God likes cheesy!

 

This could be a bit cheesy, but I’ll let you in on a secret of mine….but you can’t tell anyone. I gotta keep my reputation (i guess).
           I am a romantic at heart.

I was watching and really enjoying old people dancing some Polka this afternoon at the Swiss Festival in town. And they were all having the time of their lives, you could tell. and us girls were talking, bout how for the older people, that was their date nights…going out and dancing! so these polka dances, may remind them of their younger days. and watching these people dance and having a great time, just made me think about Love. Relationship love, marriage love, committed love, that lasts a lifetime on this earth, and an eternity with our Savior.

Also, today is my parents 33 year anniversary! and when mom told me how many years, i was like ‘wow’ i can’t even imagine! 33 yrs is a long time to be with one person…course could be cuz im only 23 and can’t imagine that many years. hah. but, thinking about them,  and their relationship, and Love, just made me so thankful that they are still deeply in love with each other and completely committed to one another. So thankful.

 

So,
Seeing couples in love and enjoying each other, just makes me think of God! :)

VERSE of the day:
”We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.”
1 Thessalonians 5:12-24

good communicators

 

God has gifted some really incredible teachers/communicators of His word. and I love listening to these people bring the word and share the gospel, because somehow they can just put in perspective for you, in ways that you wonder, ‘wow, they make it sound so easy…or hey, this makes perfect sense!…or…..yaaaaah!’

and you can see the passion and heart in these teachers/communicators. and i love that. it helps me love Jesus more, and of course learn more and see things in a different way, or be reminded of the simple truths of God’s Word and Jesus’ love!

Thank You God!

 

VERSE of the day:
”Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.”
Ephesians 5:15-16

joy givers

 

There’s just some people who just bring such joy to my heart. And by talking to them, spending time with them, I just love them more. and through seeing how God is working in their lives, and the joy He gives me through them, helps me to love Him more!

short and sweet! i hope you appreciate the joy givers in your life, and Praise God for them! they are gems.

 

VERSE of the day:
”For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
2 Corinthians 12:10

when the body is willing

 

Today, I am reminded of what love is. No matter what the circumstances are, people need love and support. And love, is a choice, but love when in it’s finest and when true, is genuine.

People need to be loved. and when I say love, i mean God’s love. genuineness. and a love that loves no matter what, a persons past or history, no matter what is going on in the moment, no matter what kind of fear there may be, no matter what….

and i am also blessed by the willingness of believer’s to help and to lift up in prayer their fellow brothers and sisters. i think that we forget how much of a blessing and encouragement it is when we are and when we receive willingness from each other. To stay the night, just for protection and comfort, to go with a friend to a hard place, to do a hard thing, to take a friend out when they need it most, and to be a shoulder to lean on or to cry on.

I beg you, fellow brother or sister, to be willing to serve the people around you and the people you care for in anyway possible. Be willing, to be used by God. don’t be selfish. this life is not about you, but about sharing Jesus with this world. and sometimes, the people who need it most, are the people you are with constantly.

So thank you God, for the body of Christ. for willing people. and for Your love, and protection and that we can trust in You and that You are able! :)

 

VERSE of the day:
”You are a hiding place for me;
you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with shouts of deliverance.
Selah”
Psalm 32:7

overwhelmed

 

Sometimes, God overwhelms me. In the best way possible.

We seek things from other people….realize that we are seeking things from other people…ask ourselves why it matters so much…..then ask ourselves if God really is enough for us….ask for forgiveness…..then all of a sudden, what you sought or desired from people…is what God is giving you. All within a matter of 10-15 minutes.

Tonight, I was overwhelmed by God’s astounding love for me. He knows the desires of my heart, and even when I realize that my desires are not always with the  right motives,  God gives me those desires when I ask forgiveness and make my heart right. And yeah…I don’t even know what to say. but just thank you to God. and just knowing that He takes delight in me and being my joy and will do anything for me, and for my betterment and joy and to let me know and remember that He is always with me, looking out for me, fighting for me, and loving me.

sigh. I love You Lord.

