The Bigger Picture--My Top Three Take Aways From Honduras

1. God Loves Me and God Loves the WHOLE WORLD!!!

Now that I've experienced another culture, I completely understand (to the best of my current ability) WHY God loves His created-diverse-on-purpose people. I also realized how His love is so much MORE and all-world covering than previously thought.

 

2. It Takes a Storm to Create a New Norm

True down-to-earth growth only happens when something uproots you. It is during times like these that you have the rare opportunity to see what your faith consist of and what state its in. I now know that trust is a lot bigger than what I once believed. It is also a lot more comforting than scary, simply because we have something that big to believe in.

 

3. I Want To Go Somewhere Else For A Long Time


More than just a week. I don't know where, or how long "long" is, but I'm going out into the world now, apart of God's plan to change it.

 

This Summer and Next Year

Today I have worked and painted. My hands are stained with tie-dye, my skin is peeling from sunburn and I am drinking lemonade outside on a deck that will give you first degree burns if you walk on if bare foot . It's Saturdays like these that I don't know what to do with anymore because they are so few and far between.

It just hit me the other day that I'm leaving to go back to school in six weeks. Six weeks. Of course, this whole summer has gone by sort of slow anyway, so maybe it's not really that much of a surprise.

After learning everything that I have this summer, I am going to approach this next year and semester so differently than I have before.

This summer has just broken my heart with how beautiful life is, and how much more there is out there for me and what I'm called to do to answer my call to go. I just can't help but know that God has something in mind for me--something great.

But I am learning to focus on the here and the now, the times you just have to pour and soak and love and live and try not to pack your schedule like I am so very good at. I will take things slower, and go fast when it's time and pause when I need to. I will continue to use prayer walking to re-center me. I will foster a heart of true service that loves in little ways and always stop to say hi and have some kind of conversation with you,

I am starting to realize more of what I'm made for, and that I don't have to be more than enough for that to come to life. I am learning to be oaky with myself  how I am and to not let other's opinions alter anything about me in anyway. I am learning to let Christ be my more than enough.

 

 

Group Shots

 

 

 

 

 

It's Seriously Not Even 10 AM

 

"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken."

 

Psalms 62:5-6

 

For those days when you accidently take someone's pool shift, but have to chase a frog in the pool, scrub algae, the vacuum keeps loosing it's suction, but there's nothing on the bottom of the pool so you don't know why you're doing this anyway, stress from your other jobs and various commitments and you haven't been getting nearly enough sleep and really just wanted to sleep in (for once--just. once.)


.......and it's not even ten in the morning.


God gave me this verse toady and I am trying my best to live it. For those of you who like prayer, I could use some in the area of rest.

When Days Are Frustrating

When days are frustrating, it's hard to go on. I have a tendency to struggle when I feel unproductive. This is good in the fact that that I get a lot of things done, but it also makes it harder to simply relax.

Hopefully I'm not the only one that this happens too, but sometimes it turns out that I have to do more than I thought, and things turn into a step-by-step process. This drives me NUTS because just when you are making progress--it stops. Or slows down at least.

I have learned that in the middle of this conflict with myself, my first job is to turn to scripture. Simple as that.

 

 

"You are the light of the world...let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your father in heaven." Matt. 5:14-16.

 

 

I am reminded again of my duty to shine--shine the light of my faith I believe and have the attitude in my daily life that that requires. For my job is not of this world, and all these little tasks are coming together for something bigger. Much bigger.

 

 

"Do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For this slight and momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory that is beyond all measure, because we do not look at what can be seen, but what cannot be seen is eternal."

 

2 Corinthians 4:16-17

 

Faces #3

7 Habits that I'm Going to Change in July

So I've been praying a lot about what it looks like to really seek God, and what habits need to go away, disappear, reappear and be created. Also, although I will start putting these into action next month, I've also learned there is value in preparation (can I get an "Amen"?) as well as the fact that not everything has to be perfect and in-place all at once
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This is the list I came up with. Remember, if you've been keeping up with my last month or two of posts (or my whole entire blog, actually--if you go back to the beginning) they've been recording some rough transitions. So I'm cutting myself a little slack. Although, sometimes I'm not exactly sure how much to cut myself sometimes.


1. Make Quiet Times more of a priority than ever before

Funny thing. I was just going write something like "make quiet times even more of a priority" but I guess God wants me to take it a step further. I guess that's my next step. I mean, I've been having them, but I need to be better at being patient, and sitting down and doing them despite--because--of the busy day ahead. And just because they don't happen in the morning, doesn't mean that they don't have to happen at all.


2. Limit my Facebook/All other social media log-ins to one a day

Ain't nobody got time for this social media! This is good advice for someone who is fairly self disciplined. Of course, it's different when you often use Facebook for work, but still--let's be social face to face. Anyways, you probably have better things to do. I actually was going to write two log ins a day, but I guess that wouldn't really make that much of a difference.


3. Meet with people

Gosh, someone told me the other day that if you want to be around people more, or specific people--go do it! Sometimes this is all you need to hear--go do it! I just need to talk to some people and some things, sometimes, you know?


4. Exercise and take my vitamins

When you live on a hill all year, this is a bit easier to come by. Let's face it though--this needs to be a habit, and one that you enjoy too.


5. Read so many books

I've got some time and I have a list. Let's get serious and do it. Plus, I just ordered two more and don't have the two of three I'm reading finished.


6. [Realize that its okay to] Pray about different things.

At the beginning of summer I had a list--the requests have changed a lot. I need to seek guidance and counsel in my wonderful Councilor.


7. Rest in God's Sovereign Rule over the Day

"Your life can be good even when many things are not going as you would like. You yearn to feel more in control of your life, but this is not My way for you. I want to learn to relax more in My sovereignty, receiving each day as a good gift from Me--no matter what it contains."
~Jesus Today