Hello fellow friends,
It is Thursday night, almost Friday. This week has FLOWN by! A lot has happened this week; I turned 24, I started my practicum for my program, I've learned a few Mandarin Chinese phrases, I've smiled a lot, I've had so many people share loving words to me, and as always the Lord has been nothing but good to me. The Lord continues to show his love through my family, friends, and myself. It makes me look forward to each new day and what it might have in store!
Last week the Lord opened my heart to a new insightful area of myself... discontentment. When recalling my life, I can recall many times where I was discontent. Sometimes the discontentments were minor, sometimes they were big. Either way, they have always been apart of my life. I recently read this verse, "To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away." Matthew 25:29 It really opened up my eyes to how discontentment can be a road block to the blessings the Lord has in store for me. Many times the Lord shares with us the promises he has for us. We get so excited and start looking forward to the GREAT things he has promised. So we wait..... and wait.... and wait. You finally begin to question what the Lord has promised. You think, "maybe it was too good to be true" or "I guess he really doesn't care that much for me", but look back at Matthew 25:29. Sometimes we have to cherish and find contentment exactly where the Lord has placed us. The Lord shares with us his promises at times because he wants us to know what he has in store for us, but he also wants us to learn how to be content with what we have. If we become content with little, he will give more. If we begin to look for more, he gives less.
It is my goal this year to have minimum discontentment and more contentment with my life no matter the circumstances. I'm going to trust God in what he promises to do when we make this kind of commitment.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Jumping, Alive, Running, and Religion
This blog will jump from one subject to the next. Each topic does not really relate to one another but this is really how my mind works, it's constantly jumps from one thought to the next. Welcome to my brain :-)
This weekend has been really nice. Worship Friday night and Sunday morning at Briarwood have been unexplainable. Scripture talks about how Jesus wants us to be united as one body in Him. I've never really known what this has felt like until worship Friday and Sunday. You can just feel the unity in the room and the things the Lord does interpersonally are unexplainable. You literally feel the chains that you have been carrying, the baggage you've created fall to the floor. I've left the building both times feeling 10lbs lighter (emotionally). It has been absolutely phenomenal. I welcome anyone who wants to come and experience this type of worship. I will warn you, it's not your typical church service, not even close to typical. I'm proud to say that I'm at a church that is ALIVE!
..:thought jump:..
Saturday night my family got together to celebrate my birthday and to also discuss our trip we are taking in February to Disney World! My mom is running their Princess half marathon and the rest of the family is running the Family 5k. It was kinda funny to listen to us talk about the 5k. My sister was talking about how she plans to walk/ run the whole thing, my brother had a specific time of how much he would walk/run, my stepdad was talking about running a steady pace........ what is my strategy you might ask? I DON'T HAVE ONE!! haahaahaahaa! I finally looked at my brother and was like, "My plan is to just do it. I'll run.... then walk when I'm tired of running." I know, I know, I've spent way too much thinking time on this plan :-) I just love how I really am the typical middle child in my family.
..:new thought:..
I recently saw a video on youtube that most of you have probably seen called, "Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus." I thought it was really awesome. But like most awesome things that speak a lot of truth and become popular, people begin to down it or try and correct what has been said. Sadly, it's most Christians who begin to criticize. Either way, Tullian Tchividjian wrote an article in response about comparing the gospel and religion. You can click here to read the article, it's pretty awesome. One of the things he posted in this article was comparisons between religion and the gospel that was written by Tim Kellar. I'm going to post them here because they are so GOOD. After I read these I really began to analyze my own actions. I began to realize that I easily fall into the definition of religion rather than the gospel. I hope these are as helpful to you as they were for me!
This weekend has been really nice. Worship Friday night and Sunday morning at Briarwood have been unexplainable. Scripture talks about how Jesus wants us to be united as one body in Him. I've never really known what this has felt like until worship Friday and Sunday. You can just feel the unity in the room and the things the Lord does interpersonally are unexplainable. You literally feel the chains that you have been carrying, the baggage you've created fall to the floor. I've left the building both times feeling 10lbs lighter (emotionally). It has been absolutely phenomenal. I welcome anyone who wants to come and experience this type of worship. I will warn you, it's not your typical church service, not even close to typical. I'm proud to say that I'm at a church that is ALIVE!
..:thought jump:..
Saturday night my family got together to celebrate my birthday and to also discuss our trip we are taking in February to Disney World! My mom is running their Princess half marathon and the rest of the family is running the Family 5k. It was kinda funny to listen to us talk about the 5k. My sister was talking about how she plans to walk/ run the whole thing, my brother had a specific time of how much he would walk/run, my stepdad was talking about running a steady pace........ what is my strategy you might ask? I DON'T HAVE ONE!! haahaahaahaa! I finally looked at my brother and was like, "My plan is to just do it. I'll run.... then walk when I'm tired of running." I know, I know, I've spent way too much thinking time on this plan :-) I just love how I really am the typical middle child in my family.
