Seeing His hand

Taken Christmas day Last month I participated in my church's annual 21 days of prayer and fasting. As I look back on those 3 weeks I see that the habits I had created had changed. I knew that it would be a possibility since the series at church was titled “Uphill Habits”, but the fact that I changed surprised me.  The alarm going off at 4:45am versus 5am was an uphill habit that was a struggle and also a victory for me. Yes, it’s only a 15 minute difference from my original time, but because of that 15 minute change I was able to go to prayer for 15 minutes before driving to work. Worship with my church community was honestly a blessing. The time was so sacred for our church. The first few mornings I was tired and unsure about making it to work on time, but soon that worry faded. Instead I entered into Gods presence, and let him take care of everything else that followed. I’m extremely thankful that my pastor had this set time of year because not only was my focus in the m

God,  Grant me the  Serenity To accept the things I cannot change Courage To change the things I can And the  Wisdom  to know the difference.  How many times have you ran across the Serenity prayer? 1? 2? 50? 100 times? I know I see it every time I pick up my journal.  Yet, how many times have you stopped to evaluate and reflect on that prayer? I’m pretty sure never.  Well, the same goes for me, that is until the night the Lord really opened up my eyes.  It was about 12:15am when I picked up my journal for the first time in a week. Before I opened the tab I skimmed over the words on the cover, however, something happened as I did. All of a sudden the words started shifting, and I was suddenly reading past those familiar words.  First it began with the word Serenity. We know that the root word is serene (yes i used my teacher voice when i was typing that) and we know that serene means calm or peaceful. With that knowledge I switched out the word

The bell rings at 7:45 and off the soldiers go. Dragging along to their first mission of the day. Where they will gain valuable knowledge for the years to come, even if they don’t believe that. I stand a few feet away reminding them that they are to be quick in getting where they need to go, that no one will wait for them because we have a ton to do. Suddenly there is a soldier struggling. Pulling, yanking, trying to overcome their problem, but it’s just not happening. They strain and try, try, and try again. She turns to look at me with pleading eyes. I step forward to help her. I listen to the problem, try to remedy the situation only to be in the same predicament. The late bell rings and I walk the soldier to her mission field and tell the leader about her problem. They nod in understanding. As I leave, the soldier tells me a new piece of information. I take hold of it with hope and go back to the problem. Thanks to that change of information I am able fix the problem immediate

Thanks Google! The following post includes the my new job title. “I’m thinking of becoming a middle school English teacher,” I smile as I tell another curious person. The statement is met with a look of shock followed by, “Why???”  Every.  Time.  I’m not even surprised anymore by the reaction, it seems natural. My response at first was a shrug. I couldn’t answer because all I knew was that I was drawn to the 6th-8th grade level. Yet, over the past month since I've graduated God has shaped the true response in my heart. I’ve begun to realize that those 3 years of our lives are the awkward years.  When most people look back on that time of their life they may or may not like what they see.  Those awkward years are the years where we begin to change both emotionally, physically, and mentally. 6th through 8th grade are the years that we begin to grow up. Our eyes are opened to new ideas and images. Our culture begins to effect who we are in a new way.  Our bodies

Sitting along the Galveston Coast on a beautiful Friday afternoon was pure bliss. A very limited amount of beach goers littered the stretch of sand my best friend and I occupied.  As I stared out over the brown salty water all I could do was watch the waves. It reminded me of an article I wrote last summer when I was in Hawaii. In Hawaii I was reminded of how God washes away our sins just like the ocean tides wipe away our footprints. That the footprint that we left are erased and can never be replaced. Sure a footprint by the same person can be pressed into the sand again, but not in the same way. Things and times will change. Even our prints change.  However, this time as I sat on the edge of the waves I felt and saw something different. I felt freedom.  I felt like I was suddenly shackle free. I contributed the feeling to not being in school anymore. That college isn't consuming my thoughts. That I don't have to worry about the stress of another deadline for

Graduation day! A week and a half ago included one of the biggest days of my life, my college graduation. I honestly can’t believe that my time at Texas State is over. Undergrad life was a rollercoaster of emotions. From Freshman year to Senior year I dealt with a lot of life changing events. During my freshman year I had the opportunity to go on my first out of state road trip with people I barely knew, and today those people mean the world to me. 2.42 Church is the group I took that trip with. Over the course of four years they taught me so much about the world around me. Our bible study group, the Thundercats, showed me true friendship over the years. I made lifelong friends within 2.42. They are going to be missed greatly. My favorite batch of people: 2.42 Church! There was a time between my freshman year and my sophomore year where I spent 3 months in the beautiful majestic Rocky Mountains. 2.42 has a leadership program that they do every year called Colorado LT (lead