I am pale and poor,
but Thou, O Lord,
are my strength and my song.
Please help the hopeless
and strengthen the faint.
Send your Spirit once again
to a dark and frozen land.

Lord, like the Israelites who were exiled and made to serve the
King of Babylon, help me to bare up under the yoke that you see
fit to place on me. For in all truth, your yoke is easy and your
burden is light.

You are GENTLE and HUMBLE in heart. Dear Lord, thank you for
your words of life.

Here is another amazing, life-giving verse that has been recently
been brought to my attention:

"Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift,
but as an obligation. HOWEVER, to the man who does not work but
trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited to as
righteousness."
--Romans 4:4-5

I want to dig in and try to better understand what this verse is saying.
It almost sounds like it is wrong to work for righteousness, but I think
it is speaking more to the attitude of the heart. Indeed, many times it
feels like work to try and conform our minds and lives to the image of
Christ, but I think the verse is saying that if we are trusting in ourselves
and our own capabilities to earn this righteousness, we will actually
incur debt upon ourselves instead of grace.

I am so thankful that it is not about my ability to work and attain my own
righteousness. Thank you, dear Lord.

Just so you know, some things in my life are changing. It seems I have yet
to arrive at a true sense of who I am and exactly where I am going. But I
know that on the deepest level, I do know who I am, and it is only
important that God knows where things are going. I trust him, no matter
what happens.

I am doing well. I am feeling stable, praise God. Everything will be
gloriously wonderful as long as I keep trusting in God to guide me.
I am thankful for new opportunities to analyze the nature and course
of my inner life.

And now, it's time to do some HOMEWORK!! (I only have a limited amount
of semesters left to enjoy this wonderful thing called homework... so here
I go, enjoying every second of it... even if through gritted teeth!)

Oh, and HI MARALEE!! Love you.