Day Trip

Today, David, Lylah, and myself took a day trip to Breckenridge. It was so fun! The initial idea behind the trip was to use my new camera and take some new family pictures. But when we got to Breckenridge, we decided to walk around the city and have some fun. The best part was that they were having "The International Snow Sculpture Championships". It was so cool!  David just got done with a two week intensive course and then, immediately upon finishing, went on retreat with the church. We had a blast, and it was so nice to get some good quality time together.
Here's some pictures of the snow sculptures and some of our favorite pictures we took:

Making Tough Decisions

Making Tough Decisions

When it comes to making tough choices, like: what college should I go to? Or, should I move out of my parents home? Or, Do I want to go to college? Where do I want to live? What do I want to do for the rest of my life? Where do I want to work? And so many more, it is extremely difficult to know what to do.

What tough decisions do you need to make?

James 3:17 “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.”

Growing up, I attended a summer camp outside of Austin, Texas called TbarM. I loved the place! And my dream was to be a counselor there. My freshman year of college I had applied to work there, and also a camp called Pine Cove, as my backup. Well, Pine Cove called and offered me a job two months before I was even supposed to interview for TbarM. Tough choice. Do I accept Pine Cove and forget about my dream of TbarM, or do I turn Pine Cove down and trust that I’ll get accepted to work at TbarM. I cried myself to sleep that night unsure of what to do, praying and praying that God give me peace about where I’m supposed to go. When I woke up, I had such a peace about Pine Cove, and realized that my dream was to be a camp counselor, not necessarily at TbarM. Comparing this situation to James 3:17, my confirmation on working at Pine Cove covered all of the listed characteristics (it was a clear decision (pure), I felt peace, I was calm and okay with working at PC-it was unforced (gentle), the fact that I was being called to be a counselor showed God’s mercy, I was confident (unwavering), and there was no hypocrisy (obviously because I knew nothing about this camp and wanted to work there)). I worked for Pine Cove for 3 summers and would work there full time if the opportunity ever presented itself. I absolutely LOVED it!

1 John 3:21 “Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God.”

I encourage you to, when making a tough decision, wait on the Lord. If you feel uneasy about it, that’s most likely Him telling you no, if you have a peace about it, that’s probably a yes, if you have no feelings, keep praying! He will answer you in HIS perfect timing (refer back to our previous study on God’s Timing vs Your timing).

This year, I started working for a Child Development Center. I had a difficult time with the age group I was with, but mainly with my co-teacher. I just felt not at all excited to go to work and very put down around her. I prayed and prayed about what to do. I considered going back to school, applied for other jobs, and even pursued other jobs. But nothing felt right. I felt zero peace about leaving, but was miserable at work. Finally, there was a situation that put me in my boss’ office and she asked me how I was doing. I broke down crying, told her I was miserable, and that I was looking for other jobs. She told me she definitely didn’t want to lose me and was going to see what she could do to get me out of that classroom. Two weeks later, I was with the next age group up and had a new co-teacher, who I get along really well with. I encourage you to stay put when you don’t feel peace or confidence about something, God has something in store for you, just be patient and lean on Him for strength and love.

2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

How does this change your decision making ideas?

Overexcitedness

So I think I got a little overexcited about sharing every little thing that I'm up to and creating a tab for it with links to every post. Basically, I'm falling from my "blog high" and have seen the error of my ways. Pinterest got the best of me. I wanted to have a blog that had it all, and that anyone who was looking for something could find it in my blog. I apologize for blowing up your feed or email with all of the commotion I was creating on here. I will continue to post my Bible Studies, but I'm not going to have a tab for them. I will keep sharing my life and will probably keep my crafts tab…not that I'm up to any new ones as of right now.

I'm going to be a good girl and avoid blowing up your feed and email.

Being in The Word

New Year, New Me- Being in The Word

Have you made any resolutions for the new year? What are they?

·      A typical resolution of Christians is “read my Bible more/daily”.

Which leads us to the topic of tonight: The importance of being in The Word.

Ephesians 6:13-17 talks about taking on the full armor of God. For tonight, I want to focus on “the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God”- Ephesians 6:17. A sword is used to fight with, but also to protect and defend yourself.

Psalm 119:11 talks about treasuring (NASB), or storing (ESV), God’s word in your heart. This is SO IMPORTANT. When you know (memorize) scripture, you can combat the lies of satan and the world. You fight them by speaking truth into them, truth straight from God. Quote Bible verses when you doubt that speak of how great God is. When you feel unloved, tell yourself that you are “fearfully and wonderfully made.”- Psalm 139:14.

The Bible is God’s Word! Own that!

·      2 Peter 1:20-21- “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God”.

