In Christ Alone

heehee. yes, I know I have been blogging frequently but this valley period of my life has redefined the peaks that I also experience. Victory to me has been redefined. I love Brian Littrell's (yes, the backstreet boy and lead singer) version of this song, it really touches me in a way that I know "THIS DUDE LIVED THESE WORDS HE'S SINGING."

Speaking of living for Christ, another dearest GIG and sister that I didn't include in my previous list but whom I've just met for a super awesome (short) catchup is someone who is so dear to my heart since 2009, Chloe.(yes she let me quote her cause she and I have same policy- "I've always been all for sharing hardest and deepest struggles of life." amen, sister. Amen. <3)

"footprints in the sand"- Tel Aviv Beach 2010

This girl whom I love a lot has an open book commitment with the Lord. =) To be able to respond to the promptings of God and to respond with love to His words in this life is not an easy task dear one, after all that you've been through. =) But we both know that (and I quote) "Life is full of ups and downs like a heartbeat monitor, if life were a straight line, it would just be linear [I interjected that we would be dead. LOL!] and without the downs you wouldn't know the ups and how great the ups can be."

To remind myself of what a life of yieldedness to the Lord can do I was allowed to repost this here: 

"It's so strange, Esther. This whole year it's always when I'm at the bottom or I feel lost and unsure of myself and I'm looking for some direction, I will be drawn to meeting you and somehow all my questions will be answered or I will be given this deep sense of understanding and comfort. I don't know how to describe it other than God provides and He always has all sorts of means to pull you back to Him. Thanks for blessing me so many times this year already." 

TO GOD BE THE GLORY. I never told a lot of you reading this blog, but I pray for you, constantly. As long as you have been placed into my life, I pray for you. And just by yielding to the Lord's promptings of sitting with you or meeting up, I gain so much from our meetings.Thank you for letting me speak into your lives. And as you share, I am listening to your stories of loss and pain; and the Lord uses your situations to help me heal from the wounds sustained in trials, testings and battle in my own life.

My dear heart, you are such a treasure to me and to the Father. We both agreed about laughing when we looked back at what the Lord brought us through.

"There was a book I was given a long time ago when my father passed away called "the Grand weaver" and it said that sometimes in life, it's as if God is the painter and He's painting a portrait. But we stand behind Him and watch and keep asking "why is it like that" "why is it this way?" "why does it look like that?" "shouldn't it be this way?" " it's better this way" And all God says to us is "don't worry. Hang on! I'm not done! It'll be great when I'm done!" And when all has come and past, we see the beauty and the grandness of all that God has done and we say "WOW! It really was great!" And that's so much of life. I've never forgotten that and I tell myself this a lot but sometimes it's not easy to believe it- but I tell myself anyways cause in the end I still know its true."

Can someone agree with me that this is a heart so beautiful that it is worth cherishing? ^_^v I love you dearest Chloe! <3 

And yes dearie, no one knows what the future holds. =)  "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path" ONE STEP AT A TIME, ONE DAY AT A TIME.

"'Sometimes pain is necessary for us to feel that we're alive. It reminds us that there was good which has now turned bad, but the potential for that bad to turn into better comes with deciding to let the pain shape our decisions and eventually, our future.

The heart unfortunately happens to bear most of that pain in our lives. But it is also your heart, when healed, that is able to bring out the beauty in another's; which has also probably felt much pain before meeting yours. Remember: Pain happens, but suffering is by choice."