The title says it all...
1. When people drive below the speed limit...If I wanna speed, that's one thing, but seriously people, drive faster
2. When people can't make decisions
3. When I forget to do important things
4. Cussing...Really? Increase your vocab people
5. Illegible handwriting
6. When people are late...it's rude
7. When people talk on Bluetooths
8. When girls play dumb...I just want to slap them in the face
9. When one person gives their two-cents about every topic in a discussion
10. Cats...nothing specific, just cats in general.
...try not to do any of these things around me. k thanks ;)
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Decisions Decisions
"Decision is a sharp knife that cuts clean and straight; indecision, a dull one that hacks and tears and leaves ragged edges behind it." -Gordon Graham
"What do you wanna do?" "I don't know, what do you wanna do?" "I don't care we can do whatever you wanna do" "Okay but we can do whatever..." ...Sound familiar?? Indecision is one of my biggest pet peeves. It drives me nuts when people cannot make simple decisions. If it comes down to me and everyone else says "I don't care" I will make a decision so that we are not sitting around wasting our lives wondering what to do.
This especially is for things that really don't matter that much. Seriously, just pick an option and jump on for the ride. There are definitely decisions that require much thinking and prayer, but on the little things in life, making split second decisions is what makes some of it worth living. People fear choosing the "wrong option," but the risk of a wrong decision is preferable to the terror of indecision
When big decisions arise a backwards step may need to be taken. Prayer and careful decision making skills need to be used, but once God reveals His wisdom to you and you know what choice you should make, make it. Do not wait around questioning Him or wondering if He is going to change His mind. I can promise you that His way is best, and that He will not change it. James warns in James 1:8 that "a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways." Stand firm on the wisdom of God and make the decisions that He calls you to make.
Challenge: Don't waste your life in indecision. Trust God, the Holy Spirit, and choose.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Beware of Christians
"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle." -Brennan Manning
http://bewareofchristians.com/flash.html#/TRAILER
As we walked into Winthrop's theater tonight ten minutes early, we struggled to find a seat. This documentary titled "Beware of Christians" had brought a few hundred students out of their dorm rooms for two and a half hours on a Monday night. I don't know what everyone else was expecting, but I can tell you what I was not expecting...a slap in the face (...or on the back for that matter...nevermind you would understand if you saw the film). This is probably the best documentary I have ever seen. Four college students get real and tell it like it is. They take the beliefs they've been told all of her lives and throw them out the window to discover what it is like to get out of American Christianity.
Many topics in this documentary stood out to me but none more than the title itself. "Beware of Christians." I was thinking that maybe this film was going to be about crazy on-fire, Jesus-loving, die-hard Christians. Although these guys were some of those things, their approach to the title was different. One of the guys said "They warn us to beware of alcohol. They warn us to beware of premarital sex, but maybe the thing we should be being told is to beware of Christians." In saying this he was referring to the fact that things such as alcohol and premarital sex can keep us from getting close to God, but he reverses it and asks that maybe the things keeping us the furthest away from God is other Christians, or even our own Christianity. That maybe organized religion and American Christianity that we have grown up with are the things that hinder us the most from being real Christians.The quote at the beginning of this blog is meaning the same thing. That we as Christians are the biggest obstacles that others have to go through to get to Jesus, and if they are blind enough to get past our hypocrisy, then maybe they will find their way to what we call Christianity. Then those who find their way to God look at other Christians to find out how to live and join us in becoming the barrier between the lost and God; just making the wall harder and thicker to overcome. So what do we really believe? It may not take a 5 week trip to Europe to find out, but it will take making God and His mission the center-most point of our lives and abandoning all the worldly things that hinder us from becoming one with Him.
In the film these four guys travel across Europe to uncover the topics that they struggle with and that God either calls us to abandon or approach. These seven topics were church, identity, relationships, alcohol, materialism, wealth/poverty, and entertainment. Almost every single one hit home and was a call to make a radical change. These guys did a magnificent job, and I challenge you to watch this film unless you are too afraid for someone to call you out on your flaws or are too afraid to be a real Christian.
"...So I had a lot of great plans, but recently Jesus completely ruined them..."
