Amazed.

Ohmygoodness.

I thought last weekend was really good... nope, this weekend beat it. And, I still have all of tomorrow!

So, last night (and all of today) I went to a Girl's Retreat - it was held in a church in Amarillo, but mostly sponsored by the BSM here on campus. I don't really want to share what we did, because that's not what important, and I don't want to make this blog extreeeemely long. :) What I do want to share is what I learned...

"Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." --- I absolutely love this verse. I think it's what we struggle with most as college students who have a relationship with Christ... it's so easy to get caught up in the party life or just let other things take priority over our relationship with Him. But, He will transform you, and the way you think. I can say from personal experience just over the last few months how much my thinking has changed... and how much further it has to change :)

"Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you." --- This goes so well with what I covered last week in Bible study, about living out your faith... living for Him and His glory. Our 'speaker' at the retreat said something that I think goes well with this, "Feed yourself the Word and it becomes your heart." The more you seek His word, the more it'll consume your mind... and that's where your actions begin. And if you're thinking about Him and His glory, and living that out... how will His peace NOT be with you?

The main focus of the retreat was about our mind as women, and how much we think about our looks and/or what others think about us. Things our speaker said that were noteworthy:

- We compare ourselves to others, and want to be accepted... but if what we're doing is okay with God and the Bible - then we are okay. His judgement is the only one that matters.

- If you desire someone else's life... or just a part of what they have (their love life, their money, their job, etc.), imagine taking all of it. You have to take everything they've gone through, and are currently going through. No one's life is perfect.

- Love is seeing someone through God's eyes - meaning, loving them despite their flaws (inside and out).

- There's no such thing as chance, every step is by God.

We had quiet time, and they asked to read over Psalm 139 and just write down what stood out to us, etc. This is what I wrote...

- He follows us everywhere, never leaves us. He blesses our entire body, soul and mind. We are made in His image. Even in our darkest times and through our trails, He is there. There's no greater support than Him. Despite other people (or even myself) thinking I'm not beautiful - I am. He has a marvelous plan for me, He has since the day I was born. He thinks I'm special enough to plan out every detail. We can't let those who oppose Him bring us down or lead us astray from the path of following God's will.

And with the related verses that my Bible had in the margins I also wrote down...

- He is the one we're held accountable to, not the people of this world. Everything comes from Him, and is intended for His glory. He is my rest, my peace, my strength, my guidance. He is the light, there's no darkness in Him. He made me, so I should live for Him.

We talked about how as women, our minds are constantly a battlefield. And how we're told to hide what's going wrong in our lives, to "hide behind a veil." But, being honest is a way of healing. If we don't tell others what's wrong, and ask for prayer.. it's just going to build inside of us.

I can't even type out everything that I learned/heard in a 24-hour time period! (I'll probably have to blog about this again...) We were joking about how full we all were from eating and snacking so much... but I feel so full spiritually right now, which I know you can never be full because you should continually be seeking His word... so I guess right now I'm just so overwhelmed (in a good way!) with His word right now :)

"My love is wider, deeper, higher, longer... My love is everlasting. ... Keep seeking My heart and it will be revealed to you."