Last year, I had only one resolution:  “This year, I’m keeping it simple with just one resolution which is to read my Daily Bible through in one year….My main goal through reading the Bible is to have an even deeper relationship with God and to deepen my faith!”

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So, how am I doing?  Well, I didn’t make it anywhere near the whole Bible.  In fact, I’m on page 984 out of 1,688 pages, but you know what?  I’m OK with that.  I’m 984 pages closer to my goal of reading the whole Bible.   Several years, I’ve made that resolution but never succeeded in reading the Bible in its entirety.   For this year, my one and only resolution is to continue what I started last year and finish the Bible this year.  I’m over half way there!

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Now, how am I doing on the second part, the reason why I’m wanting to read the Bible?  I can answer wholeheartedly that I do have an even deeper relationship with God than I did a year ago.  And a year from now I want to have an even deeper relationship.  Every year until I die, I want to continue growing closer and closer to God.

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If there’s anyone who’s wanting to read the Bible in a year, or anyone who’s never read it and is just simply curious about what’s in it,  I highly recommend the Daily Bible.

The Daily Bible: New International Version: With Devotional Insights to Guide You Through God’s Word

A parent’s worst nightmare, your five year old daughter is hit by a car in your own driveway!  And to make it even worse, the driver of the fatal accident is your teenage son!   People.com  and  ABC’s Good Morning America  shared this story which touched the hearts of thousands of people, people all over the world.
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Some stories behind the song are so sad, yet they reveal such a strong, rock solid faith that no matter what storms come in life, faith remains in the One who carries us through hard times.  Although Chapman wrote and released the song a year before the tragedy, the last verse of the song relates to their experience and the video below shares pictures of the Chapmans’ adopted daughter.  The Chapmans experienced a parent’s worst nightmare and lost their youngest daughter, but they kept their faith!

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Here’s a great new song with a great country sound:
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Most people will never forget what they were doing ten years ago today. Some of us watched in disbelief! It was surreal, like watching a horrible scene in a movie…only it wasn’t a movie! One thing that seemed so strange that day was that we did not see one plane in the sky, nor for many days to come.
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We took our son out of school (5th grade then) and drove a couple of hours to where our daughter was in college. My husband was planning to drive there anyway that day to take something to our daughter, so we all went. We didn’t talk much. I think we prayed silently most of the way there. When we got to our daughter’s apartment, we all hugged and were so thankful to all be alive and together. But there was a sadness, too, because we knew many, many families were hurting terribly.
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The scenes we saw on TV kept replaying through my mind like some nightmare, only I couldn’t wake up and say that it was only a dream.  I, like many others, feared another attack.  We all knew that our world had changed.  Although I grew up during a time when we had air raid drills in school and feared being bombed, since then our country had developed a false sense of safety and ease that we had grown accustomed to.  9-11 was a wake-up call!
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So how are our lives different now from ten years ago? Mine has changed! I don’t worry like I did back then. Today, I have a friend who married and moved to the states 20 years ago, and a couple of years ago converted from her Muslim faith to Christianity. Ten years ago, I would have been too scared to be around her. But God has helped me with my fears (and in many more ways than this)!
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I don’t know exactly why, but this song came to mind to share in this post. Back then, my prayers joined the thousands of prayers for God to ease the pain in the way that only He can! This song maybe sums up those prayers. It talks about peace, victory, overcoming, and no more sorrow or pain. Some day, we will all have a wake-up call when our life is over. Hopefully, everyone will have this peace and victory!
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(By the way, Chris Tomlin sang this song at the 2009 Dove Awards. The live version on YouTube is great, if you’re interested.)

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Our son took this picture when we were in Springfield, MO.

A thousand words might not be enough, though, to tell about the love God has for us.  What happened at the cross is such a beautiful story of love, mercy, and grace!

“I won’t be shaken by drought or storm” are words from this fairly new song which shares the hope we have in God to take care of us.  No matter what storm we’re going through (loss from an actual storm or drought, illness, loss of job and income, family problems, and the list goes on), God is the only solid rock we have.  Circumstances can change, people can change, but God never changes.  He is our fortress in any storm!

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Isaiah 40:28-31
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

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This is such a cool song!  Not only is it a happy and fun song to listen to, it also has deep meaning to it.  Whenever I hear this on the radio, I always think of the passage of scripture below that is from the Bible.  This is a song about the heart of God, and it’s a song written from Jamie’s heart, most definitely!  Hope it’s as encouraging and uplifting to you as it is to me:

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• 11 He (God) tends his flock like a shepherd:
  He gathers the lambs in his arms (His people)
  and carries them close to his heart…”
  Isaiah 40:11   New International Version (NIV)

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When this awesome song comes to mind, most people automatically think of Chris Tomlin singing it. Isn’t he the one who wrote it? I was surprised to find out that he didn’t write it but Laura Story wrote the words and tune to this well known song. She’s the one featured not long ago who wrote the song “Blessings” after her husband, in his early 20′s, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Laura is definitely a gifted song writer!


So what inspired Laura to write such a song as “Indescribable?” She says she was driving in the mountains, enjoying God’s beautiful creation. She just started singing…indescribable…uncontainable…you placed the stars in the sky and know them by name! She finished the song later, using Job chapter 38 with God’s own description of His power and might. And that’s how this great song came to be.


Millions of people now know the words to Indescribable as it stayed #1 for seven weeks. Yet, Laura does not take credit for the song. She says, “I always think the last song I wrote was my last song. Just when my mind is completely blank and I don’t know if I’ll write a song again, God surprises me. The songs are His – I’m just the first person who gets to hear them.”


Chris Tomlin does a powerful job of portraying God’s majesty as he and his group sing this song: