Maui on my mind

I've been thinking a lot lately about the whole reason I started this blog. And it's because of an island thousands of miles away. I started this to share my journey with you. And it's changed my life.

My heart has been stuck on that small island and the people who live there. So I thought I'd take some time to remind you (and me) about my trip and all that God taught me then and continues to teach me...

But how can people call for help if they don't know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven't heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it? That's why Scripture exclaims, 

   A sight to take your breath away! 
   Grand processions of people 
      telling all the good things of God!

Romans 10:14&15

there IS such a thing as a moonbow!!

But we must always remember that there is no such thing as moonlight. It's just the Sun reflecting off the Moon. Louie Giglio explains this in his amazing book "Indescribable:"

"Just as the Sun shines at night when the Moon is in the right place, God shines in the darkness when we are in the right place. When we are in full view of Jesus, His love, grace, goodness, and power directly impact us. In that place, in the brightness of His presence, His light will reflect off us so others can see, no matter how dark the night. It's amazing to think that, simply by our proximity to Jesus, we can bring hope and life to people and places trapped in discouragement and despair."

God's still in the business of changing lives. 

Our team didn't come together until we shared our testimonies. Not til we disclosed our weaknesses did we really bond. And how hard it is to be vulnerable. But here is Maggie, sharing her testimony (in front of a lot of people!). Not because she is good or perfect, but because He changed her. 

And in Revelation 12 John is explaining what he saw and it is exclaimed in verse 11 that the Devil is overcome . He is overcome because the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. Everyone has a story to tell and if He has changed you, there is power in your story. Don't ever stop telling it!

His plan is perfect. 

We were brought together for such a time as this.

7 people. 

We don't always understand why or how. 

But His plan is greater & bigger than we could ever imagine.

So don't take the people in your life for granted.

Learn from them & love them.

We're not supposed to do life alone.

And the most important thing is...we are not finished. This is just the beginning. And maybe, just maybe, revival is closer than we think.

Love unspoken isn't love at all

I've been learning a lot about love lately. I must admit, it's odd to keep thinking about love when it's Thanksgiving/Christmas time. I mean isn't this supposed to be a time of thankfulness and remembering that Jesus was born in a manger? But with each instance, experience, and story I'm overwhelmed with love. Today at Blue Ridge our pastor talked about love and how in Revelation 2 the church at Ephesus was confronted about abandoning their first love. And as I sat there at the end of the service writing my love note to God on my little card I was truly reminded about how much I love Him. I had the urge to write 'I love God' everywhere! But daggone it, there's not a more cliché statement in the Christian repertoire of sayings. I think it's because love is kinda sad in our society...it doesn't work and it's weak. Writing 'I love [insert Drake, sappy Christmas movie, or favorite food]' is lame, let's be honest. But love, real love, is powerful. It is deep and moving. It causes us to do crazy things. It begs us to recklessly abandon ourselves. It shatters comfort zones. It is wild and explosive. It is all-consuming and uncontrollable and relentless. And I love Him. I want all of those things to describe my relationship with the One I love. And I want everyone to know I'm crazy about Him. Because believe me, if I was in love with a guy...I'd tell the world. It'd be a big deal.

So here's to saying 'I love You' every night before I fall asleep. Here's to thinking about Him all the time and talking about Him whenever I get the chance (thank you, Tim Tebow, for talking about this on national television. Missed it? ...click here to watch!). Here's to writing Him love notes when I'm bored in class and talking to Him when I'm in between classes and taking study breaks just to spend time with Him. He is the One I love, the One I'm crazy about. Call me weird, but I just simply cannot help but talk about it. 
Because love unspoken just isn't really love at all now is it?

i ain't tryna get in Yo way

Therefore, if God gave them the same gift that He gave to us 

when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, 

how could I possibly hinder God? 

When they heard this they became silent. 

Then they glorified God saying, 

"So God has granted repentance resulting in life to even the Gentiles!" 

Acts 11:17&18

I read this as I was having "fresh bread" for breakfast with Jesus this morning. I've been praying for a renewed passion for His Word after going through a series about the importance of the Bible at church. I've always had a Bible and have worn out at least one. I know that it's important but I just haven't been digging into it like I should. So I decided to start reading it in a way as to just learn more about Him. Not to memorize it for when I get in a bad situation or to be able to answer the Sunday School questions from friends. So as always, He is faithful and shows up on day ONE. I'm reading through Acts (one of my favorite books) and I just read about Saul's conversion which is one of the most exciting passages for me. If only our eyes would be open to God doing that now. Anyways, the passage above is about Peter going to Cornelius and declaring that salvation is for the Gentiles...what a HUGE thing! But v. 1 starts out by saying the other Christians in the region were confused. They couldn't believe that Peter would go to even eat with those people because that wasn't allowed. So Peter is having to explain to them why he went to them and he ends with the verses above. The part that hit me hard was him saying, "...how could I possibly hinder God?" As a Gentile, I'm glad Peter didn't try to hinder God (I'm confident that God's plan for the Gentiles to receive salvation would have still happened but we have no clue how that would have played out). There are times when I feel like I try to hinder God. I try to get in His way because I'm afraid to trust Him. Sometimes I think I won't like the outcome. Or maybe some of the people around me will get hurt. But I want to be more like Peter. I want to get to the point where I say, "how could I possibly hinder God?" Because He is teaching me that His timing is perfect. He cherishes and completes me. And simply because of His nature I am compelled to say how could I NOT let Him do His thing?? And maybe the results of that will be far greater than I could ever imagine.

