When looking at back at the end of each year, I am floored by all that God has done in my life that year (and am continual amazement in all that He has done for me in my life)! At the mountain tops and the lowest points of the valley of each and every year, He has been faithful to carry me through it all. And this year has been no different!I look forward to what He has in store for 2013 with great anticipation!!
Spiritual lesson of 2012: I am underservingly covered by His grace (though I already knew this..God pressed this lesson into me through Bible studies, BSF, and the Lightbearers Institute)
Some highlights of my personal life in 2012:
- I finally finished my degree at the University of Arkansas in April of this year...A HUGE HUGE THANK-YOU to all of those who pushed me & encouraged me to make that finish!!
- I went on a mission trip to Haiti in July where we saw 80+ give their lives to Christ!!!!
- started training for a half-marathon (hampered by various things) but am now starting that training again...
- I started enjoying cooking, trying new recipes, & sort of inventing new recipes of my own...
- I learned how to (and still learning) knit!!
- my friends have been beyond awesome to me and being there for me through it all!
Thankful for all God has done in this last year & I hope that as this year comes to a close (literally in 2.5 hours) that you will pause to praise God for all that He has done for you this year and all that He will do for you in 2013!
Monday, December 31, 2012
Saturday, December 22, 2012
struggles & comfort
I have fought writing this blog entry for the last few days but I know that it is one that God wants me to write.
I have struggled my whole life with being vulnerable. Mostly because I hate being the center of attention. But yet I know that being vulnerable can help one deal with things & it can help others who dealing with similar things. So here I am writing this entry, praying that God will use it for His glory and along the way that it will help someone who has dealt with similar things as I have.
As many of you know my dad passed away almost a year and half ago from the complications of many health problems. I have come to realize that I suppressed a lot of my emotions during the holidays last year. Honestly, I think I tried to push my dad's death to the furthest corner of my mind as I could and tried not to think about last year during the holiday season. Well since the one year anniversary of my dad's death in July, my mom & dad's anniversary on Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving, and now Christmas I have had a very hard time dealing with his death. When trying to deal with his death and some other things a couple of weeks ago, I spent some time praying and listening to the song Lead Me to the Cross. I prayed that the Lord would lead me to the Jesus & the cross in dealing with my emotions. I had been reading the book of Matthew in my quiet times. Well yesterday I finished reading the book of Matthew. The very last verse of the last chapter, which says "And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age," stuck out to me. Because Jesus came to this earth as a baby, lived a perfect life, and died on the cross He is always with me in the form of the Holy Spirit. This Christmas (and everyday after that) I am thankful for the reminder that God came to the earth as a baby so that He could be Emanuel "God with us." Oh what comfort this is as I deal with my dad's death and other things that I face in life.
I pray that this has been a comfort for those who have lost loved ones & struggle with their loss at any point in their life. I also pray that this is a reminder for others what Christmas is really about.
P.S. My dad died a believer so praise Jesus my dad no longer suffers & I get to see him again one day in Heaven!!
I have struggled my whole life with being vulnerable. Mostly because I hate being the center of attention. But yet I know that being vulnerable can help one deal with things & it can help others who dealing with similar things. So here I am writing this entry, praying that God will use it for His glory and along the way that it will help someone who has dealt with similar things as I have.
As many of you know my dad passed away almost a year and half ago from the complications of many health problems. I have come to realize that I suppressed a lot of my emotions during the holidays last year. Honestly, I think I tried to push my dad's death to the furthest corner of my mind as I could and tried not to think about last year during the holiday season. Well since the one year anniversary of my dad's death in July, my mom & dad's anniversary on Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving, and now Christmas I have had a very hard time dealing with his death. When trying to deal with his death and some other things a couple of weeks ago, I spent some time praying and listening to the song Lead Me to the Cross. I prayed that the Lord would lead me to the Jesus & the cross in dealing with my emotions. I had been reading the book of Matthew in my quiet times. Well yesterday I finished reading the book of Matthew. The very last verse of the last chapter, which says "And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age," stuck out to me. Because Jesus came to this earth as a baby, lived a perfect life, and died on the cross He is always with me in the form of the Holy Spirit. This Christmas (and everyday after that) I am thankful for the reminder that God came to the earth as a baby so that He could be Emanuel "God with us." Oh what comfort this is as I deal with my dad's death and other things that I face in life.
