So I've only made it through two classes so far, but I promise it feels like I'm a couple months in already. From waking up at 6AM for baseball conditioning to having to go to class and do homework, it's one of the most time consuming things I've ever done. With that being said, you also have plenty of free time to do whatever you want whenever you want. For the first time, I'm pretty much independent in the choices I make throughout the day. And that's kind of what I'm going to be talking about; all of the different choices about how we spend our time that we have in life and especially in college in my case.
So I was lying in my dorm earlier today and I realized that I was literally not doing anything, literally I was just lying there, not even taking a nap. So I started thinking about what to do with all of my time. I went down a long list, but then I realized something, since I have moved in on Saturday, I have literally not spent any of my time putting effort into my relationship with God. I don't think I've prayed once since Saturday, I haven't picked up my Bible to read any scripture, and I really just put Him on the back burner for the most part, which honestly is really hard to type out and think about honestly. It's like I just completely forgot about everything. Honestly, I think it's because my change in school. That's not me trying to make an excuse either. I know that it is completely my fault, but I just don't have those reminders that I used to like I did when I was at King's Ridge. I probably took the Christian aspect of the school for granted, but I'm just now realizing how instrumental it was in my relationship with the Lord. Being surrounded by God loving people and people outwardly expressing that love makes it a lot easier to remember to keep your relationship going. College on the other hand is completely different. I have no religion classes whatsoever, and honestly I'm just not seeing those "reminders" that I'm accustomed to. With all of the freedom that I talked about earlier, it's very easy to get caught up with the whole "college life" activities, things I probably shouldn't be thinking about, and I'm guessing most of y'all know what I'm talking about. I haven't done anything I regret so far, but I've been put into plenty of positions where something very bad could've resulted. You get so caught up in trying to fit in with all of the new people around and trying to be like them, you forget who you really are and who you really want to be as you continue to grow up. It's very easy to get caught up in the "normal college life" thinking, and for me, that is not a mindset that I want to keep around for very long. For me, I want to be the one on campus that people look at as a person who truly loves God and puts others first, and I know that is something that I am going to have to work on more than anything.
So God, I'm sorry that I haven't been giving You the attention and love that you deserve, but starting now, that is all going to change and I am going to be a better me. I know I am not worthy of your grace, but you sent Your son down for people like me so that we would be worthy. Thank You for everything you blessed me with and give me the wisdom and courage to live my life in a way that brings all glory to You. Everything we say and everything we do is in Your name...Amen.
Thursday, August 11, 2016
Thursday, July 14, 2016
Light of the World
So I'm sure by now all of y'all have heard about what's going on over in Dallas with the shootings and violence because it's been all over the news and every social media platform in the world. This post is kind of going to hit on that, but not just that specifically.
So everyone that I've talked to about this whole situation pretty much has the same idea in their responses; it's a tragedy to see what is happening with our citizens and police officers around the country. One word in specific keeps coming up: dark. This whole situation is just very dark all the way around. The fact that people can treat each other with such violence and carelessness is unbelievable. I think the fact that everyone references the darkness in today's society is a very important idea to pick up on. Around the world and throughout all of time, darkness is symbolized to represent evil, hard times, and death. If you've ever watched a scary movie, all of the bad stuff happens when the sun goes down and in dark areas. Nobody likes the dark for a reason. Researchers say that every person is born with two rational fears: the fear of heights/falling, and the fear of the dark. Why is this? The dark impairs our ability to see, which gives us the sense that something is always hiding in the dark just waiting to get us. Because of the widespread fear of the dark among all people, whenever something happens that is evil, people always refer to it as a dark situation. The darkness is a scary place that takes all control out of our hands and our first instinct when in the dark is to try to find a way to escape it.
