God Provides

"Dont worry about anything; instead PRAY about EVERYTHING."

Philippians 4:6

It's amazing how God hears our prayers and then answers them in ways we cannot even imagine! After a rough semester last year, I was worried about coming back and with whom I would hang out with. The first couple weeks was filled with sitting in the room a lot just hanging out trying to find someone to hang out with. I was worried I would not have a solid group of friends to hang out with this year. God taught me to go outside of my comfort zone and to be intentional with people, but I was still worried that even after that I still would not have anyone.

I have Philippians for on my dry erase board in my room, and it is one of my favorite verses! God always pulls this verse out and reminds me of it at the perfect times. I began praying everyday that God would provide me some friends up here in Boone that I could hang out with and grow closer too, and that would also help me in my walk with Him. Well, God took that prayer request and provided me with more friends than I could handle. He has blessed me so much these past couple of weeks, and I am so grateful for the people He has put into my life!

This weekend has been one of the best weekend I have had up here in Boone. Hanging out with some awesome people Friday night. The Wonderful William Walter took Dusty, Maggie, and I to Chilis, and then we watched Captain America. The ending was pretty bad, but the movie in general was pretty good. Saturday, went to Trinity Baptist to do some painting and some other work. God has definitely blessed that Church. They are soooo nice and genuine. Pastor Nathan was so awesome, and the people that went to help out were pretty hilarious. I don't think I have laughed this much in a longgg time.

Saturday was the perfect day to go to the parkway! Dusty and I chased a deer; it was pretty epic. We made the deer run out in front of a car, which could have ended pretty badly, but it was still pretty awesome. My goal before graduation is to touch a deer. We watched the beautiful sunset. God's creation is beyond beautiful! Enjoyed listening to Patrick Austin's guitar playing, and enjoyed bonding with Sarah, Lindsay, Anna, Dusty, Caroline, and Meg. That night we went night hiking. It was pretty adventurous to say the least. The group left me for a little bit, so I got to see what Helen Keller felt like. I was trying to find my way in the dark, tripping over a couple rocks and sticks. Lucky my blanket saved me, and saved me from some rapist! (Caroline haha). We attempted to start a fire, but that was an Epic Fail! It turned out better though, we laid on a huge rock and looked at the stars and saw some shooting stars. Like I said, beautiful does not even come close to describing God's creation. The fellowship with some awesome friends was great. I got to get to know my friends a little better, and got to share some pretty scary and funny stories.

Today, I somehow slept through my alarm and missed church. Pretty disappointed in myself, but my quiet time made up for it! I really wanna try going homeless for a month. Sounds crazy, but lately all my devotions are about looking through the eyes of the less fortunate. I would love to see put myself in their position. I am applying to work with some organization that volunteers to help the homeless. I am pretty excited! This afternoon, I went and cooked with the Prayer Team for the BCM Thanksgiving feast tomorrow night. I absolutely LOVE those people. We had such an awesome time, and cooked some delicious foods. Learned a lot about each other, especially Stephanie! (She surprised me haha). After that we I went to the SRC to play some Volleyball. Looking forward to this game all day, and it was cancelled. The other team didn't have enough girls. #disappointed but we are going to the Championship tomorrow HOLLA!

So to say the least, God has blessed me with some awesome friends. I love seeing God's power. From last semester to now, God has filled me up with so much joy, and I cannot praise him enough for answering my prayers and providing for me. It has been a truly amazing semester so far, and I cannot wait to see what else God has planned for this school year!

Beautiful sunset at Price Lake

Love the 5th floor girls!

Painting at Trinity Baptist

Shannon's Birthday!

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

"Come now, let us settle the matter," Says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." Isaiah 1:18

I love snow! I guess it's a good thing I go to Appalachian then. After leaving my prayer team meeting at BCM house this morning, I walked out into the flurry that was covering campus. The first thing that came to my mind (after, "hey, it's snowing!) was Isaiah 1:18. My sins were once as red as crimson, but God made them as white as the snow falling on my face. It amazes me that even in times when we fall short (which I know I fall short of his glory a lot), he still loves me enough to forgive me of my sins.

