Weightlifting... for the body and soul....

Take a minute and read this devotional. There are a couple parts that REALLY stuck out to me.

“I am not worthy; I cannot answer you anything, so I will put my hand over my mouth.” (Job 40:4)

The phrase for the chapel is “Hallowed be thy name.”

This phrase is a petition, not a proclamation. A request, not an announcement. Hallowed be your name. We enter the chapel and beseech, “Be hallowed, Lord.” Do whatever it takes to be holy in my life. Take your rightful place on the throne. Exalt yourself. Magnify yourself. Glorify yourself. You be Lord, and I’ll be quiet.

The word hallowed comes from the word holy, and the word holymeans “to separate.” The ancestry of the term can be traced back to an ancient word which means “to cut.” To be holy, then, is to be a cut above the norm, superior, extraordinary. Remember what we learned in the observatory? The Holy One dwells on a different level from the rest of us. What frightens us does not frighten him. What troubles us does not trouble him.

I’m more a landlubber than a sailor, but I’ve puttered around in a bass boat enough to know the secret for finding land in a storm … You don’t aim at another boat. You certainly don’t stare at the waves. You set your sights on an object unaffected by the wind—a light on the shore—and go straight toward it. The light is unaffected by the storm.

By seeking God in the chapel, you do the same. When you set your sights on our God, you focus on one “a cut above” any storm life may bring.

Like Job, you find peace in the pain.

Like Job, you cover your mouth and sit still.

“Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10). This verse contains a command with a promise.

The command?

Be still.

Cover your mouth.

Bend your knees.

The promise? You will know that I am God.

The vessel of faith journeys on soft waters. Belief rides on the wings of waiting.

Linger in the chapel. Linger often in the chapel. In the midst of your daily storms, make it a point to be still and set your sights on him. Let God be God. Let him bathe you in his glory so that both your breath and your troubles are sucked from your soul. Be still. Be quiet. Be open and willing. Then you will know that God is God, and you can’t help but confess, “Hallowed be thy name.”

I have loved the verse from Psalm 46:10... be still and know that I am God. But I always took it as, stop worrying and just trust in the fact that he is God. I never considered it a command/promise verse. When WE become still and stop worrying/trying/etc. THEN God is free to show us that HE is God... then we will KNOW that he is God. I love that.

Another thing I love... the awesome muscles I am getting from weightlifting/protein bars. Yeah! I seriously feel really strong now. I remember when I first started I was puny doing like 30lbs on some weights... now I have WAY upped the weights! For example.. hip abductors.. totally rocking it at 210lbs. No lie. I see all these other girls using the machines at like 40lbs and I just want to be like, "C'mon sista! You can do more then that!!!" Ah.. whatever. I am also getting arm muscles which I have never had before in my life! It feels good. Muscles are the new skinny!

Birthdays are great...

Dun dun dun... I am now 22. Well I have been since Sunday actually. I still don't feel old. When I was like 18 I remember thinking 22 seemed so old! I still feel like I'm 18. Oh well... my birthday was great! Friends, family, food, fun, and surprises. I have the greatest friends and family. And I know it's cliche to say that I have the greatest boyfriend... better then anyone elses... but I think it's safe to say that I REALLY do... just my personal opinion :) I mean... he surprised with flowers and a card at church (come on... what girl doesn't LOVE to be surprised with flowers infront of a bunch of people... he he he...) and then he got me a gift card for a free 1 hour massage. Ah... it is going to be SO nice. I am super excited!!!

Anyways... I am super busy and got lots of stuff to do! I guess that massage is definitely going to come in handy!

“Love means to commit oneself without guarantee, to give oneself completely in the hope that our love will produce love in the loved person. Love is an act of faith, and whoever is of little faith is also of little love.”

Something to learn...

So I thought this was a pretty cool.... umm... what's the word? Uh.. catch phrase maybe??? (I don't know...)

Pray- you talk to God
Read the Bible- God talks to you
Witness- you talk for God

I just thought that was pretty cool.

Anyway!!
I am super glad I have had time lately to catch up with old friends. I have seriously missed them. And this sounds sorta backwards with what a lot of people say to do these days, but I have actually been able to do MORE stuff in a day. Everyone says we need to clear out of schedule and do less... but I am trying to do more! It's not like I'm crunched on time...  I was just being lazy and not making the effort.

