Yakima Washington - Week 3

Week 3 in Washington has been one of the most amazing weeks of my life. God is teaching me and showing me so much. Blowing me away each and everyday, I have constantly been reminded that I serve an AWESOME God!

As I am walking through this phase of my life, I am learning a little bit more of the challenge of what it is like to follow God. God is always at work. Sometimes we can sense what God is doing, and then other times we aren't so sure. I have been asking myself over these past couple of weeks, "What is God doing?" "What is He doing in my life?"

Isaiah 64 reminds us that we are the clay formed by the hand of the potter. God is the one who builds, shapes, molds, and really defines who we are... if we let Him. Sometimes when I am unsure of the mold God is making me to be, I have to remind myself that I need to be clay on God's wheel.

In Psalm 127 I am reminded that God is the builder and we are his workers. It's important that our foundations are built on Christ and Christ alone - Focusing on Jesus Christ alone and putting Him first and foremost in my life.

Our complete and total dependence is on God. John 15 talks about the vine and the branches. God is the gardener, Jesus the vine, and us the branches. I love this passage. It makes some great promises and reminds us that God's desire is that we bear much fruit. It shows how our total dependence is on God. It also encourages us to pray because God answers and it speaks about the the need of God's pruning work. When God prunes the vine it's always for growth. Pruning is uncomfortable, change is tough - but our responsibility is to ensure that the pruning is God led and not man led.

There may be many times in our lives when we're not sure what God is doing. Our challenge is to let God be God. For as we do this, I am confident that God's purposes will prevail - Proverbs 19:21 - as we allow Him to shape, build, and prune us for His glory.

Yakima Washington - Week 2

Yakima, Washington... another part of my journey through life. These first almost two weeks have been absolutely AMAZING! God always seems to just amaze with the way he plans and works things out. I have learned so much since I have been here already, many things that I didn't even expect to learn. The cool thing is that I still have about 8 more weeks and I am so excited to see what else God has in store.

I couldn't have asked for a better person to serve with. Kinsey has been such a blessing and I have really enjoyed getting to know her. Kinsey has such a sweet spirit about her and she is always so encouraging. We are so much alike in more ways than one, but yet we work off of each other's differences. We have been learning so much off of each other too, which is really cool.

Southern hospitality has definitely followed us here! Everyone that we have met has been so welcoming and friendly. We have had people donate beds, food, and families have also been feeding us dinner. It's awesome to see all of the many ways that God provides and I am so thankful for everyone who has given.

The youth here are great! I have enjoyed every minute so far that gotten to spend with them and getting to know them. They really are an awesome group of students and I can't wait to see all that God does within the youth group this summer. We have a lot coming up activity/event wise so I am looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.

It's crazy that in two days I will be a fifth of the way finished with this trip. As I see these ten weeks quickly passing by, I can't help but think that August 7th is going to be here before I know it. I will soon be back with my family and starting back school, but I also can't help but to think that this time is passing too quickly. We often forget how short life is and that time passes away with every breath we breathe.

Many times we find ourselves in stressful situations and these stressful situations usually bring choices that we must make. God allows us to make choices, and many times we choose wrong. God doesn't force his people into making the right decisions. He gives us guidance and from the we can either choose to obey or go with the ways of the world. Instead of always asking God to make our situations better, we must learn to fully surrender our problems to him. Only God knows what's ahead and if we listen to him we will always find ourselves in the right places. He will never abandon us during these times and we can always find him by our sides... God will always be there to help us through.

The Wife of Noble Character

Just as I wrote in a previous blog about praying for our future husbands... I strongly believe that it is also very important for us to be praying for our hearts too. I want to oneday be a wife that walks in the ways of the Lord, serving and bringing glory to God, while serving my husband and family.

