IfYouGiveAMindensenABlog

I am a VERY forgetful person, and I am well known for writing myself little reminders on the backs of my hands. In fact, my friends laugh at me because in my Senior picture, if you look closely, you can see the word 'Copies' written on my hand :)
Well, recently I have been using the same method to remember spiritual truths that God has been trying to teach me.

Over the last year I have had multiple bible verses, the words Love, Forgive, and Peace written on the back of my left hand, and often many get put BACK on. Recently, I have had a new word written;'Down'. As in "This side DOWN". Often times I am tempted to want to grasp for control of my life, especially when things seem to be falling apart. However, those are the times God is calling me to TRUST HIM MORE! Also, whenever I start to hold onto something too tightly, or forget where the good gifts come from, that's when I start to worry. However, when I remember that ALL good and perfect gifts come from above (James 1:17),and hold 'my possessions, and relationships' with lose-hands, that's when I'm able to relax and let God lead. He knows what's going on, He has a plan, and He'll be there with me through it all. If I hold my hands open to Him, and keep nothing back, HE is MORE than capable of holding my ALL in HIS hands. Thank You God!

God is GOOD! ♥

When I was a Freshman in college a friend of mine gave up negative thinking for Lent. Now, she recognized that in general it is IMPOSSIBLE to give up ALL negative thinking, but to her it was more of a chance to work on being POSITIVE. One of the things she did to focus on being positive was make a list of 100 things that made her happy. Once she was finished, she posted it on Facebook as a note, and encouraged the rest of us to do the same. Well, it took me almost a year before I eventually posted my list onto Facebook. Now, almost a year since THEN, I no longer have a Facebook, and have a serious gluten sensitivity that required me to make a few changes, which prompted the creation of this blog. I'd like to encourage all of you to make one for yourself. It's so easy to get caught up in the negative things of this life, it's nice to sometimes take a moment and remember the POSITIVE ones, big AND small! :) Anywho, here it is...my semi-revised list now back online in BLOG form...

100 Things that make me HAPPY!

1. JESUS
2. Putting together 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles
3. Curling up in REALLY soft blankets
4. Making snow angels
5. Reading a good book
6. Drinking a good cup of Joe in the morning
7. CHOCOLATE
8. Followed closely by Ice-cream…rough days require dosages of both ;)
9. Hoods!!! I love wearing hoods
10. Stealing/barrowing boys’ Hoodies and wearing them…they are more comfortable and tend to smell GREAT!
11. Shoes…fun shoes make me VERY happy…especially when on sale =)
12. Sales, Sales, Sales…I do not like buying things full price
13. Dancing and singing like no one is around whether they are or not ;)
14. APRIL FOOL’S DAY…I’m pretty sensitive, but I like to think I can take a joke…I usually just give REALLY GOOD responses to being pranked…don’t worry, I tend to forgive once I know it’s a joke…
15. Making new friends
16. Going to foreign countries
17. Meeting and getting to know people from foreign countries
18. PLAYING SOCCER!!!! Or actually anything related to the sport…I LOVE IT ♥♥♥
19. Solving the Rubik’s Cube
20. Blogging
21. socks =D
22. When the Hungarians use the “Happy Carrots” ^ ^ and me using a REDICULOUS amount of … (ellipses)
23. FreeCreditReport.com commercials
24. ENRIQUE!!!! ♥ [Iglesias]
25. Ultrasounds on my leg
26. My Two Random obsessions: CANADA…and Clark ;)
27. Listening to music…dancing to music…singing a-long with music..MUSIC!
28. KAREOKE!!!
29. Peanut Butter…yum :p
30. Leah and I have decided that…seeing pretty cars, driving pretty cars, owning pretty cars, and having pretty boys who can fix our pretty cars…make/ will make us happy
31. I LOVE DRIVING!
32. Going to the chiropractor
33. Drumming my fingernails on surfaces when I have long nails…and listening to the rhythmic beat
34. Getting texts…even though it costs me .3 of a minute on my TracPhone…
35. Getting into different TV shows with friends and family
36. CAFFEINE!!!
37. Using fun words/making up fun words SNUGGLEISHOUSNESS!
38. Making people Lose The GAME!!! Mwahahahaha =)
39. Random YouTube videos
40. Talking to strangers
41. Hating the Cubs and Apple computers
42. Skype!
43. Smooth legs ;)
44. My soccer pillow
45. Bair Lake Bible Camp
46. Knowing I have a Heavenly Father who loves me no matter what!
47. Comfy clothes/fun slippers
48. Random adventures…especially late night ones ;)
49. Star gazing
50. Walking barefoot (esp. ON A BEACH!)
51. Painting my nails
52. Seeing a person’s face when you give them something they REALLY wanted…and not just something you knew they’d like.
53. Playing games (board…card…etc…) with friends and family.
54. Getting a good grade on something I worked really hard on
55. Knowing other people are proud of me
56. Making other people happy
57. Peanut MnM’s/SourPatchKids/Mike and Ikes ...All equally delicious
58. My computer doing what it’s supposed to…when I need it to -Computers!
59. Listening to little children worship God through song
60. Taking “strolls” with God
61. Brushing my teeth
62. Solving problems/Resolving conflict
63. Sunrises/Sunsets (preferably over water)
64. Silly Love Songs ^^
65. MORE COWBELL
66. Watermelon :p
67. Listening to jam sessions!!! =)
68. Running soundboards
69. Cheese
70. BIG trucks
71. Operating heavy machinery
72. Having a legitimate pair of work pants
73. SNOW
74. Sledding
75. Learning to snowboard
76. Shooting guns
77. Randomly decorating a room
78. ‘Evolution’ cooking or baking
79. Drinking tea (with the pinkie up of course) ^^ …milk and sugar too!
80. Randomly speaking Spanish… ‘es ovio’ o ‘claro!’
81. Making something with my hands
82. Learning a new skill/teaching someone else a new skill
83. Animoto.com
84. Taking fun pictures/having crazy photos to remember a lot of crazy times, and some crazy people ^^
85. A good smelling candle
86. Sleep
87. Sweet HATS!
88. Agua is a very good thing to drink
89. CaNdYcAnEs ^^
90. Messing around with Photoshop
91. Coloring (and being OCD about it)
92. Being able to know EXACTLY what time it is the moment I open my eyes
93. Being thrown into pools
94. Receiving and giving back massages
95. Having my hair played with/ playing with hair
96. Receiving random notes
97. Just spending time with the people I love
98. RANDOMNESS/spontaneity ^^
99. Bubbles
100. ♥LOVE♥