As I sit in the lobby of my dorm staring out my window at the snow, I cannot help but to think of every snowflake as a sin that has been forgiven. Each one that falls from the sky represents a sin that God has forgiven and made white. No matter how much snow falls to the ground, they are all white. No matter how many sins we commit, God still loves us and is cleansing us of those sins. It is amazing how little things such as snow can symbolize such a huge topic such as God's love and forgiveness.

I was reading my devotional today, The Voice of the Martyrs: Extreme Devotion,  the story the author shared was of a little girl who was beaten because of her faith. The girl was given a white dress when she accepted Christ as her savior. This white dress symbolized God cleansing her heart and making her pure and as white as snow. As the little girl was lying on her death bed waiting her arrival of her new home, she asked for this dress, that was now covered in blood. This dress represents her new life in Christ. The blood that covered the dress was shed as the little girl's father beat her for her faith.   The little girl states, 

"Please, I want to show the dress to Jesus. He was willing to bleed for me. I just want Jesus to know that I was willing to bleed for him"

Sadly enough, the little girl died shortly after saying this. Once the girl accepted Christ as her savior and was made white as snow, she was willing to give up her life for Christ. She was willing to wear the white dress as just more than a dress, but as a symbol of her new life in Christ. Christ shed his blood on the cross to make us white as snow, and this little girl shed her blood to show Jesus how thankful she was for the love and forgiveness he gave her.

As I sit here wishing the snow would stick, I reflect on my life and the new life that Christ has given me. The joy he has filled me up with, and unconditional love he gives me. Am I willing to shed my blood to tell others about the blood shed to make me white as snow? Is the new and pure life that Christ has given me reflecting on my daily actions? As I close out this blog, I pray that you take the moment to reflect on the forgiveness God has poured out on you, and reflect on how he has made you white as snow.

"As the rain and the snow come down from Heaven, and do not return to it without water the earth and making it bud and flourish, that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty,but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:10-11

Flood of Freedom: Freedom of Evangelism

God took the second service in Flood of Freedom in a completely different direction! God showed that He was in total control yet again. 20 of us gathered in the gym of the Ruby C. Hunt YMCA and talked for nearly two hours about what it means to be a true follower of Christ, and what it means to be intentional with others in order to spread the love of God to others. It was an awesome night of fellowship, prayer, and reading scripture. God was moving among us that night, and God was glorified. Even though God took the service in a completely different direction, I know He still prepared the sermon. I figured, why not share it with everyone else besides my monkey Ty? So I pray that as you read this that God will speak to you and that he will open your eyes and hearts to His wonders. Note: Some parts relate to Not a Fan  by Kyle Idleman.

Read: Matthew 28:19-20; 19:16-22; Luke 9:57-62;

Acts 8:26-40; 1 Corinthians 3:6-9

Pray that God will prepare your heart for what you are about 
to read, and that he will speak to you through this.

What is a disciple? The definition from both the dictionary and the one we can construct from scripture is “a follower of Jesus.” Note that it doesn’t say a “fan” of Jesus but a follower of Jesus. Well, what exactly is the difference? Think of the game follow the leader; I know it’s a preschool game, but think of the object of the game. You have the leader, and everyone else tries to copy and do exactly what the leader. While following the leader, it is ok to mess up. The leader doesn’t just kick us out of the game; we just try our best to do exactly what the leader is doing. That is a follower. Christ is our leader, and we are trying to be just like him. The word Christian means “little Christ.” We are trying to be just like Christ, and obeying everything that He does. Now, a fan of follow the leader likes the idea of the game, but might not necessarily play it. He might try to be the leader instead of being the follower. Think of a sporting event you have been to recently. There are many fans at the game. They might have signs, cowbells, painted faces, shirts, whatever else you name it. They cheer for the game, but they aren’t actually out there playing the game. You know what a fan looks like. Well Jesus also has fans. A fan might attend church on Sunday mornings, but by Saturday they are out partying and living their lives the way they want to. A fan might put Christian as their Facebook religion and having a Jesus fish on their car, but not really have a true relationship with Christ. When times are good, a fan puts a Facebook status up with a bible verse, but when times get bad they deny God and do things their own way (I am guilty of this myself). See what it means to be a fan of Christ? In Matthew 7:21 it says,

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the Kingdom of God, but only he who does the will of my father who is in Heaven.”