*I have a copy if you want it.
http://bewareofchristians.com/flash.html#/TRAILER
As we walked into Winthrop's theater tonight ten minutes early, we struggled to find a seat. This documentary titled "Beware of Christians" had brought a few hundred students out of their dorm rooms for two and a half hours on a Monday night. I don't know what everyone else was expecting, but I can tell you what I was not expecting...a slap in the face (...or on the back for that matter...nevermind you would understand if you saw the film). This is probably the best documentary I have ever seen. Four college students get real and tell it like it is. They take the beliefs they've been told all of her lives and throw them out the window to discover what it is like to get out of American Christianity.
Many topics in this documentary stood out to me but none more than the title itself. "Beware of Christians." I was thinking that maybe this film was going to be about crazy on-fire, Jesus-loving, die-hard Christians. Although these guys were some of those things, their approach to the title was different. One of the guys said "They warn us to beware of alcohol. They warn us to beware of premarital sex, but maybe the thing we should be being told is to beware of Christians." In saying this he was referring to the fact that things such as alcohol and premarital sex can keep us from getting close to God, but he reverses it and asks that maybe the things keeping us the furthest away from God is other Christians, or even our own Christianity. That maybe organized religion and American Christianity that we have grown up with are the things that hinder us the most from being real Christians.The quote at the beginning of this blog is meaning the same thing. That we as Christians are the biggest obstacles that others have to go through to get to Jesus, and if they are blind enough to get past our hypocrisy, then maybe they will find their way to what we call Christianity. Then those who find their way to God look at other Christians to find out how to live and join us in becoming the barrier between the lost and God; just making the wall harder and thicker to overcome. So what do we really believe? It may not take a 5 week trip to Europe to find out, but it will take making God and His mission the center-most point of our lives and abandoning all the worldly things that hinder us from becoming one with Him.
In the film these four guys travel across Europe to uncover the topics that they struggle with and that God either calls us to abandon or approach. These seven topics were church, identity, relationships, alcohol, materialism, wealth/poverty, and entertainment. Almost every single one hit home and was a call to make a radical change. These guys did a magnificent job, and I challenge you to watch this film unless you are too afraid for someone to call you out on your flaws or are too afraid to be a real Christian.
"...So I had a lot of great plans, but recently Jesus completely ruined them..."
*I have a copy if you want it.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Pretty Girl
♪I know the truth there's more to you than physicality. There is no doubt inside and out you are wonderfully unique. Pretty girl, let your calming grace and smiling face light up this world. Pretty girl, cause in time there's a guy who will see that you are a pretty girl. So much more than meets the eye, beautiful cannot describe♫ -Christian Walker "Pretty Girl"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-CTazIKejM
Okay girls, let's get real. We don't always like ourselves. We criticize ourselves, we woefully look in the mirror at ourselves, and then we go and criticize each other to make ourselves feel better. Now some of us are more guilty than others, but we've all done it before.
The summer before my senior year of high school, I attended Go Tell camp and heard Christian Walker sing. The video posted above is the only one I could find of this song. Christian Walker is by no means famous, but he has sang and written a few of my favorite songs. This particular one hits home. As girls, we always are looking for the flaws in ourselves whether they be physical, emotional, spiritual, mental, etc. We then proceed to either create fake extreme self-esteem or curl up and withdraw. Our reactions may change from day to day, but what can we do to make sure that we have constant, genuine self-esteem? It is found in Jesus. We are told in Psalm 139:14 that we are "wonderfully made." And in 1 Samuel 16:7 it says, "For the Lord does not see us as man sees us. For man looks only at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." There is more to each of us than our physicality, and these verses are reminders that inside and out, we were created by God, and that we were made in His image.
Now the other topic I wanted to cover in this blog is mentioned in the lyrics above. "Pretty girl, cause in time there's a guy who will see that you are a pretty girl." Quit trying to please people, especially guys. Let them pursue you and be attracted to the real you, not the facade you put on. I have found that when you least expect it, God will put the right guy in your life. So quit looking, and just let Him bring your guy at the right time. His timing is always perfect, and we are impatient. Sometimes you never know what God is doing in your life until, a long time in the future, you look back on that moment, and then it's all clear. He keeps us waiting so that we will put our trust in Him. Do that, and you can guarantee that everything will work out for the advancement of His kingdom and ultimately for your best (whether it seems like it or not). I will probably write a whole separate blog on this topic sometime soon, but I just wanted to touch on it for this one.
