We read:

“…giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.”

Colossians 1:12 NIV

We often think:

“…giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has seen all the good things we do, understands the shortfalls we have, and recognizes that we are entitled and deserve to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.”

…forgive us me, oh God.

Training Journal – 12/23/11:

• Current plan: 10K Training
  
• Today’s session: Easy 5 mile run
  
• Comments: Good run!  A brisk 34 degrees out, which gave me a chance to try my new beanie.  I was toasty: cold, shmold!
  

He put up with them through forty years of wandering in the wilderness.

- Acts 13:18 NLT

So glad He puts up with me too.  [thank You God!]

x

…Oh, and here’s a little hymn I wrote:

He putteth up with me
He putteth up with me
Just as He didst with Israel…and every other person He created
He putteth up with me

[cha, cha, cha!]

Training Journal – 12/16/11:

• Current plan: 10K Training
  
• Today’s session: Easy 4 mi run
  
• Comments: Good run on another brisk morning.  After starting out a little fast, I remembered the “easy” part of the training day plan and slowed down…
  

¹⁹ I remember my affliction and my wandering,
   the bitterness and the gall.
²⁰ I well remember them,
   and my soul is downcast within me.
²¹ Yet this I call to mind
   and therefore I have hope:

 ²² Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
   for his compassions never fail.
²³ They are new every morning;
   great is your faithfulness.
²⁴ I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;
   therefore I will wait for him.”

The handwritten note in the margin near verses 22-24 reads: “Respnsv Trust“

I wrote that back in 2009 while reading the Bible in 90 Days at church…I recall blogging about it as well:

August 5, 2009 · 17:53

Responsive Trust. 3:22-24. How can the writer say “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.”?  The statement about His great love, compassion, and faithfulness are from a heart that has experienced them and heard about them in the lives of ancestors of old.  How can we say this?  The same way – we’ve probably experienced them and heard about them in the lives of those we know.  It is easy to forget these testimonies in the midst of trials, but we must cling to the TRUTH of God’s unchanging character! THANK YOU GOD!!

Good stuff…

…true Stuff…

…Faithful God!

Proverbs 3:5, 6 NIV

I recall memorizing these verses
with the word “acknowledge” in it…

…”acknowledging” has such a different
connotation than “submitting.”
(at least in my oft-unyielding mind)

O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

- George Matheson