Now let's talk about the opposite of the dark, being light. Light gives us hope, but more importantly, it gives us freedom and power. No one is scared of going into a well lit room because we know that when we walk in, we are in control and nothing can sneak up on us because we are able to see and understand everything going on. In a less literal sense, light gives us hope. When we see someone stand up for a good cause in the midst of darkness, it is almost like they are a small light in a world of darkness. When trapped in a dark space, people are always going to flock to the little bit of light that they can find, no matter how small it is. It gives us a sense of hope and freedom. In the same way, when someone is shining light into a dark time, a time of struggle, people are going to be drawn to that person, and it can often start a chain reaction. In John 8:12, Jesus told us that He is the light of the world and whoever follows Him will never walk in the darkness again. Jesus came to Earth to give the people living in darkness hope. The world had never seen a savior in the flesh before, and because Jesus came to this world and conquered death, He ultimately conquered the darkness and shined light on a world that had never seen it before. In the same way, we can be people that shine light into a world of darkness. If you want to make a difference in society, be different. Don't follow the path of darkness that only leads to destruction. Be a light for all people to see. Give people hope; give them the faith that there is a light in these dark times that we as a country are facing. Light is often symbolized by fire, but there has never been a huge fire that started big. Every fire starts from a little spark. When people see you standing up for a great cause, they will be drawn to you, just like we are all drawn to the little bit of light in a dark room. People will start flocking to you, and that little spark that you created will soon catch on and spread to people of all nations. I challenge everyone reading this to be the little spark that it takes to set this world on fire. There is only one true race on this planet, and that is the race of God's children. We are all formed in His reflection, and it is our duty to carry on Jesus' mission, to be the lights of the world. All it takes is one person, which turns into a small group, which soon spreads to an entire nation of people on fire! With the hard work and dedication that it takes, we can soon take this world that is plagued by darkness and spread light to everyone living on it.
So everyone that I've talked to about this whole situation pretty much has the same idea in their responses; it's a tragedy to see what is happening with our citizens and police officers around the country. One word in specific keeps coming up: dark. This whole situation is just very dark all the way around. The fact that people can treat each other with such violence and carelessness is unbelievable. I think the fact that everyone references the darkness in today's society is a very important idea to pick up on. Around the world and throughout all of time, darkness is symbolized to represent evil, hard times, and death. If you've ever watched a scary movie, all of the bad stuff happens when the sun goes down and in dark areas. Nobody likes the dark for a reason. Researchers say that every person is born with two rational fears: the fear of heights/falling, and the fear of the dark. Why is this? The dark impairs our ability to see, which gives us the sense that something is always hiding in the dark just waiting to get us. Because of the widespread fear of the dark among all people, whenever something happens that is evil, people always refer to it as a dark situation. The darkness is a scary place that takes all control out of our hands and our first instinct when in the dark is to try to find a way to escape it.
Now let's talk about the opposite of the dark, being light. Light gives us hope, but more importantly, it gives us freedom and power. No one is scared of going into a well lit room because we know that when we walk in, we are in control and nothing can sneak up on us because we are able to see and understand everything going on. In a less literal sense, light gives us hope. When we see someone stand up for a good cause in the midst of darkness, it is almost like they are a small light in a world of darkness. When trapped in a dark space, people are always going to flock to the little bit of light that they can find, no matter how small it is. It gives us a sense of hope and freedom. In the same way, when someone is shining light into a dark time, a time of struggle, people are going to be drawn to that person, and it can often start a chain reaction. In John 8:12, Jesus told us that He is the light of the world and whoever follows Him will never walk in the darkness again. Jesus came to Earth to give the people living in darkness hope. The world had never seen a savior in the flesh before, and because Jesus came to this world and conquered death, He ultimately conquered the darkness and shined light on a world that had never seen it before. In the same way, we can be people that shine light into a world of darkness. If you want to make a difference in society, be different. Don't follow the path of darkness that only leads to destruction. Be a light for all people to see. Give people hope; give them the faith that there is a light in these dark times that we as a country are facing. Light is often symbolized by fire, but there has never been a huge fire that started big. Every fire starts from a little spark. When people see you standing up for a great cause, they will be drawn to you, just like we are all drawn to the little bit of light in a dark room. People will start flocking to you, and that little spark that you created will soon catch on and spread to people of all nations. I challenge everyone reading this to be the little spark that it takes to set this world on fire. There is only one true race on this planet, and that is the race of God's children. We are all formed in His reflection, and it is our duty to carry on Jesus' mission, to be the lights of the world. All it takes is one person, which turns into a small group, which soon spreads to an entire nation of people on fire! With the hard work and dedication that it takes, we can soon take this world that is plagued by darkness and spread light to everyone living on it.
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Kindness, Grace, and Love
I know it has been a while since I've posted on here, I know that. People get busy, don't judge.
Alright so this post is something a little different than I've done in the past. This is going to be somewhat of a challenge for whoever is reading this. Not like it's going to be hard to read, but like I want to challenge y'all in the way you live your lives.
So recently there's been a lot of ugly drama and hate going around my school, and I'm sure anyone who is reading this can relate to that. Sometimes people just don't always get along, which is fine, but it's not fine when it starts to hurt other people. All of this hate and nastiness all stems from people not knowing how to treat each other correctly. Although I'm not very good at this sometimes, I try my hardest to look at people like God created them. Each human on this earth is a unique and beautiful individual formed in the reflection of our God. So you may be asking how it looks to treat someone like they are formed and created by God. Well that's exactly what this post is about. I'm going to challenge everyone to treat everyone they interact with by remembering only three words: Kindness, Grace, and Love.
