The most dangerous thing I could do...

It has been a blessing to be a part of a small group (we call it a gospel centered group) on Tuesday nights. This past week was only my second week but God has already begun to work in my heart through the scripture we have been studying.

This week, we discussed the judgment of God in Zephaniah 1 & 2. I'll be honest and tell you that #1, I have never studied Zephaniah and #2 it is hard for me to grasp the judgment of God. However, you cannot understand God's love and grace without God's law. By God giving us His law, He is gracious and loving.

In Zephaniah 1 God says,
 ⁴" And I will stretch out my hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarim with the priests;    ⁵ and them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship, that swear to Jehovah and swear by Malcam;
   ⁶ and them that are turned back from following Jehovah; and those that have not sought Jehovah, nor inquired after him."
 Phew! Those are some pretty hard words to swallow. When we read this passage, our group talked about the saying that "God hates the sin but loves the sinner". However, after studying this passage can we say that is true? It seems to me that God hates the sin and the sinner. God is righteous and glorious. The fact is that a person won't understand grace until they understand their need for grace. 

Zephaniah 1:10-13 was what really struck me though. It says,

"On that day," declares the LORD,
   "a cry will be heard from^(T) the Fish Gate,
^(U) a wail from^(V) the Second Quarter,
   a loud crash from the hills.
^11(W) Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar!
   For all the traders^[c] are no more;
   all who weigh out silver are cut off.
¹²At that time^(X) I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
   and I will punish the men
^(Y) who are complacent,^{[d]
   (Z)} those who say in their hearts,
'The LORD will not do good,
   nor will he do ill.'
¹³Their goods shall be^(AA) plundered,
   and their houses laid waste.
^(AB) Though they build houses,
   they shall not inhabit them;
^(AC) though they plant vineyards,
   they shall not drink wine from them."

He will punish people who are complacent  and those who say in their hearts, The LORD will not do good nor will he do ill. As a believer, we should continually be striving to conform more into the image of Christ. This does not mean we will reach perfection. At the end of Paul's life, he still claimed to be the "chief of all sinners". However, each day we should continually strive to be more like Christ (with His grace and help), refusing to be complacent.


The most dangerous thing that I could do is fall into complacency and rob God of the glory He deserves. It is a daily battle but should be one that I continually fight with God's help. At the end of our GCG, we were left with the statement, "If I didn't have __________ I wouldn't be content". What would fill that blank in your life? Can you be content in Christ alone or have idols formed in your heart that have caused you to fall into complacency?

Fav Friday

I thought I would branch out of my blog box and share a few of my fav things as of lately...


10. My new IPhone. Yes, I caved and got one. I'm not gonna lie...it is the bomb and was well worth the money spent!

9. Instagram. This Iphone app will rock your world if you are into taking pics on the digi. Actually, forget the digi...after discovering this app on my phone I hardly ever use my other camera. 


8. The Voice. This show aired in the Spring and its now one of my favs! The talent for the first season was remarkable. 

7. Pinterst. Thanks to my dear friend, Kels, I was introduced to pinterest. If you don't know about it, you need to. It is basically like a series of virtual corkboards of cool pictures, do yourself crafts and much more. I've already used several ideas on here. If you want to join this awesome site, let me know and I'll send you an invite!


6. Real Simple Magazine. I was introduced to Real Simple a couple years ago thanks to my friend, Hannah Swanson. I just love when the new one comes out! I believe my dream job would be to work for them. :)

5. St. Augustine. I rediscovered my love for St. Auggie when Jordan came in town. The history, shops and seafood are all wonderful! 

4. Sending packages/ letters and cards. I know one of my fav things is receiving packages and letters. However, even more than receiving...I love sending them! :)

3. Having all my friends back in J-ville! Brit and Kels are back from LU, Han just came back from Africa, Towny graduated and all of my other j-ville friends are here too. It was been such a blessing spending time with them! I'm so thankful for each one of them and the impact they have made on me over the years. ( Just wish Rach Dee and Rachel Stimler would move back!) 

2. Family coming to visit. Chad, Tina, Aunt Sassy and Hannah came down last weekend. It was so fun to catch up and of course to see sweet Hannah!

1. Ocean Isle Beach. It wasn't until recent years that I realized how rare and precious it is to be able to go to OIB every year with my family. I haven't missed a year since I was born! My grandparents always rent out a house for all of us and we have a blast. The highlights every year are relaxing, going out to eat at night, putt-putt (boys vs. girls) and Calabash Creamery (the best ice cream ever). I'm so thankful for Mema and D-daddy renting a house every summer for us!