..:new thought:..
I recently saw a video on youtube that most of you have probably seen called, "Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus." I thought it was really awesome. But like most awesome things that speak a lot of truth and become popular, people begin to down it or try and correct what has been said. Sadly, it's most Christians who begin to criticize. Either way, Tullian Tchividjian wrote an article in response about comparing the gospel and religion. You can click here to read the article, it's pretty awesome. One of the things he posted in this article was comparisons between religion and the gospel that was written by Tim Kellar. I'm going to post them here because they are so GOOD. After I read these I really began to analyze my own actions. I began to realize that I easily fall into the definition of religion rather than the gospel. I hope these are as helpful to you as they were for me!
RELIGION: I obey-therefore I’m acceptedTHE GOSPEL: I’m accepted-therefore I obey.
RELIGION: Motivation is based on fear and insecurityTHE GOSPEL: Motivation is based on grateful joy.
RELIGION: I obey God in order to get things from GodTHE GOSPEL: I obey God to get to God-to delight and resemble Him.
RELIGION: When circumstances in my life go wrong, I am angry at God or my self, since I believe, like Job’s friends that anyone who is good deserves a comfortable lifeTHE GOSPEL: When circumstances in my life go wrong, I struggle but I know all my punishment fell on Jesus and that while he may allow this for my training, he will exercise his Fatherly love within my trial.
RELIGION: When I am criticized I am furious or devastated because it is critical that I think of myself as a ‘good person’. Threats to that self-image must be destroyed at all costsTHE GOSPEL: When I am criticized I struggle, but it is not critical for me to think of myself as a ‘good person.’ My identity is not built on my record or my performance but on God’s love for me in Christ. I can take criticism.
RELIGION: My prayer life consists largely of petition and it only heats up when I am in a time of need. My main purpose in prayer is control of the environmentTHE GOSPEL: My prayer life consists of generous stretches of praise and adoration. My main purpose is fellowship with Him.
RELIGION: My self-view swings between two poles. If and when I am living up to my standards, I feel confident, but then I am prone to be proud and unsympathetic to failing people. If and when I am not living up to standards, I feel insecure and inadequate. I’m not confident. I feel like a failure
THE GOSPEL: My self-view is not based on a view of my self as a moral achiever. In Christ I am “simul iustus et peccator”—simultaneously sinful and yet accepted in Christ. I am so bad he had to die for me and I am so loved he was glad to die for me. This leads me to deeper and deeper humility and confidence at the same time. Neither swaggering nor sniveling.
RELIGION: My identity and self-worth are based mainly on how hard I work. Or how moral I am, and so I must look down on those I perceive as lazy or immoral. I disdain and feel superior to ‘the other
THE GOSPEL: My identity and self-worth are centered on the one who died for His enemies, who was excluded from the city for me. I am saved by sheer grace. So I can’t look down on those who believe or practice something different from me. Only by grace I am what I am. I’ve no inner need to win arguments.
RELIGION: Since I look to my own pedigree or performance for my spiritual acceptability, my heart manufactures idols. It may be my talents, my moral record, my personal discipline, my social status, etc. I absolutely have to have them so they serve as my main hope, meaning, happiness, security, and significance, whatever I may say I believe about GodTHE GOSPEL: I have many good things in my life—family, work, spiritual disciplines, etc. But none of these good things are ultimate things to me. None of them are things I absolutely have to have, so there is a limit to how much anxiety, bitterness, and despondency they can inflict on me when they are threatened and lost.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
The poor wretch threw himself at the king's feet and begged, 'Give me a chance and I'll pay it all back.'
The past three days have been great. I've been doing some of my old habits of staying up until 1 or 2 in the morning and sleeping til 10:30, it's been so great! As of tomorrow my semester starts and I'll will be going non stop. The latest I'll get to sleep in this semester will be 8 and that's rarely going to happen. So I indulged in my guilty pleasure of staying up late and sleeping in. Now, I feel like going out and saving the world! :-)
The Lord has also used these couple of days to speak to me. Lately, my pastor at church has been preaching about showing compassion rather than condemnation. It's really cool how what has been placed on his heart to preach on the Lord continues by teaching me more about the subject in my study time during the week. Last night I was greatly convicted through a passage I read, Matthew 18:21-35. This is the story of the unforgiving debtor. The passage starts with Peter asking Jesus how often we are to forgive someone. He asked if we are to forgive seven times seven, Jesus replies with, "No, not seven times seven......... but seventy times seven." Jesus then tells a story that is as followed: "The kingdom of God is like a king who decided to square accounts with his servants. As he got under way, one servant was brought before him who had run up a debt of a hundred thousand dollars. He couldn't pay up, so the king ordered the man, along with his wife, children, and goods, to be auctioned off at the slave market.