So the challenge...wake up every morning with the mindset that you are a pretty girl inside and out and that there is more to you and every other person that meets the eye.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-CTazIKejM
Okay girls, let's get real. We don't always like ourselves. We criticize ourselves, we woefully look in the mirror at ourselves, and then we go and criticize each other to make ourselves feel better. Now some of us are more guilty than others, but we've all done it before.
The summer before my senior year of high school, I attended Go Tell camp and heard Christian Walker sing. The video posted above is the only one I could find of this song. Christian Walker is by no means famous, but he has sang and written a few of my favorite songs. This particular one hits home. As girls, we always are looking for the flaws in ourselves whether they be physical, emotional, spiritual, mental, etc. We then proceed to either create fake extreme self-esteem or curl up and withdraw. Our reactions may change from day to day, but what can we do to make sure that we have constant, genuine self-esteem? It is found in Jesus. We are told in Psalm 139:14 that we are "wonderfully made." And in 1 Samuel 16:7 it says, "For the Lord does not see us as man sees us. For man looks only at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." There is more to each of us than our physicality, and these verses are reminders that inside and out, we were created by God, and that we were made in His image.
Now the other topic I wanted to cover in this blog is mentioned in the lyrics above. "Pretty girl, cause in time there's a guy who will see that you are a pretty girl." Quit trying to please people, especially guys. Let them pursue you and be attracted to the real you, not the facade you put on. I have found that when you least expect it, God will put the right guy in your life. So quit looking, and just let Him bring your guy at the right time. His timing is always perfect, and we are impatient. Sometimes you never know what God is doing in your life until, a long time in the future, you look back on that moment, and then it's all clear. He keeps us waiting so that we will put our trust in Him. Do that, and you can guarantee that everything will work out for the advancement of His kingdom and ultimately for your best (whether it seems like it or not). I will probably write a whole separate blog on this topic sometime soon, but I just wanted to touch on it for this one.
So the challenge...wake up every morning with the mindset that you are a pretty girl inside and out and that there is more to you and every other person that meets the eye.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
From Sunrise to Sunset
"Wow, you can see so much from up here. It's amazing how we are such a small part of something so much bigger." -Jamie Sweatman
As I woke up on March 12 in the wonderful home of Will and Lori Beaty, I realized that the sun was rising. Through the curtains, I was able to watch as God brought another day upon me. But this day was not destined to be just like any other day. On this day, I was to be heading to Puerto Rico with 16 other people from Winthrop's BCM. Excitement consumed me and the two others that I was with as we approached BCM to head off. We took off and headed from Charlotte to Washington D.C. and then to San Juan, Puerto Rico. As we were in the air on the first flight, I overheard someone say "Wow, you can see so much from up here. It's amazing how we are such a small part of something so much bigger." The truth in that statement hit me like a Mack truck hitting a VW bug. Everyday, I wake up and wonder what am I gonna do today? Never what is someone else doing or what can I do for others. My own little world revolves solely around me and it's a huge reality check when I occasionally realize that my world is part of a bigger world that is 6 BILLION times its size.
As we boarded our second flight, I found my seat and casually started a conversation with the couple beside me. They were a 50-something husband and wife couple from New Brunswick, Canada, and they were headed to Puerto Rico to get on a cruise ship. After the conversation died down, I pulled out the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I read a few chapters and stopped in the middle of a chapter but at the end of a section in that chapter. I then looked out the window...Across the horizon, I was able to see a beautiful sunset. After staring mindlessly for a couple of seconds, I turned back to my book and the next section and continued reading. The next section began with the verse Malichi 1:11. This verse says, "From the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations." Ironic right? This is actually the first time I had ever heard this verse and this very same day I had seen the sun rise in the morning and just seconds before had seen the sun set..it then hit me why we were going to Puerto Rico. Yeh, we were gonna build a ramp for and elderly disabled lady, meet some new people, experience the culture, do yard work, and do it all while proclaiming the name of Jesus, but we were going to do so much more. We were going to make His name great in all the nations starting with the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. Throughout the summer, Winthrop BCM will be making His name great all over the world doing mission work. Some will be in New Orleans, California, Romania, Canada, Haiti, and even others in Australia and the Philippines. No matter where we are, we are going to make His name great. We must realize that we need to step beyond our own little worlds and into the face of the unknown. It is with great faith that we take such actions. But the faith comes from the assurance of our God that His name will be made great.
