Summer Update

I know, I know, My lack of blogging this summer is sad! I haven't been that busy, so I felt my post would be super lame. But now I can recap on the few things I have been doing.

First: Friends!

I have been hanigng out with some new sweet friends and some old friends that I usually don't get to hang out with a lot during the school year.

This picture is of me and my very super sweet friend Katie Beth, we went to the musical spamalot which was so fun!!!!

Sarah Beardsley! Oh my goodness, this is one friendship that I could see lasting forever! She is absolutely one of the sweetest friends that I have, she is an encourager and always makes everyone feel welcome! I do love her so!

This right here is a friend that I have been friends with for 16 years. This is also the epitome of a self timer pic... I hope you enjoy it :) I love you Hannah!!!

Second: CIY (Christ in Youth)

I got to be a sponsor this year at a camp that changed my life as a high schooler! It was super fun and I wouldn't trade this experience for anything

This is a my group of Juniors that I was the leader of! They were so precious and I am so glad that I got to spend lots of time getting to know them!

Third: Compass Center

I could not be more excited about this great tool for our youth group to start utilizing. The Compass center is a 33,000 square foot space that has room for our whole youth group and then some! There are lots of classrooms and our counseling and missions center is over there as well! I can't wait to see the lives that are going to be transformed here!

Finally: Crafts :)

Did you honestly think I could go a blog not talking about my recent endeavors?

To Begin: Pillows!

Oh my gosh. SO easy. I seriously cannot even handle it. They have the flap back!

Next: vases and boxes with Hannah!

The vases are again EASILY 3 minutes to make all you need is: modgepodge, glass vases and scrapbook paper. All you do is cut the scrapbook paper to fit the vase, put modgepodge on the back and stick it on!!! (like I said... wayyyyyy to easy) and only about 5 dollars a vase (without coupons!!!)

Boxes: Hannah (my friend from earlier in the post) had bought shadow boxes last year that were bright green and navy, this year her room is going to be brown and yellow! So we bought brown paint and a stencil (for 97c! What a steal!) and yellow spray paint. We painted the boxes brown first, let them dry and then went at the stencil with the spray paint. To say that we probably had too much fun doing it is and understatement!

(P.s- When I was typing this it was all underlined.... and I have NO idea why hahaha)

Place-mats: not as easy.

Don't get me wrong... this project wasn't difficult, but it was not as easy as others I have shown you on this blog! Just a LOT of quilting and bias tape!

-----------------------------------

Phew! Sorry for the lack of updates, like I said, I figured one big one was appreciated more then a whole bunch of little baby ones! Speaking of little babies.... here is my niece... post spaghetti... it was too funny not to take a picture!

I will probably update again soon... ha.

I'm doing fine.

This whole Idea for this blog started a few nights ago when me and a group of friends went to Cracker Barrel for dinner.... Random Right? Well our waitress was in one of the worst moods I have ever seen. She was against helping us in anyway and she was very unaccommodating to say the least. All of us chose to complain about her the entire time and keep asking her question to see if she would change her mood at all..... she didn't. We all left pretty upset and very frustrated, I am not the one to complain about service all that much, but I have never experienced as horrible service as that. But what I didn't think about what - I wonder what has happened to her today to put her in this mood.... here comes the guilt trip.

The next night in my night class my professor talked to us very briefly about how peoples lives are so much more than what meets the eye. Which really got me thinking about the night before and pretty much every day of my life. ha. a small comment that effects me in a huge way... who knew hahaha

So here is the meat of my blog:

How many times do you walk by someone, say hi, ask how they are doing and don't think about they are doing the rest of the day? For me, that is much more then I would like. I honestly wonder how people are doing underneath the "fine" or "good" comments. All I have been able to think about lately is -

"How little are people showing me compared to the layers and layers of hurt and pain underneath the "fine" or "good" mentality?"

Granted, I am not saying you need to go divulge your life to every single person that asks how are you, but I am saying that it is okay to be real. I actually prefer to hear that people want me to pray for them and know what they are going through.

This hits a much bigger idea. Personal gratification. In our world today people really are into themselves. We are in a time when we expect immediate gratification. I wish we could all take a step back and say hey, I am blessed and I need to bless others, I WANT to hear the struggles of other and them know that they are constantly being prayed for. So, I guess the things I am getting at is... LISTEN to others and HOW they are doing. Don't just take things at face value, but try to comprehend that there is a lot more going on.

All in all, I think that we need to be more aware to the needs of others and be prepared to help and pray whenever people ask for it.... and even when they don't.

Be open with others, people care. they really do.

