First Day of Classes

Okay so I officially started my junior year...

Why am I already procrastinating? I need this year to be a great one. I want to be all in this year meaning I don't want to pass through my classes without actually learning. I want to be fully engaged in the classroom so I don't miss what God wants me to learn. This awesome opportunity to go to a University in beautiful sunny California...I can't miss out on anything just because I'm comfortable sitting back and watching instead of engaging.

So here it is my commitment to fight this laziness coined with a fancy name procrastination. Here's to my NIKE commitment to "just do it" instead of waiting to the last possible moment. I'm all in whether I like it or not.

 Lord give me the strength and the determination to be on time to classes. To most of all honor you with my time, money, and resources and to lean on you when I want to throw in the towel. Help me to have the "just do it" kind of attitude when it comes to getting those assignments done, so I can give glory to you with my time.

 

Amen and Amen.

Picture Source: Articlesweb.org

Worried, Carried, Loved

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."- 1 Peter 5:6-7 

Sometimes at night, when I'm curled up in bed ready to doze off into my dreams, I find I can't sleep. When I think about everything I need to do, everything I want to do, and everything else I can feel myself being overcome with worry and even that worries me, because I know I should be sleeping. Even so, to stop the worries and the fear that I feel creeping into my mind, I imagine myself curled in the hands of my Creator. Every time I imagine this image, one I feel is God given, the worries slowly give way to the security my God gives. 

I encourage you, whoever you are, whether a person bogged down with familial worries and issues, or whether, like me, school is becoming stressful, take the time to journal, pray, and seek God's Word. Maybe because of all of your worries and distractions you feel as though you can't make time to pray or journal, tell God this!Talk to friends or family members who can encourage you to be strong in the Lord. Maybe God will give you an image of the security, peace, and love that he offers to his child. 

It's Not in Your Pocket, it's in Your Heart

When you hear the word "Lent" you may think of  the cottony stuff found at the bottom of your pockets or even the gobs of it stuck in the dryer sheet, but for Christians it's a season of reflection about the upcoming suffering of Christ. I have participated in the season of Lent, which are the forty days leading up to Easter, ever since elementary school. Even though the church tradition my family is a part of does not participate my Lutheran private school did. As a child I remember having the pastor mark my forehead with ashes and deciding to give up sweets until Easter. 

As a young adult however, I'm thinking about taking up something for forty days. My heart has really been pressed to start intentionally reading the Bible for these forty days and to journal prayers. I also want to put away something so I have chosen to give up painting my nails. Now this may seem like a trivial thing, especially to the guys out there, but to me it's something that I do every two to three days. It will be difficult staring at my barren nails for forty days, because I know I can't do it. I can't do it alone, that is but with God all things are possible. 

So for tomorrow, Ash Wednesday the start of Lent, I hope for this season of Lent when so many Christians around the world are fasting or abstaining from one thing or another that ultimately we seek and find God closer to us than ever before.If you do not come from a background of participating in Lent, I hope this year will be the first of many. For all of those who do participate in Lent every year I pray this year you will grow in your faith and love for Christ.

What's This All About?

Winsome: generally pleasing and engaging because of childlike charm or innocence. 

I hope this blog can give you encouragement, bring a smile, and maybe even peak your interest in some sort of way. I'm really new at all of this and I'm typing this up at 1:30 in the morning simply because I could not go one more day without making a blog, but besides that I hope this blog points you towards the Savior Jesus Christ. I haven't got it all figured out yet, but you're welcome to come along with me as I go!