Lessons From Pooh.

                 "How lucky 

        am I to 

       have something 

                        that makes  

 saying goodbye  

          so hard."

                             -Winnie the Pooh

Upon entering college...

             

...I don't think I understood how hard it would be. College is amazing, don't get me wrong, but it is so hard. There is such an opportunity to get caught up in yourself. Even in a Christian college it is easy to find yourself thinking, what will I do with with my life? Who are my friends? How am I making a good impression? It is easy to become selfish when these become the questions your hearts is reflecting upon daily. God convicted me about this in the past few weeks. It's easy for me to look out for myself and purposely elevate myself when I'm feeling self-conscious. Living for me can be exhausting, probably because it's not the way God designed us to live. So how can we fix this epidemic of selfishness as we live in a society that is all about "putting yourself first?"
            
First it is important to remember that we are not our own. 1 Corinthians 6 discusses the importance of living in this knowledge. I encourage you to read the entire chapter, but verses 19-20 really have impacted me. They state,

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body."

We are Christ's. Our life should not be about bringing glory to ourselves, it is all about bringing Him glory. As we journey through life it is important to remember that we are continually living in His grace, abiding in His love, and walking in everlasting His forgiveness. Grace is such a beautiful thing - He loves us despite our sins. How humbling. How marvelous. His grace compels our worship of Him.
         
Second, it is also so important to remember to put others first. What? Yes, that's right, put others before yourself and see how it changes you.  A blog post I read recently by Leslie Ludy stated it well. She said,

"Though we typically become more socially refined in our selfishness as we grow into adulthood, often we never grasp what it means to be truly humble.  In Romans 12:3 Paul exhorts us: For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think…

In our “put yourself first” culture, it is all too easy to fall into the trap of thinking too highly of ourselves.  Instead of looking for ways to build others up, we are often far more concerned with building ourselves up.  Whether we strive to be the center of attention at social gatherings, gossip and put others down in order to elevate our own reputation, or spend the majority of our time trying to build up our popularity on social media platforms – our society is rife with opportunities to choose self-honor over humility. 

This week, ask God for the grace to tune out the “me, me, me” messages of our culture, and focus on building others up, instead of yourself.  Look for ways to encourage and strengthen those around you.   When we approach others with an attitude of true humility, we reflect the glory of God and reveal the nature of Christ." (To read the whole article click Here.)

Well, That's all for now. Just wanted to share what was on my heart with all you out there. 

God. Is. Faithful.

Yes. I understand its been a while. I can't believe I haven't posted in half a year! I've missed you all, but sometimes you go through different seasons in life and for me, I just went through a season where I didn't want to blog post. Yes, weird I know, but anywho I'm back and so much has happened in my life. For starters I'm at college! Yes, I decided to attend Covenant College and I'm absolutely loving it so far. God has already taught me so much about myself and others and reaching out and stretching myself. 

The most important thing that God's been teaching me since I've been here has been this simple truth - God is Faithful. Yes I know that might seem like something trite or repeated continually in Sunday School, but how true it is. God is faithful in everything. He hears our prayers and walks with us through everything we encounter in life. Before I came to Covenant God reminded me that He was going before me. That even though everything would be different - different friends, a different bedroom, different classes, different food, different life experiences - even in all of the unfamiliar things I would encounter He was and always will be the same - The great I am who is and was and will always be. And He's kept His promise, He has gone before me and prepared my ways. Praise his faithfulness.

I'm Full.

           Let me first start out by saying this, God is so faithful, so merciful, so loving. He's been blessing me insurmountably. I keep feeling His presence and his guidance. This year, I have resolved to start memorizing and meditating on God's word more. One of the first verses I memorized was Lamentations 3:22-23. The beginning of Lamentations 3 starts with, you guessed it, a lamentation and a cry unto God. Jeremiah is crying on behalf of the forsaken Israel; it is lost and captive to its enemies. Yet in verse 22, he changes his tone, he states,

"The faithful love of the Lord never ends. His mercy never ceases. 

Great is His faithfulness. His mercies begin afresh each morning."

         
           Although I am not in Israel's situation, quite the opposite really, these words still ring true for me. God is faithful, God is merciful, but not just in the good, in the bad as well. So, although I enjoy this season of blessing I understand that when life does happen and the bad does come, He still and will always be faithful. But right now, I'm full. I'm brimming over with His joy and overwhelmed by His presence. So what's making me so full right now?
1. I've been drawing so much closer to Christ and have a growing desire to continue and seek Him. The book I'm going through right now, 1 John , is packed full with so many great truths.
2. I'm a finalist for both the competitive scholarships I applied for at Covenant College, which means I get to attend their scholarship weekend (live on campus, visit classes and attend interviews to compete for the scholarships at their school).
3. I leave for my Bahamas mission trip tomorrow! I'm a student leader with a team of over 60 eighth graders, which is very scary, but also very exciting, please pray for me and the kids on my team.
4. My sister's still home from college and we've been making some great memories together - canoeing in the lake behind our house, taking bike rides together, watching movies, reading Jane Austen's novel aloud in my room late at night, and so much more...

New Year's Resolutions.

Year Long Resolutions:

     

     1.    Memorize at least 50 Bible verses

     2.    Get healthy!

     3.    Go on two mission trips

     4.    Start college

     5.    Continue to follow God faithfully

Monthly resolutions:

-January: Watch a movie in the park

-February: Send a candy gram to someone lonely
-March: Take a trip to Chicago
-April: Start praying for each individual person in my grade
-May: Get a summer job
-June: Read 5 new books
-July: Go shopping for college dorm supplies
-August: Start college
-September: Get busy (join a club, ministry, gym, etc…)
-October: Carve your very own pumpkin
-November: Add life to your dorm (buy a goldfish or potted plant)
-December: Read Wuthering Heights during Christmastime

Elska Mig Eindregið

Komið til mín ástin mín. 
Dansaðu við mig í rigningunni. 
Umhirða fyrir mig mjög. 
Kyssa mig djúpt. 
En mest af öllu, elska mig eindregið.

Merry Christmas.

            To all of my faithful blog-followers hope your Christmas has been as wonderful as mine. I have always known my family was blessed, but last night it really hit me how extremely kind and gracious God has been to me. My sister and I watched some of our childhood Christmas videos, and what we saw was pure love. Our parents truly loved us and loved each other. Our grandparents showered us with beautiful clothes and kindness. The house was full of laughter and joy. After watching several years of Christmas mornings my sister and I watched some of our old Christmas pageants. Each Christmas as children my mom had my sister and I perform the Christmas story. Watching those old Christmas pageants was not only precious but also hilarious! We were both such silly and adorable kids.
             Another encouragement to all of you, before you go to sleep tonight take sometime to read Luke 2, it truly explains the real meaning of Christmas. And when you read it, don't simply look on with the same mind set as years before, take another angle, search for something you haven't noticed before. Enjoy this gift God has given you. We are all so blessed to receive Christ as our Savior. Sometimes the best gifts are over-looked the most. Don't overlook Christ this Christmas. Below, I posted my favorite Christmas song of all time - I'll be home for Christmas by Amy Grant. Merry Christmas and have a happy new year!