Timing is everything

A Kansas boy. Never in a million years did I see myself dating a Kansas boy. As a matter of fact, I never saw myself dating an Air Force boy. God always has an unique way of bringing two people together and for Jordan and me, it was no different.

As many of you already know, Jordan and I met in Colorado Springs when I was out there attending Focus Leadership Institute. Ironically, he was not attending FLI but was at the Air Force Academy that happened to be 5 minutes away from our apartment. Jordan's best friend, Caleb started coming over to my neighbors/friends apartment because his roommates (Dan) girlfriend (Aimee...a dear friend) invited him over. After coming over a couple of times, Caleb went back and told Jordan, " you have to come over to Aimee's apartment...there are 8 beautiful Christian girls there and I have never seen anything like it...and they actually listen to me when I go on and on about space".  Naturally, it didn't take long for Jordan to come over.:)

So that is how we met. Jordan, Caleb, Dan and a couple other AFA guys would come over just about every weekend. We would make dinner, play games and look at nerdy space stuff. We always had such a great time hanging out.

Then, it came time to start asking girls to the AFA Ring Dance. Little did I know that being able to attend Ring Dance was a pretty big deal. I also didn't realize that Jordan had been waiting to ask me for a few weeks. He says I was intimidating which I think is crazy!

Finally, he called me before he left for Spring Break. After an hour long conversation, he asked me.:)  I came back at the end of May for the Ring Dance and along with some of my other friends who went as well. We all had a BLAST! Prior to Ring Dance, I began to pray that God would make it clear in my heart and in Jordan's as to if we should date. For the first time, I was more concerned about hurting the guys heart than anything else. The minute I saw him in the airport, I knew and had a complete peace that Jordan would lead me towards Christ and that I could trust him and allow him to pursue me.

That weekend it was evident that we both wanted more than a friendship. Although we knew long distance would be difficult, we knew it would be worth it. Jordan has far exceeded my expectations. His love for the Lord, faithfulness, hard work ethic and deep country roots are just a few things that I love about him. :)

Through my relationship with Jordan, God has reminded me that His timing is perfect. Jordan and I both know that our meeting was not luck or coincidence but rather the grace of God and His perfect sovereignty. I believe Solomon's words in Ecclesiastes 3:11 have been displayed in our lives in the past few months, "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end". 

Here are some pictures of Jordan's first visit to FL in July.:)

In St. Augustine at the Fort

Jordan, my mom and me

 Jordan and me at the Shuttle Launch

Don't point your finger at me....

Attention: This is for all the nanny/baby-sitters/moms out there...


It is raining outside, the kids are getting antsy and time is crawling by. Don't know what to do?   Never fear...your finger puppet friends are here! Who said making finger puppets aren't fun? I decided to pull out some felt, glue, eyes and other crafty materials and get Matthew and Megan to join me in making some finger puppets. 


I wasn't sure if it would be a hit or a bust but thankfully, it was a hit! So, it is time to pull out your creativity,  your kindergarden education and your imagination and begin this fun craft!


Materials:
Felt (all different colors)
eyes
Glue (either the really hefty kind or a hot glue gun...just make sure not to let the kids use the hot glue gun :))
Feathers 
Pipe cleaners


Here is a picture of the finished product...

And here is just one of the 3 of us...

Just being silly:)

You never stop learning...

I 've always wanted to be a mommy one day. I really do love children. However, it wasn't until recently that I have a deep desire to have a family in the future. What a privilege it would be...to raise children for God's glory!

This is why I am thankful for the opportunities I've had to baby-sit/ nanny over the years. Baby-sitting has allowed me to learn how to discipline and love as Christ would. I am far from knowing what it means to be a mom. However, my mom graciously reminded me the other day that you never stop learning as a parent. When you stop learning, you stop being affective and humble before the Lord.

What made me realize that parenting is a difficult task? Well, it was through a sweet boy, Matthew that I baby-sit (or as he would like to say "kid-sit") twice a week. Matthew loves baseball and he is good! Needless to say, Matthew loves to be outside and active.

The other day, Matthew was begging for me to pitch to him. Lets face it...I've never been Miss Athlete. As much as I try, God just didn't make me that way. However, I was willing to play a little ball with Matthew. So, we head outside and I began to pitch to him. It started out pretty well. I was actually decent at pitching to him and he was making some great hits. Then, the tables turned.

