Tag: Faith

     Good morning and happy Sunday!  I feel like it’s been ages since my last “Scripture Sunday” post, and for that I’m so sorry.  Writing these posts is truly my favorite thing about this blog, I love having a platform to share the things God is teaching me.  Today I’m finally sharing a new installment in this Scripture study series and I’m excited for you to read it!  This verse has been so significant for me lately as I hold myself to a standard that I often fall short of.  Enjoy!

Today’s Verses:

Ephesians 2:8-9; For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

     Growing up in two households of families that go to church every Sunday, attending the 10:00am service each week feels like more than a routine, it’s part of who I am.  Even when we’re out of town, we often go to a relative’s church.  Missing a service, while this has never been explicitly said by anyone in my family, makes me feel as though I’m falling short in my faith.  Just last week I spent the night at a friend’s house with plans of going to church in the morning, but I overslept.  I beat myself up over missing church all day, even though I attended a Bible study that evening.  When I miss church, wake up late and don’t have time to read my Bible in the morning before school, or even skip weeks of writing these “Scripture Sunday” posts, I feel like a failure.

     The truth is, I’m falling short in more ways than just missing religious activities, we all are.  Whether it’s a white lie, falling into temptation in a high school relationship, or stealing something at the grocery store, sin invades our lives constantly.  We’re affected by sin every day, and if it’s not our own sin it’s the sin of someone around us.  We can easily see the brokenness in the world, from divorce to mass shootings.  So if we’re all constantly missing the mark, how are we ever supposed to be deserving of heaven?

     We aren’t.  The cool thing about Christianity is that our God isn’t tallying our good and bad actions to determine whether or not we’ve won the game of life and earned a spot in heaven, He’s wrapped up the gift and has His arm outstretched towards us.  All we have to do is accept it and begin to live a life affected by that choice, believing that it makes a difference.  Recently I’ve been loving Ephesians 2:8-9, which says “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

     Grace was defined to me by a YoungLife leader at camp a few years ago as “something the giver knows we don’t deserve, but gives us anyways.”  This definition was followed by the example of baking someone a cake after they punch you.  The “cake,” or gift of eternal life, is given to us by God even though we “punch Him,” or lie and skip church and cheat every day.  All of our sinful acts are like a slap in the face, but His hand never flinches, still outstretched for us.  No one, not Mother Theresa or your saint of a childhood Sunday school teacher, really deserves what He gives us, but that’s kind of the point.

    How crazy is it to think of baking someone a cake after they hit you?  No, not one of those cakes with something sarcastic and vicious iced on top, but the best cake you’ve ever baked.  Imagining receiving that from God is such a vivid picture to me of how recklessly He loves us.  I’m so reassured knowing that there’s nothing in my life I’ve done or will do to earn His love and the eternal life He gives.  What’s important is that I’m trying.  What’s more important is that He still gives eternal love and life to the full regardless of how many times I mess up.  Remember this when you’re beating yourself up for a comment that came out ruder than you meant for it to or when you sleep through your church service.

Thanks for reading!  Have a blessed week!

     I’m back.  I feel like I haven’t posted in decades (yes I know it’s just been ten days), but life lately has been crazy in all the best, and worst, ways.  I have a lot of exciting events and decisions taking place within the next few months and I can’t wait to be in a place that I can share that with you.  I’m planning on posting another “Fill In on Faith” soon so you can get a better idea of what’s been happening in my life lately!  Today I’m sharing a new “Scripture Sunday” which features a verse that has been really special to me lately.  Enjoy!

Today’s Verse:

1 Corinthians 13:12; For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.  Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

     I’m sure you’ve heard something along the lines of “it’s hard to see the big picture when you’re in the frame” at some point in your life.  Maybe this was while you were dwelling over a rough breakup or receiving a college rejection letter (irrelevant side note: isn’t it funny to think we’re never reminded of this when we’re experiencing a high point?).  It’s often hard to see how something difficult that isn’t part of my own plan is going to weave its way into my life story in such a way that could be anything near good. In my last “Scripture Sunday” I talked about Proverbs 3:5 and how we need to trust in God in times of doubt, but this week I want to remind you that we might just see a little bit of His plan right now.

     Something significant in my life happened the summer before my seventh-grade year.  This event led to my sister and I’s relocation to South Carolina with my father, and at the time it was really difficult.  In those first weeks in the city I now call home, I questioned the way God cared for me and my family.  I wondered what kind of loving God would allow terrible things to happen to a (divided) family full of people that loved Him.  Now, I look back at that move and see the way my life would be completely different without it, and not necessarily in the positive way my seventh-grade self would have thought.  Without that move, I wouldn’t have the best friends I love so dearly now.  I wouldn’t be so close to my father, step-mother, and half brother.  I wouldn’t have had access to YoungLife (my previous town was insanely small and I hadn’t even heard of YoungLife before moving here), and therefore wouldn’t have met my leaders that are some of the best friends and role models I could have asked for.  I would’ve never had the opportunity to serve on Work Crew, a month that taught me what it looks like to be a servant, gave me countless incredible memories, and introduced me to some of the most amazing friends I’ll ever know.  I wouldn’t know God the way I do now, I might not even believe in Him at all.

