:-D

my favorite smell right now is smoke from burning wood. it's all in my hair right now and it's the most wonderfully comforting smell i can think of. :)

Amazing Grace
amazing grace! how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!
i once was lost but now am found; was blind but now i see.

twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved.
how precious did that grace appear the hour i first believed!

through many dangers, toils, and snares i have already come,
tis grace hath brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home.

and when this flesh and heart shall fail, and mortal life shall cease,
i shall possess within the veil a life of health and peace.

when we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun
we've no less days to sing God's praise than when we'd first begun.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
can't believe i waited this long to get to such a song!
ok, so everyone needs to see the movie amazing grace. it's awesome. :)
i won't dwell on what most people do - "wretch like me," the supremacy of grace throughout the christian life, etc - because instead i want to focus on the last stanza. it totally blows my mind. this was the first exercise in thinking about eternity i ever had - singing this song in like 4th grade i started thinking about what it would mean to have time be something so endless. i mean, think about it this way: what if you went labor day weekend to the beach. you left on friday, got there friday night, and saturday morning you got up and went for a jog on the board walk, had breakfast with your friends or whoever you were with, went to the beach to play volleyball, jump waves, and sunbathe, and then went home to shower and change before dinner out. you went to dinner, and then went back to the hotel/house to play cards and laugh till 1 am... and then when you woke up the next morning, labor day had been moved to tuesday and you had off monday also! and what if that happened every day?! i mean, it's a childish example, but it works... and it's soooooooooooo weird, but quite relieving at the same time to know that at some point we'll stop counting days because they won't run out!
[lots of exclamation points today, sorry about that.]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saved By Grace (shane & shane)
just a'singing a gospel song today
getting ready to send the years of guilt and shame away
years of failing, years of nailing of yourself to a cross you can't bear
that's why He's there

what a beautiful day
when He washed our sins away
what a beautiful day

by grace you have been saved
by grace you have been saved
by grace you have been saved
by grace, through faith, through faith

and even the faith i have to sing
'alle, alle, allelujah" to my King
is freely given, that i might not boast in myself
but Him

what a beautiful day
when He washed our sins away
what a beautiful day

by grace you have been saved
by grace you have been saved
by grace you have been saved
by grace, through faith, through faith

i can't sing it enough, say it enough, play it enough, when will i get it?
o, i can't earn it, and Lord i don't deserve it
i can't say it enough

by grace you have been saved
by grace you have been saved
by grace you have been saved
by grace, through faith, through faith
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
this song is a good way to say it more often - these guys are right: this is a hard thing to remember. i can't help but think about what martin luther said when he was approached by a parishoner. "pastor," the guy said to luther, "why do you keep preaching to us, sunday after sunday, about justification by faith alone?" luther replied, "because every sunday, you've forgotten it again." that's me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds
how sweet the Name of Jesus sounds in a believer's ear!
it soothes his sorrow, heals his wounds, and drives away his fear.

it makes the wounded spirit whole and calms the troubled breast;
tis manna to the hungry soul, and to the weary, rest.

dear Name, the rock on which i build, my shield and hiding place,
my never-failing treasury, filled wiht boundless stores of grace!

by Thee, my prayers acceptance gain, although with sin defiled.
satan accuses me in vain, and i am owned a child.

Jesus, my Shepherd, Brother, Friend, my Prophet, Priest, and King,
my Lord, my life, my way, my end - accept the praise i bring.

weak is the effort of my heart, and cold my warmest thought,
but when i see Thee as Thou art, i'll praise Thee as i ought.

till then i would Thy love proclaim with every fleeting breath,
and may the music of Thy Name refresh my soul in death.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
why is all that true? how is it possible that a just God should be our hope and balm and joy?

ladies and gentlemen, happy resurrection sunday!