My Kids!

I love these girls with everything in me. This is my small group. Small I know, but very big in heart. These ladies love the Lord and are fighting to know Him more. It's so beautiful. Patty, the girl right above me, is one of the sweetest girls I know. She is a baby but really fights to know who Jesus is and what His plan is for her life. Of all the things this girl has been through, she still clings to the cross more than I think I ever could. Mandy, the beautiful red head, is so pure. She is my freshman, but if you didn't know her you wouldn't be able to tell. She is wise beyond her years and really keeps me on my toes. Mandy and I can and do spend hours upon hours sitting in Starbucks talking about the Lord. I love it! Lindsay, directly below Mandy, has the sweetest smile you have ever seen and has a heart to match. This girl is in love with Jesus. She has a desire to know the plan the Lord has for her so deeply. She motivates me by the excitement that she daily has for the Lord AND on top of that she has a beautiful singing voice..

This is my small group and I love them very very much. The Lord reminds me daily that I need these girls just as much as they need me. I ask the Lord at the beginning of the semester to give me girls that I could truly love and grow with and my prayers were answered. I am spoiled by these girls. Thank you Jesus.

Velveteen Rabbit

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

"I suppose you are real?" said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive. But the Skin Horse only smiled.

"The Boy's Uncle made me Real," he said. "That was a great many years ago; but once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always."

You really can find God in everything. Even in children's books. I love love love this book. This part in the story creates such a beautiful picture in my head. Really makes you think. Everyone wants to be loved, because being loved in a real way, a way that only God can love us, makes us real and alive inside. Its something that we all long for and are searching for...everyone. And yes, it may hurt along the way, but in the end its always worth it. I look forward to the Lord wearin me out.

Free as Slaves

In Chi Alpha last week we talked about the subject of rights and how we as Christians have none. As Winkie Pratney would say, "We are as free as slaves." I've heard Eli talk about this a couple of times and it really hits home for me, I've been chewing on this talk for awhile.

Here's a quick summary:

We are to be like Jesus. Jesus was very meek. When I think of meek the first thing that comes to mind is someone who is very gentle, quite, tame, etc.. but the question is, was Jesus meek when he ran the people out of the temple with a whip? YES. Meek means having a completely yielded spirit, one who does anything that his master asks of him. This is Jesus. And we as Christians are all called to be meek just as Jesus is. But when we are not yielded three things can come of this: anger, worry, or greed. When you are feeling any one of those things, you are giving up a right that you never had in the first place, because remember we are bond-servants (a person who goes back to his master and works for free). Our "rights" are violated by what we call the "It's, Them's, and the Me's." The "It's" would be your things. Like for me, our dishwasher is broken and now I have to hand wash all my dishes. The "Them's" would be people. Example: my roommates are not doing those dirty dishes in the sink. And the "Me". You hate to look at yourself in the mirror in the morning because your just not having a good curly hair day. The Lord uses these things to see if one of two things come out of you. Eli used this example, say you have two buckets, one with a horrible, deadly acid and the other being honey. When the "It's, Them's, and the Me's" kick you, what comes out of your heart? Acid or honey. You would be surprised. I usually am. What we need to do is when we are angry, worried, or greed is: stop---->identify the right you though you had-----> burn it!

That's pretty intense. But God loves us and He takes care of His servants. God wants to put a finger on every part of our lives. I really do love how involved our God is in our lives, I would be pretty worried if He wasn't. We serve a personal God, one who is near and never distant. Thank you Jesus.

"The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of the evil treasures produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." Luke 6:45