Summer!!! (of discipline?)

Wow, it has been a really long time since I've blogged about anything...hopefully this summer will be different. The goal is that this summer will be different for a lot of things. I need to work on being a more disciplined person. I need to be spiritually disciplined in my personal life so that I can help other people and be an example to other people in their walks. The Lord has showed me countless examples of how a person cannot grow or help others if they themselves are not abiding in Christ. Scott DeGroff, a very challenging and amazing preacher, once shared with me, "When there is sin in the camp there is no fruit on the tree." He was speaking about Joshua and how when there was sin in the camp they did not win the obvious battles that they should have won. We cannot produce fruit like the Lord has called us to do when we have sin in our lives.

My challenge to myself this summer is to be spiritually disciplined so that I can abide in Christ. As I byproduct of that I would like to help others grow in their faith as I walk through life with them.

On My Upmost for His Highest

Oswald Chambers is a challenging author. Every day there is a challenging thought waiting to be pondered. Today it was the idea that God never tells us what he is going to do. He simply shows us who he is! That is so much better!

My relationship with my father is much like my relationship with my Father in Heaven. Sometimes dad tells me what he is going to do. But often, I can guess what his is going to do because I know him, I have lived with him my whole life. God is the same way.

Sure people think that God is a mystery, but that is only because they do not know him. Why would we ask for a game plan for the next 5 minutes, when we could get a 411 on the whole situation? God is sovereign and he is just…why then do I worry at all?

Surprise Dates with Jesus

I learned that my primary love language is quality time. I can totally see that in my life and how it plays out on a daily basis. If I care for a person, I show them by giving them my time. When people give me their time, it makes me feel loved.

 

Lately I’ve been learning that this is the same for my spiritual love life as well. I show God that I love him by spending time with him. Honestly, when I am really busy and don’t make time to spend it with him, I neglect that time, and often it doesn’t happen. This is why he has been showing me that I need to make time to have dates with dad and dates with Jesus. :) Floor chapel today (happening right now) was just that, go have a date with Jesus. It sounds lame, but it is a great concept. I’m using this time to just reflect on what the Lord has been teaching me and how I can apply those lessons to my life.

  

The other day I went to help with Youth Group at my church and I showed up an hour early on accident (because of some confusion with the previous weeks’ schedule). The Lord showed me that he had taken me out of my dorm room and away from my homework to spend time with Him in his Word. And I did just that, I sat and enjoyed the time that I had with him. It was an amazing hour.

 

APPLICATION: Schedule specific times to be with God and don’t let other thing fill that time up. :)

Google brings up slavery?

So I googled how to use my own picture for my blog background and I got it to work!!! It took quite longer than I thought it would, but what matters is that I DID IT!!! :) So as of now, this is a picture of an old Southern plantation that I went to see while I was visiting my best friend Katelyn. It was beautiful there! However, it was quite a life changing experience to realize that not even 200 years ago those hundreds of acres where full of slaves working and probably singing! Take a moment and realize what that really means, how life would have been for them. Now think about how different our lives would be if slavery still existed today. It's fascinating to think about all the things that have changed over the course of our nations history.

learning a new skill

I am trying to figure out how to use a picture of my own (or my own choosing, more correctly-b/c I didn't take either of these) as a background for my blog.
The orange flower I found on the Internet.

Lance McWilson, a friend from camp and AMAZING photographer, took the picture of the door. :)

Tomorrow is August 26th

The answer to "When do you leave for college?" has always been, "August 26th."
Tomorrow is August 26th.
Tomorrow, I leave for college.
Tomorrow, my life changes completely.
Tomorrow, I will no longer know the fastest way to get to the closest Wal-Mart or where to find the cheapest gas in town.
Tomorrow, I will say goodbye to my family.
Tomorrow, I will leave and not know the next time I will be back home.
BUT
Tomorrow, I will prove my faith.
Tomorrow, I will make new friends.
Tomorrow will be my first big move, and life will go on.
Tomorrow, new opportunities will present themselves.
Tomorrow, I get to change my life-and learn to love it all over again!

*FIRST TIME* Does this mean I'll be lucky 4ever?

I think it will be fun to have a little section of blogs (as they happen, of course) of things that I do for the first time because so many things will be changing within my life. :)

So for the first time ever, I found a 4-leaf clover!!! It's so simple, and people find them all the time...and now I can proudly say that I have!

Here's a picture to prove it! (and I'm even sporting fingernail polish that is my favorite color-ORANGE!)