So I've given up social media for Lent! This is not something I really want to do, but know I should. I really should have decided to do this a long time ago, but kept making excuses not to. To be completely honest, spending time on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest is a big struggle for me. I'm on them on my phone and my computer. I check them constantly, just waiting for people to favorite my tweet or like a picture that I post. I look for affirmation in these things, when I should be looking and finding that in my Lord. "Now Ali...that sounds a little extreme. Those things aren't bad!" Yes, I know they aren't bad, but for me, they were becoming that way! I'm finding that I'm too involved with things on campus to be spending too much time being distracted. I'm on two intramural teams, on Dylan and Grace's campaign team, the HYPE committee, in KZP and doing school. I need to be spending more time in the Word and in prayer. My priorities just really aren't where they need to be. Plus, I think that fasting from these things will help me be more efficient with my work, get to bed earlier, and also help in some other areas that I need to work on. I'm actually pretty excited to see how God uses this in my life! I guess it's kinda like a spiritual cleanse, and the Lord knows I need it!
On a different note, time is just flying by! I'm going home in a week from tomorrow to pack for FLORIDA, which is in 15 days! I just cannot wait. I'm not really one to complain about the winter season lasting so long, I actually like to a certain extent. However, I'm really itching for spring/summer. I can't wait to wear flip flops and no jackets, and to be able to walk around without my eyes watering from the cold wind or having to wear tons of layers.
I'm so glad that God has different seasons though. Each one has its purpose, and He has made them all for a reason. Kinda like the seasons we experience in life!
Hope everyone had a lovely Valentine's Day! I know I did :)
Take heart and stand firm.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Always True
Happy Sunday, everyone! It really has been a happy Sunday. I got a good night of sleep last night, and then woke up and went to Apex in Kettering today to hear Rob talk about sexuality for citizens of the Kingdom. It was really good. I also got to see my lab instructor for Bio last year get baptized! That was pretty cool. Hearing people's testimonies and seeing them declare Christ is probably one of my favorite things. After church, I went to Target to get a new hair straightener...which I'm super excited about! Ha ha what girl doesn't love using a new straightener for the first time?! Then I went to Panera for lunch and studied for a while. A good bowl of soup just makes a day all the more better, ya know? I got back to campus and Han and I watched the last episode of season 2 of Downton Abbey. It was SO GOOD. Ugh. I'm so sad we have to wait so long to watch the third season, since neither of us have Hulu Plus. Meh :( So I've been doing some homework and such while Han is at her small group.
So tonight I'm giving my testimony about my freshman year to Grace's (my RA from last year in Printy) unit this year. I'm really excited about it! I've been hoping and praying that God would use my tough experiences last year to relate to and encourage others. It's been happening more and more this year, and it has truly been an honor and blessing to experience God answering that desire and prayer of my heart. As I was preparing what I'm going to say (which I only have 15 minutes to talk...15 minutes?!), I opened up Always True, which is one of my all-time favorite books. It's written by James MacDonald, who has written a couple of other books that I hold close to my heart as well. I read always true when I was kinda going through a funk the summer before I came to CU, which kind of marked the beginning of a deep, deep valley I would soon enter. I was hoping to use something I underlined in the book to share with the girls tonight, except I think I underlined just about the whole stinkin' book! It's just THAT good. But I did find something that actually brought me to tears.
"You've got to know that God sees you too. He's not missing s single detail in your life. He hears your conversations with your spouse. He sees your checkbook. He knows your unspoken fears. He's also watching the depth of the water. He's monitoring the heat of the fire. He's pouring out the strength that you need to endure the minute you feel you can't go on. At this moment, God is watching your life and at some point in this trial, He will say enough. You don't need to falter."