When you speak God’s truth into the doubt and lies, you find freedom. “and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” John 8:32. You will be free from that doubt and those lies. Get to know God and what He has to say about you.

I send you off with this: “but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” -2 Peter 3:18

To help get you kick started into digging into The Word, we’re going to go through a passage together over several weeks.

2 Peter 1:5-7. Each week you will focus on one word (diligence, moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, love), and we will come together and talk about it. I want you to find:

·      Definition of the word from a dictionary

·      Your definition

·      Verses to go with that word

·      Where you succeed in your life in this area

·      Where you struggle

2 Peter 1:8- “For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ”.

Patience & God's Timing

Patience & God’s Timing

Habakkuk 2:3- “…if it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay”.

Being a control freak, it’s easy for me to plan out everything. What’s difficult, is when something doesn’t go according to plan. The thing is, as much as I like to have control of my life, God wants the control. So when I want something to happen at a certain time, and God wants it at a different time, who do you think wins. God. Every time. Our timing and our schedule to not stand a chance against God’s. Trust me.

Ecclesiastes 8:6- “There is a proper time and procedure for every delight, though a man’s trouble is heavy upon him”.

You might think that whatever you’re going through is the most important thing and get stuck focusing on that specific thing. It happens to me all the time. And when it doesn’t work out when I want it to, it’s easy to get frustrated. Remember what we talked about last week with Thankfulness? Look beyond the circumstance and find God. When things happen in God’s timing, they’re easy, natural, unbelievable!

Psalm 27:14- “…be strong and let your heart take courage…”

·      You could be in the tough situation that you’re in for awhile. It’s really easy to get discouraged. Be strong. Take courage. Trust God.

Psalm 37:4- “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart”.

·      When you find your delight in the Lord, He gives you what you want. That’s because when you are seeking wholeheartedly after Him, His desires for you become your desires for yourself. You are seeking God’s best interest for you!

·      I didn’t date anyone until my husband. And I was really discouraged about that- what’s wrong with me? Why am I not got enough? Pretty enough? I spent my freshman year of college rediscovering and getting to know God, and it was incredible. I sought Him out in everything. I began to realize that God was protecting me. My husband and I were friends for two years before we began dating, and God blessed every part of our relationship. We were only engaged for four and a half months, and planning our wedding was so much fun, and easy! Everything fell into place. We put all of our trust in the Lord and sought out His timing for our life together, if we were even supposed to have a life together, and our wedding was incredible. I feel so spoiled with how easy it was to plan! Lastly, my husband is in Graduate School at Denver Seminary. And it is expensive. But God opened the door for him to be a resident at a church, where they pay for all of his school and books, and he gets practical work experience in a church. Blessings like these are proof that you are walking in the way which God has guided you. Yes, there have been tough times and there will be tough times to come, but we keep our eyes and minds on God.

Where in your life do you need to adjust your focus and wait on God’s timing?

Thankfulness

Thankfulness

Ephesians 5:20- “always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father”.

1 Thessalonians 5:18- “in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”.

Why do we give thanks?

What is thankfulness?

·      “feeling or expressing gratitude; appreciative” (dictionary.com)

·      Gratitude: “warmly or deeply appreciative of kindness or benefits received” (dictionary.com)

What kindness did we receive?

   Colossians 2:13-14- “When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross”.

·     We received the kindness of Christ taking our torture and death, dying the most painful death invented. He did nothing to deserve what he received. He took it so that we could be in relationship with God.

What benefit did we receive?

·     Hebrews 4:15-16- “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need”.

·      *We received the benefit of Jesus having been through a life that we are living, yet without sin. He didn’t start His ministry until He was 30. He lived a life prior to that- he was a baby, toddler, child, preteen, teen, and adult. He’s been through the thick of it. Yet He did it all without sinning. We can come to Him knowing that He has been through it and desires to help us get through it as well.

How do we give thanks always and in all circumstances?

·      “A Biblically grateful and thankful person is someone who appreciates both how undeserving he/she is before God and how generous God is to them”. –Greg Simas

·      *We are called to give thanks IN all circumstances, not FOR all circumstances. In every circumstance, if we can look beyond it, we will find God.

·      God promises that He will not leave or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6 and Joshua 1:5).

·      2 Corinthians 1:4- “who comforts us in all our afflictions, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (ESV). The footnotes of my study Bible says that “One of God’s purposes in the suffering of Christians is that they would experience direct, personal comfort from God”. In hard times, look beyond the difficult circumstance, find God, and allow Him to comfort you.

·      Learn to say: Thank you that in this circumstance, I can find You.

What are you thankful for?-

·      *Happy/Blessings?

·      *Tragedy/Loss/Grief?