Cliche and Overlooked.

I know that November usually brings an overboard, obsessive emphasis on the idea of Thanks-giving and being thankful. And that is not the motivation behind this post. This past week I was blessed, challenged, and convicted much more than I had anticipated. On Wednesday we were so privileged to have the Children of the World Choir in chapel performing for us. This choir was made up of children from Uganda, Nepal, and the Philippines who were orphaned or underprivileged. They had cute little songs and cute little dances to go along, drawing out many "oohs and ahhhs" from the congregation. But even though their little dances were "so cute," there was a specific time in the service where instead of the simple "oh-ah" response, a deep stirring arose in the depths of my soul. The kids invited us all to stand with them and sing along as they sang "Revelation Song." This was the only song that did not have a choreography for, and as we all stood there singing to the same God despite our age, culture, and situational differences, these precious, precious children were closing their eyes and raising their hands to God in innocent, perfect praise. These children, who were raising awareness for the dire need for clean water in their home villages, who stood before us with needs that we Americans cannot even fathom, were PRAISING. Tears welled up in my eyes as I guiltily thought about how many times I complain about the dumbest, most insignificant junk that is in my life. Compared to us these children have nothing, yet it is they who are able to surrender everything and be one with Christ.

So many times we get so caught up in the noise that is this life. I'm as guilty as anyone, if not more so. I get by on my "busy-ness" and have no time to just allow myself to praise God in the little things he provides as evidence that He is Love. He is Good. He is intimately concerned with my well-being. As I tried to contain the tears as I listened to those sweet, young voices sing praise to OUR God, I caught a glimpse of what God wants my, as well as your, spirits to be like. There is a reason Jesus said "let the children come to me." Our praise, our faithfulness, and our pursuit of Christ should be with the innocence and enthusiasm of a child.

God grant us the strength to humble ourselves to be CHILDREN of the Kingdom, rather than trying to be the leaders. Your will. Not ours.

Be blessed. And be thankful.

"When lies become the truth, that's when I run to you." -Lady Antebellum

Think about it. How often do we as Christians let the lies of Satan become the Truth we define our lives by? I know I'm as guilty as anyone, if not more. I have found that the older I get, and the busier I get, the louder the lies become, and the more believable they become. I get a bad grade, and I automatically believe that I'm dumb or stupid -- incapable of academic success. I don't have a boyfriend or get "asked out" and I am automatically not pretty enough, or unworthy. WHY DO I DO THIS? Why do I allow myself to rest in the lies? Why do I not realize that these thoughts of inadequacy are not of God by any means, but of God's eternal sworn enemy? I live and breathe and MOPE in the LIES of Satan, making myself an easy target for the enemy to gain a foothold in my life. Think about it. If you allow yourself to believe the lies, you eventually crash, rather in anger or depression, and find yourself in a dark place where you can't see God.

So what do we do about this? HOW do we live above the lies of Satan? I wish there was an easy, cut and dry formula that simply says do this and all your troubles will be no more. It's not that simple. As Christians we are in a battle. A daily battle for our hearts. The harder we search after Christ, the harder the devil will try to pull us away, plain and simple. We have to work at this thing called Christianity. And if we succeed, we will have a reward that will be worth more than any words can say.

The best advice I can offer to conquer this battle of lies v. truth is to dive into the word. God didn't just think, "oh I think I will have people write a book today." He had the Word written for our benefit, to help us conquer the doubt and lies that are directly from the Evil One. When Satan whispers lies into your ear, and they start to sound like truth, run to the Father. Dive into the Word. Search for the truth. The Truth that trumps the lies and brings peace and freedom. It's not always easy, but it's so worth it. God is Love. God is Encouragement. God is Freedom. Are you letting Him be???

"I love you with an everlasting love. So I will continue to show you my kindness." ~Jeremiah 31:3

Surrendered to Your Name

I don't feel I need to add to the words of this song. They speak in and of themselves. Feel free to youtube it..it's beautiful.

Hillsong United -- Arms Open Wide
Take my life, I lay it down
At the cross, where I am found.
All I have I give to you, Oh God.
Take my hands and make them clean
Keep my heart in purity, that I may walk in
All you have for me.

Chorus:
Ohhh here I stand, arms open wide
Ohhh I am Yours, and You are mine.
Jesus.

