a house concert with karla adolphe

with the powerful combination of gorgeous, soulful sound and brilliant song writing, karla adolphe is easily one of our favorite artists.  now we also call her a friend.

this was an intimate gathering of friends and music lovers,

an unforgettable evening of good food and great people,

a magical night of pure loveliness.


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learn more about karla and her music here.

a big thanks to fully alive photography for the great photos.

thoughts on japan with stacey

join me in welcoming another beautiful woman sharing her thoughts on japan.  stacey is on staff with our church and our resident expert on japan. 

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I have been to Japan six times, and I have also spent much of my life dedicated to learning the language and pursuing full-time missions in Japan.  When I first heard about the 9.0 earthquake and resulting tsunami, I was very concerned, but felt confident that this great industrious nation would rebuild very quickly.  In the days that have followed the quake, however, it has become clear that the rising death toll and concerns over nuclear instability has left Japan in shock.  I have watched several interviews with survivors of the tsunami who admit that they do not know where their spouses, children and grandchildren are.  It is heartbreaking to imagine the emotions they must be feeling.

Just days before the earthquake hit, I purchased plane tickets for a mission trip this summer to Japan.  My departure date is still two months away, so I am hopeful that my trip will still be able to happen.  I feel drawn to be in Japan right now and to support those who are questioning God or are beginning to ask spiritual questions for the first time.

Japan’s population is only .5% Christian.  Missionaries have always found it perplexing that the Gospel meets so much resistance in Japan, especially since it is fully legal to be a Christian there.  We can only hope and pray that God will move in the hearts of the Japanese people to seek Him as the one true God, and Jesus Christ His Son.

Our GCM Contacts in Japan are reporting that they are safe but very concerned.  Please pray for their continued safety and that they will have spiritual opportunities in the lives of those around them.  Please also pray that God would protect the nation from radiation leakage.  Let’s pray that any radiation that is leaked will dissipate over the ocean rather than blowing over large cities like Tokyo.  Also, please pray for the needs of those who are in evacuation shelters, many of whom are the elderly who left behind their necessary medications.  Let’s pray together that God will be near to those who are hurting, and that He will turn many hearts toward Him!

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thank you stacey for giving me a clearer picture on the needs of japan.  it is so easy to get caught up purely in the relief and recovery efforts.  i am thankful for your heart for this country and will join you in praying.

if you would like to support stacey and her work in japan, please go here for information on giving.

the students are here! the students are here!

can you tell i am excited?

this is the week that chambana adds tens of thousands of new residents.  we drive through campustown at great risk. we avoid target, meijer, and wal-mart like the plague.  move-in week is full of traffic, long lines, and frat parties.  lots of students with no homework.  enough said. 

and we also get to be a part of something so exciting.  we see new beginnings.  we stay young with crazy late night parties and adventures.  we raise our family around college students.  we share our journey and take part in theirs.

we watch lives change.  we are changed.  the world is changed.

we are part of a campus church.

this weekend kicks off our fall semester.  we reunite with our brothers and sisters after a summer spent on different schedules, in different cities, and with different families.

SO EXCITED.



and i wish i had something like this to wear for this week's events.  i made it out of a large t-shirt earlier this summer for another girl in our church.  cute, right?

it only took an hour or so. . . maybe i can pull it off?

pray for their week

spring break is here for the university of illinois.  for our church that means a large group of students, volunteers, and staff have left to serve with amor ministries in mexico.

they drove to oklahoma yesterday and woke up this morning to snow and icy roads.  the roadtrips for these spring breaks are notorious for adventures like this.  it has been neat to follow along on twitter and i look forward to hearing the stories in detail when they return.

the initial destination was ciudad juarez, but with the violence in that city it was deemed too dangerous.  it is sad to me that the amazing work this organization does will be on hold there.  i traveled to juarez twice while in college and the people there are so beautiful.  i pray that the conditions will change and amor can resume their ministry.

will you join me in praying for this trip?  pray for the travel.  pray for safety.  pray for transformed lives, deepened friendships, and the opened hearts and eyes of everyone involved.

