MAN UP

If I could give any advice to men out there tonight it would be two words: man up.

No seriously.

Technology in today’s world has made a man’s pursuit for a woman much easier. Think about it, you can fbook her by instant messaging her, sending her a message, commenting on a pic, etc. “Hitting” on a girl is easy because you can do it from the comforts of your home and still feel “safe.” With the click of a mouse you can let a girl know you think she is cute.

What about in the real world men?

I cannot tell you how many pointless texting conversations I have had with the opposite sex. I’m telling you these conversations go nowhere. They are light and brief and really don’t end up going anywhere in getting to know each other. I also have had so many empty promises to teach me how to do this, or we will go here I don’t even believe them anymore. It is so easy to say things you never intend on doing in text, or turning the conversation into a pointless flirt fest. So if you think a girl is cute then man up and get to know her. I promise you, texting is no way to get to know a person. Ask her out, don’t even call it a date if you don’t want to, but at least take some initiative to get to know her.

That is my rant for the evening. Whether you believe in dating or courting, stay away from the texting and strictly online flirting…it really goes no where. You think she is cute? Get to know her, the real her. I'm sure many girls have had false hopes when a guy starts "wooing" her and never intends to follow through.

Help

Help.

You know those times when your will does not line up with God’s?

You know those times when you don’t want to submit your plans to Him because you know what would happen if you did?

You know those times when you know you should ask God about it but just don’t want to?

Here’s a tip, cry out to Him with just one little word. H-E-L-P!

While you may not be able to fully submit your desires at that moment, crying out “Help!” to God still involves Him in the equation.

Crying out “Help!” is a step in the right direction.

Crying out “Help!” is saying I am weak, I don’t know what is best, and that is about all I can bring myself to say right now.

If you give God the right to take control of the situation He will set you in the right direction.

Granted, God is not going to do all the work, but He will help you align your desires with His.

Psalm 3:4 To the Lord I cry aloud, and He answers me from His holy hill.

Love is not proud
Love does not boast
Love after all
Matters the most

Love does not run
Love does not hide
Love does not keep
Locked inside

Love is the river that flows through
Love never fails you

Love will sustain
Love will provide
Love will not cease
At the end of time

Love will protect
Love always hopes
Love still believes
When you don’t

Love is the arms that are holding you
Love never fails you

When my heart won’t make a sound
When I can’t turn back around
When the sky is falling down
Nothing is greater than this
Greater than this

Love is right here
Love is alive
Love is the way
The truth the life

Love is the river than flows through
Love is the arms that are holding you
Love is the place you will fly to
Love never fails you

-Brandon Heath

Must remind myself...

I
do
not
need
to
settle
for
subpar.

I want someone to KNOW they are in love with me.

Why my best friend rocks.

Me: "I found out another semi friend got engaged who is my age...I just ate a whole box of Peeps as a result."

Brett: "People need to stop getting married, you will get fat."

Since when I started growing up I do not know.

Half of my friends are getting married.

My high school work money is running out.

I’m thinking about internships.

I’m trying to set up meetings to shadow people for my future job.

I’m trying to figure out how I am going to support myself in two years.

My parents aren’t paying for everything anymore.

My mom is speaking of “retirement.”

I have to figure out how to pay for grad school all on my own and work.

I’m trying to figure out how to look good for my grad school application.

I no longer consider myself smart in school.

My dad called me an adult yesterday for the first time.

In less than two months I will no longer be a teenager.

Finding a home church where I live has become a priority.

Becoming a mentor to younger students in the church has become an interest to me.

And my renewal for my driver’s license came in the mail yesterday.

Sheesh, can I please just go back to my Junior year of high school? That year was so much fun.

Lord, not what I will, but what YOU will.

Plans

I don’t have time to write. I should be working on the mounds of homework I have while waiting for me just sitting here, but I can’t help get these thoughts out of my head. I wish to write on and on and make it pretty, but time just won’t allow.

