The truth is, I have been slacking. I went home at the beginning of this summer on fire for God and came back with that passion lost. I just moved into my house in Richmond with my three lovely roommates and am waiting for my best friend to get here! Oh how I have missed her... I am ready for her encouragement that I have missed and her zeal for life and Christ. I know it is not an excuse, but when I am at home I have no motivation to do devotions and although I still love Jesus the same I do not act like it and I am ashamed because of that. He deserves better and I do not know why I didn't spend the time I should have with him this summer. It was the perfect opportunity to grow much closer in my relationship with him, yet I pushed him aside all summer. I worried about boys and trivial things. Things that He could have helped me with if I would have let him. Instead, I went to my mom and sister everytime I needed advice or something. Well, I am ready to get back to His word and prayer, because Lord knows I need it!

So, my reminder to myself is to stay positive and remember Jesus is always waiting with open arms and He forgives us even before we forgive ourselves. Yay, I love Him and I love the life He has allowed me!

Genesis

So, the past three days I have been reading through Genesis and God revealed something very important to me-- I know very little about him. All my life I have been the "good girl," the girl who reads her Bible and goes to church every Sunday, and until five or six months ago I was content with that. Finally, God got ahold of me and shook me up a bit and showed me there is so much more he has for my life than just playing the "get out of Hell free card" every day. Reading through Genesis has showed me to value and soke in the details of God's Word and not just look at the Bible as a story book. The Bible is a love letter from God to us. I want to treasure every sentence, every word, and everything He is trying to tell me.

I have been home from school now since Saturday and am really enjoying my family... although, I really miss my friends. :( I just started work tonight and it went really well and I picked up another night tomorrow and Sunday which I am excited about, because I keep realizing how broke I am. I just got back from running with my brother Andrew and sister Hannah and feel really refreshed. Tomorrow I am shadowing an OT at an elementary school and talked Hannah into skipping with me so she can observe too. Sometimes I worry about her because she has no idea what she wants to do as a career. I got two books from the library yesterday and am excited about reading those... other than that I am ready for it to get warm so I can get a tan hehe :).

Are you passionate??

Some simple, yet profounding truths from Blue Like Jazz...

~ Passion about nothing is like pouring gasoline in a car without wheels. It isn't going to lead anybody anywhere. Don't believe in empty passion!

~ Believing in something worthwhile should cost you something.

~ What I believe is not what I say I believe; what I believe is what I do.

~ Dying for something is easy because it is associated with glory. Living for something, is the hard thing.

~ Cultivate passion for justice, grace, truth, and communicate the idea that Jesus likes people and even loves them.

God is love. His love is beyond our understanding and comprehension--which is amazing to ponder. Each day gets better and better as I fall more deeply in love with Him. Along with falling in love with Christ, He is constantly teaching me new things about myself--such as, how imperfect I am. I am so selfish and I just need to quit focusing about myself all the time and focusing on loving others around me. Well, that is my confession for today.

Today was beautiful outside... I hung out with my friend Sam at the Ravine today--I never see her, so we had a lot of catching up to do. Then, I went to Cru and got to share my heart for Haiti with Mary Alice. Mary Alice gave me a little booklet she made me with verses on love in it--it was presh and really blessed me. I just got back from running a few minutes ago, where I saw my bestie JJ and her honey Robert...I thought they were just some creeps honking at me, until Robert called my name lol.

Now I have to go to bed so I can be refreshed for my presentation in the morning. :/ Two more weeks of school left... Oh, how I am going to miss my friends! :(

<3 Hugs and Kisses <3

I finally have the chance to go to bed at a decent hour, but I have so much God has placed on my heart that I just want to share to talk about it. So, wow... God has been doing amazing things lately, to say the least. Tonight Cru set up a prayer journey in Burnam basement... it was exactly what I needed and the scriptures that were provided just really fed me with what I have been lacking lately.

There were seven stations set up-- Reflection, confession, adoration, forgiveness, supplication, intercession and repentance. The station that most spoke to me was the one on supplication. It just talked about taking our needs and requests to God in prayer. One thing that really spoke to me was when I read, that instead of trusting God with our burdens and needs, we choose to worry and worry robs us of the life Christ wants to give us. When I read that I just praised the Lord, because that sentence pegged exactly what I have been feeling for the past couple weeks. I have felt so burdened with all my pridefulness, jealousy and lack of trust in giving God complete control of my decisions and life. Right then and there, I gave my grades for this semester, my worry about a job this summer,the GRE, Haiti, and a private struggle, to God. It felt so good to finally trust Him enough to entrust all my worries to Him. After reading Luke 12: 22-31, I was able to finally believe God wants amazing things for my life and He will give me the desires of my heart if I am faithful to Him. I always say things that I believe, but cannot completely surrender to God because I am selfish and what things to go my way...slowly and surely I am learning that I want to be patient and wait for what path God is going to choose for me, because His path is so much better than what I could choose for myself. It is when letting go of my impatient and controlling attitude, God will begin to transform me from the inside out. I may not have completely surrendered everything to Him just yet, but tonight was a great beginning. With His constant help and through prayer I will continue to let Him mold me and use me... and hopefully, through continually speaking this truth into my life I will change and surrender all my worries to Him, because He cares for us. "Seek first His kingdom, and all these things shall be added unto you."

Thank you Lord for being a prime role model who exemplified a life I will continually strive for...

My Best Friends :)

... My Mommy and Sissy

... Love these Girls

... Love my Frans :)