-Stine

Consumed. Scattered. Loved.

Well, its been almost a month. I really haven't been all that busy, but my life has been mildly uninteresting. But I really did hear God speaking to me on Sunday and this week. It has been really cool.

The word that God told me was : Consumed

A very simple word and has so many meanings, but I have 2 things that it really meant to me.

The first thing is that I have become consumed by the world. I have become a number or statistic that is just going from day to day to get things done. I have just been alive and not living. I feel as if my life has been the epitome of average and I haven't been doing anything extraordinary to show God's hand in my life.

The second thing that consumed meant to me was made apparent at church on Sunday. I was sitting in service... well actually standing and singing and all of a sudden I just felt the presence of God all around me. I was in a place I had never felt before, it was really cool. Besides feeling consumed I know that prayers have been said for me. I have had kind of a weird place the last few weeks..... and just today I got 3 text messages/email saying someone was praying for me.

If that is not powerful I don't know what is. I am blessed beyond words and thankful for my family and friends that motivate me every day.

God knows my every need and makes me feel loved... all of the time.

Sorry this is so scattered but I am just blah, but ever so consumed by the glory and Love that is my God.

-Christine

Give me Peace

Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

-James 4:14

Lately the idea of how short our life is has really been hauting me. I have been thinking a lot about how I am blessed to be alive and healthy. The thought about I could be dead tomorrow has been dominating my thoughts and somewhat scares me terribly, but I am so secure in the fact that my heavenly father is always ready to welcome me into his loving arms, that it gives me such peace. I don't want this blog to sound morbid or depressing, but I want it to serve as a reminder of how blessed we are to be alive and living in a time where we are so blessed and able to effect so many lives so easily.

The other day in a small group chapel we were talk about how we are so lucky to be born in the age that we are. We have been given such incredible opportunities to serve the Lord in so many ways and can you believe we complain so much? For hundreds of years people have been planting the seeds that we should be fertilizing and growing for the glory of God.

If you think about it, a lot of the hard work has been done already for us. We are disciples, we get the privilege of sharing the word of God. One of my biggest pet peeves is when we are in big group settings and someone ask a person to pray and nobody volunteers. We treat praying as something scary and intimidating. We should be on the edge of our seat anxiously anticipating the next time we get to talk with our maker. God loves nothing more than hearing his children cry out to him. It worries me when people are nervous to pray at the dinner table, I ask myself what could their personal prayer life be like?

Today for the first time in a long time I got down on my knees, my face buried in the ground and cried out to Jesus. I cried for his guidance and his hand to work in my life. I have become a complacent christian. I want to move mountains for my God, I want to get to heaven and hear God say "Well done good and faithful servant, well done". My hearts longing is for others to see the light of Jesus in me. I want to change live through him. God gave the ultimate sacrifice of his Son for me, and I have become so complacent that I can't even invite someone to church with me? I am ashamed.

To tie this all back together it just makes me realize how I need to be a light. I need to be an example to others and not expect others to do that for me. God has blessed me greatly, now it is my job to bless others for as long as I live. I want every day for the rest of my life to matter and be significant, whether that is 80 years or 2 days, I want to please God with the way I live my life.

I am Humbled before Him,

-Stine

Living Comfortably is Overrated

When I stepped on the bus in Guatemala I felt God's presence in the school. It was close to 10:30pm I am guessing once I had gotten to the school, but I had a renewed spirit the second I stepped off the bus. I knew that God had huge plans for me this week.

Seeing the kids step off the bus for the first time is when I feel in love 500 times. I had forgotten any bad thing that had happened to me in the last 24 hours and was just filled with a sense of belonging and joy. The trip became very real when I saw the beautiful faces flood off the busses, I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be right in that moment.

To be very honest with you, I was not very excited about going before it started. I had no idea what to expect or what was going to happen. This made me question my purpose in coming and really doubt why I was supposed to go. But those fears and worries left me the second I got there. I automatically realized that I had been living comfortably at home and it was time for that to change.

After my first day I journaled about how God had really moved in me and this is a little excerpt of what I said - "What if we were to treat one another like the children of Morning Glory School treated me? The welcomed all just like Jesus and that makes my heart warm" The verse I wrote down after the first day was Romans 15:4. Look it up. it is GOOD.

Each day we had a theme word for the day and it was heavy on my mind to work to live out the word each day. The word that struck me hardest was Faithful. Not because I am lacking in faith but it was seeing these kids faithfulness to Christ in every circumstance. They are living in the epitome of a third world country and they stay committed to God all of the time. They know that He will be faithful and provide for them in their time of need. This gave me a renewed sense of hope. Seeing that God is faithful in their life reminds me that God is faithful in my life as well.

