Therfore GO.

So, tonight at church, Troy talked about The Great Commission in Matthew 28. I've heard this story a MILLION times before, sung songs about it, and prayed it over my life. But, tonight, it literally changed my entire perspective on evangelism. "I hear your voice, and this is my awakening." I feel like I always read over what seems to be "insignificant" parts of a verse. But, I LOVE how Troy always focuses on things that I would completely read over. Matthew 28:16 starts with "Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee...", which is something that I wouldn't even begin to think twice about. If you look back up to verse 10, it says "Then Jesus said to them, 'Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.'" So, the reason they went to Galilee was because Jesus told them to. OBEDIENCE. How often to WE make ourselves available to Christ on HIS timing? In the next verse, it says "And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted." If every one believed that Jesus had been raised from the dead, it wouldn't make sense. It wouldn't be REALISTIC. Mentioning that some doubted Jesus only confirms his appearance more. In verse 18, Jesus tells the disciples that "ALL authority on earth and in heaven" has been given to him. When we're given authority over siblings or whatever, we often use it to our advantage. Jesus used it for his Father's GLORY to benefit his kingdom. "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Verses 19-20). Being told to "Go" is a huge responsibility. It requires ACTION, not just thoughts and ideas. Jesus didn't direct us to a certain location, he just commanded us to go "to the ends of the earth". When we hear "to the ends of the earth", we often think Jesus meant that we should all be missionaries to unreached regions of the world. And, some people are absolutely called to ministry in foreign countries, but our schools and neighborhoods are included in "the ends of the earth". We're ALL called to GO somewhere. For some, it may be Africa, but for others, our calling may be to simply be a witness on a day to day basis in our own schools. Troy challenged us to PRAY about where the Lord was calling us and to take action according to His plan.

Flawless Faith.

So, I remembered I had a blog... Thanks, Lex. Her New Year's resolution was to keep up her blog, and she made me want to post again! I'm definitely not going to "keep it up", but maybe I'll post once a month instead of once a year. :)

Okay, so... Wow. It's been like forever. I'm gonna try not to take too long... But, I think if I could pick one thing that the Lord's been teaching me lately, it would be faith. Trusting in Him and in His plan, even when my plan doesn't quite match up. It's such a struggle. Every day. Some days I'm pretty decent at it, others, I'm definitely not. But, the times when I do a better job of trusting the Lord, my day is SO much better. I wish I'd be smart and trust him more every day. I try, but it's definitely difficult. At the Christmas Eve service at my church, our pastor talked about how we always feel the need to be comfortable, and it often draws us away from God. We're scared that if we put our FULL faith in Jesus, He'll ask us to step out of our comfort zone. So, we just kinda assume that if we try to live without him, we won't have to do anything hard. That is DEFINITELY not true. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, "For we live by faith, not by sight." Sometimes people ask how Christians can trust God "because of all the bad things that happen". I've always known that the Lord teaches us through hard situations, but I've never really had an answer to that question. Not an answer for myself at least. I mean, I'd heard logical answers from youth leaders, but never figured it out for me. Recently, it's become SO clear to me that the answer to that question is simply because there is NO way I could live through hard situations without him. One of my friends from church, Sydney McLemore, was in a car accident the Monday of Thanksgiving week. Instead of asking God WHY he causes things like that to happen, we should let him use it to work in our lives and build our trust in him. Syd came home on Thursday (?) and is making so so much progress! Please keep her family in your prayers and your faith in Christ!

Peace.

I'm determined to get back in the habit of blogging. Determined. Sorry its been so long... anyways... here we go... :)

Recently, I've had a lot going on, whether it be homework, skating, church, or whatever. I've been struggling with making decisions and trusting the Lord completely. At Elevation, Kristian sang a new song called "He's holding my world in His hands"...

So I will not worry or fret,
My God is the God who will never forget,
All of His goodness,
All of His promises,
He's holding my world in his hands.

How perfect. Psalm 55:22 says "Cast your burdens on the Lord, and he will sustain you". And Psalm 37:5, 7 says, "Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will act... Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him". Luke 12:22 says, "Then Jesus said to his disciples: 'Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear'". These verses and the song by Kristian Stanfill have comforted me so much these past few weeks. If I trust the Lord, He WILL work things out. Another new song that Kristian sang goes like this...

Day after day,
Our God is reigning,
He's never shaken,
My hope is in the Lord.

Time after time,
Our God is faithful,
Trustworthy Savior,
My hope is in the Lord.

My hope is in the Lord. I trust him, and I literally could not live without him. I would be a mess if I didn't have Jesus Christ as my Father that I could constantly turn to and trust with anything. Just wanted to share that. Love yall. :)

Prayer of my heart.

Okay, yes, yes, yes, I knowww. I haven't posted in like a zillion years. SORRY!!! I've had a crazy crazy last few months! Mission trip- 1 week; camp- 4 weeks; Sawyer's house- 1 week; home- 2 weeks; mountains- 1 week; Home- 1 weeks... then school started! Anyways, I'm finally getting around to posting again, and hopefully, it will turn back into a semi-regular routine for me :)

On Sunday morning, Pastor Kallam challenged us to let this verse be the prayer of our hearts:

"Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law." ~Psalm 119:18

This should describe our prayer life. Psalm 119:41 says "Let your love, God, shape my life." If we're letting the Lord's love shape our life, then we will have a crazy desire burning inside us to see wonderful things in his law. Psalm 119:47-48 says "I cherish your commandments- Oh, how I love them!" Hmmm. Not exactly our first response to rules, is it? Not for me, thats for sure!! But, if we pray that God's love will shape our life, then we will desire to see wonderful things in the Word. If we begin to look for the splendor in the Bible, we will find it everywhere.... not just in praises and promises, but in rules as well. The Lord's rules will bring us freedom and we will begin to see goodness in his law, the more and more we love him and are drawn closer to him (vs 33-34). Tim challenged us to pray for three things this week as we strive to seek the Lord:

1. Incline my heart to LOVE your word. (vs 36)
2. Give me understanding to LEARN your word. (vs 33-34)
3. Give me strength to LIVE your word. (vs 33-34)

After Pastor Kallam gave us those three things to pray over ourselves this week, Mrs. Melick leaned over and wrote down "Love. Learn. Live." I'm sure that was Tim's point as he challenged us to those three prayers, but smart me never would have figured it out :) Those three things completely sum up what our lives should be: an offering to the Lord. We should LOVE his word, want to LEARN it, and strive to LIVE it. This week, let the prayer of your heart be Psalm 119:18... "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law." As you pray that the Lord would open your eyes, pray specifically that you would LOVE his word, LEARN his word, and LIVE his word.

summer picture update.

home.

just got home. from hale county. from camp. from greenville. from raleigh.
sorry its been so long.
i dont even know what to write about... im exhausted, missing friends from church and hale county. missing camp. missing nc friends. but its good to be home. so good.
thank you, lord, for blessing me with amazing friends. for giving me the opportunity to go to hale county, for all i learned there. it feels like forever ago. thank you for camp. for the best summer ive ever had. a faaaaaantastic way to end my camper experience. im so blessed.
thank you.

Photo Update :)