Banana Bread With a Twist

The one good thing about having four test the week before fall break is that this three day week has included very little school work, which has been a nice break from my usual lack of free time schedule due to an overload of anatomy and every other science imaginable.  So with this wonderful gift called free time that has shown up in my schedule this week, I have been doing lots of baking and cooking.  This is one of my favorite things to do, so whenever I have the time to, I always take full advantage of it.
Yesterday, my friend Katherine and I decided to bake a delicious recipe I found on Pinterest for fudge brownie cupcakes with cookie dough frosting.  I unfortunately don't have any pictures, but they turned out just as good as they sound!  The recipe for those wonderful creations can be found here.
Today, I decided to experiment with one of my favorite things to bake, banana bread.  Being a nutrition major and all, I love to find good foods that are also good for you.  I messed around a little with the recipe for banana bread that I usually use to give it a healthier touch with the same great taste.  And I must say, I was very pleased with the result!

Health Nut Banana Bread

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups Unbleached Whole Wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3 mashed ripe bananas
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 cup low-fat vanilla Greek yogurt
1/4 cup grape seed oil
2 egg whites
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350°. Grease bottom of loaf pans.

2. Mix dry banana bread ingredients in a large bowl. 

3. Whisk together the milk, yogurt, egg whites and bananas. 

4. Pour into the flour mixture and combine until just moistened and slightly lumpy. Pour into loaf pan.

5. Bake 1 hour or until an inserted toothpick comes out of the banana bread cleanly.

                      

After tasting the banana bread, you would never know that it did not contain white sugar or butter because it still taste wonderful.  I'm sure I will have more food related blog posts to come because of my random few days with free time :) 

The True Love in the Cross.

#16

If you were to read over my bucket list, you would find a collection of random adventures, tasks and off the wall things that I want to accomplish in my lifetime.  One of my top things on my bucket list, that I have been trying to complete for so long is number sixteen.

16. Run a half-marathon.

I know it sounds crazy, but for someone like me that actually enjoys running, knowing that I am less than a month away from the finish line brings me so much joy.  Training has definitely had its ups and downs, but it's been so encouraging to see the progress from day one and also to have three of my best friends alongside me training for this as well.  Throughout the training process, I have been searching for the perfect verse that would fill me with encouragement on the day of the race.  The other morning, while doing my quiet time on the porch of our beach house for fall break, I found it.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the found and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:1-2

Now I know this seems like the most cliche race verse I could have picked, but bear with me, I promise I didn't just feel led to this one because it has the words run and race in it.  There is so much power found in these verses for so many reasons.  My life is a perfect picture of a race, a half-marathon you could say.  When running a race, having trained and prepared, why would you ever give up? Give up and go back to where you started... Give up because the prize at the end is not worth the pain and struggles of running the race... Give up because there is too much pressure... Give up because I would rather be sitting on my couch watching reruns of One Tree Hill than put in the effort throughout the training...  How much this race, that will actually become a reality, relates to life itself is insane.  

Being a Christian and living a Christian life is not easy.  But this verse does not say, "since we are surround by such a great cloud of failures."  No, it describes them as "such a great cloud of witnesses" aka people who have already been through the struggles and the pain we are facing cheering us on knowing that, we too, can get through it and reach the finish line.  In this race of the Christian life, there will be struggles, there will be pain and honestly there will be times when throwing in the towel and giving up everything seems like the best idea ever.  But then look at the finish line, and you will something so much better.  Jesus and a life of eternity with Him. 

And how do you think Jesus got there?  Well he obviously could have just planted Himself right at the finish line, skipping all the trials that us humans have to face, because He is that powerful.  But Jesus didn't take the easy way out. Verse 2 says that "Jesus...who for  the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame..."  Maybe you missed that word that is so perfectly placed in there, but is says for the joy that was set before Him.  Jesus endured the beating, the mockery and most importantly, the cross, because of the joy that it brings Him to have us live our lives all for His glory and have the opportunity to spend eternity with Him.  Now if that does not get you pumped up, I don't know what will.  

Thinking of the struggles that I have to face and comparing them to all the Jesus went through is quite humbling.  So in running this race called life, I am called to lay aside every weight and sin that is trying to pull me down and run towards Jesus.  And not just a casual jog or a high speed power walk that some like to call running.  Hebrews says to "run with endurance" towards Jesus.  I like to think of this as busting out your inner Usain Bolt and running with all the strength you have.  We can look to dictionary.com for an even better definition of endurance.

