Monday, March 30, 2009

5 Blessings for March 30

1. It's almost April!!

2. "Revelation" by Third Day... They're not my fave band, but I LOVE this song!!

3. One of my favorite poems is “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost:


Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.


I love this poem because it reminds me of my relationship with God. Life is hard. However, despite this we always have God with us. He’s behind us encouraging us, beside us helping us (and sometimes carrying us), and in front of us guiding us. He’s all around us. When we come to a fork in the road of our lives and have to decide which path to take, He doesn’t leave us there to figure it out for ourselves. He is our faithful friend and guide who will lead us if we let Him.

4. Charles Stanley's radio broadcast on 106.9 ~ The message today was "Confession and Our Forgiveness." Click here for his audio archives so you can listen to his messages.

5. Being inspired and encouraged by the faith of my spiritual leaders, mentors, and friends.

5 Blessings for March 29

1. A prayer by St. Francis of Assisi:

Lord,
Make me an instrument of your peace!
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.

2. Hearing stories from others today of God's faithfulness.

3. Getting to serve communion at church today.

4. "God always gives His best to those who leave the choice with Him." - Jim Elliot (I already wrote about this on March 22 but I thought it was worth repeating...the question is, Am I willing to leave the choice with God?)

5. The ability to feel pain for friends who are suffering.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

5 Blessings for March 28

1. The youth lock-in at church last night & today turned out great!

2. Watching the faith and strong leadership of our student leaders as they planned & led the lock-in at church. They're awesome. :-)

3. Comfy recliner at home I got to chill in this afternoon...very nice after a night of little sleep. I did pretty much nothing this afternoon except rest in the recliner. That rarely ever happens...ask my mom.

4. Lots of rain this afternoon.

5. "Free" movies that come on T.V...I watched "Nim's Island" today.

5 Blessings for March 27

1. My grandma's 82 today!! I'm so blessed to have her in my life & the older I get, the closer I get to her and the more I appreciate her.

2. My mom, grandma, Jamie, and Martha (Jamie's mother-in-law) got to have lunch & spend time together for my grandma's birthday.

3. A new friend, Cathy, who helped me with some things I needed help with yesterday.

4. Under 50 counseling hours to go to finish my internship. :-)

5. Good sales at the grocery store.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

5 Blessings for March 26

1. Veggie Tales' recording of "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" (on their 70s CD). This song reminds me that God is the sunshine of my life...and He thinks the same about me. :-)
Even if you're having a bummer of a day this CD is so fun & uplifting. You should totally get it!!

2. La Unica Mexican Restaurant...my fave Mexican restaurant.

3. Getting to have dinner & chill for a little while with my mom & LeAnn.

4. Going shopping with Mariauxi for the youth lock in this weekend.

5. I've gone 200 miles on this tank of gas in my car & still have 1/2 a tank left.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

5 Blessings for March 25

1. When God gives me His vision for what He wants me to do next...and I don't have to question whether it's from Him or not.

2. Being challenged by one of my internship supervisors in a way that was slightly painful but in the long run will be very helpful (as a matter of fact, almost every conversation I have with him is like that!)

3. Cell phones...yay for modern technology.

4. God is Jehovah Jireh ~ My Provider ~ so I don't have to worry about whether I'm going to have enough of whatever I need, whether it be time or money or (fill in the blank)...He always always provides.

5. Relationships with people...I'm such a task-oriented person that sometimes I put my "to do" list before everything else, including people...However, God has been working on me with this over the last few years of seminary and while I am no where near perfect, God has helped me make improvements because people and relationships really are more valuable than any "to do." Lord, help me to live it.

Scripture meditation verse of the week:

18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,

19 to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.

20 We wait in hope for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.

21 In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.

22 May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD,
even as we put our hope in you.

~Psalm 33:18-22 (NIV)

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

5 Blessings for March 24

1. The smell of fresh spring air.

2. All the things God allowed me to get accomplished at work today.

3. Being inspired by the incredible faith of one of my counselees.


4. All the awesome articles and resources on www.crosswalk.com, including an article on overcoming fear written by one of our Proverbs 31 speakers, Micca Campbell. (To see the article, click here.)

5. Ponytail holders...for when my hair gets in my face! :-)

Monday, March 23, 2009

5 Blessings for March 23

1. Pastor Ed's sermon yesterday about the "wilderness" experiences of life and the importance of looking for the beauty (and essentially looking for God) in those experiences by slowing down, looking deeper, and embracing the journey...SO true!

2. "And there is nothing impossible unto those who believe. Lively and unshaken faith can accomplish great miracles in the twinkling of an eye." - St. John of Kronstadt - I just love believing in miracles...God is so able!