So just because we claimed we are a Christian, does not mean we will enter the Kingdom of God. There is no such thing as a Luke warm Christian. In Revelation 3:16 it says,

“So, because you are a lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth”

Being just a fan of Jesus isn’t enough; we have to be a follower of Jesus, which is, by definition, a disciple of Jesus. Simply repeating a prayer after someone, raising your hands during worship, walking down in front of everyone doesn’t mean we will enter the gates of Heaven. We can’t just live for Christ on Sunday’s during church, but we have to live for Christ every day, all day, anywhere, and everywhere. We have to have a relationship with Christ, following Him in all that we do.

No one said as soon as you turn your life to Christ that your life will be perfect. Being a Christian is tough. Luke 9:23 says,”

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross DAILY to follow me!”

We are told we must give up everything in order to be a follower of Christ. You see in the first passage we read, Jesus told the man to sell EVERYTHING he had. In order to be a disciple, we must give up everything we have. We have to deny ourselves and take up our cross DAILY. Not just Sundays or Wednesday, but EVERYDAY. In the passage of Luke that we read, it says that we must leave everything. He tells one man that He might not have a home. He tells the other man that He can’t say bye to his family. In order to be a true follower of Christ, we must give up ourselves and live fully for Christ. There will be times when we feel like God is nowhere near us. We might feel alone, confused, rejected, hurt, or whatever emotion there is, but if we are true followers of Christ, we remain faithful to him even in the deepest times because He is always there. He never leaves us nor forsakes us.

One of the reasons that I started Flood of Freedom is because I was focused on the Persecuted Christian. God taught me through the Persecuted Christian what it really means to be a follower of Christ. They risk their lives to study the bible, to pray, and to tell others of their faith, while we have a church on every corner and we have so many other idols in our lives. They give up everything; they risk their lives, their family’s lives, and their homes to follow Christ. They drop everything to be a disciple of Christ. Are we doing that? Are we giving up our desires and plans to follow God’s plan? Are we going out and giving up everything to follow Christ? I know I haven't been doing that in my life. When Jesus calls Simon Peter and Andrew (2 of the disciples) to follow him, they dropped their fishing nets, which were pretty much their lives, to follow Him. In my bible it says they IMMEDIATELY dropped their nets and followed. That’s what we must do. When God calls our name, we must IMMEDIATELY drop what we are doing and follow. We must obey!

When God calls us out of our comfort zone, we must go. I hate public speaking with a passion. If you were at the last service or heard me talk about it, you saw or know how nervous and stressed out I got. I like playing the background, not having the spotlight, but God called me to lead this which required public speaking. The only answer I could give was yes. No I’m not an incredible speaker, and I don’t feel like I was prepared to speak, but GOD DOESN’T CALL THE PREPARED; HE PREPARES THE CALLED! If God calls you to do something; go! You don’t have to have a seminary degree. You don’t even have to be the greatest speaker. You don’t even really have to say anything. The bible tells us He will do the speaking!

When God tells us to go somewhere, the only answer is yes. If God tells us to go sit with someone at lunch that is alone we must go, and we all know the feeling when we feel like we should talk to them, but we just don’t want to. When we feel that call, we shouldn’t say to God, “What will my friends think?” “I can’t talk to him, he doesn’t look like me.” Or “No, God I just won’t go” That shouldn’t be our thoughts or response. We should say, “Here I am, send me! What incredible thing do you have planned for this?” Philip could have easily said, “No God I just don’t want to go talk to that guy. He is different from me. What will all my friends and the other disciples think of me?” He didn’t say that. If you notice it says he RAN to the eunuch. If God guides, God provides. If he is calling us to go somewhere, there is a reason behind it. We might not know what the reason may be at the time, but the only thing we can do is obey and go.

