See Amid the Winter's Snow

See amid the winter’s snow,
Born for us on earth below,
See, the gentle Lamb appears,
Promised from eternal years.

Refrain:
Hail that ever blessèd morn,
Hail redemption’s happy dawn,
Sing through all Jerusalem:
Christ is born in Bethlehem.

Lo, within a manger lies
He Who built the starry skies;
He Who, thronèd in height sublime,
Sits amid the cherubim.

Say, you holy shepherds, say,
Tell your joyful news today.
Why have you now left your sheep
On the lonely mountain steep?

“As we watched at dead of night,
Lo, we saw a wondrous light;
Angels singing ‘Peace on earth’
Told us of the Savior’s birth.”

Sacred Infant, all divine,
What a tender love was Thine,
Thus to come from highest bliss
Down to such a world as this.

Teach, O teach us, holy Child,
By Thy face so meek and mild,
Teach us to resemble Thee,
In Thy sweet humility.
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     "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14

     May God fill your hearts with joy this Christmas.

Tomorrow?

I was upstairs in my parents' bedroom when my mom came to get something. I flopped down flat on my back. "I just don't know where my life is headed," I sighed to her.

To be honest, I've been a little overwhelmed lately by just looking at my calender for August. Perhaps you're like me in the fact that if there's something going on, if someone is going somewhere and it interferes with the family schedule, I have something to do with it. So naturally, with back to school insanity, activities starting again, and seemingly a zillion things to do before school begins anew, the family calendar is packed. The stress is starting to mess with my mind.

Also, I seem to have a moderate case of pre-new-school-year jitters. Questions (most of them ridiculous) chase each other around and around my brain like cheetahs with jet packs.
What am I going to do with myself this year?
Will I get behind in school again?
Will I get all these projects done?
What will this year be like for my music classes? Will anything change? 
(Ad nauseum) 

Sometimes I think I want the sense of confidence and certainty, like George Bailey from "It's a Wonderful Life" when he announces, "I know what I'm gonna do tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that."

But, as we all know, his life doesn't go quite the way he plans.

This shouldn't surprise us, really. After all, do we really know what we're going to do tomorrow? How about this week? Or this year?

We don't.

You can plan and plan your wedding day when you're eight years old, but do you know when God will make it clear that you are going to marry?
Nope.
Do you know when tragedy will strike and leave your life in shambles?
Nope.
Do you know whether you'll die within the next 20 years or even the next 20 minutes?
No.

That's where the trust part comes in.

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare, and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." --Jeremiah 29:11

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose." --Romans 8:28

I can worry all I want about what I'm going to do with myself this August and this school year. I can plan and plan and plan and plan some more. But really, if you matched them up, the plans that my puny little brain came up with probably will fall far short of the the plan of the One created everything out of nothing.

But my God has told both me and you--many times, in fact--that His plans are better, His thoughts are higher, and He knows what He's doing.

As a dear friend of mine has said, "Break my plans, Lord. I know yours are a whole lot better." 

Many Members=One Body

     Thanks to Mary Kate and Abigail, we now have some idea of what spiritual gifts are and how to find them. Let's say that after months of soul searching, you believe that God has revealed your gift to you.

...Now what?

     In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul speaks to the church in Corinth about their eagerness to speak in tongues and to have manifestations of the Spirit, and over and over he exhorts the Christians to "build up the church" using what they have been given. He makes it clear that it's fine if all the members can speak in tongues, but if they all speak at once just for the sake of it, there would be chaos in the church, and that would most definitely not be beneficial to the members. 

     We are each given gifts according the perfect wisdom of our Creator, and what better way to use it than to build up the body of Christ? It will both bring glory to God (one of the reasons why we were made) and bless the church. 

       Paul also makes it clear that there are many different gifts and many different ways to utilize them. After all...

     "The body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”---1 Corinthians 12:14-21

     Since there are so many different kinds of people all brought together by Christ in His church, there is bound to be some diversity. Keeping with the Biblical analogy of "the body," think for a moment about how many different basic parts make up your body: hand, foot, eye, ear, nose, mouth, tongue, heart, stomach, liver, etc. Consider how drastic the differences are between the roles that these parts play for your body. And these are the basics. 

     Suppose that we replaced the body parts with gifts, as if they were specific people. Using the list that Abigail provided in this post as a guide, allow me to reword this passage:

   
     "For the body does not consist of one 'kind of person' but of many. If 'Administration' should say, "Because I am not good at 'Miracles', I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if 'Mercy' should say, "Because I am not 'Evangelism', I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were 'Leadership', where would be the 'Followers'? If the whole body was a 'Teacher', where would be the 'Listeners'? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member (or all alike), where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 'Miracles' cannot say to 'Giving', " I have no need of you," nor again the 'Pastor-teacher' to 'Administration', "I have no need of you."

   Do you see it? No one gift is really better than the others. Sure, every church really needs a pastor in order to function, but what's a pastor without a congregation to listen? We are all very different members of the same body, but we can all come together and use what we have been given.   

    No matter what your "area of expertise" is, you can use it to serve your church and to build up the body of Christ. Do you love music? Try putting together a song to sing with your friends for special music and bless those around you. Love little ones? Why not volunteer to work in the nursery or Sunday school?  Like computers and technology? Maybe you could help record sermons or work the lights. The possibilities are nearly endless. 

     How can YOU serve your church with what God has given you? 