Endurance: the ability or strength to continue or last, especially despite fatigue, stress, or other adverse conditions

As made evident by this definition, running with endurance is not necessarily going to be easy.  But it is what we as Christians are called to do, and therefore the Lord will fill us with the strength to do so.  This means we should not get weighed down by how hard, uncomfortable or confusing life may get and know that the finish line will make all of the struggles so worth it.  If you read further down in Hebrews 12, verse 4 says, "in your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood."  Jesus shed His blood so that we would never have to.  He shed His blood for every single sin we have and will ever commit.  That is the whole point of the cross.  Jesus knows we are going to fall short, sin and make mistakes, but that is the exact reason He went to the cross.  We never have to shed blood for our fallness because Jesus already did that.  All He requires of us is to run whole-heartedly towards Him, not getting weighed down in our daily struggles, knowing that the finish line is the prize of eternity with Him.  Knowing the story of what Jesus suffered through in order for us to have salvation should give us plenty adrenaline to get through any trials we may face.

Stress and an Overload of Pomp

Usually getting settle back into school is relaxing and fun, right? Yeah definitely missed out on that this year. Ever since the day school began, well two days before it began to be exact, my life has been consumed by school, sorority, First Friday, job hunting and half-marathon training.  I guess you could say I have a lot on my plate.  Honestly, I probably, scratch that, definitely don't have time to be blogging right now, but I'll just use that as a study break...
I have been way more stressed than normal with everything that I have had going on so far this semester, and the first round of tests haven't even started.  It all started off last year when I decided to run for a position in my sorority to get more involved. The position is called Activities Chair. Sounds easy right? Wrong.  Little did I know that this consisted of me planning the entire First Friday for my sorority.  Don't get me wrong, once everything came together, it was great to see all my hard work pay off, but all the hard work was very time consuming and stressful.  I just got back from dismantling the float and picking up the many many pieces of pomp that we spent a week putting into place.  Just a little side note, before you sign up for a position, make sure you know everything that it entails.  Lesson learned.
So between that wonderful adventure, half-marathon training and oh yeah the main reason I am at Clemson, school, my life has been a jumbled up mess.  Having all of these things on my plate has given me a lot less time to think and spend time with the Lord, which is the main cause of all my stress.  I realized this in the middle of last week.  I was trying to do everything on my own, without even thinking to turn to the Lord.  Another addition to my stress is trying to prayer through whether or not I am being called back to Kenya over Christmas break or summer.  Now trying to figure that one out on my own while definitely never lead to a clear conclusion.
I was reading in Jesus Calling the other morning, one of the greatest devotionals ever written by far, and it was all about the Lord's presence refreshing us and how we are supposed to communicate with Him continually.  That last word there especially stuck out to me.  Continually.  I am called to communicate with the Lord continually.  Was I doing that throughout all the stress I was facing? Nope. That definitely fits together the puzzle as to why I was so much more stressed than I usually get.  This line below further confirms where I fell off track.

"As dew refreshes grass and flowers during the stillness of the night, so My Presence revitalizes you as you sit quietly with Me."

I was not leaning on the Lord's presence to revive me and fill me mind.  And without doing that, I will be consumed every single day by this world and all the devil tries to throw my way.  The devotion then led me to read Luke 10:39-42, which was a slap in the face, to say the least.

"And she [Martha] had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching.  But Martha was distracted with much serving.  And she went up to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?  Tell her then to help me."  But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary.  Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her."

Mary has it all together here.  The Message translation of this verse says, "Mary, who sat before the Master, hanging on every word He said."  She is not letting the chaos of the world distract her from what her Master, Jesus, has to say, because His words are far more valuable than any other.  Of course I would love to say that Mary and I have so much in common, but I have to say, I fit better in with Martha in this story.  Insert slap in the face.  I was too busy with all the stress and tasks being thrown my way, that I did not stop to listen to my Master.  Instead I complained and made excuses.  The Lord goes on to tell Martha -

"...you're fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing.  One thing only is essential, and Mary has chosen it - it's the main course, and won't be taken from her" Luke 10:42(MSG).  

It's funny how the Lord can speak directly to you through His word if you spend time with Him.  I was getting stressed over nothing because I was not focused on the one essential thing in my life.  I was letting the created take control over my life, rather than the Creator.  I know this won't be the last time I fall into this trap, but at least I can find grace and hope in the One who can never be taken from me.

