Thursday, April 14, 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Don't Stop Believing
Proverbs 31:25
Does anyone need those words today? Especially, if you're a woman reading this? I know I do. I am in great need of strength with a little dignity poured in there, and I definitely need the ability to laugh at the days to come. I am in need of peace of mind. Life throws its blows, but I need to know from the inside out that I am loved and that I am forgiven. I love how it's phrased in this verse: CLOTHED. As women, we love our clothes, and our accessories. How about as we apply that mascara and (my favorite) our lipstick, we also put on strength and dignity?
I'm the curious type; I want to know exactly what something means when I study the Bible. I love finding out and I think you will, too, what exactly strength and dignity mean in the Hebrew:
STRENGTH- Force, security, majesty, praise;- boldness, loud, might, power, strength, strong.
DIGNITY- Magnificence, ie. ornament, or splendor (Did I not mention accessories? Haha, I believe that right there is an accessory we can don); beauty, comeliness, excellency, glorious, glory, goodly, honor, majesty.
In other words, my dear hearts, we are clothed with God Himself. Did you notice that? All those qualities are what describe God. We can be clothed with Him, and consciously, every day, choosing to trust Him and love Him and obey Him, makes this happen. Constant conversation with Him and asking questions of Him without questioning Him, causes such intimacy, you can hardly not speak about, but you can almost not because He becomes everything to you. Anything you love, you talk about. Most women talk about shoes, clothes, jewelry, men, children, shoes, make up, hair, shoes.....Haha!!! We almost can't not!! And women who are in love? My gosh!!! I have seen love turn a perfectly sensible woman into a pile of mush!! Imagine what we'd be like if we clothed ourselves with Jesus. Everything else would fall into place, and our conversations would still be about shoes, clothes, jewelry, men, children, shoes, makeup, and hair, but they would be laced with grace and love. Even if we never said it, we would be wearing His name.
I have been enjoying the new movies coming out that are really action packed and have such comedy I literally ROFL!! (Ok, more like the couch than the floor, but you get the picture.) One thing that stands out to me more and more are the funny guys who keep their wits about them in really distressing times. Like this video....(Sorry, youtube didn't have an embed code for this one, but please click on the link and watch it!!)
"Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."
2 Corinthians 3:17
"Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever."
Psalm 125:1
If you know you're covered, it doesn't matter what happens, you can play around because you're connected to your Protector and Defender. Beloved, we are covered!! He has our back, just like Cougar had Jensen's back in the video above. And the freedom we have is astounding. Believe it.
On a personal level, I really need this. I'm not ok. I have my good days, but in general, I am not ok. I have been thru such a hard year, and before that, many hard years with mind excruciatingly hard days. Losing my grandpa was more than just how it sounds, in his death, most of my identity died, too. I'm no longer the girl who "helps take care of my grandpa". I feel sometimes like I have a big gaping hole in me that's just flapping open to the wind and I feel every draft. Not very many people understand this pain, this loss. It's like I'm 18 again without a clue as to what's next, only 10 times worse. For a whole year, I was tensed up waiting for my grandpa to fall, hoping he'd eat, and of course, waiting for the inevitable, his death. Now, my body is recovering from all that stress. I have been sickly off and on for months. Sometimes all I have the energy for is to read my Bible and talk with my mom, who feels what I feel only multiplied by 100. And in recovering, my family just keeps getting hit by one thing after another. As one of my relatives said about her mom, "My mom just has the worst luck!!" I can fully relate. If I'm not going to stop being hit, then something in me needs to change. I need some new clothes!! Haha, anyone want to go shopping with me? I want to be clothed with strength and with dignity so that when things come up, I can stand up against the enemy of God and be absolutely victorious because MY GOD HAS MY BACK!!!
This is my new "theme song", a song that as I listen makes me hear where I find the answers in life and where I find that strength and that dignity: Jesus Christ.
“You are strong and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.”
1 John 2:14
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Mission Possible
John 15:5
"The Kingdom of God is like...."
Life is a parable; all we have to do is watch and listen and we'll see we are living the parable He is teaching us. It's brutal out there. You don't even have to be out looking for trouble for trouble to find you. The other day I was reading thru my 3X5 spiral Scripture note cards and when I literally laughed outloud as the memory of the above video clip flitted thru my mind when I read "APART FROM ME YOU CAN DO NOTHING." With me, without me; with me, without me; WITH me WITHOUT me.