 

VERSE of the day:
”The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in him.”
Lamentations 3:22-24

we have it good

 

This morning at church we had missionaries from Mexico sharing with us at lunch time. (we had a carry in. love those!) And I was just reminded of how blessed we are in America, at least in the area I live in. We have no idea what it’s like to not live in a safe area, no idea what it’s like to be persecuted, or to fear for your life…etc.

We are privileged. And I sometimes wish that there were times when we would be more persecuted, or least experience what it would be like to be a missionary in a third world, dangerous country for at least a day, to realize what some missionaries really go through, and the faith that they have. because often I read stories and find myself wanting more faith like theirs.

Our troubles lead us to stronger faith, to a stronger relationship with God, to stronger fruit of the Spirit in our life.

So today, i am thankful for the life I live. thankful that I am not persecuted. but I also want to experience a third world country, poverty at some point in my life. But Praise God. and may we who have it good, learn from those who are persecuted, and remember to be grateful to God and to pray for those who are persecuted.

 

VERSE of the day:
”For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.”
2 Corinthians 8:9

look into my eyes

 

so tonight, us girl’s went to see Polen at Jitter’s. At first, I didnt really want to go because I wasn’t feeling very well at all. But then I decided to just go and enjoy the evening. and I’m really glad I did.

I was extremely blessed by the children. My friend’s tell me God’s preparing me…and I would probably have to agree. but there is just something special in children, that you just can’t help but laugh and smile with them. It’s the innocense, and just not caring but just their absolutely trust and love of life.
Then we stopped at a local coffee shop cuz we saw some of our guy’s from the ministry and it’s just good to see the one’s you care about, even for a short time. Just blesses your heart.

So I encourage you, next time you don’t feel like doing something with your friends, do it. Because usually when your not in the mood to do something, but you do anyway, is when you are blessed the most.
God is good.

P.S.
  look into people’s eyes. Don’t be afraid of eye contact. no matter what age of person. child to 50 yr old. Because eyes are beautiful, and it’s just a special thing to make eye contact.

 

VERSE of the day:
”even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by  grace you have been saved.”
Ephesians 2:5

hurt

 

There are a lot of hurting people in this world. And guarantee you, around yourself there are more than you realize. i am becoming more aware of the hurt that people go through around me, one’s i care about, and one’s in my community. I can see the hurt and I can’t help but want to be there for them and my heart can’t help but hurt with them, even if I don’t know what is going on.  And recently, I’ve just been feeling a call to encourage them and to especially pray hard for them.

But then on another side, I can’t help but see the incredible blessing that God has given me with the place I’m at right now. Yes there are struggles, but not like the people around me, i feel. I could be wrong. But I’m just reminded of the blessing that I have in God, that we all have. That He is our comfort, our provider, our healer, our protector, our Savior, our guide…and so much more!

Thank You God.

 

VERSE of the day:
”Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”
James 5:16

biblical community

 

i love the bible. and i love being around a group of people who inspire you to love God more and to live a godly life. A group of people who encourage you and whom you can encourage. A group of people you can live life with and know the power of God and the power of His love and commitment and forgiveness to us. His children and sons and daughters. A group of people you can pray with and fellowship and share meals and struggles with.

I pray that all believer’s find biblical community, and can learn the importance and the huge blessing of it, and the humility and bond that is built in it.

VERSE of the day:
”They devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
Acts 2:42

encouragement

 

words of affirmation is my love language. and yesterday, i was really encouraged and blessed and reminded of God’s astonishing love for me, through a word of encouragement from a dear friend of mine.

I was also just encouraged, by people who refresh my heart. :)

VERSE of the day:
”For I have derived much joy and comofrt from your love, my brother, becasue the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.”
Philemon 7

patience

 

this is a post for yesterday, because i got tired and it got late and i just didn’t want to take the extra time to blog, if im being honest. :)

so, as much as i would not consider, or even like to consider myself a teacher, i thoroughly enjoy teaching girl’s piano. what little i know. and being patient (which i feel is one thing we lack a lot of the time with people, big time) with them, and seeing their skill and how quickly they can develop their skill. for some reason, this just brings my heart joy. and I can love and be patient in a similar (pry not even near) way that Christ loves and is patient with us. :)

 

VERSE of the day:
”Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms, and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
Colossians 3:16

little conversation

 

I love those moments, when you just sit and talk with people for a long time, but it doesn’t feel long at all.  And you talk about life and also just the randomness of life as well. God is totally in those moments. In the bonding of fellow believers. :)

 

 

VERSE  of the day:
”Who is this King of glory?
The LORD, strong and mighty,
the LORD, mighty in battle!”
Psalm 24:8

Blessings

 

couple things on my mind….