Sigh. Does that not grip your heart?! James MacDonald uses fire and rising water to illustrate trials in this book, just in case you found that confusing ;)
Here's another one I found that I liked:
"Have life's difficulties caught you off guard? Do you wonder today if God is good? If He wasn't going to use that hard thing for your good, it wouldn't have happened. He had to sign off on every single thing that touches your life (He's sovereign, remember?). If He let it happen, He's going to use it for good..."
And another:
"I have never, not once in my life, trusted God and regretted it. But I could fill pages with stories of the times when I've doubted God and made bad choices. God has never let me down! His sovereignty has always been at work. You don't have to be worried about whether you can trust Him. God will be faithful to Himself and to His promises."
Okay, last one!:
"And that's where we're so much different from God. When God says, 'I promise,' He delivers, because He can, and nothing will thwart or delay His intention to do exactly as He has promised. He doesn't forget or get distracted...He cannot lie and He cannot fail. God always follows through on time, every time! When He makes a commitment, He keeps it. When He gives His word; it's a done deal."
That's the nature of our God. WOW. So thankful!
If you happen to read this before 9:30 tonight, pray that the Lord will give me the right words to say and that He will use me in these girls' lives!
May His Kingdom be furthered!
So tonight I'm giving my testimony about my freshman year to Grace's (my RA from last year in Printy) unit this year. I'm really excited about it! I've been hoping and praying that God would use my tough experiences last year to relate to and encourage others. It's been happening more and more this year, and it has truly been an honor and blessing to experience God answering that desire and prayer of my heart. As I was preparing what I'm going to say (which I only have 15 minutes to talk...15 minutes?!), I opened up Always True, which is one of my all-time favorite books. It's written by James MacDonald, who has written a couple of other books that I hold close to my heart as well. I read always true when I was kinda going through a funk the summer before I came to CU, which kind of marked the beginning of a deep, deep valley I would soon enter. I was hoping to use something I underlined in the book to share with the girls tonight, except I think I underlined just about the whole stinkin' book! It's just THAT good. But I did find something that actually brought me to tears.
"You've got to know that God sees you too. He's not missing s single detail in your life. He hears your conversations with your spouse. He sees your checkbook. He knows your unspoken fears. He's also watching the depth of the water. He's monitoring the heat of the fire. He's pouring out the strength that you need to endure the minute you feel you can't go on. At this moment, God is watching your life and at some point in this trial, He will say enough. You don't need to falter."
Sigh. Does that not grip your heart?! James MacDonald uses fire and rising water to illustrate trials in this book, just in case you found that confusing ;)
Here's another one I found that I liked:
"Have life's difficulties caught you off guard? Do you wonder today if God is good? If He wasn't going to use that hard thing for your good, it wouldn't have happened. He had to sign off on every single thing that touches your life (He's sovereign, remember?). If He let it happen, He's going to use it for good..."
And another:
"I have never, not once in my life, trusted God and regretted it. But I could fill pages with stories of the times when I've doubted God and made bad choices. God has never let me down! His sovereignty has always been at work. You don't have to be worried about whether you can trust Him. God will be faithful to Himself and to His promises."
Okay, last one!:
"And that's where we're so much different from God. When God says, 'I promise,' He delivers, because He can, and nothing will thwart or delay His intention to do exactly as He has promised. He doesn't forget or get distracted...He cannot lie and He cannot fail. God always follows through on time, every time! When He makes a commitment, He keeps it. When He gives His word; it's a done deal."
That's the nature of our God. WOW. So thankful!
If you happen to read this before 9:30 tonight, pray that the Lord will give me the right words to say and that He will use me in these girls' lives!
May His Kingdom be furthered!
Saturday, February 9, 2013
A Wonderful Weekend
So Mom and Dad are here this weekend! AHH! It's been so much fun :)
They got here Thursday evening and took Hans and I out to Colonials..which is always so good. Some of the best pizza ever. Then they came to chapel, lunch and New Testament with me yesterday. I wanted to them to hear Dr. Couser, which they liked! Then we went to the outlets where we were quite successful. I found a pair of cute teal Nikes for $15.00. YES. $15.00. SCORE. Then after the outlets, we went to the Greene and ate at the Cheesecake Factory, which rivals for my favorite restaurant. I got some Oreo cheesecake with some coffee...it was wonderful, simply wonderful.