The ball we were using was a little too light. So, I suggested we get a harder ball. He hesitated but then said okay. He picked up a tennis ball and I began to pitch to him using the tennis ball instead. Next thing you know, he slams the ball and where does it go? Yep, it hits me right in the nose. All I can say is this boy knows how to hit a home run!

Now Matthew had no intention of hurting me so I was trying my best to not make it a big deal. However, the blood started coming and I knew I wouldn't be able to hide how much it hurt. Matthew was so sweet as he rushed in to get me paper towels and make sure I was okay.

I am happy to report that my nose fine and I lived to tell the tale!:) Looking back, it was a comical experience. God has a sense of humor! I am doomed if I have all boys. Nonetheless, thanks to my mom, she reminded me that I will never stop learning and God will give me the strength that I need (or I will toughen up in the process)! Here are a couple pictures of Matthew and Megan. They are great kids and I enjoy kid-sitting them!

Life from Above

After deliberating for a couple of weeks, I decided that I am going to keep the blog going. Originally, I was just going to have it for my time at Focus. However, I do love to write and decided that I would keep it up. I also have to give credit to Jordan, Hannah and my mom for encouraging me to keep writing.:)

I've been doing a devotional by Kay Arthur and David Arthur called Lord, Teach Me to Grow Stronger in 28 days. One of the days was particularly convicting to me. David gave an analogy that was so profound and thought provoking. He began the day with the question, "is your life more like a train of a hot-air balloon?". Then, he proceeded to explain the differences:

"A train? Well, it's a series of connected cars, constructed of hard steel, moving in a linear direction and inescapably bound to a rigid track. And maybe, in a similar fashion, you find yourself headed om a certain direction, not necessarily by choice but perhaps by circumstances of life has dealt you. Perhaps you see yourself as an indivdual who has bent, hardened and shaped by life that you have simply lost the freedom to chose the path ahead. Have you lost your ability to be flexible? To adapt to changing environment? Have your patterns become hardened into habits that are nearly impossible to change ?" 

Phew. If I am being honest, I have to say that I had become a train. I was letting my circumstances shape me. It is something I constantly battle and know that on this side of earth, I will continue to battle until I see Jesus face to face. But here is the good news, the challenge that David gave:

"Or maybe you 're more like one of those huge, marvelous hot-air balloons we occasionally see drifting majestically  over the sky: soft in form, flexible in shape, easily changed in direction and letting the wind take you where it may. You have no control over your path each day; you are simply taken where the wind currents decide you should go. You're light, free and you owe no obligation to the rigid tracks far below you."

I want to be a hot-air balloon. Sensitive to the Holy Spirits leading. I want to respond to His current, His nudges and His moving. I want to live an adventure each day- of not necessarily knowing where I'll go or where I'll end up. I want to be flexible rather than rigid. I want God to shape me and to fully cooperate with that shaping process.

It is only through God's grace that I will live life like a hot-air balloon. But, I hope you will join me in the process. As I wake up each day with the goal to live life from above. :)

"FLI" away

"Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so they may take hold of that which is life indeed." -1 Timothy 6:18-19

I believe Paul's exhortation to Timothy was exactly what took place at FLI. The professors and staff instructed us to do good, to be rich in good words, generous and ready to share. We stored up for ourselves treasures of a good foundation for the future so that now, we may take hold of that which is life indeed.

Now, it is our turn to instruct others to do the same. It is time for us to "carry the torch" and "pass the baton". The ways each of us pass the baton will look different. Some of us, will be going overseas (yay Berkeley!), others will be heading back to school and many are waiting for God to reveal the next step. However, we all have the duty to speak in Truth and love and instruct others to as well.

Our graduation was such a sweet time. I'm so thankful my mom and Maddison were able to come. It was so fun to show my mom where I had lived, interned and took classes for the past 4 months. Of course, we got a lot of site seeing in as well! It was a blast.

Yes, it may be the end of FLI but it is merely the beginning of the challenge set before me. I am excited to see where the Lord leads next. Thank you for all of yours prayers and support the past few months! I'll leave you with a few pictures from graduation and mom's visit!

I will miss this beautiful view from my window!

 Our class gift..."The most winsomely attractive class ever"

 My awesome life group who I will miss!!

 And these would be my crazy FLI friends:)

 This sums up our relationship pretty well...:)

 Everyone at FLI knows the significance of this picture...

From the words of Jeremy, "FLI has been great but I'm at my 'Whit's End'!". :) It is great to be home sweet home and I'm so excited to be able to go back and visit CO at the end of May!