Forever

The song we are singing at church Sunday has blessed me beyond measure today and I wanted to share it with you. It's a video on you tube. (It's really long but worth every second) 

Here's the link:

http://youtu.be/huFra1mnIVE

Here are the words to the song and then the words that the guy speaks. 

Forever by Kari Jobe

The moon and the stars they wept

The morning sun was dead

The savior of the world was fallen

His body on the cross

His blood poured out for us

The weight of every curse upon him

One final breath he gave

As heaven looked away

The son of God was laid in darkness

A battle in the grave

The war on death was waged

The power of hell forever broken

The ground began to shake

The stone was rolled away

His perfect love could not be overcome

Now death where is your sting

Our resurrected king has rendered you defeated

Forever He is glorified

Forever He is lifted high

Forever He is risen 

He is alive

He is alive

We sing hallelujah 

We sing hallelujah 

We sing hallelujah 

The Lamb has overcome

(Spoken words)

If there are words for Him then I don't have them

You see my brain has not yet reached a point where it could form a thought that could

Adequately describe the greatness of my God

And my lungs have not yet developed the ability 

To release the breath with enough agility

To breath out the greatness of His love

And my voice, you see, my voice is so inhibited

Restrained by human limits

That its hard to even send a praise up

You see if there are words for Him, then I don't have them 

My God. 

His grace is remarkable 

Mercies are innumerable 

Strength is impenetrable

He is honorable, accountable, favorable

His is unsearchable, yet knowable

Indefinable yet approachable

Indescribable yet personal

He is beyond comprehension

Further than imagination

Constant through generation 

King of every nation 

But if there are words for Him then I don't have them

See my words are few

And to try and capture the one true God using my vocabulary will never do 

But I use words as an expression 

An expression of worship to a Savior

A Savior who is both worthy and deserving of my praise 

So I use words. 

My heart extols The Lord

Blesses His name forever

He has won my heart

Captured my mind

And has bound them both together

He has defeated my rebellion

Conquered me in my sin

He has welcomed me into his prayer

Completely invited me in

He has made himself the object of my sight

Flooding me with mercies in the morning

Drowning me with grace in the night

But if there are words for Him then I don't have them

But what I do have is good news

For my God knew that man-made words would never do

For Words are just told that we use to point to the truth

So He sent His son

Jesus Christ is the word

Living proof

He is the image if the invisible God

The firstborn of all creation

For by him all things were created

Giving nothingness formation

And by his words he sustains 

In the power of his name

For he is before all things and over all things

Holy is his name

So praise him for his life

The way he preserved his strife

The humble son of God becoming the perfect sacrifice 

Praise Him for his death

That he willingly stood in our place

That he lovingly endured the grave

That he battled our enemy

And on the third day he rose in victory

He is everything that was promised

Praise him as the risen king

Lift your voice and sing

For one day he will return for us

And he will finally be

United with our savior for eternity, eternity

So it's not just words that I proclaim

For my words point to The word

And the word has a name

Hope has a name

Joy has a name

Peace has a name

Love has a name

And that name is Jesus Christ

Praise His name forever!!!

Joyfully full of it,

Tiff

Planting....just a planting

This is year 13 of the Lewis Garden. It moves, it weeds, it's unsuccessful every single time. But I try. A lot in the beginning. And today was planting day.




Shoes to PROVE I was working the dirt.


This is where the magic will hopefully happen.


I did not grow this. Handsome gave me this for v-day. I hope I don't kill it.

Spring. Time for renewal and beautiful weather. The compound will be flowered this year. That's my goal. Are you planting and growing? Are you feeding your family with the fruits of your labor?

How do you celebrate spring? We celebrate with dirt and water.

I hope you enjoyed the day and are reminded of beautiful newness for the spring.

Joyfully full of it.
Tifff


Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Swinging... Just a Swinging

New rope swing. Handsome rocks again.

















Welcome to the Lewis Compound. We have a rope swing.

Joyfully full of it.

Tifff


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Thankless

Dear mom that worked all day in or out of the home,

Thank you from your people.

Thank you for waking us this morning and making sure we ate something before we started our day.

Thank you for fixing our lunch or paying for lunch or making sure that the school would feed us while we were away from you.

Thank you for working so hard today and for pushing through the money's when you just feel defeated and want to crawl into a small space.

Thank you for making me wear my coat today.

Thank you for picking me up from school/Bgc/daycare/grandma's.

Thank you for feeding me "gourmet" cheese pizza for dinner and for folding my clothes.

Thank you for making me put away my clothes and teaching me responsibility.

You are a rock star every day to me.

Your people love you. Even on days that are hard.

Even on days when you are annoyed. Even if you have to grab a bid knife to open the stupid box of Tide so you can wash ANOTHER load of clothes.

Be blessed momma.
Be joyful momma.
Be thank-
filled momma.

Joyfully full of it,
Tiff




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Favorite Things

Do you ever have recurring themes or things that repeat? Do you ever learn a new word and then hear it used on the news or on Facebook and think.... What did I think they were saying before? Or does the world revolve around my new word? (Much like every one shows up at Walmart when I just need a few things)

My recurring themes recently are "favorite things" and "craving something else".

So my favorite things (because I know you must be dying to know)....

1. The Following (on Fox). I rarely follow shows but this one sucked me in last year and its starting again. Besides... Kevin Bacon... The hero from footloose...

2. Clean eating. Not really my favorite but I'm trying to pretend like it is. (Truth: when I typed "pretend" and looked up to watch tv, the iPad replaced pretend with pretentious... How does it know? Ha ha )

3. The Big Mama blog. Especially on fashion Fridays. It's a terrible guilty pleasure. She (Melanie Shankle) is excellent during the week but Fridays are the best. Her taste is divine and expensive. But it gives me something to search on eBay.

