Whew

What a relief... Have you ever been working on something with everything you have, for an extended period of time? It can be extremely difficult to persevere through set backs or any type of discouragement during the process. For ten days starting 10/24, I was pledging a social club at Lipscomb University... but it's over now, what a relief! It was one of the most difficult yet rewarding experiences of my life. Pledging was a mere ten days but felt like it was lasting for all eternity. Now that it is over it is almost hard to believe that I made it through because it is so surreal, because it had taken over every single hour of everyday these past ten days. I was able to grow so much as a person throughout the pledging process.
My second full free day of pledging was yesterday, and what an awesome day it was. I appreciated my time so much more, and I walked around campus a smile on my face all day. It was so easy to see what awesome things that the Lord has given us such as friendship, joy, and love in which I was surrounded yesterday.

The Way I Was Made

I want to live like there's no tomorrow
I want to dance like no one's around
I want to sing like nobody's listening
Before I lay my body down
I want to give like I have plenty
I want to love like I'm not afraid
I want to be the man I was meant to be
I want to be the way I was made

This is the chorus to one of my favorite Chris Tomlin songs. Its been something that has been on my mind throughout this summer. I was made by a God who created everything and yet still wants to have an intimate relationship with me, one of his smallest creations. He has given me so many personality traits, talents, and other various things that I often overlook. Yet he gave me these for a reason, what a comforting feeling. Today's world is constantly broadcasting that we need to be like this or that, but God has his own plan. The beginning of Jeremiah 29:11 says "I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord." My God has something so different planned for me and my life than what the world says. The world wants me to conform to accept everything, while I agree I should respect other peoples opinions, by no means should I ever accept any lifestyle other than the one my Lord has made me for. I hope I can completely ignore man's opinion on how I should conduct my life, and only listen to the creator. I hope and pray everyday that I can live the way I was made.

Final paper

I just wrote my final paper of the year, and the beginning section of it we were asked to write about our personal theology of ministry. I came up with a mission statement that I feel is very accurate in describing my outlook on ministry: "My mission, as a follower of Jesus Christ, is to have a positive effect on the lives of everyone I meet, letting Jesus' love overflow out of me and into their lives." It is something that is very easy to say, but hopefully God will help me actually put it into practice.

Freshman Fun

Freshman year has been so awesome, I have met so many unique and exciting people. I especially have come extremely close to all of the people on my floor of the dorm. So today someone came up with an awesome idea while they were at the store to buy a blow up pool. So we brought it into the lobby on our floor and it took about 30 minutes and alot of lung capacity to blow this thing up, because it supposedly holds up to 195 gallons of water. We finally get it blown up and are about to fill it up with water but our RA tells us it would probably be a better Idea to put it in the shower room. So we drag the thing over there and had a blast just sitting and talking in the pool and hanging out for a couple of hours talking about all year long. I'm glad to see that it is finals week and the fun has still not died up here, and we can still goof off and have fun doing anything together.

Next Year

This post is almost a sequel to my last post leaving right where I left off with the last one because I can't get it off my mind and summer is almost here. This summer is going to be amazing, having the opportunity to gain experience in the field that I plan to work in the rest of my life, full-time ministry. It is one thing to discuss theology and the true meaning of life, love, and service in a class room, but to truly use all the tools that I have gained is going to be amazing and overwhelming at the same time. While this summer is going to be so beneficial I also can't wait for next year to start up at school. I am almost completely done with all of my General Education classes (all but Literature), and now I get to take classes that actually pertain to my major - classes that I will enjoy a lot more than Biology and Art Appreciation. In addition to enjoying my studies more I am going to be an RA next year which will be absolutely amazing too. I can't wait to get to know everyone that I will be living with next year on my floor. I am already praying that I can have an impact on their lives as they greatly influence mine, and I hope that I will build lifelong friendships for the years to come because some of my closest friends I have met this year live on my hall. I know I say this all of the time but it is so true, God truly does know what is best for us in our lives, and he always pulls through for us, even in times that we don't understand what he is doing, and I can see that through all of my disappointments and joys that I have experienced this year.

Almost over..