The Lord has also used these couple of days to speak to me. Lately, my pastor at church has been preaching about showing compassion rather than condemnation. It's really cool how what has been placed on his heart to preach on the Lord continues by teaching me more about the subject in my study time during the week. Last night I was greatly convicted through a passage I read, Matthew 18:21-35. This is the story of the unforgiving debtor. The passage starts with Peter asking Jesus how often we are to forgive someone. He asked if we are to forgive seven times seven, Jesus replies with, "No, not seven times seven......... but seventy times seven." Jesus then tells a story that is as followed: "The kingdom of God is like a king who decided to square accounts with his servants. As he got under way, one servant was brought before him who had run up a debt of a hundred thousand dollars. He couldn't pay up, so the king ordered the man, along with his wife, children, and goods, to be auctioned off at the slave market.
"The poor wretch threw himself at the king's feet and begged, 'Give me a chance and I'll pay it all back.' Touched by his plea, the king let him off, erasing the debt.
"The servant was no sooner out of the room when he came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him ten dollars. He seized him by the throat and demanded, 'Pay up. Now!'
"The poor wretch threw himself down and begged, 'Give me a chance and I'll pay it all back.' But he wouldn't do it. He had him arrested and put in jail until the debt was paid. When the other servants saw this going on, they were outraged and brought a detailed report to the king.
"The king summoned the man and said, 'You evil servant! I forgave your entire debt when you begged me for mercy. Shouldn't you be compelled to be merciful to your fellow servant who asked for mercy?' The king was furious and put the screws to the man until he paid back his entire debt. And that's exactly what my Father in heaven is going to do to each one of you who doesn't forgive unconditionally anyone who asks for mercy." Matthew 18:23-25
This really reminded me of a few times when I came to God, on my knees, begging him to show me mercy and compassion despite the fact that I screwed up. I can honestly tell you that even though I still had minor obstacles to go through because of my choices, the Lord was faithful to show me mercy and to not give me the punishment that I rightfully earned. Then I KNOW I have shown others less mercy when they have done me wrong. I did not show them the same mercy and love that the Lord has shown me. This is exactly what the Lord says not to do. This passage just confirms that compassion and mercy is what the Lord wants us to give to others. If anything, we're going to be in bigger trouble by condemning rather than forgiving and showing compassion.
I'm not sure about you, but I think I'm going to try changing my focus and doing things a little differently.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
"Come Away With Me"
Oh I am LOVING this year already! The Lord brings a new blessing each and everyday! Seriously, each day I have witnessed the Lord bless someone or myself. Sometimes they are small but I'm drinking it all in!
27 But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here![c]”
28 Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.”
29 “Yes, come,” Jesus said.
So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the strong[d] wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted.
31 Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said.“Why did you doubt me?”
32 When they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped. 33 Then the disciples worshiped him. “You really are the Son of God!” they exclaimed.
34 After they had crossed the lake, they landed at Gennesaret. 35 When the people recognized Jesus, the news of his arrival spread quickly throughout the whole area, and soon people were bringing all their sick to be healed. 36 They begged him to let the sick touch at least the fringe of his robe, and all who touched him were healed."
Matthew 14:22-34
I love how the beginning of the passage starts out saying,"Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake.." (Matt.14:22). Jesus told his disciples to leave, knowing that they were going to be caught in a wind storm, but he still told them to go. Actually he insisted they go. Many times we find ourselves being called to go somewhere. The Lord has made his plan very clear and we are to follow it, but halfway on the journey we find ourselves in a storm, with no land in sight. So here you are, in the middle of this lake being tossed, turned, and struggling to find the energy to keep your boat from turning over. In this story it says in was 3am by the time Jesus appeared. You know these guys were feeling delirious from exhaustion at this point, so exhausted that they did not even recognize that it was Jesus walking towards them, they thought it was a ghost! But the cool part is that when he got to them he said, "Don't be afraid! Take courage, I am here!" What comfort this had to be for the men, you know they were scared out of their mind and they were ready for a break from the storm. But the Lord did not stop the storm immediately. Instead, Peter ask that if it is truly him, he will bid him to come out onto the water with him. So here's Peter stepping out of the boat (the only thing that was keeping them safe at the moment) and starts heading out into the raging waters! What faith this took to get out of the boat! I picture the other men looking at Peter thinking, "This man is crazy! Can't he see the raging waves? HE COULD DIE OUT THERE!" But despite what others thought, Peter stepped out of the boat. As he's walking towards Jesus, he becomes aware of what he's doing. He realizes he is out in a major wind storm with massive waves that could take his life in an instant and this is when he begins to sink. He calls out to the Lord and says "Save me Lord!" and the Lord comes and lifts him out of the water and says "“Why did you doubt me?”. I kinda picture Jesus saying this with a little giggle in his voice. It wasn't until Jesus grabbed Peter and got into the boat that the storm stopped. The disciples then continued on there journey and reached their destination and many were healed!