Proverbs 31 - The Wife of Noble Character

10 A wife of noble character who can find?

She is worth far more than rubies.
11 Her husband has full confidence in her

and lacks nothing of value.
12 She brings him good, not harm,

all the days of her life.
13 She selects wool and flax

and works with eager hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships,

bringing her food from afar.
15 She gets up while it is still dark;

she provides food for her family

and portions for her servant girls.
16 She considers a field and buys it;

out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17 She sets about her work vigorously;

her arms are strong for her tasks.
18 She sees that her trading is profitable,

and her lamp does not go out at night.
19 In her hand she holds the distaff

and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
20 She opens her arms to the poor

and extends her hands to the needy.
21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;

for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes coverings for her bed;

she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,

where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,

and supplies the merchants with sashes.
25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;

she can laugh at the days to come.
26 She speaks with wisdom,

and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27 She watches over the affairs of her household

and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise and call her blessed;

her husband also, and he praises her:
29 "Many women do noble things,

but you surpass them all."
30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;

but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
31 Give her the reward she has earned,

and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

Life is like a coin...

Life is like a coin. You can spend it anyway you wish, but you can only spend it once.



This analogy is one that we all need to keep in mind. So many times we go through life and make deciscions that we later regret. Once we mess up we always wish we could go back and fix things and make them the way they were. Unfortunately life doesn't work like this and so many time we learn this too late. Life's lessons sometimes have to be learned the hard way.

Even though life's lessons are sometimes learned the hard way, the most important thing to remember and keep in mind is that when we confess our sin, God forgives us and remembers our sin no more. Then all we have to do is forgive ourselves. God often gives his people second chances, just as he did Jonah. When Jesus forgave the woman who had been caught in adultery he told her, "Go now and leave your life of sin" (Jonah 8:11).

Our God is a great and compassionate God. Even when we make mistakes, he forgives us and gives us second chances... it's just up to us to decide what we do with it... Go and sin no more!

Finding that Prince Charming

Never just settle for a guy who doesn't meet up to the standards you've set for what you want your future husband to be like. I many times have been at fault for this, but have realized that all it takes is patience. I am the type of person who always likes for things to be done right when I want them done and have very little patience when it comes to waiting. I learned though that God's timing doesn't always meet up with our timing. As long as we are pasionately pursuing God and chasing after him, he will put everything else into place.

In order to find that Prince Charming, start praying for him right now. Pray for him to grow in his walk with the Lord, and pray for him to be a man after God's own heart. While we are praying God is preparing him to be a true man's man, a giant, one to look up to, a hero, a leader, strong, steady, dependable and one that you could place your life and the lives of your children into his capable and loving hands with no regrets or fears

With patience and God's timing, he will show up. Don't look for him, God will send him to you. So, finding the man of your dreams is easier than we make it out to be... all we have to do is pray and wait.

God's Comfort

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have recieved from God. " 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

In these two verses, Paul is praising God for comforting him. God just doesn't offer comfort some of the time. He dosn't just give a little comfort. He doesn't ignore your pain. Instead, he sees what you are going through and is there to comfort you through it all.

God allows bad things to sometimes happen and the reason for that is that we learn to rely on him. If things always went good and we never had to go through hardships, then why would we need God? In 2 Corithians 1:9 it says, "Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead." In order for us to not forget who God really is and that he is God and deserves all the glory, we have to face hardships in life and be reminded that we can't live this thing called life alone.

It's during these hard times that we find God's comfort the most.

Life Sometimes Stinks!

Just being honest, life sometimes just straight up stinks! This past week has been really hard and I'm ready for it to finally be over. Fall break comes tomorrow and I don't think that it can get here quick enough.
Sometimes life can get so tiring and we wonder why certain things may happen and we don't always understand why God allows these things to happen. The good thing is that we never have to go through it alone. Life brings many obstacles that we must overcome and with those obstacles we must learn to keep our eyes on God. For every mountain there is a valley, and this is something that we must also keep in mind. Life isn't always going to be hard. Just look ahead and keep in mind that there are better days to come.
I struggle with this all of the time. It's so easy to get discouraged and to let the ways of life get you down, but if we put all of our trust and faith in the Lord, he will see us through it.