Dear Jill,

Why are you living for there when you know about here?

                                                                        -God

hello September

NOTE: I love my planner.

As this month so quickly arrived I have realized something about September: this month can make ya or break ya. It means summer is finally over. For some of us that meant we had to say goodbye to friends or family. Maybe your summer was the best yet. For some people it was full of nights you can't remember and moments you wish you could forget. But either way, it was a specific season in each of our lives and things are changing. Now, during this month, is when you'll decide to change along with the season or stay the way you've always been. For me, summer taught me a lot of things this year. I saw God in ways I never thought I would and I acquired a passion for an island 5,000 miles away. I realized how precious true friends are! I saw some people my age lay down their pride and accept His gift of salvation...leading me to truly know what it means to say, "I'll become even more undignified than this, some may say it's foolishness. I'll become even more undignified than this, leave my pride by my side," while dancing like Sandra Bullock in 'The Proposal' (ok, not JUST like that. but you get the idea). This was definitely a summer I'll never forget. [if you wanna know more about it all just browse through some older posts...you won't be disappointed!]
But all of that can be reduced to nothing if during this month I choose not to apply it or remember it. I've already gotten so caught up in going to work and school every day that those things that became so important and precious to me this summer have been forgotten. September is wonderful, and I am thankful it is here. But it offers me the option to settle. It makes the mundane look appealing. It threatens to make every victorious and life changing moment of the summer fade. It tempts me to give up on love and running...two things I need the most. So I am fighting every morning to keep September from taking all of those things from me. I am determined to fuel my passions and to not stop seeking until I find. I will take moments of each day to remember the moments when He came through and I saw Him so clearly. When all I wanna do is the easy thing, I will choose to do the hard thing. And no matter what, no matter how tired or frustrated or weak I get, I will not let September steal my summer.

Robert

YOU'RE ENGAGED!

While we haven't always agreed with or understood each other, I can't deny the difference you've made in other people's lives. Just last week I was in a class with someone I didn't know and he looked at me and asked if you were my brother. When I said yes he proceeded to tell me what a great guy you are. I don't even think you know him but he saw you play basketball and just in the way you played and your attitude he gained respect for you. [And I'm just adding that to the 47328439 times that someone has known we were siblings because we look so much alike. I'm sure it won't be the last time.] So even though you're not at Liberty anymore people haven't forgotten you or the example you were to them. I'm grateful for that, even though I don't tell you. I don't mind when others associate me with you because they always have good things to say about you. It's a blessing to have a brother who loves the Gospel more than girls and can ball a thousand times better than he can play video games. So here's to you...

 to all the photos we've posed for

 to all the games we've played together

 to all the times you put up with my mischievous self

 to the times we got along

 to the times when we worked together just to get through

 to the times we tried to be cool

and to the times I'll never forget.

I love you and I'm excited for the life you have in front of you. Never stop pursuing Him and presenting the Gospel. HE is worth everything.

you can be the change

In starting a brand new semester of classes this week, I've realized all over again how much I love my major. Most people are jealous because they think we play sports all day, some people have no clue what the word 'Kinesiology' even means, and almost everyone thinks it's a joke. The first couple semesters that might have bothered me, not really sure as to whether this is what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. But now, with only two semesters of classes left and one semester of student teaching, I can't imagine doing anything else. My professors are amazing. Each of their stories is so different and it's easy to see God in the ways each of them were brought to Liberty University. They're funny and they're just so fun. And I love my classes too: Exercise Physiology, Innovative Games, Administration of Physical Education and Sports Programs, etc. I love what we're learning and the homework is enjoyable for me. While I love both of those things: my professors and my classes, it just wouldn't be the same without the other people in those classes. A lot of us have almost every class together and I never get tired of them. I feel so blessed to have people to lean on whether it's about getting back in dress code after we're hot and sweaty in the morning after an activity class or what classes we need to take next semester. They are so encouraging and I honestly never go a day without laughing. 


I realized something this week that I'd never really thought about. One of my professors said that most of us (in the Health and PE major) are servants by nature. We care more about others than we do ourselves. I'm not saying that other people who have different majors aren't like that, but we choose to sacrifice our lives to save others'. It is so important to us that kids grow up healthy and strong that we are willing to make very little money and deal with a lot of criticism just to make that happen. My mom has told me more than once that there aren't PE teacher jobs out there, but does that mean that I should give up? Schools still continue to cut out physical education despite the rising obesity rates among children, but does that mean we should let our passions die? When there is no physical education in school and no jobs for PE teachers, there will still be overweight children and parents who need to be educated about how to raise healthy kids. 


So what can you do? Be an example! Live an active, healthy lifestyle. Don't push kids just to play traditional sports, they'll eventually stop playing. Teach them how to fish or how to ride a bicycle. Show them that turkey can taste better than chicken nuggets and that salad is yummmy! It's the every day decisions we make that eventually turn into a lifestyle. If you're a parent, make your kid go outside! Don't buy them more video games or unlimited texting, buy them a kickball or a skateboard. Life is so fun and it's not meant to be spent inside by ourselves. 


Write your school board and make sure they know how important physical education is in the schools. And be that example for kids to look to and say, "I wanna be like that!"