“Making disciples” might not be as easy as saying follow Christ, we must build that relationship with that person. By building a relationship, we will form trust and able to talk to them about what it means to be a follower. Building a relationship with someone we might not usually build a relationship will open doors for them to see how you are living for Christ and why you act the way you do. God will use that for his glory and lives will be changed! It is our job to plant the seed; it’s God’s job to make them Grow. We have to plant in order for something to grow! We are commanded to go out. Some say they haven’t “been called.” Well, everyone is called to make disciples. It is everyone's mission to go out and proclaim the glory of God. You don’t have to have a fancy degree or anything. God does the work. Simply smiley at someone, helping someone out, building a relationship with someone, there are so many kinds of ways to plant that seed. We can’t just speak the word; we have to also live it! We have to show them even through the rough time, our God is still there. Even when we feel rejected and hurt, He is still there. God will heal. We have to teach the world what it really means to be a follower. We have to show them what it means to pick up our cross daily. We have to go out. No matter if we are at our schools, homes, neighborhoods, work areas, state, nation, or a foreign nation. We must go out and take the name of God to all places! Everyone must hear the greatness of our God. So are you willing to give up everything in order to be a follower and to make his name known? Are you picking up your cross daily? Are we fans or followers?

http://youtu.be/Wgg2KYdMpqc

http://youtu.be/iZByA0bFoNU

Flood of Freedom: Freedom From Sin

Getting Started
At the beginning of May, I was reading the book Radical by David Platt (which I strongly recommend). The first chapter or so was talking about how Platt went to an underground church in India where several people met in secret and risked their lives to study God's word. Throughout the book, Platt talked about being radical in our faith and doing whatever it takes to live for God. The book focused a lot on the persecuted Christian, and how they are prime examples of what it means to give up your life for Christ. While reading this book, God really spoke to me and showed me that I needed to be radical in my faith and "take up my cross and follow him" (Matthew 16:24). I felt God calling me to do something radical in my faith; something that brought followers together to focus on God and learn more about Him. I felt him calling me to just focus on scripture and prayer. No music. No fancy decoration. No object of worship. Just Him and Him alone. As I felt Him calling me, I was like, "hey this is a great idea. I want to do something like this!" But what I was really saying is, "Hey this is cool, but it's not actually going to happen." As a couple days and weeks past, God told me, "look I'm serious! This is going to happen!" I was talking to my friend Stephanie about the idea and she loved it and said she would love to help. I was excited, but in the back of my mind I was still like, "Yeah it's not going to happen!" Then, I was working out one day and the executive director of the Y that I work at saw me reading rereading Radical. He was talking to me about it and said that we could use the Y to meet. This was God both providing and saying, "I told you, Jess. It's happening!" So I met with Stephanie and Cameron, a youth pastor in Boiling Springs, and we set the date and talked about the night of worship. It was going to happen; all my doubt in the fact that it was going to happen, it was actually going to happen. I sat down one day just to brainstorm of what the service was going to look like, and God took off with it. He completely organized the entire service and showed me what to do! It was sooo amazing what God was doing. He provided everything from the planning of the service, to the money, to the name; He provided and planned EVERYTHING! God had something planned for Flood of Freedom; and I could not wait to see what it was.

The Name: Flood of Freedom
I remember sitting in my sister's room talking about this event. We were trying to decide what to name it and neither of us knew what to name it. We were just shouting out random ideas. When I prayed about the name, Lou immediately said, "What about Flood of Freedom?" It was God naming it, neither Lou nor I. The name Flood of Freedom represents that we have a Freedom to worship God but sometimes we take that for granted and focus on the object of worship instead of what worship is really about. Flood of Freedom represents that we need to take advantage of this freedom of religion in our country and be radical in our faith; telling others about God and meeting together in fellowship learning more about Him and growing in our faith. God planned all of the scripture and planned the themes of each Flood of Freedom event. The first Flood of Freedom was: Freedom from Sin. God told me that this is what we need to talk about and focus on. He told me, "I also want to focus on church/worship, love, evangelism, and prayer. Thus, coming up with the worship services, "Freedom of Church and Worship, Freedom of Love, Freedom to Evangelize, Freedom of Prayer. I then realized that God also called the services Flood of Freedom to show me these freedoms that are vital to our walk with Him. It was crazy to me to see how just a simple name of a worship event could have such a powerful meaning behind it.

