Honest Praise

"Of a childlike faith, and of my honest praise. Of my unashamed love."

 People often question as to why I am so passionate about wanting to become a teacher. There are many reasons, of course, but one of the biggest reasons is because I absolutely love how you can learn so much from a child. The best times for these are when they are just being themselves. It's true. It's honest. It's vulnerable. It's REAL. I love learning, especially from the kids who I teach/will teach someday.

Tonight I had the opportunity to go to Winter Jam 2012, where I enjoyed the music from 10 Christian bands  that were all amazing. It was a great night, in the end. At this place, I found myself absolutely blown away by how much I learned from a little girl sitting next to me. She probably doesn't even know that she taught me a lesson tonight-after all she was simply enjoying herself and being true, honest, vulnerable, and real- but man did she teach me a lesson in worshipping tonight.

See my girlfriend and I arrived at the concert not early enough to get in the front of the line, which consequently caused us to get seats not ideal to our thoughts on the drive over. They weren't bad seats at all (especially compared to the nosebleeds we were in last year) but they were still not our desired seats. I found myself  completely irritated at the beginning of the night. I was trying to get into the music and truly hear God speaking to me, but just couldn't because I was too caught up in where we were sitting. 

I look to my left, and here is this girl that had to be no older than 10 years old just giving everything she can up to the performers, and of course, to God. She was singing along, closing her eyes, raising her hands, and just surrendering her praise to the One who deserves it. She didn't care that she was to the side of the stage and couldn't get the full effect. She was there to have a good time, and a good time she had.

I learned a lot from that. From seeing such a young girl acting more mature than I was at the time, I gave myself a check and realized that it wasn't about seeing the performers- necessarily. I learned from that girl that it was about letting God hear your praise, and it was about nothing else. I could still hear the music, and see pretty much everything that was going on up on stage, so why was I putting up this wall? Sometimes actions speak louder than words, and this little girl's actions spoke chapters to me. 

We have got to fully surrender ourselves to God with our praise. Until we live completely for Him, we're always going to nitpick our circumstances and miss out on the "childlike faith" and "honest praise" of which God completely deserves.

And not to mention- this girl knew EVERY WORD to all of the Skillet songs played tonight. Yeah. I was impressed.

And so it goes...

God's Timing is Perfect

"And even though I'm walking through the valley of the shadows, I will hold tight to the hand of Him whose love will comfort me. And when all hope is gone and I've been wounded in the battle, He is all the strength that I will ever need. He will carry me!"

Those words are pretty powerful right? Well upon re-encountering them the other day, I found myself experiencing one of those face plant moments I always am talking about. See I was driving back to school after a much need chiropractor appointment, and on the radio that song,which by the way is called "He Will Carry Me" by Mark Schultz, started playing. I literally stopped driving for a brief moment, because those words just spoke so many  things to me. (Songs have been doing that a lot lately, and by songs I mean GOD has been doing that a lot lately THROUGH songs..) I instantly felt comforted, because I  was reminded that I am not alone, and that God has all the strength needed to carry me through my storms in life.

But that's only part of what this blog is about. Remember the title? yeah, it says "God's Timing Is Perfect". And yes, Him putting that song into my life that day was perfect timing for me, but it also provided a second perfectly timed moment later on that day. See, for me, I love to listen to songs over and over whenever they have some sort of deeper meaning to them, and this song definitely has a deeper meaning. Therefore, I looked up the song on youtube to listen to and possible discover a music video. I found a collage that someone had made with the song in the background, and was moved by it. After watching it for the second time, I suddenly had this feeling that I needed to post it on my friends wall. I had no idea why, I just felt that it was necessary that I go to her facebook page, copy the URL from youtube onto her wall, and go from there. Little did I know that that song was EXACTLY what she needed. Needless to say, we ended up skyping probably 30 minutes later and she told me about how she was having a horrible day/weekend and that song provided the EXACT comfort she needed. I had no idea she was having a bad day, but God saw her pain. And he chose to use me as a vehicle to contact her and let her know everything was taken care of and in control. How cool is that?

God's timing IS PERFECT!

and so it goes..

Stand firm

Isaiah 7:9 says "If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all."

Standing firm in your faith is not an easy thing to do. Even with the recognizable definition of faith being "Believing in what you cannot see," going out on that limb with a firmness and comfortability seems almost unattainable. But more and more I'm finding that it is very attainable, because even a little faith can go a LONG way.