lyrics i love

tonight we had our first large group worship service of the fall for cornerstone. what a kickoff! the music was so powerful and it has been a long time since i have worshiped God with such passion. over the past few years, certain worship songs have really carried me through the tough times. they have lyrics that i can cling to even when sorrow is more of a friend than laughter. the words hold such truth that i can come before God honestly regardless of how i am feeling, not just mouthing insincerity. i was reminded of these songs tonight - why? because i feel somewhat removed from those trials and difficulties. it is easy to forget how hard this world can be when things are. . . well, not hard. granted i am still sad, angry or disappointed with life, people, myself - but a true sense of sorrow is something completely different. i can go on and on about learning to grieve, the godliness of it, but its power to bring me to my knees in worship during it and because of it is one of the most amazing things i have embraced about my life. although it may be more common to follow God more fervently when things are going well, i tend to get comfortable during these times. i am much more passionate about glorifying and seeking God during trial - maybe that is why i am always dealing with another hardship. God knows i will be more faithful and allows me to experience the pain and suffering. He doesn't bring it on, but He sure does let it refine me.

i wanted to share some of these lyrics - if you know them they deserve to be reviewed, if you don't they are worthy of reading. the first song is one we sang tonight that got me thinking along these lines. the middle two i want to shout from the mountaintops. the last may be my favorite and i particularly love these lines near the end:

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

isn't that beautiful? such truth and brokenness.

Blessed Be Your Name
by Matt Redman

Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name
Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name
Every blessing You pour out I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name
Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name
Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name
You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

Continue
by Enter the Worship Circle

Continue to love me
With that same love
Righteous and unchanging
Continue to love me
With that same love
Priceless and unfailing
Your love it reached to the sky
Your righteousness, a mountain high
How priceless, your unending love
Both high and low among men
Take cover under your wings
How priceless your unending love
My heart us broken

How Great is our God
by Chris Tomlin

The splendor of the King, clothed in majesty
Let all the earth rejoice
All the earth rejoice
He wraps himself in Light, and darkness tries to hide
And trembles at His voice
Trembles at His voice
How great is our God, sing with me
How great is our God, and all will see
How great, how great is our God
Age to age He stands
And time is in His hands
Beginning and the end
Beginning and the end
The Godhead Three in
One Father Spirit Son
The Lion and the Lamb
The Lion and the Lamb
How great is our God, sing with me
How great is our God, and all will see
How great, how great is our God
Name above all names
Worthy of all praise
My heart will sing
How great is our God
How great is our God, sing with me
How great is our God, and all will see
How great, how great is our God


Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.
Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I’ll begin;
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell,
Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me
I cannot proclaim it well.
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.
O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.

closing thoughts - a lot is lost without the melody and music behind these lyrics - so check out the audio versions for yourself - i have not included links so you'll have to google them yourself if interested. also, pretty much anything by Enter the Worship Circle is amazing and comes highly recommended by the hart clan. other songs by them i could have written out: those who trust, its my joy, be near to me, i will bow, save me, put in me, i cannot hide my love - why did i even try to list them - just check them out!

a hot day for new experiences

it was another humid hot day in central illinois. when you add the oppressive heat to the opposing nap schedules to my life, there is not much freedom to leave my house. thankfully kelsey called and invited us to a local (free) water park. the three of us joined them this morning and this time luca actually got wet. he was bit nervous at first and sat next to me for awhile watching the other kids run and play. he could only resist the temptation for so long when his buds anna, micah, and alli were running through the sprinklers. gia stayed pretty stationary considering the ground was so rough to crawl on. she did enjoy the button to turn on the water and caught many an unsuspecting child in the face with her antics.

he's having so much fun!


kisses.


gia going for the button again.

luca discovered that his wet feet made cool marks on dry cement and we discussed the idea of footprints. he is a bit sad that he cannot leave marks all the time (i.e. when his feet are dry) or that they disappear, but he is mostly excited about this new discovery.

he also thought it very interesting that if you look in the sky one direction there could be "no clouds", if you look in another there may be "lot clouds," and in another only "one gia cloud" (meaning small).

we had home group for the first time this fall tonight. home groups are cornerstone's version of a small group/house church/fellowship time/etc. we have joined a new group this year due to scheduling difficulties, but are super excited. we already have many close friends in the group and the new faces seem very friendly and fun. the kiddos did not get to bed until 9:30, so let's pray for a lie-in tomorrow (so british of me).

gia drank water out of a glass tonight and initially was turned off by the cold sensation. like her brother at the water park, she overcame any discomfort and was too tempted to try it again. and again. and again. poor karen had to share her water with drooly baby. we don't need to tell her about the spit-up :)

my house is a mess and i guess i will deal with the chaos tomorrow, because this mama is tired. ciao!