Perfect Love

You know? Being an open follower of Christ is a scary thing. Especially in the day and age we are in right now, openly following Christ and not being afraid to do it is not cookie cutter perfect or as easy as saying the ABC's. Most of the time on Facebook I read how great God is or a blessing He has showered us with (myself included) which is true,  but here's the thing, being a Christian is and can be scary. As I reflect on this past year, I look at the fear I have had with being open about my faith and ACTUALLY being open about it. Not this 'I have faith' and 'God bless America' stuff. Anyone can say those things now a days, but that doesn't deem anyone a true follower of Christ. 

So what's the solution? Jesus. Jesus is the ultimate solution. He came down to this earth and poured out His PERFECT love to every individual person on this planet and that includes the terrorists, the young adult that killed 20 children, and you. If we as followers of Christ decide to delve ourselves into Christ's PERFECT love, it will cast that fear away. (1 John 4:18) 

One of my goals is to not be afraid of WHAT I believe, WHO I believe and WHY I believe it :)

The Story of the Perfect Life

Once upon a time there lived a girl and her life was perfect. She never had one struggle, trial, or tribulation. She was always happy and everyone she met she was best friends with her for the rest of her life. Her parents and her never fought and she never got in arguments with her brothers or sisters. She lived, loved and died peacefully. The End.
WOW! Don't you wish your life could be like this? No struggles, no fights, no pain? I honestly can't imagine what my life would be like without any trials or tribulations. When I think about how much I wish people didn't have to go through such terrible things, I remember that the pain we go through is not even comparable to the pain that set us free. Jesus Christ suffered physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually just like, if not more, than we do.
Recently, I have been going through some significant struggles. Struggles that I know are making me stronger, but at the same time are; painful, slow and kind of annoying. Through all of these struggles though, I'm trying to remember that the one who saved me and is bringing me through these trials, went through trials too. I challenge you to remember that going through pain and suffering is not a bad thing. Although the situation or circumstance may be bad, Jesus already has the victory. He won that victory far before you even went through what you're going through.

Romans 5:3-5
And not only so, but we glory in tribulation also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

I have hope because my Savior didn't just suffer, He walked on water too.

Inhale and Exhale

Recently it seems as if every time I post a new blog it has been awhile since I have written, so my deepest apologies. My life has been crazy recently. I leave to go home in 2 weeks exactly, I have project due date on Monday, I have lots of homework and a couple finals coming up. School is the most consuming thing in my life currently, but with school comes friends, issues, projects, homework and drama.
I don't know if it's because it is my second year in college, but I have found that more and more people tend to put others down. Maybe it's because we know each other better now or maybe it's simply because we don't have anything better to do. I know for a fact that I have said some pretty nasty things about some people this year and all it is doing for me is...well, nothing actually.
Putting others down may build you up for a temporary moment, but in the end you're the one who is hurting yourself by wasting your time talking about someone or something when you could be doing better things such as ; encouraging someone, buying someone a gift, giving advice, getting closer to God or just having quiet time.
My challenge is to see if you can go a day without talking negatively about anything or anyone. I mean, it is the time of year to focus more on being grateful. Who knows? Maybe you'll save a breath or two :)

The Great Sadness

The Shack by William Paul Young has recently inspired me to better  my walk with the Lord by putting my full faith in Him. Although this concept may not sound as difficult, I believe putting it to action is the most difficult thing in the Christian walk. In the book, Young talks about a man who goes through this Great Sadness in his life. Overtime you realize that this overwhelming emotion in his life is the loss of his youngest child. Obviously, this loss is a great burden in his life and later he ends up giving this burden to Christ.

Recently in my life I guess you could say that a burden has been lifted off my shoulders. I gave something to God that had been tying me down for too long. After I gave it to Him, it hurt a little, but God gave me peace of mind about it. Letting go of this burden did not mean that I couldn't pick it up again though. And I did just that too! I picked it up again, carrying as if it were my own and that's when I began to crumble back down into this dark state again. Have you ever been in a dark room? And by dark I mean, you can't even think about what daylight looks like and the darkness is just swallowing you. You can literally feel the darkness. That's the state that I'm talking about. The state of complete despair and hopelessness. Here's the thing though. Just when you want to give up, hurt yourself even more than you're hurting, or shut off entirely to the only Light in your life; you see it. The little flicker in the distance. The voice in the darkness that causes you to be at peace and  be still. That soft, quiet, humble, yet powerful voice.