3. Silk Chocolate Soymilk...tastes like a Yahoo but better for you I'm sure!

4.
Having 3/4 of a tank of gas rather than 1/4 of a tank. :-)

5.
Butterflies & their symbolism of being totally transformed from something plain and "ugly" to something totally different and beautiful.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

5 Blessings for March 22

1. Hearing a few different people say they felt God brought them to Charlotte to come to Spirit of Joy...

It makes me think of how God worked in my own life to bring me to Spirit of Joy (which I started attending after a change of life plans,
reluctantly at first). It was at Spirit of Joy that God brought a new level of healing to my life. It was there that He showed me His love and grace in greater measures than I had ever experienced. It was there that He enabled me to experience community unlike ever before. It was God's working in my life through Spirit of Joy that enabled me to sense the Holy Spirit's presence in my life for the first time. It was also during my time at SOJ that I heard God call me to seminary.

I followed His call,
almost reluctantly at first because I didn't want to leave this incredible place of grace. But then, I discovered another incredible place of grace...

2. CIU ~
Columbia International University. I began attending seminary here in the fall of 2005 and during the last four years discovered that God led me there not just to get an education, but also (if not more so) to bring healing to my life, develop my character, & deepen my spirituality.

I was incredibly sad leaving SOJ to go to CIU because I feared I would never get to return to the place where God began a renewing and incredible work in my life (SOJ). However, God opened the door for me to return...


3. I came back to SOJ in
August of 2008 to begin my counseling internship...almost reluctantly at first. I say this because my original intention was to do my internship at a larger church in Charlotte which had an already established pastoral counseling center. Needless to say, that didn't work out, and as God would have it, He opened the doors to do my internship at SOJ.

4. Where is God calling me next? I don't know. But what I do know is that wherever it is, He's already there. One of my fears when I first left SOJ to go to CIU was that I would lose the Spirit which I had found at SOJ. However, when I got to CIU I found the Spirit was there also and was just as powerful there. So, even though I don't know where God will take me next, I know that He is with me every step of the way...and He's already there, wherever "there" is!

5. I have learned many invaluable lessons through each of these experiences, including:

--There's a valuable lesson to be learned in every circumstance.
--No matter where I go, God's already there and He's with me every step of the journey.
--God is completely trustworthy (Time and time again he's shown me that, Yes, He can be trusted).
--When I depend on God, He will never let me down.
--God is full of compassion, grace, and unfailing love.
--"God always gives His best to those who leave the choice with Him" (Jim Elliot)...and God's best is always better than I could have imagined!

Saturday, March 21, 2009

5 Blessings for March 21

1. Seeing a beautiful pink & orange sunset

2. Saving money by choosing to forego buying certain things

3. Having clean water to drink...what a blessing that I so often overlook

4. An afternoon nap with my grandma at her house today

5. Realizing that in two months I will have officially been graduated from high school for 10 years!!! Woo hoo Class of 1999! :-) (Gosh...I'm getting old!)

Friday, March 20, 2009

5 Blessings for March 20

1. The vision God gives me when I work out at Curves that Jesus is my personal trainer, who’s with me every step of the way challenging and encouraging me.

2. Going to Hickory for the first time in I don't know how long...I get to see me grandma, dad, and my friends Laura & Brad, Dale & Jon, Sarah, Amari, and Cadence!!

3. Our grand piano at church...I spent a while playing it this afternoon :-)

4. That I live in the south. I don't think I could take the cold weather in the north...I'm totally more of a "tropics" than "arctic" type girl.


5.
The GORGEOUS sky...what else is there to say?

Thursday, March 19, 2009

5 Blessings for March 19

1. I’m becoming pithier (able to express thoughts with less words…okay, well except for yesterday’s post)…thank you Al, and God :-)

2. Being able to call my co-workers at P31 and SOJ my friends and mean it! I truly am so blessed by each of them!

3. Wireless internet at church…makes life so much easier on my laptop.

4. That I'm not who I used to be and I'm not yet all that I'm going to be

5. McDonalds chicken nuggets for dinner tonight...ahhh the memories from my childhood!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

5 Blessings for March 18

1. I’m blessed with so many friends of all ages from high school, HPU, CIU, SOJ, P31, Mexico & Bolivia.

2. Free gift bag at Curves today filled with all kinds of goodies.

3. Yay for comfy pajama pants to lounge around in at home!

4. He gave me a good attitude & enough energy today to accomplish what I needed to. Thank you Jesus!!

5. God’s sense of humor & how, when He wants me to understand something, He will show me over and over again until I get it. :-) Gotta love him!