In addition, we got to experience God's amazing creations.We saw mountains, beaches, and rain forests all on one small island. We serve such a great, creative, and compassionate God. Above it all, we were made in His image. While in Puerto Rico, we were able to worship the same God and creator as the locals. Despite our lack of Spanish and their lack of English, language did not seem to be much of a barrier. Many of us were brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, language barriers were but such a small difference in comparison to our similarities and love for Christ.
It is an amazing experience to be a small part of His magnificent plan and to watch His kingdom unfold through our work and obedience. I could not have thought of a better way to spend my Spring Break than advancing His kingdom. I challenge you to make His name great wherever God may place you.
As I woke up on March 12 in the wonderful home of Will and Lori Beaty, I realized that the sun was rising. Through the curtains, I was able to watch as God brought another day upon me. But this day was not destined to be just like any other day. On this day, I was to be heading to Puerto Rico with 16 other people from Winthrop's BCM. Excitement consumed me and the two others that I was with as we approached BCM to head off. We took off and headed from Charlotte to Washington D.C. and then to San Juan, Puerto Rico. As we were in the air on the first flight, I overheard someone say "Wow, you can see so much from up here. It's amazing how we are such a small part of something so much bigger." The truth in that statement hit me like a Mack truck hitting a VW bug. Everyday, I wake up and wonder what am I gonna do today? Never what is someone else doing or what can I do for others. My own little world revolves solely around me and it's a huge reality check when I occasionally realize that my world is part of a bigger world that is 6 BILLION times its size.
As we boarded our second flight, I found my seat and casually started a conversation with the couple beside me. They were a 50-something husband and wife couple from New Brunswick, Canada, and they were headed to Puerto Rico to get on a cruise ship. After the conversation died down, I pulled out the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I read a few chapters and stopped in the middle of a chapter but at the end of a section in that chapter. I then looked out the window...Across the horizon, I was able to see a beautiful sunset. After staring mindlessly for a couple of seconds, I turned back to my book and the next section and continued reading. The next section began with the verse Malichi 1:11. This verse says, "From the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations." Ironic right? This is actually the first time I had ever heard this verse and this very same day I had seen the sun rise in the morning and just seconds before had seen the sun set..it then hit me why we were going to Puerto Rico. Yeh, we were gonna build a ramp for and elderly disabled lady, meet some new people, experience the culture, do yard work, and do it all while proclaiming the name of Jesus, but we were going to do so much more. We were going to make His name great in all the nations starting with the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. Throughout the summer, Winthrop BCM will be making His name great all over the world doing mission work. Some will be in New Orleans, California, Romania, Canada, Haiti, and even others in Australia and the Philippines. No matter where we are, we are going to make His name great. We must realize that we need to step beyond our own little worlds and into the face of the unknown. It is with great faith that we take such actions. But the faith comes from the assurance of our God that His name will be made great.
In addition, we got to experience God's amazing creations.We saw mountains, beaches, and rain forests all on one small island. We serve such a great, creative, and compassionate God. Above it all, we were made in His image. While in Puerto Rico, we were able to worship the same God and creator as the locals. Despite our lack of Spanish and their lack of English, language did not seem to be much of a barrier. Many of us were brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, language barriers were but such a small difference in comparison to our similarities and love for Christ.
It is an amazing experience to be a small part of His magnificent plan and to watch His kingdom unfold through our work and obedience. I could not have thought of a better way to spend my Spring Break than advancing His kingdom. I challenge you to make His name great wherever God may place you.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
I Don't Care
♪You all laugh at me like I'm not happy with anything, any time, anywhere. And the half of me's all about apathy, and the other half just doesn't care...What matters to you does not matter to me. Cause I don't care♫ Relient K "Apathetic Way to Be"
Let's go on a journey...back to high school. "The best days of our life" right? Psssssh, heck no. According to Urbandictionary (an opinionated dictionary), high school is "the place where the stress of growing up and the stress of fitting in join forces to destroy even the strongest among us." The definition then defines all the stresses of fitting in. As a high schooler, I began the never ending process of fitting in and trying to find my place. I tried hanging out with the "populars" because I had a few friends in that group...but trust me, even if you are in that group, it can be one of the most miserable things ever. Then I tried with the "jocks" since I played volleyball and softball, but that was uninteresting as well. My junior year, I eventually found myself in a group that I will categorize as the "wannabes." Some of the people in my group wanted to be popular but were stunted by the glass ceiling. Others wanted to be the leader of a group, and they just needed some people to push around. And even others were more than willing to be those pushovers. Me? I was just stuck. I had my athlete friends, my FCA friends, my popular friends, and my super smart friends, but fate had plopped me into the middle of this group. And by my 3rd year of high school, I was tired of jumping groups so I just stayed. I just didn't care what I was categorized as anymore. It was then that I was content. I was completely apathetic as to how I was seen by others, and I couldn't have been happier.
