When something like the massacre that occured today at Virginia Tech happens, it can really snap you back into reality. We are not promised tomorrow. James 4:14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Something so tragic should serve as a reminder. We must learn to live our lives like its out last day we have. Those grudges we hold on to so hard could come to haunt us. Those people that we just dont let know how much they mean to us ... that one girl who you have been praying so hard about witnessing to ... the little things that we put off cause there's alway tomorrow .... I dont mean live the worldly life with no regrets. I mean the godly life that says just do God's work and dont worry about anything else. Do NOT fear what may happen, just do what GOD asks. Just forgive, get over it, LOVE, serve ... you never know when its your time to leave this world ... or someone else in your sphere of influence will be taken from you.

What motivation to get out there and share Christ with people! Let's keep the people of VTech in our prayers and keep our eyes focused on the cross. God bless! I hope this post can serve as a reminder not to get caught up in the fear of this world. Psalm 46 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

New Beginnings ...

Its a word on my mind a lot lately. I have 2 new kittens as you can tell! New life = new beginnings! One of my cousins just had a baby girl on Friday and another one is pregnant ... new beginnings! How often do we take life for granted? I am about to be gratuating ... that's definatly going to be a new beginning. We often recognize events like these as new and exciting beginnings full of possibilities!

But if you think about, each day has the possibility of being a new beginning for you. Each day you can chose to wake up and live the life you were made to. Each morning you get out of bed is another gift from God, another chance to get it right. Every time we mess up (sin) there is a chance for redemption! We are a new creation... the old is gone the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!)

So know matter how bad we have messed up or been disobedient, we have to ability to truly repent and be something different! Through Christ we can have a new beginning! You just have to believe it and claim it for yourself! Its mine just as much as its yours! I invite you to daily remind yourself of this, dont live in guilt and condemnation.

Forgiveness

Forgivenss. What an amazingly powerful word. Forgiveness = compassionate feelings that support a willingness to forgive; the act of excusing a mistake or offense

We have the opportunity to show forgiveness almost on a daily basis. But how often do we and how often are we compassionate about it! How many times when someone wrongs you do you just forgive them? If you are like me then you stew over it and get angry. And hold it all in. But when I do forgive I can just feel the weight lift off my shoulders. But its still so hard to do.
My cousin needs forgiveness as we speak. She needs it from her parents and her family. She has fallen the victim to one of Satan's greatest lies. She is lost, as is her family. I pray that this situation could be used to bring them to know Jesus. That through God's forgiveness and grace this could make a turning point in my family. I pray that instead of this being a terrible situation that pulls my family apart, that it could somehow work to bring them to Him! Please keep them and their salvation in your prayers.
I need to clothe myself in forgiveness everyday, especially on Mondays Wednsdays, and Fridays! Those are work days for me and I face so much spiritual warfare there! I am tested everyday I walk into that office. There is a situation where I am tested and tried over and over again! Im sad to say that I dont always pass the test, I get defeated, I try to handle it on my own. Then I remember FORGIVENESS... for the person who has offended me and for myself!

I have such a heart for children. But up until recently, Friday night at the LHBC College Retreat actually, I realized I sometimes use kids as a cover up. When there are lots of people I can almost guarantee you that I will spend my time chasing the kiddos around or entertaining them. It almost as if this is my way of avoiding interaction with the older people. I am absolutely scared to death, and intimidated by my godly brothers and sisters. Its so much easier for me to go and love on these little guys then it is to have a grown up conversation. I am sometimes even fearful of this! I am so afraid I don't have much to offer to the grown up world.
But by God's grace, HE is using my relationships with these kids to bring me into relationship with their parents. I have slowly met and gotten to know so many women at LHBC just by serving their kids. Just simple things like telling Mommy how cute or good their kid was has opened doors for me!
And another huge deal for me is Christian Men. I haven't grown up around many of these. Its still so hard for me to be "real" with men, even those older than me (father like figures). The whole concept is still so new to me and I find myself clamming up. I feel uncomfortable and I cant explain it. Mark Henry and Howard Tipton are two examples of this. I have had both of their wives as amazing mentors and could really talk about stuff with them, but when it comes to their husbands ... i just don't know what happens. Both of these men are AMAZING men who I have seen counsel a many of people (even girls my age) but I don't feel like I can talk to them. Why is that? Why am I so scared to trust men? My Dad was (and still is) a wonderful father to me. I haven't been abandoned or hurt by men in my past. How do I get past this? How do I learn to depend on men just as much as I do women? Any advice?