Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus

I never paid very much attention to this song until this Christmas- today in church, to be quite honest- but when I listened to the words, it immediately became a favorite. I've been thinking a lot about how the reason we celebrate is because Jesus came to be the fulfillment and mediator of God's perfect covenant with us, and this song says that. I love it.

Come, Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s Strength and Consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear Desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

Oceans From The Rain

And I’m amazed by You, cause You’re never far away
And all that I’ve been through, Your love has never changed

Chorus:
You make oceans from the rain
Breathing life into this place
And I will drown inside your love
Until I see your perfect face

And nothing I’ve acquired means anything at all
Cause you’re everything I needed
You’re so much more than I deserve

(Chorus)

And I thank you Lord
And I thank you Lord
And I thank you Lord
And I thank you Lord

(Chorus)

The blood of Jesus can wash your pain away

~Seventh Day Slumber

Holding on to the promise of strength

I am more sure than ever that God is faithful. He is faithful even in the things I don't even ask for; maybe it's Him opening my eyes to see it, but I've never felt so completely proivided for. First of all, He gives me strength; the other day, in the middle of tons of homework due the next evening, Paul asked me if I was stressed out. "No," I said, "I can't be; if I am, then none of the work will get done." "That's not a good reason not to be stressed out!" He said. And he was right. A good reason is that God gives me endurance at the end of this hard semester to pull through and get everything done, even though it seems like too much to do in too little time. I've also been provided for in a way that's almost like little gifts being left for me around campus all day- I'll be hungry one morning but not want to buy breakfast, or not have time to make some, and Mama Cobb will have left a box of doughnuts in the lobby for us. Or I'll have missed dinner, and some girls will ask me if I want to order a pizza and split the cost. On Thursday night I even found my wal-mart card, which I thought I needed in October but needed even more this week. God is so good :-)
I'm working on my English paper right now, and haven't even done that much work yet today (three hours minus breaks?) but it's thinking-intensive work :P and I thought I'd write a little about my week. It's been lots of homework, but I've seen Paul a bit more than the few weeks before Christmas when he was really busy. We've learned to study together without talking :) He's good at both encouraging me and making sure I do get my work done. Last night we all went to the girls' music fraternity (SAI) concert, which Paul sat through and even seemed to enjoy pretty well even though he's strange and doesn't like much Christmas music. I'm telling you, the boy needs help in that sort of thing... doesn't decorate his room or house at all, doesn't like Christmas music and decorating... boys :P But the concert was fun, and afterward we went to the suites (dorm) for some food a friend made. Good southern food :) Paul left after a little while to go to sleep (he didn't sleep Thursday till Friday morning) and Mary Beth and I stayed and talked to Chris (who made the food) and two guys in the lobby while we held the house mom's tiny kittens... for two and a half hours. They were just so cute! They slept and played and were adorable. Once Mary Beth and I went to her room to watch Ever After, we were so tired that we fell asleep a half an hour in, and she woke up this morning to get ready to go to a short family reunion. She was very nervous, because her boyfriend Jim is meeting her extended family for the first time (I know, I know, I tried to get a claim on Paul for Thanksgiving before his sister did!) and she was, in her own words, "wigging out" about it and the way they're bound to compare Jim and her sister Ani's boyfriend Dan. So I kept her calm and then came back to get my own self ready for the day, and after lunch and laundry, here I am taking a little break from paper-writing. I am so excited about being done in a week and a half... and the Lord will take care of me until then :-)