The other Sunday at church, my pastor was talking about priorities and how to fit everything into our day that we need to fit it. The illustration he used was so cool and totally made sense! God has to be the first priority... period! When we keep God as our first priority, his priorities become our priorities and he makes a way for us to fit all of our priorities into our day! That means investing time into relationships and spending time with God comes before going shopping for myself or sitting infront the tv (or for me... the computer). Even if I don't get time in day to do the stuff I think is a priority, if I keep God's priorities first and get those done, I go to sleep happy and content with my day. Whereas if I do what I think is more of a priority... I go to sleep feeling like I have not accomplished anything and something is still lacking! I'm sure this is true for EVERYONE.

So... what have I been adding/subtracting from my day? Well... instead of just being lazy and doing nothing, I make time for my friends more... going out to dinner and just chatting. I've always made time for church. My worst thing is making time to do a daily devotional. I used to do it first thing in the morning, but seeing as I have to get up between 430-5am for work, I don't really have time in the mornings. I guess maybe I need to right after work. I love the gym and always have been good at making time for that. Sometimes making time for myself is good too.  It's all about balance! I can't spend too much time with God and not enough time with friends. I can't spend too much time with friends and not enough with myself and I can't spend too much time for myself and miss out on relationships. It's all about balance! Oh, and of course I make time to see my boyfriend everyday =)

Yesterday I met with my pastor for lunch to talk about doing some missions stuff. I am super excited to start planning a mission trip for the youth group at church! We agreed that everyone should go on a missions trip atleast once. It will change your life! (It did me! My first mission trip was too Athens, Greece in 2004. Since then... it's always been in the back of mind of something I'd love to do!) I can't think of anything better then traveling and seeing the world and learning new cultures, all while helping people. I don't want to live boxed inside my "safe" little world, over here in America where I've never had to go a minute without food if I didn't want too (although if I chose not to go a minute without food I would be morbidly obese I am sure!), I've never had to go without clean, running water, a house, clothes, health care, etc. I can't help but wonder what I could learn from someone... even a little kid... who's been working since they were 3. Who has to help his/her parents carry water to there "house" every morning so they have water for the day. Who's biggest dream would be going to school... something every kid takes for granted here. How sad it is to see all that we have here in the U.S. that we take for granted, where people all over the world wouldn't know what to think or do if they had those things. How blessed we are to live in America. I, for one, will be the first to admit that I have a thing, or two, or a thousand, to learn from a family in a third world country who doesn't have what I would think of as "much". They may not have much material stuff, but what they do have I am sure is much more valuable then my "material stuff". It's the stuff that the Bible says will "withstand the fire". It's the stuff that MATTERS.

Wow... that was all random and came out of nowhere it seems. I think it's time for some breakfast now before I hit the gym! (Something unheard of in Africa I am sure!).

PS- 2 days till my birthday! Yay! Pizza/cake with my family tonight, work all day tomorrow (both jobs!), church Sunday and then that night, a birthday dinner with friends! I have lots to be thankful for and look forward too!

Trueness...

"The Bible is the manual for defining who man is, how he works and how to change him and/or fix him if he's broken."


to be continued...

Goals

So I have been thinking about how important goals are. Without goals, you have no vision. The Bible says, Proverbs 29:18 (Amplified Bible) "Where there is no vision [no redemptive revelation of God], the people perish; but he who keeps the law [of God, which includes that of man]--blessed (happy, fortunate, and enviable) is he." 
So pretty much what I think it is saying is without a vision and goals and something to strive for, we just walk aimlessly through life without joy, without hope, just frustrated and depressed. I know sometimes when I lack motivation to do anything I feel like that. If we would only read the Bible and REALLY apply what it says, we would all be SO much happier. I still catch myself thinking at times, "why does God "restrict" us so much. it's so hard to fight against our own will. it's not fair. it sucks." Then I remind myself that first of all, God doesn't "restrict us" cause he's a fun sucker and doesn't want us to be happy. I have heard someone say before that freedom is having the ability to WAIT or say NO, not being able to do what we want, when we want, however much we want. Boundaries keep us free and safe. And tied to that is this... God created us. He created the world. He created everything. He decided how it should run, what is good. He knows what will make us happy. HE KNOWS WHAT HE CREATED US FOR. So when he says to do, or not do, something, it's for our own good because HE CREATED US AND KNOWS WHAT IS GOOD FOR US. God made us to strive for things and to have dreams. He created us to reach our goals and dreams, and then go further to bigger goals and dreams. He wants to show us how big he is and how strong he is by helping us achieve things that are not possible with us. So anyway, with that said, here is my list of goals for 2011.


