Prisoner for the Lord.......

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then I urge you live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit – just as you were called to one hope when you were called—one Lord, one faith and one baptism. One God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” –Ephesian 4: 1-6

All I can say is WOAH!!!   

What is this truly attempting to say? The first verse is what hits me hard. “As a prisoner for the Lord, then I urge you live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” If this is not something that makes you think then I do not know what will make you think.  “As a prisoner for the Lord,” to some thins may seem to be a bit of a scary statement. Generally we associate prison as being something that is negative. Prison is a place where here on earth we go to for doing awful things. But I imagine this prison, the “ Prison for the Lord” as being an amazingly beautiful place , I imagine it being right inside the arms of our amazing father and creator. It is more of a prize rather than a punishment. This prison is a place of love and a place of correction for when we get off track. No matter what this place is a place that you are able to call home. And know that you are not alone in this prison all of your brothers and sisters in Christ are right there behind bars with you. All of us living out our lives to honor God.  This prison is freedom, freedom to roam and to even fall astray but a place where when you come back you will be welcomed with open arms and comfort. It will not always be an easy, but it will not be impossible. You as a prisoner have one job and that is to live your life fully and honorably for God. To go out and tell of the good news and of his word, be his disciple and bring people to him.

Now onto the second part of the first verse, “live the life of the calling you have received.” For some this statement may seem very difficult, you may not even know what you want to eat for lunch let alone your calling from God. But for some this statement may be something that is reachable. They have received their calling and know what God intends to do with their life. The part that becomes tricky is the part where you let God and let Go of the things that you desire out of life. You need to walk on the path that God is planning out for you and not live by your own selfish decisions. This can be the most difficult part of it all.  This is coming from an ultimate control freak I need to know what is happening at all times and I need to be in control of all of my decisions. Some times it is nice to just place everything right into the hands of the one who made you, and already has your story written.

So go and be a “prisoner for the Lord,” go and live the life that God has intended you to live.

           

So this is what growing up is like........

So as my first year as a college student is coming to an end in just three weeks. Which is absolutely crazy to me because I honestly have no clue where the time has gone. But I have thought and decided to reflect a bit on what this year has taught me. This year has brought upon me a ton of changes that I never really expected to happen. Between new relationships, and friendships, to making really hard decisions on my own without having someone telling me what to do. Growing up is an understatement of what college does to you. Before coming here what seemed to be my only worry was what I was going to eat for dinner and if I had enough time to stop and get a coffee before going to my next destination. Now my worries are how the heck and I going to pay off all of my college loans, and what do I want to do with the rest of my life. But also many more things:

• ·      Your parents are not crazy what they have told you is all true.
• ·      Also let your parents know that you love and appreciate them before you go to school, you will regret it other wise.
• ·      Studying is a real thing and it needs to happen often.
• ·      Sleep and Coffee are your greatest friends on a long week.
• ·      The freshman 15 doesn’t have to exist.
• ·      Changing the sheets on the top bunk is a good enough workout for the day.
• ·      It is okay to be stressed out, and not just for a day it is actually expected.
• ·      Perspective students are terrified so be nice to them.
• ·      A smile can go a really long way, you never know the type of day that someone is having.
• ·      It is okay to not go out one night because you have to do homework, seeing that your education will total the cost of a new house.
• ·      Your professors are your friends they want to get to know you and help you in every single way that they can so take advantage of it.
• ·      Learn to appreciate and be intentional with every single relationship that you have. Never take a single conversation for granted.
• ·      Care packages are the best things in the entire world.
• ·      Home seems a lot farther away on a stressful day.
• ·      Explore your food options in the cafeteria because they get old really quickly.
• ·      But most importantly Do not panic because no matter how hard your day may seem you will be able to get through it.

Going to college will change you, even if you try to not let it change you it will anyways. Mostly for the better, the things that I said were not to scare you but to unveil the truth that College even though it is the time of your life it will also be work hard work.

Trust Fall..........

So do you remember when you were in elementary school and middle school and in your health of gym class you would do an exercise with your classmates; where you would fall back into the other persons arms, hoping they were strong enough to catch you and not let you fall to the ground and smash your head open? Do you remember the sense of fear that you had while leaning back? Knowing that you truly didn’t trust the person the way that you should of. Or hoping they wouldn’t be the jerk that would let you fall on purpose just to get a good laugh.

Well……that is how I feel with God lately. I feel like he is asking and begging me to trust fall right into his arms and I am just terrified and unwilling to do it entirely. I keep stumbling in order to catch myself so that I don’t hit the ground hard and fast.

The past few weeks I have been deciding and contemplating if I should continue my studies at Gordon, or if I should transfer back home. The second I started thinking about this huge life decision I became instantly anxious and I had no clue what I was going to do. Continue on my path of endless debt at my school that I love so very much, or move back home and not have any debt and still get an amazing education? I felt more scared and overwhelmed than I had ever before in my life.

