Talents

My mind is honestly whirling around with so many things I want to say about God that it’s not even funny. I’m reading an incredible book, and I came to two realizations today. I will do them on individual blog entries, though, so people automatically skip over the long entries like I do sometimes.

Anyway, I’ll talk about one of my revelations. I was singing downstairs for the first time in a long time with my karaoke machine, and I was thinking about how cool it would be to one day sing love songs to my husband or boyfriend or something someday to let him know how much I appreciate him. And I would hope that he would appreciate the gift that I was offering him. But I realized that God is so much more than a husband will be (Sorry, Mr. Right). I should be offering myself to him and showing my devotion and practice a ton so that I may please Him and let Him know how much I appreciate what He does for me and for loving me unconditionally like no one else does, because I’m a hard person to deal with sometimes.

So I sang Him love songs and praise songs, because He desires me to love Him. He desires for me to let Him hold me without struggle so that He might comfort me and take care of my life that I mess up so frequently. I fell on my knees while singing “O Holy Night” to Him, because while I was singing it I recognized the fact that all oppression can cease because of Jesus Christ. God is inside of us, and if we let Him take over our lives we don’t need to worry or be oppressed.

So I wanted to put it out there that whatever talent you have, use it for God’s glory and to let Him know that you appreciate what He gave you to use for His glory. It’s just like the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30.) We should multiply what we are given, our talents, to give back to Him.

So that’s what was on my mind. I am praying that it will touch you in some way and that you will understand what I am thinking and feeling, because there’s no way I could put it into words.

God Bless!

Mother's Day

I would like to give a shout out to all the moms out there today because it's Mother's Day! I know for sure that it isn't misplaced in this blog because my mother has been a large part of my growth in God and Christ. 

How a mother raises you deeply affects who you are. I, personally, am so proud and honored to write this for her, something so small in comparison for everything she does for me. I am proud when people say that I'm like her, even though she probably thinks I get embarrassed, but I don't. Mostly. I am so blessed to have been raised by her and my dad because I would have been a totally different person without them. I know it's obvious, but strange to think about.

Mom has put up with so much. I'm not the cleanest or quickest or most gentle or unlaziest or most selfless person in the world, and she has to ask me something ten billion times before I think to do it. But she deals with it gracefully, and I'm attempting to be more responsible. Sometimes I even succeed now.

Also, pretty much every morning we'll talk about revelations we had and God and prayers. We'll read a daily devotion called Jesus Calling or something, too, and it really hits home most of the time. Even when I don't feel like talking about God and I'm pushing her away she'll read or talk and I'll just hit myself on the head. Then my day will be awesome and filled with potential for Christ.  I end up coming to a lot for her counsil, just like the ideal woman's kids ask for her advice in Proverbs 31.

I love you, Mom! Thank you for being there for me! Happy Mother's Day!

 

Cool Video

I found this video on YouTube when I was looking up things that would support the name A Shadow Proving Sunshine, and it is so amazing. The link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0r6qymvopw. Watch it!

L.A.

Once again, this mission trip to L.A. wasn't the most spiritual trip I went on, except for one part, which I will tell you about in a second.

I remember having a contest of who could bury themselves deepest in the really wet sand just by wiggling around, and I fell into the water wearing jeans and blouse because I didn't bring a bathing suit. That was fun. Some girls taught me how to put on make-up. And the mission trip group got to go shopping. We saw the Hollywood stars and a model car of the car from the movie Cars. I have a picture of it. I also have a picture of me in a group of girls with different awesome sunglasses on. Mine were root beer float glasses and I had on a B&W shirt on.  

 

One thing this trip did for me was get me on the road to being self-confident. I still have a long ways to go, but I realized that I was beautiful, there was something unique about me and that I was to embrace it. It made me happy. 

Also, up to this point, I was very cynical about a lot of spiritual stuff. One night, we had the Lord's Supper. People would pray with others, and those people would go out and pray with somebody else. There were a lot of people who were crying, and I scoffed pretty much. I would never do this. Now on this trip, I didn't have that many friends. I made some that I didn't know very well, but for the most part I was a wanderer. Anyway, a girl named Melissa came and prayed with me. She thanked God that I was such a good friend and that she was glad she had met me. It was nothing really spiritual, just that she liked me as a friend. And all of a sudden, I could feel something powerful in the room, and I nearly cried. I realized that it wasn't fake. God was there in that room that night.

So that was the starting point of really knowing God personally. L.A. 2006

First Mission Trip

For every mission trip, you learn something different. My first one was in eighth grade, and we went to Mobile, Alabama. It wasn't much of an impact on me spiritually, but I learned about my love of helping people. I wanted to give my all, go the extra mile. So, even though this isn't much of a post, I think it's important to document all that has affected my walk with God because nothing is irrelevant. Nothing.