The Redeemed.

Have you forgotten what salvation tastes like? What grace on your tongue feels like? Have you forgotten how heavy the burdens on your shoulders really were before they were lifted from you? Because salvation is still as sweet as when you first tried it. Nothing has changed and it only gets better over time. Salvation lingers over you, reminding you, days and weeks and months and years after, of the good God we serve. It hums lullabys at you while you sleep, lingers in your ears and rests upon the lashes about your eyes. The mercy of God scratches down deep beneath the service, digging out your imperfections with healing hands. Your lungs are opened and filled as if they have never tasted the sweetness of air, and your eyes are clear behind your misting tears. Your heart sighs with relief as the chains of iniquity that bound it are broken. You shake lifeless limbs with joy and content as they place over themselves the armor of God. The touch of the word of God against your fingertips feels like the refreshing cold of the evening tide. You sway your hand in it as the water crashes up against you and you dig further and further, not knowing where your hand might end up. Further along, salvation touches your soul. It's not something physical or something emotional, but in the hands of God abides your soul, and in his warmth comes his peace, and in his peace lies his salvation.
Incase you've forgotten, that is the salvation you have. Now spread it, so all may know the God that has brought his people out of the bondage of sin and death, and all may know what it truely means to be called The Redeemed.

The Perfect Pair.

There are a lot of people in this world; the sinners, the saved, the misguided, the false prophets, the holy, the righteous, the proud, the humble, the prejudice, racist, judgemental, the lost, the searching, the remorseful, the sorrowful, the guilty, the shamed, the hurt, the abused, the joyful, the triumphant- all of these are human. They are so different, yet so similar. No matter how much we hate to admit it, there are strands of all these characters sown into our chests, some colors more prominent than others, but all woven together to create the living beings we are today. We are the beings that talk and walk and work and live on the dry and wet lands of this little planet. We form relationships, we make bonds, we start feuds, we compromise, and apologize. But even in a sorry, a lingering guilt resides, even behind an "I love you" is a tied rope of restraint, even in a goodbye lies a refreshing and illuminating wind of relief. For some these human strings can bring demise, but for others, these strings quilt themselves together to create the most perfect pair of beings known to man- Christ and his Bride; holy and forgiven; now we have become a righteous people.

Spark of Thoughts

To think, to breathe, to walk, talk, sit, stand, shake hands, hold hands, kiss, open a car door, pick up a fork, write a symphony, play hopscotch, pick daisy's or lily's or tullips or pansies, learn to drive a pick-up truck, sing off key, fold laundry, yawn, stand at the top of the Empier State Building, cry, dance in a dimly lit living room, make something, paint something, write something, act on broadway, where soft socks, peak through bent metal blinds, swing feet from over an old wooden dock, sleep in the bathtub, attend a wedding, catch the bouquet, laugh softly, laugh loudly, hang clothes over closet doors, sleep on a water bed, send a letter, marry the boy you love.

A random list of things that are sometimes in my head, sometimes not, sometimes away on vacation, sometimes thought of while writing a blog, and sometimes in a picture of the person who makes your world spin a little faster everyday.

All About A 6'4 Towering Piece of Perfect.