4. Sciatica homeopathic remedy. I bought these homeopathic sublingual pills for my lower back pain...then went to my doctor and got muscle relaxers. Well, I've had terrible pain the last few days and took them last night out of desperation...and the pain was dulled, then gone today. I'm telling you, there is something to herbs... ;)

5. Apron back tankini. I want one. I can't find one. I need a white or navy blue top because I have excellent swim bottoms and just "need" a new top for our vacation. Google it. So cute and never in navy blue.

So the other theme... It's a little more difficult. It's a total work in progress.

I'm reading Made To Crave by the amazing Lysa Terkerust. She is the author of Unglued. And she speaks like she is my friend. I'm not very far into the book but it is speaking to me.

So basically, i had a nutrition counseling session. The gist.... I should be eating food that can be found the way God made them. Not packaged in cardboard or chemically modified to taste good. Easy to understand. Hard to stick to in real life. All the things that are found on the perimeter of the grocery store.

Then I found another book: Take Charge of your health; A Biblical Perspective.

It's good. Quick read. Written like a long infomercial. bUT. Same theme. Gods eating plan. The way he created it.

I agree...He created me. No matter how wrong I think he got some things (thighs...ghetto booty) He made me.. Perfect. I trust Him to lead me on how to live and be a good mother and wife. I believe all the instructions were written and given to me. Doesn't it make sense that he would provide the same type of instructions for taking care of my body, the holy spirits temple?

I'm working on it. And struggling with it. And hungry, if you want me to be honest.

I thought I'd share. This journey is difficult. It's a total beat down sometimes. But maybe there's actual strength in numbers. Join me in struggling though life!

Joyfully full of it,

Tiff


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Almost lost

The Lewis family is losing it today. I'm blaming the humidity and 85 degree November day for this one. It doesn't explain the epic tantrums that have become our daily norm, BUT today...it's totally the weather.

And I feel lost and deflated when we lose it as a family. Whether at each other or with each other or alone, I just don't know what to do.

The boy just melted today. And I had no power to change the furrowed brow or the crocodile tears or the mixture of snot that they created. I tried grabbing and holding on for dear life....and that didn't work. It just made him angrier. I tried joking....and that didn't work.

As i walked to my room to pick up the laundry basket, I prayed that I wouldn't lose him. It's too soon to have these struggles. So, I made him help me with laundry. I threw towels at him. Then socks. Then the same socks. Then the same socks. Then the same socks. And FINaLLy he cracked. And smiled. And we played catch with socks for a few minutes. And he hugged me and was passed whatever the heck it was that shut him down for an hour this afternoon.

And my new mantra, "Do you need help or do you need a spanking?" Directed at my mini-me...doesn't work. And I don't mean to brag, but as I was typing this she ripped the shower curtain and bent the curtain rod because she's mad that I had the audacity to make her shower..

Take heart beautiful mothers and sisters and friends... There will be joy again...

Joyfully full of it...seriously, full of it today!

Tiff


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Two years..but I'm not counting

Tomorrow is October 12. This date will forever represent the day that it all changed. And if I said "good change" you would either think I was callous or normal.... Depending on if you have "that" date in your family or not. My daughter doesn't recognize the man in the picture....that's a tough thing to face. His face will forever make me smile.




This is a picture of my dad in 2008. Before my family started remembering dates that change our lives. And October 12, 2011 he went to heaven. I like to say his impatience and curiosity finally caught up with him and he won the ultimate race.

You can read more about it here...

http://www.mykidsmakemesmile.blogspot.com/2009/02/recoverybasketballtvtrains-see-last.html

(I don't know how to do fancy links on this app..sorry)

We were and are again, that nauseating beaver cleaver family that really loves each other. We had a hard couple of years but God has been so faithful and has held on to my family so tightly. Our first date was January 31, 2009. I won't rehash the details. I've blogged about it. So did my sister (www.heleekalesmom.blogspot.com). We've blogged and talked and cried and paid a lot of money to a shrink and we've survived.

And if my dad's death accomplished anything, it was bring us all back to the Savior's feet. Humble. Mourning. Angry. And in need of a little help.

In the beginning, I didn't think I would ever stop counting the days. Then keeping up with the weeks. Or months. But we finally made it to counting the years. I call this healing. We miss him. We will see him again.

My family was so supported by friends and family right after daddy left us. We received so many flowers and plants. And two years later, look what I haven't killed...



















The last four were all in the same pot. And I just about killed them. Last year I decided to repot them. And really had to pray about the fact that they could possibly fade away. I struggled with what that would mean. (And if it would make me cry....ugh).

As you can see, they are alive and look back at the pictures, NEW GROWTH. I just noticed it today. NEW GROWTH two years later. What a wonderful surprise and reason to celebrate.

My dad still sneaks up on us. He's like a 6'6" ninja. Sneaking up when we least expect it.

Just exactly when my soul needs it. I stop. Remember. And talk about this amazing man that was lucky enough to be my dad. ;) such a lucky guy....

My mom went to see dad today. To spend time with her best friend of 35 years. And to cry (probably) for the loss we feel. I bet she laughs too because my daddy brought such great joy to everyone around him.

Tomorrow will be a hard day for my family. And next year will be a hard day for my family. We'll have hard (ninja) days in between. We'll laugh at the days ahead and have no fear. Joy will fill our cups and overflow to those around us. And HIS peace will settle on our shoulders.




And soon enough... We'll see Toot-Toot again.

I bet he'll have lots of good jokes to tell us.

Joyfully full of it,

Tiff

Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged; The Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9