There's another scene from the movie that captures my heart when I think about it. I'll just tell you because the clip is in the preview and if you haven't seen it, it might spoil it for you. In the movie, they get captured and she wakes up to him swinging like a pendulum saying, "June, I know this looks bad, but I'm gonna have us outta here in a few minutes. I got this." It kinda just reminds me of this:

This looks bad. It was. Honestly, I haven't been able to watch the movie and I can barely stand looking at this picture because I know the real story was worse than could ever be portrayed by an actor. As He hung on a cross, in essence the message is: "I know this looks bad, it is. But I have this. Just give me three days and I'll be free and so will you."
For some reason, this blogpost is harder to write than others. Probably because I need it so much. The website hasn't been working for me all that great and so I have had to post it little by little. So, with every "this tab has been recovered" session, I've become more and more determined to post this as I've lost it about 50 times already. It's not just the website, though. It's life. Right now, right this minute actually, my family faces one more challenge in life. The challenge is to trust when we've been wronged in doing the right thing. We have had another recent death in the family and issues have just been mounting until we wonder where God is in the distraction of life. How do we take the quiet times with Him into the busyness of life?
"With me, without me; with me, without me; WITH me, WITHOUT me."
Without Him, life is terrifying. With Him, it becomes an adventure worth living. What I desperately want is peace of mind in the chaos. I want to know my God fights for me and is in it with me and that He will save me when I need Him to. I know life happens, chaos erupts- both in the world as a whole as well as my own Priscilla world. But God is all about bringing peace to chaos: Creation was Him bringing peace to chaos; in the midst of Israel's chaos, a Savior was born. And in chaos, His death brought peace. I need that. My guess is, you do, too.
So, are we with Him?
As Tom Cruise says later in the movie, "With you."
Amen, Sir.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Open Your Hands
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
~ Hymns and Powder Pink Sunrises ~
This morning, my mom and I had an early start and we were driving as the sun was coming up. The air was brisk and clean, the clouds were few but God turned them the most beautiful shade of pink. They reminded me of my old phone; a friend called it a powder pink phone when he saw it. THAT is my favorite color and God accommodated me with that beautiful color as we got closer and closer to the mountain range. The mountains were a salmony pink. And no, I have no pictures of it. I don’t think I would have been able to take a picture and convey what I felt when I saw the creation lit up in MY favorite color. It’s a “you’d have to have been there and you’d have to know me to know how it blessed me to get it” kinda moment.
Add to that the majesty of worship music sung by Susie Luchsinger- I hate to do this, but she’s Reba McCyntire’s sister; I know she has her own identity, but for you to get the magnitude of her voice if you’ve never heard it, it’s a sweeter version of Reba’s. And I love Reba’s voice. It was a morning to behold. I didn’t just hear the hymns and see the beauty of God’s creation. I felt it to the core of me. I experienced God’s beauty this morning and I worshipped Him as I listened to the words of people who knew God that way. The blind Fanny Crosby, knew God this way when she wrote, “Blessed Assurance”-
“Perfect submission, all is at rest; I in my Savior am happy and blessed: watching waiting, looking above, I’m filled with His goodness, lost in His love.” (I couldn't find a youtube video with Susie singing this, so Third Day will have to do and I'd have to say, they do a darn good job.)
Horatio G. Spafford knew intimately the God who gives and who takes away and who in his own way said, “Blessed be Your name” as he wrote “It Is well”-
“My sin- Oh, the bliss of this glorious tho’t: my sin not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!” (and yes, to my Facebook friends who saw my status this morning, I butchered that line as only I can, haha!! Please forgive me!!) This video, while more of the "pew/organ" variety, explains his journey.
The hymn writers of that day had beautiful ways of expressing their worship and their God. From them we can learn something. They embraced their pain by writing love letters to God. I’m not against today’s writers, if you keep up with my blog, most of the stuff I post is from the modern worship of today. But there’s just something about the old words sung in new ways and with such SOUL that just touches my soul and I just had to share it with you. So, whatever your style of music for worshipping the Lord, I’d love to encourage you to listen to the old words of some hymns and be blessed. And if you happen to live in the great state of Colorado and you saw this morning’s sunrise, remember your God who created all of that, loves you more. If you are blessed by nature and your soul is just filled to the brim by experiencing it, it’s God saying, “I love you. I would trade all of creation just for you, you are mine.”
Since I couldn't find the hymns above on youtube sung by Susie Luchsinger, I had to add this one as a bonus. I absolutely love this song written by John Newton and Chris Tomlin, and I love Susie's voice and style.
Monday, January 3, 2011
~ Happy New Year ~
Here are a few of mine:
~ Lose the Grandpa inch or two I gained this past year; all that food was to fatten him up, not me.