Take, for instance, this week. Last Wednesday, the Scripture meditation verse I posted was about God’s power and strength & how He gives these to His people (
Psalm 68:34-35). Then at youth group on Sunday night, the theme was God’s power & how we have all the power and strength we need when we’re connected to Him. The next day, a friend encouraged me by saying that God’s power flows through me. It’s so funny thinking back to these things, because at the time (especially Monday and even yesterday), I was totally not feeling like God’s power was flowing through me. I was absolutely exhausted, unable to think, and not able to hear God’s voice clearly in any circumstance (including counseling appointments). I felt like I was not getting anything accomplished and like I was not being an effective counselor. Today has been quite a change, as I have experienced God’s power strongly and tangibly, not only in counseling appointments but also in what He enabled me to get accomplished today. What’s up with that?!? I don’t know. But what I do know is that God is not limited by how I feel. Even when His power flowing through me is not evident to me, it does not mean that it’s not evident to others or that His power is not there.

So with that, let’s praise God for what He does…

Scripture meditation verse of the week:

“Let the whole world bless our God and loudly sing His praises. Our lives are in His hands, and he keeps our feet from stumbling. You have tested us, O God; You have purified us like silver…We went through fire and flood, but you brought us to a place of great abundance.” – Psalm 66:8-10, 12b (NLT)

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

5 Blessings for March 17

When we experience hard times, we can appreciate the good times that much more…

Hard… / Good…
1. Sickness & pain / Health & healing
2. Sadness / Joy
3. Conviction / Repentance & forgiveness
4. Bondage / Freedom
5. Death / New Life

We have to remember that no matter how bad things get, the best is yet to come. After the rain comes the sun. It makes me think of the song
“Brighter Days” by Leeland.


God can use the hard times in our lives if we let Him. So keep looking up.

Monday, March 16, 2009

5 Blessings for March 16

1. Looking at mission trip photos, remembering my time in Bolivia in 2006, and longing to help people financially all over the world

2. Soft Lips lip balm – pretty much the best lip balm ever!

3. Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." – pondering what it means to be still and how God can be exalted through my circumstances and my stillness

4. That God loves to spend time with me

5. When I read a Bible passage I’ve read before but get a whole new perspective from it & see something different in it that I didn’t see before

Sunday, March 15, 2009

5 Blessings for March 15

1. Getting to sit with my mom during church today (I'm usually up front participating in some way).

2. Conversations with friends at church who I have not been able to talk with in a while.


3. Our youth at church...it's just such a blessing to know them & love on them :-)

4. A Target gift card from a friend which has afforded me some opportunities that I don't usually take...such as a Grande Vanilla Bean Frappuccino from Starbucks :-o (I was trying to go caffeine free this evening).

5. I'm going to bed at 10:00 pm!

Saturday, March 14, 2009

5 Blessings for March 14



1. Rain - and its correlation to refreshment, new life, and abundance in the Bible

"You sent abundant rain, O God, to refresh the weary land." - Psalm 68:9 (NLT)

2. New tires dad bought me for my car for Christmas which made it much safer for me to drive to Columbia in the rain today :-)

3. Getting to spend time with my friends in Columbia to celebrate the marriage of two of my close friends...and especially surrounding and prayer for God's guidance and blessing on them in their marriage.

4. Praying for counselees and friends by listening to and meditating on the lyrics of Christian songs.

5. No rain on my late night drive home from Columbia.

Friday, March 13, 2009

5 Blessings for March 13

1. The opportunity to work at Proverbs 31 Ministries and serve as Next Generation Coordinator


2. The awesome staff I get to work with at
Proverbs 31, including our sweet intern Kirstie, from Liberty University





3. Seeing how God has grown our
Radical Revolution ministry and is using it to touch young women’s lives.



4. Knowing that God has great plans for all of our lives & will use each of us to do great things for Him if we let Him guide us – “God always gives His best to those who leave the choice with Him.” – Jim Elliot


5. It’s Friday!!! :-)


Thursday, March 12, 2009

5 Blessings for March 12

1. Coffee…to wake me up :-)

2. Being able to write on my blog

3. Getting to talk to my friend Josh, who I haven’t talked to in a long time

4. Realizing I’m only 63 counseling hours away from completing my counseling internship at my church!

5. How the Bible is relevant for every situation & God uses it to speak to me no matter where I’m at in my life

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

5 Blessings for March 11


1. A two hour long heart to heart conversation with a friend & mentor


2. Taking a walk in our prayer garden at my church




3. Extended prayer time this morning (which hasn’t happened in a while) because of an appointment cancellation

4. Playing the piano as an outlet for expression (which hasn’t happened in a while either)


5. Getting to work out at Curves & see people there which I haven’t seen in a while (yes, I was still working out, but just went at a different time today :-))

