Gate A8.

So, we've officially begun the mission trip to LA. We drove to the Indianapolis airport, and are now sitting at gate A8 awaiting our 12:05 flight. Today we will arrive in Phoenix, ready to live first and foremost as servants for the next ten days. After a day of prayer spent at the Grand Canyon, we will head to LA to work in the inner city tomorrow. I am so excited for this opportunity to serve the Lord alongside my Axiom friends, and I would appreciate all of your prayers! I pray that the Lord will "break our hearts for what breaks His" on this trip, and that we may truly be filled by His Spirit in all that we do.

Thanks, friends.
Love,
Lauren

New Self

How would you spend your time if you found you only had two weeks left?

Yesterday, I found myself asking this question during some God-time..
At first, I thought, oh man, I'd live it up. Vacations, Disney World, lots of fun..

But, then I realized that that isn't what matters. I would not spend my time that way.

I decided that I would meet with my family. Go outside, find beautiful places, and pray with them. I would volunteer my time at organizations, I would meet with my friends, I might go to Africa and help people who need my help. I would get rid of all my money. I would read my Bible, and pray for openness. I would dance. I would have a party for everyone.. Anyone, and everyone would be invited, and I would sing at my party. I love to perform. I would do that for everyone I love. I would tell everyone I meet about Christ, and how He gave everything for each and every one of us. I would spread the message of hope. I would help people and give myself up to them. I would play with my nieces and nephews. I would help my mom cook the meals. I would give everything away, and stop hoarding items that I do not need.

I would try.

What would I not do?
Probably be on facebook, read books that don't matter, watch movies that are rotten, go shopping (for myself, at least), spend idle time, sit alone day dreaming and wasting time, procrastinate

Each moment should be precious, folks. Every moment is a new chance to be Christ-like, to share Christ, to love on those around us. God is love, and love is God. If these are the things that I would (or wouldn't) do when I know my time is limited, why am I (or am I not) doing them now? Time for a new self.

Ephesians 4:
22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Think about it.
Who are you?
Who do you want to be?
Praise God that we still have time to ask ourselves these questions!

Love,
Lauren

We're all Children

Life is so beautiful.
Why do you have working lungs?
Why do I have 10 fingers and 10 toes?
Why are we perfectly built? (no matter what personal bias you may have)

Today, a baby was born, and today that baby died. Sure, it's the end. The end of one quite hour-long life (not including life in the womb). But, more importantly, this is the beginning. The beginning of a perfect life for this baby. Nicholas simply was chosen to skip this scary, sinful place, and instead live in the Perfect Place.

I want to be childish.
Yes, childish.
I want to be wide-eyed and innocent;
and I desire unbreakable faith
and the joy that only children see.

Don't take it for granted.
Life is our chance.
our chance!
Take it while you can, for:

"This is the day that the Lord hath made
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!"

Much Love,
Lauren

P.S. today I deleted several songs off of my iTunes simply because I realized they are not God-glorifying. It was the best!

Gifted

so, lately.. Time sure has been passing me by. I have been here and there, and back again all week.
But, of course, God has worked His lovely ways, and has continued to teach me so many valuable lessons.
I've really been paying attention to our gifts the last couple weeks.

Romans 12 says that in Christ, many form one body, and each body part belongs to all the others. We are each given specific gifts, and we are to use them.

I love the gifts God has given me, but it can be so easy to overlook them and purely see the gifts I do not have. It's so easy to see this lack of gift as a fault, and to devote yourself to getting over this "fault"... But, that's not the way it is. God has given us these beautiful gifts and abilities so that we can use them and expand on them.

And.. he hasn't given us these gifts so that we can compare ourselves to others and to see where we're lacking, but to see where other people gifted and trust them to use their gift to the best of their ability.

We are all related, and we need to love the gifts of others as if they were our own.

Down by the Willows!

Good show tonight, y'all!
I'd like to say my voice was like honey and my fingers were like antelopes on the keys.
But I haven't watched a recording yet, so I can't really say.
lolz
I truly had a wonderful night, however, and I am so impressed with my friends and their musical talent.
We are so blessed, kids! Use your gifts, and glorify the Lord!

I'm outie.


P.S. I decided to make this blog not quite as serious somedays. Which is kind of a reflection on my personality (sometimes serious, sometimes goofy as all git-out.) (and yes, I said git-out, not get-out. It was meant to be said with a southern accent)

THX,
Larn

death.

