reliance?

    Lately I wonder where reliance has gone for my generation and the ones below mine.  In todays time we tend to go onto facebook or twitter and vent our issues for all to see. Why? I personally think it is because we all want attention, any kind we can get. I have found myself annoyed with that lately. 


    When I really think about it, venting VIA social networking, is trying to get AS MANY people as you can to read it and feel sorry for you. But why do we lack going to God with our issues? Look at 1Peter 5:6-7:
                           "Humble yourselves, 
                          therefore, under God’s mighty hand, 
                          that he may lift you up in due time. 
                          Cast all your anxiety on him because
                           he cares for you." 


That is OUR God. "He says cast ALL your anxiety on him because he CARES for YOU." All meaning EVERYTHING. When I get annoyed with someone wether it be my mom, dad, brother, friends, school, or anything in life, I need to go somewhere quiet with my Bible, journal and pen and go at it. See what God has to say about it. I'm not saying that everyone needs to do that exact thing, But I do think that you need to get with God in some way. Go paint if it is your thing, or bake, or dance, sing, whatever you have to do, but we need to stop going to all of the wrong places for attention. 


     As for me and my generation ( and the ones below me ) we need to have more reliance on God, because in the end no ones advice will ever touch the advice that comes in the Word of GOD!!

persistence

        My dog Carlie, is the most persistent living thing I have ever come across. She is a beautiful black lab, who loves food, and she will NOT give up on you giving her a little bit of your breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack. And when she thinks it's time for her dinner, you better believe that she will find you and whine and whine and then walk you to her food bowl. She is PERSISTENT!! But here is the kicker, she usually gets what she wants. And I think the fact that she is always by your side, loyal, loving and cute helps her case a lot. But I think the bigger part is that people see how much she WANTS the food, how much she is WILLING TO WAIT. And even the people who are against feeding her "people food" the most give in ( AHEM- Andrew, Dad and Miller ).

     My point to this is Carlie's tactic WORKS. I noticed this morning with the drool coming out of her mouth and the way she walks me out the door ( because I pass by her box of treats ), she waits until the VERY LAST moment to say OKAY i'm going to give up until she is home again. I want to be like Carlie. I want to be PERSISTENT. I want it to be known what I strive for, what I want the most. I do not want to give up so easily. I want to stand BOLD in my stance and have people take me seriously and give me what I deserve ( or just want ). I want to have that presence.

     I have taken time to think about what I am WILLING TO WAIT for. And the list is pretty short, so I need to keep to that list and not give up on those things. And for the most part I have not, but the more time that passes the harder it will get, and I am praying I remain bold in my persistence. What are the things that YOU are willing to wait for?

Carlie on the day Miller proposed to Emily!

a feeling like no other....

      Giving is such an amazing thing. Some people think you have to give in HUGE amounts or give BIG things. But you are wrong.

      My heart is for the homeless, and one of the most amazing feelings I get is when I give something that is so small to me, like the rest of my trailmix, or a cup of coffee. Because when I give someone something so small, and I see their sign being put down for just that 5 minutes, my heart races.
       They were not just given something to eat or drink, but they are being shown GRACE. GOD GIVEN GRACE. I did not give them something on my own, God placed that desire in my heart, and I carried it through. And for just a moment, that man or woman gets to REST. And it is a glorious feeling.

Give something today.

its that time again

       School starts back up for me tomorrow. I have ONE class. ONE. And I'm still dreading it. But I know I can get past this. ART HISTORY WRITING INTENSIVE, goodness gracious, it is going to be hard. But I will press on. I will walk my half mile to class. I will learn about the history of the most influential pieces of art. And I WILL graduate.

        4 Months.

        4 Months.

        4 MONTHS... That is all I have to wait.

Pray for me.

BLESSED!!

       I am overwhelmed with the feeling of being BLESSED. The Lord has blessed my life in so many ways. But I think He blesses me the most with the people he has put into my life. This blog is to honor them. So thank you to all of the people in my life.....

