I need your help

Oh life is happening! Each minute is being put to good use in my life. Tonight I stayed home to reboot emotionally and physically.


One of the most difficult gifts to have is the gift of empathy. To be able to take on the emotions of other people is exhausting and draining. I've been working diligently with a family to hopefully help them get back on the right track. The mother is emotionally and physically unstable with 4 kids living in her home. The home is a mess and they are always under constant stress and in constant conflict. Why would I keep trying to help? Because the Lord has called me to. I have no doubt that I will spend the rest of my life helping families like this one. It's exhausting dealing with families that are in constant crisis but someone needs to help, we can't just turn a shoulder because it's hard.But I'm again reminded of Romans 15:1-2 that says, "Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, 'How can I help?'"


So I'm asking those who are strong to help me if you can. This family's home is being foreclosed. They have to be out of the home by the end of November and have not found a place for them to move into. The mother is on a fixed income of about $1200 a month and has 4 kids. If anyone knows of a place in Hamilton County or North GA that establishes rent based on income, your information would be of GREAT help. I know the Lord has a home for this   family and I pray He brings it to them soon. He's already provided help when they move, so I have no doubt he's going to provide a home! Right now the family is struggling to see the light at the end of the tunnel and things seem to continue to get worse for them. If you don't know of anything that is fine, please just keep this family in your prayers and pray the Lord gives them their home soon.


I easily become overwhelmed because I try to do a lot on my own without asking for help. But as a Christian, we're suppose to work as a body and not take on every task by ourselves. That  is why I'm asking for your help. In 1 Corinthians 12:18-26 its says, "But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it.  How strange a body would be if it had only one part!  Yes, there are many parts, but only one body.  The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”
 In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad."


Even if your job is to pray, I want you to know that you are HONORED in that task. The Lord is going to bless this family and he will honor all those involved, whether it's through prayer or actions. 


Thanks you all for your prayers and help :-)

Unity.

 "Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope.  But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ. For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us.  He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us."
Ephesians 2:11-18


When I read this passage it made me sad. Here's Paul, writing about how Jesus was crucified and tortured so that everyone may have peace. Jesus suffered so that we could all work as one body together to serve him. The part that makes me sad is I don't see this happen very often in the christian community. We're too busy trying to convince people to come to this one particular church or this one particular denomination instead of helping one another as we discover who Christ has made us to be and how he's created us to serve him in a unique and marvelous way. Why don't different denominations unite with one another? Is it just me or does this passage state that Christ died so that we could have unity. Unity must be extremely important if Christ was willing to do what he did so that we may have it. It's just easy to let pride and interpretation to create barriers that do not benefit in furthering the kingdom of God. Success comes with unity. Jesus was right, it is important. Too bad we take advantage of our freedom and choose not to unite. Just imagine, if we all worked as one body like God intended us to. The results would be epic.

"Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act." Psalm 37:7

Today I had a break before class started. We have a new professor over the school counseling department and he has made an effort to take each school counseling student to lunch to get to know them better. So I had just had a wonderful lunch and was left with a little break. I was in the upstairs sitting area about to attempt my mid term exam for one of my classes when a fellow classmate of mine walked into the area. We have a class together but had never really talked. She walked up and introduced herself stating that she figured we would finally get to know each other since we have class together, plus I see her on campus pretty often. We ended up having along wonderful discussion! She's in the school counseling program too and has some very similar loves and passions as I do. It was really awesome to discuss many of our idea's and beliefs. One thing that she said that stuck out to me was how society tends to create systems that show instant results. No matter whether it's a social work system, school system, or any other type of system, we want the one that shows instant results. We were both in agreement that when working with humans and changes, there's no such thing as instant results (well, without the Lords help that is).

I've been reading Ezekiel before I go to bed at night as my nightly devotionals. It's one of those chapters in the bible that's really confusing and not fun to read, but I'm in a relationship with God and a part of being in a relationship is knowing everything about someone. After I read the few chapters tonight, I felt the Lord place on my heart to read Psalms 37. Once I got to verse 7 I was reminded of my conversation with my classmate earlier today and the Lord gave me some wisdom. Our society has caught the Willy Wonka girl syndrome. You know, the girl who "wants it and wants it now." But the thing is, that's not how God is and that is certainly not how he intended us to live. He'e constantly having to remind us to "be patient". I can't even begin to count how many time scripture says this. But patients is a foreign concept to us. We've become so adapted to instant results, that patients has become a lost art. I for one really struggle with this. I'm bad about wanting things instantly as well. But I'm growing to learn that this " I want it and want it now" is not of God. He has certainly not put this in us. Therefore, feeding into this is not being "Christ like" which is what he has called us to be (2 Cor. 2:15, Ephesians 4:15)

Looks like I need to find more ways to be "be still...... and wait patiently"

"If You are the sun then I wanna be the moon. I want to reflect the light that shines from You"

This weekend was fantastic! I got to spend much needed time with wonderful friends, see old friends, and made new friends. Therefore, this weekend was awesome!


I went to a conference in Athens on Saturday called "Love Life" with Mark Driscoll. It was REALLY good. To sum up the conference, it was about relationships and how God intended us to have relationship whether it's a dating relationship or a marriage. Courtney and I were not able to stay the whole time but I will highlight a few interesting things I learned.


1. Girls are talkers and Guys are doers- I've never really gave it much thought before how girls and guys build relationships differently. When girls hang out with one another, the night is filled with dinner and coffee and LOTS of talking. We are very content with this and this is how we build relationships with one another. Guys on the other hand tend not to spend their evening doing this, they tend to go play some kind of sport or go hiking. They build relationships by doing something rather than talking. Mark stated that it's important for guys to spend time talking with their girlfriends or wives because this is how women build relationship. Girls on the other hand need to be sure and do something with their boyfriends or husbands such as watching a football game with them or doing something with them that they enjoy because this is how they build relationships. It's definitely a two way street lady's and gents.


2. Friendship is key. In order to build a healthy relationship, it's important to build a friendship with your significant other. My mother has always told me that you need to marry someone who is your best friend, I've always agreed with her. It was really cool for Mark to talk about how the Bible backs up this theory in the Song of Solomon. He made a comment during his lecture that confused me, he stated that he had been married to his wife for 10 years before he found out she was a rape victim. I was so puzzled on how he could have dated her 5 years and been married 10 and had not known this. Later, he began to discuss how when relationships become physical it brings in different emotions into the relationship. The emotions that are brought in are not apart of the friendship building process. He later confessed that him and his wife were having sex before they were married, this made everything make sense. He stated that him and his wife struggled for the first 10 years of their marriage due to this decision, because they had not been able to build the friendship God had intended them to build first.


3. Confidence is attractive. When a christian man is confident enough to approach a woman and pursue her, woman finds this attractive. A woman also has great respect for a man who is willing to understand that she does not want to be pursued by him and gracefully and respectfully backs off. Not to mention that a women is more likely to recommend you to her friends if you're willing to respect her like this (just throwing that out there guys). I personally already knew this one, but I just thought I'd share it anyways :-)


Overall, it was a great weekend! I want to share a few verses I ran across in my quiet time. I think they might be encouraging and greatly needed for some people.


Love you all! :-)


"For no one is abandoned by the Lord forever.Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion because of the greatness of his unfailing love. For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow." Lamentations 3:31-33

"But I called on your name, Lord, from deep within the pit. You heard me when I cried, 'Listen to my pleading! Hear my cry for help!' Yes, you came when I called; you told me, 'Do not fear.' Lord, you are my lawyer! Plead my case! For you have redeemed my life." Lamentations 3:55-58