It's easy to think that when we are doing what we feel the Lord has called us to do and we find ourselves struggling we begin to doubt whether the Lord has really called us to go down this particular path or we begin to think about what we did wrong to cause all the struggle we are experiencing. This story teaches us that the Lord DOES send us down paths at times that have storms along the way. These storms are going to break us, make us lose all our energy, and maybe our sanity as well. But as in this story, Jesus WILL come and tell us " Don't be afraid. Take courage, I am here!" He then wants us to lose all doubt and get out of our comfort zone and come to him, despite how big the waves might look on the journey! One of my favorite parts in this story is how He shows us that even when we doubt, we will not drown, he will come save us! The end of this story is over looked too. In the end many were healed because the disciples did as the Lord told them and went where he told them to go.
Whatever your journey might look like, no matter the darkness or the struggles along the way, you will make it to dry land and fulfill whatever the Lord has called you to do. Learn from Peter and don't doubt, the Lord will not only take you back to the boat but he will also stop the storm and bring you to dry land. He will not abandon you! That is a promise.
And NO......... you did not do anything to cause the struggle you are going through if you are doing as the Lord has told you to do.
I send my love to you all!
I'm pretty pumped because in less than 2 week I'll be 24! I'm so excited because of a few reasons. Reason #1 I hate the number 23 because it's a prime number (I do not like any prime number. I know it's weird but it's true.) Reason #2 The Lord has not just promised blessings this year, but in particular once I turn 24. Good things have happened, but BETTER things are on it's way and I am PUMPED! :-)
Last week the Lord place a blessing on my heart that I want to share. It's about the story in Matthew 14 where Peter walks on water. This is an excellent passage that I've heard preached on several times but last week the Lord placed a greater meaning in my heart about this passage that I have never noticed before. Here's the story for you to read first:
"22 Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake, while he sent the people home. 23 After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone.
24 Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves. 25 About three o’clock in the morning[b] Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, “It’s a ghost!”27 But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here![c]”
28 Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.”
29 “Yes, come,” Jesus said.
So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the strong[d] wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted.
31 Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said.“Why did you doubt me?”
32 When they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped. 33 Then the disciples worshiped him. “You really are the Son of God!” they exclaimed.
34 After they had crossed the lake, they landed at Gennesaret. 35 When the people recognized Jesus, the news of his arrival spread quickly throughout the whole area, and soon people were bringing all their sick to be healed. 36 They begged him to let the sick touch at least the fringe of his robe, and all who touched him were healed."
Matthew 14:22-34
I love how the beginning of the passage starts out saying,"Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake.." (Matt.14:22). Jesus told his disciples to leave, knowing that they were going to be caught in a wind storm, but he still told them to go. Actually he insisted they go. Many times we find ourselves being called to go somewhere. The Lord has made his plan very clear and we are to follow it, but halfway on the journey we find ourselves in a storm, with no land in sight. So here you are, in the middle of this lake being tossed, turned, and struggling to find the energy to keep your boat from turning over. In this story it says in was 3am by the time Jesus appeared. You know these guys were feeling delirious from exhaustion at this point, so exhausted that they did not even recognize that it was Jesus walking towards them, they thought it was a ghost! But the cool part is that when he got to them he said, "Don't be afraid! Take courage, I am here!" What comfort this had to be for the men, you know they were scared out of their mind and they were ready for a break from the storm. But the Lord did not stop the storm immediately. Instead, Peter ask that if it is truly him, he will bid him to come out onto the water with him. So here's Peter stepping out of the boat (the only thing that was keeping them safe at the moment) and starts heading out into the raging waters! What faith this took to get out of the boat! I picture the other men looking at Peter thinking, "This man is crazy! Can't he see the raging waves? HE COULD DIE OUT THERE!" But despite what others thought, Peter stepped out of the boat. As he's walking towards Jesus, he becomes aware of what he's doing. He realizes he is out in a major wind storm with massive waves that could take his life in an instant and this is when he begins to sink. He calls out to the Lord and says "Save me Lord!" and the Lord comes and lifts him out of the water and says "“Why did you doubt me?”. I kinda picture Jesus saying this with a little giggle in his voice. It wasn't until Jesus grabbed Peter and got into the boat that the storm stopped. The disciples then continued on there journey and reached their destination and many were healed!