MOM- You are so patient. Your heart is HUGE, you would do anything for anyone because God has blessed you with a servants heart and you serve others so well. You are one of the most Godly women I know & I thank you for sharing your faith & walk with me because it has allowed me to have a model to live by!

DAD- We have a special Daddy/daughter bond. I know that I can go to you and talk to you about anything and you will listen. You have always allowed me to talk and vent until things have made sense. God has blessed you with a great listening ear, and a gift of TEACHING. Any one who comes across is extremely blessed to have met a man as gentle and kind and patient as you are.

MILLER- You are such an amazing big brother. You have looked after me my whole life ( even if you did lock me in the pantry a few times when you babysat me ). I know that I am well protected and loved by you. You would do anything for me and it really does show. You have always cared about my heart and my feelings, and you are a great man of God and still growing into one as each day passes. You are going to make a great husband to Emily so soon!!!

ANDREW- You mean the world to me. God blessed us with a great friendship within our mom's friendship 12 years ago and he has continuously grown it ever since. He turned our friendship into much much more, and has been the center of our relationship now. You have such a patient heart and spirit and you remind me so much of my dad, a great teacher and listener. You and I are very opposite in so many ways, but in all the right ways we line up. You challenge me to be a better woman in Christ and you build me up. You treat me like a daughter of Christ because that is what I am. I am daily blown away with the mind and thoughts that God has blessed you with. I love you!

NICOLE- I have considered you to be  my mentor for many years now. You have always been there for me and you have opened your whole life to me. God has blessed you with such a patient, REAL, and genuine spirit. You have the Lord with your whole heart and it really does spill out into every aspect of your life. You have been a great example of that to me. Thank you for opening your home, life and family to me. And for letting me just come and cry to you on many occasions.

COURTNEY- You have been my best friend for 4 years now. We are sooo different but we mesh so well. You have always been there for me during the good and the bad. You have a passion for learning and for seeking out people, and you love people so well. You have been blessed with patience and persistence and God has blessed you with such an amazing mind.

LESLIE- Girl, our mom's were friends, and thank God for that because now look at us. You are amazing. God has blessed you with a HUGE heart. You are a friend to so many people and you love each person for EXACTLY what God made them to be. You do not try to make someone something that they are not, and that is such a rare quality to have in a friend. I am so blessed that you are my friend. Your passion and desire for the Lord continually blows me away.

EMILY- I have known you since I was 5. WHO KNEW you would end up marrying my BROTHER?? hahaha I am so glad for that. You have an amazing heart that cares for the people all around you. You are like a fine wine, the more that people get to know you, the more they will love you.







I feel so blessed to have you ALL in my life. THANK YOU!! There are so many more people that I would love to list out one by one, but God has blessed me with so many of you that it would take WAY too much time.

Take time today to think of the people in your life that God has blessed you with, and make sure to tell them that you love them.

Francis, Beth and John OH MY!!!