                                  

                                Hannah 

Thoughts on Abortion

So this is a very important topic, one I am certain that I am not qualified to speak about. Therefore, I'll leave the actual arguing against it to the people who know what they're doing over at abort73 .
This story and what I've concluded from it, however, is mine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
April 12, 2006. A happy, growing family of eight is expecting their seventh child, due in September. They recently purchased a bright red fifteen passenger van, which they named "Big Red" (for obvious reasons) so as to accommodate all of them. They are very excited, from the oldest to the youngest, for "Peanut's" arrival.

The kids and dad are working out in the garden while mom is at her doctor's appointment. When the phone rings, the blonde eight-year-old runs to answer it and bring it to her daddy.
"Get Daddy," her mom's strangely urgent voice commands.
After a few minutes, the dad breaks the news to the children. "Peanut is dead."

The world stops.
What could this mean?
How could a little baby, not even born, die?
To me, it made no sense.
At eight years old, I believe I was too young to even really grieve properly.
My great-grandmother had died recently, but that was different. I had known her. I had talked to her. I had loved her.
I hadn't really loved "Peanut," in the same way, I suppose.
But it hurt. A lot. It still does sometimes.

On April 15th, 2006, the day before Easter, my mother delivered her dead child, my little brother.
He was eighteen weeks old.
We named him Joseph, after a man in the Old Testament who claimed the promise of Romans 8:28 for himself. We trust that although his death was a terrible thing, God would use it for good. We also had hope through Easter that year, that death is nothing to fear now that our risen Savior has conquered it. I look forward, Lord willing, to someday meeting my little brother in heaven.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have pictures of him, you know.
At only eighteen weeks, he had a little nose.
Little toes.
Little fingers.
Little eyelids.
He fit into my dad's hand.
And yes, I firmly believe that he was alive. He was a human being, just like you and me.
I may not be a scientist, or a doctor, and I don't claim to be really knowledgeable at all about this topic.
But to look at his little face, the face of a fetus, and say, "If he's going to have a bad life, if his mother doesn't want him, if he was never expected or wanted by anyone in the first place, if his family will have a hard time caring for his handicap, then he doesn't deserve to live. He's not human yet, anyway."

Excuse me? 

You can't honestly be telling me that I am any more human than that little boy, that I have more of a right to live than my little brother simply because I have already been born. You can't be telling me that he's not a person yet simply because he hasn't yet taken his first breath. I believe that Joseph was a person, even in his  eighteen short weeks of life.
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     "Like toddler and adolescent, the terms embryo and fetus do not refer to nonhumans but to humans at various stages of development. It is scientifically inaccurate to say a human embryo or a fetus is not a human being simply because he is at an earlier stage than an infant. This is like saying that a toddler is not a human being because he is not yet an adolescent. Does someone become more human as he gets bigger? If so, then adults are more human than children, and football players are more human than jockeys. Something nonhuman does not become human or more human by getting older or bigger; whatever is human is human from the beginning, or it can never be human at all. The right to live does not increase with age and size; otherwise, toddlers and adolescents have less right to live than adults." ---Randy Alcorn, quoted from his article "Abortion" in the April 2013 edition of Tabletalk Magazine.
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This is my story.
These are my thoughts.
What are yours?

Food for the Soul

     "Man shall not live by bread alone."

     Many people know this verse, since Jesus uses it to combat the devil in Matthew 4:4 and Luke 4:4. I was excited to recently discover where Jesus quoted it from. It can be found in Deuteronomy. I am finding more and more how this verse is really an eye-opener.  

     "Man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." --Deuteronomy 8:3b (ESV)

        Man needs bread to live. This has been a truth for all time. Of course, we don't really live on mainly bread today, but the truth still stands. Man needs fuel, something to live on, something to give him enough energy to survive and to live. 

     Personally, if I don't eat real food for a little while, I get, well, kinda useless. It makes a difference whether I eat something that is substantial and actually nutritious rather than junk food. I've noticed lately that it is very, very similar with food for the soul. If you feed it junk, you will feel junky.   

    Scripture is food to our faith, but often, I find that I am filled with lies instead throughout my day. I'm sure you know what I mean. Something along the lines of "You'll get by without it this morning. You don't have time, anyway. What's the big deal?" It can be hard to battle the mindset of the world, that feeding our bodies is more important than feeding our souls. Our bodies are but temporary tabernacles for our eternal souls. How could feeding the temporary be more important than feeding the eternal? 

     Here's the truth, my friends. We need, more desperately than we could ever begin to realize, the Words of our God. We need it even more than we need bread for our bodies. We need it every second of every minute of every day.

     My pastor recently preached a sermon, in which he spoke of "eating grace" while or even before you eat your daily bread. Feast on Jesus through His Word. He invites us to come to Him in John 6, to feast and never hunger again.

      Here's my challenge for you and me, as Christian young ladies striving to follow Him. When you get up, as you begin your day, eat grace. Feast on Christ. Feed your soul with the only One who could ever satisfy you, for man cannot live by just the food he shovels into his mouth in an effort to satisfy his stomach, but by the Words of his God, revealed in the Scriptures. 

      "Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst." --John 6:35 (ESV)

  

Meet Hannah, the new bloggirl

Hello there! I'm thrilled to start blogging here at Altogether Separate. I"m in love with the community here, and I am beyond excited about getting to know y'all better.

I'm Hannah, a fifteen year old Presbyterian girl who lives down South with her lovely and busy family of ten. My heart and soul and life belong solely to Jesus, my Savior and my everything. I'm slightly nerdy and a little crazy, and if I stare off into the distance pondering, or if I start making weird faces, that's normal for me. Music fills my life, especially in the form of singing. I also love photography, movies, words, writing, reading, traveling, friends, family, flute, and piano. Let's be friends, K? :)