guess what

God is good all the time! =)


and I will tell you why.....

Its been snowing since last night, my test got canceled, my classes were canceled, and my prayers were answered yesterday. My family and friends are amazing. School is going well. I have food in the kitchen. A heater that works along with a car with heat and four-wheel drive that works. Money to pay bills and eat out with friends(tho I really need to cut back). The ability to do a hard core workout and not keel over and die. The ability to draw and even be sought out for it. Plenty of clothes. A Bible at arms reach, and the freedom to choose any Congregation to worship with and become a part of. How awesome is that, and these things are not even half of what I have been given.

The next time I think about complaining or thinking anything negative I will have to look back at this and remind myself, why.. what are you doing/thinking!?

GOD is GOOD all the time! Thank you Lord!

soo..

Well, only a few more days until spring break! WOO! I am so excited! Im gonna look like a bag lady with all the stuff I am going to bring! lol but thats ok! Just hope i dont get stopped by security when i bring alllll my xbox stuff! =D

So its a rainy dreary day. I like days like this every now and then. Kinda puts me into an introspective mood. Sometimes thats a good thing and sometimes not! haha. I have taken my sweet time doing everything this morning. I just now got out of the shower in fact and still have yet to dry my hair. I just get tired of being on the go allll the time!

One thing I have discovered is that I have definitely grown over the past 4 weeks. I am not even the same person, especially spiritually, since i the semester started. Its amazing how that works. I have definitely learned that my thoughts become my downfall. My mind has always been overactive and I tend to think/work through things good and bad all the time. Or day dream all day. This leads me to have thoughts of doubt, self-pity, worry, and unrealisitic thoughts which then i draw incorrect conclusions from. I am no fully aware of this problem of mine, and it is a constant battle. I am an optimist and a dreamer to the fullest extent, i think because the doubts and the fears and the disappointments are weighing so heavily in my mind. Its like Im trying to compensate for it sometimes. I dunno.. something interesting to think about... or maybe just to me since I enjoy studying the mind and how it works. One thing I do know is that i am persistent with things I want. I dont give up so easily... I have been prayerful about a certain situation for awhile now, and just when I think maybe I have my answer something happens and I dont. I need to stop thinking, keep on praying, and just trust that whatever happens will be for the best, and my answer may not come for a long time. I know all this but how hard is it to convince my mind... hard!

Im not sure what the point of writing all that out was.. haha but I do know that I have peace about life. I know that God is there for me and my family and friends. All I have to do is do His will and keep Him number one on my relationship list and He will provide. Maybe not in the way I hope, but it will be for a reason and usually a better one!

So yeah, tonight we have several volleyball games, which should be interesting since we havent practiced. lol Luckily I wont be playing unless i absolutely have to. Should be fun! I hope the night turns out to be a good one! =D

Anyway I guess thats all the rambling I have for now!

Update..

Hmmm... not much is new these days...

One week until spring break and I am very excited! Although I like a good trip to the beach I will be flying all by myself( for the first time ever) to Texas!!! I am pretty excited, I dont think I have ever hung out with my sister and bro-in-love without my parents ever. I know that it may sound selfish, but I just want some quality sibling time for once! So Im excited, and cant wait to see Jacey either!

So I cooked two batches of lasagna and two chocolate chip cheesecakes last night. It was fun cooking for people! Though I discovered something.... I think my sense of smell is getting worse, because as I was cutting up a fresh garlic, I couldnt smell it at all. lol My eyes were burning tho, so at least one of my senses could detect a strong smell! Oh well.. I just found it interesting.

So yeah, i guess some of my friends and i are gonna go bowling tonight. If we can get it together. haha we can be so unorganized. I also have on more day left in my daily devotional book on prayer.. kinda sad I really enjoyed it. But no worries I have another one by the same author called Lord teach me to study the Bible. So i think that one will be just as good. I cant wait to see what i learn in it!

Well, nothing else exciting to say, I have to write a paper and take a shower before class.. Have a great weekend everyone!

