Couple of Worship Songs

On Sunday along with hearing an incredible message that focused on having a proper views of God for 2009 (two main points: God is Transcendent and God is Immanent) we sang two songs that we have not song for awhile and I wanted to share the lyrics with you.

Blessed Be Your Name, 2002 Worship Together Music, By Matt Redman

Blessed Be Your Name in the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow, blessed be Your name
Blessed Be Your name when I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness, blessed Be Your name

Every blessing You pour out I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name when the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be, blessed be Your name
Blessed be Your name on the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be Your glorious name

You give and take away, You give and take away
My heart will choose to say, "Lord, blessed be Your name."

How true it is that we are to bless God when things are all going well (in our eyes) and when things are not going well (in our eyes again, God always has the very best for us even in suffering and pain). My prayer right this moment and I hope forever, echos the end of the song, "You give and take away, You give and take away. My heart will choose to say 'Lord, blessed be Your name.'" It is a choice to bless the Lord but it is always the best choice.

Here I Am To Worship 2000 Thankyou Music, Tim Hughes

Light of the World, You stepped down into darkness,
opened my eyes, let me see.
Beauty that made this heart adore You,
hope of a life spent with You.

So, here I am to worship, here I am to bow down,
here I am to say that You’re my God.
You’re altogether lovely, altogether worthy,
altogether wonderful to me.

King of all days, oh so highly exalted,
glorious in heaven above.
Humbly You came to the Earth You created,
all for love’s sake became poor.

And I’ll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross.
I’ll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross.
I’ll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross.
I’ll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross.


What a wonder of what God has done for me. He opened my eyes and let me see. Oh He is altogether lovely, altogether worthy, and altogether wonderful to me! I'll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross. May my heart cry out Here I am to Worship!

Oh The Weather Outside Is Frightful

As a PE teacher we have certain policies of when the students don't participate outside. These include any day that the weather is projected to be over 100 degrees, a Spare the Air Day and rain (rain that gets the entire ground wet). We have no rule about being too cold or too foggy. All of the PE teachers in my department make announcements all the time to our students to have them bring the proper cold weather clothing because they will dress for PE even in cold weather. There are always several who are not prepared when it turns cold and are not too pleased with our choice to continue PE outside. Then we always have a few in each class who are the one's we call "will always wear their short and t-shirt uniform everyday no matter the conditions outside".

The school that I teach at really does not have adequate inside facilities to take some 200+ PE students at one time. There is a gym but it is quite small and the students really lose all self control when we are in there. There is only so much sit down volleyball and tug of war that we as teachers can handle. There is a theater for us to use and be very comfortable but there is always the issue if another teacher (especially the Drama teacher) is using it for something for their students. Another issue of going inside is if we show a sports movie but they have to nothing more than PG and at that it is a stretch sometimes if a movie is not appropriate for young viewers. If we decide to do a lesson it is extremely large scale. Throughout the day between all of the PE classes with all 5 of the teachers we are teaching over 1,000 students. If you have a handout then you are making over 1,000 copies, usually front and back. So most of my co-workers have the same view point as myself, "any day outside is better than a day inside".

The last couple of weeks the weather outside has been quite frightful, if I could say that. Two weeks before vacation, we were socked in with Tully fog. I posted on that. There were even some days that there was fog and frost at the same time. This is a really rare occurrence for the Bay Area. The week prior to vacation was even more frightful. Monday it was raining out and the theater was available because the Drama teacher was out ill. We made the sub stay in the drama classroom. The rest of the week we were outside. Tuesday it was freezing cold, literally freezing cold and threatening rain/sleet/snow all day. The Weather Channel reported the city in which I work at 39 with a dew point of 35 and this did not include the wind chill factor. I don't think out West the weather reports include a wind chill factor, or at least I don't hear about it in California. The near by hills and mountains had snow all over them. I personally almost froze out there that day. Wednesday it was clear but still very cold but was better only because the sun was shining. Thursday was cold like Wednesday but the threat of rain had returned.

Thursday during one of my classes one of my students said, not sure if it was said to anyone but I heard him, "Oh the weather outside is frightful" (he was singing that line to Let it Snow, Let it Snow). He is one of my students sitting there unprepared with his legs and arms wrapped up into his t-shirt sitting in a big blog on the ground. I walked by him and chuckled and told him he was very creative.

Just A Few Blocks Away

Hello blogging friends!