Today I mourned for the world. There is so much death right under our noses. Can you smell it? Do you see the countless meaningless nights spent on this campus town? I am so saddened for the people in this town. Strangers, my acquaintances, my friends. I cry out to the Lord, for he can open the eyes of the mislead. Today God revealed to me the ways in which my prayer has been lacking. There is so much more that can be done, yet I continue to waste my time.
We are merely pawns caught in a spiritual war - are you fighting?

Beauty.

This is how I felt today.
Praise God.

Uh oh it's "magic", ya know!

Oh, PRAISE GOD from whom all blessings flow!
Seriously, folks, are you feeling Him today? Because I SURE AM!

He is an awesome God! Oh, how I felt stagnant in my faith the last week. But God has refreshed me, and this refreshment has brought much growth along with it. How I have learned that the downs in a relationship are what provides the ups.

Lately, I have been thinking about the believers in Acts. They DEVOTED THEMSELVES to: praying, teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and going to the temple daily. But, to what are we devoting ourselves? To what am I devoting myself? There is so much more than what we have been living for, friends. Obviously in this day, we must work, we must go to school, we must do other things -- but how are these other things glorifying God, giving us time to worship God, allowing positive, God-centered conversation?

The breaking of bread: how are we hungering for God, and how are we seeking to fill that hunger?
.. just a thought

These believers prayed together constantly. Why do we believers not pray together constantly? This thought just entered my mind today.. Why does the idea of praying with your friends (whether in a large or small group) never cross your mind? Lets be the people that open up prayer in "odd" situations. Let's pray before we play, shall we? Or, heck! Why not pray when we play, eh?

I am so excited about this topic. I want to open up new ways of thinking about prayer. I want to pray constantly.. who is with me?

Praise this wonderful Lord. He saves us when we are so undeserving. I praise God today for the weather, for diet coke, for beautiful friends, for prayer time, for individual growth, for hunger and thirst (because how can you ever know the value of what you're missing until you desire it strongly?), for the Word, for opportunities, for flowers, for rain, for the quad at night, when it is full of magic, for creativity, love, peace of heart, and joy.

Philippians 4:4-16
Rejoice in the Lord always I will say it again: rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present our requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Love you all,
Lauren

unbearably simple.

I am eating the most beautiful nectarine right now, and I can't help but feel joy as I think about the Lord's wondrous creation. Everything is so perfectly designed, and such an art. I love Him and His constant provision.

Praise God for the simple things!

With love,
Lauren

Psalm 42:1-2

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?

Let's get together.. with God.

There is no one like our God.
Many things have yet to come,
and many things have yet to be done
in this city.

God is good, and God is alive. Can you feel him? Maybe you can't so much, because you are buried in commitments and schoolwork and stressors. Maybe you are living in a way that stifles the Holy Spirit, that puts out the fire that is sometimes burning in your heart. Life has become dull, and is quickly falling away; right now you're just trying to get through this step of your life so that you can finally get on to the next one.

well, Stop.

God is calling your name every day; can you hear Him?... Are you listening? Right now, I ask you to lift your cares up to the Lord. Find time to spend with Him, and I'm not talking two minutes for a quick prayer, but a chunk of time to actually lift up to Him. Call on Him, and He will answer. Talk to Him, read His Word. Pursue the Lord the way that you would like.. no, love.. to pursue the one that you will be married* to for the rest of your life. So, you can't really make time.. You've got a lot to do this week.... Really?... You know as well as I that what every you need to do will still get done. That's what you'll say when you're favorite TV show comes on, or your best friend comes over for a bit.

Well, make God your best friend. Make time for Him. Let Him give you joy; open yourself up to the beauty that can come of this relationship. Devote your time to making it last.

In Christ,
Lauren


*The truth is, we make such an idol of marriage, such an idol of "love". I am certainly guilty of that, hands down. But, God didn't put us on this earth to be married, but to glorify Him. If marriage is what He brings to our life as a way to glorify Him, then it happens. But until then, why are we thinking about it?

How can I help you?

Upon much thought and reflection during my second semester of college, I have realized that my feeling of purpose greatly depends on how much people need me, and how much they want me. I am the kind of person who achieves satisfaction by loving on others.. whether that is accomplished through doing things for them, spending time with them, helping them in spiritual growth, or making them feel loved and cared for.

Sadly, giving up facebook for lent has brought about the realization that I so heavily relied on facebook for these "do-gooder" feelings. Somehow, commenting on others' pages, discussing faith with friends, citing scripture as my statuses, and showing my interest in others' lives gave me a great sense of joy. This saddens me; I wish it wasn't true that facebook has been such a source of happiness in my life. How upsetting.