It's easy to think that when we are doing what we feel the Lord has called us to do and we find ourselves struggling we begin to doubt whether the Lord has really called us to go down this particular path or we begin to think about what we did wrong to cause all the struggle we are experiencing. This story teaches us that the Lord DOES send us down paths at times that have storms along the way. These storms are going to break us, make us lose all our energy, and maybe our sanity as well. But as in this story, Jesus WILL come and tell us " Don't be afraid. Take courage, I am here!" He then wants us to lose all doubt and get out of our comfort zone and come to him, despite how big the waves might look on the journey! One of my favorite parts in this story is how He shows us that even when we doubt, we will not drown, he will come save us! The end of this story is over looked too. In the end many were healed because the disciples did as the Lord told them and went where he told them to go.
Whatever your journey might look like, no matter the darkness or the struggles along the way, you will make it to dry land and fulfill whatever the Lord has called you to do. Learn from Peter and don't doubt, the Lord will not only take you back to the boat but he will also stop the storm and bring you to dry land. He will not abandon you! That is a promise.
And NO......... you did not do anything to cause the struggle you are going through if you are doing as the Lord has told you to do.
I send my love to you all!
Monday, January 2, 2012
"Baby, I'm a dreamer for sure."
Happy New Year!
I have been patiently awaiting this year to arrive. God has promised to make things new this year and pour out his blessings. I have been so ready for this to happen! The amazing thing is yesterday was the first day of the year and God has already begun to do what he has promised!
A few weeks ago, the Lord placed on my heart to do something in the community on Christmas. Everything fell into place to help with a homeless ministry on Christmas day. I had enough people volunteer to help and to provide a nice meal for 80+ people. Then they had a change of plans and the date was changed to January 1st. So yesterday, with help from many friends and family, we were able to go help with the homeless ministry and provide a lasagna meal for the homeless.
Now I want to rewind to Christmas Eve night. I had just gotten home from spending Christmas with my Dad. I was getting my room organized and the Lord convicted me on the amount of clothes I had in my closet. I noticed that I hand almost 6 coats and MANY shirts that I don't even wear. I knew I would probably get more for Christmas so I decided to clean out my closet of all the clothes I have not worn this winter season. I filled up an x-large Christmas bag with all the clothes and coats that I decided to get rid of. After Christmas, I had enough money to buy a pair of brown boots I had been eyeing for a couple of months now. So I bought some new boots and decided to throw my other boots into my give away pile.
Now lets return to yesterday evening. As I was preparing to go provide dinner, I felt I needed to take my bag of clothes that I was going to give away. I have worked with the homeless before and it's population is usually of men and older women. I remember thinking "there probably won't be anyone who could fit into these clothes", but I felt that I needed to bring the bag with me anyways. I get to the church and enjoyed every minute of talking and serving this wonderful group of people. Near the end a man I go to church with came to me and told me that their was a family who have NO food for the week and asked if we had left over lasagna to give to them so they will have food during the week. We had one HUGE pan and another large pan of lasagna left over plus a bag of rolls, a few cupcakes, and salad that we could give to the family. The family was hispanic and had a translator to help them out. The translator came into the kitchen and thanked us for the extra food. After we fixed at least 16 togo boxes for the other members their (so cool how God provides the right amount of food), we walked out into the hallway where the hispanic family was. They thanked us for our help and then I joined the service that was taking place. I went into the room and sat down and realized that there was a girl who looked like she was in high school and was about my size. Then it hit me that she was who the clothes were for! I jumped up out of my seat and went looking for the family. I couldn't find them, so I went to find one of the guys I go to church with to see if he knew where they were. He told me they were still in the church so I told him about the large bag of clothes I had and was wanting to see if the girl in this family needed them. He took the bag of clothes and went out to find them. I stayed and enjoyed the service. In the middle of the service, the guy I gave the clothes to walk back in. He sat behind me and told me that in that family there were two girls. The older one is usually the one who gets a lot of clothes donated to her and the younger one (the one who I think is in high school) struggles to have enough clothes. The family told him that it was a God thing that I brought the clothes because she was in desperate need of them and she was especially in need of the boots! As I sat through the rest of the service tears began to fill my eyes. The Lord allowed me to be apart of him blessing someone. I was SO excited!
This year is going to be full of blessings. Last night showed me that even though God will bless me individually, he's also going to use me to be apart of the blessings he's going to pour out onto others. I'm more excited about this than I am about receiving my own blessings!
Now, day 2 into the New Year. I show up at work to help with a camp. I show up to work and after 30 mins of waiting, I find out the camp is cancelled. One of the sweetest ladies I work with who is the Early Childhood Manager, told my manager that I was up and showered for work and that I needed to work. So instead of sending me home, I worked with Lu all day doing little projects and observing another program they have have the museum called Play Gym. It was such a fun and easy day PLUS I got paid time and half for it! Day 2 in and the Lord has given another blessing! Also, my window is now fixed and my wonderful dad has offered to pay for it. Yet, another blessing is poured onto me!
Tomorrow is day 3 and I am SO EXCITED to see what else the Lord has in store, not to mention the other 362 days this year!