I am so thankful that I am on break from work for the Christmas Holiday. So nice to sleep in until my body is ready to get up (this morning it was just before 8 am) and not at 5am. One of my kitties tilted one of my wooden blinds and the sun was streaking on in. Through the slots in the blinds I could see that the sky was beautiful. A perfect mix of clouds and blue, my favorite type of day! The glistening frost on the neighbor's roof was almost melted away.

A Perfect morning for a walk in the park that is just 2 blocks away from my house. "Heart Park" is what I fondly call this park. God has used this park (more specifically the splendor of His incredible beautiful creation) significantly in my heart. When I am among the majestic California Oaks, the reflective 7 small ponds, the changing of the colors of the seasons, the green carpet of the ground celebrating a recent rain and the fresh crisp air, I am ushered into a time of prayer with my God, my Savior. This morning was no exception. My heart was pondering and thanking God for His perfect timely gift of the incarnation. God in human flesh, Christ the Savior, was born to a virgin, born to ultimately die to pay the penalty, to take the full wrath of God for sin, for my sin, for my guilt. Pretty amazing.

I am reminded of Luke 1:26- 35

"Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming in, he sadi to her, 'Hail favored one! The Lord is with you.' But she was greatly troubled at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this might be. And the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jaco forever; and His kingdom will have no end.' And Mary said to the angel, 'How can this be, since I am a virgin:' And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God."

And Luke 2: 9-14

"And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you; you will find a baby wrapped in cloths, and lying in a manger.' And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.'"

My heart was full of praise and adoration this morning. This praise and adoration lead to praying for some other concerns of my heart. What a joy to be a child of the Most High. Here are a few pictures of my time this morning. If you have followed my blog, I have posted pictures in here before from "Heart Park".

Have a wonderful day!

So, I can't get the pictures to move where I want them and they are out of order so let me explain them.
Picture 1 is just of some cat tails.
Picture 2 was just a burst of the last bit of red color before they fall off. All the other trees have dropped their leaves.
Picture 3 & 4 are almost the same photo but slightly different. I am trying to decide which one I like better to maybe get it printed out and hang it up. Please feel free to give your input.
Picture 5 was when I first started into the park this morning.
Picture 6 is one of those often not seen things in weather called a "Sun Dog".
The last picture, picture 7, I took because I loved the green carpet, the younger oak trees and the little path winding between the trees.

Sorry in advance if this post does not appear correctly when I am finished.

Today in my Town

Here is what The Weather Channel says on my Yahoo home page right now. I never dreamed I could be "Dreaming of a White Christmas"! For the record, I have only seen it snow 1 time in my lifetime in the Bay Area (not including the local mountains).


Current conditions as of 6:53 am PST

Light Snow

Feels Like:

36°

Barometer:

29.97 in and rising

Humidity:

89%

Visibility:

9 mi

Dewpoint:

33°

Wind:

SE 5 mph

Sunrise:

7:17 am

Sunset:

4:50 pm

36°

High: 47° Low: 40°

I Joined

This past week I joined Facebook. What a cool networking site to connect with current and past friends. I chatted with friends from high school that I have not with in over 20 years. I had to be careful that I was not spending too much time on the site. It can seriously be a time drop, not because it is a great site (because it really is not great), but because you look for friends that you want to catch up with. One might struggle with "making friends" with everyone you have ever known in your lifetime. Some folks on there had over 500 friends. Yikes! I don't know if I could be friends with 500 people. I barely do a good job with my few friends, my kindred spirits, who I would call my closest friends (most of which I don't talk to but once in awhile or an email here and there) little alone all of my acquaintances. But for the sake of a quick update in what is going on in a person's life and to chat with them briefly, Facebook is worthwhile. One category a "friend" asked me to join is my high school prior to Internet. That's right, there was no Internet in high school and barely existed while in college. Oh, how have times changed!

So, if you are on Facebook and you want "to be my friend on Facebook", look me up and ask to be my friend.

On a side note, I think it is hilarious that of my sisters, I being the oldest and the least experienced with computers, am the only one who has blogged and on Facebook. Maybe that is a sign that I am not married and don't have children.

Tully Fog

This is what it looked like at work all this past week. You could not even see 30 yards away. Three of the days it was like this all day long. I was really cold and did not dress right for the first two days of the week. By Wednesday, I was well prepared: Thermal under skin, long underwear top, sweat shirt, and heavier sweat shirt and lined sweats.

