Don't Waste Your Life

...I promise to give you some actual life updates soon. Not that the past months' worth of all things Jesus aren't absolutely amazing and needed...but I'm sure (and maybe not...) you all are wondering if there's anything else going on. Obviously by my lack of blogs, there is!

I'm currently working on taking 30 minutes before bed (hopefully will increase to an hour once school work calms down) to just read for pleasure. I've really wanted to get into some spiritual books and my wonderful boyfriends steered me towards John Piper. Amazing man with such wisdom...it definitely doesn't put me to sleep and I often have to re-read it the next day! For those of you who aren't familiar with Piper...here are a few precious words of wisdom that leave me wanting more, and maybe you too! (from "Don't Waste Your Life")



"...we waste our lives when we do not pray and think and dream and plan and work toward magnifying God in all spheres of life. God created us for this: to live our lives in a way that makes him look more like the greatness and the beauty and the infinite worth that he really is. In the night sky of this world God appears to most people, if at all, like a pinprick of light in a heaven of darkness. But he created us and called us to make him look like he really is. This is what it means to be created in the image of God. We are meant to image forth in the world what he is really like."

Daily sufficient grace

My heart is so proud, my mind is so unfocused
I see the things you do through me it's great things I have done
And now you gently break me and loving me you take me
and hold me as my Father and mold as my maker

I ask you how many times will You pick me when I keep on letting you down?
And each time I will fall short of your glory how far will forgiveness abound
And You answer "my child I love you and as long as your seeking my face
You walk in the power of My daily sufficient grace."

In times I make a wreck and feel a bit discouraged
Knowing that's somehow somewhere you could do a better job
For who am I to serve you? And I know I don't deserve you
That's the part that burns in my heart and keeps me hanging on

You are so patient with me Lord,
As I walk with you I'm learning what your grace really means
The price that I could never pay was paid at Calvary
So instead of trying to repay you,
By giving up my life to you for all that you've given to me

This song by Laura Story portrays the sweetest story ever told.

No matter how many times we fall and the Lord has to pick us up, He does it. Without question. Without concern. Only out of love. He looks at us, tells us He loves us and only asks us to continue obeying Him. He made the sacrifice so that we don't have to. It's a beautiful picture that Calvary paints and leaves us wondering why anyone would ever do that for us? Each time I stumble or take steps backwards, I'm constantly being put right back on my knees and being reminded…Hey, it's okay! I still love you and always will. I just want you to obey me so that you will be happy and don't have to suffer as much as my Son did. That's grace. And not just grace (cause I mean we each could stand to show each other a little grace…myself included.) But it's sufficient grace. Grace sufficient to cover all of our sins we've ever committed and will commit. And as if that wasn't enough…He renews that sufficient grace every morning. Daily. "His mercies are new every morning…" (Lamentations 3)

Daily sufficient. Beautiful. Incomprehensible. Grace.

a contradiction

31"If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. 32There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is valid.
33"You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. 34Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. 35John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.
36"I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me. 37And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, 38nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. 39You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, 40yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
41"I do not accept praise from men, 42but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. 43I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?
45"But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. 46If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. 47But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?"
- john 5:31-47

"Faith comes to Christ destitute of any claim to be glorious or to be praised, So the love of human praise is a great obstacle to faith. It must die....The other eason the love of human glory is contradictory to faith is that faith is a drinking of living water for the satisfaction of our souls. And the well of that water is the glory of Christ. And when we are satisfied with him, the enslaving power of the craving for human glory is broken. Broken by the power of a superior satisfaction." - John Piper

Diligence and Sincerity

so watch your step, friends. Make sure there's no evil unbelief lying around that will trip you up and throw you off course, diverting you from the living God. For as long as it's still God's Today, keep each other on your toes so sin doesn't slow down your reflexes. If we can only keep our grip on the sure thing we started out with, we're in this with Christ for the long haul. -hebrews 12-14 (the msg)

do not, therefore, fling away your fearless confidence for it carries a great and glorious compensation of reward. -hebrews 10:35

but we do [strongly and earnestly] desire for each of you to show the same diligence and sincerity [all the way through] in realizing and enjoying the full asurance and developemtn of [your] hope until the end. - hebrews 6:11

Indelibly Imprint

Where could I go from Your Spirit? Or where could I flee from Your presence? If I ascend up into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol (the place of the dead), behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning or dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall Your hand lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.
-- psalm 139:7-10

"...yes, they may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have indelibly imprinted you on the palm of each of My hands." -- isaiah 49:16

draw me nearer

For your nearness Lord I hunger
For your nearness Lord I wait
Hold me ever closer Father
Such a love I can’t escape