My Freshman year of college has been the best year of my life, and yet it has flown by so fast. I just realized that classes end next week, and it seems like I just got here. I came to Lipscomb only knowing 1 student, and now I feel like I have spent my entire life with all of the people that I have come into contact here at school. It was a tough decision discovering where I wanted to go to college, but I know that I definitely made the right choice in choosing Lipscomb.

But now as school is winding down I cannot wait to be done with the school work, but I don't want to go home and leave all of my friends here for almost 4 months. I am so excited for this summer because of all the things that I am going to get to experience, but at the same time it is so hard to not be able to hang out with my friends in Nashville. The distance between Houston and Nashville has not been much of a factor until I am now realizing how far it truly is when you have great relationships built in both places. I will be excited to head home, but will greatly miss Nashville.

Sanctuary

Is such an awesome experience, it never ceases to amaze me almost every time I go. In case you don't know Sanctuary is a an hour of Worship on Thursday nights led by college students. I love the fact that almost a 1000 college students come together for the sole purpose of lifting up everything they have to God in praise and worship. The guys leading it are awesome, they have an amazing ability to get you excited and then also focus you in on reflecting on what God has done for you in your week. Another great thing about Sanctuary is that alot of my friends are always there. So afterwords I have the opportunity to just simply hang out and have fun with my friends in the middle of a very hectic school week, fellowship that is only found in Christ's Body. I simply do not understand how anyone can make it through this world without having a body of people who are striving for something so great.

Opportunity

About two weeks ago Stan asked me to speak at Hillsboro's 4:12 college ministry. I was super excited because I love being able to speak in front of people. So tonight I got the chance to talk about community, it went really well and I was so happy that I got the opportunity. It was encouraging to have a bunch of my friends who normally don't go to Hillsboro to support me. Then to add to the awesome night I played the best soccer game of my life tonight, we lost 6 - 4 but I played awesome and it was a ton of fun.

Another thing that I am super excited about is that I just found out that I have the opportunity to speak to my church back home before I start my internship at another church. I cannot wait for this summer because I beleive God has some amazing things in store for me.

The Weather

The weather outside is awesome right now, for the first time in the semester it is going to be consistenly above 60 degrees for the week... well atleast it looks that way haha. Growing up in Houston I always thought I enjoyed the cold weather, but that was before I lived in it for an extended period of time. I got sick and tired of wearing long pants because I love to wear shorts and be comfortable. In addition to the weather I have had such a good week this week, everything is going awesome - I'm ready for classes to wind down, and I'm excited about this summer but at the same time I don't want to leave everyone here and not see my friends from Lipscomb all summer.

As you might have guessed

I went on a retreat this weekend with Mark and his home church. It was a blast, I didn't know anyone before the retreat besides Mark but I met a bunch of fun kids and had a blast. It got me so excited for this summer, because I have been thinking about my internship this summer at the Conroe Church of Christ and how I only know 1 or 2 families there. But it was so easy to get to know the kids and families at the retreat, so I know I can get to know everyone this summer. I am so excited I cannot even explain how awesome this summer is going to be - and I can't wait to see how God shapes my life!

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Psalm 90:14

Retreat

Retreats are such a great idea. I get so caught up in everything that is going on in my life, whether it be school, relationships, sports, or anything it just gets crazy. I try to take every opportunity to get away and truly retreat from the stress that this world is filled with. The best thing to me is simply turning off my cell phone and getting away from the internet, and have time to build new relationships and focus on worshipping God with my life. Retreats are great because they provide time for one on one with God, which is something that I need alot more of than I actively pursue. I think I am surrounded by people all my life, but if I just look at Jesus I clearly see that he was in much higher demand than I am, he was always spending time with people, but he always had time to retreat and pray with God.

Luke 5:16: But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Easter Sunday

Lately I have really enjoyed being at church. I worship with alot of really awesome people that are very close to me, so for one I have simply enjoyed fellowship with my family. God has definitely been working in my life these last couple of weeks and I am simply excited to see all that he has in store for me. It has been very easy for me to focus on worshiping him with my life and also during times of praise. Tonight I went to Ethos downtown for their Easter service which was simply amazing. The worship was incredible, I felt so close to God and was not distracted in the slightest, and then Dave Clayton preached about the empty tomb in John 20. He talked alot about Mary Magdeline's perspective, one that I had not previously looked into much. All of this came together during the service and I began to just think about how truly awesome it is that we serve a risen savior. I serve the only God that is actually alive, the only God who gave everything he had for me, the only God who truly loves me, the only God that actually exists. Just the simple knowledge that my God is alive and working is what has me so charged right now.

