder if I still have any blog readers. :) My summer has officially begun and I am officially wiped out already. The first couple of weeks after arriving home were lovely - restful, with some work tucked in there. Lots of time for Bible reading, praying, napping, et cetera. Marvelous.

Then something whammed me from behind and I got sick with the flu and have had ridiculous symptoms one after another since then. It's been two weeks since I felt physically like myself and the same amount of time since I've eaten a normal meal and enjoyed it completely. It seemed like I had strep throat so I called the doctor and he called in a prescription of antibotics for me without seeing me. Those took care of my symptoms but knocked me out with a whole series of other problems - side effects to the medicine. Now I'm not feeling sick, but I'm completely drained of anything they call energy and I still have no appetite. So, yeah...that's way more than you wanted to know about my last couple of weeks. :)

While all this has been going on, though, my sis Rebekah and I started our summer classes at Pratt Community College. We're taking speech and microbiology. I'm enjoying speech. We've already given 3, have another tomorrow and had our first test today - busy, busy! Microbiology is not the most exciting class, but I will say that I've learned more about evolution in the pas two classes by hearing it than I ever learned by reading about it in any textbook. Today I pulled out my Bible (being a good Bible college student I find that I can't go to class even here without bringing my Bible :) and read Psalm 95 to refresh myself: "The Lord our God is a great God." He isn't just a part of history - He created history. I'm glad to know that. I'm glad my Savior designed me, and that my cells didn't just design themselves. :)

So, that about catches you up on my life this summer. Thanks for reading. Rejoice in the Lord today! He is our only true strength and joy.

Spring Banquet

It was fun. :)