Where to?

So, I was flipping through my Bible this evening and re-stumbled across a little note that I had written, and thought it appropriate to share with you all :)

I had underlined part of Jeremmiah 11:23, which reads

man is not a master of his way; man's course is not within his choice, nor is it for him to direct his step.

Next to that I wrote in at one point

Lord, 'Which way shall I go?' should be a prayer ever on my lips.

Woah. That's a challenge from God. A challenge we strive to rise to with every choice we make, every step we take. For every smallest thing we do is either the fulfillment of God's will, thus bringing us closer to Him, or the rejection of God's will. Every. Little. Thing.

Nothing is too small to matter to God. God knows everything and has a plan for all the beautiful everythingness. There is a reason you should drive this route to work, or cut the grass today. You may not always know God's reasoning, because well let's be honest He doesn't follow our reasoning so He is kinda hard to figure out, eh maybe that has something to do with the fact that He is all-knowing and we are not. Possibility. But I'd bet my money on that possibility.

"Ask and you shall receive." ~ Matthew 7:7

Continually ask God what your next step should be. Ask Him during each moment to guide you so that you follow His will. Ask and you shall receive.

Peace and Blessings :)

Candle Like Fatih

Originally this was a note on Facebook I wrote awhile back, but I ahve been observing candles again the past couple of days and this popped into my mind, so I thought I'd share it here :) Enjoy!

So tonight at CLC we each got to light a candle and place it in front of us, which was not a new occurrence as we have done this many times in the past. Breanna was leading us in a reflection, but I was having difficulty concentrating and ended up looking intently at my candle and all the various parts. And then the next thing I know God has put this thought into my head which I have been developing since then.

Our faith is like a candle wick. At the beginning the tip is burning brightly with an intense fire, but then the fire desires more it needs more to survive. So the fire spreads down the wick and this continues each time the fire desires more. So too does our faith. In the beginning we are content and full of joy with the faith that are parents have given us, then we begin to crave more and more. So we seek God more often, in various ways, and through other people until we are once again happy with where we are. Eventually, we will indeed desire more depth in our relationship with God so we once again delve into new facets that we previously had left undiscovered. If the candle is left burning for long enough the whole wick will be consumed and on fire, as it is our goal to always be on fire for and going deeper in our friendship with God.

Also¸ the fire that consumes the candle wick causes the hard wax that it is surrounded by to soften and become more pliable. So too do we cause all of the people who surround us and who we touch to be softened to God and His works and voice, by our testimonies and actions of faith. By sharing our faith and light with others, we are softening them up to God’s hands, so He can work with and through them to soften up themselves and others to Him. As long as the wick is still consumed by the fire the wax will remain pliable, but as soon as the flame is gone or the wax strays away from the flame, the wax will again become hardened. Just like the wax, as soon as we walk away from our faith or we feel that it has been taken from us, we harden our hearts to God and all the joys He brings to us.

The wick is not consumed by the fire in a sense that once the fire has used it is gone, it still remains there as a symbol of where the flame has been and how it has gotten to where it is now. We too do not discard our past faith once we have gotten to a new level, we simply build off of our previous faith so we too can see what has lead us to where we are today and what has shaped us to be who we are now. If our old faith is gotten rid of, our new faith will not have a solid base and would most likely crumble like a building without a foundation.

Friends

Friends. How does one define friendship or label someone as their friend? There is no formula one can compute or a standard to measure someone against. One just all of a sudden recognizes someone as a friend, and their bond as being friendship.

Each friendship is different, because each person is unique. What you share with one person cannot be duplicated. You cannot go into a friendship saying I want what I have with this friend to be exactly like what I have with this other friend. I learned that the hard way, I would try to fit myself and another into a mold of what I desired our friendship to be and it never would work out how I envisioned it. Rightly so, because I was looking at the relationship all wrong, I had the goal of what I wanted in mind and tried to fit the nearest friend into that mold. Rather than approaching my friendship without having a goal in mind, and simply allowing God to mold us and allow us to grow together according to His plan. Trying to fit someone into your plan is much more work and does not bear nearly as great of fruit as simply allowing God to place someone in your life according to His plan.

Friends are people in your life, for day, hours, or years that accept you as you are while still challenging you to be better, who are there during the joyous occasions as well as the times of fear and questioning. They are people who you can talk freely with, not worrying about if they will judge or hurt you. Speaking your mind is easier with them, although not always easy, and you know you will always find comfort in their embrace. Admitting your weaknesses, fears and failures to another is a sure sign of friendship. For you are trusting them with all that you are, knowing they will love you anyway. With friends words are not even needed, for simply being together brings peace to your soul and a smile to your face.

Friends are people who may hurt you from time to time, but by recognizing yourself and them as flawed human beings you are able to use these times of hurt to strengthen your love for each other through forgiveness. Friends see and bring out facets of you that you never before saw, helping you to grow into the complete person God created you to be.

Friends are gifts to be treasured. Enjoy their company, but be ready to say good-bye. Love them, and let them love you. Search out their truest selves, and be your truest self with them. Show them God, and they will show you God.

“Spend time with your friend: sweet time --- walking, playing, praying; not so sweet time--- disagreeing, hurting, searching. Friendship embraces the whole spectrum of life itself.” ~From Friendship Therapy

Emily...It's Love

So, I've been wanting to blog/reflect about the past school year as it has recently wrapped up but obviously that hasn't happened yet and now I'm rambling....Anyways, I came across this song by Francesca Battistelli called "Emily (It's Love)" the other day and just had to listen to it simply because of its name.