Home Sweet Home

After a summer filled with lots and lots of traveling, I am finally home before a family vacation to New York City, and then I'll be Tigertown bound to start off my junior year. Tonight, I had some much needed family time, as we had a going away dinner for my sister Chandler as she prepares to head off to college in two weeks. It still blows my mind that she is already old enough for college, but I am so excited that she will be up at Clemson with me!

Chandler, Corey and I at dinner at Red Drum Restaurant.

We started off the night at The Red Drum, which is a southern restaurant with a tex-mex twist. The chef of the restaurant is originally from Texas, so all of the dishes contained a little Texan flair. This was my first time eating here, but it definitely won't be my last. I ordered the wood fired chicken, which was probably the best chicken I have had in a while. The chicken was topped with avocado, mexican cheese and tomatoes, and sat on top of a delicious garlic cream sauce. My mom and other sister Corey ordered chicken and shrimp tacos, which were also excellent. Needless to say, we will be going back here sometime soon.

Wood Fired Chicken from Red Drum Restaurant.

Of course, after we finished dinner, we were all craving something sweet. So, we headed downtown to Kaminsky's.  Kaminsky's, if you haven't already heard of it, is a very well known dessert spot in downtown Charleston.  They have new and fresh cakes daily, and it always takes at least ten minutes to decide what you want because all the cakes are so appealing. My final decision was to snag the last slice of Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake, because let's be real, you can't get much better than red velvet cake combined with cheesecake. Because I was having such trouble deciding, Corey and I decided to share our desserts, and she decided on the Cookie Crunch Chocolate Cake. That name alone will instantly make your mouth water. These cakes were the perfect end to our night out.

Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake.

Cookie Crunch Chocolate Cake.

Experience of a Lifetime

Last week, I was blessed with the opportunity to spend a week in Daytona Beach, FL with about 2,000 middle school and high school students.  This trip was through a camp called the Gauntlet, which is a youth retreat for middle and high school students put on by Fuse student ministry at NewSpring Church.  After the first night session, my mind was blown.  Every morning and night session after that continued to blow my mind even more.

I was a room leader for three girls who are about to be seniors in high school.  There is definitely a cool God story relating to this.  All summer, I had been looking forward to being a room leader for three of the girls that are in my small group.  Once we got on the bus to head to Daytona, the room assignments were announced, and I found out that I was a room leader for three girls I had never met.  To be honest, I was a little bummed because I had been looking forward to spending a lot of time with my small group girls.  Obviously, God knew exactly what He was doing when He placed us in a room together.  Because of the testimony the Lord has given me, I was able to relate with the girls in my room so much and to give them hope in the struggles and hard times they were facing.  By the end of the week, I saw one of the girls rededicate her life to the Lord, one girl surrender her mistakes to the Lord and the other girl make a profession of her faith through baptism.  Needless to say, big things happened in the hearts of the girls in my room throughout the week, and I was so happy to be able to witness that change taking place.

So blessed to see all the Lord did in this girl's heart at Gauntlet and to watch her get baptized!

The presence of the Lord was SO evident every single day throughout the week.  I wish I could describe the morning and night sessions, but really words cannot even describe what it's like to see 2,000 students worshipping the Lord with all of their heart.  God showed up big time at Gauntlet.  250 students coming to know the Lord and 501 students getting baptized.  Those are not things you hear about everyday.

Sunrise baptism on Thursday morning.

The most exciting part about Gauntlet is the fact that it did not end last Friday.  That was only the beginning.  Those students are fired up about going back to school, sports teams and jobs and bringing glory to the Lord and bringing more people to the kingdom.  While at Starbuck's the day after Gauntlet with one of my small group girls, we saw a student who had been at Gauntlet leading one of her best friends to Christ.  Life's are still being changing and the Lord's work at NewSpring and in the Fuse ministry is far from over.

The girl on the left attended Gauntlet and after coming back, was able to lead one of her close friends to the Lord!  The joy that these girls were feeling was so encouraging.

"And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your words with boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus." Acts 4:29-30

That moment when your world is wrecked.

One thing that I am almost certain is a part of every mission’s trip is a moment that completely wrecks your world.  In the past few weeks, I have seen a lot of things that I have never seen before and heard a lot of stories that I can’t imagine ever going through.  Each and every experience deepened my burden and love for Kenya and the beautiful people that live here.  It wasn’t until two nights ago; though, that I really had that wreck your world moment. 

