After the rain...

Today as I was leaving WalMart, after there had been a brief rain, I looked in front of me and there was a gorgeuos double rainbow. I wish I had a camera with me to capture the beautiful moment. But as I stared at the rainbow and thanked the Lord that I could experience His creation, I was reminded of the story of Noah and that that rainbow was a promise. I felt such a peace and joy knowing that.

Through His word, the Lord has made many promises. And He has and will keep every one of them. He knows what is best for our life. Even when we forget that truth. His promises are trustworthy. We can believe what He says.

I was reminded of a something a friend/mentor of mine told me. When she was going through a really hard time in her life, she constantly reminded herself of this simple, yet complex truth; "God is good and He does what is right for His children".

And with that in mind, we can have peace.

It's been awhile...

When I last blogged, I was in Daytona Beach for a youth retreat. That was about a month and a half ago. I feel like the only right thing to do is blog again. There's not a whole lot going on in my life right now. I started my elementary education program through USF. So far I really enjoy it. I am praying that I will do a good job and that I can find people in my class to connect with and spend time with. I am also really excited because I get the opportunity to intern in a second grade classroom at one of the local elementary schools. The teacher I was paired with is really good at what she does and was very kind to me. I think it will be a good year.

My brother moved out last week to go to the same Bible Institute I attended two years ago. It seems so weird that it was two years ago for me. I love and miss everyone from that year. They all meant more to me than they could ever know. The site coordinators from that Bible school are also so dear to me. I love them both and I am so enjoying the time I get to spend with them. A few of my best friends moved away recently and/or went back to college after this summer. I will miss them all and hope to see them soon.

It is so awesome and amazing to me that the Lord brings people into your life, maybe only for a short season and they can impact you so positively and importantly. I am thinking in particular of the eleven people that I have been missing so much since my brother went to the Bible Institute. It is neat for me to watch as the new GCBI class is already growing as one unit, but also it makes me think of my year and the eleven people who are never far from my mind. It is so amazing that the Lord is using each of them in a different way. Two were married and are traveling around ministering to people through music and God's Word, one is in Peru planting churches, two are at a ministry center in a big city, some of us are attending college and pursuing what God has called us to do, and one is moving onto something that the Lord has laid heavy on his heart. I am so encouraged by the bond we developed in that one year and I love them all. I also think of the girls that I got to know well from last year's GCBI class and also the lovely women I got to meet from camp.

The Lord is moving in so many places and I am so excited to know that I can encourage and pray for people as they continue in their journey with Christ. It amazes me that there are people all over, working for God's Kingdom and we are all connected through Him. What a lovely thought!

Camp 2010

I am currently in Daytona Beach with a handful of students from my youth group. And I am tired and need to sleep soon, but I really want to write about camp while it is still in my mind.

This summer was great. Again, my friend and I counseled at the summer camp we were at last summer. Again, we had a great time there. I know for me, I didn't really have that much trouble with any of my girls. My co-counselors were awesome and I really enjoyed all the girls I had. Background info: Every night, in our cabins, we have devotionals. I love these times. They are a time to reflect, to create unity in the cabin, and to simply talk to the girls about God's love for them. One thing I struggled with for my first three weeks was that none of my cabins wanted to talk about spiritual things at that time. I prayed for it and hoped so much that the girls would open up. It never happened for the first three weeks. To be honest, I got a little discouraged and talked to my co-counselors about it. The whole time, I kept praying for God to use me and thinking that maybe His plan was to use our time together as a "fencepost" as Connie says. Fourth week comes: 3 of the girls in my cabin accepted Christ for the first time! I was so excited. I even got to pray with one of them. It was all worth it. Everything that I did this summer was worth it. I wouldn't trade a hundred spiritual conversations for that experience. I am so stoked about this past summer and all that I was able to see God do in my girls' lives.

*Thank you Lord for using me in spite of myself and my own wants. You know what is best for my life and what was best for my camp experience. Thank you for your love. Heavenly Father, You always amaze me.*

* Sunday School *

Today at church, Ryan went over Psalm 27 in Sunday School. He talked about how we need to focus on the Lord instead of focusing on our problem or the size of an issue. One of his main points was that we need to be in a "perpetual state of worship". The Psalm is such a neat one. It opens up with David expressing to God how much he needs Him and characteristics of our Heavenly Father. What was really cool was that some of the principles Ryan pulled out were the same as what Pastor Randy was talking about in first service.

One of the principles that I love is that when we don't understand God's ways, we have to fall back on His character. It is so true. It makes me think of the verses in Psalm 73. "Whom have I in heaven but You? I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." When tough times come into our lives we need to focus on who God is. We need to look at what He's done in our lives and the lives of others and know that He is good. I know that it's easy for me to sit here and write this blog about hard times and pain because looking back on my life, I know I haven't experienced anything in comparison to some of my fellow believers. But I want to be able to look at this later when I do have major trouble and see that God is faithful. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

And heart abandoned...

