Trash Talk

Today I got the not so pleasurable experience of hearing a distressed over worked-under paid dining hall staff member lose her cool. I could tell it had been a long day for her, she works in our express dining hall, which operates like a coffee shop, smoothies and little snacks and such, and since it is the end of the semester, we are all trying to use all our meal swipes since we paid big money for those scrumptious meals (Oh, please hear the sarcasm there...) Anyways, she must have made about a thousand smoothies that day, and the order before me happened to be 3 strawberry banana smoothies. Conserving time, she of course made them in the same blender, and while pouring the rather full blender into the cups, she knocked one over spilling smoothie all over the counter, the cup, the floor, her, etc., and then proceeded to knock over the other cups spilling them too. Rather frustrated (as anyone would be) a large string of not-so-glamorous words came out of her mouth and not so quietly either. I proceeded to just kind of look away, when a little boy, about 5 years old caught my eye standing next to me. That little boy had clearly heard every word she had said.

I tell you this story not to condemn her, not to tell make fun of her, and definitely not to say I am in any way better than her. As a matter of fact (here's some honesty) I am a recovering trash talker. Somewhere along sophomore year of high school I picked up a sailor mouth from the people I surrounded myself with. I knew at the beginning that it was against my morals and the way I was raised to talk like that, but after a while of being exposed to it, it was the first response out of my mouth in any extreme emotion situation. And let me just tell you, it is a hard habit to break. I have to consciously think about it every minute of every day. I still have it a little bit, but I have been learning to control it, learning to honor God with every word that comes out of my mouth. And if my own desire to get rid of my sailor mouth didn't cut it, a kid that lives on my floor heard my language in one of my pure anger times and said these words to me: "And you call yourself a Christian?" In which I felt a slap across the face that is still stinging.

I have become really passionate about changing my ways. I do really well when I'm with people that love God, and I'm still working towards being able to control it when I'm with people that don't love God. Truth is, it's important in any conversation to control your tongue, not with just the people who you know will call you out on it. God desires your everything, and like I talked about in my previous post, He is worthy of being praised in every little thing we do. He is not being praised or honored in any way, shape, or form, when you are letting Satan control your tongue. And if you are truly in love with God, He will begin to convict you of the sins that bind you so that you may continue to fall deeper in Love with Him. And the even greater thing is, He still loves me, He's still by my side, He's still helping me cut the chains of my slavery to sin, and He's still teaching me to honor Him in all I do.

Do you have a sin that has chained you back so you cannot walk in the way of the everlasting?

If so, pray this prayer with me:

Dear Jesus,
Lord I thank you for who you are, for what you have done for me. God I thank you for dying on the cross so that you can erase the sins that I have in my life, Lord God. I don't deserve your mercy or grace. God I pray that you consume me with Your love, Lord God you show me that your love is enough. And I pray that you release me from *name sin here* that keeps me chained away from You. I pray that you forgive me for *name sin here*. Lord, I desire to know you more, love you more, and honor and praise You more, Lord God. But I can't do that with this binding sin lurking in my life. I pray that you carry me as I unlock the chains of my sin and follow You with my everything. God, I know that I can not seek you with this sin in my life. I am ready to drop it and follow you.

In Your Holy and Precious Name,
Amen

My Glorious

"God, is bigger than
the air I breathe,
the world we'll leave...
And God, will save the day
and all will say,
My glorious...."

I think I have a problem of always underestimating God's power. The fact that He is bigger than everything, everything big, everything small, everything. Every thought, every word, every sin, every good deed, every life, every love, every bad day, every good day.

I continue to find things to praise God for, and I feel like for a large part of my life, I've missed praising God for everything He does. We need to praise Him for everything, even in our bad times, because we know that in all things He is good.

God is glorious, He is YOUR glorious, your one true love, your romancer. He adores you. How does it make you feel to know that the God of the Universe, the God that is bigger than every thought, word, sin, good deed, life, love, bad days, good days, and much more, adores you? It makes me feel like a million dollars. I feel much better knowing I'm adored by God than I do when I know I'm adored by the world.

Love Him, Praise Him, Adore Him, Seek Him, Find Him, Cry out to Him, Sing for Him, Dance for Him, Love in Him, Laugh in Him, Live in Him....

And don't forget that you can praise God through anything and everything... Strive to not miss an opportunity to praise Him through your daily lives.

"O Praise Him, O Praise Him, He is holy, He is holy..."

Lead Me...

It's becoming more and more obvious to me everyday that God leads us in the direction He wants us to go. All we have to do is follow. I have seen so much come out of following His lead, like following His desire for me to join a bible study at school, that has provided my best friends, the people I confide in, the girls I fellowship with. You have a choice to follow Him or take your own path and I can guarantee your path will be a bumpy off road trail when God will lead you down a path surfaced with love, protection, romance, and beauty.

Which way are you turning? Towards the cross full of love pouring down? Or to your own path filled with darkness and despair?

God promises to be with you always, all you have to do is follow His lead.

Matthew 28:19-20
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of age."

Where is HE leading YOU?

10 Truths 1 Dare

I have had some pretty heavy realizations lately and I decided to share them with you for one, to share with you what God has laid on my heart and two, to remind myself of them so I can keep myself from making a stupid decision that I know is not good for me because of the choice I have made to follow God with everything I have.