It was the night that the three-week group was flying out of Nairobi to head back to America.  We had dropped them off at the airport and were driving back to Naomi’s Village, which is where we have been staying for most of our time here.  There is one main highway in Kenya, and that highway is the one that we were traveling on to get back to Naomi’s Village.  Right before we get there, we pass through a little town called Maai-Mahiu.  That stretch of highway has overtime become known as “HIV Highway.”  Basically what happens is the street is lined with prostitutes at night, and truckers driving through will stop there and pick up a prostitute for the night, before continuing on their way.  At night, that road is lined with 18-wheeler after 18-wheeler, and the reason that they are stopped can be quickly determined.  So during my time here, I have heard many stories about that highway and how truckers will buy a hotel room for the night, but if they don’t have enough money, they will just spend the night under the truck with the prostitute.  Hearing stories like that broke my heart, but I hadn’t even experienced the worst of it yet. 

It was around 10:30pm when we were driving through Maai-Mahiu, and the edges of the highway were lined with trucks.  We looked out the window in awe, because seeing all of that made the stories more real.  But now, the wreck your world moment for me comes in.  Underneath one of the 18-wheelers pulled over on the left side of the road was a trucker and a prostitute with what looked like to be some sort of blanket.  In that moment, I felt more anger and sorrow than I have felt in a long time.  Actually seeing that situation puts all the stories into a greater perspective.  I immediately saw that and thought to myself, “that is someone’s daughter, sister and friend.”  It completely broke me.  At Passion, I learned that there are over 72 million people in the world today involved in sex trafficking.  Seeing one of the women that is included in that 72 million makes that number so much more than a statistic.  Imagining the hurt and hopelessness she feels made it nearly impossible for me to fall asleep that night.  Seeing something like that is by far the hardest thing that I have ever seen. 

It is easy for me to question why her, why does she have to suffer like that, why does she have to feel that depravity, why is the devil feeding her these lies that prostitution is her only hope?  My mind is immediately drawn to the story of the blind man in John 9.  This is a story that our group as a whole has talked about a lot throughout our time in Africa.  The story begins with the disciples asking Jesus who sinned that caused the man to be born blind.  Jesus answers in verse 3 by saying, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”  That woman is not being punished by God, but God, in His sovereignty, will get glory even out of situations like that.  It is heartbreaking and world wrecking to see circumstances like I saw two nights ago.  Even in circumstances that seem so hopeless, so much hope can be found by focusing on the Lord and knowing that He gets glory and His work is displayed in good times, as well as in bad times.  I don’t know what the future holds for that woman that I saw, but what I do know is that she is created and loved by the Creator of the Universe.  My prayer is that people will be placed in her life that will draw her to the Lord and show her that even though now she thinks she has no sense of hope in her life, that there is hope that is found only through the Lord.  And that hope is so fulfilling and satisfying.  

Comfort in the Cloudiness

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9

A few weeks leading up to the day that I left for Kenya, the Lord revealed to me that after spending a month in Kenya, I may still have no clue what I am doing with my future.  Now with nine days left, I have absolutely no clue what my future holds.  I came into college thinking that I had my whole life figured out.  By the end of my sophomore year, I realized that those were not the Lord’s plan, but my own.  Although it is a confusing place to be, it is also such an exciting place.  I know the Lord has given me various gifts and passions for a reason, and in His timing, the purpose for those will be revealed to me.  It’s verses like the one above that give me so much peace.  The verse before that starts off by saying “so My thoughts are not your thoughts.”  What a hard, but good reminder to have.  I know that the Lord’s ways and thoughts are much greater and more sovereign than mine.  Reading verses like Isaiah 55:9 make me wonder why I even try to plan my life out on my own.  The Creator of the Universe knows what my future holds.  What could be any better than that?  I have absolutely no clue what I am going to do with my life, but with this cloudiness and uncertainty comes SO much faith and reliance in the Lord alone.  Any plans I try to make don’t even compare to the plans that the Lord has in store for me.  Through my time in Africa, the Lord has revealed so much to me.  I still don’t know what exactly is going to come out of this trip in relation to my future plans, but I know whatever it is, the Lord is in control, and He knows exactly what He is doing with my life.  And through having faith in that, I am able to find rest.

“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” Proverbs 16:9

Jambo from Africa!

So I obviously haven’t had much access to the Internet, which is why I have yet to blog this whole trip.  I don’t even know where to begin to describe all the work that the Lord has been doing in the two and a half weeks that I have been here.  Time is going by WAY too fast, and I am not okay with that.  I have gotten to experience and see more things than I ever imagined.  My heart breaks more and more every day for this country.  For the majority of the trip, we have been staying at Naomi’s Village, which is an orphanage in a city that I don’t know how to spell in Kenya.  We have spent so much time loving on the kids here, and it has been incredible to see the love of the Lord in each and every one of the kids. 

