Thursday, August 26, 2004

GOD IS SO AMAZING!!!!!

So let me just tell you how amazing God is and what he did in my life today. I guess first I should tell you what I've been wanting and praying for and you can see how God totally walked through the doors of Coldstone today. So I've been thinking about how it would probably be good to have a job that gears more towards what I wanna do in the future and probably get plugged into the ministry somehow before I head off to seminary. But I've pretty much been chicken to leave Coldstone so haven't even tried to look for a new job. But seriously am not making enough at Coldstone and they aren't giving me the hours I set my school schedule for so I was going to try and get a second job as a sub so that I could kind of choose if I wanted to work or not. So today I am working and I am serving this couple and I am charming them because well that's what I do at work. They sit down and are eating their ice cream and start asking about me. So I tell them that I am a senior and my major is Human Development & Family Studies. They asked me what I wanted to do with that and I said Marriage & Family Therapy, preferably premarital & marital counseling. Then without thinking I shouldn't tell them too much more my mouth flys open and all sorts of stuff starts flowing out of my mouth. I tell them I want to get my masters at either Southern or Southwestern. They ask where I go to church and why I left FBC and I just tell them everything about how God took me to Southcrest and how I knew I was suppose to be there. I told them about how I wanted a second job because I didn't make enough. Then he asked me if I liked children and I told him about how I worked at a day care for 3 1/2 years but then I quit because they weren't paying me enough. And before I know it the guy hands me his business card and offers me a job as a children's intern at his church. He tells me to stop by and as I glance down at the card I see that it says "Trinity Baptist Church" and he says it's located at 34th & Boston. And at this time my heart might have skipped a beat and I said "my granddad use to be the associate pastor there". We talked about that for a few minutes and when he left I went to the back and I looked down to notice that I was shaking and then I started crying. It was like God totally put Pastor Robert in Coldstone and had me be that open with him. Anyway, so I am gonna call him tomorrow and go talk to him about a job. Pray for me please! Well God is good! And I forgot to tell you he offered me a better pay than I am getting now...ya that's right I told him what I made now and he offered me better. AMAZING!

Monday, August 23, 2004

I took the time to get to know someones heart tonight and I am glad I did. It's sad but we are all guilty of it, but we hear something about someone and we judge them based on what we hear but we never take the time to get to know that person. I sat here in my room tonight and watched this person worship God and I knew it was genuine and someone was cruel enough to make up all sorts of crap about this person and their walk with God. Who are they to speak anyway? I mean really. Who am I to speak even? I am just as guilty as the next I am sure of it. It's so sad but I know that we're all guilty of doing it. Seriously, take the time to get to know someone's heart. Love them for who they are and where they are. We've all screwed up and we're all gonna continue screwing up. Tonight I sat there listening to my friend play the guitar and I kept rereading this verse over and over again "There is not a righteous man on earth that does what is right and never sins." (Ecclesiastes 7:20) I meditated on this verse for awhile and I can't get it off my mind...we always sin. Simply put, we always sin. It's never gonna go away, not until one day I come face to face with my Savior and then finally I can be free of sin.

Last night I went over to Jeff's for a little worship session and I sat there and I felt so guilty for running from God all summer and I became so broken. I sat there and felt so unworthy and really empty and I realized how far I had ran and how God was calling me back and it was time for me to coming running into his arms again. How sweet is it that I get to fall in love with Him over and over again? Afterwards I sat here at home and thought about worship and if I really worshiped or not or if everything I put forth was just me singing because I knew the song.

Now what is it that you think I needed to hear this morning? So Dusty gets up to speak and his first question is "How would you define authentic worship?" then "What is worship not?" Wow, could this sermon seem any more perfect to me? Oh but it only got better. Key verse, Isaiah 29:13 "The Lord says: 'These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.' " All summer that was me...I would draw near to him with my mouth & lips but my heart was nowhere near. Then Dusty said something which made me realize my worship was real this morning for the first time almost all summer and it's because this morning I longed to be fed, I longed to drink from the fountain. And Dusty said that worship is equally worthy to God when your drinking or longing for a drink from His fountain. And that we should pray to God "God I've drank from you before and I'm thirsty for you now."

Lessons learned: I may have been so far this summer but all that matter is that now I long to be closer to him. I shouldn't be down on myself just because I had a hard summer and I sinned and I ran from God because I sin, it's natural. And thankfully God has given me grace and it has set me free from that sin. Man God is so good to me even when I am so undeserving.