Prayer
Planning this event since May, I prayed everyday. I prayed specifically for certain things, mainly that God would show up that night. The power of prayer was revealed to me in all of this. So many people were praying for this one night of worship. God answered all of the prayers for the night of worship! God taught me through all the prayer that He wants us to pray to Him. He wants to hear from us. He wants to answer our prayers. He wants us to declare our dependence on Him. He knows the whole picture when we only know a little, so we have to pray for "his will not ours!" (Mark 14:36) The power of prayer beyond belief! One of my favorite verses is Philippians 4:6, "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything and present your request to God." Through all this planning up to the service and during the service, God really showed me what it meant to not worry about anything, but to pray to Him because He will take care of everything!

Freedom of Sin:
The Amazing Night of Worship
All day, I was freaking out and stressing out about the service. I was running all over the place trying to get things ready for the service. I was getting extremely nervous about what to expect and about talking in front of everyone because I am NOT a public speaker. I was running late getting to the Y to set up so it was making me even more stressed out. I couldn't think straight. I couldn't think of what needed to be done. I just froze. I was just stressed over everything going on. I was stressing about if people were coming, if it was going to be a good service, if it was going to go as planned. If you name something to freak out about, chances are I was freaking out about it! All the way up to the service I was just going crazy. As the service was starting, everything seemed to be  going wrong in my mind. I felt like nobody was there and nothing was going right. I really thought the night of worship that God had planned was a complete disaster. While I was up speaking and reading through the message I was so mad at God. I couldn't even pay attention to what I was reading or talking about. I was just thinking to myself, "God I prayed about this for 5 months and did everything you told me to do. Why are you not here? Why are you leaving me here and doing nothing. I was expecting you to do great things, you have really let me down!" All I wanted to do was close my bible and run away. Far, far away and hide from God, just as Adam did in the beginning! Half way through my message, I got sick. My body was pouring in sweat, my stomach was killing me, and I couldn't see straight. I rushed through the end of the message cutting about half of what I planned. I explained we were going into a prayer service, called up the first person helping me, and took off to the bathroom to find myself facing the toilet getting sick on my stomach. My face was completely pale and I just didn't know what to think of the night. Coming back to the service I just cried. I was just thinking to myself, "God what is going on? What are you doing? Please just tell me!" I was getting so angry with God and couldn't stand it any longer. Then I just stopped. Froze in my boots, well my chacos, and just prayed. "God take control of this. I can't do anything. This is all you. I know you have something planned for tonight, so I'm giving it all to you. Take it into your hands." Immediately my whole attitude changed and God showed up. During the communion part of the service I just broke down. God revealed himself to me and just called out to me. God's words were, "Jess, it doesn't matter about number of people there or following an outline of a service. I have it under control and I am here. I am always here! You did exactly what I told you to do, so let me do all the work! I have got something amazing plan. Let me be in charge. Thank you for being obedient to me. Now watch what I can do and what I have had planned all along." I was sitting with my brother and my dad, who I love so much, and just looked around the gym at everyone there. People praying together, crying, and just growing in their faith and seeking God. I felt the presence of God and just saw him at work. He definitely had something planned, and words cannot even describe how amazing it was. God had spoke to each person that night, especially to me, and just did some incredible things. I was so amazed to see the things God was doing and how everyone there was so eager to become one with God and to seek him! It was just so mind blowing the things that God did during that service. God just took me by surprise and just really did some incredible things that I could never imagine. God showed up during that service and I know this is just the beginning! All the prayers, He answered. All the  worries, He took away. All the doubt, He demolished. All the glory, He accepted. All the work, He did it all. God was in control of everything, and he changed lives during that service and really spoke to us and revealed himself to us. It was an amazing service, and it was a much needed night of worship!

The Things He Taught Me
During this night of worship and all the planning up to the service, God really showed me that He has everything under control and that He has a plan for it all! God is in complete control, and He knows the greater picture while we only know small bits and pieces. He taught me to just trust in Him and to be obedient to Him. If He is calling us to do something, the only answer is, "Yes, God! I will do it!" God really just spoke to me during the service and showed me that He is God and I am not. I need to let Him do all the work; I am just here to do what He tells me to do! He has a plan. Even in the chaos and stress, He has something planned and He is there with us through it all! God showed up; He did things I didn't even think were possible. It was a great night of worship! Words cannot even describe it!

