Indescribable

My head and my heart are so filled with words that I don't even know what to say. I just know I want to say something.

So I'm going to write something that has already been written.

You're calling me to lay aside the worries of my day
To quiet down my busy mind and find a hiding place

Worthy, You are worthy.

I open up my heart and let my spirit worship Yours
I open up my mouth and let a song of praise come forth

Worthy, You are worthy.

Of a child-like faith and of my honest praise
and of my unashamed love.

Of a holy life and of my sacrifice
and of my unashamed love.

It was what I needed to hear, so maybe it's what someone else needed too.

Flow

I made a decision when I first started writing this blog that I was not going to post a lot of personal conversations. 

Obviously I talk about cool things that happen in my life (and by that I mean situations that God was very intentional about placing in my life), but I am careful about how much of my conversations I share. 

But I will tell you a little bit.

In one of my earlier blog posts I talked about how so much of my life was devoted to God this summer and I was terrified that it wouldn't last when I got back to school.

This school can sometimes feel like the most secular places in the world. And in many respects it is.

But this weekend and today alone I have had so many amazing conversations about God and Christianity with so many different people.

Friday night I had an almost two hour conversation about God and poverty with someone I had just met. Saturday night I had a two hour dinner in which the last hour we really only talked about Christianity and ministry. Yesterday I had yet another fantastic church/sermon experience that was all about being bold for Christ. Then last night I was having a conversation with some of the other girls who are really involved in the campus ministry I'm a part of.

We were sharing about our lives and recent happenings in them and when we were done talking one of them suggested that we pray. By the time the person who prayed finished I was in tears. Only two of them actually know why (yet), but I would imagine the rest of them think I just really love them (which is also true. I also made one of the other girls cry :)).

But the best part is, it still hasn't stopped.

It is still early in the day and I have already had a two hour lunch with someone talking (mostly) about God, a conversation about church and campus ministry right after that while I was walking into my dorm, and a conversation about Christ's presence in relationships with someone from my Bible study this summer while I was walking into my dorm. 

I realize that reading that probably got really tedious by the end since I am only telling you so much and they probably all sound the same. I will say, however, that each one was different, and beautiful, and the Lord's presence was clearly evident in all of them.

Even the song that came on my Spotify while I typed this fit perfectly.

Sun and Moon

A Variety of Thoughts

I find it so interesting how people find comfort in so many different ways.

Solitude.

Company.

A touch.

A quote, a verse, a song.

A talk.

They're all so different, but they all provide the same thing. And we all find comfort in different things each time we're in need.

It would be easy to separate this from the Lord since they all seem so rooted in other people. But I think you could argue exactly the opposite.

I had a Bible Study this summer that talked about our relationships. We started on our relationship with God and then talked about how every other relationship we have is so connected to our relationship with the Lord.

We can't separate them.

The truth is, a lot of our relationships are designed to help bring us closer to God.

Paul says, therefore be imitators of me as I am of Christ.

In a relationship like that, one centered on discipleship, we naturally grow closer to Christ as we grow closer and more like that other person.

I am in no way doing this topic justice in these pithy lines, but this is such an important message.

Every relationship we have has to relate to Christ in some way if we are filled with the Holy Spirit.

I wish I could explain this more eloquently, but I have finally come to terms with the fact that I just don't write that way.

I often wish I did, but I get tongue-tied and can't get things out quite the way I mean them. So I prefer to keep things brief.

Hopefully someone finds that beneficial.

For your listening pleasure, here's what was on my playlist this week:

Calendar Marks

Joy Out of Suffering

I almost didn't go to church this morning because I wasn't sure if I could make it through without crying.

I'm just dealing with a lot of issues lately and it has been a common occurrence. I'm not really a big crier so this is not a fun experience.

I went anyways and in the very first prayer the assistant pastor said,

We are faced with troubles and sufferings, and if we think about them too much we will surely cry. But sit with us, God, and remind us that we are filled with you.

Then every prayer after that talked about dealing with trials and finding strength in Christ. The title of the sermon was "Faithfully His."

Seriously, how perfect.

It is surely the only way I made it through the service, and the whole time I just kept thinking how cool this is. It was literally like God was speaking directly to me through this man. He knew exactly what I needed to hear. I could picture Him sitting down next to me and putting His arm around me and telling me everything was okay.

I think I might start attaching songs to posts that I'm really enjoying.

Here's today's:

Times

Follow The Leader

Yesterday, my dad and I drove up to my school for move-in. 

We were both in separate cars so I had a lot of time to think. Four hours to be exact. 

I've been really interested lately in things in our lives that are metaphorical for our lives with God.

So we are driving up the highway and the leader kept changing. One of us would pass the other, then eventually we would switch. We both knew where we were going, but I am pretty sure he was doing it from memory (he went here too) whereas I had my GPS.

So I'm trying to find some sort of metaphor for this give-and-take relationship we had going on and I realized it's a perfect example of how we follow Christ. 

Really, my dad should have been in the lead because he's more confident with the route, but if I didn't like the pace he was going I would race ahead of him.

We do this all the time with God. We want to run and keep going when God just wants us to stay at his pace. Sometimes he kicks into high gear too and we are racing to keep up, but even when we lose sight of Him and can't see what He's doing we know he's there and we'll see Him again soon.

Really He should be leading because He knows exactly where he is going, when all we have to rely on is a road map. 

This summer one of the things I was trying to work on was prayer. I wanted to make it more meaningful and do it way more. I didn't have a set thing I was doing, I was just trying to remember to, but I was reading my Bible everyday on a journey through the New Testament with one of my friends. 

I didn't even realize that just by doing that and completely focusing, my mind was so much more set on Christ so it was easy to turn to prayer. Sometimes I would start reading then have to stop a paragraph in to pray because I knew my concentration would be so much better if I did and I would just have the strong urge to.

It has made such a difference in my life so far. 

I was so worried that this wouldn't last when I got back to school, but so far so good. 

It is so much a part of my everyday life I can't imagine it without it. 

I am taking part in this huge game of Follow The Leader and I just have to trust He is there and hope others will join me.