The Gospel

On Tuesday Lipscomb held a youth minister's conference in which Steve Argue came and talked about different aspects of Youth Ministry. It started with lunch and went for most of the day, he covered a wide array of topics but one thing that he talked about really stuck with me. He showed us a series of simple drawings that represent the story of God's love starting with Adam all the way through the resurrection to God bringing the world that we tore apart back together to be with him. After showing these drawings to us he asked us to describe different themes that are represented in these 18 or so drawings that he drew on a white board. Some that were brought up were, "Joy", "True love", "Hope", "God never gives up", "God fixes our mistakes", and many more very optimistic views of the gospel that scream to be told.

I am not doing a very good job remembering all that was said about the Gospel at the conference because there were so many awesome and exciting things that were coming up. Steve went on to ask why people don't talk about the Gospel like this everyday because it is that powerful and awesome.

I know that I often take for granted what the Gospel really is, the only reason I have hope or joy in my life. Recently Ive been trying to build time in my day just to spend in relationship with my Lord and Savior. Because so often I only pray when I want things or certain situations arise, or right when I wake up or go to sleep. But I have found it so beneficial to set aside a set amount of time each day to spend in communion with God through prayer, meditation, and reading scripture. It has blessed my life beyond belief. It reminds me of my roommate's favorite scripture John 10:10: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." That remind us that we are here to live life worth of Jesus' sacrifice, and not just sit around and wait for salvation.

Singarama

Owns my life right now - literally. I have been staying up super late practicing and working on sets and trying to get as much done in the smallest amount of time before the show. I have been writing papers and studying for tests very late at night sacrificing my sleep and time so that we can have a good show. It is actually still alot of fun, I have developed alot of new relationships with friends and we are making alot of practice it is just so time consuming its crazy. I cannot wait for next week when I will have what seems like so much free time because of the lack of time that I have right now haha.

Psalm 13

¹ How long, O LORD ? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?

² How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?

³ Look on me and answer, O LORD my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;

⁴ my enemy will say, "I have overcome him,"
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

⁵ But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.

⁶ I will sing to the LORD,
for he has been good to me.

This is one of my favorite Psalms, the first time that I encountered it and truly understood it was through a song that we sang at Sanctuary. The beginning of the Psalm the Psalmist is complaining and feeling as if God has forsaken him, which I have related to in some of the more difficult stages of my life. But throughout the course of the Psalm, he realizes that no matter what happens in his life, he will trust in the Lord because God has never forsaken him and has given him everything that is good in his life. It is something that is hard to realize, because in times that are good it is so easy to worship God, but I am trying to always have the same attitude toward worshiping God. No matter how traditional or contemporary a worship service is, I am trying to focus on what really matters - praising my Lord and Savior because the worship is not for my enjoyment, but for the uplifting of the creator.

Well Intentioned Dragons

In my ministry class this week we read the book Well Intentioned Dragons about problem people in the church. It was an extremely interesting read and at times very discouraging. It was filled with stories and different situations in which Ministers were directly and indirectly attack by various people in their churches. The goal of the book is to prepare ministers on how to react in situations that are similar to the conflicts that are in the book. The purpose of reading this book for our class was to either reaffirms if you are really fit for full time ministry in a church setting or if you were starting to think about doing something else. Well Intentioned Dragons was a great book that I would recommend for anyone to read.

Colossians 3:17

Colossians 3:17 says, "And whatever you do,whether in word or in deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." It is a very common verse that I hear all the time, but I was thinking about it the other day and wondering if I really glorify God with all of my actions? By the way I look at people and treat them, I'm not always glorifying God. I hope that I can focus alot more on glorifying God with every single one of my actions - I know that I will not be perfect but hopefully it is something that I can get alot better at.

Honduras

It is so amazing to see God working in our lives. I have been praying and even worrying (I shouldn't have been worrying though) about raising enough money for my Honduras Mission trip over spring break (we are leaving next Friday!). I had been several hundred dollars short, but I found out tonight that I received several generous donations and am now over the amount required to go on the trip, and will be able to help fund some of the houses that we are building too. As I was attempting to raise money, I should have realized that God had his hand on the entire process.

