My Shelter

(c. Rebekah Gardner, 2008)

V1. We all are in search of a security; we all just want to feel safe
I need someone to uphold me I need a place to rest
We want to feel the love of others
We want to feel protection
I want to take shelter under your eagle’s wings

Ch. God you are my shelter
You are the place I find refuge take me in your loving care
You are my rock, my foundation
You are my shelter
You are my shelter

V2. How shall I feel when you are my shelter?
The ways of the world shall come and go
People will not always be there for comfort
Yet God is my ever- present help in times of trouble

Ch. God you are my shelter
You are the place I find refuge take me in your loving care
You are my rock, my foundation
You are my shelter
You are my shelter
V3. You are the preserver of life the one that upholds me with your hand
The strength to the weary and the dwelling place
If I walk through the valley, you are with me
If I pass through the fire, I will not be burned
And if I pass through the river, it will not sweep me

Ch. God you are my shelter
You are the place I find refuge take me in your loving care
You are my rock, my foundation
You are my shelter
You are my shelter

Engraved

(C.Rebekah Gardner, 2009)

Vs. In the valley of despair
Seized by my own trial
That I have fallen in
Held by the devils very hands
He imprisons me there
With lies, that never ends


Bridge: I want the name of Jesus
Engraved all over me
So when I face this trial
I will have a reason to sing
Ch. I put my hope in you
I put my strength in you
The devil has no hold
He comes to steal, kill, and destroy
With the armor
And strength of God
My goliath will fall to the floor

Vs. God’s power is sufficient for me
Look to the cross and see
His death and resurrection
Proved that even death itself
Cannot be nailed to Calvary
Not containable by anything

Bridge: I want the name of Jesus
Engraved all over me
So when I face this trial
I will have a reason to sing
Ch. I put my hope in you
I put my strength in you
The devil has no hold
He comes to steal, kill and destroy
With the armor
And strength of God
My goliath will fall to the floor

Vs.3 Even when I feel weak
God surrounds me with strength
Nothing is too big
That God cannot destroy
The pain that I feel
Is only a shadow compared to yours

Bridge: I want the name of Jesus
Engraved all over me
So when I face this trial
I will have a reason to sing
Ch. I put my hope in you
I put my strength in you
The devil has no hold
He comes to steal, kill and destroy
With the armor
And strength of God
My goliath will fall to the floor

With You

(c. Rebekah Gardner, 2008)

V1. You are the lamp in the darkness of life
In you, I find provision and strength; with you I can overcome any obstacle
You carry me through
You are my rock through the shifting sand
My fortress, deliverer to the end
My shelter, safe place when I need you to be
My stronghold when I am spiritually weak

Ch. With you, I can attack any barrier that stands in my way
With my God, I can overtake this wall that is set in my way
Because God’s way is perfect and his word is pure
All things are possible through him that gives me strength

V2. You reach down from heaven and hold on to me
You rescue me from the waters that overtake me
You give me your shield to win in battle your word that is shaper than swords
You clothe me with you power and strength you empower me with you word
So I can rebuke the devil and live like I’m free

Ch. With you, I can attack any barrier that stands in my way
With my God, I can overtake this wall that is set in my way
Because God’s way is perfect and his word is pure
All things are possible through him that gives me strength

The Lord lives, praise him, praise him
He is exalted among the nations
He is the tower of our salvation
He is the rock in the wind of this world
He is the God of my salvation
Praise the God of Faithfulness

Recreating Fashion

Do you have a pile of clothes that you are about to give away? or some piece of clothing that is in your closet that you never wear? I want to offer you some fun and creative ways to add some sparkle and style to your clothing; some ways to make your old clothing a new unique treasure in your wardrobe. I know if you go in your room, you will discover a pile of clothes hiding under some laundry or stuffed in your closet that you never wear anymore. Why not have fun and save some money, by using your existing clothing and accessories to recreate your fashion pieces. Take for example, this plain black shirt, this is a shirt that you are about to give way because you are either tired of wearing it, or do not want it in your closet anymore. Here is a picture of a cute black top and jeans from the Michaels craft store that has been transformed with an iron on transfer. Girls, this is just one simple step and now you got a fabulous, stylish shirt.


