Unlocked, Unburdened. (And great Ministry news!)

Let me ask you a question. Have you ever tried to open a door with the wrong key, or tried so hard to wrestle your way free of some situation, but you just couldn't? Maybe it's an addiction , guilt from mistakes in the past, a broken relationship, or something else that you have convinced yourself you cannot break free of in life. On a side note:  If you have a serious addiction or problem, I encourage you to seek medical attention or a counselor.

But, think about it for a minute. If I asked you all to close your eyes and then raise your hand if you've ever felt trapped, I'd assume that the majority of people would raise their hands in the air. We all feel stuck at some point. What if you could change that, though? What if the tedious routine of "ignorance is bliss" or "I'll deal with it later" could finally be dealt with today, and you finally felt unlocked and unburdened?

This morning, I stayed up well into the night moved to tears by a true story about a boy with autism.  Many kids who suffer from this are trapped inside of a world they cannot escape, whether they are non-communicative or high functioning AS (Asperger's Syndrome). That's about the extent of my knowledge about the subject, but I will say that the story of a boy who broke free through music and because of prayers and pleas to God filled my heart with a gut wrenching sadness and joy all at one time. He trusted God, even though he couldn't express that to others. 

So, what in your life can you not express to others?

Maybe, you haven't even admitted it to yourself. Maybe, you're scared. Maybe, you feel lost or trapped. I think at some point, we all have or we all do. Will you trust God to help you, even if the answers are not immediate...can you have faith as small as a mustard seed to watch what He can do with your problems? The God who created the stars in the sky and every creature and landscape - He loves YOU. His son Jesus, well, He died on a cross so no one else would have that burden. But, God and His son, they love YOU. We are  told that we would have trouble in this world and to take heart, for He has already overcome it.

Guess what that means?

It means God can overcome whatever is going on in your life. His LOVE surpasses all things and His grace is unending. What can He help you to unlock; what burden can his he take upon his yoke to make your burden lighter? (Matthew 11:28-30) Start on your knees. Last night, I prayed like I hadn't in a long time. I'll admit that to you. But, what I will also say is that all of the problems in my life, all of the dilemmas big and small that I was dealing with this week, don't seem like dilemmas today. I don't have to carry the weight of them, because He is already doing that. I just have to trust in His direction and follow His small, still voice. 

Note:

I'm headed to Missouri on a Campus ministry plant at Missouri State University. You can read more about it from the director of Campus Ministry United here. God has so much more planned for me and for our plant team than I could have ever imagined. In my case, I believe that it is because I allowed him the key to my heart and the weight of my past burdens. Now, my future looks so incredibly beautiful and bright! (I'll write more about what I'm feeling regarding this plant in another post).

Don't let the things of the past get to you. He is doing a new thing and you just don't see it yet - trust Him, and see where it goes. This is a personal topic, because it's something that in the past, I've had difficulty wrapping my head around it. That's not to say I never slip up and start trying to rely on myself - I do, I'm human. But, now I am quicker to get on my knees and turn the keys back over to God. He's a much more efficient navigator.

Start the change now. He won't necessarily lead you to Springfield, MO, or even on a campus ministry plant. But what I do know is that He has great plans for each one of us - the blueprints are simply waiting to be unrolled. Where might your adventure with God begin? 

Dazed but, not Confused.

You know, over the past month, I forgot this thing existed; life has gotten the better of me - graduation, summer classes and the "trying-to-figure-out-how-to-be-an-adult" phase. Scary.


But, I've learned something. Faith is not a place. Faith is not one group of people. Faith is not one church. Faith is not definitive. But, faith must be our own and not that of someone else's. I think what I have realized the most over the past few weeks is a little life mantra I should start living by.


Life goes on.


My grandfather's passing is still internally difficult to cope with, but life goes on.
I graduated, but I am still stuck in one summer class, and life goes on.
So, I have to pay back student loans, and I only work part time, life goes on...


And you get the picture - no matter the circumstance, the problem or the joy, life goes on - time does not stop. And God, who is almighty and powerful is there for every step, every stumble and every "aha" moment, so we needn't be afraid of failure or inconsistency in life. Nothing in life is constant except for God, and time.


So, I'm at a crossroads, and I've been praying about it. In the end, whatever I do, wherever I'm going and whoever it's with - as long as I love God, remember what he taught me and know that I have a whole life ahead of me, who cares what happens? (James 1:25) People will have opinions, I will have opinions. Sometimes, the greatest lessons are learned by taking the path less trodden by others.


