I LOVE Mondays!

I can say for the first time in my life that I actually LOVE Mondays! Here's a rundown of a typical Monday for me: class, meeting, library, meeting/discipleship (x2), my 30 minutes of 'me-time', gym, dinner, time with my wonderful roommate, then Bible Study with the most beautiful and fantastic girls in the world. Yes, it's busy, but this semester I enjoy every minute of my Mondays! It's a great thing to look forward to the week beginning! I often times also try to squeeze in a little 'shopping time' on Mondays too- last week I discovered "Bijuju" (aka the most fabulous jewelry store), and this week (much less exciting), it'll probably be the grocery store. So here's to 2 and a half more months of marvelous Mondays!!

Trying to be like Mary in a ‘Martha World’

Recently in Bible study we studied Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42). I had overlooked these two women for so long while studying about Jesus’ time on earth, but now I see how important these two women are for the modern woman today. We live in a ‘Martha world’. By that I mean that we are constantly on the go, busy, rushed, trying to meet certain expectations, and habitually busy with unimportant things. I want to be more like Mary was in this ‘Martha world’; by that I mean that I want to slow down and not be in such a rush that I overlook the beauty of the world around me. I think that’s what Martha struggled with the most- she simply couldn’t slow down to enjoy the presence of our Savior; instead she thought she had to stay busy to please Him. I want to model Mary’s life because she did understand the importance and the necessity of simply enjoying the moment of Jesus’ visit and she dropped everything to just be captivated by His presence.

With this being said, my goal for the present is to be like Mary in this ‘Martha world’. I hope you find this Bible story (that seems so modern and true today!) equally as encouraging as I did :)

"Practicing What I Preach"

As I was reading my lovely “Jesus Calling” book in my quiet time yesterday, I came across this:

“Bring Me your weakness, and receive My peace. Accept yourself and your circumstances just as they are, remembering that I am sovereign over everything. Do not wear yourself out with analyzing and planning. Instead, let thankfulness and trust be your guides through this day; they will keep you close to Me. As you live in the radiance of My Presence, My Peace shines upon you. You will cease to notice how weak or strong you feel, because you will be focusing on Me. The best way to get through this day is step by step with Me. Continue this intimate journey, trusting that the path you are following is headed for heaven.”

Not a single word of this devotion doesn’t speak to me. I say it to my Bible Study girls all the time; “Don’t worry so much; or God’s got it; or Be strong!” These words flow out of me so easily to them, but after reading this paragraph, I thought, “do I really do these things too?” It’s really easy to say that I give my stress and sometimes sadness over to God, but do I really do it? It made me think, and really cling to God even more, knowing (yes KNOWING) that He’s in control, has me in His hands, and loves me, despite my many imperfections. 

Gosh I'm not good at this....

I’m terrible at blogging- this is no secret. As of today, I make a vow to myself that I WILL write out my life at least twice a month!

With that being said, I heard a song on the radio today on the way to the gym that perfectly defines my life right now. The chorus goes like this:

“This is the stuff
That drives me crazy
This is the stuff
That's getting to me lately
In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I'm blessed
This is the stuff
That gets under my skin
But I've gotta trust
You know exactly what You’re doing
Might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff You use”

Oh gosh how accurate one song can relate to my life! As I often get so bogged down by life, God comes in and saves the day (today He chose this song)! After hearing this song, my perspective almost immediately was refreshed and I can now clearly see again that the trials, temptations, and plain and awful parts of life are what God uses most to grow us and to reach others. Needless to say, this song was a great inspiration to remind me that stuff is just stuff, stress is just stress, and God is so much bigger than any of the stuff that happens in a day!

Learning to BE STILL!!

Be Still. November 13, 2010

With less than six months of college remaining, and an overload of internship/job applications, life plans, courses required, transcript checking, schedule planning, and daily ‘senior’ stress, I am constantly reminded that I need to learn to BE STILL more! Lately I've been thinking that…

I am chronically busy. And it’s become a problem. Whether it’s homework, meetings, sleeping (yes, it’s included), spending time with friends and family, or simply wasting time away stressing out, I have become almost numb to life due to my busy-ness. Over this past weekend, I stopped my homework for a moment to think about how much of life I’m missing because I’m waiting to cross the next item off my agenda for the day.

 After stressing out about this, I realized that I’m caught up in sin with this problem of stress, worry, and constant “do work” mindset. God tells us not to worry about tomorrow (Matt. 6:34), not to stress (1 Peter 5:7), because He gives us peace, and to enjoy life for what it is. I know these truths, yet I’ve managed to go day-to-day without thinking and praying on them, therefore I’ve over-worked myself and have become basically robotic in my actions.

I want to be still, enjoy life, and soak it all in. I don’t want to look back in May and think, “I hate I didn’t enjoy that time because I was too stressed out about the next day to enjoy where I’m at today”.  With this, I WILL slow down; enjoy the little moments of life that make it such a beautiful blessing from God, and learn to BE STILL in His presence.