Seizing Your Divine Moment

Last week at bible study someone shared an exert from a book "Seizing Your Divine Moment" by E.R. McManus. God has put it in the middle of my thoughts this week and I thought I would share it with ya!

"You are called not to be a survivor, but to be a conqueror. With passion and anticipation, you move with determination into the eye of the hurricane ....."

"...I don't know what it means for others, but for a follower of Jesus Christ, what it means to live on the edge is to stand at the epicenter of where the kingdom of God confronts the kingdom of darkness."

What is your hurricane?

What is your epicenter?

Conversation

Monday morning I had a conversation with my mom and thought it was quite humorous so I thought I would share it with ya... (please keep in mind that she recently jumped on the facebook bandwagon)

Mom: hey, what's going on?
Me: nothing much, just getting ready for school
Mom: is everything ok?
Me: yes...
Mom: well, i just read your status and it said you weren't doing facebook anymore. did something happen? was someone messing with you? is everything ok?
Me: yes mom, everything's fine, facebook was just distracting me too much.
Mom: yea, i know what you mean. alright, i just wanted to make sure everything was ok.

:)

Facebook

After taking a trip down memory lane of the past month i've come to the realization that time really does fly when you're having fun! 2010 has definitely gotten off to a great start; i've had some really cool conversations, gone on many adventures, and have seen God do some amazing stuff! I'm so excited to see what happens over the next 11 months!

Fasting is not something i generally do on a regular basis.. maybe once or twice a year? Well, a few days ago a good friend emailed me saying her and a few other ladies were doing a fast and asked if i'de like to join in. After a long talk with Jesus at a coffee shop yesterday afternoon I felt ready to do this fast, the only thing left unsettled was what I would fast from.. Well, last night I watched a video online that one of my friends posted about Haiti. It was heartbreaking! I was ready to jump on a plane and GO! Since jumping on a plane this morning wasn't really an option the only thing I knew to do was pray over the people, churches and land of Haiti. The more I prayed the more I realized how big the need was and how little time I have been setting aside to pray over these things. Yes, I pray for Haiti almost everyday, but it's usually quick and brief. I felt the Holy Spirit whispering to me that I needed to spend some serious time on a regular basis in prayer over this nation. I agreed and asked God to begin to help me remove distractions and hindrances out of my life. One thing that came to mind was... facebook.

The first excuse that came to mind was "i can't give it up, it's how i communicate with so many people". Then this morning in church God enlightened me on what true communication was and how it wasn't all about posting pictures or liking statuses but that it was more about divine fellowship with the Lord and sharing that with others. Then he shows me who he wants me to share this fellowship with and of course it's people he's been showing me for a while now, i just "haven't gotten around to it". Lame, I know.

So as of February 1, i'm fasting from facebook for a few weeks so I can spend more time praying for Haiti and really communicating with others! Stay tuned to see how it goes!

**Oh, this is the link for the video about Haiti, you should watch it!
http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/special/32-hours-the-church-in-haiti

words cannot express...

Words cannot express how amazing God is, and how he faithfully provides! This past weekend is a perfect testimony of how God does provide and how he works all things out for the better! I'll just give a brief recap of just a few of the highlights from the weekend:

-About halfway there (it's about a 4 hour trip) the radio in my car stopped working. Of course there was no one with me so the only thing left to do was have a wonderful chat with Jesus! I love when you're in those moments.. no distractions, no where to be except right where you are, soaking up the presence of the Lord.

- One of my friends gave me a card, in that card was a giftcard to wal-mart with a note saying her and her husband wanted me to be able to eat... (money has been really tight lately)

- A friend showed up at the wedding that I wasn't expecting to be there! I hadn't seen or talked to him in over a month I figured he had already moved to North Carolina bc of the army.

- My car broke down while I was there... because of this, some of my good friends and I got to stay and hang out longer than we planned. I also got to see my dad and brother and have some good, yet random talks with them! While I was in College Station getting my car fixed, I got to spend some time at my favorite coffee shop, hang out with some great friends (1 of them I hardly ever get to see), and cook some great food!

These are just a few ways God provided for me, worked everything out, and swept me off my feet this weekend. What a great way to start a new year and new decade!

Just Give It Time

I have a few random thoughts running through my head and they need to get out!

First of all, I got another job and really like it! I've been reminded of a few things from the family i'm working with... Life is too short and precious to worry so much about the boring, little, mundane things. Live life to the fullest, make the most of everything and have as much fun as you possibly can! Pay attention to the little things, the little accomplishments, the little smiles, they get overlooked way too much. You can choose to be bummed out about the cards you've been dealt or you can choose to embrace your cards and see them as a blessing.