This is my first year at college, and it has been difficult adjusting to being away from home and having to make my own decisions. How cool is it that I am growing up, right? Well it is also very scary. I've had to really stand up for what I believe in, especially when encountering others who don't share the same beliefs as me. One of the hardest things I have had to do is stand firm in my faith when others are consistently knocking me down. But the cool thing is, I can keep getting back up through the help of my Savior. Sure, Isaiah says that if you do NOT stand firm in your faith, you will NOT stand at all. But that just means that the opposite holds true as well- if you DO  stand firm in your faith, you WILL continue to stand. And even if you fall down, you will be able to get back up because you have that friend to lean upon. Bee-tee-dubs, His name is Jesus.

I am learning this year that standing firm in my faith may seem hard, but once I do it it reaps many benefits. For example, I always feel better knowing that people recognize me as "that Christian kid" rather than any other comparison they might make. Also, I'm finding that all it takes is one person to be brave enough to stand strong in their faith for others to join you. When I came to my school, some people told me that I would have a tough time encountering Jesus because it isn't a private Christian school. However, I am discovering more and more that God can be found at my school just as easily as He could be at a private Christian college. My first few weeks here I felt like I was incredibly alone, but all it took was for me to express my relationship with Christ for others to appear in my life who shared the same beliefs as me. I have found Christ here because I have chosen to find Him here. I am content with my college choice, and am glad I have chosen to stand FIRM in my faith, because I know that God will help me stand.

And so it goes..

"And of a childlike faith, and of my honest praise. Of my unashamed love."

Reflections on 2011

2011 was a year of growth.

Yes, I grew physically. I probably added another inch or so to my height, and that's all fine and dandy. But the real growth I am talking about is Spiritually. God completely blew my mind this year, aaand it all started with a very simple prayer.

It was the first day of Camp season. For those of you who don't know, I am a counselor at an amazing church Camp where I spend most of my summers. I count down the days until camp, because it is just a magnificent place... but anyway that's another story on another blog. This has to do with GROWTH, remember?

Anyway, I was driving to this said camp on the first day of Camp season, and as I was driving I decided to say a quick prayer- specifically about the summer, but the entire year was included. I turned my blaring Signature Sound Quartet music down, rolled up my window, and breathed the simplest prayer I could think of, "God, do something BIG in my life this year." Sounds simple enough, right? Kind of a passive prayer- something you obviously strive for anyway....

This prayer turned out to be a portal into the biggest whirlwind of  a summer/year I've ever had. When I told God to do something BIG, He took it, stretched it out, and in return did something HUGE. He made me learn that, despite what I like others to think, I don't alway have everything it takes to get by in the world- I don't know quite as much as I think I do.

Complacency was the word of choice that God put on my heart. It was as if all summer He was telling me  to not become complacent. To not just skate by because you've been a counselor for so many years and fairly know the way things run. Yeah. I knew how Camp worked. I figured "eh. It's my sixth year out here. There's probably nothing new that could come my way. I know what it takes to be a good counselor , and that's what I plan to be. Bring it on, world."

Then the best week of camp in my entire life happened. It was the worst week I could imagine, but the best in the end. God sent several blessed children from a Community Center that works closely with camp to challenge the faces off of us "complacent" counselors. These kids were the kind that stretched you to your limit so quickly you didn't think you could last 4 minutes let alone 4 days. Yet, we still had to persist because, we possibly were showing them the only love they would get (their home lives aren't the greatest). These kids were nothing like I expected at the beginning of the summer. Here I was, this supposed great counselor who knew all the answers and had all the right things to say, completely knocked on my feet. "Don't become complacent. Stop acting like you know what you're doing." said God.

God revealed his plan for my spiritual growth consistently throughout the year. I went on a Chrysalis walk at the end of the summer, and the entire weekend He kept showing me that it's okay to not know everything and not have the answers. It's okay to seek help, because He who does know wants to have a relationship with me. He wants me to fall into His arms and cry to Him because I want to know HIM more and learn more from HIM. Life is constantly changing, even in the aspects which seem to remain still. I never knew my world could be rocked like it was this year at Camp, but God showed me that It was not in my best interest to think I got it all under control-- because, unfortunately. I don't.

And how fitting that the theme of camp this year was Faith? It was as if all year, God was saying "ye of little faith! Do you not think that when you asked me to do something Big in your life I wouldn't cause you to grow as well?" I learned to step out on my faith with God this year, and act for HIS will even if I don't know what I'm doing. But hey, all I need is the faith of a mustard seed, and I can move the mountains.

And so it goes...

"Savior. He can move the mountains. My God is mighty to save. He is mighty to save."