waking up

Know that God is eternally faithful and will hold to His promise. He has healed my broken heart, shone His brilliant light, given peace and rest to my soul, taught me how little I am and how big He is, and so much more… more times than I can count. He blew my mind again today…

Just get to know Him through His word and His people… and everything you desire in Him will come to you. He will come…

Hosea 6:3

“Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.”

Wow… church was amazing. The worship time, the message, the fellowship time… all of it was truly anointed. This will be an amazing year.

The LANES WOOHOO… ANARKALI… and “Anger Management.” All that after going to Praise practice, trumpet call, and Guitar Center. Can you say “long day?”

I have never been this busy before… and I don’t think it will stop for a little while. It all seems to be out of my control. And I’m okay with that.

Praise God! CSUN had a wonderful night of everything delving deep… worship, the word, and fellowship.

I honestly could not hold back during my preparation for praise, so I let it flow out from me in the actual set. I think God really put the words in my mouth during the beginning of the praise time to set the temperament. I saw people on their knees, and I heard sweet whispers to God from those around me. How encouraging it was to see that I wasn’t hindering worship.

I finally got to use “Prepare The Way” by Charlie Hall. It was cool.

I just put a chip in my guitar… I dropped my binder on it while fumbling with my David Crowder autographed pictures. The corner took a small sliver of wood out of the top… yes, through the finish. I’m hurt.

I want to make a deep impact… but will I do what it takes? Do I understand what the make-up of a mighty man of God is? Do I have the discipline and the drive? Are my eyes firmly fixed on the prize?

Things hinder my full identification with Christ… and they need to be burned away. How will it happen?

I need to start a prayer journal.

Missed freeways, nowhere-to-be-seen onramps, wrong turns, one way freeway junctions on the other side of the road, car trouble (Moe’s oil was dangerously low), Grace’s car getting lost while following, an onramp that barely missed the spot we needed on the freeway, people backing out at the last minute, my misunderstandings and miscommunications about tickets, Angela and Shaun so kindly stepping out of going to the concert, and a bunch of other stuff… DID NOT KEEP US FROM MISSING DAVID CROWDER!

We missed “Make A Joyful Noise” but caught the rest of the set. Some guy had an eplieptic seizure during the encore, “God Of Wrath,” but people prayed and he got up after a couple minutes. I worshiped right next to Shelley and Louie Giglio, and then talked with Louie briefly after the concert about how far his ministry and his book, especially, has been reaching. I met all the members of the band, and got to talk with David for a couple of minutes. He remembers our e-mail correspondences. I asked him about “The Green CD” and he will get it out soon :).

I got my promo picture of the band, the picture of Crowder himself, my guitar strap, the sound guy (Rob)’s set list, and Angela’s CD all signed. Sweet. I told him John from Highway said “hi” and wishes he would come back. I invited him to Anarkali for next time.

All of this happens after Albert and Grace’s wedding… the most emotional highs and lows in one day I have ever experienced in my life. I knew it would be crazy, but I didn’t expect this.

From tears of joy at the wedding — to guilt-ridden riding due to ticket problems — to screaming out of frustration at all the crazy things keeping us from getting there — to worship, through crying in brokenness to undignified jumping — to meeting Louie Giglio and the David Crowder Band… My God, what a day…

And I know what I want to do in life…

I think I found my head voice today, singing in the car like an idiot trying different things. You would have slapped me if you heard me try. But I *think* i got it. It’s beginning of a brighter vocal future.

Share in my joy.

Optimism. It can be maintained in all circumstances. For me… it’s a sporadic struggle between the optimistic spiritual life and my pessimistic flesh. But since I know God’s word is more trustworthy than my own knowledge, I believe God to do things… great things that I need only to pray for.

I long to hear the amens sometimes…