So, as a tribute to Jason Aldean - "She's okay not knowin' who she is or where she's goin' cause she's young...and the world, it's wide open." <3

Plundered Plans or Prosperous Alternatives?

"They say, if you wanna make God laugh, all you've gotta do is tell Him your plans." - Clay Aiken

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It's funny. People keep asking me the same question over and over again lately...what do you want to do when you finish college? What are you doing with your life? What are your career plans? What about the future...? What do you want to be when you get older? -- Okay, hold the phone. Older? I feel like I'm five years old and people expect me to respond with "doctor/surgeon," "lawyer," "firefighter" or any other cool stereotype.

What I want, honestly is to not be faced with knowing what the future holds.  Walls are concrete objects, tangible and touchable. My future is not quite so - it's an idea, a concept...something I am striving to become or to achieve. Right now, though the good news is that I can do exactly what I want to do and figure it out as I go along.  What you have to understand about me saying that is that I am a planner; as laid back as I can be, I need to know exactly what's happening, when and why it will take place and what part I play in that situation.  I worry about little things, but, I don't worry about my future...you see, God has that all planned out for me.

Okay, so I know some of you are probably reading this going...well, I'm going to stop reading because this is about to become a post about God. Well, sorry, no consolation here, friends. I warned you. You see, that's just it.  God is the goal, God is the future. For all of you who keep nagging me about what I want to do in life, that's easy. Glorify God. What I want to be when I get older, you say? Well, here's the answer. God is what I want to be like when I get older. 

To be honest, I hope you read the rest of what I have to say if you stopped here...when I heard this, it began to change my life.



Jeremiah 29:11-14For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you.

See, I don't know what I am doing. I know that I am graduating in May, finishing my undergraduate/Bachelor's Degree in August and then Lord willing, getting a Master's Degree in Ministry.  See, that is God's plan. I know this because I know the person I used to be...and I know she would have NEVER agreed to any of this given the choice. This isn't the life I ever envisioned for myself. I wanted to be married, have started a family and settle by the time I graduated from college. To top it off, I probably would have worked in some mediocre 9-5 job not really making a true difference. Well, since all that isn't happening, clearly Someone had better plans - ones that made a whole lot more sense, and it wasn't me. See, I talked about being a child earlier - and we are God's children, so when we seek him wholeheartedly, he makes the game of hide and seek easy - he leaves breadcrumbs, because he wants us to find him! He even represents the light! God isn't going to go hide in some dark, musty clothes closet. That's just not who He is.  

So, I don't know where the wind may blow me two years from now, and what God has in store, but I do know two other things.  This peace of being uncertain - that comes by FAITH STEPS, and it's not easy, but it is so rewarding. 

Secondly, I'll leave you with a thought - could we ever truly know for certain where the wind will blow us? Can we predict that accurately 100% of the time? Can we tell it where to go?...I don't think it listens very well....so...here's my "Food for Thought." 

FOOD FOR THOUGHT (John 4:32):

John 3:8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

Let the Spirit inside of you lead you to the answers no matter what life brings, even in transition.  And if you don't have the Spirit inside of you...what are you waiting for? :)

Taking the First Step

Well, I did it, folks. I got a blog. I realized that I have a lot to say about a lot of different things in life...and apparently I think it's a great idea for you to read about it. Who knows why? But, seriously. Social media is the ground on which to have thoughts, to share them and to read about them from others. Facebook, Twitter (I am not a "Twit") and FourSquare (we now like to inform people where we are so we can be further stalked by strangers - go technology!) are just a few examples of how we let people know we ate Lucky Charms for breakfast and saw a squirrel climb a tree now-a-days. While those are amusing, I want this blog to be something of real talk. I may be the one writing, but this blog to be about God, and to be about you and to be about saying something that may help you, make you think, cause you to smile - or just get a good laugh at my random ramblings.


As I said, this blog is a little different. It is the product of a lot of thought, hopefully some time to actually keep up with it and a labor of love to know more, and share more about the Lord.  I won't make it a scholarly "lesson-a-week" thing - I get enough school as it stands! I'll post when I feel the need to, about things that are important to me, and well, hopefully, to you.  I want to bring the Bible to my life. I want to bring my human side to the technological world. How does what Jesus said relate to my life? Well, if you follow in my faith steps, you'll find out.  I'm moving forward in faith, the question now becomes, will you? :)