No matter how discouraging, I am so glad to have found this out now.. I can now rid myself of this idol, and learn, instead, to exhort others on in person, rather than just on the www. I long to be the person that my friends call on when they need a helping hand, a shoulder to lean on, or just a pal to life their spirits. I realize I'm not going to be this person as often as i would like.

But, either way, I ask:

How can I help you?

With love and affection,
your sister,
Lauren

short and sweet.

God is so good. He sends people into our lives to encourage us and make us feel needed. He gives us passions and feelings, and tells us what we should do and how we should change. He shows us what to pray for - He shows us exactly how we can change the world. I can't help but praise Him for every sinful path that He has blinded me from seeing, and every instance of death that He has eliminated in my life.

He continues to lavish me with beautiful things. I am just so thankful today.

Be perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.
Matthew 5: 48

Take my life, and let it be
all for you and for your glory,
take my life, and let it be yours.

Love,
Lauren

Dance, dance.

There is a sweet melody embodied in the Good Book. It calls each of us to dance, to move with, to embrace the music. As with all dances, there is room for individuality and expression in every move; each person will dance differently, and some moves may not fit with the music. Some moves are modern, and some are classic; some are fast and some are slow; one method is not necessarily better than another, but each is beautiful in its own way.

A not-so-conventional version of Revelation1:3:

Blessed is the one who sings the lyrics of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and dance to the music, because the time is near.

Each person's life is a dance in its own way. We hear so much music, and we may change our style of dance depending on the time and place... maybe even who we're dancing with. We will develop our dance through our entire lives, but it will never be finished. There will always be room for improvement, further embellishments, more feeling.. more heart. Our dance may be completely off beat. Maybe those watching you dance will describe to you gently the wrongness of your dance. Or maybe those dancing around you will be dancing off beat as well, and you'll be so lost in the confusion of it all, that it will be unnoticeable.

The most gentle and loving music of all is that of Christ. It draws you in, and will penetrate all other sounds, becoming the only one you hear, if you let it.

Let it.

(Thanks, Dr. Lowery!)

With Love,
Lauren

Die for love.

Everyone will pass
And when we breathe our last
Can we say we have lived for more?
And did we live to die for love?

I'd like to use this post not to say anything uncommonly profound, but instead to brag on God. He is such a beautiful God, so enveloping in love. I truly feel that He has lavished me with blessings, and I don't know why, but I can use that to praise Him and lift Him up. So many desires He gives me, and so many desires He fills in my life. This week has been refreshing and beautiful, though I did not realize until tonight. So many good things have occurred to make this week one of the best, though my cold has made me blind to some of the goodness.

I would like to thank my Father in Heaven for friends, for music, for beauty and grace. For the solid parents He gave me and the protective siblings. For the trusting spirit He blessed me with, and for my uncommonly (I think) strong faith. For my skills and the skills of others, and the ability to use them to glorify Him. For the basics: clean water and food, clothing and shelter, knowledge and love. The ability to see sin and stay away from it, and the ability to see light and wander towards it.

Often I am consumed in thoughts, and I forget to stop and praise the God Almighty. I truly want my soul to find rest in God alone (Psalm 62:1), and I want to consistently thirst for God (psalm 42). It is my wish that the thirst would never be quenched, but that it would continue to blossom and grow all of my life.

Thoroughly and completely, I want to win this war. I want to live to die for love.

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21

Let's live for more that this world gives us. Let's become people who identify with Christ before identifying with the world. Let's turn away from this world, but live to save it. Who's with me?

Joel 2:13 - Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.

Love always,
Lauren

Turning

So, today I'm struggling with some things I really have never been faced with before.
God has told me to mister in a place that I just don't want to go. I thought I did about a week and a half ago, but.. that was a week and a half ago. God also changed my heart, and turned my attitude away from this. I suppose that is one of the lessons God wants to teach me. That I need to learn to be content wherever He places me.

furthermore, I am struggling with jealousy. A friend of mine is exactly where I want to minister, and where I have wanted to minister for quite some time now. Isn't it funny how I have never had a problem with jealousy over possessions and abilities (well, to a certain extent), but now that it's over place of ministry, I'm just green with envy?

You may wonder why I am so quick to explain all my faults on the www. Well, quite frankly, I don't care what people think of me. (Well, I do care about what my friends think of me, but I am what I am.. I'm not going to cover up sin). We all have our downfalls, and what better way to try to get through them than to scream them out in public? This way, my brothers and sisters, you can watch out for me, and can help me get back on track.

Funny, yesterday I was reading in 1 Peter about suffering. I thought about how I never have suffered, and I asked God to show me a little pain if it would bring me closer to Him. I wouldn't call this pain, but I would call it a rough patch that I will have to pray about to get through. I'm always finding new ways the Lord can grow us.

