COME HERE & LISTEN

Psalm:16-20 All believers, come here and listen,
let me tell you what God did for me.
I called out to him with my mouth,
my tongue shaped the sounds of music.
If I had been cozy with evil,
the Lord would never have listened.
But he most surely did listen,
he came on the double when he heard my prayer.
Blessed be God: he didn't turn a deaf ear,
he stayed with me, loyal in his love.

I told God a couple of months ago ' do you ever really discipline me? You know all of my sin and yet I still feel so blessed to live. I look at kids in the bible who equally did stupid mistakes as I who had to be disciplined and I look at that and wonder why I don't receive the same? '

Well now I feel in the middle of that discipline. You know that verse that says that God disciplines those He loves like a Father to His sons? Well I'm deff. feeling the love! God is straightening me out one step of humility at a time. I fear it were more than one step at a time I would be overcome and may not be able to bear/hear my own confession. God in His justice remembers mercy and in this process of reconciliation and repentance I'm well aware of His compassion towards me. I think 'how could you still answer my prayers? how could you still be so good to me despite how harmful i've been to others and myself?'

God's love is so marvelous and this is demonstrated in this verse that has been stuck in my brain that 'while we were YET sinners Christ died for us'. That means while we were in the thickest of our junk God saw thru it and loved us still. That also means that there's nothing in us that earns that love, remember 'even our righteousness is like rags' even our best behavior doesn't earn His love. So despite my being sinful He still blessed me. Heres a miracle story for you:

I came here to michigan months ago and was in the process of getting rid of my 4x10 Fender tube amp to go smaller wattage for greater tone. My dear friend and brother Ben Blood (aka Genius! in my pals list) had recently purchased a Dr. Z amp which is the Creme de la Creme! So he started keeping his eyes open for me. Several times there were hints and almost completions of me getting an amp thru his aid but each time it fell thru. I began to get discouraged. I sold my amp thinking that I would have plenty of time to find another one before i returned to seattle. Well weeks and months later no amp! So this past Tuesday in the midst of me praying thru Gods discipline my mind was brought back to my need for an amp. I was reminded by Tric and Bruce to pray big, He knows our needs before we ask. SO I told God:

" Lord i have a week before I get back, and I need to have this amp to get the signature sound before we work on our next record, before we go on tour, and while i'm in the studio, Please God, i need to have this to do what you want me to do, provide the way."

Wednesday morning i'm working and I get a call from Ben Blood. He had found an Dr. Z! Here's where it gets really good. I love how God orchestrates miracles and uses others to complete it. Ben had sold his vintage tweed Fender Vibro amp to this guy in Portland months ago. Ben had found a posting of this Dr. Z amp and contacted the posting, come to find out it was the same guy who had bought Bens amp back in Feb.! He had posted the Dr. Z amp awhile back and then took it off the listing. But last tuesday he put it up again! The same day I was praying for it. Ben contacts him again saying he was interested. The next day Ben texts me ' i have your amp your balance is this much ' AMAZING!! I go to the bank to deposit the money into his account and the rest is Gods history! The guy is shipping it to Spokane so it will be there when I land :D

So 2 miracles down 1) Ben was able to sell my amp 2) Ben found my Dr. Z and my 3rd miracle still has to happen. I need the speaker cab for my amp head. That might be another interesting story as the speaker cab i want isn't as generally available as 2x12's. I'm a 2x10 kid. I have enough proof that God will work that out too. So when that happens i'll post that story! Here's a picture of the Dr. Z amp!

And here's the cab I need.
I'm short 500 bones, BUT God will provide again!

Oh my these are so YUMMY!
Please keep me in your prayers!

17

TODAY 2 cool things happened. Coldplay released their new record that they recorded a bit in Spain, i heard they transformed an old bakery into a studio? sweet. pastries that is.



2nd thing that happened is the Celtics winning the NBA championship!!!!!! I'm super happy for them as my mom and i have watched all their games thru the playoffs. I'm especially happy for my boy Ray Allen who came over to the Celtics this year from Seattle. His finesse and graciousness on the court has always impressed me. 7 3-pointers to tie the Finals record! Yeah boy! 17 th championship on the 17th!

OH HORRAH HORRAH!