One thing the Lord has been teaching me the entire time I have been here is the beauty that is found in brokenness.  This trip has been an emotional rollercoaster from day one, but it has caused me to be more and more dependent on the Lord.  The passage that has been key for me throughout this whole trip has been:

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.  We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies." -- 2 Corinthians 4:7-10

It is encouraging to know that the brokenness I have faced and the walls that the Lord has been breaking down are all for the sake of the Gospel.  My weakness provides a perfect way for the power and strength of the Lord to prevail. As 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made PERFECT in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

I could go on and on about how much love and passion I have in my heart for this country.  I know that when I leave here in 10 days, it won’t be my last time here.  We have been able to touch so many hearts in the days we have been here, as well as be humbled by all the beautiful people we have had the opportunities to meet.  I still have 10 days left, so I know the Lord still has so much work to do.  I can’t wait for each day to unfold and continue the journey of what is becoming the greatest month of my life.

The long awaited day...

"Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples." 1 Chronicles 16:24 

So, as I am typing this post right now, it is currently 1 a.m. on Monday.  It's Monday, which means tomorrow is Tuesday.  And Tuesday is the day I leave for Africa... Saying that still feels so strange to me. It seems like I was just telling people that I'll be leaving in two months... one month... two weeks... but now tomorrow.  I leave tomorrow.  I never actually thought this day would come.  Ever since my junior year of high school when I first heard someone speak about Africa, I knew that I had a special place for it in my heart.  I never imagined that I would actually get the chance to go on a missions trip there.

As Tuesday is very, very quickly approaching, I look back on my journey these past few months as I have been preparing to go to Africa and realize that I have seen the Lord in more clear and incredible ways than I have ever seen Him in my life.  Here is a quick breakdown of my journey --

1. At the Passion conference in January, I realized that the Lord was calling me to be a part of a missions trip to Africa.  Having absolutely NO clue what this would look like, I still surrendered 100% to His plan and knew that He had it all under control.
2. As soon as I got home from Passion, I began searching summer missions trips to Africa.  I spent hours upon hours looking into different trips, but none of the dates seemed to work with my availability for the summer.  I began to take this as a sign that maybe the Lord wasn't calling me to go this summer, which was really frustrating because obviously I had such a huge burden in my heart for Africa.
3. At one of the first FCA's at Clemson after Christmas break, Nathan Smith spoke.  As soon as he started talking about Africa and the trips he takes college students on every summer, I realized why none of the other trips worked out.  This was the trip the Lord was calling me to go on, and He made that more than clear throughout the time Nathan spoke.  Needless to say, I stayed after FCA that night for an hour just to meet Nathan, and soon after that I applied for the trip, was accepted and began preparing for all that the Lord had in store.
4. Fundraising. The part of this journey where I think I have seen the Lord the most.  After I started sending out support letters, the money started to come in pretty quickly.  The trip was originally supposed to be for two weeks, but Nathan gave us the option to stay for up to two weeks extra.  I prayed about it and knew that was an opportunity the Lord wanted me to take advantage of.  But because of that, I had to raise more money than I had originally planned.  I still had faith that the Lord would provide.  After the first month or so of fundraising, the money started coming in at slower paces.  I tried not to let this bring me stress, but it was hard at times to have patience in the Lord's timing.  To make long stories short, I have now raised a little over $1300 more than I was supposed to...praise the Lord.

Throughout this preparation and fundraising journey, I have already learned way more about the Lord than I expected.  If He is already doing this much work in me and I haven't even boarded the flight yet, I can't even imagine all the work He is going to do through my team and I once we finally set foot in Africa.  It is going to be life changing.

The Power of Prayer

In less than two weeks I will be traveling to Kenya.  Saying that still blows my mind.  I am so humbled by the fact that the Lord has chosen to send me to Kenya.  This is something I have dreamed of for years, but honestly never thought I would ever get the opportunity to do.  God sure proved that thought wrong.  Preparing for a trip like this requires a whole lot of prayer.  Through preparing for this trip, I have realized that my prayer life was not near the level of intimacy and connection with the Lord that it should be.  It has been amazing to see over these past few months how my prayer life has already increased tremendously.  Praying for individual team members by name and lifting up their struggles and prayers to the Lord has been such a great opportunity of growth in realizing the realness and accountability that comes with a Christ centered friendship.