I say that I trust in God all of the time, but do I really if I am constantly worrying about things ahead of me? God has never let me down, and always knows what is best for me even when I don't initially see his plan, so why do I worry? This is something that I am currently trying as best I can to work on, because I am a big worrier this is not an easy task, but at the same time I am trying as best I can. The only way that I know how to try to better myself is through building a better relationship with God, and also the people that he has placed in my life. I am glad that I serve a God that doesn't require us to be perfect, but a God who wants us to simply try.

As our group is about to leave for Honduras we have been challenged to consciously spend time in prayer just for our group, to get focused and be the best minsters than we possibly can. As we embark on this missionary opportunity I ask that you please start to pray for our trip, to let us be able to have an impact on the peoples lives that we are coming into contact with.

"So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” - John 13: 34-35

Psalm 4 - My Prayer

I've been reading alot of the Psalms lately, which I have found to be pretty awesome. The Psalms show so many different ways to praise and pray to God. Tonight I read Psalm 4 and it really stuck out to me, so I decided to pray to God using Psalm 4. I am blogging about this because it is changing the way I look at prayer, and the Psalms are a great tool that allow me to do something different in my prayer life, which is always welcome to avoid apathy. So here is what I prayed to God tonight, and through this prayer and study he fulfilled me with comfort.

(1)Answer my prayers God when I talk to you, my righteous God. Be there for me when I am stressed and help me see that you are in control, forgive me and hear my cry to you. (2)How long will people make fun of the way I am or what I do? How long will people fill up their lives with sin and greed instead of you? (3) Remind me that you have called me out to be with you eternally, and I know that you hear every word that I say. (4)Help me not sin in my anger, let me dwell upon my heart at rest and be silent and focus on what you have given me. (5)Let me sacrifice my aspirations and my life, so that I can trust in your plan for me God. (6)People around me wonder who can be good in this world anymore, let me be able to let Christ shine through my actions and attitude. (7) You have given me so much joy in a troubled world, so much so that I can forget what troubles me. (8)Because you are with me I can lie down and sleep in peace, because you alone give me safety in peace.

God Bless

Can people follow me?

Tonight I went downtown to a church called Ethos, it was started by the campus ministers at Lipscomb and has grown to several hundred people. It is such a neat church, it meets in a bar - not a normal church atmosphere. It's mission is to reach those who are scared away from typical church settings, or people who have no prior experience with church. I love going there and worshiping and experiencing God in communion much differently than what I am "used to." Tonight Brandon Steele (one of our campus ministers) walked us through the first chapter in 1 Thessalonians and brought up a very interesting question: Can people follow your lifestyle and see that you live as Jesus? He asked how many of us had ever told someone who was younger than us, or a new convert, or someone completely new to any type of faith, to follow our example and see Christ in our life. I began to think, am I leading the type of lifestyle that someone can base their entire Christian lifestyle on the way that I individually act? Because in 1 Thessalonians 1:4-10 Paul talks about how the church in Thessalonica were imitators of Paul and the other disciples at the time. He urged them to be models for those that were around them, so that they would see Christ in them. It is just something for me to think about, especially when I can choose however I want to live my life.

Ouch

I didn't get a bid from Sigma Iota Delta, the social club that I wanted to join. All of my best friends did, so I am happy for them and will definitely be praying for them during pledging. It is a really big pledge class so they had to cut a few of us out of it, and it turns out some of the older guys didn't know me that well, and therefore didn't give me a bid. This has been something that I have been praying about a lot lately, and I asked that God would just do whatever he had planned for me, and evidently for whatever reason this isn't the semester I should pledge. I'm not going to lie, it will be very tough to watch all of my friends get into the club and have fun with it, wishing that I was a part of it with them. But at the same time God definitely has something going for me here at Lipscomb, and I just need to build a deeper relationship with him to find out what it is. I can't wait for the rest of this year to unfold and see all that God has in store for me, and I will definitely pledge next semester.

