Cherry Picking Time

This is a view as I pick Bing cherries in our backyard. That beautiful fruit just waiting for me to pick it. I sometimes feel like a bird as I stand up as high as I can on the ladder pushing or pulling the branches away to reach up to the most ripe cherries which are way up there. I hate to look up too far for fear that I will try to reach up too high and lose my footing. It is tempting because there are so many nice, ripe, juicy-looking cherries at the very top of the tree. I try to comfort myself by saying that the birds can enjoy eating them. I think to myself that maybe the fruit that Eve was not to eat were Bing cherries, then I can relate to the fact that she couldn't keep her hands off of them. I love picking, but especially love eating them! It brings back memories of our family in the summer traveling from Ohio to Silver Lake in Michigan. We would go to one of the roadside stands and buy Bing cherries. Then my sisters and I, when we weren't swimming or water skiing in the lake, would sit around a table playing cards, eating cherries and spitting the seeds in a bowl. Ah...those were the days...not a care in the world!

It's all yours, God

I walk the streets of London
And notice in the faces passing by
Something that makes me stop and listen
My heart grows heavy with the cry

Where is the hope for London?
You whisper and my heart begins to soar
As I'm reminded
That every street in London in Yours
Oh, yes it is

I walk the dirt roads of Uganda
I see the scars that war has left behind
Hope like the sun is fading
They're waiting for a cure no one can find

And I hear children's voices singing
Of a God who heals and rescues and restores
And I'm reminded
That every child in Africa is Yours

And its all Yours, God, Yours, God
Everything is Yours
From the stars in the sky
To the depths of the ocean floor
And its all Yours, God, Yours, God
Everything is Yours
You're the Maker and Keeper, Father and Ruler of everything
It's all Yours

And I walk the sidewalks of Nashville
Like Singapore, Manila and Shanghai
I rush by the beggar's hand and the wealthy man
And everywhere I look I realize

That just like the streets of London
For every man and woman, boy and girl
All of creation
This is our Father's world

And its all Yours, God, Yours, God
Everything is Yours
From the stars in the sky
To the depths of the ocean floor
And its all Yours, God, Yours, God
Everything is Yours
You're the Maker and Keeper, Father and Ruler of everything

The glory is Yours, God
All the honor is Yours, God
The power is Yours, God
The glory is Yours, God

You're the King of Kings
And Lord of Lords

It's all Yours, God
My life is Yours, my heart is Yours
My hands and my feet are Yours
Every song that I sing
It's all Yours, all is Yours
All belongs to You
Our gifts are Yours, God
All our dreams are Yours, God
All our plans are Yours, God
The whole earth is Yours, God
Everything is Yours

by Steven Curtis Chapman

This song has taken on great meaning for me recently. I graduated from high school 3 weeks ago, this week I finished my last class, and a week from Monday I leave for England with my Uncle and Aunt. I'm so excited about my future and what God has in store for me. There are uncertainties though. I know that there will be hard times, but I don't know when. I don't plan my life (thank the Lord!) and I'm glad that I don't, because I would do a horrible job. God is in charge of everything and what a joy it is to trust him with your life!

I hope you are trusting him with your life right now. It's a difficult thing, but if we do, tremendous blessings are the result, whether we see them or not.

Everything is yours God! Thank you so much!

Hard Things

-31 days toward intimacy with God By Joni Eareckson Tada
-Don't waste your life by John Piper
-Do hard things by Alex and Brett Harris
-Morning and Evening (devotional) by Charles H. Spurgeon

These are some titles of books that I received as graduation gifts. They all look really good! I haven't read them all yet (that won't last long though), but I want to highlight the one that I have finished reading: Do hard things by Alex and Brett Harris.

I read this book in about 5 days, I could not put it down! This book was written by teens for teens and it's message is what the title says DO HARD THINGS. I had heard about the Harris twins and a little bit of what they were doing with their blog (now http://www.therebelution.com/) but had only heard bits and pieces of their story and how they came to an understanding that teens should be doing hard things.

Some key points from the book:
1. Alex and Brett challenge teens to not look to the culture for what they should be doing but to base their lives on the word of God and to seek what God wants them to do.
2. They name five kinds of hard things: the first step, raising the bar, the power of collaboration, small hard things, and taking a stand.

I won't go into any more detail as I want all of you to go buy a copy! It is a wonderful message for teens and I was greatly encouraged by this book.

Here's what I hope you leave this book with:
1. A sense of excitement
It's great that the youth of my generation are ready to become prepared to go out in the world as fearless Christians. I loved all the stories in this book of teens accomplishing great tasks. I was just plain excited!

2. A sense of change
I do hope that this book will affect many lives for the better of our society and our churches. One of the things my Dad pointed out was that the reason teens aren't doing hard things is because of the expectations of the church. The church uses the adults and doesn't expect much of the youth of the church, except to go to youth group and hang out. I hope the seed of change has been planted firmly.

I might explore this area more in future posts, but I'll stop there for now.
I know that I rambled a bit, so if you have questions just leave a comment. :)