giving thanks

wow.  The past 4 months have flown by here in Raleigh.  So much has happened and so many new things have blessed my life.

I am so thankful for my family. I don't think I could ask for a better group of people to call mine.  My dad always providing a good laugh, making some...interesting food choices for us and never a step behind in my life.  My mom is the sweetest lady ever.  Don't think you could find a more humble or understanding person, unfortunately this does make her an easy target for dinner table jokes.  Sarah.  My not so little anymore squirt.  That girl can light up a room with that cute smile and crazy weird laugh.  Its amazing how much you appreciate people when you are placed out of your comfort zone.  If you had asked me this summer what I was most excited about for the upcoming year it would be living on my own.  Looking back, I couldn't have been more wrong.  I am so thankful for these people.  The first ones I call when something good happens like making an A on my calculus test, and also the first people I call for help....when I get stuck in an elevator.  Having a family that is rooted in The Lord is the most rewarding thing I could ask for and I don't think I have ever been so grateful for them.

windy gap

Carley and Kristin

Coming to college, the one thing on a freshman's mind is am I going to make friends? Well I don't think I could ask for better friends.  Our common passion for Younglife has brought us so close.  Having friends in your life that keep you accountable for what you do is so rewarding.  We are probably the weirdest, craziest and most dysfunctional people you will meet but one thing is for sure.  We love Jesus and each other more than anyone can imagine. Friends like mine don't come everyday.  I am truly blessed beyond words to have met all these people, and I don't               know if Raleigh is ready for what's coming next with us.

go pack

Carley and Sarah

best leader ever

The biggest change overall though through the past 4 months has been my relationship with Jesus.  I went from loving Jesus to falling madly in love with Him in these short 4 months.  It wasn't anything I did or the people I was with, but it was all Him grabbing my heart and not letting me go.  I have never felt so full of joy.  It is amazing how you can go from being so consumed by worldly struggles and things, to being fully consumed and fulfilled by the love and grace of our Lord.  Having Him call me by name and calling me His beloved is something that I took for granted before.  Now, I fall on my knees in thanksgiving to Him.  Through Jesus I have found a life that is abundant.  I have been radically pursued and radically changed by my King.  What more could you be thankful for that that?!

So many new things he has brought into my life.  Younglife, friends who are on fire for Him, a church that challenges me and helps me grow, a school that is seriously the BEST,  a calling in life, and a deep relationship with him.  

I think I can say I have much to be thankful for this year. 

 

Vintage Church

"Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the world know what he has done".
 1 Chronicles 16:8

death to life

Wow.  What an awesome day. I represented my renewal of life in Jesus through baptism. Through believing in Christ I was brought from death to life.  I was wrapped in the arms of my Savior.  It was not an act of me finding Jesus, but a celebration of Him finding and capturing my heart.  No other way would I have wanted to spend this precious time than with my brothers and sisters in Christ that I have met at NC State.

No amount of words can describe the joy that I feel after being bought by the blood of Jesus. I am now energized and eager to experience the Lord.  I thirst for his righteousness and his plan for my life.  Having a Father who loves me enough to call me by name and pursue me is enough to fill me forever.  I want to continue to yearn for Him and search in every nook and cranny of my life for Him to expose himself to me.  I admire his grace and persistance of me as a sinner. Being baptized has filled me with living water.  I no longer hold onto the temporary desires of the world, I am no longer spiritually malnourished but my thirst is quenched through Jesus and I cling to the unconditional love and mercy of the Lord. I was called as a discipline to lay my life down, before Him.  He has taken all my broken pieces and made a masterpiece in me.  I was Barabbas.  The sinner, wrong doer and human that deserved punishment.  But then Jesus showed up at my trial and fell on His knees, washed my feet and died for me.  How precious and humble of a Father do I have.  I have been set free by Christ and am now a fearless disciple for him.
I follow his command because I am called to obey and I obey because I have acceptance.  There is no greater pleasure in my life than pleasing Him.
I am madly in love with Jesus and being baptized this Sunday was crazy awesome. I am so thankful that Jesus found me, washed me, and calls me His beloved.

"Going under the water was a burial of your old life; coming up out of it was a resurrection, God raising you from the dead as he did Christ. When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable or responding to God.  God brought you alive-right along with Christ. Think of it! All sins forgive, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ's cross". [Colossians 2:12-13]

hands

I can not think of anything better than sitting with great friends and having what we call "intentional talk."  A time to be vulnerable and share with friends, not only to better understand each other, but to also see a glimpse of how Jesus is working in each of our lives.  Talk could range from "tell me about your family", to "who were you in high school", to "How has Jesus grabbed your heart."  All of these are questions that my friends and I opened up about this weekend.  

I am not going to lie, I get really nervous when people ask me to talk about my past and how I found the Lord.  It is refreshing coming to college and telling myself that it is okay to tell others my story.  I am now learning that we all go through struggles, and what better support system could one ask for than an amazing group of college students perusing the love of Jesus.  

After this weekend and our talks, I found myself thankful that I opened up.  I now see that God has turned my scars and broken pieces into his masterpiece.  Now I feel as though God can completely use my life and my story in ways that I can't imagine.  God consumed my life and now I feel his call to continue to be bold and step out in my faith with my heart and my hands. 

Jesus,

I pray that you will take these hands and use them.  God help me to reach out to those who surround me that are lost.  We are often caught up in our own life and our own worries and stress that we forget to share the gospel.  Allow me the conviction to share even when I think it is inconvenient for me, because it is not.  

Lord I pray that you will continue to prepare my hands and my heart from the people in Honduras.  I strive to be a disciple for your Kingdom.  When I think about the children and families in Honduras that I will encounter that don't know you, I used to feel a hurt, but Lord now I feel an excitement and a joy that you will bless me with opportunities to share your Word and my story. I know I am not perfect Lord, but I am so thankful that I follow and am perused by a perfect man in Jesus.

Lord let me use my story to reach others and tell them of your nailed hands which tell the glorious story.  

"Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given to me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains.  I pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should."

Ephesians 6:19-20