I pray that this has been a comfort for those who have lost loved ones & struggle with their loss at any point in their life. I also pray that this is a reminder for others what Christmas is really about.
P.S. My dad died a believer so praise Jesus my dad no longer suffers & I get to see him again one day in Heaven!!
Friday, December 14, 2012
Heartbroken
Tonight my heart is broken and at a lost for words for what happened in Connecticut today. I pray for those directly and indirectly effected by the horrific tragedy that they would be held in the arms of Jesus as they try to understand, just as I try to, what has happened. I'm sure there are a lot of opinions on things should be handled or what needs to be done to prevent this from happening. I am staying away from that. I do encourage you to 1) pray for all involved 2) continue to pray for & share the Gospel with lost people in your life (it can & will have a lasting impact on tragedies like this) 3) make sure to let loved ones & friends know how much you love,cherish, & appreciate them
I will leave with the words to the chorus of the song "Our God":
"Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other.
Our God is Healer, Awesome in Power, Our God! Our God!"
Needed to write this post because my thoughts were too long to tweet or to post on facebook
I will leave with the words to the chorus of the song "Our God":
"Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other.
Our God is Healer, Awesome in Power, Our God! Our God!"
Needed to write this post because my thoughts were too long to tweet or to post on facebook
Monday, November 12, 2012
Weighty issue
Since I started studying the book of Genesis in BSF this year, the tie between sin and its effects has weighed heavily on my heart. (Not that I've never recognized sin and its effects before..that is one of the first steps to becoming a believer). The very first sin changed the course of history (there is now death, natural disasters, there is sickness & disease, etc), as does sin in our lives. Sin can and will drastically alter our lives. Just as God has shown me the weightiness of sin, God has shown me the vastness of His mercy! He was merciful to Adam & Eve when He removed them from the place where sin occurred and took them out of the garden. He was merciful to Cain when He would allow no one to kill him after he had killed his own brother. He has also shown mercy to me at the Cross and allowed me to have life when I deserve death! And even more incredible He makes those mercies a new everyday from Lamentations 3:22-23 (which He reminded me of tonight) and allows me to have a relationship with Him and u no longer have to be seperated from Hum because of my sin!
Just wanted to share what God had been teaching me recently :-)
Just wanted to share what God had been teaching me recently :-)
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
A new hobby...
Recently I have started cooking a lot of my meals. Partially to be more frugal with my money and partially to be more healthy I rarely even use the microwave except to reheat leftovers. That sentence alone would not have existed in my vocabulary six months ago. I used to eat anything and everything that was microwavable and never had leftovers to eat because I never cooked! Anyways, this cooking of my meals has led me to venture out and try new recipes. A good friend of mine told me of this website www.skinnytaste.com and how all their recipes were easy and healthy! So I've tried a few things from there: such as
 |
| Kale Chips |
 |
| Garlic Roasted Cauliflower w/ Toasted Asaigo Cheese Breadcrumbs |
Stuffed Pepper Soup
I have also made things such as lasagna and homemade waffles. I am not at all trying to say look at what I have done....I just find it amusing (at least to me it is) that I suddenly enjoy cooking and when I get spare time I'm anxious to try find a new recipe to try making. I like seeing (and tasting!) the end results and knowing exactly what I have put into my food that I am eating. Just a new thing I like to do that I thought I'd share..