Second of all, i'm pretty sure i have the best and goofiest friends ever! Due to lots of wishful thinking, several of them have expressed to me that I should marry one of their family members so I can be apart of their family. Yes, I think this is a grand idea.. I love all of my friends dearly, and how fun would family gatherings be?! However, I have no idea what God wants to do with me in that area! I'm content with being single but marriage is definitely a desire of mine. My eye has been caught by a guy, however, due to distance and crazy schedules it doesn't seem to be going anywhere (at least from my point of view). I've expressed my thoughts to God and placed the situation in His hands, if He wants something to happen, it will happen and if not.. well then there's other people out their for us. I just wish I had some kind of direction, i'm not a fan of standing at the crossroad. Ya know? I think i'll just stick with all my real family and adopted moms for a while.

Third of all, I just need to vent a whine for a second. I'm in a situation and I know what i've got to do, however, it's not what I want to do, and it hasn't panned out the way i would have liked it to.. i just need to lay down my pride and sacrifice things for others. God has and will continue to provide for all my needs. but it's so hard for me to be a part of this situation with a genuine, joyful heart. i'm pretty sure i've whined and complained about it a few times a week for a while now and I have to stop! NOW! I'm not going to let satan use this as a stronghold in my life anymore. I will be going by the golden rule and avoiding a few topics of conversation for a while. *I'm so happy for my friends and the life God has for them! :) Really, they're awesome people!

~This afternoon on the way home from work, I was listening to "Just Give it Time" by Jon McLaughlin, it was like God was right next to me with his arm around me singing the chorus to me :) so sweet and comforting! TRULY AMAZING!
*Check out Jon, he has some good tunes!

This Week in Review

I'de say overall it's been a pretty good week, here's a quick recap :)

Pulled a half all nighter then an all nighter the next night. Lovely physics... of course everything on the review and she mentioned in class for us to study was not on the test and the concepts she casually mentioned were.. Fortunatly, by the grace of God with a curve and extra credit i managed an A and got an A in the class! It's a Christmas miracle!

*My eyelids definitely needed a kickstand most of the week*

Last week I found out my dad has "Atrial Tachycardia" ... it's a heart condition where your heart beats abnormally fast for no reason; it makes him really dizzy and tired. The doctor gave him some meds to help regulate it for now and found out this week that they're going to do surgery around the first of the year...

*of course I now have 2 jobs and am in a wedding in Dallas that weekend, hopefully it'll work out to where i can stay with him and help out as well as work enough to pay bills :/ I know God will provide!*

One of my best friends, Landon, came and stayed with me this week :) hadn't seen him in a while so it was nice to catch up and hang out like old times. And yes, we cooked some AMAZING food! Me, Landon and my roomate, Stephanie went dancing in San Antonio, I thought it was a great idea cause we got in free for college night... after we got in we soon realized it wasn't the best idea. There were SO many people you could hardly move! We pushed our way onto the dance floor and manovered around people but it wasn't ideal.

*At least we got in free, ran into one of our good friends, and ate at Taco Cabana after!*

Went to a surprise birthday dinner for my friend, Leah, who turned 21. It was her first surprise party!

*If you have never had a surprise party, please let me know. Everyone needs to have a surprise party once in their life!*

My roomate, Sami, got engaged last night! I'm so excited for her. I'm thinking of going into the wedding planning business with another friend.. we have so much experience and everyone says I should do it.

*Oh the story of my life*

A Crash

Well, I did it! I actually finished a book! The Barbarian Way by Erwin Raphael McManus. If you're looking for a challenge to live outside the box of civilized Christianity, this is the book for you!

Towards the end of the book he talks about his visit to the wildlife animal park near San Diego, while he's there he realizes the uniqueness of the different animal groups and how they dwell together. For instance.... a group of buzzards waiting around to feast on leftover carnage is called a committee, a group of flamingos are called flamboyants, a group of owls is a parliment, and a group of rhinos is called a crash... You can pick out the parallels yourself..

McManus goes on to talk a little more in depth about the rhinos/the crash. They can run up to 30 mph. Although rhinos can only see 30 feet in front of them they still run at 30mph. If you could only see 30 feet in front of you, would you run that fast? McManus challenges the reader to run forward as a barbarian tribe and become a human version of a rhino crash. Like the rhinos, the future is uncertain, we can't see or fathom what's in the distance. However, we must move forward with confidence, stop wasting time being afraid of what we can't/don't know BUT move forward because of what we do know. Just because we can't see what's 30 feet ahead of us doesn't mean we can't see what's right in front of us... will you hear and see the cries of the lost that God has placed in your path?

"Stay off the paved road"