In the Grip of Grace-3

There's a story of a cricket. He lives inside of a room and to him, this is all there is. The room seems so big to him, but in reality, its so small compared to the vast world outside its walls. He wakes up every day to find food and accomplish the typical daily tasks and goes back to bed that night, feeling as if he's accomplished a lot, but in the grand scheme of things, he's accomplished so little.
This cricket lives a "godless" life. He has no perception of right and wrong, no Creator to worship and no purpose. His knowledge of his world doesn't propel him to learn more, only to be content with his knowledge.

How often do we live a godless life? Do you have a time in your life when you've lived in a godless mentality?

In the Grip of Grace-2

I'm just going to post a quote and let you all reflect on it and comment on it.

"God does not sit silently while his children indulge in perversion. He lets us go our sinful way and reap the consequences. Every broken heart, every unwanted child, every war and tragedy can be traced back to our rebellion against God...Does He simply shake His head and say 'Humans will be humans?'...God is rightfully angry."

I don't even know what to say except if you need an example of rebellious living, just look at my life. In some ways I have good rebellion. I'm pretty resistant to ways of this world, but then every so often (lately it's about every day), Satan likes to convince me that my ways are superior to God's (which by the way, never works out).

What do you think?

In the Grip of Grace-1

Sorry it's taken so long for me to update. It's been a few crazy days! Anyways, I thought I'd start sharing my thoughts on In the Grip of Grace. Feel free to comment on what your thoughts are on this book. Well, here it goes.

The book opens telling a story about 5 sons. The oldest son is wise and obedient whereas the three youngest are rebellious and certainly foolish. Near their house was a river with a fast current that would carry anything past the mountain. One day the youngest sons ventured closer than ever to the rushing river and through a series of events found themselves farther down the river than they had ever been and past the mountain. They waited for days for their eldest brother to come for them. Every night they would meet back by the fire near the river. One night the oldest of the 4 didn't return and the other three set forth to find him. He was building a house. You see, he had given up hope and decided to settle for what his surroundings were and settle amongst the savages. The second of the 4 judged his older brother and point at all of his sins and made camp outside his house. The 2 youngest returned to the river and waited for another night. The next morning the youngest son found himself alone by the fire. He searched for his brother and found him next to the river stacking rocks. He decided he was going to build a bridge all the way up the river and prove to his father he deserved forgiveness.

The firstborn son finally came to rescue his 4 younger brothers. However, when he arrived he only found the youngest. He searched for the middle three and each one passed up his offer on returning home. The oldest of the 4 denied even knowing him and choose to continue living his savage ways; he became the "hut-building hedonist." He choose to forever live outside his father's will and engage in savage acts. The middle son was too focused on condemning his older brother; he became the "fault-finding judgementalist." He never acknowledged his faults were just as great as his brother's. The 2nd youngest continued to gather rocks and build a stone path up the river. His brother told him he would never make it and that he didn't have to prove himself worthy; his father had already forgiven him. He never listened and thus became the "rock-stacking legalist." The oldest brother returned to the fire where he had left his youngest brother. He quickly to his brother why the 3 middle brothers choose to not return to their father. The youngest hopped on his brother's back and together they made it up the river.

Which brother have we become? Throughout our lives, we play the role of all three, but today, are we ignoring God's truth, condemning others, proving ourselves worthy, or are we riding in the Grace Jesus has offered us through God's forgiveness.

I myself typically live as the condemning brother or the unworthy brother. Lately I've spent so much time trying to prove that I am worthy of so many things other than just God's amazing grace. What about you?

In the Grip of Grace

So I started a new book last night and plan to post what I learn from it as I read it. I only made it through the intro last night, but still learned a lot. In the Grip of Grace was written by Max Lucado. I've spent the last year reading a daily devotional by him and fell in love with his writing. So look forward to some posts on this book! I can't wait to really get in deep with it!

Old Ties

Tonight I went and hung out with some old friends who I went with to every church function you could image for years until last summer. Then with changes, it's rare to see them now. The coolest thing about tonight is that it was like we were never apart. You know when you spend so much time and share so many great memories with people you could be apart for years then the moment you get together, it's like you haven't spent a moment apart. I love that about friends who stick closer than family!

Here's some old pics of us all!

Tim and Nicole

Tim and Nicole. They've been such a huge part of my life for almost 7 years now. They started with me and all my friends way back in 5th grade!!! Can you believe it? They've been the only people who my friends and I haven't scared off. They have two handsome boys and I'll get some pics of them. Thanks for all you guys do. I can't believe you guys stuck around as long as you have. Can you believe we're graduating in a few months?