They got here Thursday evening and took Hans and I out to Colonials..which is always so good. Some of the best pizza ever. Then they came to chapel, lunch and New Testament with me yesterday. I wanted to them to hear Dr. Couser, which they liked! Then we went to the outlets where we were quite successful. I found a pair of cute teal Nikes for $15.00. YES. $15.00. SCORE. Then after the outlets, we went to the Greene and ate at the Cheesecake Factory, which rivals for my favorite restaurant. I got some Oreo cheesecake with some coffee...it was wonderful, simply wonderful.
Today we're going to Beavercreek for a while, and then they're going home to Elkhart. Mom is singing in church tomorrow and my dad is going to Florida with some men from our church to a conference!
I just love them.
Basketball game tonight at 4:00! CAN'T WAIT.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Spark Unity. Foster Identity.
I hardly have any time to post tonight, so I'll make it quick.
So stressed. So much to do! The good thing? Mom and Dad are getting here tomorrow at dinner time :) Can't wait!!
ALSO. If you're reading this, and you happen to be a student at Cedarville....
I don't mean to be annoying with campaign stuff...but I will say that I'm proudly a member of Dylan and Grace's campaign team, and I feel very strongly that they would do an amazing job! I've known Grace for a while because we're both in KZP (our org) together (she's the president, actually!). She's a wonderful, godly, loving, and organized girl! Dylan, however, I did not know until a few months ago. Before he approached me, all I knew about him were these things:
1. He danced in ELLIV last year.
2. He was friends with some of my friends.
3. He was that kid that wore bow ties.
After talking to Dylan, though, I saw past his bow ties. I saw his heart and passion for our student body and his clear vision for SGA. What stuck out to me? "I don't want people to think that SGA is just some elite group of students." Someone was actually addressing this problem? Finally! Dylan wants to reach all the demographics of campus. He wants the differences between our body to be celebrated and recognized! SGA isn't just a group that does events. They're not just a group of people that sit in an office that resembles a fish tank and look at computers. They care about us. Is SGA ever going to be perfect? Of course not. We're finite people who aren't perfect. But do I believe that Grace and Dylan want to lovingly serve Cedarville and improve SGA? Without a doubt!
Our slogan??
Spark Unity.
Foster Identity.
Monday, February 4, 2013
A Different Direction
So I know I said I was going to talk about church yesterday...but I was reading in Matthew today for my New Testament reading, and something else stuck out to me. I'll write about church later...I just want to do this right now :)
So over and over in Matthew, Jesus talks so much about the first becoming last and the last becoming first or whoever wants to be great must humble himself and become a servant. I know I've heard this a lot, but it got me thinking. How often do I really seek out to humble myself? Am I willing to become last, very last for His Kingdom? To be completely honest, I'm really not willing to be that way all that often. "Oh, don't be so hard on yourself. It's just our sin nature. That's why it's so hard to be humble." Yeah, that's true to some extent....but haven't I died to my sinful nature? Aren't I a slave to Christ now? Hasn't the old passed away and then new has come?
The Lord gives me SO MANY opportunities to humble myself and become more like Him. Am I aware of these opportunities? Or am I so wrapped up in my own day? What am I thinking about besides Christ and His will for me? Oh, so many other things. Many of those things just really don't matter when it comes into an eternal perspective. Why are these things so hard for me to give up? Why are they so important? Why do the worries of this world bog me down when Jesus clearly said that He will take care of all my needs, and more?
I guess I'll just keep wrestling with these questions and thoughts. As I'm sitting here writing this, the song "Your Presence is Heaven to Me" by Israel Houghton and New Breed came on. If you've never heard it, listen to it sometime. It's so good. May it be true in our hearts and minds!