The worst thing was that I was not trying to ask God for his help and for his direction at first, I was trying to do it all on my own and make the decision by myself because it is “my life.” God was standing there telling me to fall and he would catch me but I just kept on stumbling to catch myself. I am still working on asking God for his help and still learning that I need to freely fall and he will catch me no matter what. Which is the hardest part of this all. But I know that no matter what choice I make God will be in control of the situation and that he will make it work for his will.

The country that has stolen my heart.....

Guatemala an amazing country full of amazing people. It is most definitely different here, for once being the foreigner that gets stared at everywhere you go, that does not understand the language. This feeling of being lost and confused is surprisingly sweet. Going from my ever so constant and safe everyday environment to a country that is much faster paced, and not safe at all is intriguing.

I came into this country without having a single clue of what to expect other than knowing that I was going to barley know the language, that I would be stared at for being a white blonde American, and that there was poverty. This is basically all that I knew which was good because I am pleasantly surprised even though this country has so much hurt there is so much beauty behind it.

There are two types of people in Guatemala those that have and those that have not there is no in-between. You are either a doctor, lawyer, or law enforcement, or you are someone who just makes it by with what they have, you either live in a very protected gated community that has guard with massive guns walking around 24/7 or you live on your own in a hut that you most likely made by hand and have to do everything in your power to keep it running in order to survive. Did I mention that fact that the law enforcement does not keep you safe, they are there just to bargain and get what they can from you, the entire thing is corrupt.

I have seen both the haves and the have nots, driving by in a car around a community where the houses are a few pieces of tin held up by tree branches and rope. Seeing the people labor over fields and carrying massive amounts of crops on their heads and backs. Or the haves, the ones that have cars, the ones that live just as if they are American. The two sides have monumental differences.

Driving today we rode by a building that had about fifteen women standing outside the doors, I was quickly told that those women were prostitutes. I could literally feel a part of my heart being ripped off knowing that this is not a choice for them, knowing that the only way that they can provide for their families is by selling themselves to the men of this community. I was brought to tears knowing that they have no way out because it is either sell their bodies or die. Yet this country has so much hidden beauty behind all of the poverty and corruption. THIS is the country that I have fallen in love with.

The country that the road kill is dogs instead of squirrels and birds. The country where you see more kids playing on the side of the highway than you see them with their parents. The country where you can go to the market and purchase a pineapple for 75 cents. The country where if you have a car you are lucky. The country where McDonalds can be delivered to you on a motorcycle. The country where traffic laws are an option. The country where safety is never guaranteed. The country where the beauty of its land and people surpasses and outshines the amount of poverty around it. This is the country that I have fallen madly in love with.

Just Stop expecting

As the Holiday season is here I find myself grateful. Going from a month of giving thanks and counting every single blessing that I have just because it is the thing to do, then going to a month where all we do is expect. We Expect people to spend loads of money on us and give us so many presents. We Expect there to be delicious food. The two months are completely contradicting. Our society has become so warped. We no longer are grateful we just expect.

Having finals next week I have become completely overwhelmed with so much, studying for hours on end, attempting to get a good night sleep in so I don’t get sick, finding time to eat, work, and do things with friends so that I simply do not go crazy. I sometimes forget to take a step back and become grateful at how blessed that I am.

I am blessed because I go to an amazing College where I can freely and continually talk about my amazing creator with the people around me, I go to a college where I get to worship daily, I go to a college where reading the bible is not just my enjoyment but it is homework. I have an amazing support system around me, not only the new friendships that I have made at school but an amazing supportive family back home that encourages me every single day, an amazing church family back home that I know is praying for me, and an amazing supportive boyfriend that encourages me in my faith and in my studies. I am so blessed beyond belief.

This year my mother and I decided to do something a little different, we decided that we would not have Christmas, now I don’t mean become scrouge and hate the season (we both love the season more than anyone,) but instead we decided that we would not get any gifts from people and that we would take the money that people would spend on us and use it to go to Guatemala and bless an orphanage there. Now I do not say this to make myself seem better than the rest, I simply use it as an example. Since deciding to take this trip in August we have raised enough funds to get us to Guatemala, to bless the orphanage with the things that they need to function and provide a healthy living environment for the children there, and to take the children on a surprise trip to the zoo. These facts alone have blown me away with the amount that I am blessed. I find myself at times overwhelmed and brought to tears when I think about how all of this has come together.

I just encourage you to not get wrapped up with the holiday season and the thought of excepting, but to consider yourself blessed in numerous ways. Bless someone around you a simple card can do many wonders. I hope you have an amazing Holiday and I will be writing again shortly.