~ Actually write the book God has put on my heart; note to self, the backspace key doesn't erase my life, only letters....stop using it and put these acrylic nails to good use.
~ Explore and pursue all the possibilities of becoming a photographer.....and then be one.
~ Fall in love with the Person of Jesus Christ and live in the wide open place of His love.
Haha, did you notice I put the girly one first? Seriously, I need to get back in shape. It is a goal of mine.
Writing is a calling. I was conceived with a story and born with the first chapter half written. I have grown up overcoming one thing after another, and today, I have to let my fingers do what God has created them to do: pound out His story so people will see Him in me. That's why I was created. That is my purpose. A calling is something you struggle with until you step into the shoes the Master puts in front of you and walks when He says, "Walk." I have a feeling once I get started, you won't be able to recognize me. Really.
Photography, on the other hand, is a gift from God. I have been telling people that I get nothing but pleasure out of it and put nothing but pleasure into it. I love it. Some dear friends approached me this past fall with doing a Senior Photoshoot for their soon to be high school graduate. I didn't even have to ask God for this job, but He gave it to me. Michayla and I had a fabulous time doing it; so much so, I got a new camera and I'm doing practice shoots with her just to see what this new baby will do. My mom is jealous of my new camera and she doesn't take pictures....ever!! Haha!!


"I have called you by your name; and you are Mine." Isaiah 43:1
"Since you were precious in my eyes, you are honored, and I love you." Isaiah 43:4
"The ones waiting for Jehovah shall renew power." Isaiah 40:30
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." John 14:1
My last goal is the goal that sets the other plans in motion, if they are indeed His plans for me. I have been tempted to be a recluse this year. Avoid all people and just spend time with Jesus. The problem is that what I gain as I spend time with Him, must be shared, and I enjoy being around people too much, haha. I can't spend time with Jesus and not hang out with people, He is too big for me to hog, His presence in my life is too much for me to keep my joy contained. If I try, I become less and His presence is reduced to how much Priscilla can handle. I don't want to live like this. I really don't. The life of a recluse is not for me, it's just sometimes I need time away, time to think, time to pray, time to regroup because it's a mean world out there. Thank GOD He understands and that He is that place of rest for me. As I read and study the very words of God and as I grow and change, I start falling in love with Him. And sometimes, He speaks to me. I struggle with it because I wonder if it's real, but I have some treasures of Scripture to share with you that proves to me it's real:
"Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, "This is the way; walk in it." Isaiah 30:21
"We have the mind of Christ." 2 Corinthians 2:16
"No one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us." 1 Corinthians 2:11-12
And this is the one I thought of when I wrote my last sentence:
"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him. BUT GOD HAS REVEALED IT TO US BY HIS SPIRIT." 1 Corinthians 2:9-10
I don't know what you're facing as you look forward to 2011. But I do know that God has given us all a New Year to do it all over again: LIFE. I want to live it and I want to love Him and let Him direct my every move. I want His blessing this year. I want to be a blessing this year, both to God and to you, dear friend, as well as to my world. I can only do that if I'm walking with Christ, and letting His light into every part of my life, reaching every dark corner.
"Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on His God." Isaiah 50:10
Before I close, I want to share my new theme song for the New Year as well as my life right now.
P.S. Another goal of mine would be to blog more this year. Once a month would be awesome, once a week would be ideal.....
Saturday, November 6, 2010
~Your Will Above All Else....My Purpose Remains...~
Acts 8:36
I have been living this pearl of a Scripture for the past 11 months, one month short of a year. And tonight, I just said goodnight to my grandpa knowing it could be the last time I say good night to him. I have been watching a life slowly ebb away as my parents and I have been taking care of my grandpa until he goes to be with Jesus, and something has occurred to me in the past few days.
When someone dies, their bodies expel all the bacteria that are in them, one way or another. I will spare you the graphic word picture I got from my mom this morning and suffice to say, it’s gross. Right after that process, their bodies die and if they know the LORD, they step into glory just as they step away from this life. That whole word picture got me to thinking about my own life, and if this is the actual reality of life and death, then something similar happens in a person’s heart and mind as they walk closer and closer with Jesus.