On Friday, I was marking the fields for a great game I am teaching my students called team handball. I could not see the cones that I placed on the ground to mark off the fields. Some students walking to school had to go and stand at the cones and yell out to me where they were so I could line everything up straight. It was kinda funny. Another funny thing of that morning was the fields had been mowed a few days prior but the grass was long so there was clumps of grass all over the place and the ground was really damp from the fog. By the time I was finished tromping around the fields to mark them, my shoes were built up with 2" platform of grass.

It's Never Too Early

It's never too early to impress upon them who they will be rooting for.

Speak, O Lord

A few weeks back I shared with you that I was going to a concert put on by the Getty's. At the concert I bought their newest CD titled In Christ Alone. I have been greatly blessed by the words of these modern hymns. When ever I am in the car, I am listening to this CD.

The song that I have played over and over again, is "Speak O Lord". Along with singing this song, it has turned into my prayer to God. Here are the lyrics and you can listen to the song here (or part of the song, you can look around the site and most likely find the whole song). The web site is gettymusic.com.

"Speak, O Lord" Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend Copyright © 2005 Thankyou Music

Speak, O Lord, as we come to You
To receive the food of Your Holy Word.
Take Your truth, plant it deep in us;
Shape and fashion us in Your likeness,
That the light of Christ might be seen today
In our acts of love and our deeds of faith.
Speak, O Lord, and fulfill in us
All Your purposes for Your glory.

Teach us, Lord, full obedience,
Holy reverence, true humility;
Test our thoughts and our attitudes
In the radiance of Your purity.
Cause our faith to rise; cause our eyes to see
Your majestic love and authority.
Words of pow'r that can never fail—
Let their truth prevail over unbelief.

Speak, O Lord, and renew our minds;
Help us grasp the heights of Your plans for us—
Truths unchanged from the dawn of time
That will echo down through eternity.
And by grace we'll stand on Your promises,
And by faith we'll walk as You walk with us.
Speak, O Lord, till Your church is built
And the earth is filled with Your glory.

There is no point to restate what parts of the song I can identify with in my prayers because the whole song is what I pray.

Thursday Pictures

I wanted to share a few photos that I took at a park near my house. The morning was beautiful, it rained the day before, the air was still, the morning fog was just lifting and the sun was just starting to peek through the fog clouds. I love taking pictures of God's incredible creation and showing Him off. I can't even image what Heaven will be like. Heaven will be so much more incredible than anything that we have seen here on earth.

My sister Jen and I had been hunting
around for a few days to find the perfect spot for our family portrait for Christmas cards. Another location won for where we will take the photo.

I took this Thursday morning too when I returned from the park. I need to edit the photo a little to get the front of my house out of the picture. I love how the rain drops are resting on the petals and the leaves.

I apologize in advance if this post will not be lined up correctly with the photos and the text. Not quite sure why but when I post and preview it is not what the final product looks like.

Thanksgiving and Fall Colors

Thanksgiving is one of my most favorite holidays. There is so much to love about Thanksgiving. The top reasons why I love Thanksgiving are: 1) God has accomplished so much in my life by giving of His life (if I would sit and list all that I am thankful to God for all that He has done, this post would be the longest in blogging history), 2) being with family 3) the beauty of the colors in the changing of the season and 4) Thanksgiving ushers in my next two favorite holidays- Christmas and Easter. Here are just a few pictures of my niece and nephew.

Locks of Love

My hair was badly needing a good hair cut. I knew I wanted inches cut off. The last 10"of my locks will be sent away to Locks of Love for a "hair donation". If my hair is accepted it will be bundled with 6-10 other donations and used to make a hair piece for a child who has a serious health situation. Here is a picture of before the hair cut (with Trinity on Monday at the Lawarence Hall of Science), the "pony tail donation", and the after shot. If you are interested in Locks of Love, please click to their link here.

Delayed Celebration

My good friend Janet from church graduated with her master's degree in May. There was a party with family and friends but I was unable to attend. Thanks to our Veterans who have fought for our country's freedom Janet and I both had the day off and we were able to take a little lunch trip into Tiburon. It was a nice day celebrating what God has allowed Janet to accomplish and to enjoy a day off of work.






I had to take a picture of this funny sign that we saw near the pier that we ate on. The sign could have read, "Please NO DOGS ON BICYCLES".