I've read that in orienteering there are 3 important things a person needs to know: Where they are going, how they are going to get there, and where they are at. However, often times in the military, for safety measures very little information about a location is given. Often people are only told things on a 'need to know' basis. Many times in life, I find it hard to figure out where I'm at or to see where I'm going and how I'm going to get there. However, I know that I have an All-powerful,All-knowing, Ever-present Commander in Chief, and I trust HIM to let me know what I need to know and when I need to know it. I trust HIM to guide me to the places I need to be, and to provide the ways to get there. All I need to focus on is HIM, and the mission He has given me to accomplish. Sometimes I feel lost, and sometimes it IS because I'm in the wrong place, but sometimes I don't know where I'm at because I don't need to know, and that's OKAY because if I know that's where God wants me to be, then I'm not really lost.

So God, I don't really know where I'm at...I don't really know what's going to happen, or where I'm going...and I don't know how I'm going to get there...what I DO know is that God you called me to be HERE at BLBC last year for a reason, that you brought Jeremy and I together this summer for a reason, and that YOU are still just as in control and present in my life and the lives of the people around me as You were back then. Knowing that, I can be more confident as I go forward that You will be there for me, and will guide me along the path of life that is BEST. I will generally not understand what's going on or why...but You are the God who 'does not change like shifting shadows', You are the same Yesterday, Today, and Forever. So, even when the world seems a mess, and I start to get disoriented, all I need to do is fix my eyes on YOU. THANK YOU!

God is GOOD! ♥

Well, September is almost over, and boy a lot has happened. First, we have 3 new people in the Outfitters program: Steve, Elaine, and Carissa. On top of adjusting programmatically to there being more people, it has also meant an adjusting of housing since we had to make living space for our new members. The preparation was more stressful than the actual event, and I’m LOVING having more people. I’ve always been a fan of big groups; I come from a bigger-ish family, and coming back to a home filled with activity is nice. Sure, it’s not all fun and games, but it’s been good. :) Organizationally, it’s been REALLY great having more people…we can get almost ALL of camp cleaned in ONE work day. It’s AWESOME!

With the end of summer came the starting up of our ‘normal’ schedule again. For Tool Time we are finishing up the RZIM Apologetics series that we did half of last year. It’s been really good thus far (It’s a highlight of my week!). For The Feast, we are doing Navigators again, except this time we 2nd year Outfitters get to teach. Hannah and Mike are doing the first book this month. Nate and I get to teach the second book next month. It should be fun. I’m really looking forward to it. The discussions have been really good. It’s interesting to look back at what we learned last year, find new things this year, and add ideas that the 1st year Outfitters catch that we didn’t. It’s a really good time to just get into the Word together, and to discuss Truth.