I went to a wedding yesterday for one of my really close girl friends. It was a long trip to get there, about 400 miles out there, 400 miles back. It can really give a girl some time to think. There were many things so special about this wedding I could go on an on about, but one of the main things that was so special and evident was that God was the center of it all. While hearing the groom’s father speak about how they had been praying for a wife for their son and praying that she would perfectly compliment his son I got choked up.

This is what I want. This is what I have been wanting and have been praying for. But seeing it actually happen to another couple before my very own eyes has made it seem even more real that it can happen. Waiting for God’s best is worth it. Maybe this couple didn’t have to wait as long as I do. But that is okay. I want God’s best, why? Why not? I’d rather try and wait patiently and have God form His man for me than date the wrong one. I do not deserve to have a man who is wishy-washy about his love for me. I deserve to have a man who knows he wants me. I do not deserve someone subpar who isn’t sure of what he wants. Now it may take days, weeks, months, years till my husband is revealed to me…and who knows God may change my heart and I won’t ever get married…but what I do know is that God has an awesome plan for me. Whenever I doubt it all I have to do is look back on all the times I thought I was lost…..

Brother’s broken marriage brought me to psychology.

Uncertainness led me to Cal Baptist.

Cal Baptist led me to Hannah and Brittany.

Jeffrey brought me broken back to Jesus.

Cal Baptist led me home.

Home led me to a close family friend.

Family friend led me to discovering more things about myself.

Home led me to grow closer with Aurora and Janelle.

Dad’s sicknesses have led me to a appreciating him for who he is.

Psychology led me to Biola.

Biola led me to my best friend Brett.

Biola led me to solidify my major in psychology.

Biola led me to….well I could go on an on. (haha)

Broken friendships have led me to remembering Jesus is the only one we are to have our foundation in.

Singleness has led me to being able to be there for my family tremendously.

There has been several times I have felt lost…but then I look back and see God has done a great work in me and will continue to do a great work in me.

If I marry…I’m waiting for you hun. I’m trying to be patient. I’m trying to not look too hard. And when I do get lonely…just know, I’m praying for you too to be patient.

I want to sing and mean every word...

This week at BU is Mission’s Conference. The classes are cancelled for a couple days to go to chapel like conferences and focus on God’s call for our lives. A band called The City Harmonic is our guest band for the conference and I just heard them play live tonight. One of the lyrics to a song they played touched me deeply. So often we just sing worship songs as a ritual and we like to say we mean them, but do we really? Do we walk out of the church changed, do our actions follow? I absolutely love these lyrics. I want Jesus to be my all. I want Jesus to be all that I want. I don’t want to get caught up in wanting an awesome career. I don’t want to get caught up in finding a husband. I don’t want to get caught up in trying to find girlfriends. I don’t want to get caught up in getting the best body…I want Jesus to be my want. So often that doesn’t happen. I want to be every word. I don’t want to just sing it; I want to be it. I want the want of Jesus to be my desire. I want my life to show it. I don’t want to just go about speaking words that I love Jesus, that I go to a Christian University, that I’m minoring in Bible, I want my actions to speak for themselves. I guess what I am trying to say in this sloppy post is that, I really adore how this song speaks of desiring God. I want Him to be my desire. It doesn’t say You are my desire, but I want Him to be my full desire. Sometimes we just need to ask God to work in our lives so He becomes that to us…admitting that sometimes He isn’t our desire and that we crave for Him to become our desire. It’s similar to crying out “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24) Yeah, this post is written poorly and may not make sense to all, but it makes sense to me. Haha.