God's Calling to Me
During this all, I have been focused a lot on the Persecuted Christian. I am working with Open Doors USA (visit opendoorsusa.org) which is an organization that works with Persecuted Christians. God has used this organization to teach me to be radical in my faith and what it really means to give up our lives for Christ. The offering taken up during the service (God raised $235) is going to support this organization. I have felt God calling me to continue working with Persecuted Christians and teaching others what it really means to live for Him. He has called me to let others around me know about the Persecuted Christian, and He has called me to use that to teach others about Him. I also felt God calling me to organize more services and things that will glorify Him. I have been blessed with organization skills and planning skills. With this gift He has blessed me with, I am using it all for His glory. Though I'm not the world's greatest public speaker (probably the world's worst), I know that God has blessed me with the gift of organization for a reason, and that reason is to glorify Him and teach others about Him by planning and organizing things to reach out to others. I am praising Him daily for blessing me with these gifts, and I plan on using them for the ongoing of His kingdom and His glory! I cannot even describe how great our God is! I am now living fully for Him, listening to Him, and only saying Yes to Him! Our God is amazing!


Thanks for all the support and prayers! I encourage you to be radical with your faith, and to seek God continuously. We need to obey God, and live for Him! Our God can do things beyond the imaginable! Praise Him. Seek Him. Study his word. Tell others about Him! Our God is an awesome God! All praise be to Him!

He Reads My Mind

Your silent prayers uttered on tear-stained pillows were heard before they were said. Your deepest questions were answered before they were asked.

~Max Lucado

As I have been reading my bible more, I have had many questions pop up in my mind. How do we know what we are reading is valid? How can we trust the people who wrote the gospels? How do we know that what we are reading isn't just a legend? The questions go on and on. I was fascinated by the stories in the New Testament, but at the same time I was doubting its credibility. My faith was at a place it had never been before, but was my doubt outweighing my faith?

My twin and I have had a lot of "Jesus Talks" lately, but I never mentioned my doubts to her. One day while she was at her desk and I was laying on her bed (I usually just bust up into her room and hang out, most the time unwanted), I was telling her how I needed another book to read. She handed me "The Case for Christ" by Lee Strobel. She had never read the book, and I had never mentioned my doubt to her, but the book went hand-in-hand with what I was dealing with in my faith. Coincidence? No! God knew what I was dealing with in my mind, and placed the book to answer all my questions in my hand.

Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
~Psalms 139:4. 

As I dove into the book, the first chapter dealt with, "Can the biographies of Jesus be trusted?" This was the main question that I was asking. How could I know for sure that what I am reading is actually true? The answer was laid out plain and simple for me. God hit the nail on the head, and immediately gave the answer to the question I was asking.

In the book, Strobel breaks the case for Christ down in different forms of evidence. Each form of evidence approaches the credibility of the gospels in numerous directions. The book consist of different interviews from various intellectuals who provide factual information based on the type of evidence proposed by Strobel. Every question I seemed to conjure up in my mind was answered in the different forms of evidence. Whether it was a historical question about the reliability of the Gospels or about inconsistent verses within the different Gospels, the answers were provided for me. God knew where I was doubting, and He provided the answers.

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
~Hebrew 4:13

It is amazing how God knows everything about us. Every thought in our mind, every move we make, and every sin we commit, He knows everything about us. Our God is omniscience! All the doubt that I once had that only I thought I knew, God revealed himself to me. God reads my mind, and He continues to reveal Himself to me.

Power of Prayer

Growing up I wasn't much of a prayer. I always peeked around while the pastor was praying, and sometime I would laugh during the prayer at someone around me. I was always scared to pray out loud like most people are. I did, however, say my prayers at night. I had the same prayer ever night, and every night it was a challenge to see how fast I could say it (as if the faster I said it, the faster God would answer it). "Hey God! Thank you for this day, and thank you for my friends and family. Amen!" Yep! Thats pretty deep stuff huh? I always thought that you had to bow your head and close your eyes in order for God to hear what you were saying, and I never had time to stop and do that, so I didn't pray. I didn't know exactly how to pray either. I mean, what am I suppose to say? I hear all these fancy prayers at church, but I can't do that; I have the vocabulary of a third grader. How the heck was I suppose to impress God with all the BIG words if I didn't know any BIG words.