I really love the song by Hillsong United, the Stand. The lyrics are so powerful. One line says, "You stood before my failure and carried the cross for my shame". Jesus looked at my sin and gladly bore it. He sacrificed Himself and died on a cross all so that I would be able to have a relationship with Him. One of the next lines says, "So what can I say, what can I do? But offer this heart O God, completely to You". Because of His love and sacrifice, I have to make a choice. Because He acted in love I must surrender my life and will to Him. The song explains salvation and God's grace so beautifully.

My favorite lyrics are at the end though. "So I'll stand, with arms high and heart abandoned; in awe of the One who gave it all. I'll stand, my soul Lord to You surrendered, all I am is Yours." That's it. I will stand, now and forever in awe of my Lord. He gave it all. He gave His power and life so He could come to earth and die for me. Therefore, I will stand against opposition and forever stand before the Lord with my heart abandoned and in awe. It's all about surrender. It is all about my choice to respond to the grace that God has offered. All I am is His.

9 random facts about me.

This post is not witty or clever. Which both of those things are good to include when writing a blog post. Just random things about me, some serious and others not so serious.

1. Currently, at this moment in time, I am sick. Bah!

2. I hate conflict!! I think that sentence deserves another exclamation point. I am one of those, ignore the problem and it will go away type people.

3. My laptop, Rose is starting to act up again. This is no good.

4. I need to pray more. After I write this, I will do just that. I would also like it, if you, my friends would give me things I could be praying for you about. I don't want it to be all about me.

5. I am going to breakfast tomorrow with 3 of my good friends and my best friend's boyfriend. Yay!

6. I love children, I want whatever I do in life to involve them. I want to teach them, I want them to learn from me: knowledge and life skills too.

7. I work with the youth group at my church. I am always encouraged by the energy of the youth and each week I am excited to watch as they learn from God's Word.

8. My favorite food is spaghetti...it has been since I was a little girl. I bet you really don't care, but I needed a number 8.

9. I want you, through reading my blog to know the Creator, my God. I am not perfect. I am just another sinner, saved by grace. And this blog means nothing if it doesn't point you to my Lord.

There are my random facts. The last one is the most important though. Have a good night all.

Success

I had to write an essay about how I defined success in one of my college classes. I am going to post the essay because I felt that it really showed what I am striving towards, and sometimes what I am failing at. It is kind of long, so if you don't read it, I won't be offended.

How do I define success? That is a hard question. One definition of success, according to dictionary.com, is the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like. To me, success is so much more than that. Success is more than monetary gain or power. Success for me is based on what my God says success in life is. Everything I need to know about success in this life is found in God’s Word. I spent my first year after high school at the Great Commission Bible Institute. I am not an expert or scholar, but I do know the importance of living for my Savior. Success to me is the same as the Biblical definition of peace. Peace literally means the ability to lay your head on your pillow at night knowing that all is as it should be. That is success; to lay my head on my pillow and know that I have done everything that day to please my Lord.

Success doesn’t have to be a long term goal. A person can have success in their everyday life. For a mother, she can succeed by nurturing her children and protecting them from any outside influence that shouldn’t be permitted in her children’s lives. For a college student like me, success can be doing my best in school, paying attention to the people in authority in my life, and by keeping my heart and mind pure throughout my day. For a pastor, success can be shepherding the members of the church and taking his responsibilities seriously. Everyone has the opportunity to succeed. Success is very much about our choices.

Success can be determined somewhat by the choices we make. Little decisions we make can have a long term effect on our lives. By making the hard choices now, in the long run we can actually create “a pattern for success.” When we make right choices now, we can continue making good choices in the future. Success is more attainable when we make choices that will have a positive effect on our lives and also the way we define success.

As I said earlier, success to me is about the same as the Biblical definition as peace. In order to achieve this peace it is important for me to start the day by acknowledging my life is not about me. My life should be all about pointing other people to my Lord. When I do something kind or right, it should be to show people Who I live for. I don’t think that success is just a feeling or an award or job that you get. Success can be about an outside acknowledgement, but I think that success is so much more about meeting a personal goal or living out a belief or value.

As I also said in my introduction, success to me is pleasing my God. I have a personal Savior who gave His life for mine. He sacrificed Himself in order to have a relationship with me. So, when I choose to live my life for Him I am choosing to see life as He says it is. When I do this, I see success as what He wants my life to be.

I don’t want it to seem like I don’t have goals or that success is a vague feeling. I do have specific things in my life that I want to achieve. I want to go to college and finish my education responsibly and well. I want to be a teacher and I know that this is a desire that the Lord has placed in my life. I want to get married, have kids, and become the type of successful mother that I described earlier. All of these desires and goals are just one of the ways that I can define success in my life. I know that not all of this may be possible and some of my longings may change, but I know that as long as I am following God’s will for my life, I will succeed overall.

Success isn’t easy. Success takes work and a lot of deliberate action. It may take years for me to achieve and to perfect, but I know that by making good, responsible choices now and always remembering that my life is not meant to be lived for myself, I can make a difference. Success is possible.