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