It's Thursday! It's more than halfway through the week and I am ecstatic! I have made it through this far and now the rest should be much easier! :) The week slows down big time after Wednesday for me! Last night was amazing! :) I got to be with all kinds of people from home and reconnect...HERE instead of at home. I love when people get to see me thriving in this environment! I also got to spend time with Sandy and Rob before they leave for Kazakhstan, which was great :) Last night was such a huge blessing. It was also really encouraging to me to see how God is using the Beyond Idols Worship Tour. I've become fairly familiar with them because of their coming to my home church, but wow, their message was incredible and their passion for Jesus is so evident! It was encouraging to see that part!

So lately, the pressing issue on my heart has been Christian vs. Disciple. I realize now that there is no difference. I think that for so long, it's been so easy to justify the difference. Christians are those who have been saved, but aren't following the commands of Jesus...but then I stop and realize...how can that be? How can one truly be saved if they are not following the commands of Jesus? Did Jesus himself not say "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."? I think that's a pretty straight forward answer. If we want to be Christians...disciples, then we must follow Him, taking up our crosses and denying ourselves. DAILY. That means striving to live after him in every aspect of our lives. I realize that living a good moral life could appear to be living as a disciple, but that isn't how it works. Jesus gives some pretty huge commandments that we need to be following.

Anyways, that's what's on my heart this week. Consider this...are you living as a disciple? Or are you one that is simply the western standard of Christian? I know where I want to be. Keep this in mind as you go about your daily tasks...listen to what He might be telling you. It's so exciting!

Be blessed this week, guys...

Oh, the weekend! This one was a crazy one. I have got to learn how to be less stressed and give things to God! That's the moral of this weekend! I let the littlest things bother me and then I lost control and eeeek! God is soooo good, though, and I love how He knows exactly what is going on and sits there and smiles, knowing that I'm just crazy :) It's good to know He's in control of my life instead of me!

I'm really looking forward to this week! It should be a good one! I don't have the loads of tests that I had this past week. I just have one tomorrow in Discipling Ministries(one of my favorite classes!) BUT on Wednesday, my dear friend Sandy is coming here to see me. I'm so excited about that because soon she will be leaving to get her adopted baby across the world! I'm so happy for her! Her husband might be coming along, too...the more the merrier, I can't wait to see her/them! My friend Ashton from home may be coming to HU on Wednesday night, too, because Global Disciples, Beyond Idols tour is going to be here. They are going to be at FMC at home next week, but because I am skiing with the youth, I won't be in the service to see them. It sounds like they're going to be great and they have a great testimony, so I'm excited that they will be here at HU, too!

Pastor Jeff gave an amazing message this morning. He talked about Jesus being the bread of life. He mentioned during the service that Jesus really meant that...He wants to be the one we depend on, our everything. Sometimes I have to wonder and question if I am truly keeping my life in line with all of His plans and with His teachings, I know I try, but sometimes I find myself falling short and I want to climb higher and higher with Him. I love Him so much! Today's sermon was motivating and challenging and I'm excited to continue to apply it to my life!

Well, friends, I must go and ready for English some more and then I am going to bed...I can't wait to sleep tonight! I got hardly any last night and I didn't get my Sunday afternoon nap today! Let's hope that doesn't mess up my whole week! :)

I leave you all with this verse that has been on my heart today:
Psalm 104:1
Praise the LORD, O my soul.
O LORD my God, you are very great;
you are clothed with splendor and majesty.

Friends, do that...Praise Him...He is so great and clothed in splendor and majesty...That king, He's my best friend!

I decided that I should make a blog so that everyone can keep up with what's really going on! That way anybody who wants to know what's happening with classes, my major, life at HU, friends, etc, can keep up with it!

This past week has been challenging, but incredible. I continue to see God in everything I do. I realize more than ever that He is the reason that I live, move, breathe, and do anything. He truly is incredible and I love Him for that. The week was challenging for several reasons. I got sick on Monday morning. I woke up feeling awful and laid in bed most of the morning, missing my first two classes. I also had several quizzes this week and a huge exam in my Psychology class. This all on top of the normal homework load and every day activities. I made it through and was even more thankful than normal when Friday at 2 arrived! (Which is crazy, because I'm usually pretty excited for the weekend!)

I got to go home on Wednesday to my dear church. I was able to help with the youth group...being there is such a blessing. I love that place and I care so much about the people and the ministries that are happening there. God is truly at work and I love watching and I can't wait to see how I am going to continue to be a part of it! I also got to stay and go to Nursery School Thursday morning! I was SO EXCITED! I love those kids! Being a part of Nursery School was one of the highlights of my J-Term internship. It was such a neat experience...definitely one I never thought I would enjoy! God taught me so much about myself through that experience! It was great to be able to be a part of those kids' lives, even for a few short weeks, and I pray that I can go back some more before this year is over.

I almost feel like my love for the kids at Nursery School is a sign that I should keep my Children's Ministry major. I've realized so much over time that I truly love going deep and helping to nurture other believers and get them to a higher level of discipleship with Jesus. I'm not sure I can do that with little children, but as Jesus said in Matthew 19:24, Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." He cared about those children deeply and I care about these children deeply. Maybe it's something I should consider more. I am earnestly seeking God's will in this area.

This next weekend I am going as a leader on the ski trip with my youth group from back home. I'm super excited to do this because I love skiing and I'm very much looking forward to spending tie with these kids and hopefully engaging in some really good God conversation. I want to get to know these kids and find out where they are...there are far too many that hide stuff and I want to be a source of encouragement to them. I've been in places many of them have, but it's all about opening up and admitting that.

Well, here we go, this is a brief summary of my week. I'm going to try to update this regularly, but if I get behind in my days, don't judge me :) May God truly bless each and every one of you who comes across this and may His goodness and mercy be upon you!

I leave you with this verse to think about and reflect upon...it comes from Paul's letter to the Philippians...chapter 4, verse 8.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.