P.S. the next new thing that needs to follow is collecting these recipes in one spot (:
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Refocusing
As summer has been winding down (like officially ten days left..I think), I began to think & ponder on the goals that I set as summer was starting. To give you an update..I did well on drinking on water for a while (I got up to 8-10cups a day) and I got up to running 6-7miles. I never learned how to ride a bike..[but it can still happen :-)... ]
But after getting so far in reaching two of my goals, I tailored off. I was thinking about why that happened today and I came to two conclusions. The first answer was pride. At church for the last two weeks we have been in a mini-sermon series on pride & how it destroys. I had reached my goal for water and I was able to run 6-7miles. But that was it. I was doing it. I wasn't giving God the glory for it and I wasn't asking God to give me strength to continue in both goals. The second answer is God wanted me to rest and rest in Him. Over the last three weeks, I have broken my pinky toe, probably had strep, had a bad bout with allergies, and if that wasn't enough to slow me down, I started this weekend to have trouble with my asthma and one of my knees. I do not at all share these problems with you for sympathy, but to show you how God was trying to get me to slow down and not become consumed with "good things" such as running and drinking water but to be consumed by Him and Him alone. So I haven't given up on these goals or just ended them because the summer season is over but instead am excited to continue this fall. But this time with a new mindset and heart. I want to these things to bring God glory. Drinking water can bring God glory because it shows that we are taking care of the body that He entrusted us with. My running can bring Him glory because it will be by His power alone that I am able to do it. But if He wants me to slow down with running and to take a break, I need to be okay with that and not become prideful & consumed with I think I can do but rest in what God wants me to do.
I am adding a new goal to my list. Tonight I started back at BSF and we are going through the book of Genesis this year. My goal is to do my lessons daily as they are designed and not to put them off to the last minute. I know that this will be not only crucial in my participation on Tuesday evenings, but will also help me learn on a deeper level about my Creator (and I'm so excited about it this year!!)
I know that in my power I will fail, but it is my prayer that I just rest in what God wants me to do this fall.
But after getting so far in reaching two of my goals, I tailored off. I was thinking about why that happened today and I came to two conclusions. The first answer was pride. At church for the last two weeks we have been in a mini-sermon series on pride & how it destroys. I had reached my goal for water and I was able to run 6-7miles. But that was it. I was doing it. I wasn't giving God the glory for it and I wasn't asking God to give me strength to continue in both goals. The second answer is God wanted me to rest and rest in Him. Over the last three weeks, I have broken my pinky toe, probably had strep, had a bad bout with allergies, and if that wasn't enough to slow me down, I started this weekend to have trouble with my asthma and one of my knees. I do not at all share these problems with you for sympathy, but to show you how God was trying to get me to slow down and not become consumed with "good things" such as running and drinking water but to be consumed by Him and Him alone. So I haven't given up on these goals or just ended them because the summer season is over but instead am excited to continue this fall. But this time with a new mindset and heart. I want to these things to bring God glory. Drinking water can bring God glory because it shows that we are taking care of the body that He entrusted us with. My running can bring Him glory because it will be by His power alone that I am able to do it. But if He wants me to slow down with running and to take a break, I need to be okay with that and not become prideful & consumed with I think I can do but rest in what God wants me to do.
I am adding a new goal to my list. Tonight I started back at BSF and we are going through the book of Genesis this year. My goal is to do my lessons daily as they are designed and not to put them off to the last minute. I know that this will be not only crucial in my participation on Tuesday evenings, but will also help me learn on a deeper level about my Creator (and I'm so excited about it this year!!)
I know that in my power I will fail, but it is my prayer that I just rest in what God wants me to do this fall.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
what happens at the kitchen table (a few Haiti memories)
What happens at the kitchen table? Most people eat meals there, you would say. One of my roommates just moved a kitchen table into our apartment a week ago. Tonight as I was eating dinner there, I was reminded of how memories are made there as well. I was reminded of memories made at the table during my journey to Haiti.