     I don’t know if everyone can pinpoint life changes like that, but I’m really grateful I can.  Seeing just this part of the way He’s worked in my life, 1 Corinthians 13:12 has become really important for me lately.  The verse says “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.  Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”  What I know in part now is just a dim image in a mirror, but when I meet God, who knows me fully, in heaven and look back on my life, I’ll understand everything He’s done in my life.  I completely believe that the “big pictures” each of us see from above one day are going to be masterpieces, so carefully crafted with immense thought in every brushstroke.

     Believe me, I know there are moments when it won’t make sense, but just hold on.  He’s doing crazy big things in your life that you can’t even begin to understand right now — but I hope someday soon you’ll get a glimpse in that dim mirror.  This week, remember that God is sovereign in our lives and that we should trust that the artist who paints each sunset and sunrise knows how to make our lives just as beautiful.

Thanks for reading!  Have a blessed week!

     Happy Sunday!  As you might have noticed, I haven’t been posting as much as usual over the past few weeks.  The stress of starting a new school year paired with college applications isn’t leaving much time for blogging, but I promise the end of college applications and submission of my first major assignment are in sight!  I’m excited to have more time for blogging within the next month or so.  Anyways, today I’m sharing my thirty-ninth volume of “Scripture Sunday.”  I’m talking a little about the comfort God’s giving me in this weird season of life.  Enjoy!

Today’s Verse:

Proverbs 3:5; Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

     Deciding where to go to college is a big decision.  I have a list of schools I’m applying to where I could definitely see myself being happy, but that list is accompanied with so much fear that I won’t get into my top choice, or that when I get to tour I won’t even like my top choice.  The concept of college is tricky because you want to pick a school where you’ll be happy, get a good education, and meet people you genuinely want to be friends with forever.  This season of my life where I’m not sure where I’m going or exactly what I’m doing isn’t my favorite, I like order and plans.

     I’ve been reading Sarah Young’s Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence devotional every day for almost two months now, and recently Proverbs 3:5 was one of the Scriptures included in the reading.  This verse says “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”  Right now, I really have no choice.  I can submit all of my applications and lay awake at night anxiously wondering where I’ll get in, but that brings no hope.  Remembering the ways God revealed Himself to me while on Work Crew and realizing that God frequently does things in my life that I couldn’t have planned for or wanted but always somehow turn out better than what I had planned, that brings hope.  I’ve memorized this verse as a reminder for all the little times when it doesn’t look like He’s working in my favor, like when I get a bad grade on a test or I can’t go to an event I’d been hoping for, because He’s most definitely doing something bigger and better for me than what I thought I needed.

     Instead of anxiously anticipating a decision from what I imagine to be the best place for me, I’m handing it over to God.  One thing I know for certain is that I’ll get in wherever God wants me to go, and I know the things He has planned for me there will be far better than the earthly and materialistic things I imagine accompanying where I want to attend.  I definitely still struggle with doubt and my own desires for my college path, but I can always find comfort in Scripture that God’s plan is bigger than my dreams.

     This week, remember that you can’t see the big picture.  Remember that God knows what He’s doing and why, and maybe one day you’ll look back and realize you’re glad nothing was any different.  He has a purpose for every perfect moment and every flaw in our lives.  He has a plan for you.

Thanks for reading!  Have a blessed week!

     Happy Sunday!  I hope you’re having an awesome Labor Day Weekend.  I’ve spent my weekend working, booking college tours, and spending lots of time in the Bible!  Today I’m sharing a verse that I’ve been really loving lately in another volume of my ongoing “Scripture Sunday” series.  Enjoy!

Today’s Verse:

Psalm 119:50; This is my comfort in my affliction; that Your promise gives me life.

     You know that feeling that you’re all alone?  That no one sees your struggles or that they don’t understand the innocence of your intentions when things turn out badly?  I have no doubt that we all have days where we feel broken with heavy levels of disappointment, sadness, frustration, or just general darkness.  When thinking about the word “affliction,” my mind flies pretty quickly to the minor yet frequent afflictions of the midwinter days of my junior year.  In the midst of lacrosse season and a heavy course load, I felt like nothing in my life was where it should be.  I didn’t get much playing time in lacrosse games, my grades weren’t up to my expectations, and my social life wasn’t necessarily thriving either considering I rarely had weekend plans.  When I looked around at worldly things and searched for a place where I was really doing well and could find my identity, there wasn’t one.

     My biggest piece of advice to any teenage girl (or anyone for that matter) in this day and age is to stop seeking your identity here on earth.  If you find your value in the attention you get from guys or your class rank, you’ll hit the ground hard when you break up with your boyfriend or perform poorly on a test.  So, where are you supposed to find your worth?  The answer is in being His child.  As I mentioned in my previous “Scripture Sunday” and I’m sure in countless volumes before, Scripture constantly points to the fact that our identity and the source of our value in God’s eyes is simply that we belong to Him.