May my life speak louder than words
and what I’m saying
is “Jesus, I’m sure You’re what I want”
Yeah, that’s what I want

These words ain’t cheap, no, they bleed on the page.
I see what I’ve been and that needs to change
and that’s what I want
yeah, You’re what I want
Ha – la – la – lelujah, yeah
Hallelu
Ha – la – la – lelujah, oh yeah
What I want is You

I want to sing – sing and mean every word
Cause what I’m singing is “Joy to the world”
And that’s what I want, yeah,
That’s what I want

So go on sing, sing, all of heaven and earth
But don’t just sing – be – and be every word
That’s what I want, yeah,
That’s what I want

Ha – la – la – lelujah, yeah
Hallelu
Ha – la – la – lelujah, oh yeah
What I want is You

(Hallelujuah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah)

Ha – la – la – lelujah, Hallelu
What I want is You.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hax9bJAkHmU

Pitiful or Powerful?

This changed the way I think, and I hope you will take the time to read it as well. The whole book so far is very good, I recommend it.


Excerpt from Managing Your Emotions by Joyce Meyer.

“If you want to receive emotional healing and go forward with your life, you must lay down self-pity. I am so convinced of that truth that I will go so far as to ask you the same question that God asked me several years ago: “Do you want to be pitiful or powerful?”

I will also pose some other questions for you on this same subject. The first one is: “Do you feel sorry for yourself?”

Be honest in your response. Don’t do as I used to do and answer, “Yes, but…”

God has shown me that self-pity is like a wall that keeps us from going forward in life. In my own life, I had to learn that everyone has problems. Just because I was abused as a child, I am not a special case. Like everyone else, I have to take responsibility for my own healing and restoration-and so do you. We must cooperate with the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

My next question is: “Do you have a chip on your shoulder?”

For years I walked around with a huge chip on my shoulder because, “what happened to me was not fair; it shouldn’t have happened to a dog, so I deserve…”

It is a little hard on the flesh to have to admit that our special problems do not make us special cases. We are all special to God, but everybody has been hurt or abused in one way or another. Each of us has to take responsibility for our own behavior and avoid blaming the past or those who have hurt us.

The Bible tells us that those who wallow in self-pity make themselves vulnerable to the devil, who is seeking someone to devour.

If we don’t want the devil to devour us, then we need to resist self-pity, blaming others, and carrying a chip on our shoulder. If we do things God’s way, we will experience God’s victory.

That’s the message that the Lord was trying to get across to me when He asked me whether I wanted to be pitiful or powerful. He was saying to me then, just as He is saying to you now, “You may have a reason to feel sorry for yourself, but you have no right to do so, because I am willing to heal your life. I will deliver you from everything Satan has tried to do to you, and I will use it for your good and My glory.”

All the hurts and wounds you have suffered, even the things you have done to wrong yourself, the Lord can make into the tools and equipment you need to minister to other hurting people.”

Tick. Tock.

I was driving to Starbucks trying my best to arrive on time to meet a friend when I got the text, I’m going to be a little late. One of my biggest pet peeves is waiting on people, even though I tend to be a little late often too…I know I am such a hypocrite. So there I was waiting in my car in the parking lot. I decided that I would make the most out of this opportunity, better or bitter as Aurora always reminds me. I got my nail file out, started talking to God, and listened to some worship music. I then got a second text notifying me that I would be waiting even longer than expected. Normally I would have sent back an annoyed text, but I didn’t. I just kept reminding myself that this was just more time that God was giving me to spend with Him. When my friend finally showed up I was happy with the way I reacted. I didn’t give him the third degree when I had been sitting out there for a good half an hour; I knew it wasn’t his fault that events kept happening. I am so thankful to God that He gave me the time and nudged me to just spend it with Him. I normally would have reacted way differently, but I’m super thankful I was able to control my emotions with God’s help and turn it into something good. The point is, God gives us time everyday to spend with Him, and sometimes He will purposefully slow life down to give us that time, but it’s up to us how we use that time. I could have sat in my car grumbling counting down the minutes, but when I used it for His glory, there wasn’t too much grumbling to be done. There are many opportunities out there to complain about being slowed down, let’s say annoying traffic, but there are also many opportunities to turn that time into a time with God. Thank you God for the reminder.

Ephesians 5:15-20
15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I'm Lovin it.