By the way, the ministry we went to help with is through pastor Barry Kidwell. He preaches and works with the homeless every week and has a service for them at First Centenary Methodist Church on Sunday nights. They are always needing people to volunteer to provide dinner on Sunday nights. If you or your church family would like to help, please contact me and I'll give you the name and number of the lady who sets the dinners up. Trust me, it was a wonderful experience and the Lord is doing GREAT things with this ministry. Let me know if you'd like to help!
Happy New Year Everyone! And may God pour out his blessings on each and everyone of you!
I have been patiently awaiting this year to arrive. God has promised to make things new this year and pour out his blessings. I have been so ready for this to happen! The amazing thing is yesterday was the first day of the year and God has already begun to do what he has promised!
A few weeks ago, the Lord placed on my heart to do something in the community on Christmas. Everything fell into place to help with a homeless ministry on Christmas day. I had enough people volunteer to help and to provide a nice meal for 80+ people. Then they had a change of plans and the date was changed to January 1st. So yesterday, with help from many friends and family, we were able to go help with the homeless ministry and provide a lasagna meal for the homeless.
Now I want to rewind to Christmas Eve night. I had just gotten home from spending Christmas with my Dad. I was getting my room organized and the Lord convicted me on the amount of clothes I had in my closet. I noticed that I hand almost 6 coats and MANY shirts that I don't even wear. I knew I would probably get more for Christmas so I decided to clean out my closet of all the clothes I have not worn this winter season. I filled up an x-large Christmas bag with all the clothes and coats that I decided to get rid of. After Christmas, I had enough money to buy a pair of brown boots I had been eyeing for a couple of months now. So I bought some new boots and decided to throw my other boots into my give away pile.
Now lets return to yesterday evening. As I was preparing to go provide dinner, I felt I needed to take my bag of clothes that I was going to give away. I have worked with the homeless before and it's population is usually of men and older women. I remember thinking "there probably won't be anyone who could fit into these clothes", but I felt that I needed to bring the bag with me anyways. I get to the church and enjoyed every minute of talking and serving this wonderful group of people. Near the end a man I go to church with came to me and told me that their was a family who have NO food for the week and asked if we had left over lasagna to give to them so they will have food during the week. We had one HUGE pan and another large pan of lasagna left over plus a bag of rolls, a few cupcakes, and salad that we could give to the family. The family was hispanic and had a translator to help them out. The translator came into the kitchen and thanked us for the extra food. After we fixed at least 16 togo boxes for the other members their (so cool how God provides the right amount of food), we walked out into the hallway where the hispanic family was. They thanked us for our help and then I joined the service that was taking place. I went into the room and sat down and realized that there was a girl who looked like she was in high school and was about my size. Then it hit me that she was who the clothes were for! I jumped up out of my seat and went looking for the family. I couldn't find them, so I went to find one of the guys I go to church with to see if he knew where they were. He told me they were still in the church so I told him about the large bag of clothes I had and was wanting to see if the girl in this family needed them. He took the bag of clothes and went out to find them. I stayed and enjoyed the service. In the middle of the service, the guy I gave the clothes to walk back in. He sat behind me and told me that in that family there were two girls. The older one is usually the one who gets a lot of clothes donated to her and the younger one (the one who I think is in high school) struggles to have enough clothes. The family told him that it was a God thing that I brought the clothes because she was in desperate need of them and she was especially in need of the boots! As I sat through the rest of the service tears began to fill my eyes. The Lord allowed me to be apart of him blessing someone. I was SO excited!
This year is going to be full of blessings. Last night showed me that even though God will bless me individually, he's also going to use me to be apart of the blessings he's going to pour out onto others. I'm more excited about this than I am about receiving my own blessings!
Now, day 2 into the New Year. I show up at work to help with a camp. I show up to work and after 30 mins of waiting, I find out the camp is cancelled. One of the sweetest ladies I work with who is the Early Childhood Manager, told my manager that I was up and showered for work and that I needed to work. So instead of sending me home, I worked with Lu all day doing little projects and observing another program they have have the museum called Play Gym. It was such a fun and easy day PLUS I got paid time and half for it! Day 2 in and the Lord has given another blessing! Also, my window is now fixed and my wonderful dad has offered to pay for it. Yet, another blessing is poured onto me!
Tomorrow is day 3 and I am SO EXCITED to see what else the Lord has in store, not to mention the other 362 days this year!
By the way, the ministry we went to help with is through pastor Barry Kidwell. He preaches and works with the homeless every week and has a service for them at First Centenary Methodist Church on Sunday nights. They are always needing people to volunteer to provide dinner on Sunday nights. If you or your church family would like to help, please contact me and I'll give you the name and number of the lady who sets the dinners up. Trust me, it was a wonderful experience and the Lord is doing GREAT things with this ministry. Let me know if you'd like to help!