For every meal (breakfast, lunch, & dinner) all five of us plus Norma (most of the time) & some of the JoyHouse staff would eat together at the table. I really enjoyed this because it made us feel like family and I really got to know my teammates (because we were spending quality time with each other) or I got to know more about the Haitian culture. This is something I want to carry on here in the States. I want to make sure that I am spending quality time with others and not just rushing off to the next thing. Another memory that thinking about the table brought back was the food we ate while in Haiti. We ate a lot of fresh fruit while were there. In fact we had fresh fruit at every meal. My favorite was the watermelon and the mango.
My memories of Haiti also included how God showed how big He is through the way He blew our minds away with the number of salvations, number of people we saw at the medical clinic, and the number of kids that we saw come to VBS (which I wrote about in the last blogpost).I am so thankful for what God did on this journey to Haiti. I am also thankful for how God used this journey to open the door for conversations about Him & His Son. Before I even left, I got to share with two gas station attendants (at a gas station near my job that I go to every day if not every other day) about what I would be doing and thus opened the door to talk them about my faith in God. Also one of the plane rides (from Miami to Port-au-Prince) I sat next to Haitian who asked me why I was going to Haiti. I told him about what I was doing in Haiti. It then opened the door for him to ask questions about how the Trinity was possible or for us talk about what happens when we die. For him things needed to be logical and scientifically proven. By the end of the conversation he was asking me how he could have faith in God like I did. I got to lead him through Romans & pray for him that God would reveal himself to him!!
I am thankful that God uses all things, like the kitchen table and my journey to Haiti, for His glory!! I can't wait to share more memories of what God did in my journey to Haiti. (I am still working on going through all my pictures & journal and hope to have some more daily memories up soon!!)
****Please continue to pray for Alex (the guy that I talked to on the flight from Miami to Port-au-Prince) that God would continue to reveal Himself to Alex
***also please continue to pray for the support I need to pay for this journey to Haiti. The last count I had was that I still needed about $1400..Please let me know if you are interested in supporting me financially & I will let you know how to do that.
For every meal (breakfast, lunch, & dinner) all five of us plus Norma (most of the time) & some of the JoyHouse staff would eat together at the table. I really enjoyed this because it made us feel like family and I really got to know my teammates (because we were spending quality time with each other) or I got to know more about the Haitian culture. This is something I want to carry on here in the States. I want to make sure that I am spending quality time with others and not just rushing off to the next thing. Another memory that thinking about the table brought back was the food we ate while in Haiti. We ate a lot of fresh fruit while were there. In fact we had fresh fruit at every meal. My favorite was the watermelon and the mango.
My memories of Haiti also included how God showed how big He is through the way He blew our minds away with the number of salvations, number of people we saw at the medical clinic, and the number of kids that we saw come to VBS (which I wrote about in the last blogpost).I am so thankful for what God did on this journey to Haiti. I am also thankful for how God used this journey to open the door for conversations about Him & His Son. Before I even left, I got to share with two gas station attendants (at a gas station near my job that I go to every day if not every other day) about what I would be doing and thus opened the door to talk them about my faith in God. Also one of the plane rides (from Miami to Port-au-Prince) I sat next to Haitian who asked me why I was going to Haiti. I told him about what I was doing in Haiti. It then opened the door for him to ask questions about how the Trinity was possible or for us talk about what happens when we die. For him things needed to be logical and scientifically proven. By the end of the conversation he was asking me how he could have faith in God like I did. I got to lead him through Romans & pray for him that God would reveal himself to him!!
I am thankful that God uses all things, like the kitchen table and my journey to Haiti, for His glory!! I can't wait to share more memories of what God did in my journey to Haiti. (I am still working on going through all my pictures & journal and hope to have some more daily memories up soon!!)
****Please continue to pray for Alex (the guy that I talked to on the flight from Miami to Port-au-Prince) that God would continue to reveal Himself to Alex
***also please continue to pray for the support I need to pay for this journey to Haiti. The last count I had was that I still needed about $1400..Please let me know if you are interested in supporting me financially & I will let you know how to do that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)