At midwinter with BCM this past year, I remember I was shaken up after one of the bible studies Jonathan led. I remember Josh coming over to me after it was over and him telling me He felt like God had sent him over to talk to me. During that talk I remember Josh telling me that I just needed to pray. He said I wouldn't know exactly what I was saying and that sometime I would get sidetracked (and I definitely did), but to just try to focus and just talk to God. He said eventually I would know what I was asking God for and that I would grow in my prayer life. He definitely hit the nail on the head! I took his advice and just started praying. I would randomly start praying about anything and everything. I remember I even prayed for a caterpillar on the sidewalk one time. It was still hard to focus, and I would lose concentration right after I would say "Hey God" (I start all my prayers with Hey God.) With not being able to focus I didn't know what to do in order to keep my attention on God, so I did what one of my best friend Kristen did and started writing out my prayers in a prayer journal. This really helped me stay focused and I began to understand what I was saying and what it really meant to talk to the Lord. After a while my hand started hurting so I would just end the prayer really fast, but soon I was able to move from the prayer journal to just talking out loud, and I actually was able to pray and focus. It is awesome how God used Josh and Kristen to set the foundation for my prayer life and really teaching me how to pray. God used them to plant the seed for my prayer life, and then God definitely made that seed grow.

I was at my friend Caitlyn's dorm room last year, and on her door was Philippians 4:6. It says, "Don't worry about anything; pray about every!" Since I am a worry wart (from my previous blog), this verse really stuck out to me. It immediately became my favorite verse. Now every time I begin to worry, I think of this verse and immediately turn to God for help. This verse really taught me that I need to pray about everything. Whether it's about my health, my family, my friends, the random old lady who walked in on me using the bathroom last week (true story), or whatever else happened in my life, I just needed to pray about it. I pray all the time now. I have prayed at least ten times already while writing this blog. While driving to Josh's ordination service, I remember I would pray for every car that I passed on the road - I prayed that God would teach some of those people how to drive! The importance of prayer really started to become known to me.

As I was reading my bible tonight, I came across one of the parables that Jesus tells His disciples that teaches us to never give up in prayer and to stay in constant prayer. In Luke 18:1-8, Jesus tells a story about a widow who constantly goes to a judge about "appealing for justice against someone who had harmed her" (1:3). The judge eventually granted her request because "she is wearing [him] out with her constant prayer" (1:5) This parable teaches us that we must constantly pray to our Father because "even the evil judge rendered a just decision in the end, so surely God would give justice to His chosen people who plead with him day and night?" (1:8)  If we stay in constant prayer, God will answer us according to His plan. We shouldn't give up if our prayers are not answered immediately, but we should "keep praying" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). I pray for the same things everyday because I have faith that God will hear my request. There are some prayer request that I will not actually see God answer -my prayer request for Costa Rica- but I have faith that God is going to answer them, and I am going to keep praying those prayers everyday.

I remember several years ago at a youth retreat I received a wrist band that had the acronym PUSH on it. The acronym stood for Pray Until Something Happens. With my prayer life where it is now, I am starting to realize how important this really is. We shouldn't give up if our prayers aren't answered as soon as we pray about them, but instead we should pray until something happens. God wants to answer our request, and God wants to hear our request, so it would be crazy to just give up on praying so soon.

My faith life has grown tremendously over the past few weeks, and I have discovered the power of prayer. I have seen God answer some of my prayers, and it is so awesome seeing the ways God answers them. God has given me the spiritual gift of prayer, and He is using that gift to His glory. I am on the prayer team for BCM this upcoming school year, and I am so excited to see what God has in store for that team. He has opened doors for me with my prayer life, and it is great how one day I don't even know how to pray, to praying all the time and really just carrying a conversation with God. God has really shown me through friends and scripture the importance and power of prayer. 

I am praying for each person who reads this. I encourage whoever is reading this to just take a few moments or even a few hours right now and just pray. Spend that one-on-one time with God and just confess to Him, praise Him, and lift up your request to Him. He is wanting to hear what you have to say, and God is the perfect listener, so why not talk to Him? Prayer works.

Keep on praying! (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

My Best Friend

When I think of what a Best Friend is, there are a few characteristics that come to mind: trustworthy, loyal, loving, kind, encouraging, always there, and the list goes on and on. A best friend is someone who you can go to whenever and talk to them with whatever is going on in your life. Someone who you build a strong relationship with over a period of time. A best friend is someone we all desire to have.