Each of the three words above are often looked over and ignored when it comes to socializing, and honestly, they are all extremely hard to exhibit most of the time, but with a little work and effort, these three words can change your life.
The first word is kindness. Now this is a word that people use all the time, but kind of take for granted. I always hear my mom telling me to be kind to other people, but I feel like it's such a general term that I'm not really sure how to use it. For anyone who feels the same way I do, here's a little clarification. The definition for kindness is the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate. Those are another three words that are awesome qualities that every person should strive to exhibit. By being generous, we humble ourselves and give to others, and the something that you give does not have to be a material something. The giving on kind words and actions can go a lot farther than you would ever expect. I know you hear this a lot, but when people say smiles are contagious, it is so true. By sharing your happiness with someone, you not only lift them up, but they in turn have to opportunity to go show someone the same kindness that you showed them and it can truly start a chain reaction through the grade, community, etc. It's kind of like a "pay it forward day" at Starbucks or something, except with happiness and kindness, which is even better than a free cup of coffee honestly.
The next word is grace, Now this is a word that you hear all the time if you are a Christian. Most of the time it is used referring to the grace that God shows us daily. We are all sinners, but God still loves us and doesn't eternally punish for our evils, but instead allows us to have eternal life with Him. So how do we as humans show grace to other people? It's not like we can tell someone "yes, I know you sinned against me, but I'm still going to let you into Heaven". We don't really have that authority unfortunately. So what can we do? It's pretty simple actually. Forgive. I know it is super hard to forgive people sometimes when we really feel like someone did something terrible to us and it really hurt, but we have to overcome the spite and hatred in our hearts. But why should we do that? Well let's look to the Bible. Matthew 5:7 tells us that "blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy." I know it doesn't say the word grace, but grace and mercy go hand in hand. In order to receive grace from God, and also from those around us, we must first exhibit grace. Showing grace can truly be one of the hardest thing to do sometimes, but it is such a good feeling when we let the hate out of our hearts. Not only does storing hate prevent us from growing relationships with people, but it also eats away at us from the inside out. If you never allow the hate to escape, you're going to eventually become rotten, and start doing all of the things that the other people did to put the hate in your heart in the first place. Showing grace to others not only allows the relationship between y'all to grow, but it also takes a huge weight off of your shoulders. The feeling of showing forgiveness and grace is one of the greatest feelings in the world. If you don't want to forgive someone because you don't want them to get away with whatever they did to hurt you, show grace to help yourself move away from the evil and into happiness.
The last and possibly most important word in the English language in my opinion is Love. Love is one of the two emotions that I feel drives us to make most of the decisions that we do day to day. Love is the sole reason we have eternal life. As I'm sure most of y'all have heard, John 3:16 says "For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son and that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." That's a pretty big deal if you ask me. God was so in love with the world that He left Heaven, a place of perfect peace, to come down to our broken world and live as a man, and ultimately die as a man on a cross, so we would have he chance to spend eternity with Him. That is pure love. God loves enough to have His only son killed so that we could be saved. He took our broken world and gave us a chance to escape it and live in Heaven with Him. If God can show us love on a level that extreme, it should be easy for us to love each other on this earth. Loving someone is always wanting the best for them, no matter the outcome for yourself. Love has the opportunity to change someones life. Have you ever wanted to chance to change and save someone's life? Love them. If you love them in a way that God loves us as humans, the love you have shown them will continue to be inside them wherever they go, and will allow them to spread the same love that you have shown them to other people. Pure joy is found by loving other people. I understand there will always be at least one person you just can't figure out how to be nice to. I promise you, if you open your heart to love, the relationship you have with that person will be changed forever, and I promise you that you will like the outcome.
As my school year winds down and we are within the final 30 days before graduation, it is easy to have your mind set on the upcoming break, college, all of that new stuff. But my challenge to any high schooler about to graduate, anyone who still has a couple years left, or even any adult reading this, treat everyone you meet with the three words above. If we can all learn to treat each other with kindness, grace, and love, this world can be drastically changed. I know everyone is always searching for their own way to change the world, so why not start now.
Alright so this post is something a little different than I've done in the past. This is going to be somewhat of a challenge for whoever is reading this. Not like it's going to be hard to read, but like I want to challenge y'all in the way you live your lives.