"arm yourselves" with suffering.
"Rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed" (1 Peter 4:13)
"So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good." (1 Peer 4:19)

So.. arm yourselves with suffering. Let it find you as you look to others' best interests, rather than your own. Be focused on christ, and be open to His will.

Love,
Lauren

mirror, mirror

You know what really stinks?

When people don't answer back your texts. I mean, it is the worst. devastation, at it's simplest.
Seriously, how self absorbed are we? I saw this because it actually crossed my mind that I should put something the effect of "not receiving text responses is the worst" as my facebook status.

I mean, number one, it's a text, dude. Number two, facebook? Why does modern technology have such an effect on my life? Gee, maybe it's just me, but it seems like a lot of people are similarly influenced by these modern conveniences.

I don't want to be so self absorbed anymore. Why can't I live out Galations 2:20 the way I should? I have been crucified with christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I don't think that I act like Christ very much.

And, what a fail, what with the whole texting thing. "oh me, oh my, Billy Bob* must be ignoring me!" I'm pretty sure I ignore Christ a lot more often than others ignore me. It's time I drop my petty complications at His feet, and truly take up my cross.

I'm tired of doing things for myself, and thinking of who I am, and what I am going to do, and starting every line of every one of my songs out with the word I.

Lord, I am weak and broken, and I take your beauty and distort it and twist it around everyday. Allow me to give up myself to the good of humankind. Let me fight for love, and live to die. For to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Let that verse become truth in my life. Reveal its significance both in my words and actions, Father. I love you.

~Lauren



*There is no actual Billy Bob. This name was given for the protection of those to whom this situation applies.

.short story.yrots trohs.

The other day, I asked God to humble me.
And again, He has answered in his beautiful way I'd like to call life.
I am terribly inadequate, and desperate for broken things, and reaching into darkness daily.
I don't want to be that person, though. I want to be innocently and truthfully in a pursuit of God at all times. I want to be so tangled up in Him and in His word that I forget about myself.

Don't expect anything in return for good deeds, because if you truly open your eyes, you will find that it has already been given to you. God is mighty, and He knows. He knows me better than I do myself.

I am so thankful for that.

With Christ's love and affection,
Lauren

Big Jumps

I love God. I love Him so much.
Praise be to God. Why does He give me so much joy??
Like, today... I just got a mentor! I am so excited. And I got an answer from God over whether or not to audition for Guys and Dolls. I had really been struggling with this, and had been devoting a lot of prayer and thought to it. I am so hesitant to commit to musicals, because they really do take up so much time. I am so worried about losing contact with the Bible, and fellowship with other Christians. But God, so clearly, revealed to me that this is a beautiful opportunity to share my light, and hopefully my passion for Christ, with others who don't hear that message everyday, like I do. I am so excited to go out there and do the work that He has presented me with!

Christ. Singing. Dancing. Acting.

What could be better, man?

As the song (over there to the right! yeah, you see it!) says, take big jumps! He will use you to glorify Him. Have no doubt.

Love,
Lauren

a sparkling diamond

This morning was the most beautiful morning I've had in a while. I am just so excited about how God can bless your life so greatly in such small ways. I woke up at 8:30, then after sitting there staring into space for a few minutes, I got up. I was awake for no reason, but I wasn't getting back to sleep, so I came downstairs, and I had this huge desire to dance, so.. I did that. haha After that, I spent some quality time with my Father. And, it was so simple, and so fulfilling.

Sure, I learned a lot of solid stuff while I was reading in James this morning, but I feel that it is more important to dwell on the intense joy that God blessed me with. The Holy Spirit is so moving, and God is gracious and compassionate, and abounding in love (Joel 2:13).

I just can't get over the Goodness of God. I can't help but see God as the Ultimate Provider in times like these. He gives generously, as long as you truly believe (James 1:6). Don't doubt, because He will come through. I want to be abounding in love, the way He is. I want to portray this in my life! It's such an uplifting feeling.

Oh, one last thing, pertaining to the above idea of belief instead of doubt: This morning my stomach hurt, and I began praying, requesting that God would sooth my pain, and then I just happened to scan across James 1:6, and I realized I never truly believed that He was going to heal my stomach, because I kept saying the word If. So, then I changed. I turned my "if"s into "when"s and began praising God for healing my stomach even though it still hurt.

and.. Right then is when my stomach stopped hurting.

Praise God! Don't reject His power.

In Godly Love,
Lauren Elizabeth