Drawings

First round:
1 - surg tech program
2 - coffee/smoothie shop ministry
3 - STS

Second round:
1 - Coffee/smoothie shop ministry
2 - STS
3 - STS


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

choices

a friend loaned me a book to read called “Seizing Your Divine Moment – Dare to Live a Life of Adventure” by Erwin McManus.

i have been stuck in a rut for awhile, not feeling God calling me any specific direction but feeling like i could go 10 different ways with my life.  decisions are so much easier when you only have 2 options.  i used to get so flustered in the cafeteria at college because i’d walk in, get a tray, and then was faced with a multitude of food options and people everywhere.  half the time i’d get overwhelmed and just grab something, only to start eating it and wonder why in the world i chose it.  :P

rabbit trail, sorry. hopping back on now.

the first chapter in this book is called choices – choose to live.

“Our choices either move us toward God and all the pleasure that comes in Him or steer us away from Him to a life of shame and fear.”

our lives are filled with moments each day where we have to make choices.  some are tiny, but some will impact the rest of our life.  and then there’s the ultimate moment of choice: the choice to either accept or reject Jesus will impact our life for eternity.

but our lives are filled with all these moments throughout the day to either honor and bring glory to God or turn away from Him.  the choice to love or to turn the other way.  the choice to smile and share a little glimmer of Christ’s love to strangers or to keep a stone face and go about our own personal agenda.

“We have put so much emphasis on avoiding evil that we have become virtually blind to the endless opportunities for doing good.” (Chapter 2 – Initiative: Just Do Something!)

that is so true in my life.

the past 2 days (i just started reading this book) i have tried to put this stuff into practice.  trying to have such a view as i go about my day that i’m looking for opportunities to do good – opps to share Christ’s love in big or small ways.  and it has been so fun!  saying hi or having short conversations with people i see as i walk the dogs instead of turning down a different road to avoid having to talk to someone (yes, i do that way too much – guilty). helping out at the fam’s house with yard work.  going up and talking to a teenage girl from one of the youth groups that i know but have never really had a conversation with.

it’s really fun when i change my perspective on life to looking for opportunities to do good instead of focusing on my own life and trying to “avoid sinning”.  in essence, i think that focusing on my own life and just trying to get by as a “good Christian” is sinning because i’m being selfish and not sharing the love with Jesus every chance i get.

i’m lovin’ this book.

i love lucy.

i’ve been house sitting all week (done today – CELEBRATE!) for 2 little dogs.  yesterday i was at my family’s house and had to go back to the house and let the dogs out.  i started my car to leave my family’s house and lucy comes running down the stairs asking if she can go.

me, being the good aunt that i am, inwardly did not want her to go (ha).  in the past when i’ve taken her with me to take care of dogs, every time she’s freaked out as soon as the dog looks at her and it’s just mad chaos as the dog’s barking, lucy’s crying, and i’m trying to figure out who to take care of first.

so when she asked, i asked her, “are you going to freak out on me when you see the dogs?” (…i really need to work on being nicer).  and she shook her head no and so i took her in to town with me.

as soon as i opened the door to the house and lucy saw the dogs, she wouldn’t come inside.  so i left her outside while i got the dogs on their leashes (mind you, they’re tiny – shi-tzus or something).  i come out of the house with the dogs and naturally they’re barking and all excited because they see someone new.  lucy starts backing away and i can tell she’s on the verge of breaking out in tears.  so i firmly said, “Lucy – you told me you were not going to freak out.  Now come on.” (…i REALLY need to work on being nicer, did i mention that?)

and what happened next i hope i never forget (hence the blog to remind me).  i saw like a switch get flipped in my niece.  in an instant, i could see the determination to not give in to fear come over her and she walked straight over to me calmly but quickly and we took the dogs on a short walk.

i wish i could’ve captured that moment so everyone could see.  her whole demeanor just like…BAM – switched from on the verge of freaking out to “OK.  I’m going to just do this.”  and she did.   and she was totally fine.  the whole time i knew she would be fine, the dogs would not hurt her (they’re TINY!) and that’s what frustrates me when she freaks out like that – she’s not trusting us when we know unless some crazy, random accident happens, we are not going to let anything happen to her.

“OK.  I’m going to just do this and trust that You have my back.” – what a great mindset to have with God, right?  i have no idea how many times i’ve said “no” when was God trying to get me to trust Him and step out.  and i still do that way too much.