Take my moments and my days
Let each breath that I take
Be every only for You, Oh God
Chorus

Bridge:

My whole life is Yours, I give it all

Surrendered to Your name

And forever I pray have Your way

Lord have Your way!! (repeat)


If that's not challenging, I don't know what is. :) Be Blessed.

Lookin' UP!!!

Overall, this week has made me stressed, exhausted, cranky, confused, busy, and sore. Sometimes I feel as if I am drowning in my responsibilities. I can't get a grip on everything I need to get done. I'm unmotivated. Lazy. I feel out of touch with school. Home. God. As I lay here on my couch, pile of homework on the floor, dirty laundry in a basket, and agenda full of duties I should have done 3 days ago, squandering in my failure to accomplish everything, Jesus meets me. He meets me in the unexpected....He meets me in a surprisingly warm day. A game of HORSE. A new friend. A good song that stays in your head all day.

If I have learned anything in my college career, it's that no matter how sad.mad.hurt.depressed.alone.happy.peaceful.frustrated.broken I feel, God is there. Because God is not a feeling. And he doesn't not draw near to us because of how we are feeling. He walks with us. He hurts with us. He laughs with us. He IS with us. 24 hours a day. 365 days a year. And all the time in between.

So in your times of confusion, as you enter mid-terms and the heat of the semester, rather than looking at the massive amount of things that seem impossible to accomplish, look up. Look up because you have a great, big God smiling back down at you.

Someday my Prince will come...

Beside You

Sometimes you just find a song that speaks to you. You become obsessed with it, you listen to it on repeat, and maybe even find yourself applying the lyrics to your own life. At least that is what happens to me. Finding new, quality music is one of my favorite things, so I was floored when my good friend, Ann Beachy, shared the above song with me a few nights ago. Long story short, this song has been the soundtrack of my week.

I know that this blog is usually revolving around a scripture that has spoken to me, but this song has just really touched me. Besides, I'm a girl, and I'm a hopeless romantic at the end of the day (just ask my mom :)), and sometimes I just need me a GOOD love song. This is an exact description of "Beside You" by Marianas Trench.

As I have been reading through the Proverbs (which I just finished last night!!!), I have been learning a lot about what scripture has to say about being a Godly wife. Now I know that I am no where near becoming a wife, but I still feel God preparing me daily to become the woman I will need to be when I meet my husband. Love was designed by God. The greatest commandment deals with love for the Father, and I believe that God had a special special plan for love between a man and a woman as well. This kind of love is a unique love, shared only between two people. And as I have been learning about being a Godly wife, and therefore thinking about what that encompasses, it makes me so excited to meet a Godly man. The Godly man for ME. And I think that is why this song touched me so. "If your heart wears thin, I will hold you up, And I will hide you When it gets too much. I'll be right beside you. I'll be right beside you. I will stay. Nobody will break you." I love that chorus, because for me, it paints a picture of what a Godly relationship with a Godly man will look like. Support. Trust. Faithfulness. Comfort. A Partner. Someone to help carry your earthly burden. Lyrics like this, scripture like the Proverbs, A great big God with promises He WILL fulfill, equals one very excited daughter...waiting to meet her Prince :)

"I am coming undone"

What does it mean to follow Christ? Really? David Crowder says it perfectly in his song "You are my Joy." He says when the Holy Spirit's fire is burning within us, we "come undone." To come undone, we have to DIE. Not a physical death, but a spiritual death. The past week or so, there has been a constant theme of total surrender showing up around every corner in my life, whether it be sermons I hear, verses I read, songs I sing, or evidence I see in people's lives around me. And the more I am exposed to this idea of surrender, the more I am finding the peace it brings to my soul to know that my heart belongs to the Lord. But I am also learning that total surrender is not a one time thing that soon becomes a memory. It's a conscious, daily decision. There are so many situations in my life that I would love to take into my own hands, people I would love to make decisions for to make my life easier, and problems I want to solve my way, on my time. But that is not what I am supposed to do. Instead, God is placing me in a position where I have to make a decision. Every morning when I get out of bed, I have to decide. Is today going to be captained by Brittany or the Almighty. Days captained by Brittany rarely turn out well, (in case you were wondering) and these days I often go to sleep discouraged, frustrated, and spiritually starved. God doesn't just come into our lives one time at church camp and then give us a cheesecake of a life for the rest of eternity. No. When we make a decision to accept and follow Christ, we are committing to a daily death to ourselves so that we can serve Him and HIS ways, not our own. I'm not sure if this applies to anyone else right now, but it's something I have been dealing heavily with. Just taking my death grip off of my life and letting God take me and mold me into His plan rather than mine. It's not always easy or fun necessarily to step out into the unknown that is sometimes the will of God, but I can say that when I allow Him to have his way with my life, I end up more blessed and refreshed than I ever dreamed I would have been at the beginning. So with that, I challenge you, my friends and fellow siblings in Christ, that from now on when you wake up in the morning, start making conscious decisions to allow yourself to die, and God to take you on the wild adventure that is the Christian walk.