Prayful Mind

So, things are going great! I cannot really complain about anything these days, yet i still find that i do! But I guess Im human. School is good, my church group is great, my friends are great, life is just truly going well. I have officially changed my major now to Interdisciplinary Studies concentrating on Psychology and Child Development and Family Relations. I must admit I enjoy my Psych classes a lot more than the CDFR classes but thats ok. Im getting all new perspectives and learning more about the school systems which if I want to persue the School counselor liscensure then I will have to know it eventually I guess. Im also beginning to lean more towards the Grad programs at MTSU for school counseling. We will just see though, I dont wanna make too many plans because I want to make sure its what God wants me to do.

Speaking of, for Christmas this year I received a daily devotional book called Lord Teach Me to Pray, and I must say I will recommend this book to anyone!!! It has already done wonders for me just in the last two weeks. I feel as though I finally understand the importance of taking time to read my Bible on my own. Growing up in the Church and at a Church of Christ school Bible reading was school work just like any other book. I know all the stories forwards and backwards because I had to be tested on it. I felt like I knew the Bible and that praying daily would be suffice. I think I knew deep down I should read the Bible, but growing up the way I did (not that it is an excuse) just kinda made me feel I didnt need it and that there wasnt anything interesting left to read about. I guess I just thought of it has another text book and I hate reading texts books!

So anyway, this devotional book makes you get into the Word and study and it picks apart prayer and gives verses of prayers throughout the Bible and how others prayed. It is very interesting! One point the author made I found insightful was that in looking at the Lord's prayer she has broken down each sentence and has made the point that this is a model prayer. The first line Our Father in Heaven hallowed be Your name shows us that first of all that God is OUR father and prayer then begins with worship to Him. Your Kingdom Come is our allegience to Him. Now when the author discussed this I couldnt help of think of certain friends that honestly do not pledge their allegience to God. Many times people acknowledge God and worship Him like they should but in their daily lives they may cuss, or be overly concerned with their school work, or getting ahead in their jobs, even putting their family or leisure activities first. Little things that may not be sins, but are not in alignment with God and His Kingdom. Why? Why cuss? Why have one drink? Why go to that party where inappropriate things are happening? Why? I used to say all the time I should study my Bible more... what I was really saying is but I have better things to do! Not anymore I dont!

Another point the author made was about effective prayer. The Lord's prayer isnt something to memorize and repeat over and over again. Jesus says, Pray, then, in this way. He also said When you are praying do not use meaningless repition. So then it is clear that Jesus did not want us to recite something or pray simply from memory. It is so much more than that. This got me thinking, what about the songs we sing. Many of them are repitious. The author makes a point about our lack of Biblical knowledge even in our songs. How many of them are one idea repeated over and over without a strong Biblical substance. She states that in the early days the idol worshipers worked themselves into excited frenzies repeating phrases of worship to their gods. But she says that with the children of God you find them rehearsing the character of God and His ways instead of repeating things. Also she says this, "Our worship should be founded - rooted, grounded - in truth, not emotion. Worship should not be based on the fervency of our words or the loudness of our voice, but on the faithfulness of our God. Emotion is natural, but genuine emotion follows truth!" I just found all this interesting. I totally agree with her. She references a young man Isaac Watts and his song Behold the Glories of the Lamb whcih he wrote when he was 19 years old because he was dissatisfied with the dismal singing. The words are good.

I have known some of these things deep down, but presented in this way takes on a whole new meaning. The author is appling them to life, asking questions about each idea, and using verses to back up her every word. Its all very intersting, I wish everyone I know would read this devotional book!!!!! I know it will open everyone's eyes to something!

Well, I guess I have written a WHOLE LOT! haha I guess some of these new ideas about prayer are on my mind and I just wanna share them, but maybe I should just buy the book for everyone I know. Well, it is a lazy saturday and I dont have plans until this evening which is so nice! I needed a day just to myself to get everything in order for the week to come.