I tried to duck away shyly and pass by these feelings without a second thought, but with the third and forth thoughts my feelings grew stronger and before long I didnt wanna duck away shyly anymore but rather stare head on into the dark brown eyes that stood before me.
Like the moon adorns the sun in the early morning, I catch myself peeking around corners and over church rows to adorn myself; but am stopped instantly by his already adorning eyes.
My hands shook last night, my foot tapped restlessly, and my stomach churned with anticipation, but just across from me in the white plastic chair, sat the most relaxed thing in the world. He'd fiddle with his hands, talk about the color of my toe nails, and tell me over and over again to Calm Down!, and eventually I did- till pastors door opened and he walked alone into the little white office and left me to wait even longer.
But isn't wasn't too long that he came back out, flushed but still calm. My heart leapt, my palms sweat, my words jumbled over his, tumbling tumbling tumbling, till we walked out and into the cool of the night and he told me- pastor approved! I screamed! then hit him! I don't know why i did, but I hit him, right on the arm...with my bible! Ha! I didn't know how to react, my emotions were going crazy. My lungs felt empty no matter how many breaths I'd take, and he just stood there, hands in his pockets, smiling at me. The moon shone a little brighter that night behind his smile, and my heart beat a little faster with every word he said.
Were waiting! And pastors okay with it! It's exactly the same thing we discussed last week, but this time pastor knows and he's okay with it! To think that pastor would be okay with a decision that we've made; how lucky are we?!
God is so good, he really is. He has helped us so much and we'd be nothing without him, but through him, we're not nothing, we're the possibility of something, and that's more than enough for me.

This man named Jacob Pacheco, he is surely a man after Gods own heart, and through God, he got mine too.
-Kaylee Johnson :]

If Love Was But A Love.

If love was but a love and a heart only a heart then a kiss would be nothing but a touch and touch nothing but a look. That look would be nothing but a glance and that glance would never be a stare. But if that glance fought adversity and grew into a feeling it could someday become a stare, and that stare could become a talk and that talk could become a conversation. Conversations would then bud a friendship and that friendship would blossom into adoration and before long, between the glance and a feeling, would come a love. Deeply hidden in a whisper, that love would mold into a ring and that ring would bring along a kiss and a touch and those hearts that were only hearts, would be one. Completely and irrevocably one, together, hand in hand, whisper in whisper, beat in beat, till the touch becomes cold, and the hearts stand still, the whisper not even a breath and that love could be found in the rings on the hands of the ones whose love was only but a love.

Kaylee's been a little distracted latley...can you tell?

Little Drummer Girl.

So kaylee can now say she is officially a drummer! With two lessons tucked under her belt she is confident this is where she wants to be; behind the dusty black and silver and gold drum set, seated on the small wooden throne banging her little heart out.
It was like nothing I've ever done and according to my brilliant teachers, I did...great! I was so nervous leading up to it, poor Jacob had to hear me rant on and on for weeks about how unsure I was but then sitting there, two warn-out drum sticks in hand, my mind all fell into place and I knew I wanted to do this. I learned a simple beat, following Jacob as he moved empty hands and peddleless feet from across the drums; "one two three" I'd count off, then miss a beat, "oh wait, start over, okay, one two three" and before long I could keep a beat, do a roll, add a beat, and even make a transfer without hitting that stupid stupid snare! (you can see where I had some issue).
Watching Grandma Marlane behind the drums made the whole day worth while though, "no no no" she insisted but watching as me and Jacob switched off playing, she couldn't resist and jumped right in. It was the most natural thing I had ever seen her do, balancing the sticks between her thumb and palm, leading the drums into a war with sound; and believe me, she won, taking down sounds army with the most beautiful rhythm and motion one has ever seen or heard. I loved sitting on that throne, a princess seated behind her royal court. It was something I can't wait to do over and over again.
Just as we finished practice, tossing my sticks back into the pile on the floor, grandma turned to me and said "you are officially my adopted granddaughter" and that's when learning how to play drums gained a whole new meaning.

I think that I think about stuff too often. I think about too much, too much of the time. I think of things while I should be thinking of others and think when I shouldn't be thinking at all. I over think too many areas of my life and think too little of others.
I think of Jesus, the God in the flesh, the Lord, the Alpha and Omega, and remind myself that he too is thinking of me, contending for me, praying for me as Aly reminded me. God does not wish failure for me, does not hold me back from success without good cause, does not think too little of me, but is rather wanting the world for me. For me, he thinks highly. For me he thinks fondly. For me he thinks, and his thoughts alone are enough to get me through a long sleepless night, a long slumbersome day, or one long good morning!
Good morning!
-Toby K.