Happy New Year Everyone! And may God pour out his blessings on each and everyone of you!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Whose the movie really about?
This week started out good. I slept in Monday morning, got all my Christmas shopping done, and had dinner with a good friend. I was feeling pretty good and was looking forward to the rest of the week. Then Monday night as I was working on some of the Christmas gift I had bought, I started feeling weird. I figured I hadn't drank enough water that day (sometimes if I get caught up doing things I'll forget to drink something) so I got myself a class of water. After I got the glass of water I still wasn't feeling too hot. By 9 o'clock I had a bad feeling about this sick feeling that had hit me and my bad feeling was correct. Close to 10 o'clock I met the toilet in the one way we all don't like to meet it. I continued to get sick all the way until 4 in the morning. I haven't thrown up or had a stomach bug since my sophomore year in high school but I'm pretty sure I made up for all that lost time within those 6 hours. I was absolutely miserable. The next day I thought I was feeling better but as the day went on I gained a mild fever and my stomach felt as if someone had hit it at least 10 x's. It's funny how your week can change so quickly. I also realized how much I take for granted my health. When my health is not together, I'm not together. Lesson learned about my character (funny how you never seem to stop learning new things about yourself).
Thankfully, I'm feeling much better. I can keep food and liquids down, I just have to eat bland foods, therefore my diet has consisted of Jello and crackers.
I've been meaning to blog lately about something I've been struggling with. I've been struggling with the concept that ultimately, everything is about God and everything we do needs to glorify him. I haven't doubted this and I believe it is true, but I've struggled with how to live that out. How do I prepare myself mentally for this kind of commitment? How does this work? What does this look like? How do I know I'm living a life that glorifies Him? The one scripture that I've read that really got me thinking and to be honest with you, scares me to death is Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’" Just the thought that in the end the Lord would say, "I never knew you" terrifies me! We can follow what we believe is the right way of doing something or we can use the name of Jesus to help other people, but if we don't do His will, He will say he never knew us. Really, just the thought of this shakes me to my core.
If you read scripture, God's ultimate will is for us to bring him glory. So this leads me back to my question... How do I do that? For starters, I know I have to be willing to let go of a lot of things. I can't physically tell you what those things are, but my spirit knows what they are. If I knew how to word it I would, but I don't, I just kinda know what that means for me. But to help myself gain a better mental picture of the situation I feel like the Lord placed an analogy in my head to help better understand what he means (you might think this is a crazy idea that the Lord would give me this kind of analogy but hey, Jesus spoke in parables the majority of time in scripture, in ways that helped the people at the time understand. Why wouldn't he do that for us now?) I pictured this much like a movie and we've been asked to be apart of this movie. After the movie has been filmed you go and tell EVERYONE about the movie. Of course you mention that you got to be apart of the movie. You're not the main character, you're not even a side character. You're just an extra, that just might show up in the background of a scene. So, as you're telling people about the movie, you're not just talking about your 5 second appearance (though of course your going to mention the experience and the excitement of it) you're talking about the over all impact of the movie and the message the story is telling. Therefore, you encourage people to see the movie, not just because your in it, but because you know that it could change their life forever.
We've been asked to be apart of God's movie. He wants all of us in it. We might be an extra, the sounds person, the costume designer, or any other part that helps make the movie happen but despite your part, you're mostly talking about the purpose of the movie. When we find ourselves focusing more about the purpose of the movie and not on our little part in the movie, that's when we're living to glorify him. If you ever watch the credits in the movie, many people are apart of making the movie happen, but when a movie wins an award only one or two people are recognized instead naming and bringing every single person who was involved to accept the award and you know what..... there has yet to be an out cry or an uproar made my anyone (the extra person, the costume designer, etc) that they were not verbally recognized when the movie they were apart of was given an award. You wanna know why? because they knew that the movie was not about them.
I guess it's about time that we wake up and realize that this life is not about us but it's totally worth living for the main purpose of it all.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Passion Killers
I am a passionate person. When I believe in something or I love something, my passion is easily displayed through conversations or actions. I'm not trying to toot my own horn, I'm just sharing what has been told to me by multiple people. It makes me very happy that people are able to feel my passion because when I am passionate, I don't want to keep it to myself. I want everyone in the WORLD to know how I feel. But there's one thing that can happen to passionate people, they can lose their passion by being around, what I call, passion killers. It's not a particular type of person, personality type, or individual. It's more of a group of people. Now it's not a group of people who you are around most of the time, it can be one group plus another group that triggers the passion killing. I hope your following what I'm trying to say here. I'm not judging anyone or any group because no one sets out to kill people's dreams (well unless you have a personality disorder which is only like 5% of the population so no need to worry about running into these types of people on a daily bases). What I'm trying to communicate is that if you are with a group of people who each time you hang out with them, aspiring dreams are never discussed or as a group you never plan to work together to support a members dreams, you are unknowingly becoming a passion killer to someone.