Keep praying for Outfitters and camp. Let me know how I can be in prayer for you.
I Love you guys!

God is GOOD! ♥

As most of you know, I am a part of a two-year discipleship program at camp, and I just finished my first year. (This blog is a part of the ‘assignments’ for the program…the monthly newsletter part) I started this program really excited…admittedly nervous, but still excited because I KNEW this is where God wanted me to be, and I KNEW He was going to do GREAT things. However, going into this 2nd year, I have not been as excited. It was a REALLY good year, and God did do A LOT of things. I grew, I changed, I was challenged, I got to witness other people grow, learn and change, but I was tired. I didn’t WANT to be here anymore. The ‘novelty’ of it had run out. It was hard work. It’s tough learning to live and work, do life, and fight spiritual battles with people. Great things happen, but there are plenty of NOT SO GREAT things…However (obviously), I didn’t back out. I had made a commitment for two years, and I knew that I was supposed to stick to it. I thought about my boyfriend, and how God brought us together. How I was really excited…and admittedly nervous, to start out on this new path, but I KNEW God was leading us, and KNEW (know) that God was going to do (is doing) GREAT things…however, I also know that there will come a time when the emotions/the excitement/ the ‘novelty’ will wear-off/go-away. We will face tough times, however, just because I will no longer “FEEL” the same way I did when I made the commitment doesn’t mean I should break the commitment. The reasons for making it don’t change, just the emotions. So, if I wouldn’t drop my boyfriend just because I wasn’t ‘excited’ to be in the relationship anymore or because it ‘got tough’…why would I drop out of the program?

I’m SO thankful that I stayed, because already God has been rebuilding that excitement in me, and has already been teaching me SO much. I LOVE the study we’re doing on Apologetics, and the new people who joined have been really great. It’s going to be another tough year, but it’s going to be another GREAT year of growth, learning, and change.

God is GOOD! ♥

“Dance with me-oh Lover of my soul- to the song of all songs. Romance me-oh Lover of my soul,-to the song of all songs.” Lyrics, mere words to song, but is that really all they are? I’m not exactly sure which worship song they are SUPPOSED to belong with, but for me they have been an addition to the song ‘How He Loves’ **Random interjection: This song came up on ‘shuffle’ while I was writing this blog ^^ ** Have you really ever thought about how God romances us? I mean, everybody talks about how the church is the ‘bride of Christ’, and how a man is supposed to love his wife, like Christ loves the church…but what does that really look like?

For most of my life, I have been single, but I’ve wanted God to romance me… I knew/KNOW that He held/holds…protected and PROTECTS my heart, but it’s only now, as I’m barely in the beginning stages of my first ‘romance’ that God has really been able to reveal HIS ‘romantic’ side in a more personal and REAL way.

My boyfriend and I have a long distance relationship. We met at camp, and spent most of the summer around each other, but this Fall we find ourselves separated by just a ‘few miles’ and a couple of hours; me still at camp and him near Detroit. It’s tough, and there are a lot of times when I really wish that he could be here sharing in some moment/event/ whatever…However, what I’m learning to do is invite God into those moments, and not just to talk. I mean, it’s good to pray to God, and I DO talk to Him about my life and things that are going on, and it IS good to thank and praise Him for who He is and for what He has done, but it’s been AWESOME just letting Him come and BE with me; letting God fill my need for companionship. There are plenty of times when my boyfriend and I will just be hanging out, and we won’t do anything. We just rest and enjoy BEING together…and that’s what I’m learning to do with God. And, you know what? In the long run, it’s more satisfying. What I’m learning more and more is that the things of this world really do NOT give us what we need. God is the ONLY One who can really satisfy. Memories of moments I’ve spent with my boyfriend often bring up a desire to be in that same moment…to repeat it. It hurts sometimes to remember that he is NOT here. However, remembering moments with God are still just as satisfying because God is still JUST AS PRESENT NOW as He was THEN. The moment doesn’t serve as a reminder of the distance, but as a reminder of His Nearness ^^ … Now, here is my disclaimer: It’s not bad to miss people or to look back and remember special moments, you just want to be careful and remember that it is GOD who truly satisfies our need for companionship and who REALLY keeps us from being alone. If we start depending on other people to fill us, we’re only going to end up worse off. People can NOT always be there, and WILL not always be there. They’ll make mistakes, and they WILL disappoint and hurt us…that’s life. God, however, will ALWAYS be there, and will ALWAYS love us.

God is GOOD! ♥