Our name is something that means something to us whether we realize it or not. We loved to be called by our name. I know I would much rather be called Jess than Lou, and I know Lou would much rather be called Lou than Jess. We are twins, but we are two different people with our own name. When we first meet someone, the first thing we usually tell them is our name. We don't go up to a stranger and say,  "Hey! I have ten kids." Why you have ten kids? I don't know, but most importantly why would you tell a complete stranger that when you just meet them?  We usually always start a friendship and a relationship with introducing ourselves. With my experience at the YMCA working with kids, I realized that kids as well like to be called by their name. If I don't know a kids name, I usually say, "Hey Buddy!" Before I can even get the word Buddy out, they interrupt me and say, "My name is La-a! ( or insert name in here)" The first step of meeting someone and starting a friendship is telling them our name. We don't wait to tell our wife/husband our name until the minister tells us at the wedding, "you may now tell your bride your name!" We start our relationships off by telling the other our name. This is exactly what God did too. Yaweh! In Exodus, God first shares his name with Moses. "When I go to the Israelites, I will say to them, The God of your fathers sent me to you.' What if the people say, "What is his name?" What Should I tell them? Then God said to Moses, "I am who I am. When you go to the people of Israel, tell them, "I AM sent me to you." (Exodus 3:13-14) God said He is the "I AM." He didn't say, "I am the father." or "I am the coolest guy ever." He tells us that he is just the "I AM!." For one that shows how powerful and awesome He is! Also, right then God shows that he wants a relationship with us. By telling us His name, he takes the first step in starting the relationship. He wants to know you and He wants us to know Him. He is longing for a relationship with us. He wants us to call Him by his name, Yaweh! You may not see it, but he loves us enough to tell us His name.

In any relationship though, it takes two people pursuing it in order for it to be a strong connection. A husband and wife both have to sacrifice things in order to have a successful marriage (I'm not married, but I'm pretty sure that it works that way). I know with my family and my friends, the other person and I both have to reach out to the other. There are no one way friendships! It works the same way with God. We already know each others name, so the next step is pursuing the relationship. Jesus loves us (this I know for the Bible tells me so!). Our job for one is to accept His love. By accepting His love, we are showing that we want that relationship with Him. Our next job is to listen to Him and to talk Him. Just as any friendship, if we don't listen to the other or talk to them, what good is the friendship? God is doing His part. He is listening to us whenever we come before Him, so our job...to talk to Him. He wants to listen to us; he wants to answer our prayers (according to His plan of course). He wants us! All of us! We also have to listen to Him. He talks to us; He is screaming our names; He is doing whatever He can to get our attention. We need to step up and listen to Him. He knows what is best for us, and He knows what we need to do. We can trust in Him. All we have to do is listen to Him. He has given us His word, so that we may know Him and grow closer to Him. He is speaking to us through His word and the Holy Spirit. Why aren't we listening to Him? In our part of the relationship, we need to obey His word and His commandments. We must continue to seek Him. He wants to talk to us. He wants thats that relationship with us. Come near to God and He will come near to you! James 4:8 If we seek the relationship with God, we will find Him. He wants to be with us. He doesn't need us, but He wants us! He is going to do whatever He can to have us. He never gives up on us. Even when we turn from Him, He will always be there waiting for us with arms wide open!

Are we doing what we need to do in order to have a relationship with Him? What is keeping us from seeking Him? What is holding us back from having that relationship with God? Is it work? School? Family? Depression? Loneliness? In order to continue the relationship with Yaweh, we must lay those burdens down so that we may have a relationship with Him.Come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28. God wants us to come to Him. God is all the characteristics that describe a best friend plus more. We can't describe how awesome our God is! We need to do our part in the relationship with Him. Maybe it's time for us to forgive those who have hurt us. Maybe it's time to lay our burdens down at the foot of the cross. Maybe it's time we surrender all to Him. He wants all of us. Not just an arm or a leg or a kidney, but all of us! We need to do our part in the friendship with God. He is the perfect Best Friend. He is trustworthy, loyal, loving, kind, encouraging, always there, and the list goes on and on. He is MY Best Friend!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=day2zcDC2bI