5 Blessings for February 28

1. Having a comfy bed to come home to.

2. Watching Dale feed her 4 day old baby girl for the first time…This made me think about how God cares for us so much like a mother cares for her newborn (Isaiah 49:14-16a)

3. The way God built our church student leader team and enabled us to plan more youth events than we expected.

4. Getting to anoint our student leaders with a cross on their foreheads and saying the words of John 15:16 – Jesus said, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit..."

5. Seeing a dramatic change in a close friend of mine who a year and a half ago was only a nominal Christian and is now on fire for God and is leading others to Him.

5 Blessings for February 27

1. How God – when He has something to say to me – will keep speaking to me until I get His message (even if I don’t understand the message at the time) – Before, the song “I Will Not Be Moved” by Natalie Grant kept coming on the radio…I could not understand for the life of me what God was trying to tell me. Now I think I understand. He was preparing me for some difficult circumstances that would come. Now, His message to me is to wait on Him. He’s shown this to me through various Scriptures, as well as devotions I’ve read…still pondering what exactly I’m waiting on…maybe the answers to prayers I’ve prayed.

2. My Lenten counseling appointments are filling up! Woo hoo!!

3. My “Sanctuary” Bible – it’s a devotional Bible for women (New Living Translation), and I love it!

4. The unconditional love of our two dogs, Tipper & Fuzzums.

5. Cadence – my friend’s newborn baby girl. :-)

5 Blessings for February 26

1. CIU Friends who I got to spend quality time with yesterday and today – Angela, Chris, Julie, Andrew, Lena, Linda, Mika, Hannah…

2. Humbling experiences that God is using to teach me & grow me (sitting in with the counseling internship class – sharing one of my case presentations & receiving constructive criticism; youth ministry at church)

3. Experiencing God’s love, grace and prayers through more people than I can count

4. Just being at CIU today was like refreshing springs for my soul

5. Seeing good friends start dating

My 40 Day Commitment

Hello friends and family,

I know it’s been forever since I last updated my blog, but I am making a renewed effort starting today. As most of you know, today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of the church season of Lent. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Lent, it is the period of 40 days leading up to Easter (not including Sundays). For Christians, it is a time of greater reflection and contemplation on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ’s life and what that means for us.

In the past, I’ve given something up for Lent, such as soda or chocolate. This year, as I prayed about what intentional steps I should take during Lent, I decided that rather than taking something intentionally out of my life, I would add something in...actually two “somethings.” The first I’m calling “5 Blessings.” Every day between now and Easter Sunday, I am going to list five ways I’ve seen God working in my day or in my life. And I’m not going to just keep the list for myself…I’m going to post it on my blog for you to read also. The second thing I’m going to do is meditate on one Scripture a week which relates to joy/praise/God’s goodness. I will also be posting these verses each Wednesday.

The reason I’ve chosen to do these two specific things is tied to two Scriptures:

Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” (NASB)

Philippians 4:8, “…Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” (NLT)

I sometimes have a tendency to think about the negative and be a little pessimistic, particularly when things aren’t going the way I had hoped. Therefore, I’m making a more intentional effort to transform my thinking and what I allow myself to dwell on. I have to say that this effort is partly because of the wisdom of a dear friend of mine who challenged me to look for small miracles rather than just the big ones. After all, God is all around us, but we might miss seeing His hand working if we’re focused on the wrong thing.

Here are my “5 Blessings” for today:

1. A hug and a little encouragement from a church friend when I walked into church this morning.
2. Hearing the heart of another friend who is struggling with issues in her marriage but is continuing to persevere, believing that God is calling her at this moment not to give up.
3. The opportunity to drive to Columbia and clear my mind.
4. The opportunity to hang out with my Columbia friends tonight – most of whom I haven’t seen in 10 weeks or more.
5. Hearing the song “Blessed Be Your Name” on the radio this morning and being reminded that God give and takes away and whatever the circumstance, I need to praise Him and be thankful.

Scripture meditation verse of the week:

“Sing to the Lord; praise His name. Each day proclaim the good news that He saves. Publish His glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things He does. Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!” – Psalm 96:2-4a (NLT)