Have an old hat that you never wear? Why not add some flare and your own style to the hat! Here is a cute hat from Michaels, that has been recreated with just a little bling and some paint. This is a fabulous military style hat that is always in style, and compliments most all face shapes!

Use your creativity and imagination, and you will surprise yourself with the fun and stylish pieces that you come up with! Remember girls, before you throw or give away pieces in your wardrobe think about sprucing it up with some remarkable embellishments!

Cancer Has No Hold On You!!

PawPaw: I love you!
I dreamed you would see me graduate
And watch me walk down the aisle
See me with my first child
You were always there for every special moment
Never thought anything different
I figured you would always be here
Cancer caught you off guard
And threw me in a loop
I slowly noticed how the chemo and radiation
Took hold of you
You hadn’t had hair before but you became
More bald than ever before
It was so shiny and clean
I could kiss your head
And feel the battle you were fighting
Each treatment begin to slow you down
But your attitude and faith
Remained through each storm
You are so very special to me
And I hope you know that
From my years of being a baby
I look back and see how you documented
Each time that we played and hung out together
I could always count on you to believe in me
By your kind words and support
You knew that I could do anything through Christ
I just had to believe!
I always appreciate the Upward Devotional books
I read everyone you sent to me
And knew it came straight from the heart.
You had a smile that illuminated my life
And gave me encouragement to stand
Firm in any barrier set in my way.
I could always count on you
To have chocolates and gum stashed up
For me when I came to visit.
Your spirit for life and family is contagious
I enjoyed every special moment I had with you.
I started writing this a couple of months after you
Found out that you had cancer.
I was devastated and writing was my release
To the pain and sadness I was feeling.
Cancer is a disease that is a battle
But it surely cant take away
Our memories and your sweet spirit.
Your memory begin to go
But you never forgot your family or friends
Just little details that didn’t matter
You became sicker and weaker
So you got a bed to go downstairs
When I came to visit you
I could see the affects of chemo
By your pale, white skin and brittle bones
But at the same time I saw glimpses of Hope
When you would smile at me
And say your not giving up
You fought harder than anyone I know
Today you stopped chemo and radiation
Hospice came in, and listened to your concerns
Truly only God knows the time and day he will choose for you
Pawpaw don’t be scared, and even though I am sad
I know you will see me again in heaven
I want to delete what I just wrote because
In the back of my mind I want to say I have hope,
And I truly do, but deep down I know that’s not God’s plan for you.
I know he is about to take you home to be with him
Yet it kills me on the inside because I am not ready to let go/
PawPaw I love you and miss you so much
I cant wait to see you one day
I know I will see you in heaven one day
We will go back to those times of fun
Your sickness of cancer will forever be gone
We can walk hand in hand with Christ as our Lord
I love you PawPaw

I Will Live In This Day

(C. Rebekah Gardner, 2008)

V1. As a child I always dreamed of that fairy tale wedding
It’s something that is on every girls mind
I prayed for you night after night
Now that I am here and living it out
I feel like I could just fly

Ch. I always dreamed as a little girl
About being that Cinderella bride
I dreamed of walking down the aisle
And throwing my bouquet
I am finally here; I have made it to this special day
In my white gown and shoes
I waited all my life for this day to come
And now that’s it’s here
I will live in this day

V2. As I walk down the aisle
Illuminated with love in my eyes
I am so happy to find the one to call mine
We hold hands and make a promise to always be together
He kisses me and says
“I will love you forever”

Ch. I always dreamed as a little girl
About being that Cinderella bride
I dreamed of walking down the aisle
And throwing my bouquet
I am finally here; I have made it to this special day
In my white gown and shoes
I waited all my life for this day to come
And now that’s it’s here
I will live in this day