The other words that followed me all week was Unconditional Love. I have never seen those two words every lived out that much in my life before. These children were willing to give of them selflessly and love us no matter what. Can I just tell you getting 300 hugs in a span of 45 minutes moves you. Even if you don't think it will, it does.

Our God is Faithful, perfect, and flawless. God has moved in me around me, in Guatemala and around the world. I want everyone to experience what I felt, our God is more alive then EVER.

Sorry this is so many random thoughts, but I can honestly say that no words can ever describe the blessing this trip was on my life.

Obsessions

I say I am obsessed with people a lot. It just means I love them. But I have been noticing myself getting more and more obsessed with superficial things. Some may be incredibly obvious, but some are just things I deal with. I guess I am going to let you in on my obsessions in life, some are good don’t get me wrong, but some are not what I need my life focused on. Read on!

One of the things that I have become obsessed with is Image. I know that this is the discussion for dozen of preteen bible studies. But I think mine is something that I have dealt with at a deeper level. For as long as I can remember I have been overweight. I have always tried to lose weight or become okay with my weight. But honestly, I have never been content. I always want to be skinner or have clear face or something superficial like that. I have done diet after diet to become happy with who I am but what I have come to realize lately is that people who are my friends should love me for who I am and not how I look. This leads me to my next obsession.

Acceptance-

Part of struggling with my self image is worries of being accepted. People may accept me for who I am, but I have trouble accepting myself. I don’t understand why people like me. That is not supposed to sound conceded, it is just me asking why do people talk to me? I am nothing special, I have nothing interesting to say. So, now I am trying to understand acceptance and enjoying who I am.

I am ready to be okay with ME. I am ready to no longer be judged by others or worry about being judge. I want to be okay with me. I am ready for God to move. Well, he is always moving but I am ready to move with him now…

I feel like this blog is a work in progress. There is just so much more that I want to say but don’t have the energy to. So, be expecting another one soon enough.

“God Make me into the Woman you want me to be”

Shadows

Oh boy has it been a long time since I blogged! I didn't really want to post anything that was superficial or what I was dealing with, so I am deciding to post now with something that is really weighing heavy on my heart.

Here we go!

The other night I was taking a walk around the Lunsford Trail! It was beautiful and I was walking with one of my very precious friends. We both are striving to become the woman that God wants us to be and it was such an immense blessing that we were able to talk.

As we were walking, and there was a lull in the conversation I began to look ahead of me at the shadow that the light was projecting. Whenever I got right at the light my shadow was pretty close to my actual size, it was dark, defined and vivid. As I kept walking away from the light, my shadow got taller, yet began to become more hazy, the vividness and definite lines were beginning to fade. Then when I got far enough away my shadow began to go behind me and I was unable to see it until I got to the next light.

Well, here comes the analogy-

As I walked toward the light I could really see who I was, I could see how I am defined by God standards and not by my own. I could easily find and define parts of my body. I think this is amazing. When we strive to walk towards the light of God we begin to be shaped in his image, we are ALWAYS perfect to him, but when we strive to be in a place where his light shines right on top of us we can see how perfect his plan really is. When we strive to walk towards the light and out of the darkness we begin to see who we really are and how we are being molded.

The next part of this silly analogy is when I started to walk further away from the light, my shadow became less vivid and more hazy. I think this is the same in our lives. When we (or at least I) begin to see God's plans unfolding I try and grab the reigns of my life and tell them where to go. But as soon as I try to take control, the vision gets hazy and it is easy to mistake things. When we are not in the will or under the complete control of God things begin to really lose its outline and it begins to fall apart.

The last little part of this analogy is when the shadow goes behind me. Once I try to grab the reigns of my life I understand that I can not do life on my own and God tend to kick my butt back into gear, and he lets me see my mistakes if I look behind me (just like the shadow) but it no longer defines who I am, because as I walk toward the light again God starts to shape my life in a way that is better then I could ever plan or imagine myself. That is when my shadow begins to be more defined by what God wants of me and his criteria for my life and not the worlds.

I know that this analogy was a little rough, but it really hit me deep and it helped me see how lately I have been in a vicious circle of trying to control my own life and not taking the time to see what God has planned for me. When I take the time to see the beauty of how God works in my life I am able to enjoy who I am and not be defined by the things of this world.

During my quiet time I re-read this verse that I have read so many times and it really hit me in a way I have never read it before:

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

-Philippians 3:12-14