Tonight, I was able to meet with a few people on my team and lift up the trip and everyone going on it in prayer.  Coming together as one in the presence of the Lord is such powerful and strengthening time.  It was so encouraging to be surrounded by people so on fire for the Lord and serving His kingdom as we lifted up various team members, people of Kenya and all aspects of traveling up to the Lord.  I look forward to many more nights like that once we get to Kenya.

It is very evident that the devil is already trying to tear our team down before we have even boarded the flight for Kenya, which is another reason we need to be so rooted in prayer.  It is scary to see the ways the devil is attempting to discourage us through anxious thoughts, doubts and circumstances we are facing.  The power in all of these troubles comes in knowing that through these weaknesses, the Lord is so strong.

But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. - 2 Corinthians 12:9

Knowing that the Lord's power is made perfect even in our weaknesses makes all the mess that the devil is trying to throw at us seem like nothing.  No matter how hard the devil tries to wear us down, the Lord will always be powerful and be so much stronger.  Being able to rest in that is the most satisfying feeling ever.

Be prepared.  You're up against far more than you can handle on your own.  Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet.  Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words.  Learn how to apply them.  You'll need them throughout your life.  God's Word is an indispensable weapon.  In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare.  Pray hard and long. - Ephesians 6:13-17 (MSG)

This will be a fulfilling reminder when the trials and spiritual warfare set in once we set foot in Kenya.  Through prayer and having eyes set solely on the Lord, He will get the glory and praise in everything, no matter what the devil tries to throw our way.

This is Me

So I guess you could say I am a typical college girl.  I have a lot of things in life that I am passionate about, but I have no clue where those passions are going to lead me.  Sometimes, I feel that I have too many passions, but I guess that isn't a bad thing.  My life right now involves me having no clue what my future holds and trusting that the Lord knows exactly what He is doing through me.  Although it sounds stressful and confusing, it is the greatest season of life I have ever been in!

March 23, 2011 was the night I fully handed my life over to the Lord.  I had been a Christian before then, but like any other normal human being, I struggled with placing things above the Lord.  I ran away from Him for a while because I felt that I wasn't good enough, and I had messed up too much.  That night, I came to understand the true love the Lord has for me, no matter how far I have run from Him.  I found so much rest in knowing that He can carry the burdens that I had been trying to carry on my own.  On March 23rd, I was finally filled with hope and satisfaction found only in the Lord.  The joy I have been able to find in verses such as the one below is indescribable.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."  2 Corinthians 5:17 

Like I mentioned, I have a lot of passions, which can be overwhelming at times, but it makes this journey I am living all the more exciting.  My heart beats for so many different things.  Yes, I am looking forward to the moment where I realize what my future holds, but right now I am enjoying being able to love on so many different people through my passions.

Passion #1: Africa.  If you read my blog at all, you probably already gathered this fact.  I have fallen in love with the hearts of the people there, the laughter of the kids and the slow pace of the culture.  I was given the amazing opportunity to spend a month in Kenya in the summer of 2012 serving the Lord and the beautiful people in Africa.  Read my blog if you want to hear more about that :)

Passion #2: High schoolers. Okay so this may be a strange passion to have, because with high schoolers comes lots of drama, teenage attitudes, crazy schedules and did I mention drama... but I love everything about high schoolers.  Being able to pour into high schoolers, especially the girls, and use the testimony the Lord has given me to encourage them and help them through their struggles is such a fulfilling thing.  Not only that, but being able to see them grow and mold into the people the Lord has planned for them to be is such an encouraging picture.

Passion #3: Nutrition. So this is the passion that I was 120% sure that I would be doing something with after college (see passion #1 and #2 for reasons why I am not 120% sure of this anymore).  Nutrition is something that has always interested me.  I love learning about healthy lifestyles, good and bad foods and everything involving nutrition.  I also love cooking and eating, which most of the time sometimes goes hand and hand with nutrition.

So that's me and a little bit about my heart.

Well here goes nothing...

So I have never really made a blog like this before. And I honestly don't feel like I have any super wise things to write about, but for some reason the Lord has really laid it on my heart to start a blog. In obedience to Him, I spent all day today creating this blog, neglecting any homework or studying that needed to be done... This blog is going to be a place where I will share stories from my life and how the Lord is working in and through me. I am in awe everyday of the love the Lord has for me and how He choses to use me to bring glory to His kingdom. With that being said, I hope I don't make a fool of myself on this blog thing because I definitely wouldn't categorize myself as a "blogger." We'll see how it goes. To God be the glory!