For your nearness I am hoping
For your nearness Lord I long
Have no need of any other
I have found where I belong
Yes, I have found where I belong

So draw me nearer Lord
Never let me go
Closer to your heart
Draw me nearer Lord
Draw me nearer Lord

In your nearness there is healing
What was broken now made whole
Restoration in its fullness
Lasting hope for all who come

In your nearness I take shelter
Where you are is where I’m home
I have need of only one thing
To be here before your throne
To be here before you throne

So draw me nearer Lord
Never let me go
Closer to your heart
Draw me nearer Lord

And keep me here, keep me here
There’s nowhere else I rather be
So keep me here, keep me here
There’s nowhere else I rather be
There’s nowhere else I rather be

--meredith andrews

Developing Patience that turns into Hope

morever (let us also be full of joy now!) let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance. and endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of character (approved faith and tried integrity). and character (of this sort) produces the habit of joyful and confident hope. - romans 5:3-4


By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that's not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.
There's more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can't round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit! -- romans 5:1-5 (MSG)

Make Love a Habit

And let us consider and give attentive, continous care to watching over one another, studying how we may stir up (stimulate and incite) to love and helpful deeds and noble activities. -- hebrews 10:24

and let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds....(TNIV)


The title of this blog came from the quiet time I had this morning. Enjoying a delicious cup of coffee out of my favorite blue mug and reading about my sweet Jesus was the best way to wake up this morning :) I'm starting a new devotional this fall and I'm really excited about my plans for it. Joyce Meyer's "New day New You" seemed like the perfect fit for someone like me who is always on the go and always uses the excuse of being too busy to spend time in the Word. Well, that's not happening anymore! With Joyce's book, I can just take 5 minutes to reflect on the Word in the morning and try to apply it to my life as I go through out the day. I am hoping that this will spur further study at night...and deeper reflection about God's precious life-giving word. In the past, my days have always been brighter when I've given the first 5 minutes to God. Hopefully I'll have a chance to at least post the verse for the day on here...and maybe a little more. Who knows? Let's just see where this takes us....


God's love. Sharing His love. Loving on others. Our words dripping with love. Saying kind loving things instead of negative evil ones. Focusing on the attributes in love instead of the faults, weaknesses, or failures. These are the lessons I'm learning and working diligently to apply to my life. God, continue to show me how I can illustrate Your unfailing love to EVERYONE I meet and spend time with. Thank you for the opportunities to come.

Embarrased and Ashamed

This blog is going to be the first of it's kind. Not that I haven't been completley honest and open in all of my posts but I've never really spoken with such truth as I am about to. It's tough because as much as I have wanted to be blunt in past posts something about the publicity of this blog keeps my brutle honesty at bay. I also want to add a disclaimer to this post - IN NO WAY am I forgetting that I am a sinner just like everyone else. IN NO WAY am I denying the fact that I make mistakes every day and forget often WHO I am serving. I DO NOT Want this honesty taken as me being prideful or pointing fingers...I am definitely talking to myself when I write out these thoughts.

Somethings happened today at camp that have left me feeling very frustrated, embarrased, and ashamed. To keep this long story short, because it is nearing the end of the summer - tempers are flaring, attitudes are becoming negative, people are starting to point fingers, and gossip is at it's all time high. This makes it tough as leadership because not only are we in the spot light even more but we also have to keep the staff accountable, and in some situations, provide consequences when things go wrong. With that, I sit here tonight just completely ashamed. I realized after talking with the other girl on leadership that if Jesus were on our staff, or sitting in the corner of our staff house...he'd be in tears. The things that are said, the attitudes that are exemplified, the thoughts that don't glorify him...which turn into actions that don't build His kingdom....our staff is falling into all the above categories. No wonder it seems that we're falling apart. The sad thing is that when confronted about it, this only seems to make people more mad and upset that someone like me calls them out and tries to keep them accountable (regardless of the fact that it's my job...I also feel that it's a role instructed by God as He has called me to leadership this summer - which again IN NO WAY makes me better but He calls all of us to keep one another accountable for our thoughts, actions, and words).

I get so frustrated that a staff working at a CHRISTIAN (aka Christ-like) camp can't exemplify the attitude and characteristics of CHRIST. We all mentioned in some form or fashion that we felt called to SERVE here this summer....after watching the attitudes and actions of some of the staff this week - we don't look like servants at all. And I understand that there are 2 sides of every story and I've even been on the other side of those stories...but if we are to follow after Christ and be examples of Him to the campers and to others, how can we do that if we don't have Jesus-like hearts, minds, actions, words, thoughts, etc....how are we supposed to be examples of Christ when we can't serve with a joyful spirit, a servant's heart, and grace in our speech?

