Things I've Learned of Late

A lot can happen in four years.

A lot can happen over just one year.
A lot can happen in a semester.
A lot can happen in a month.

A lot can happen in a week.

And a lot can happen in one day.

Rocked... In Arms of Love

Like a Father or a Mother who rocks their crying baby to sleep, God "rocks us" or "rocks the boat" to give us peace, using the storm to shake off and strip away that which will continue to hurt us if it is allowed to stay - like barnacles* stuck to the belly of a boat. He is in the storm. And it's always out of love. What would we think of a parent who just let their baby keep crying? God is just being a good parent by shaking us up and down on His shoulder; He knows that the end result - if we submit to His "rocking" - will spare us more tears and still the turmoil inside of us, filling us with peace and a sense of safety and protection in our Father's arms as we lean on His shoulder through the chaos and storm.

* "Barnacles on the hull of a ship increase friction and can reduce the vessel's speed. The ship must then be put in dry dock to have the bottom scraped." -according to an Animal Planet article on Barnacles.
He's being a good shipmaster; taking care of His ship by cleaning and freeing it from parasites that suck efficiency and life from the vessel.

May 24, 2013

From Here to There

In a flash-black
You long for the past
And all its heartfelt moments
You know everything, meant something,
But now, nothing makes sense

What happened, to the dreams I thought I was living
Honey, you ain't seen livin' yet
No, you ain't seen nothing yet

So you look back, but it's too late,
And you gotta move ahead
You wanna lie down, cause you feel faint,
But you choose to move ahead

But you break down and turn around
Hopeless and despaired
Won't you look up, lift up your head
Cause God'll get you there,
Therefore have no fear, oh!

You're homesick, and you're so sick,
of Not havin' a clue
Oh Honey, just trust me,
Believe what I can do!
For I make all things new
I make all things new;
Yes, that includes you,
For I make all things new...


Written January 6, 2012. (lyrics)

Salty-sweet.

the secret place between my helmet and my head
and - like music that's been there all along
'fore I had skill to sing its song -
a stark taste of tomorrow

the guard is changed
my garments rearranged
everything inside my bag begins to seem so strange

soon it will be nothing
so nothing shall advance
until i disembark what feels of sad romantic yesterdance.

the signs i did not see before
come knocking at apartment doors
and make their way up through each floor
to make what was unseen before
seen and clean and so much more
than it ever could have been before.

so sing these sweet and salty songs
then let them sleep and fade;
for to season fish with weighty rocks
is not why salt is made.

---

Written May 21st, 2013.

Dusk and Dawn

The sun set within sight

As it gave its last lights

Of love, joy, even hope –

And that’s when yesterday died.

Yesterday was lovely,

Full of hopes and dreams,

Even though some roads I walked

I did not walk with ease;

Despite the rain and rocky roads,

Yesterday was beautiful;

Through rain the sun did shine so bright

As I gazed upon prismatic light,

Wishing maybe, wished I might

Swiftly, surely, soon arrive.

But yesterday is over –

There is no going back;

I know a shining future waits,

But where will it be at?

“God,” I called out,

Into the darkening sky,

“You said there was hope –

Where have you gone?” I cried;

How could a thing so beautiful,

A sunset oh so bright,

So hastily conclude

Leading only to dark night?

But as embers did glow

And warm fire fade

To mere sparks of memory,

Burning away,

I caught sight of a sign

Reigning over the sky

Saying, “Wait, believe, I am larger than life:

As I make the sun set, I will indeed make it rise;

For glory’s not measured by wealth, strength or size,

But by the tears of meek love pouring out from your eyes;

Stay strong, move forward, take heart and believe,

For surely great things are coming to be -

This is only the start to a wonderful story."

He lights up our eyes when it's hardest to see

No matter how bleak or unlikely things seem;

Our God is Faithful, Good, Just and True

He whispers sweet love and He carries us through:

"Keep going, keep trusting, keep looking, and see

That every last rainbow was put there by ME."

---

Written January 14, 2012. / Unearthed and revised May 15, 2013.

Seven

On July 7, 2002, I asked Jesus Christ to come into my heart.

Today, 10 years later, I gratefully celebrate His presence and His work in and through my life. (Read my testimony of God's awesomeness here!) Praise be to God for redeeming and illuminating my life with His great love, mercy and grace!

It is mind-blowing to reflect on the person I was 10 years ago (not to mention how mind-blowing the whole "decade of life" thing is) and how dramatically God has changed things for the better in my life since then. The girl I was at seven years of age seems like a distant memory of another life; yet at the same time, it feels like only yesterday that my mother was kneeling with me beside my bed, assuring me even at such a young age that the reason I was sobbing uncontrollably and felt terribly afraid of asking Jesus into my heart was because the devil was trying to stop me from doing it, because he knew that if I did, really good things would happen. I am so thankful for my mother.

The day that I took my first breath, it was 7/7 and I was seven years old; today, it is once again 7/7 and I am seventeen years old. Seven is the biblical number of completeness or perfection. God has been and continues to be so incredibly gracious every day to bring everything to completeness and perfection in Him. His Word promises that "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6), and just today Jesus said, "I've brought you this far; I'm going to lead you through." It is so wonderful to know that there is a God who loves us and who will not EVER give up on us, and who has a perfect, ingenious plan to give each of us hope and a future! He has created a brilliant masterpiece with each of our lives that is far more wonderful than we could ever ask or imagine, and He who promised is faithful (Hebrews 10:23) to accomplish it!

Glory to God, not only for the works of His hands, but also for the perfect love and beauty of His heart.
He is faithful to the end!


God bless,
Rachel Lauren


I was so deep,
So incomplete
Til' You rescued me
Yeah, You rescued me


You rescued me
You are mine, I am Yours
You rescued me
And I am Yours forever
You saved me, remade me

-TobyMac, "Me Without You"

The Sky is Vast. (perhaps too vast to analyze)

Lyrics to Fuzzy Blue Lights by Owl City, from the album Of June.



If I could look across the country
From California to New Jersey
Then I would count the parks and lake resorts
And number all the jets and airports
All those rather dreary rain clouds still bother me
Cuz I look through the camera eyepiece and cannot see

If I could open up my window
And see from Tampa Bay to Juneau
Then I would survey all those open miles
And line them up in single file
Everywhere I look I see green scenic sublime
And all those oceanic vistas are so divine

If I was standing on the balcony
And you were walking down below
I'd feel rather depressed and out of place
And lonely just to watch you go
If you were swinging from the highway overpass
Within the western hemisphere
I'd feel rather afraid and insincere
If you began to disappear
If I was walking through a sad art gallery
And you were driving through the night
I'd feel rather alone and ill at ease
Beneath the brilliant showroom light
If I was flying on a plane above your town
And you were gazing at the sky
Somehow I'd feel intact and reassured
If you began to wave goodbye...