Blessed

II Timothy 3 reminds us that the Lord equips us with all we need and will anoint us if we seek Him and are fully engaged with what He wants to do with our lives. I feel so blessed to be called a child of God and through that share with others the joy that I have in my heart. I am also blessed with some of the most wonderful friends and an amazing boyfriend. Through them I am inspired, encouraged, and motivated daily! It is an indescribable feeling to know that my future belongs to someone who will never leave me or forsake me, and to see my boyfriend live this way too and bestow grace to others is wonderful. Thank you Lord for placing these people in my life to show these things to me, while at the same time bringing so much joy to our relationships!

He is jealous for me!

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane,
I am a tree bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.

I just deactivated my FB account, so instead of letting that distract me I have chosen to let my blog have the honors. Anyway, I just want to say that the Lord's grace and mercy is so wonderful and the feeling of his presence and love in my life everyday is is even more exhilarating. I am so blessed and cannot wait to spend the rest of my life experiencing more of the Lord's continuous grace, love, and mercy and sharing it with others.

You are more than enough

"I leave it all behind. You are all that satisfies. To know You is want to know you more. To know You is to look beyond the temporary. To know You is to know you will be enough."

These verses are something I am continually striving for in my walk with the Lord. Sometimes it is so refreshing to just rest in his peace and sometimes it is really difficult when the world is influencing you instead of you influencing the world. I pray everyday for strength to rise above the chaos and negativity the world has to offer and remember that eternity and the Lord's arms are worth everything we face.

Just felt like writing... random... I know ;)

More than my next breath
More than life or death
All reaching for, I live my life to know you more
I leave it all behind, you are all that satisfies
To know you is to want to know you more
To know you is to want to know you more....

Currently my favorite song! It more than speaks my heart, and puts into words, feelings that I cannot convey in my own words. Every day the Lord reveals to me just how more awesome He is. My best friend gets married in almost two months and I am going to miss her presence in my house excruciatingly. However, I know, somehow, the Lord will give me peace through it all.

I worked at an Easter Seals camp in CO this summer and am beginning to miss the counselors and campers there more than ever. I think it is difficult because I know I will probably never go back due to life and growing up... sad...

I began horseback riding lessons today and it was so fun--definitely an occupation I need to maintain engagement in!

Well, Jesus loves you more than you could know and I hope if you have not already felt his love at some capacity you are one day able to experience it. :)

Psalm 46:1 ~ God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in times of trouble.

The Lord has really, really been good to me lately. I am so blessed with the most wonderful roommates, family, and friends! I have recently been hit with the realization that I (we) need to serve a higher purpose in life. School is such a drag when you think of what an impact you could make in another capacity or on another continent. However, my call is to be an example on campus--that is my mission field. This means that I must step up my ministry. I go days sometimes without talking about my love affair with Jesus... I feel guilty... that should be my motivation. Day in and day out I need to sing praises of the Lord-- in my room and in public. I forget that. Thank you Jesus for putting people in my path to encourage me. Thank you for hearing my prayers, and thank you for answering those prayers in whichever capacity you choose. I love you.

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 :).