Change is...

This new chapter in my life can be summed up in one simple word "change". As it is now turning from summer to fall, I can see how just as the seasons change, so does life, and sometimes those times of change are more prevelant at certain times then it is at others. I think I'm still in shock over the change that has been and will be taking place in my life over the next year. My work has changed, my ministry has changed, my relationships have changed, I will be moving back into my parent's house in about two months, and oh so many more changes are coming just around the corner. To quote Grey's Anatomy "Change is Everything", and I can honestly attest to that. I know my options are to either fight it or embrace it, but it's going to happen no matter what, it now just depends on my attitude towards it. My challenge now is to maintain my focus on God and know that He never changes although everything else around me is.

1 Timothy 4:12

Today I went to Southwest Secondary School for See You at the Pole. They may not have had a real flag pole, but these kids blew my mind with their faith and faithfulness, and truly were visible examples of 1 Timothy 4:12.

"Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the blievers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, and in purity."

The challenge of trust

I've never had to trust in God as much as I have in the past couple of months.

Trust that I know what's best for you.
Trust that My timing and will are perfect
Trust that My grace is sufficient
Trust that My promises are true
Trust that My ways are higher than your ways
Trust that I hear you when you cry out to Me

Roller Coaster

I think my dislike of roller coasters stems from the fact that I dislike rapid change, I like to have options open and know what's coming around the next corner, not all of a sudden "No way, I'm not going down that...Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Aghhh!!!!!!" And I have started to draw the parallel to the roller coasters at a theme park to what has been going on the past couple months of my life. There have been so many ups and downs, quick turns, and times of being flipped upside down, that I can't even begin to put into words what it's been like. I approached this past summer with a plan, a plan that I would go to graduate school, stay in ABQ, and get a job, and go about my happy little life. As the summer drew on, it was like more and more God was telling me "ummm... not so fast. Those are your plans for your life, not Mine". That is how I've come to take comfort in Isaiah 55:8-9 "'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' says the Lord. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.'" I've now gone from planning on submitting my application to grad school to filling out an application to be a full-time missionary (which I never thought would happen in my life). There are numerous other "rides" that I am on right now, so I can't necessarily write about them, but in my head I have so many "what-ifs" and "huhs?" that I am just so glad that God is in control and I'm not. For a person who is an impatient control freak, this has been especially difficult, but I do know that through this time, God is breaking me and molding me all the more. As I'm writing this blog, my iTunes is rocking "Empty Me" by Jeremy Camp and the line "Holy Fire burn away my desire for anything that is not of You but is of Me" has pretty much become my prayer during this "interresting" time of my life.

All I Have to Give to You...

I come to You empty handed, with nothing but a tarnished past
All I have to give to You is me
I come to You broken, with my old self still trying to desperately hold on
All I have to give to You is me
I come to You humbled, with the knowledge that I fall short each and every day
All I have to give to You is me
I come to You on my knees, with the promise that you hear my cry
All I have to give to You is me
I come to You rejoicing, with how by Your stripes I have been made clean
All I have to give to You is me
I come to You in amazement, with how You have allowed me to experience who You are
All I have to give to You is me

Define: Adore

Let me preface this, by saying that I've been reading the book of Acts and it's funny how no matter how many times you read something, God always seems to show you something new. Well, today I was reading in the first part of Acts 18 and in verse 7 it identifies this man, Titus, as "a worhsiper or God". Now I have a NASB Key Word Study Bible and so I'm able to look up what the word means in the original Greek and so I looked up the word "worhsiper" and it means "to adore" I thought that was already pretty awesome, but then after googling "adore" it came up as "love intensely". That pretty much shook me to my very core. We sing songs time and time again about how we adore God, but do we really know what it means to adore Him? Do we truthfuly and honestly love Him intensely? I just cannot even begin to wrap my mind around all that that entails. Our God is so big, and He loves us so much, He loves us even more than we could ever comprehend, and yet I know at least for me, I can have issues truthfully saying that I "love Him intensely". I ask/beg of you today to truly look into the depths of your heart the next time you say you adore Him realize the magnitude of that word and then look at your life and see if it reflects that adoration or intense love you have for your Maker.