It was also at this point that God began working in my life greatly. I came to the point where I didn't care what others thought about my faith either. The above song is about not caring. The Bible speaks a few times against apathy; however, Relient K takes a different perspective on apathy. Instead of not caring about the doing the work of God, they use this song to promote apathy for the hindrances that the world puts in front of us, whether those hindrances be conformity, sin, or other circumstances. Basically, we should not have the same desires of the world, and we should not care about anything the world is doing. We should focus on the task God has put in front of us...to be the vessel of saving the world.
The famous DC Talk song "Jesus Freak" says, "I don't really care if they label me a Jesus Freak, there ain't no disguising the truth." We should not care what we are labeled as, only that we are noticed in this world, and that we are standing out and standing up for the Lord Jesus Christ. The bottom line is that we were made to stand out, so conforming to the standards of this world is compromising everything that God has enabled us to be.
Now the challenge. I could tell you to break the barriers of your social scene and act like a freak, but let's be real, none of you (nor myself) are going to do that. Whether you are in high school are not, the challenge is to show a bit of apathy and be who God made you to be, not who the world wants you to be.
*Disclaimer-not everyone in the "wannabe" group actually fit one of the descriptions of the people of that group. A few others were like myself and were just stuck in the group.
Let's go on a journey...back to high school. "The best days of our life" right? Psssssh, heck no. According to Urbandictionary (an opinionated dictionary), high school is "the place where the stress of growing up and the stress of fitting in join forces to destroy even the strongest among us." The definition then defines all the stresses of fitting in. As a high schooler, I began the never ending process of fitting in and trying to find my place. I tried hanging out with the "populars" because I had a few friends in that group...but trust me, even if you are in that group, it can be one of the most miserable things ever. Then I tried with the "jocks" since I played volleyball and softball, but that was uninteresting as well. My junior year, I eventually found myself in a group that I will categorize as the "wannabes." Some of the people in my group wanted to be popular but were stunted by the glass ceiling. Others wanted to be the leader of a group, and they just needed some people to push around. And even others were more than willing to be those pushovers. Me? I was just stuck. I had my athlete friends, my FCA friends, my popular friends, and my super smart friends, but fate had plopped me into the middle of this group. And by my 3rd year of high school, I was tired of jumping groups so I just stayed. I just didn't care what I was categorized as anymore. It was then that I was content. I was completely apathetic as to how I was seen by others, and I couldn't have been happier.
It was also at this point that God began working in my life greatly. I came to the point where I didn't care what others thought about my faith either. The above song is about not caring. The Bible speaks a few times against apathy; however, Relient K takes a different perspective on apathy. Instead of not caring about the doing the work of God, they use this song to promote apathy for the hindrances that the world puts in front of us, whether those hindrances be conformity, sin, or other circumstances. Basically, we should not have the same desires of the world, and we should not care about anything the world is doing. We should focus on the task God has put in front of us...to be the vessel of saving the world.
The famous DC Talk song "Jesus Freak" says, "I don't really care if they label me a Jesus Freak, there ain't no disguising the truth." We should not care what we are labeled as, only that we are noticed in this world, and that we are standing out and standing up for the Lord Jesus Christ. The bottom line is that we were made to stand out, so conforming to the standards of this world is compromising everything that God has enabled us to be.
Now the challenge. I could tell you to break the barriers of your social scene and act like a freak, but let's be real, none of you (nor myself) are going to do that. Whether you are in high school are not, the challenge is to show a bit of apathy and be who God made you to be, not who the world wants you to be.
*Disclaimer-not everyone in the "wannabe" group actually fit one of the descriptions of the people of that group. A few others were like myself and were just stuck in the group.
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