So I have decided to make healthier decisions when it comes to eating. No, it’s not tied into a New Years resolution; it’s called stepping onto the scale after a semester at Biola and a fattening Christmas and saying, ouch.

Upon this past week of trying to make healthier decisions I found sometimes life just happens and you have to grab some fast food. As I struggled with what to order in the McDonalds drive thru lane trying to make the healthiest in decision I chose a McChicken sandwich with no mayo. I then ate the sandwich with only one side of the bun.

I decided to go online and look at the nutrition facts so next time I would know what to order. I’m no dietician and I don’t know what fats are good and such and such, but if you are just counting calories, this may be some useful information.

I found that just a regular hamburger had 110 calories less than a McChicken. Calories wise, as far as sandwiches go, just a regular hamburger is the lowest coming in at 250 calories. The highest sandwich coming in at a whopping 790 calories was the Angus Bacon and Cheese. Also up in the 700s was Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese, Angus Bacon and Cheese, Angus Deluxe, and Angus Mushroom and Swiss. Also high was any chicken sandwich that was crispy. That’s going to cost you at least a hundred calories more instead of having it grilled. I found 3 Snack Wraps all under 300 calories; the Grilled Ranch Snack Wrap (270cal), Grilled Honey Mustard Snack Wrap (260cal), Grilled Chipotle BBQ Snack Wrap (260cal). A small order of fries is 230 calories, not including 15 calories per ketchup packet. Calories wise, 4 piece chicken nuggets looked good at 190 calories, but that doesn’t include the extra 50 calories in dipping sauce. So you are at 240 calories for chicken nuggets or 250 calories for a regular hamburger.

When I began to look at their salads, I thought not bad, until I looked at how much calories the dressings had. Your best bet, go for the Newman’s Own Low Fat Balsamic Vinaigrette, which is only 40 calories, compared to 190 calories of New Man’s Own Creamy Caesar Dressing. The croutons are also going to cost you 60 calories. The lowest salad was the Premium Caesar Salad without chicken (90cal). The second lowest salads without chicken at 140 were the Premium Southwest Salad (140cal) or the Premium Bacon Ranch Salad.

I’m not a big breakfast eater, so I won’t go too much into this meal. All I have to say is, stay away from the hotcakes! You will end up with about 1300 calories if you eat the Big Breakfast with Hotcakes! Lowest breakfast would be opting for an English muffin, or the Oatmeal all under 300 calories.

Desserts, oh where to begin! Oh how I lovveee McDonald’s desserts! Sometimes I just go there just to get dessert! The key to this, stay away from shakes and McFlurries. I know, I know, so hard! If you do opt for a McFlurry and can’t resist, choose Oreo over M&Ms, this will save you 130 calories, not much when you already having a lot of calories, but it’s saving something. Your best bet, which most of you already know would be Apple Dippers with low fat caramel or a Fruit ‘N Yogurt Parfait. I know, some dessert. Humph! If you must splurge, have a cookie. Having a cookie is way better than blowing it on a shake. A Baked Hot Apple Pie will also be a much better choice than a small shake.

The thing I am beginning to tell myself when I want something extra is, eating at McDonalds is already the splurge. If you want to splurge get a cheeseburger, instead of a regular hamburger. That costs you 50 calories and the splurge is the cheese, not feeling the need to add a small order of French fries. I’m also telling myself, if I’m already ordering a burger than a salad, that is the splurge. I don’t really want to buy a salad at McDonalds! Come on it’s McDonalds! Haha.

So my tips at eating at McDonalds. Hamburger, or Chicken Nuggets if you don’t opt for a salad. Not feeling up to drinking more water, have some iced tea! I love iced tea and love that it has zero calories! So if I ordered a hamburger, apple dippers with lowfat caramel dip, and an iced tea my order would total 350 calories. Ordering a Snack Wrap would also come out to about the same. Bad, but not too bad for eating out. I also totaled what would be my perfect meal at McDonalds, and that came out to 1500 calories! Point of the story, know what to order before you go through that drive-thru.