V3. The music starts to play
Hand in hand, he leads the way
I lean into his arms swaying to the love song
We are so in love with each other
I pray that this love will never die

Bridge: We get into the car and leave for our honeymoon
With lights in our eyes and joy in our hearts
What a blessing this day was
Let us always remember to
Love like the day we first laid eyes on each other

Ch. I always dreamed as a little girl
About being that Cinderella bride
I dreamed of walking down the aisle
And throwing my bouquet
I am finally here; I have made it to this special day
In my white gown and shoes
I waited all my life for this day to come
And now that’s it’s here
I will live in this day

You Are Beautiful

(c.Rebekah Gardner, 2010)
You are beautiful
You were purchased with love
From a rugged wooden cross
God shed his blood and died once and for all
You are worth more than anything in this world
Yet daily we seem to live for other idols that are before
Don’t ever let anything or anyone change you
Our society is so corrupted with lies
And definitions of their so called, “beautiful”
Just remember who and whose you are
You belong to the King of Kings
And the Lord of Lords
He loves you so much
But he knows that you struggle with the deceptions of this world
See the world tells you that beauty is by outward adorns
That if you have the latest clothes and are just skin and bones
Then you are beautiful and accepted in this society alone
But will you every be skinny enough
When our magazines and TV’s find destructive humor
In messing people up
See the magazines say that you need to look a certain way
By displaying pictures with people’s weight
And brutal comments of disgust and hate
But when they’re smaller the next headline says
“Anorexia has now taken over”
So once, they gain weight and actually get healthy
The headline turns to a glamorized bold title saying
Look how much weight she has gained by sitting there just reading
Is she not going to her Jenny Craig Meetings?
Really people, have we lost our minds
We need to get off this ridiculous pendulum
Let people live their lives
There are more important things to fill the paper with
Like starving kids that are living in Africa and Haiti
Our world is uncertain and lost
They use every outward thing like looks and fame
To display a fake beauty titled game.
Beauty can be deceiving
When the world just says one more nip and tuck
Will make you look so hot
We look into magazines
And say, “I want to look like that”
Yet who really looks like an airbrushed attack.
Our world is reaching for something that is fake and a lie
An airbrushed face with no zit or wrinkle around the eye
No cellulite or fluff to be seen
The celebrity on the magazine
Doesn’t even recognize
Her own self in the latest seventeen
We are caught up in foolishness and waywardness
In a definition that is so distorted and in need of a full transformation
Let me tell you about beauty
Beauty is found in God alone
No procedure, clothes, money, or fame
Can every replace the Name above all Names
Let me tell you what beauty is
Beauty is helping the mother who just lost her son
To a rare but deadly form of cancer in the lung
Beauty is sharing the love of Christ
To the teenage girl who just found out
That she is due in March
Beauty is serving the people outside these four walls
And realizing we are no different than
The robber who just stole from the mall
Beauty is giving to a family in need
Who just recently lost their house?
To a harsh and deadly hurricane
Beauty is sharing about Gods love and mercy
To girls who are struggling with eating disorders
It’s realizing that your trial is going to be used
To help other girls just like you
Beauty is living a life for Christ
And realizing that we are adorned with beauty
In His sight
Beauty is different than everyone else see’s
They have no idea what beauty really means
You are beautiful in the eyes of Christ
Do not get lost in the world’s
Vanity, craving, searches for something more
Something that is only temporary
And will never fill your void
Jesus Christ is the one and only satisfier
Of every person’s life
Do not ever forget that He is everything that you need
When society says just one more
Will make you so pleased
He is so faithful and loves you so much
Your belongingness can only be found
Through the blood of Jesus Christ

For he gave everything including himself
So you would be filled
And made in the image of Him
With beauty that is found through
The one and only Jesus Christ!
You are beautiful!