Happy Birthday Trinity

My sweet Trinity love is 3 years old. I can hardly believe it. Seems just like yesterday that Amy and I took the day off of work to drive down South with GG (great grandmother) to meet our 8 hour old niece. Time sure flies on by.

Trinity is such a sweet girl. There are so many things that I love about her. I love her wonderful smile, her caring spirit, her manners, her sweet love, her spunk, her excitement for each day, her right leg kick when she is jumping and supper happy (it is so cute when she does this), her sweet voice when we talk on my way to work, her imagination, her desire to spend time with me when we see each other, her love for her Mommy, Daddy, Joey, Nana, Papa Auntie Amy and me too, her sparkle in her bright blue eyes, her hand in mine when we are walking around, her trust, her innocence, her hugs and kisses, and so much more. I just love her.

Here are a couple of pictures of the birthday girl and I just have to include on of the baby too.

We Have THE Cy Young Winner

A big huge congratulations to Tim Lincecum for winning the Cy Young Award of the National League. Tim put up some incredible numbers this year and he is full deserving of this prestigious award. Without Tim's incredible efforts the Giants would have lost many more games than they did.

I saw several games this past summer with Tim as the starting pitcher. Seeing him in person is much better than on t.v. He has incredible motor mechanics and form. He was fun to watch. On one of the last games of the season, he stuck out the whole first 3 innings (against the Dodgers, remember them?, they went to the NL playoffs, no you don't remember them?, that's ok- they can be forgotten, the Giants beat them 2 out of 3 games in the last series of the year!!!).

I am going to try to link a YouTube clip here but I have not been too successful when I have tried in the past. But here goes. Here is the direct link. I still have not figured out how to include YouTube videos. Can anyone help me out there? Above image is taken from the Official San Francisco Giants web page.

Election Eve

TOP 10 PREDICTIONS NO MATTER WHO WINS THE ELECTION


1. The Bible will still have all the answers.


2. Prayer will still work.


3. The Holy Spirit will still move.


4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.


5. There will still be God-anointed teaching and healing.


6. There will still be singing of praise to God.


7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.


8. There will still be room at the Cross.


9. Jesus will still love you.


10. Jesus will still save the lost.


My sweet friend Cheri gave me permission to post what she posted today. I so agree with her. God is in control no matter the outcome of the election. May I encourage you to pray for our elected officials, that God would lead their decisions with wisdom, that God would convict their hearts that they need a Savior, and that we as individuals and a nation would bend a knee to the LORD Almighty.

Princess and Hippo

Too bad I missed my two loves in person for their big dress up day. Trinity is the most beautiful Cinderella and Joey is the most handsome hippo. I just can't wait to squeeze, hug, kiss and love on my cutie pies this weekend for Trin's birthday. Jen thanks for always sharing the pictures, they make my day. I love you all!

Homemade Applesauce

It rained almost all day today. This wonderful rain gave me the opportunity to make homemade applesauce from the apples that I got in Apple Hill a few weeks back. I used Fuji, Gala, Pink Lady and Rome apples. With this combination I did not have to use any sugar to sweeten the sauce. It sure turned out yummy. I was able to can several quarts and now have applesauce on hand for the future.

Also decided it would be perfect weather to make banana bread. I had about a dozen super ripe bananas awaiting their destiny in the freezer. I made 3 huge loaves.

I already know what I am going to have for breakfast in the morning, applesauce and toasted banana bread. Yummy.

Photo taken from Google Images (mine looks more chunky. I did not have the energy to take a photo, download and the such).

Baseball is Over

Congrat's to the Philies for winning the World Series. Pedro Feliz was happy that he got traded last year. Thankfully, the Dodgers were defeated in the National League Championships. There was a let down this year at the end of September when my boys were cleaning out their lockers and not going into the post season.

Almost don't know what to do with myself now that baseball is over for the 2008 season. So many evenings were spent listening to the radio or watching the idiot box and enjoying America's favorite pastime. If I was out and about I was always listening to the car stereo. I loved the day games when I would be at work. We would have the radio on in the locker room and would try to catch up on the score in the few minutes we had inside. Always enjoy going to the ball park too with my dad or with the whole family for my dad's birthday.

So, from now until end of March I will have to fill my time with other things.

Photo is from Google Images.

First Rain of the Season

Today the first rain of the season came. It was so lovely. The weather report says that we should have more rain tonight (might sleep with my slider cracked to hear the pitter-patter on the roof and ground), some tomorrow, lots on Saturday and showers on Sunday through Monday. Yeah, I have no plans on Saturday except to enjoy the beautiful rain.