       If you asked me my emotions right now I could not even describe them. I am overwhelmed with emotions and thoughts that have not yet been organized. The cause of all my my mental confusion is the Passion conference in Atlanta. There were 22,000 18-25 year old men and women all coming together to hear and learn about Jesus from some of the worlds most respected and well spoken speakers. We heard from Louie Giglio, Beth Moore, Francis Chan, Andy Stanley, and John Piper. OVERWHELMING to say the least.
        The Conference was amazing, but there was almost NO time to process. I heard Louie Giglio talk about living a free life. Saying YES to Jesus and living out your life FOR Him. He talked about how we need to take time to step back and soak in life with Jesus. How we can't go to a conference like Passion and then expect to live off of the "spiritual high" that you got. A walk with Jesus is NOT a walk in the park. It is not easy and it is not something that is perfect all of the time. A walk with Jesus is like high altitude climbing. You CANNOT go up to the top of Mount Everest in a helicopter and see the glorious view from on top of the world...you will DIE with in 15 seconds because your lungs will collapse and things just do not work properly when you go from ONE extreme to the next so fast. You have to be prepared. You need to go up a little and back a little... Up a little and back a little, until you make it to the top. You have to allow your body to get used to the altitude that you are at. That is like a walk with Jesus. You go up a little. STOP. PAUSE. THINK. PROCESS. LEARN. TAKE IT ALL IN. APPLY IT TO LIFE. Go down a little and figure out your next move. Then you go up a little more and back down to do it all again. IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE that way!! I get frustrated so much of the time because my walk with Christ is FAR from perfect. Most of the time I am left confused and wondering how to do this right. But I have never taken the perspective that processing is not a bad thing, going down a few steps to take it all in is GLORIOUS, it is the way I will survive.
     Beth Moore's talk blew me away. The mind was the talk of the hour. How complex and confusing the MIND is just blows me away. The circumference of your BRAIN can be measured but NO ONE has ever been able too or ever will be able to measure the MIND. How insane! She told us that we need to " Think about the thoughts that we are thinking." Confusing huh? But think about it... when you think a thought you tend to not think about the thought that you are thinking. You need to get to the source of that thought. The brain has a "thought process memory". The thoughts that you habitually think will eventually PHYSICALLY pave a path in your brain to automatically go to that path and think those thoughts. So, if for 10 years someone has been an alcoholic, and for 10 years their thought has been "I will just numb the pain with another few drinks", it will be extra hard for them to not think that way even if they want to. But it is possible to start paving another path in your mind, but thinking about that thoughts that you are thinking of. For that previous example: If you are thinking.... "I will just numb the pain with another few drinks" think about that thought and create a new thought instead, saying it will numb the pain for a MOMENT and then go away, what can I do to solve my pain and not just numb it. We need to create a more positive path in our minds.
       Francis Chan was so full of life and passion that it got me on fire. He made me realize that living in the United States and being able to attend a conference like Passion, walk around with my Bible, talk freely about Jesus, and have so many people proclaiming to know Jesus without living out their faith is NOT NORMAL. The majority of the world lives in places where to PROCLAIM THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST will get you kicked out of your family, your life and your country and make you run for your life and for Christ. We do not have that type of persecution here. We need to live out our life for Jesus with such passion that if we were to be persecuted we would THANK GOD that we were able to RUN FOR HIM and his NAME and IF we lived to see another day, THANK HIM for the chance for another day to run for him again.
     Andy Stanley's talk hit home for me as well. He talked about the story of Jacob and Esau. Esau gave up his Birth Right ( double inheritance, the family judge and a blessing ) for a BOWL OF SOUP. WHO DOES THAT?? Answer: YOU and ME. We may not give something up for SOUP but many people will give up a FAMILY for drugs, a drink, sex or money. And just like Esau we will be left with NOTHING. No Birth Right and an Empty bowl of soup.
     And John Piper was nothing short of brain altering. I don't know about you but I have always heard PUT JESUS AT THE TOP... but John Piper talked about how we need to put Jesus at the BOTTOM. It sounds weird at first I know, but think about it, if Jesus is at the BOTTOM then he is our foundation. He talked about that we have two options of a foundation, making much of YOU ( this may mean doing Good things in the name of God but the root of it is to make YOURSELF look good/godly ) OR making much of GOD ( having the root of your heart being TRUE glory to God). Per his example: What is the true motivation for good grades? Let's say...
1- You want to make good grades
      WHY?
2- To get your masters in psychology
      WHY?
3- To become a clinical psychologist
      WHY?
4- Because your life was awful and you want to help others through it
      WHY DOES THAT MATTER??
Now #5 has a choice.... its either:
5- Because I want to make myself feel like I am helping people and I will get praised for such a selfless job
     OR
5- Because I want to bring glory to God in helping people, letting them know that Christ changed MY life nothing else.
..... SO where is the motivation?? That is why Jesus is at the BOTTOM the FOUNDATION.

So all in all my weekend was AMAZING. Lots of stuff to unpack. I'm sure you will be hearing more thoughts on this later.