Scripture meditation verse of the week:


“Tell everyone about God’s power. His majesty shines down on Israel; his strength is mighty in the heavens. God is awesome in his sanctuary. The God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!” – Psalm 68:34-35 (NLT)

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

5 Blessings for March 10

1. Dinner with some of my P31 friends ~ Kirstie, LeAnn, and Van




2. Humbling conviction about a situation in which I did not honor God

3. Spending time in self-examination

4. Hearing God speak to me through my counselees (I thought it was supposed to be the other way around!)

5. Being silent & still, listening for God to speak to me

Monday, March 9, 2009

5 Blessings for March 9


1. Driving with the windows down, feeling the wind blowing, & listening to my fave music

2. I got to talk to one of my best friends (Laura) on the phone today

3. Having Kirstie help me at P31 this week!



4. Getting my office area at P31 organized and cleaned (at least partially!)

5. Getting to wear sandals…yay for warm weather :-)

Sunday, March 8, 2009

5 Blessings for March 8

1. It’s still sunny later in the evening because of the time change

2. The opportunity to pray for people I don’t know who are attending a spiritual retreat this weekend

3. How God met me in every counseling appointment this past week and gave me the wisdom and words for every person and circumstance

4. A beautiful starry night, budding trees, and sweetly singing birds

5. Free Route 44 Drink from Sonic…mmm…yummy!

Saturday, March 7, 2009

5 Blessings for March 7

1. Getting to spend the afternoon with a family who’s very close and dear to my heart

2. 80 degree sunny weather! Yay!

3. Watching the joy of young children as they enjoy life

4. Enjoying the first Saturday in a long time when I did absolutely NO homework or housework

5. Blessing friends with a gift that was God-inspired & that He enabled me to create

Friday, March 6, 2009

5 Blessings for March 6

1. Getting to meet Kirstie, our Proverbs 31 intern for the spring (she’s even nicer in person :-))

2. Quietly sitting and letting God speak to me through music

3. Getting to go to bed and not have to get up at a specific time tomorrow morning

4. Seeing the willingness of a believing family to live out 1 Peter 4:9 in less than 24 hours’ notice to house our intern, Kirstie, for the weekend

5. Listening to “Beloved” by Tenth Avenue North and thinking about the significance of God’s love for me and that He wants me – a dirty, unfaithful sinner – to be His bride

Thursday, March 5, 2009

5 Blessings for March 5

1. God using me for His works despite myself

2. Crying out to God for friends who are hurting

3. Being humbled time and time again, reminded that I don’t have all the answers & reminded just how much I need God

4. Seeing God come through and carry me through every moment when I didn’t see a way or think I could go on

5. Two minutes of stillness this morning as I sat and listened to “Amazing Grace/My Chains Are Gone” by Chris Tomlin in my car before work

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

5 Blessings for March 4

1. God’s strength to keep going & get through the day

2. Many counseling and other appointments today

3. The gift of being able to create art




4. Curves, a fitness gym for women of which I am a member

5. Having a friend who will say yes to helping me out

Scripture meditation verse of the week:

“O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.” – Isaiah 25:1 (NIV)

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

5 Blessings for March 3

1. My internship advisor’s concern for me

2. The beautiful stained glass dove LeAnn gave me – it reminds me of the promise of the Holy Spirit’s presence in my life & ministry

3. Singleness…because honestly…how could I fit anything else into my schedule??

4. My Utmost for His Highest, an awesome devotional book by Oswald Chambers. It challenges me every day! (It’s also online at
http://www.rbc.org/utmost/index.php)

5.
www.biblegateway.com – This website is a great way to access many different translations of the Bible all in one place

Monday, March 2, 2009

5 Blessings for March 2

1. Having more counseling appointments on my schedule for this week than I ever have!

2. Snow day! (And thank God for indoor heat!)

3. Staying in my pajamas all day & resting.

4. Having dinner prepared by my mom.

5. The song “Sufficient” by Adie Camp…such a great reminder to me that when I’m weak, weary, and worn, God is sufficient for me & is everything I need…He’s my El Shaddai (My “All-sufficient One”).

Sunday, March 1, 2009

5 Blessings for March 1

1. Wayne



2. Dawn

3. Steven
4. Tyler
5. Curtis



This is our awesome church youth & family minister (Wayne) & his wife and three boys whom we celebrated and said goodbye to today after church. I just want to take a minute and say how blessed I am that God allowed our paths to cross. They are like family to me – Wayne’s sort of like the goofy big brother that I never had, Dawn’s a sweet friend, and Curtis, Tyler, and Steven are just plain cool & lots of fun. I love you guys!