1. i love weddings.
2. i believe its just me getting older…but im becoming so much more emotional (could be the season of life as well, i dont really know for sure)
3. God’s really been stirring my heart to pray more. and its great.
4. ive been really blessed this weekend.

So, blessings come in many ways. through tears of joy. through trusting people to handle ‘your baby’ (figuratively speaking for me), through encouraging words, through seeings loads of new people that you’ve never met before and being able to help them, through seeing people be stretched, through the celebration of love and two people coming together, through reuniting with friends who warm your heart, through new people and community, through praying for your community…

these are ways that I have been blessed this weekend. I am sure there are more. But our Father, loves to give good gifts. and I think that I am starting to believe and to accept that no matter what, He will always give me blessings. Just because He loves me, and He is God, and He gives good gifts, like Himself and every spiritual blessing! but yet so much more beyond that, even the little things!

He is the epitome of what Love really is, of what Life really is.
Thank You Father…for millions of reasons!
I love You.

 

VERSE of the day:
”If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”
Matthew 7:11

Yes, I love doing this….

 

I find it interesting that yesterday, i mentioned how sometimes i just really don’t like leadership simply because of the frustrations. when today, i was blessed in that.

At God’s Closet today, I had a lady, who comes everytime we have God’s Closet, so I have gotten to know her a little bit, and as I was doing a simple thing of just giving her a second bag, she says to me “you really like doing this don’t you?!” and i said “yes, i really do!” and i just kept smiling, because for some reason, it just blessed my heart and reminded me of why I do what I do and that God is pleased, and that it blesses other people. and that is what it’s about.

The fact that she could see that I have a heart to fold clothes, to give people bag’s so they can pack them full and take them home, to set clothes up, and even to go thru the frustration of the details sometimes…was really encouraging to me. and reminded me that God is completely watching over me, and really loves to bless me.
So thank You Father! :)

 

VERSE of the day:
”I sought the LORD and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears.”
Psalm 34:4

practice makes better

 

i think that we need to practice more.
  practice prayer. practice being on our faces or knees or prostrate before God….practice the things we are not so good at!

sometimes, i really don’t like leadership. and the reason i don’t like it sometimes, is because the slightest tension arises and i instantly doubt myself and get frustrated and sin. that is my downfall. lack of confidence. and i still care too much what other people say or think, when i shouldnt.

but tonight, i was reminded…..that God’s love is unconditional. (which is a word I think we need to practice meditating on more often on what it actually means for us!) I am secure in Him. He is a constant. And no matter how much I mess up and fail or get frustrated with myself, His love, and mercy and grace are still abounding towards me. and I am soooo thankful for this truth. Just need to constantly be reminded and meditate on it and FIGHT when the devil and his little minions try to tell me otherwise.

 

VERSE of the day:
”BUT GOD, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved…”
Ephesians 2:4-5

relationships

 

so this is kinda cheating…cuz it was last night that im goin to share about, but it can kidna go with today too, just in the idea of relationships.

how often do u pray for the people that are in your life and the one’s that you care about, and every now and then let them know that you are praying for them?!

last night before i went to bed, i spent time in prayer for the ppl in my life, and i was completely blessed. and i believe that it makes God smile when we take the time to lift up those people to Him. and sometimes, it may be more for us than it is for them…draws us closer to God and gives us a thankful heart attitude for those people! :) i was just super blessed and just fell in love with Jesus more. thru praying for people.

as well, juts reconnecting with your community, and people in your life is a blessing. there are always people that just bring joy to your heart, and when you get to see them after a while, God just fills you up! :) even if it’s just for like 5 minutes! or a text!
 

the love for other people, is a great way to fall more in love with Jesus! a great way to see Jesus and to see His heart. and this is my prayer, that I will continuously love people as Jesus has loved me, and that I can see them in His light and not the way this world does.