God is good

I am doing so awesome right now, everything just seems to be going great. My classes are going great, I like them so much better than last semester. Lipscomb is just awesome, it is definitely where I am supposed to be, and its crazy to know that. I remember laying in my bed several times my junior and senior year of high school not being able to fall asleep just thinking about what would happen when I went off to college? I didn't have a clue where I was going to go, I didn't want the responsibility, and I didn't want to leave my family and friends. But now I look back on what seems so recent, which was 2 years ago now, and it is so easy to realize that God does indeed have a plan for my life. Everything just seems to workout, everything that I got so worked up and worried about just seems so small now, not even remotely relevant.

Right now I have so many opportunities in front of me its crazy, and all I can do is just simply pray about them. I'm trying to get a bid for a social club, I'm interviewing with different churches to see if I can intern anywhere this summer, and I am applying to be an RA, and don't forget I still have school, and also relationships. I let life get so stressful and overwhelming sometimes, but I shouldn't. I should be able to look at my past and realize that I don't know what is best for me, I don't know what is going to happen in my near future, but God does, and he has a plan. I shouldn't worry about all of this, I should just pray and try my best in every situation.

God is so worthy of our praise and worship, and I can never fully understand that. Tonight I felt so close to God at Sanctuary worshiping him, because he is definitely worthy of our praise. I know I throw around the word awesome in every day conversation, but he is truly the only thing that is awesome. He never stops giving, loving, or forgiving. I don't understand how some people make it through life without God, because I am constantly falling back on him and using him for support, I would absolutely not resemble anything I am today if I did not have a relationship with him. I believe God has put this conviction in me, because when I see how much he has done for me in my life, it reaffirms why I want to devote my life to showing other people his love.

God Bless,

On a side note, Lipscomb won the battle of the boulevard defeating Belmont 73 - 68, one of the most exciting sporting events I have ever been apart of.

In the Name of Jesus

In the name of Jesus is a very short book, only about 100 pages or so. However it is the first book that I have sat down and read basically in one setting, and it only took a little over an hour. Written by Henri J. M. Nouwen, In the name of Jesus is about christian leadership. There are so many great things that are presented in this book, but what really stuck with me was the point that Jesus' only concern is that if we love him or not. Because if we truly have a loving relationship with Jesus, that relationship will never stop shaping our lives.

Nouwen spends a great deal of time on explaining that we should be building a relationship with God through prayer and devoting our time in service to him. He talks about the need for strong relationships with people in our community - in and outside of our church, because without people, humans fall apart. Another point that really stood out to me was that Nouwen states that Christians must give up their desire to be powerful and embrace authority based on prayer and forgiveness. We live in a world that desires popularity, power, and influence. Jesus wants us to give all these up, and to simply love him. In loving him he will give us guidance in our lives, and use us to show others how much he loves them. In doing so God will compell us to various actions and tasks that will greatly influence our surrounding communities for the better. We should never lift our individual selves up higher than others, we should be constantly striving to lift Jesus up above all else, and so many menial tasks that cause us worry in our life will simply fall into place and not be a concern.

One thing I believe we definitely need to be asking ourselves is are we "truly men and women of God, people with an ardent desire to dwell in God's presence, to listen to God's voice, to look at God's beauty, to touch God's incarnate Word, and to taste fully God's infinite goodness?

Easy now

Sports can be a lot of fun, there are not very many things better in life that competing and succeeding. They can be taken too serious however, especially intramural basketball in my case. Now while my team is not the 96' Bulls, we are not the Detroit Lions of intramural basketball. We got stomped tonight, and it was not fun in the slightest. It was so frustrating, losing by 20 points and having no subs, we were exhausted the entire game. At then end we kind of goofed off and had some fun but overall it was just plain bad. To make matters worse right after the game the referee asked me if I wanted to referee the next game, because no one else was willing to, I soon found out why no one wanted to officiate that game.

The game had way to many personalities on the floor, it was an A-league game between two of the best teams. Which isn't inherently bad, but as the game went on I made a few bad calls and I heard about it the entire game. I was letting a lot of knicky knack fouls go, because that is what teams wanted, but at the same time they got furious when you didn't call something small. It ends up that a fight broke out at one point and I had to give a player a technical foul and talk to him a minute, and that actually cooled things down for the rest of the game and made it run alot smoother. However it wasn't all bad, because I learned a alot about officiating tonight, and gained alot of confidence in my roll as a referee. All of the previous games that I have reffereed have gone well and I have enjoyed several fun and close games.

