This song always speaks to me…sharing with you all

May we remember Jesus and all that He has done, and continues to do for us..

Merry Christmas!

Go to sleep my Son
This manger for your bed
You have a long road before You
Rest Your little head

Can You feel the weight of Your glory?
Do You understand the price?
Does the Father guard Your heart for now
So You can sleep tonight?

Go to sleep my Son
Go and chase Your dreams
This world can wait for one more moment
Go and sleep in peace

I believe the glory of Heaven
Is lying in my arms tonight
Lord, I ask that He for just this moment
Simply be my child

Go to sleep my Son
Baby, close Your eyes
Soon enough You’ll save the day
But for now, dear Child of mine
Oh my Jesus, Sleep tight

especially sung by Rush of Fools.   brings such joy to my heart, and hope it does the same for you this Christmas season   listen to the song and sing along with me!!

O come, all ye faithful
Joyful and triumphant
O come ye, o come ye to Bethlehem
Come and behold him
Born the king of angels
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
Christ the Lord

Sing choirs of angels
Sing in exaltation
Oh sing all ye bright hosts
Of heaven above
Glory to God, Glory in the highest
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
Christ the Lord

hehehe.  boy, do I love dogs.

The greatest love that anyone could ever know
That overcame the cross and grave to find my soul
And ’til I see You face to face and grace amazing takes me home
I’ll trust in You

With all I am I’ll live to see Your kingdom come
And in my heart I pray You’d let Your will be done
And ’til I see You face to face and grace amazing takes me home
I’ll trust in You

I will live to love You
I will live to bring You praise
I will live a child in awe of You

You are the voice that calls the universe to be
You are the whisper in my heart that speaks to me
And ’til I see You face to face and grace amazing takes me home
I’ll trust in you

You alone are God of all
You alone are worthy Lord
And with all I am my soul will bless Your name

..is to know that the only person you can control is you.

i confess that i oftentimes spend my energies trying to control what others think of me, what I think i know is best for others… and with that comes such wasted frantic energy spent on doing something so fruitless…

even God does not try to control us.  God is just responsible for being God.  (thank God) In turn, the most powerful and freeing truth for me is to know that I am just responsible for being Diana Lee.

I simply cannot blame other people for things that I am responsible for — my faith, my response to conflict, what i spend my time on, etc!

i see why now the popular prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr is called the serenity prayer (it brings so much freedom and peace): here it is mixed my own translation below

God grant me the serenity (peace) to accept the things i cannot change (in myself, in others, in circumstances), the courage to change the things i can (we do have a responsibility and choice to walk forward in the person we want to be) and the wisdom to know the difference (there is always a balance to everything!)

just wanted to encourage you all to live with this freedom and power !

p.s.  I am running my first 5k to support World Vision in January!  Please check out the website below if you want to know how you can partner with me!

http://www.firstgiving.com/dianalee1

All who are thirsty
All who are weak
Come to the fountain
Dip your heart in the stream of life
Let the pain and the sorrow
Be washed away
In the waves of his mercy
As deep cries out to deep

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ~ John 15:4-5

Abide = Remaining.

Lately, God has been showing how I can do nothing apart from abiding in Him.  I had a thought this morning that when I am abiding in Christ, I am picturing myself in a sense being enclosed, centered, almost inside of something.

and i thought…wow, the more I abide in Christ, the more I’ll be less like myself, and more like the One in whom I’m abiding.  and the fruit I produce will be for His purposes, not for my own!  Just wanted to share this thought with you all

“ Every day the choices you make, say what you are and who your heart beats for” ~ It’s Your Life by Francesca Battistelli

i’m reading an article for my class, and this quote really struck me:

“Jesus issued was not “receive Me,” but “follow Me.” Receiving far too often attends to what we get out of the relationship, inadvertently perpetuating the cultural narcissism of the age. However, Jesus’ call to “follow him” leads instead to a cross –a cross that moves our understanding of vocation from elevated individualism and self-absorption to sharing God’s burden in working for the world’s redemption.”

it struck me because I think Christianity has become, “what can I get out of this?”  “Ok God.  I performed for you.  I did this for you.  Now can you please give me some blessings?”

Yet… I think what we often forget is that “follow me,” does not necessarily mean what we want it to mean.  Follow me doesn’t mean..follow me so you can feel good about yourself.  follow me so you can get what you want from life.

Follow me means, are you really going to surrender e v e r y t h i n g to me?

God says, come, take up your cross, and follow me.

that means we must say “God, you are more than enough.  there is NOTHING else i want more than to fully trust my life to you, surrender to you, abide in you..so that I may now live for YOU, and not for myself.”

everything i once held dear, I count it all as loss

Lead me to the cross
Where Your love poured out
Bring me to my knees
Lord I lay me down
Rid me of myself
I belong to You
Lead me, lead me to the cross

i am taking a family therapy/pastoral counseling class in which i am learning SUCH important things about myself:  here’s something i wanted to share with you all:

Differentiation of Self

Families and other social groups tremendously affect how people think, feel, and act, but individuals vary in their susceptibility to a “group think” and groups vary in the amount of pressure they exert for conformity. These differences between individuals and between groups reflect differences in people’s levels of differentiation of self. The less developed a person’s “self,” the more impact others have on his functioning and the more he tries to control, actively or passively, the functioning of others. The basic building blocks of a “self” are inborn, but an individual’s family relationships during childhood and adolescence primarily determine how much “self” he develops. Once established, the level of “self” rarely changes unless a person makes a structured and long-term effort to change it.

People with a poorly differentiated “self” depend so heavily on the acceptance and approval of others that either they quickly adjust what they think, say, and do to please others or they dogmatically proclaim what others should be like and pressure them to conform. Bullies depend on approval and acceptance as much as chameleons, but bullies push others to agree with them rather than their agreeing with others. Disagreement threatens a bully as much as it threatens a chameleon. An extreme rebel is a poorly differentiated person too, but he pretends to be a “self” by routinely opposing the positions of others.

A person with a well-differentiated “self” recognizes his realistic dependence on others, but he can stay calm and clear headed enough in the face of conflict, criticism, and rejection to distinguish thinking rooted in a careful assessment of the facts from thinking clouded by emotionality. Thoughtfully acquired principles help guide decision-making about important family and social issues, making him less at the mercy of the feelings of the moment. What he decides and what he says matches what he does. He can act selflessly, but his acting in the best interests of the group is a thoughtful choice, not a response to relationship pressures. Confident in his thinking, he can either support another’s view without being a disciple or reject another view without polarizing the differences. He defines himself without being pushy and deals with pressure to yield without being wishy-washy.

Every human society has its well-differentiated people, poorly differentiated people, and people at many gradations between these extremes. Consequently, the families and other groups that make up a society differ in the intensity of their emotional interdependence depending on the differentiation levels of their members. The more intense the interdependence, the less the group’s capacity to adapt to potentially stressful events without a marked escalation of chronic anxiety. Everyone is subject to problems in his work and personal life, but less differentiated people and families are vulnerable to periods of heightened chronic anxiety which contributes to their having a disproportionate share of society’s most serious problems.

“our hearts were made for You, Oh Lord, and they are restless until they rest in you” ~ St. Augustine