If you didn't catch it, that voice was God's. That Light is Jesus. He is the Light unto our paths we tread. He is the hope we have when all else fails. He is the peace inside our hearts that keeps us from fighting with ourselves to do something stupid. He is that still, small, beautiful voice.

Whether your Great Sadness be a loss in the family, an emotional struggle, an inward spiritual battle or a physical insecurity; let Jesus take your burden at the cross. He already paid the costly price to make that un-needed pain go away in your life.

Let God, be The Great Happiness in your life.

All Things Work Together For Good. Don't They?

Do you remember when you were little and you were super excited to go to your friends house for a sleepover? Or when you couldn't wait to open up that gift at Christmas? Or what about the time you counted down until it was your birthday? Where did all those feelings go? It seems as if the little things don't impress us anymore. Everything in life has to be bigger and better. Need less to say, I want that feeling of excitement to come back to me for college.

I will be 100% honest with anyone who asks me right now if I'm excited to go back to school right now and my answer will be the same every time; no. Sure, I am stoked to see my friends, I'm excited to be a Room Leader and ready to see what God has in store for me,but I am dreading this more than anything. I have to say goodbye to one of my closest friends and it's killing me. I have to leave my little brother who I got closer with this summer and I have to leave my mom who at times bugged me like no other,but we worked through it.

Emotionally, I'm a wreck. I am ready to give up,but I keep getting this tiny ounce of hope every time I open the Word, read my daily verse, or pray to God. Everything is going to be okay. I just have to continue to tell myself that.

Ripping Off The Band-aid

As a little kid everything seems to be so much bigger than it actually is. Recently, I went to a waterpark that I had not been to in over five years. Going there was like facing that huge final exam my second grade year.
From going to the water park I came to conclude that experiences in our life are always going to seem one way, but be another in the big picture. We as humans are going to continuously go through things in our life that will sometimes seem very big, but in the 'big' picture of life they will be very small and vice versa. I believe that as a girl I tend to let emotions get the best of me at times and I have recently known someone who went through a situtation that seemed big, but in the long run, it is only a little thing that she will face in life. Looking back she will think 'Wow, I really thought was a lot bigger of a deal than it was.' And the cycle goes on and will continue throughout our lives. I'm not saying in the least that we should shrug off every event in our lives as if they mean nothing, but I am challenging myself and others to be strong in  every situation even if it hurts like a load of bricks hitting you in the chest and knocking the wind out of you.

Things in life are gonna come at us quick and we need to be willing to rip off the band-aid quickly so it doesn't hurt worse in the end.

Accomplishing Great Things

"Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing." Thomas A. Edison.


This quote about sums up my freshman year at college. I mean, I was always busy doing something,but that busyness did not necessarily mean I was really accomplishing anything worthwhile. I mean, I could have been busy eating that chemical processed food in the dining commons, or working on a paper I did not want to be writing at 4 in the morning. Either way, the heart behind it and the attitude is what matters more than turning in a paper 3 minutes before it's due.


What did I "accomplish" my freshman year at college then. I think I learned more than I ever have in my life about patience, love, friendship, spirituality, religion, teamwork, good character, and more. God really showed His work throughout the year. Although I was not the closest with God at times I KNEW He was still there watching over my shoulder helping me "accomplish" the things that were worthwhile. 


I made new friends, said goodbye to some and cried with many. Through it all I have learned that God knows what He is doing no matter what. He puts people into our lives because He loves us, He wants us to learn to love others besides ourselves and because He is an awesome God. I am excited to see what God has in store for me and my friends I've made here at school this summer. I hope He does something life changing and that we accomplish all that should be accomplished.


Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."

So long.