trusting.

trust. this is a constant theme in my quiet times. probably because i have a hard time with it. we had a worship night last night, and my wonderful roommate, anna, spoke some incredible truth about fully trusting God and what that looks like. she spoke about how we are quick to say "i trust you, Lord" ...but do we really trust Him? what does that look like for you? i'll be honest. i have a tendency to worry. i'm an "N" (myers-briggs), so i see everything big picture style and i worry about the future. i worry about getting things done. i worry about what's to come...but God speaks against those things.

"when i am afraid, i will trust in You. in God, whose Word i praise, in God i trust; i will not be afraid."

ps. 56:3-4

here's the thing about it: we can speak those truths into our lives, but we really need to do it. we need to give every burden, every worry, every fear, every doubt over to the one who sent His son to die so we could do just that. Jesus gave his own life to free us from these afflictions. read that sentence again. his LIFE. for us. for our freedom. i've never thought about it that way until today. we absolutely better be trusting Him. talk about a perspective shift. 

post-Christmas

so...as i've previously said, i lead worship at an incredible church in the twin cities, substance. this Christmas, i sang in a spectacular production that i am still truly so honored and humbled to have been a part of. our team arranged a very, very cool version of "o come Emmanuel" that we filmed and recorded live...and the video's done! check it out... and also check out our worship blog!

seek ye first

i've been praying lately that God would give me an insatiable hunger for Him. you know those times- when you're out running errands or at work or out with friends or whatever...suddenly you just want to rush home, grab your Bible, and be with Jesus. i love, love, love those times! lately though, unfortunately, i've been so busy and life has been passing so quickly that i haven't had many of those times. i've been meeting with the Lord on the regular, but it feels shallow and flat on my end of things. one of my new year's resolutions was to journal every single day. i don't know about you, but when i journal, i journal prayers. as of late, my journals have been seriously lacking. they're full of "thanks for [whatever]," "it was a good day," "i'm excited for [whatever]." this just isn't okay with me. i want my journal to be a place where God reveals Himself to me and i'm able to process with Him. i've been praying for that. i've been praying that He would light a fire in me and that my heart would burn for Him. last week at our worship night, my lovely roommate kk began to sing out this chorus:

the more you seek Him, the more you find Him

the more you find Him, the more you love Him

wow. talk about convicting. i totally realized that i wasn't seeking Him the way i'm called to. i wasn't searching for His passion, so i wasn't feeling His passion. it all makes so much sense now. since then, my journaling and prayer times have changed drastically. i've devoted time to reading His Word- i mean really reading it- and praying for extended periods of time. and, shockingly enough, the more i do all of this, the more hungry i am for Him. i encourage you to spend some real time with God today. rest in His presence and truly give Him all of you during that time. let go of distractions, let go of schedules. He's our King. He deserves our undivided, whole-hearted attention. 

"seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." matthew 6:33

blogland

my blog is so cute...
it has so much potential...

...and it's incredibly deserted.

how sad! i am quite possibly the world's worst blogger! who doesn't write a blog post for over 3 months? no good, my friends. no good.

i feel that there's so much to say, but there's no possible way to say it all in a mere blog post. Christmas even happened. i'm so sorry. all i can say is that i promise to be better! i would love to see this blog actually go places in 2012 (however, i think that i would get much more traffic if i were a fashionista blogger...).

here's to 2012 (it's already february?!) and to blogging at its finest.

a little something that's been on my heart lately: God's been convicting me in the area of love. i don't mean the fireworks kind of love that chad and i have (he he he). i mean loving His people. i've been praying a lot about loving people and seeing them through His eyes. we've all got a story. we've all got our issues. we've all got something. to be completely vulnerable and honest, i struggle with this. i jump to cynical/skeptical conclusions about people. i get annoyed with little things and then have a hard time being around certain people. but Jesus does not teach this. He teaches us to love. 1 John 4:7 says, "beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God." He's the one who sat at the table with the tax collectors and whores (gasp!). He's the one who gives water to the thirsty and food to the hungry. and we are called to do the same. i've been striving to always give people the benefit of the doubt. to always love. to always speak with kind words and choose peace and harmony.

harmony.
that's a word that has come up quite a few times in the last month or so for me. that is my prayer for 2012. harmony, love, and peaceful things. i know it maybe sounds a bit unrealistic or fantastical...but it's my prayer. i want to love. to really love.

romans 12:16

live in harmony with one another. do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. do not be conceited.