1) Run a half marathon. I love running! I used to not be able to run like even a mile... and now the longest run I have done is 7 miles! That's over a 10k right there.. that's petty freakin awesome to me. (Don't laugh). Now going out and running for fun is different then racing. For whatever reason I break down under pressure and even with running with people. I lose every ounce of confidence I have in myself... so running a race, much less a half marathon, will be scary. Words of wisdom to myself: Don't put my confidence in me, but in God. And don't judge myself by how other people run/times but rather on how far I MYSELF have come.


2) See at least one of the "7 Natural Wonders of the World". Hey... I love to travel. So why not make that a goal? Life's too short not to be in awe of nature all around us.


3) Read the whole New Testament in the Bible. Starting with Matthew and ending in Revelation. No more using the excuse, "I just don't know where to star." Cause now I do!


Then of course there are other little "resolutions" and whatnot, but these are goals that have a set point that I will either accomplish or not accomplish. And I think these 3 are an even balance of body, mind, and spirit. It's going to be a good year =).

Change...

Change is coming. I am excited. I am still figuring it out, but it's all going to come together.

A new year...

A new year means new things. For me, this blog will be new. I used to journal ALL the time, and here the last year or so, I sort've stopped. But it is SO helpful at remembering stuff. Maybe it's just the kind of learner I am. I can try to remember things in my mind, and sometimes I am good at it, but if I really want to remember things, writing is the best way. I've always been a huge talker, so I guess this is sort've like talking, right?

So everyone has New Years resolutions. I finally sat down to write mine out (see... I have to write to remember.) Here they are:

1) Make time for myself and God everyday- Bible reading, praying, etc. This is a must. Everyday. No exceptions.

2) Live in the "present". I can not say enough how much I know I have missed out on because I'm not living in the "here and now". The saying is so true... "It's called the 'present' because where we are right now is a present from God."

3) Live, learn, and love. Let's face it... we are all selfish. We want to talk about ourselves and what we have done and what we have and what we want and we make it all about us. There is a time and place to talk to people about ourselves (how else do we get to know people?) but most people take everything to excess! I want to make it a point to LISTEN more, and to be genuinely interested in every single person I come in contact with every single day. Who knows how many awesome, inspiring, and thought-provoking people I have missed because I was to caught up in myself. Or how much wisdom I have missed out on because I didn't try to learn something from someone or listen to what they have to say and there thoughts. Sadly I am sure I have missed a lot of opportunities because I pre-maturely judged the person. Not in a conscious way, but just by subconsciously deciding beforehand that this person has nothing good to say, nothing worth listening to. I want to be slow to speak and quick to listen. And I can not stress enough to myself how utterly important it is to break out of the "religion" mindset and do what the Bible says... and that is to love people. I am learning a whole new meaning to what it means to love people. I have a bad habit of blurting out what I think and how I feel and I often times end up with my foot in my mouth (figuratively speaking) because I want people to hear what I have to say and how I feel about things. The only way to really grow and learn is at the feet of others. As a christian I believe I am called to love God and love people. Period. End of story. And I am beginning to see now that in order to REALLY do that, we have to break out of the box of religion that man has made. God never intended for us to get saved and then hide away from the world. I believe He intended to change our lives and help us fall in love with Him so we can go out and live in the world and show people the purpose and satisfaction He gives us and wants to give everyone. That means meeting people where they are... whether picking up a drunk friend at a party, hanging out with "non-christians", or just going and hanging out with homeless people. Maybe it's talking to the person that everyone considers weird and is an outcast. The possibilities are as vast as the number of people. (That's a lot incase you didn't know).

4) Take care of my health. I really need to eat healthier and take care of my body. It's easy to get into the mindset when I work out a lot to eat whatever I want, because after all, I'm working out and burning all the calories. But I need to take care of my body nutritionally. It's the only one I get. (All things are good in moderation).

2011 is going to be an awesome year. I know it is. I am actually in the early stages of planning something that I have wanted to do for a couple years now, and I feel like this year is the year for it. I was too young before, and I can't wait forever because one day I will have kids and other responsibilities. I have not told anyone yet (for fear of getting talked out of it), but it will probably be the biggest thing I have ever done. And that's all I am going to say. =)