One final friend

This is my friend Taylor, I just realized I hadn't mentioned him. Sorry, neighbor. :) He's one of those people from the moment I met him, he could read my face and understand why. Although we've been through a lot this past year, he always seems to be there when I need an ear the most! Well, I think the picture explains him pretty well too. Always on a search for something, this time he was looking for Hannah and I in Washington D.C.

Santa's new helpers

Well, here's my brother...no need to say anything else. This pretty much explains it.

My girls!

So I have to tell you about my amazing beautiful girls! I enjoy every moment I spend with them, and even though their 4,5,6 years younger than me, they are some of my best friends when I feel lonely. I spent almost everyday with them this summer and I still miss not seeing them all the time.

I don't have a picture of Aubs, but I'll get one soon. Above is Matyson and to the side is Abby. Two beautiful girls! I love all three of you so much!

Indescribable

I had to share a video with you guys. A friend of mine showed me this video in September and it's become one of my favorites simply because it reminds me how indescribable are God is and even through a six minute video the pastor barely captures all the phases we use to attempt to describe His goodness in our lives! Go watch it, you'll be touched for sure!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2f1ItK-Alg

Christmas

So today we had our first Christmas with my mom's side of the family. It's so funny the differences between my parents' families. My mom's family is loud and everyone's focused on the TV watching football or basketball. On my dad's side, it's much quieter and focused! I love both sides so much, but it's crazy to see the differences! It started snowing and we had to leave early to be sure we made it back on time for church. Thankfully we made it back to Edmond with about an hour to spare! Soon I have to head back to church for the second of nine experiences this weekend! I can't wait to go watch Trent beat his heart out on the drums!! I'll try to upload the video soon!

Change

Here's Chris. For those of you who don't have the privilege of knowing him, this isn't his normal appearance. Although he does seem to pop up with something crazy from time to time. We have been friends for about four years now, and it amazes me how much people can change. He's becoming quite the disciple for Jesus. He's such an inspiration to me in how crazy his life can get, yet he stays pretty calm most of the time. He's always there to lift my spirits when the world's got me down. He's pretty much amazing. (you can hate me for the pic later, it's the best I had. )

Taylor

This is one of my many incredible friends, Taylor. Although she is an OSU fan, we found a way to get along most of the time. She's also one of the friends you don't understand how they made it into your life, you just thank God for letting your paths meet for the time being.

Friends

These two girls have been my best friends since you could have best friends. How we've managed to stay friends for this long, I'll have to ask God someday, but my only explaination for now is GOD!!!



Another BFF of mine is Caroline. Not a day goes by when I don't thank God for your friendship in my life! You are my sanity, and I don't know what I'd do with out any of you three!

Europe

So I couldn't wait...so here are some memories from Europe! For all those who went with me, you guys totally made the trip. I was a little worried because Caroline was the only one I really knew and I'm not big on meeting new people, but you all probably caught on to that...anyway, I'm gonna look for some of my favorite pics and share some of my experiences with all of you who missed out on this amazing journey!

Here's a picture from the top of the London Eye!

This is my new favorite place in the world! Zurich, Switzerland. Talk about being surrounded by God's beauty!! Waking up to the Swiss Alps and shimmering Lake Zurich underneath them every morning...I didn't want to leave!

The Eiffel Tower, need I say more!

Breendonk Concentration Camp in Belgium. The craziest thing is that walking into this place, we were all joking and having a good time, and then upon entrance to the camp, the talking stopped and we were silent until we left hours later. I remember never wanting to go anywhere by myself and I made sure someone was near me, no matter what. That's just how creepy this place was. It's giving me chills just thinking about it now...
The William Tyndale Memorial--this came after our tour of Breendonk. When we were half way between the train station and the site, it started to pour!! (that's why we're all soaking wet). Unfortunately, there weren't many places to stay out of the rain, so we just kept pressing on. :)

Here's everyone (at least all the students, Stephanie and Cobra, I'll get a pic in of you--promise!) Austin, Laurel, Me, Des, Micah, Hurley, Tina, Steph, Beth, Caroline, and Uriah. Such a God-picked group!

My First!

Wow! I can't believe it! I actually got permission to have a blog! I'm so excited! I love reading other peoples' blogs and keeping up with people I don't get to spend a lot of time with anymore. Hopefully I'll be able to post a lot! I'll post some of my favorite pictures soon!