Well, lo and behold it does a fairly good job of summing up past few months for me...funny how songs can be so spot on about your life sometimes! (About this, check out another post about this by Sara :))

This song is one of hope, that although things may be not going so great right now, in time things will turn around because of God's love for you. Why you? Why does God love you? I've asked myself that plenty of times...see previous post. Well, as Franny says "It's humbling. All of this done for you. It's love..." God's love is so humbling, I believe that is because it is given so freely and we can only hope and pray that one day we will be able to love as unconditionally as God does. Seeing how God loves so perfectly reveals how imperfect even our best attempt at true love is. Ouch. Eh. I think I just scraped my knees falling to the ground. It's humbling, always has been and always will be.

And "If you feel you've had enough. He's never given up." Ever felt discouraged, that there is no way you could accomplish something or overcome an obstacle? Have you given up on God because of this? Doubted His power or strength? Even if you have given up on Him, He has and will NEVER give up on you. Why? IT'S LOVE....ever humbling love.

It's Love. Believe it. Accept it. Live it. Give it.

The End is Near

So, as you know Lent is drawing to a close with roughly a week left to prepare yourself to be filled with the Risen Lord. For some, Lent may be going as well as a season of fasting can go and for others it may seem as though they are still getting into the swing of things. If you are a part of the second half, I encourage you to not lose hope! Although the time of preparation left may be limited, there is still time!! It is never to late to get back up again, renew your Lenten resolutions and draw near to the Father. I came across this prayer/words of encouragement today and thought I'd pass them along!

Don't Quit
When things go wrong
as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging
seems all uphill,
When you're feeling low
and the stress is high,
And you want to smile
but you have to sign,
When worries are getting you down a bit...
By all means pray---and don't you quit.
Success is failure turned inside out,
God's hidden gift in the clouds of doubt.
You can never tell how close you are---
It may be near when it seems so far.
So trust in the Lord
when you're hardest hit...
It's when things go wrong
that you must not quit!

Don't give up! Persevere in strength and hope drawn from the Lord, for without Him we can do nothing. Stay strong for the end is near! Peace and Blessings to you.

Music Sampler

Over the past couple of weeks I've been introduced to a few new artists and have really enjoyed their music! So, here I am paying it forward to you all! Well the three new (to me) artists are Mumford and Sons, Audrey Assad, and Jon Foreman.

Here is a little sampling of their awesomeness :)

Mumford and Sons: "Roll Away Your Stone"
Verse 1: Roll away your stone, I'll roll away mine. Together we can see what we will find. Don't leave me alone at this time. For I am afraid of what I will discover inside.

Audrey Assad: "Carry Me"
Chorus: You say I am blessed because of this. So, I choose to believe: As I carry this cross, You carry me. Help me to believe it.

Jon Foreman: "Your Love is Strong"
Random Section: The Kingdom of the heavens is now advancing. Invade my heart. Invade this broken town. The Kingdom of the heavens is buried treasure. Will you sell yourself to but the one you've found?

I encourage you to check out all of these songs in their entirety as well as other songs by these artists :)

Enjoy!

Lenten Reflection

Lent is almost upon us, so I have been spending some extra time thinking about various aspects of it recently.

I’ll be the first to admit that in the past I haven’t been too fond of Lent. It always seemed to come at a bad time for me (but isn’t that when we need it the most?). Usually Lents starts a little over month after the New Year, I have already forgone my New Year’s Resolution and then to be asked to make another resolution! Why? So I can fail at one more thing? Keep one fewer promises to myself? Lent always seemed like much more of a chore, than a process undergone to unite my sufferings with Jesus’ and grow closer to Our Father.

As Lent began creeping up on me this year I was trying to think in advance what I wanted to give up, add, and change throughout this time of self-denial. I must have written out about three or four various plans of actions in the span of two weeks, and it seemed like they were ever changing, one completely different from the next. I was trying so hard to find the perfect combination of giving up and taking up. Wanting something that would be challenging, but not too much so, because I wanted to be able to keep it without putting in too much effort, but enough to make it seem like a sacrifice.

I had been trying so hard for so long to formulate the game plan that I thought was a winner. A plan that involved an amount of self-sacrifice and denial that I would be able to handle without having to put in too much effort, in order for me to be able to say that I fulfilled my Lenten promises and never slipped up. And then this morning it hit me. I didn’t have to find a plan that kept me inside my comfort zone and would be easy to accomplish daily. I could have things on my list that were real challenges, and I might not succeed fully everyday in keeping those promises to myself. But you know what?! That’s OKAY!! For even Christ Himself stumbled and fell under the weight of His cross!

Falling makes up a good portion of the journey. You get knocked down so you remember to look up, to God, the one who can get you through anything and is always there to lift you when you fall. If you never fell the walk would not be as satisfying, for there is much more satisfaction in overcoming obstacles and doing something challenging than in completing something simple on the first go around.

So why stick to the easy things this Lent? Why not add something to your Lenten list that seems like a bit of a stretch? The only person it would hurt if you don’t is yourself. God thinks winning you over is worth all the effort….do you think serving, loving, and following God is worth all the effort? Will you give God all that He has already given you?

Prayers and Blessing for you as we enter this Lenten season. May Mama Mary care for you along this journey as she so desired to do for her son along His journey to Calvary.