I have had my moments these past 11 months, actually the last few years as I’ve helped my mom take care of my grandpa in his home for the past 7 years. I’ve actually been helping out with my grandparents since I was 11, but before then, I was in and out of hospitals with them since I was a baby. This whole life of taking care of them didn’t just happen overnight for me. When I graduated from high school, I didn’t know what to do; college wasn’t all that appealing to me- all that studying (shudder). So, I did what I was already doing, what I was good at. I stayed home and became my mother’s right arm as she took care of her parents. When my grandma died 6 months later, my mom and I took care of my grandpa 3 to 4 days a week. Today, my parents have given up any semblance of a life to take care of my grandpa. My dad, who’d been unemployed for the past year, finally got a job and then quit to stay home and take care of Grandpa. My mom and I have run a myriad of errands, sat with and been the emotional, mental, physical support for both my dad and grandpa. Both my parents have been sick and we’ve all pulled one muscle or another and had the same headache, some of us a little more intense than the other. They have given everything to take care of him, our house is hardly ours anymore. It’s a hospice center, a hospital.
I, on the other hand, have given nothing because I had nothing to lose. This has been my life. When I was 18, I gave up the chance to go out there and “get a life”, and I chose to have no regrets where my grandparents were concerned because I felt this is where God wanted me. When life got hard and jumpin’ ship was a temptation, I knew that if I stopped doing it, I’d give myself permission to bail on anything and everything when it got hard. My greatest desire is to be someone’s wife and someones’ mother. I hear that’s the hardest job a woman will ever do. If there’s anything I don’t want someday, it’s to mess up a treasure from God like a husband and children, a family, because I bailed on my family now instead of learning the art of faithfulness.
Like I said, I’ve had my moments, but I’ve had the greatest LIFE. I have lived in hospitals where sick people are and where people take care of sick people. I have been best friends with people who are 2 generations older than me. I know better how to plan my funeral than my wedding someday because I’ve been to so many funerals (Morbid, I know)!! I know life and the meaning of it. And while I have faced death time and time again at hospitals and funerals, I have never lived death like I am doing right now. It has been a privilege to take care of this precious life, this farm boy from Nebraska, this wild rambunctious rail rider, this WWII veteran, this rodeo and race car star, this man who was hard and stubborn, abusive and mean and who , when he gave his life to Christ, became a changed man; this man who against all odds kept his family together when life told him he couldn’t, this man who has loved alot and loved well and been forgiven much and who in a few hours or a few days will see GLORY. We’ve told him he’s going to see my grandma again soon, and he’s excited for that, but my uncle said yesterday, “He will see Jesus, and he will be so in awe, he won’t even see Mom.”
That’s when something started happening to my heart. You know how I mentioned the process of death? The expelling of bacteria, the dying body, the glory? We will all meet our Maker someday with an awestruck heart. But right now, today, life can be brutal. We all know this. I know this. My family has been thru a lot in the past few years, but I’m going to be selfish here and tell you about me, while I’ve had a great life, these are some of my moments: I have been injured from helping lift Grandpa, to the point where I was doing some ab exercises and I threw a rib out and then separated the muscle from the rib. Talk about painful. As a result, I couldn’t work out for the rest of the Summer. Getting back to a regular workout has been brutal!! I have gotten sick recently and have had to change my diet because the stress has just been so intense at my house. I have been emotionally hit on all sides. I have endured loss of friends and felt abandonment and such intense loneliness and pain. I can’t even begin to put into words everything I’ve felt in the past 11 months. But when 3 people tell me in less than a week to relax, I know something’s up. Suffice to say, I’m in the process of being emptied. My mind and my heart are all preparing for a death, and not just my grandpa’s. But a death of an era. And a death to myself because when this is over, I look at my future, which could begin in a few hours, or days, depending on the LORD’s plan, and I don’t know what to do with my life. I have things I think I like and things that make me happy, but I’ve never had the chance to explore them fully. I don’t know me without my grandparents.
I face death to myself daily as God calls me to be like Him. My grandpa holds onto the rails on his bed sometimes like he’s hanging onto something for dear life. It’s like, “Dying is good, Heaven is close, but to actually give up my life, my breath? I can’t do it yet.” I am just like that sometimes. I know that dying to sin, dying to myself and running after Jesus is the only way to live, but I hold onto my definition of life for dear life because it’s the only way I know. That’s when I know that an emptying must come, a surrendering and then a death.
But as I step from my definition of life to God’s, that’s when I see glory and I am face to face with Him, like Moses was, like Mary was, like John and Peter were. All else fades.
So, my conclusion is this: empty yourself- expel the spiritual bacteria, let go and surrender to the death that seems scary in its enveloping because glory is just ahead, Jesus waits for you and He wants you to remain in His love and finally, really live.
“As for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit- just as it has taught you, remain in Him.”