One of the things God has been teaching me this summer is about being bold in the truths that God places on my heart. This being one of them, I try to take action when I feel as if God is laying something on my heart that needs to be said or acted upon (i.e. having the courage to write this blog or address the issues at morning devos tomorrow). One of those truths (spoken by D.Gray at a Wednesday night devo 2 summers ago) is that as Christians, we are called to hold each other accountable and that we should "care more for the person than their feelings." Thus meaning that if we feel like God is leading us to speak truth we can't worry about the way they might feel after having such a conversation....if they get mad or frustrated, they are only doing so because the pride in them is causing them to react that way. This is probably one of the most frustrating things about leadership because after having learn that lesson the hard way several times, I wish other people could work on learning the same lesson as well. TOgether, we should all hold each other accountable - not just those of us on leadership - and we should all strive to carry out the characteristics of Christ, despite how we are feeling that day or that maybe we think we have a harder job than someone else. So what, if you have to work during your time off...Jesus would. So what, if you have to take out the trash when no one wants to or unclog the dirty toilet, or go out of your way when no one else is looking...Jesus would. Despite the cliche, the Bible really does call us to do what Jesus would. And even more so when we feel called to work on such a staff as this. I can't even begin to imagine the things that would be done differently if Jesus were actually here working side-by-side with our staff. (And what's more to say that He isn't....which then again puts me right back at we should be working like He is every day, all day.)

So yeah, it really helped to get this off my chest and I apologize if I have offended anyone...and I again want to say that I have done the very things I mentioned several times this summer and do not consider myself exempt from this finger-pointing, raving blog. It only felt good to get my thoughts on paper (or screen) and realize that all I can do is pray, keep myself accountable, and trust that God is still doing greater things among such a seemingly broken staff.

Thanks for reading :)

Daniel 12: 1-3 (MSG)
"'That's when Michael, the great angel-prince, champion of your people, will step in. It will be a time of trouble, the worst trouble the world has ever seen. But your people will be saved from the trouble, every last one found written in the Book. Many who have been long dead and buried will wake up, some to eternal life, others to eternal shame.
"'Men and women who have lived wisely and well will shine brilliantly, like the cloudless, star-strewn night skies. And those who put others on the right path to life will glow like stars forever.

Treasure Hunt

A friend from high school posted this on facebook...I stole it because there are no truer words than what was shared. The purpose of the cross was not only to save those who were lost but to be a treasure in our lives. The ONLY treasure in our lives. Thanks Skip for sharing!

I was playing treasure hunt with my nephew Gabe tonight. Treasure hunt is a game that he made up. What he does is he hides something in a random place in the house. Then he draws a map for you, and sends you out to find the treasure. Very simple, right? Well when you’re using a map drawn by a 6 yr old it’s not much help, but I do my best with what he gives me. Anyways, tonight he sent me on a treasure hunt that I will never forget. He gave me my map and started me on my hunt. The map wasn’t helping much, so he ended up basically walking me to my treasure. The best part of the entire game was what he said to me when I found the treasure. The treasure was a small wooden cross that he had hidden in a flowerpot. When I found it, I figured he would give me a “good job” or “now you hide it” but he said something that I can still hear repeating in my head. It was very simple, but it is something that should be said about our lives everyday. As soon as I found the cross Gabe starting yelling at the top of his lungs as joyfully as he could, “THE CROSS IS YOUR TREASURE, THE CROSS IS YOUR TREASURE, THE CROSS IS YOUR TREASURE!!!

I cannot get that out of my head. I know he was simply meaning the cross was the treasure of the game, but what he said carried so much weight into my life. Is that statement true in my life everyday? Do I live my life as if the Cross is my treasure? Because if the Cross is not my treasure I am missing out on the best for my life. John Piper says, "One of the reasons we are not as Christ-centered and cross-saturated as we should be is that we have not realized that EVERYTHING-- everything good, and everything bad that God turns for the good of his redeemed children-- was purchased by the death of Christ for us. We simply take life and breath and health and friends and everything for granted. We think it is ours by right. But the fact is that it is not ours by right. We are doubly undeserving."

My prayer is that we will start to live as if the cross is our treasure, our everything. I pray that it will shape the things we say, the places we go, the things we look at, the way we live every sec of our lives. It's crazy that it took a 6 yr old and a silly game for me to realize THE CROSS IS MY TREASURE.

Galatians 6:14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.