Count Your Blessings...Name Them One by One...

How often we forget how incredibly blessed we are! We're always striving for the next phase, the next class, the next weekend, the next year. The Bible tells us to let tomorrow take care of itself, and to worry about today. On Friday morning, God decided to wake up for a special date with him, and as I was reading my devotions, I ran across some verses that were a fantastic kick-off to the weekend, one of them going something like this:
       "Finish your outdoor work and get your fields ready; after that, build your house." ~Proverbs 24:27
Maybe I took this verse completely out of context, but it really got me thinking. There are some areas in my life that I "can't wait for." I so desperately want to be a college graduate. A teacher. A wife. A mom. And I believe those are all really Godly desires, and perhaps soon I will become those. But my purpose, my calling, is not to live in the future. My responsibility is to take care of the now so that when the time comes for those other things, I can be the best I can be. With this new mindset, I entered my first weekend of my senior year of college. Honestly, it was one of the most socially jam-packed and busy/stressful weekends in a while, but you know what? It was absolute bliss. I was living in, and for, the right now. I was connecting with and appreciating people that God has allowed to be a part of my life. I even met new people! God has so much joy for his children if we choose to not only live for Him, but if we choose to simply LIVE and EMBRACE this time we have been blessed to have. So get out there and plant your fields, friends, for tomorrow will take care of itself :)

How He Loves Us....

As I was spending some much needed time with a great friend tonight, we were surfing the net and I showed her the JesusCulture version of the song "How He Loves Us." This song has the words of my heart. I had never heard it until I started working camps this summer. And I heard it at every camp and conference I attended or worked. And no matter how many times I heard it, it never failed to leave me completely in awe of my Creator. Take a moment to think about those words.....he is JEALOUS for me...For who?? For ME. Who am I to deserve such love??? Who am I that the God of creation would fight for my affections, attentions, love, and service???? The song then goes on to talk about how beautiful the Father is, yet how great his affections are for us. Wow. God created everything, yet He still reaches out to us. He doesnt want to live without US. What a great big God we serve!!!

I had always been told how big God is, but honestly the past 6 months He has proved himself 100 times over. I can't believe it has been 6 whole months since I had to say goodbye to my best friend and brother, but I have been living a miracle, which has left me in love with the Savior of this world. God has been so faithful to meet me right where I am and just let me cry, laugh, or do whatever I need to. And He has brought blessing after blessing across my path, leaving even my hardest days filled with a million little love notes from Him. My Savior LIVES, my Savior LOVES...my Savior's always there for me!! Praise the Lord, we serve a God who is alive and reigning, and ever-loving toward His children :)

Be blessed, dear friends, and keep serving our God :)

Ahhh..snow, ice, freezing temperatures, and mountains of homework that actually have set due dates. Its, um, good to be back in America? Some days I'm less than enthusiastic about being back in the states. Bring me back that wonderful tropical weather, Omega blasting from next door, and yes, I'd even go for some mangu right about now.

But honestly, the transition continues. And not necessarily in a negative way. Each day I wake up in this country, I seem to remember, appreciate, or learn something new about my Dominican experience. It was hard to miss some of the lessons when I was carrying them out, and now that I have a chance to reflect and focus on what happened,God continues to reveal new truths about Himself and what he wants me to be.

Balance is so hard. So much of me is still stuk in Dominican mode. Schedule-free and wonderful. Unfortunatel enough, that doesnt fly in American college. So it's been a constant struggle to actually make myself sit down and do my homework. I would much rather be socializing...or doing anything really. It's harder than ever to really put my heart into my studies when its floating around elsewhere, even though studying is essentially the point of being in college. But I guess this is all part of the readjusting process, I just need to relax and go with the flow. God has it under control...