So here is a list of truths that God is teaching me:

1. His love is BIG. And BIG is an understatement.
2. Mercy is one if His most beautiful gifts to us, however mercy doesn't mean you can continue making bad choices and saying God has mercy on me so I'll just do it again. Mercy is a gift not a right. (And we definitely don't deserve it)
3. Wisdom comes from the fear of the Lord. Fear of the Lord comes from loving the Lord, and by acknowledging His glory. He is a king, the king of all kings, the alpha and omega, the most powerful, acknowledge him as so. Fear his power, embrace His love and energetically seek out wisdom. (Proverbs 1:7)
4. I'll never understand the depth of God's unconditional love, but He loves you today, He loved you yesterday, and He'll love you tomorrow. Despite what you did on any of those days, and despite your feelings towards Him.
5. God will be with you through doubt. Yeah, you read that right. When you are doubting His existence or his power, He is with you. He is loving you. And He is longing for your return. Don't shut him out because you are afraid He won't love you because you are doubting.
6. Ministry can happen anywhere and everywhere. Confining it to a church or church-like ministry is only creating boundaries in your head that are not there. God will work everywhere... Are you willing to minister everywhere you are?
7. We often hold back on evangelizing because we are self centered, we are too afraid of what people think of us, or what people will say to us. Jesus died on the cross for us, He paid the ultimate price, and if we are as in love with Him as we say we are, we need to leave our pride in the closet. (Easier said than done, I know...)
8. "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who was in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) Enough said...
9. You have incredible worth in God. Looking for it other places will only disappoint you and fail you. Harsh, I know, but true in my life for sure. Seek God's love, seek to find your worth in Him. He created you uniquely, and loves every part of the masterpiece that He created. Why would you look to man to define your worth when you have a beautiful purpose in the Lord of all Lords?
10. This is a big one... I saved it for last for a reason. I'm learning this big right now... You are a city on a hill, a light in pure darkness. You have so much potential to change the world. Share his love. And the biggest way I'm learning to do that is to show God through my lifestyle. It's tough when you are a college student trying to establish your identity, but it's worth it to lose a few friends and to live the life God has called you to live. I'm working on it still...

Here's your dare:
Be REAL, be authentic, let God run your life, crawl into his arms and be at home, fear Him, seek wisdom and discretion, let go of sin and let your lifestyle become a light for Jesus, a city on a hill. AND download the song "Centuries" by Aaron Strumpel on itunes. One of my absolute favorite songs right now.

Proverbs 2:1-11
My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. Then you will understand what is right and just and fair - every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.

We Light Fire to the Dance Floor

This is a video of me and my bible study dancing, not perfected yet, but you can definitely see we are having a great time. I love these girls with all my heart, they have just made college so amazing. I'll have to post a video after the talent show on Monday with the full costumes and all. I had a blast tonight hanging with these lovely ladies. Enjoy the dance! Don't laugh too hard at us... :)

Draw Me Close

I find it incredible how when you feel like you can't get out of bed and deal with another day full of crap, when life throws more lemons than you feel like you can handle, you feel completely bonded by the sin that holds your life, and you feel completely worthless...God draws you closer to Him. He says I love you still. I loved you before, I love you now, and I'll love you after. And this thing called Grace that I still struggle to comprehend most days, is God's most beautiful gift to us.

And as it's snowing beautiful sparkling flakes of snow, and the moon is bright and full, and it's so cold you feel a chill to your bones but a warm spirit that remains, I hope you know that that is God showing His love for us through the beauty He creates. That's him up there saying "You, my dear daughter, you were worth it."

And with that, I hope your heart is full, I hope you are content with His love, and I hope you know you were worth it.

I need to work on that. I need to know I'm worth it. I need to understand the gift of grace and his unconditional everlasting beautiful love. And I need to know that no other person can fill that void in my hear that only God can fill. Only His precious love fits perfectly into that hole. And only He can lift the hurt from the past.

Let God be your one and only. I'm working on it... Erin and I had such a great talk about that tonight. Actually I had a great listen at God speaking beautifully through her. Let God romance you, let Him love you, and accept His love as the most precious gift you could ever receive, and with that, I'm going to go spend some time looking at the beautiful snow, and talking to a God who loves me despite my stupidity.

Let Him draw YOU close...
Goodnight my blessed friends, I'm praying for you.

Reminder of the Summit Simples

At the end of the summer I got the opportunity to go to the amazing Willow Creek Leadership Summit. At the end of the conference they gave a list of simple things you can do to further your leadership abilities and relationship with Jesus Christ. Here is the list, as a reminder. Whether you attended the summit or not, this is a practical list that can change your life and the world you live in. I haven't really been sticking with the list like I did in the beginning so this reminder is for me too. Enjoy. :)

1. Time with God, Everyday.
2. 30 Minutes a day of reading substantial books.
3. Review your plan for spiritual replenishment and the status of that plan.
4. Decide you are going to say Yes to God EVERY TIME He calls.
5. Forgiveness more Everyday.
6. Reconcile hurting relationships.
7. Use what you have to do God's work.
8. Instill your core values.
9. Remember your life matters... You have one life to do something great... To serve God... To fight for God.
10. Fight hard... What are you going to live for?

Which one do you struggle with the most?

I think for me it's number 4. Comment with your thoughts!