Change

I told God to sit me down on His couch so i could get all the conflict
out of my mindand get honest with myself & Him. This is leading me to get honest with those around me as well. It's special and unnatural. It keeps me up at night surrendering to my own guilt or God's grace. I thought last night that I don't really need much assistance from the devil for pointing fingers and accusations when i hear them louder from myself.

Repentance is a gift from the Holy Spirit that leads to a true turning away from self. We can't repent on our own. We can do 'do not touch, don't handle, don't eat' but abstaining isn't enough or we would have changed long ago. There must be an altering of mind, disconnecting sin from pleasurable and back to destructive. Remembering that temptation, sin, and its fruits are all counterfeits to what we really desire, God's pure perfect love that fulfills us so that we are never in want, never without direction, never without hope.

These 5 quotes below have been my constant read and thought.


"Whoever has no rule over his own spirit
is like a city broken down, without walls."

The Bible | The book of Proverbs Chapter 25 Verse 28

"Change occurs when the pain of remaining the same
is greater than the pain of changing."

Boundaries in Dating | Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend

"When we clearly understand the prospects we face
if things remain the same, it helps us bear the pain of changing"

Boundaries in Dating | Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend

"If you return to me, I will restore you so you can continue to serve me."

The Bible | The book of Jeremiah Chapter 15 Verse 19

"Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."

The Bible | The book of Romans Chapter 12 Verse 2

MI LOVE II

Aaron, Sarah, and I took our last hours of Sabbath to Lake Michigan. Growing up here in Michigan you get used to the lake, but in my older age i've grown to appreciate it almost in a needful way. I needed the beach yesterday, i needed the grand scale of water and sky to flood my senses and leave me surrendered in thought and attentiveness to God and to the beauty He is as seen in His work. It was a loverly time.

I could watch this sunset every day for the rest of my life

This one is for Tric, Bruce, and I. Miss you boys

Preserve the Lighthouses of Michigan!

Aaron in his photo contemplations

Sarah comments later about how i shouldn't shoot her
from the front while she's pregnant, i tell her i shot
from the nose up! hehehe

My North Face Kicks on my happy feet!

Like This, Like That

SOMETHING NEW FROM NO THEFT: Sometimes i like to take many pictures of diff. things that have nothing to do with each other and mash em up into one thing. This is one of those results. I'll show more later next week! The French have a term 'comme ci comme ca' that means 'like this like that'....voila!

OUCH

Thanks to my friend Aaron i have rediscovered my joy for road bikes. I'm really obsessed with all things road bikes. I love that lots of cities are putting in bike lanes on roads! Oh and in Montreal they have Roller blade lanes next to the bike lanes! NO JOKE! I took a picture of it.

So this picture shows a lot of pain and most likely no bike lane. ugh.

CHOMP CHOMP

This past week i got a night guard. He's tall, has a tall black fuzzy hat, a red jacket and never ever moves even though little children try to make him smile or put lit matches in his hand. not really.

I had to get my fillings replaced 2 weeks ago because apparently i grind my teeth at night. I had broken fillings and holes in my sealants! crazy! I got to bite down on this squishy stuff and bam! they made a mold of my teeth (which i got to keep) and i just got this little bite plate fit on thursday. I've worn it for the last 2 nights and i'm pretty sure that my rest has been way better in these past nights! Like this thing absorbs the pressure of me bighting down thru the night and so my muscles in my head aren't taking it you know? so i think when i wake i feel more rested. Its pretty sweet!

If you wake up and your jaw is soar or you have headaches in the morning, or you have bit your cheek in the night, these are pretty good signs that you grind your teeth. I recommend getting this night guard thing! Its a bit pricy, but YOU are worth it. I saw pictures of people who hadn't had these guards who grind their teeth and they've ground their teeth flat, its really really bad. So don't hesitate k? AND while i'm at it, get a sonicare toothbrush, after i brush i feel like i've been to the dentist, i'll never brush with a regular toothbrush again, oh and if you aren't a consistent flosser these toothbrushes are so good for your gums (thats me). I guess it doesn't have to be a sonicare, but get an electric toothbrush, you also don't have to push down against your gums so it takes better care of your gums that way too. K me and my soapbox are done.