Merry Monday!!

Merry Monday everyone! Well that's something I thought I'd never say. It really is amazing the difference a day, writing, and wonderful friends can make. Yesterday, as you may or may not have noticed was a rough day/afternoon for me. There really is no specific reason why it was, it was just one of those days. So we shall move on from those types of days and look forward.

So as a brief update, things have been crazy. My roommate went off to boot camp in February, so I have been roomieless since then. I have my rooming assignment and roommate assignment for next year. I went to Colorado with the Navigators during Spring Break.

Now I will elaborate on the Spring Break. My goal for Spring Break was to draw closer to God and have a fantastic God moment. Well the God moment didn't happen...I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed. I just felt very stale and tired in my faith; I wanted God to wake me up and make me have this amazing relationship with Him. When that didn't happen, I began to feel discouraged and anxious (the homesickness didn't help the anxiety...neither did the 22 hour van ride, the people were great but 22 hours is just too long). Although I didn't have a huge God moment He did show me some of the amazing people around me...people that I roomed with and spent that fabulous van ride with. I think I came out of Colorado with new friendships, and strengthen old friendships, that I probably wouldn't have discovered had I not gone.



The God moment I was craving came afterward. While there, Glen Eyrie (Colorado Springs, Colorado), I got a book from the Nav HQ's bookstore. Trusting God by Jerry Bridges. I figured maybe I was having trust issues and that's why I was feeling stale. Well I started reading the book and one of the first things Bridges said was (more or less) if you don't trust God, you don't have a good relationship with Him (that was an aha! moment) and if you don't have a good relationship with him, you probably don't know him that well (hmm...) and if you don't know him it's probably because you're not reading his word and allowing two way communication (at this point I mentally gave myself a "coulda had a V8 donk"). Since then I have on average 5 quiet times a week and have never felt closer to God (glory be!). I have felt physically and mentally 10x better than before I left. It really is amazing, isn't it?




Another thing from Colorado that stuck with me is the verse Hebrews 12:2

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

This verse was explained by one of the speakers, Vick Black, at Glen Eyrie. He put the emphasis on "for the joy" and explained that we are that joy. I never thought of myself that way before and I absolutely love it. To think that God takes joy in me and that Christ died because he found joy in me, blows my mind. It's definitely become my favorite verse and whenever I have days like I did yesterday, I meditate on that and God brings me out of that funk.


I think that's all for now but I'll leave you with an old gem that I rediscovered today. "More" by Matthew West.

Take a look at the mountains
Stretching a mile high
Take a look at the ocean
Far as your eye can see
And think of Me

Take a look at the desert
Do you feel like a grain of sand?
I am with you wherever
Where you go is where I am

And I'm always thinking of you
Take a look around you
I'm spelling it out one by one

(Chorus)
I love you more than the sun
And the stars that I taught how to shine
You are mine, and you shine for me too
I love you yesterday and today
And tomorrow, I'll say it again and again
I love you more

Just a face in the city
Just a tear on a crowded street
But you are one in a million
And you belong to Me

And I want you to know
That I'm not letting go
Even when you come undone

(Chorus)
I love you more than the sun
And the stars that I taught how to shine
You are mine, and you shine for me too
I love you yesterday and today
And tomorrow, I'll say it again and again
I love you more
I love you more

Shine for Me
Shine for Me
Shine on, shine on
Shine for Me

(Chorus)
I love you more than the sun
And the stars that I taught how to shine
You are mine, and you shine for me too
I love you yesterday and today
And tomorrow, I'll say it again and again
I love you more

(Chorus)
Than the sun
and the stars that I taught how to shine
You are mine, and you shine for me too
I love you, yesterday and today
Through the joy and the pain
I'll say it again and again
I love you more
I love you more

And I see you
And I made you
And I love you more than you can imagine
More than you can fathom
I love you more than the sun
And you shine for me