Friday, August 7, 2009

Hands and Feet.

I spent this last week in Glorieta, New Mexico.


The trip is sponsored through the BSM every year, at the beginning of August. I went last year as a freshman and had a good enough time to go again this year. But, last year we didn’t do anything of the recreational activities (paddle boating, mini golf, etc.) or go to worship. It’s “Collegiate Week” down there, so hundreds of college students are around for this conference. In order to attend the conference, we would have to pay an extra $65, instead of just relaxing and entertaining ourselves.

This year, we went paddle-boating and hiked (in a car) to “Lookout Point,” where you can see out over all of Glorieta. And, we snuck into worship each night and a few breakout sessions. The band is originally from Lubbock, and they were amazing. The church I go to, Hillside Christian, has a very contemporary worship, and this band almost belongs in Hillside! The speaker, Tony Merida, was also really good. He really knew how to reach out to college students.


By far, my favorite part of the trip was just sitting down and reading my bible with Taylor. I’ve never actually just sat down and read my Bible; I’ve only read it during church or bible study. But, this week I did. Every verse I’ve heard or seen from Proverbs, I’ve loved. So one morning, I read/skimmed through Proverbs… the entire book. And, Taylor and I started our own little Bible study/devotional – we each bought a book and we’re just going to go through each one together.

Speaking of Bible study…  for the few of you that don’t know, I am going to lead a girl’s Bible study this fall. A few times this summer, I just had a thought… that leading a Bible study would be kind of fun, but I thought I didn’t know enough and just basically made up excuses. Well, Tiffany (the intern at the BSM) also mentioned it a few times but I just shrugged it off. But, this last week we were talking about it and I decided to do it. I think sometimes as Christians, we get too comfortable in our faith and don’t try to deepen our walk with God. One thing we talked about was stepping out in faith, trusting God with a trial or something that we need to “let go” of. After thinking about it, I decided leading Bible study is how I was stepping out. I don’t like speaking in front of people, I’m not fully educated in the Bible… but it’s not about what I’m saying, it’s about God.

I read/heard so many good things this week, I can’t even think of them all right now. I’m sure I’ll be posting more in the next few weeks. But here’s two of my favorite verses:

“Commit your work to the Lord, and then your plans will succeed.” – Proverbs 16:3

“We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.” – Proverbs 16:9


And a few lyrics I can’t get out of my head:

“Heal my heart and make it clean, 

Open up my eyes to the things unseen,

Show me how to love like you have loved me,


Break my heart from what breaks yours,

Everything I am for your kingdoms cause,

As I go from nothing to eternity”


I’ve been praying for certain friends and family these past few weeks, and just hoping their hearts would change, along with me. A speaker at Glorieta said something that really stuck, “Somewhere, someone is needing you to be hands and feet of Christ for them.” That really stood out to me because recently one of my best friends started going to church with me, and I kind of feel that part of the reason God brought us together was to help her know Christ. And, I feel like that’s what I’m going to do and/or need to do for some of my other friends.

And, this week my grandma (on my mom’s side) was admitted to the hospital, first for low oxygen, and now she has a blood clot in both lungs and possible pneumonia. I have a daily bible verse sent to my phone every morning, and when I read today’s… I knew it was exactly what I needed to hear: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." – Philippians 4:6 

I am not all-knowing. I am not the perfect Christian. I am not only turning to God in times of trial, but to rejoice as well. I am working on my walk with God

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