It's funny how this struck me. Like I said before, I'm a very passionate person and I tend to feel passion a lot but lately it's been something I've struggled with. The majority of the problem is spiritual. My passion is the one thing that satan is always trying to trip me up on. But I believe we have a choice and need to be aware of some of the enemies tactics. The other day I was in my non-profit class. Our assignment in the class was to create our own non-profit project and present it to the class. Tuesday I was in class listening to some of my colleagues present their dreams and passions. I cannot tell you how refreshing it was to be amongst people talking about something they are passionate about. It changed the atmosphere in the room. After I left class, I spent half of my trip back home in tears because I was heart broken that I'm rarely in an environment like that. It has become so rare to be in a social setting where you can be vulnerable enough to express your passion and even if your brave enough to do it a lot of the times you get little or no response, therefore your passion that you have just expressed is left to wither instead of grow. This really makes me sad. My theory behind this is that most relationships with people are superficial. Sadly, some of the most superficial relationships are with people you calls friends or even a best friend. The other day I was on pinterest (such a baaad addiction!) and I found a quote that said, "The average person tells 4 lies a day or 1460 a year; a total of 87,600 by the age of 60. And the most common lie is: I'm Fine." And you want to know where my first thought went to after I read this, was church. I can't tell you how many times I walked into the church doors and I was no where close to being OK or fine but when I was asked "How are you?" my response was, "I'm fine". Its so refreshing to finally be at a church where this is no longer a problem.
Oh! If you only knew how much this hurts my heart! I would give anything to smack the enemy in the face for messing up relationships the way he does. I've met multiple people who are so wonderful and so full of life, yet they are crawled up into the lie of "I'm fine", when in reality, I know they are about to explode on the inside. But, the sad reality is that when we are in a social setting our passion, our true feelings, our true selves are murdered and we are all guilty in some form or fashion. And trust me, I am guilty as charged. To be real is so foreign. I feel so blessed because I know people who are passionate and anytime I bring up something I'm passionate about they feed off of it, helping my passion to grow. Then, as they share their passion with me, I feed off their passion, and it also helps my passion to grow.
I don't want to be afraid to be real anymore. God created me in his image, therefore I have some of his qualities and I want to let those qualities shine, whether someone likes them or not. I don't want to feel numb to the passion the Lord has given me, I want to set it on FIRE! And I hope I can do the same for others, in whatever they are passionate about.
It's funny how this struck me. Like I said before, I'm a very passionate person and I tend to feel passion a lot but lately it's been something I've struggled with. The majority of the problem is spiritual. My passion is the one thing that satan is always trying to trip me up on. But I believe we have a choice and need to be aware of some of the enemies tactics. The other day I was in my non-profit class. Our assignment in the class was to create our own non-profit project and present it to the class. Tuesday I was in class listening to some of my colleagues present their dreams and passions. I cannot tell you how refreshing it was to be amongst people talking about something they are passionate about. It changed the atmosphere in the room. After I left class, I spent half of my trip back home in tears because I was heart broken that I'm rarely in an environment like that. It has become so rare to be in a social setting where you can be vulnerable enough to express your passion and even if your brave enough to do it a lot of the times you get little or no response, therefore your passion that you have just expressed is left to wither instead of grow. This really makes me sad. My theory behind this is that most relationships with people are superficial. Sadly, some of the most superficial relationships are with people you calls friends or even a best friend. The other day I was on pinterest (such a baaad addiction!) and I found a quote that said, "The average person tells 4 lies a day or 1460 a year; a total of 87,600 by the age of 60. And the most common lie is: I'm Fine." And you want to know where my first thought went to after I read this, was church. I can't tell you how many times I walked into the church doors and I was no where close to being OK or fine but when I was asked "How are you?" my response was, "I'm fine". Its so refreshing to finally be at a church where this is no longer a problem.
Oh! If you only knew how much this hurts my heart! I would give anything to smack the enemy in the face for messing up relationships the way he does. I've met multiple people who are so wonderful and so full of life, yet they are crawled up into the lie of "I'm fine", when in reality, I know they are about to explode on the inside. But, the sad reality is that when we are in a social setting our passion, our true feelings, our true selves are murdered and we are all guilty in some form or fashion. And trust me, I am guilty as charged. To be real is so foreign. I feel so blessed because I know people who are passionate and anytime I bring up something I'm passionate about they feed off of it, helping my passion to grow. Then, as they share their passion with me, I feed off their passion, and it also helps my passion to grow.
I don't want to be afraid to be real anymore. God created me in his image, therefore I have some of his qualities and I want to let those qualities shine, whether someone likes them or not. I don't want to feel numb to the passion the Lord has given me, I want to set it on FIRE! And I hope I can do the same for others, in whatever they are passionate about.
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