It is interesting what you can learn in different situations in life, tonight I was talking to a friend after the game and he talked about how we treat people. He said that in sports you can get frustrated with referees and argue with them but at the same time it speaks alot about how you treat people if you are verbally assaulting them, which is really true. It made me think about alot of the things that I say, because I hated having every single decision that I made tonight questioned orally. How we treat people is so evident when face with situations in which we are the most tired, frustrated, mad, or in just a poor situation.

"Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." - Colossians 4:6

- Josh

Great day

Today was such a good day, I had a blast. I woke up at 9:00 this morning which is much earlier than the usual wake up at 3p.m. saturday. So I took a shower and then started to debate whether it was really worth the loss of sleep to go zip lining, and then started to get into bed again. Just as I was about to fall asleep again I was surprised with a inspirational text message from one of my RA's saying something to the tune of get down here now haha. So I ended up going on the trip, which was a great decision. We got to go on a zip line course for free, it was a blast and of course what else would we do while waiting for our group to go other than find a bamboo forest beat each other up with bamboo sticks. It was alot of fun just hanging out with a bunch of guys out in the wild finding fun stuff to do.

After zip lining we got back to the dorm around 2:00 and then I played basketball from 3:00 to around 6, and in case you were wondering we played with a bunch of kids from Tennessee state, we won and there might have had a couple top ten plays on sportscenter tonight. After basketball I got back and showered and then went to climb nashville which is a really cool rock climbing place. Ends up there is a $15 fee if you want to "learn" how to belay someone and I figured why pay $15 to watch and instructor belay, when I could watch over a 100 other people in climb nashville and learn for free. Ends up I did that and could take a test and prove I knew how to belay and save $15. It was alot of fun but it turns out my body isn't exactly built for rock climbing haha, but it was still a blast hanging out with everyone.

I just had a really good saturday not doing any work, just hanging out with some friends and I had a blast. Tomorrow I am going to church, then refereeing 3 couple club intramural basketball games which should be interesting, and then hopefully watch the Cardinals win the super bowl.

Prayer

Prayer is something that is so often overlooked. As we grew up we learned how to pray and would often do it every night before we went to bed. We pray in church, school, meetings, and many other events almost systematically to the point where it's purpose can often be lost in habit. In my intro to ministry class we are currently reading "Working the Angles" a book written by Eugene H. Peterson, on pastoral integrity. It raises the point that one of the most essential tools in ministry is prayer. One of my favorite statements that I came across while reading was "Prayer means that we deal first with God and then with the world. Or, that we experience the world first not as a problem to be solved but as a reality in which God is acting." I stopped my reading for several minutes and dwelt on this statement because it defines how I have been called by God to live my life.

I live in a world that has so many problems, so many obstacles that I must overcome, and so many opportunities in which I can fail. However, this world does not define who I am. When I pray I am indeed proclaiming that I deal with God and then with the world, and that he is working in this world - that is what defines who I am. All of this is proclaimed by my act of prayer, which is my response to God's speech.

I am in constant need of a challenge to look more into God's message so that I can respond adequately to whatever he calls me to do.

First Post

Hey there! So I'm really new to blogging and here is my first post! I actually just got back today from Gulf Coast Getaway. GCG is a huge gathering of hundreds of college ministries around the country held in Panama City, Florida. It was such an amazing expereience, Paul Evans and Randy Harris were the two Key note speakers and the theme of the weekend was Ezekiel 37, about revitalizing dry bones. The worship was truly amazing, it is always neat to be able to give praise to God with over two thousand other people. I had a great time meeting a bunch of new people and building upon other relationships that I already have, and I definitely feel recharged.

Through GCG God was able to show me that I don't need to rely upon myself, and that I need to lift everything that I can to God. This is so hard for me to grasp sometimes because I am constantly relying on myself for things. Because of this I am consistently making mistakes when I try to give a part of my life to God, and this weekend has helped me reafirm that I don't just need to give God a part of my life, but all of it. I am so truly thankful that God allows us to come to him and let him improve our lives.

God bless!