I love You God!

 

VERSE of the day:
”In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ.”
Ephesians 1:7-9

Sharing

 

Since i was away this weekend in Maryland and missed out on my blogging, i thought I would just share a few things about God that help me fall more in love with Him!

1, is community. It is so great to be back in community. being away with the minstry, even though i was the only girl, was just a blessing to me. i have missed it a lot, and this week our usual schedule of biblical training starts, and im just ready for things to get back to ‘normal’ i guess. even though it’s not really normal at all, depending on your definition of normal. but yeah, i’m just excited, and love how God works and reveals himself and His love for us in the midst of community.

2,  this weekend i was just reminded that God is a pursueing God. and i love that I am pursued by Him, and that He is constantly showing me His love for me, esp when I am doubting myself and God’s truths, His love never fails!

 

VERSE of the day:
”As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.”
john 15:9

Remember Me

 

So, I love Jesus.

I have been rereading my Ted Dekker books, the circle trilogy, just finished Red now reading White. and what stuck out to me most and i think i journaled bout this at some point recently, but in Red the charachter Justin (who represents Jesus) is telling his people to remember him……and paints the beautiful picture of love and unity in his bride.

and tonight at our girl’s bible study we talked about communion, and remembering Jesus….and we partook of communion and i just thought it was rather awesome that i had read and was resonating with the whole “remember me” from the book, and then tonight with actually taking the time with the girls to remember Jesus, something just clicked! and i love when things like that happen!

Remember Jesus.

 

VERSE of the day:
”…the Lord Jesus on the night that he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said ‘this is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying ‘this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
1 Corinthians 11:23-26

Adorable

 

Today, I got to see and hang out for a little while with an old friend whom I haven’t seen in a really long time. and we were just talking bout life, and you know when you havent seen someone for a while, you ask about their love life! and i just wanna say….

i love when guy’s are totally into a specific girl and just listening to them talk about her. it makes my heart smile. and makes me think of Jesus, and how He talks about us, and think about us as His bride. and even myself personally, as His beloved and His daughter.

 

VERSE of the day:
”His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”
2 Peter 1:3-4

Community

 

It has been a couple days since I last posted…I apologize.

I have missed community. You can be in your community, yet not in it…its weird how that happens. kinda like how you can be in a crowd of people, yet still feel alone, i feel like it’s the same thing. you can be in your community, but not really do anything in or with your community…if that makes sense.

but, community is starting again. granted, community should never stop. talking about Jesus intentionally, should never stop. but it’s up to us…and i hate to say it, but i fail to often. and lately, i feel like failing is just becoming more and more apart of who i am. but that’s not true, it’s not who i am, it’s just what i do sometimes. but my loving Father is there to pick me up, and walk me through it and to help me start over again.

Community may look different to you. but for me, it’s refreshing. new people. new opinions. new voices. same people. same opinions. same voices. Jesus talks.  parents. family. service.  laughter. singing loudly in a car. worship. sharing hearts, mess-ups,….etc.

i love newness. but there is also comfort in ‘oldness’ too. a mix of both, is perfect. but, this weekend, it is community that has made me think, made me feel, made me remember and realize the love of Jesus.

 

VERSE of the day:
”Sing aloud O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart. The LORD has taken away the judgments against you: he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD is in your midst’ you shall never again fear evil…The LORD your God is in your midst. a mighty one who will save, he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”
Zephaniah 3:14-15, 17

Truth in Fiction

 

I have really been enjoying my Ted DekKer Circle trilogy series again (black, red and now white, and soon green…so tech not a trilogy anymore). and I just love it so much, because you can clearly, clearly see the gospel in it. and today while reading i was just reminded of the unity of believers, and how we are considered the bride of Christ and God thinks we are so beautiful and just has an astounding love for us, that we so often forget. We just need to remember Jesus.

 

VERSE of the day:
“but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.”
1 Peter 3:4