So recently there's been a lot of ugly drama and hate going around my school, and I'm sure anyone who is reading this can relate to that. Sometimes people just don't always get along, which is fine, but it's not fine when it starts to hurt other people. All of this hate and nastiness all stems from people not knowing how to treat each other correctly. Although I'm not very good at this sometimes, I try my hardest to look at people like God created them. Each human on this earth is a unique and beautiful individual formed in the reflection of our God. So you may be asking how it looks to treat someone like they are formed and created by God. Well that's exactly what this post is about. I'm going to challenge everyone to treat everyone they interact with by remembering only three words: Kindness, Grace, and Love.
Each of the three words above are often looked over and ignored when it comes to socializing, and honestly, they are all extremely hard to exhibit most of the time, but with a little work and effort, these three words can change your life.
The first word is kindness. Now this is a word that people use all the time, but kind of take for granted. I always hear my mom telling me to be kind to other people, but I feel like it's such a general term that I'm not really sure how to use it. For anyone who feels the same way I do, here's a little clarification. The definition for kindness is the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate. Those are another three words that are awesome qualities that every person should strive to exhibit. By being generous, we humble ourselves and give to others, and the something that you give does not have to be a material something. The giving on kind words and actions can go a lot farther than you would ever expect. I know you hear this a lot, but when people say smiles are contagious, it is so true. By sharing your happiness with someone, you not only lift them up, but they in turn have to opportunity to go show someone the same kindness that you showed them and it can truly start a chain reaction through the grade, community, etc. It's kind of like a "pay it forward day" at Starbucks or something, except with happiness and kindness, which is even better than a free cup of coffee honestly.
The next word is grace, Now this is a word that you hear all the time if you are a Christian. Most of the time it is used referring to the grace that God shows us daily. We are all sinners, but God still loves us and doesn't eternally punish for our evils, but instead allows us to have eternal life with Him. So how do we as humans show grace to other people? It's not like we can tell someone "yes, I know you sinned against me, but I'm still going to let you into Heaven". We don't really have that authority unfortunately. So what can we do? It's pretty simple actually. Forgive. I know it is super hard to forgive people sometimes when we really feel like someone did something terrible to us and it really hurt, but we have to overcome the spite and hatred in our hearts. But why should we do that? Well let's look to the Bible. Matthew 5:7 tells us that "blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy." I know it doesn't say the word grace, but grace and mercy go hand in hand. In order to receive grace from God, and also from those around us, we must first exhibit grace. Showing grace can truly be one of the hardest thing to do sometimes, but it is such a good feeling when we let the hate out of our hearts. Not only does storing hate prevent us from growing relationships with people, but it also eats away at us from the inside out. If you never allow the hate to escape, you're going to eventually become rotten, and start doing all of the things that the other people did to put the hate in your heart in the first place. Showing grace to others not only allows the relationship between y'all to grow, but it also takes a huge weight off of your shoulders. The feeling of showing forgiveness and grace is one of the greatest feelings in the world. If you don't want to forgive someone because you don't want them to get away with whatever they did to hurt you, show grace to help yourself move away from the evil and into happiness.
The last and possibly most important word in the English language in my opinion is Love. Love is one of the two emotions that I feel drives us to make most of the decisions that we do day to day. Love is the sole reason we have eternal life. As I'm sure most of y'all have heard, John 3:16 says "For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son and that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." That's a pretty big deal if you ask me. God was so in love with the world that He left Heaven, a place of perfect peace, to come down to our broken world and live as a man, and ultimately die as a man on a cross, so we would have he chance to spend eternity with Him. That is pure love. God loves enough to have His only son killed so that we could be saved. He took our broken world and gave us a chance to escape it and live in Heaven with Him. If God can show us love on a level that extreme, it should be easy for us to love each other on this earth. Loving someone is always wanting the best for them, no matter the outcome for yourself. Love has the opportunity to change someones life. Have you ever wanted to chance to change and save someone's life? Love them. If you love them in a way that God loves us as humans, the love you have shown them will continue to be inside them wherever they go, and will allow them to spread the same love that you have shown them to other people. Pure joy is found by loving other people. I understand there will always be at least one person you just can't figure out how to be nice to. I promise you, if you open your heart to love, the relationship you have with that person will be changed forever, and I promise you that you will like the outcome.
As my school year winds down and we are within the final 30 days before graduation, it is easy to have your mind set on the upcoming break, college, all of that new stuff. But my challenge to any high schooler about to graduate, anyone who still has a couple years left, or even any adult reading this, treat everyone you meet with the three words above. If we can all learn to treat each other with kindness, grace, and love, this world can be drastically changed. I know everyone is always searching for their own way to change the world, so why not start now.
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