Who is like You Lord in all the earth?
Matchless love and beauty, endless worth
Nothing in this world can satisfy
'Cause Jesus You're the cup that won't run dry
Your presence is heaven to me
Your presence is heaven to me
Treasure of my heart and of my soul
In my weakness you are merciful
Redeemer of my past and present wrongs
Holder of my future days to come
Your presence is heaven to me
Your presence is heaven to me
Heaven to me, God
Oh Jesus, Oh Jesus
Your presence is heaven to me
Oh Jesus, Oh Jesus
Your presence is heaven to me
All my days on earth I will await
The moment that I see You face to face
Nothing in this world can satisfy
'Cause Jesus You're the cup that won't run dry
'Cause Jesus You're the cup that won't run dry
You never run dry
Your presence is heaven to me
Your presence is heaven to me
Lord your presence is heaven to me
Your presence is heaven to me
Oh Jesus, Oh Jesus
Your presence is heaven to me
Oh Jesus, Oh Jesus
Your presence is heaven to me
My mom told me about this song. It's just so good.
Stand firm and take heart today!
So over and over in Matthew, Jesus talks so much about the first becoming last and the last becoming first or whoever wants to be great must humble himself and become a servant. I know I've heard this a lot, but it got me thinking. How often do I really seek out to humble myself? Am I willing to become last, very last for His Kingdom? To be completely honest, I'm really not willing to be that way all that often. "Oh, don't be so hard on yourself. It's just our sin nature. That's why it's so hard to be humble." Yeah, that's true to some extent....but haven't I died to my sinful nature? Aren't I a slave to Christ now? Hasn't the old passed away and then new has come?
The Lord gives me SO MANY opportunities to humble myself and become more like Him. Am I aware of these opportunities? Or am I so wrapped up in my own day? What am I thinking about besides Christ and His will for me? Oh, so many other things. Many of those things just really don't matter when it comes into an eternal perspective. Why are these things so hard for me to give up? Why are they so important? Why do the worries of this world bog me down when Jesus clearly said that He will take care of all my needs, and more?
I guess I'll just keep wrestling with these questions and thoughts. As I'm sitting here writing this, the song "Your Presence is Heaven to Me" by Israel Houghton and New Breed came on. If you've never heard it, listen to it sometime. It's so good. May it be true in our hearts and minds!
Who is like You Lord in all the earth?
Matchless love and beauty, endless worth
Nothing in this world can satisfy
'Cause Jesus You're the cup that won't run dry
Your presence is heaven to me
Your presence is heaven to me
Treasure of my heart and of my soul
In my weakness you are merciful
Redeemer of my past and present wrongs
Holder of my future days to come
Your presence is heaven to me
Your presence is heaven to me
Heaven to me, God
Oh Jesus, Oh Jesus
Your presence is heaven to me
Oh Jesus, Oh Jesus
Your presence is heaven to me
All my days on earth I will await
The moment that I see You face to face
Nothing in this world can satisfy
'Cause Jesus You're the cup that won't run dry
'Cause Jesus You're the cup that won't run dry
You never run dry
Your presence is heaven to me
Your presence is heaven to me
Lord your presence is heaven to me
Your presence is heaven to me
Oh Jesus, Oh Jesus
Your presence is heaven to me
Oh Jesus, Oh Jesus
Your presence is heaven to me
My mom told me about this song. It's just so good.
Stand firm and take heart today!
Sunday, February 3, 2013
So Little Time...
Well, since today is Super Bowl Sunday, I don't have a lot of time to post a long one about church today! I'll do it as soon as I have time. Aren't you excited? Ha ha I bet ;) Rob spoke again today and, as usual, it was so great!
Hannah and I are making Twix brownies for the game tonight! Yummmmmm. Twix could quite conceivably be my favorite candy bar. What's not to love about them?
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Hmmm...
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