My mom, sister Amy and I all love the rain. The only thing that I don't enjoy about the rain is that it makes my joints hurt and ache badly.

The rain also reminds me of one Trinity's favorite songs that Nana always sang to her, The Itsy Bitsy Spider. Go ahead you can sing it, you can even do the hand motions, I won't tell anyone.

Picture from Google Images

Double Cuteness

Jen sent this photo to me today of Trinity and Joey. They are so adorable. Joey looks like he just visited the milk truck. I love 'em. I will be able to go and see them in about 10 days for Trinity's 3rd birthday!

Getty's Are Coming to Town

Several years ago I first heard the song, "In Christ Alone" by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend and fell in love with the rich lyrics. Keith and his wife, Kristyn, write 21st century hymns. Their songs cause my heart and soul to worship my Savior, the God of the universe. On November 2nd, the Getty's will be performing at a near by church. I am excited to have a wonderful worshipful evening. Here are the lyrics to a song that we have started to sing at church. Picture taken from Google Images.


"The Power of the Cross"
Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2005 Thankyou Music

Oh, to see the dawn
Of the darkest day:
Christ on the road to Calvary.
Tried by sinful men,
Torn and beaten, then
Nailed to a cross of wood.

CHORUS:
This, the pow'r of the cross:
Christ became sin for us;
Took the blame, bore the wrath—
We stand forgiven at the cross.

Oh, to see the pain
Written on Your face,
Bearing the awesome weight of sin.
Ev'ry bitter thought,
Ev'ry evil deed
Crowning Your bloodstained brow.

Now the daylight flees;
Now the ground beneath
Quakes as its Maker bows His head.
Curtain torn in two,
Dead are raised to life;
"Finished!" the vict'ry cry.

Oh, to see my name
Written in the wounds,
For through Your suffering I am free.
Death is crushed to death;
Life is mine to live,
Won through Your selfless love.

FINAL CHORUS:
This, the pow'r of the cross:
Son of God—slain for us.
What a love! What a cost!
We stand forgiven at the cross.

More Photos

Oh my goodness. My heart was about to leap out of my chest on my way to work a few weeks ago. I took this through the windshield while driving. It is against the law in California to talk on your cell phone but it is not illegal to take a picture with your digital camera.

This was taken yesterday up at Lassen National Park. Dad and I went up to close up the cabin for the winter and we decided to take a ride up to the park. My heart said, "the mountains will declare the majesty of the LORD!"

This picture is for you Trin Trin. These cows were hanging out in a field with Lassen in the background. They sure were watching every move I made.

Just a mountain barn. I'd say in a few years it will be laying on the ground.

The shadow does not give this picture justice but it shows what dad and I paid for gas yesterday on the the way home. $2.69 a gallon. Yes, that is right. The prices are finally going down. I paid $2.99 at Costco the other day.

All of us went out to dinner for Grandma's (or in Trinity's case GG-Great Grandmother) birthday. Trin and I are showing off our paper hats that I showed her how to make.

My Mom is the best Nana in the world. And boy does she love Trinity and Joey, and they love her so much. Trinity loves to be with Nana and Papa.


The colors are changing and turning so beautiful. Some areas are just amazing. I love the fall because it means cooler weather, rain (Lord willing we will have more rain this year than last year), getting rid of my farmer tan, planting my winter garden and eventually spring will come and that means time to get ready for my summer garden and summer vacation.

Jen and the kids were up last weekend and we went to a local pumpkin patch.

I love my Trinity Love.

Recent Photos

A few weeks back my Grandma, Mom and myself went up to Apple Hill to celebrate my Grandmother's birthday. Mom and I took the day off from work. Apple Hill is beautiful country. We all had a memorable time and look forward to going again next year.

Here is the birthday girl herself picking (not stealing!) a Rome apple.

Here are some pretty cosmos. I took this picture for my sister Amy. She wants me to take pictures of pink flowers.

Just thought this was a cool picture. These are red delicious. I did not get any of these, only Rome, Fuji, Gala and a few Granny Smith's. My plan is to can homemade apple sauce, apple butter and make apple jam for my dad.

Just thought this was cool with all the crates stacked up.

Here's an old water wheel.

When this picture was taken these sweet grapes were two weeks away from harvest and pressing.

I got some delicious pears too.