     I came across Psalm 119:50 while reading my devotional yesterday and it hit me hard.  The verse reads “This is my comfort in my affliction; that Your promise gives me life.”  In our darkest days, we can find comfort in the fact that His promise, which is honest and eternal, gives us real life.  You read that right; full life doesn’t come from your soccer stats or GPA, but from His promise of eternal life and unconditional love.  On days when I feel down or worthless, I turn to Scripture where I find constant reminders that I am who He says I am and that He gives me life.  I can’t think of any better remedy for emotional pain than a promise of everlasting love taller and wider than we could ever comprehend.

     This week, remember where your comfort should be coming from – not from temporary worldly things, but from His promise.  Remember that His love is the greatest you’ll ever know and that it’s more than worth holding onto!  He meets you where you are, even in your life’s valleys.  You don’t have to earn His love and that’s one of His greatest gifts to us.

Thanks for reading!  Have a blessed week!

     Good morning and happy Sunday!  I go back to school tomorrow for my senior year and I’m honestly really excited.  After spending a month on Work Crew at a YoungLife camp this summer (read the post on my experience here), I feel so inspired and I can’t wait to implement some of the things I learned about loving others in my community at home!  Today I’m sharing a little of this in another volume of “Scripture Sunday.”  Enjoy!

Today’s Verse:

1 John 3:1a; See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are!

     In everyday life it’s so easy to hear all the negatives and nothing positive about yourself between your peers, the media, and your own thoughts.  You hear that you’re annoying, not thin enough, not pretty enough, and so on.  These criticisms weigh on us like backpacks full of stones.  We become convinced that our flaws define us and in that insecurity it’s easy for us to define others with their flaws as well, even if we don’t vocalize that.

     In my time on Work Crew with approximately forty other teenagers from across the country, I got to know some people that are really similar to my friends at home but also some who aren’t.  The people that I didn’t think I’d talk to much at all in the first few days ended up becoming some of the sweetest friendships I had at Saranac.  We hear “don’t judge a book by its cover” all the time, but maybe we should start judging by a cover; that cover being that the person is a child of God whether they look and act like you or seem perfect from the outside or not.

     The verse that we’re memorizing for Wyldlife leader training this week is 1 John 3:1a.  This verse says “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are!”  In memorizing this piece of Scripture, I’ve started to think about how it means more than just “God loves me.”  The verse means that He has given us a really incredible, unconditional, eternal love that we couldn’t ever deserve, but the key word there is “us.”  This reminder of the love that God has for me should comfort me in the reminder that my identity is found in being His child, but it should also remind me that this goes for everyone.  Something big that I took home from Work Crew is what I like to call my “God lens,” or the intention of seeing others the way that God sees them.  Now, when I catch myself thinking something negative about someone else or see a distance between me and someone else just because speaking to them isn’t “comfortable,” I fill my mind with positive thoughts about the way God sees them and pray for the boldness to be kind and loving towards them.

     This week, remember what truly defines us.  We are children of God!  I am and you are, but that girl that’s rude to you and the boy that sits alone at lunch are too.  Treat those around you with even a fraction of that reckless love that God treats us with.  Remember that He loves us more than we’ll ever be able to comprehend, and we should let our hearts overflow into love for others.

Thanks for reading!  Have a blessed week!

     Good morning and happy Sunday!  Today I’m sharing a new “Scripture Sunday” post!  I’m so excited to be sharing a verse that I’ve found to be super comforting.  This is obviously going to be a religious post, so if you don’t think that’s for you please continue to scroll through other recent posts of mine, I hope you find something else you like (see my summer wishlist here an outfit post here, and my friend Cayleigh’s guest post on an outfit inspired by me here)!  Enjoy!

Today’s Verse:

James 4:14; yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.  What is your life?  For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

     At this stage in life, it’s so easy for me to get caught up in where I want to be going to school, if I’ll get in, and what I’ll do with my life afterwards.  As a rising senior in high school, there are so many days when I think all too much about myself and what I want to do.  It drives me crazy that I can’t submit my college applications yet and that I don’t even know if my top choice will want me.  I want certain answers and I typically want them pretty soon.

     Recently I read James, and in chapter four I found a lot of comfort in my uncertainty.  Verse fourteen says “yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.  What is your life?  For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”  The first part of the verse is so simple but such a sweet reminder.  I truly have no idea where I’ll be going, but if it’s God’s plan I know it’ll work out.  While the second part of the verse might initially sound like a rough blow, I take “For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” as a reminder that my time on Earth is so insignificant, especially in comparison to the eternity I’ll get to spend with God in heaven.

     This week, remember that our time on Earth is little in comparison to the forever we’ll spend in paradise.  Know that God’s plan is greater than your dreams, even if there’s some uncertainty.  Be comforted and let your anxiety be eased by knowing that the same guy who paints the skies every evening is painting your future, and it’s going to be equally bright and beautiful.

Thanks for reading!  Have a blessed week!