This Open Sea

[animalsnaps]

[paintdeath]

[nationofamanda-blog]

[thisopensea-blog]

I just wanna squeeeeeze dem!

[angelofmemories]

[woodendreams]

[thisopensea-blog]

Lake Bled, Slovenia by Aleš Komovec

[thisopensea-blog]

So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance.

~Romans 8:26

[thisopensea-blog]

"Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."

~Ephesians 4:31-32

[thisopensea-blog]

Mile marker 18

"Oh! Thou who art! Ecclesiastes names thee the Almighty; Maccabees names thee Creator; the Epistle to the Ephesians names thee Liberty; Baruch names thee Immensity; the psalms name thee Wisdom and Truth; John names thee Light; the book of Kings names thee Lord; Exodus calls thee Providence; Leviticus, Holiness; Esdras, Justice; creation calls thee God; man names thee Father; but Solomon names thee Compassion, and that is the most beautiful of all thy names."   

~Les Miserables (Written by the bishop on one of the pages of a novel)

I just wanted to share that little bit that I have kept tucked in my memory. I love to see the many names used to express who He is to so many different people. In moments when I am overwhelmed by His grace and love, the only words that come out most of the time are, "You are so beautiful." Like no one in the world has ever said that, but in that moment I feel as though it's the first time it has been said. Really I'm just dumbfounded at times and it's the only thing you will hear to poorly portray what I can "ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal". I am far from worthy of His mercy and love, but when I am overcome by His glory, I wish the whole world could be infected with the joy that comes from His true love, and for a moment I think I understand a little more how He feels about His children. When my heart aches terribly for the healing of broken hearts or for others to get a taste of the joy He brings, it makes me wonder how much He must be aching for all of us to experience these things with Him... 

Time and again I feel that I have let Him down and should be cast away, but I have never felt that He has forsaken me. To small children, eighteen always seemed to be oh so "grown up" and "cool", but boy when you get there you realize how far fetched that seems. Or maybe it's just me... But at this mile marker in life I pray that, though I often stray, He will never forsake me, and that as long as there is beauty to see in this world that I will not be blinded to it. If there is any thing in me to be praised or admired, let it be known it is because of Him and His blessings upon me. There are so many neat people and beautiful things out there, and though it may be hard to find them or "they're all hiding!", I hope I may always have an open heart to recognize it. Take a moment to be thankful for your sight, for your hearing, for your voice, and for the use of your limbs... Not everyone has those things, and I doubt I could speak so excitedly and affectionately about God if I didn't have those things to witness His wonders for myself! 

I don't know what this life holds for me now at eighteen even more so than when I was five. You know that question the nice little old people always asked when you were little... "whatdya wanna be when you grow up, deary? A doctor, astronaut, singer...?" I wonder what their reactions would be when they found out what I wanna be now. "I want to be a star near the moon. I want to be a seagull flying off in the sunset over the waves. I want to be a measure of music played in Chopin's Ballade in G minor. Or maybe I want to be a smile... Decisions decisions!" Ya, that's how far I've come. ;) It's late. My room mate is talking in her sleep. My thoughts sound wackier by the minute. I'm blessed. That's all it comes down to. Blessed beyond my own understanding. 

"Far be it from me to not believe, even when my eyes can't see. And this mountain that's in front of me, will be thrown into the midst of the sea. So let go my soul and trust in Him, the waves and wind still know His name... through it all, it is well..." 

[ultrafacts]

[thisopensea-blog]

Oh me goodness. Me likes flowers lots. O.o

[thisopensea-blog]

[thisopensea-blog]

"...But the sweetest thing I've ever heard Is that I don't have to have the answers, Just a little light to call my own. Though it pales in comparison To the overarching shadows, A speck of light can reignite the sun And swallow darkness whole."

[thisopensea-blog]

[thisopensea-blog]

Keep this one in mind, Daddy. I need someone to play and sing it with. :)

#The Civil Wars #From This Valley #lovelovelove

[thisopensea-blog]

A Psalm of Life

(What the Heart of the Young Man Said to the Psalmist)

Tell me not, in mournful numbers, "Life is but an empty dream!" For the soul is dead that slumbers, And things are not what they seem. Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not its goal; "Dust thou art, to dust returnest," Was not spoken of the soul. Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, Is our destined end or way; But to act, that each to-morrow Finds us farther than to-day. Art is long, and Time is fleeting, And our hearts, though stout and brave, Still, like muffled drums, are beating Funeral marches to the grave. In the world's broad field of battle, In the bivouac of Life, Be not like dumb, driven cattle! Be a hero in the strife! Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant! Let the dead Past bury its dead! Act,--act in the living Present! Heart within, and God o'erhead! Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time; Footprints, that perhaps another, Sailing o'er life's solemn main, A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, Seeing, shall take heart again. Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate; Still achieving, still pursuing Learn to labor and to wait. ~Henry Wordsworth Longfellow

[thisopensea-blog]

[thisopensea-blog]

[thisopensea-blog]

Visit Original Link

#Yo-Yo Ma # Tan Dun #Farewell