Persistence

Right now in my writing life, I'm trying to get ready for an upcoming writers' conference. Honestly, it's sometimes a bit of an intimidating prospect to think of going somewhere with so many other writers. What if this shows me that my book isn't good enough? I'm not good enough? Will I be able to stay calm when presenting my book to a literary agent?

There's work to be done in advance, too. I'm preparing a book proposal customized to each of the agents I requested to speak with. I'm also trying to get more of my book through a critique group so it's more polished before I present it.

A while back, it would have been easy to throw in the towel and decide not to go. That it was too hard. But I'm glad I didn't, because I'm sure all this work will be worth it.

Just like with achieving our goals, our walk with God takes a lot of persistence. Just this morning I was trying to understand a verse I've never fully grasped. I spent a good deal of time fighting with concordances, and still I didn't have a good idea of the meaning of the root word(s) in question. I'm not giving up on this one, though. Tomorrow's a new day, and I'll give it another shot.

The benefits of persisting in our walk with Christ--in our devotions, our prayer life, and our daily dependence on Him--are always worth the work. And when you think about it, it is His strength that allows us to persist.

He gives us the goal and the ability to do it.

What a good God we serve!

"And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."

(Galatians 6:9)

God's Been Good

In thinking about a topic to write tonight, I looked back over my blog posts. While I was doing this, I came across a line in one that, well, I didn't exactly know what to think about.

Last December, I wrote a post titled "What Remains Constant." In it, I wrote, "I hope that when I hit next summer, I'll be able to look back at this year and say, 'You know what? I made it!'"

I thought about that this summer. This year was a difficult one in some ways. I never expected to leave my original college. I didn't know I'd get certain pieces of bad news that would test my trust in God.

But as I look back over the year, I can see that God has been good. And is good.

This year God took away my plan for college and gave me a better one.

He allowed changes at my camp and I believe they worked to glorify Him and help change my heart.

Through a class, He showed me how to get more out of His Word ... more work but huge benefits!

Looking back at this year, my desire isn't to say "I made it." I don't feel as if I've victoriously conquered a hard road. I feel as if I've been stretched. Refined. And I'm thankful for it. I'm thankful to God for doing it.

As I take another look back, I choose to say, "God is good."

Simplicity

I miss camp. For any of you that know me, that's not really a surprise. :-)

One of my favorite things about camp is the lack of distractions. In general, I didn't use my laptop during the week. I didn't use my phone--to the point that I kept forgetting where it was! I didn't really read anything but my Bible.

I also love the way God's Word and prayer is a part of the fabric of all we do. Operational staff girls started out their days with devos led by our camp cook in the kitchen. Towards the end of the summer we started having prayer meetings together in the evening. We went to evening services. We read our Bibles. We prayed personally.

Home is different.

It's not that I don't pray or read my Bible here. It's not that I don't pray with my family.

There's just so much distracting stuff.

Packing for college. Thinking about important things going on this semester. Trying to clear some junk out of my room. And starting to wonder about what God wants me to do in certain areas I thought I already knew about.

Undoubtedly, home has more distractions. But it doesn't mean it can't be as simple as camp. I can make the choice for a simple life.

Simply focusing on God ... in each choice and moment.

Simply doing what He's told me to do ... without resisting.

Simply loving Him.

I pray He helps me live simply.
 

"And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment."

(Mark 12:30)

 

Taking It All In

I've been gone from my blog for a while ... but with good reason.

I just finished another summer working at camp.

If you were to ask me how it went, I'd probably give you a big smile and tell you that it was incredible. That God changed me. That I saw Him work.

But really, that's only the tip of the iceberg.

How do you tell people that God helped you understand--at least a little--how prayer works? Or that He showed you answered prayers in a way you've rarely seen?

How do you tell of 101 more souls on their way to heaven now, and many, many Christians who made the choice to live more fully for Jesus?

And how do you explain how God took the one thing you thought you couldn't do--be a counselor--and blessed you so richly in it? How He gave you words when you had nothing to give?

That's what my summer was. And so much more! I don't think I'll ever be able to help anyone else fully understand what this summer was to me. But that won't stop me from telling you how good God is.

The best part? This isn't the end of an awesome experience with God!

It's another step on the journey closer.

Praise Him!

 

"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen."

(Eph. 3:20-21)

Thoughts

It's late, and my brain isn't really cooperating. But I've been thinking about blogging for a while now, so I thought I'd make a quick post. Now that the semester is over, I really have quite a lot of things I could talk about, but I'll keep it simple. Five thoughts from this semester (don't be surprised if I write posts elaborating on them later...).

~ God's plans are the best. I never planned on going to the college I'm at now, but I'm so thankful that I did!

~ God is always good. This world can be a terrible place sometimes, but in these past few months I've learned to trust through the hard times.

~ It's amazing to think that God thinks about us. A friend told me to read Psalm 40 this semester; verse five says, "Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered." Just the thought that God thinks about us--insignificant as we are--should be enough to make us pause and be thankful.

~ God is more than capable of getting me through things I never thought I could handle. I didn't know if I could do this whole college thing, but God saw me through this semester, and I look forward to continuing.

~ Priorities are a hard thing to keep straight. Motives too. One thing I realized this semester is that wanting God isn't enough. I have to want Him most.

No More Sunday School!!

Before anyone thinks I've gone off the deep end, I'm not advocating an end of Sunday School. Rather, I'm saying I'm fleeing Sunday School Christianity.

This weekend at my college we held a teen camp. I was one of the counselors, but I think the sessions may have had as much of an impact on me as on anyone. One thing the speaker talked about several times were "Sunday School Answers."

"Is God good?"
"Yes."

"Is God in control?"
"Yes."

We learn these things in Sunday School. We know all the right answers ... but there are some people who don't allow these truths past their heads and into their hearts.

It seems I'm really learning a lot about that this semester. In my last post, I talked about trusting even in the hard times. If someone asked me about a year ago if God is always good, I would have given them the Sunday School answer "yes." I believed it, but I hadn't majorly experienced the truth of it in my heart. I hadn't clung to it even when life was terribly confusing and I hurt.

Now I have.

The more I start really living this Christian life, the more I want to go deeper. I don't only want the answers, I want the life. I know God...

...and I want to know Him more!

"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3). 

The Way It Is

Sometimes things come into our lives, and we just know it's not supposed to be this way.

And we don't get it. We know God is good and He is there, but we still don't get it. Here's my proposition: We don't need to get it.

No, this world isn't the way it should be. It hasn't been since man rebelled in the garden of Eden. Sometimes things hurt so badly we can physically feel our emotional pain. Sometimes we wish we didn't have to know how bad the world can really be sometimes. Sometimes we don't understand what God's doing ...

... but our circumstances change nothing.

God is still God. He is still eternally good, and holy.

We can still trust God in the hard times. Look at the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). When we walk with God we can have joy and peace ... even in our pain.

I'm guessing there are some things that will come into each of our lives that will never make sense to us. But even when I don't understand why God has allowed something, I will not stop trusting Him.

How can I expect to fully understand the mind of God? It's impossible.

But when I don't understand, I know that He does. Even if He never chooses to show me why, I will cling to the fact that He knows.

God is true, no matter what happens.