Amy's Oasis

Hello! Hahaha

we miss you all . . . no! what are you doing!

You are so mean! hahaha

I'm not going to let you do this! Hahah . . .. Amy . . . this isn't funny anymore! I can't even stop you . . . this stinks! hahahaha

Hahahaha . . . mmmmmmmmmmm . . . . . hahaha MMMm!!! mm!! mm

My turn! my turn, my turn!

You are . . . a little jittery, are we?

Ha ha ha

You're not going to blog this . . . I'm not going to let you

What are people going to think

YOu can't do this to me!

okay . . that's enough

I believe that I have truly been blessed to have some of the most incredible people in this world to be part of my life's story.  I look at my life sometimes and just stand in awe at the ones that God has raised up to be such an example and support to not only me, but also to others.  Fellowship in Christ is such an amazing thing.  Worship for God is not complete without community.  God declared that it wasn't good for man to be alone in this world, that worship and glory in its fullness was not present in his plan for this world until He created another image-bearer to live in community with him.  The people God has placed in my life have truly brought me to worship and praise for our amazing King - the one who deserves all praise and worship.  Thanks so much, guys!

"Friends are friends forever

when the Lord's the Lord of them

and a friend will not say never

and the welcome will not end

though it's hard to let you go

in the Father's hand we know

that a lifetime's not too long 

to live as friends . . . "

Yes, I made it . . . It's back to the cold and dial-up internet and my lovely family and friends. :)  It is so good to be home, to see everyone again, to be reminded of just how blessed I am.  It's good to be in the wide-open spaces and to be able to walk outside at night.  It's good to be able to just call up my friends to go shopping and have Steve only 1 1/2 hours away.  As much as I love Philadelphia and school . . . all I can say is, it's good to be home.

One more exam to go . . . and four more days until I'm back in my Canadian home.

I'm finding out more and more that "together" is a wonderful word.

"I will bless the LORD at all times;

His praise shall be continually be in my mouth.

My soul shall make its boast in the LORD;

The humble shall hear of it and be glad.

Oh, magnify the LORD with me,

And let us exalt His name together.

I sought the LORD, and He heard me,

And delivered me from all my fears.

They looked to Him and were radiant

And their faces were not ashamed.

This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him,

And saved him out of all his troubles.

The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him,

And delivers them.

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good;

Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!"

Ps.34:1-8

The place where you have to trust God and let your heart and mind flow out on paper - and pray.

One down, two more to go . . . and my reliable and experienced friend Arlene tells me that I have just completed the second-hardest exam of the entire counseling genre of classes.  Good to know . . . after the fact.

It was wonderful, though - no cold, sweaty hands, no shivering, no headaches/migraines, only one brain blank (which I was able to work around), and a calm and peaceful assurance . . . all I can say is, God is good! I definitely feel upheld in prayer!

Steve and I are reading 2 Corinthians right now, and I have just found this beautiful book to be such a blessing to me.  I just wanted to share some verses with you tonight from the 3rd Chapter:

"You are an epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart. And we have such trust through Christ toward God.  Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." (Verses 2-6) 

I could go on and on about this . . . but it speaks for itself.  What a blessing to be written on God's heart in the  indelible Spirit of God, which will never pass away! What a blessing to have a heart that is softened by grace - to be written on & carry the message to those around us! What a blessing to also be able to write on other's hearts by the Spirit of the living God.  

 Karise.

Grace is sufficient. 

Just something I journaled earlier this school year. (edited) It makes me realize just how much God has supported me and stretched me these last few months . . . what an incredible opportunity! I praise God so much for giving me this amazing gift.

*** ~ *** ~ *** ~ *** ~ *** ~ ***  ~  ***  ~  ***  ~  ***

The rain patters on my window. The shade is down, but I can still see in my mind's eye the soft glow of the streetlight in the darkness outside, lonely and alone.

I am a streetlight in the midst of swirling grays and blacks. My light is fading in the falling rain and in the fog, and I start to wonder - do I really possess the light of truth after all, or am I a vapor, swirling about in the delusion of being a solid, steel streetlight?

This is where God has called me to be. This is where God is stretching me and making me grow. This is where I am shaken and tossed about, and yet not forsaken - never forsaken. I am a defective streetlight with the occasional delusion of being a wisp of fog.

Here is my earth-shattering news:

I picked up a novel today and actually read something that was not a theology/counseling/Bible kind of book!

The implications: I finished my first semester of classes. And survived. Mostly intact.

God has taught me so much. It has been hard at times - heart-wrenchingly hard. Facing sin and hardship dead-on is something you never survive without the grace of God. Time and time I have been broken and forced to fall on Him in new ways.

Isn't that what the Christian life is all about, though? The gospel is not flat and one-dimensional. As we experience life, we start to see new and limitless messages within God's plan, new and glorious ways that just keep opening up before us.

I believe I now see what C.S. Lewis shared in The Last Battle, when he described the heavenly country as being like an onion with rings that kept getting bigger and bigger as you dug deeper. Believe me, every ring is even more glorious than the last. It is so wonderful to be able to get little tastes of heaven on earth - times when God just pulls the curtain back for a tiny instant and allows you just a little glimpse of His overwhelming glory.

So why aren't all our faces shining? Moses had to cover his.

And now . . . here come the exams. Prayer is appreciated!

P.S. Although I have survived this semester with all but my pride intact, poor Ralph has not. His fate was finally sealed when he sought a way of escape out from under the fridge . . . and found that the barricade of traps could not be danced upon as lightly as the sticky-pads. His lovely friend Penelopy, however, succeeds him . . . as well as his legacy, which is also being slowly but surely exterminated.