REJOICE

{ Philippians 4:4-7 }

"Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  (NIV)

Let's be real here.  This week has been crazy stressful for me so far.  Okay, I'm usually stressed about something (I know, it's a problem), but this week has just been insane.  Really, the past couple weeks have been overwhelming.  It's the first time I've ever gone through midterms.  Or even what I've come to call middle-of-semester-hecticness, since I've really only had one midterm, and it's really been more of test on top of test on top of paper on top of test.

Almost a month ago, I had gotten really worried and stressed one night, and my small group leader had told me to go read the verses above.  So a few days ago, they popped back into my head, and I knew I had to get my thoughts about them out of my head.  Tonight, I pulled that sticky note off and read the verses again.  And they had a totally different meaning to me but still just as awesome.

Isn't God funny, that His word can have one meaning one day, and three or so weeks later, the same four verses can have a totally new meaning?  The first time I read these, I needed comfort.  Tonight when I read them, I was reminded that I need to turn my stresses over to God.  I need to rejoice.  There are so many things I could be giving thanks for that shouldn't they override the little bit of stress of a midterm test?  Now, don't get me wrong.  I needed to study for that test.  But shouldn't I have been giving my worries over to God and rather rejoicing in the fact that I even have the opportunity to be in school right now?

In Matthew 6:34a, it says, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself."  First, I'm not supposed to worry.  Then, when I combine that with the reminder to simply pray when I'm stressed, worried, anxious, (insert synonym of "overwhelmed" here).  God's got it.  Yes, I still need to study and prepare, but I'm the person who over-studies.  That's when I need the reminder to quit stressing about my test/paper/homework/whatever else I have to do for class and just rest in the Lord.  And, in all honesty, just rest.  Because sometimes the past couple weeks, that's been counted out.  But that's not what I was talking about, so now I'm going back to the point.

Anyways, it was really nice to have that reminder today that, especially when I get stressed or overwhelmed, I need to rejoice in what God's been doing.  What I really need to learn to do is rejoice in the little things that, normally, I forget about and take for granted.  Like the fact that I found a parking spot on campus today!  Instead of stressing about how little time I had left to do my homework because of traffic, I should have been thankful that I found a parking spot and didn't have to spend more time searching for one.

So from now on, I'm going to try to be thankful and rejoice-ful.  And I know that's not a word.  Bear with me.  In both the learning process and my love of making up words.

* I am editing this post at 11:37 tonight to say that I am thankful because the girls next door brought me a taco and it made my night.  That's all. *

I'M GOING TO NICARAGUA

{ Nicaragua 2016 }

I'M GOING TO NICARAGUA

No matter how many times I say that to myself (to others, to my roommates...I think my building is getting tired of hearing it lols), it doesn't seem to get any more real.  A full summer serving God in Nicaragua.  I seriously can't believe that God would give me this opportunity.  He's pretty amazing, isn't He?

Anyways, here's a blog to allow you a little glimpse into my Nicaraguan journey - before, during, and after the trip.  I don't leave for basically nine months, and I'm already so excited it's like I'm leaving tomorrow.  Who knows how crazy excited I'll be when May actually comes around.

Usually, I'm a pretty wordy person, so prepare yourself if you're going to be reading future posts.  But for now, I'm keeping it short and sweet.  I'm in awe that God would allow me this opportunity.  I can't thank Him enough.  I also can't tell you just how much I appreciate your support and prayers through this journey.  Thank you so so SO much!

Also, here's some pictures from google to keep you informed about Nicaragua.

here's a super cool picture of the flag flowing in the wind
(http://imagejuicy.com/images/country-flags/n/nicaragua/1/)

now here's a super cool map of the country so that if I ever reference a specific place, you'll know where I'm talking about

(http://www.explorenicaragua.com/map3.html)

Again, thank you so much for all of your support and prayers throughout this journey!  Y'all rock!  God rocks!