Cinderella

In my last post, I spoke about the Women's Event I went to. I wanted to share one analogy I heard there.

So, we all know the story of Cinderella.

Cinderella was poor, a servant, a maid, and a nobody.

She went to a ball and lost her shoe.

BUT, the Prince took that shoe and went on a search to find Cinderella.

The Prince searched the ENTIRE kingdom for her.

When the Prince finally found Cinderella, He got down on His knee to put the shoe back on.

The Prince asked her to reign in His Kingdom with Him the rest of her life.

Now pretend you are Cinderella and the Lord is our Prince.

You might feel insignificant at times, or unloved, or not good enough, or just plain bad. BUT the Lord loves you. He searches to find you. He searches the entire Kingdom for you. And when He finds you, He kneels before you. (what a beautiful picture!) The Lord asks you to be with Him the rest of your life. FOR ETERNITY.

Remember: YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL. YOU ARE LOVED. YOU ARE WANTED. THE LORD IS SEARCHING FOR YOU. OPEN YOUR EYES. SEE HIS LOVE. FEEL HIS LOVE. HE IS KNEELING BEFORE YOU. YOU ARE HIS.

HOLD UP!!

Today I went to a Women's Event called "She Worships: Overflow" at my new church Mosaic in Birmingham! It was my first ever Women's conference type of deal.

First, we came in and mingled. Which, since I came alone, I had to put my big girl pants on and meet new people. It's always hard being the one who no one knows. BUT, I met so many precious women who absolutely LOVE Jesus.

After the mingling, we worshiped and sang songs for a little bit. Then we broke up into different groups. I chose to be in the prayer group.

We talked about what prayer is and how there is no particular way to do it. It could be really short or really long. Out-loud or silent. Sung to the Lord or said in sentences. It does NOT matter. You are just talking to your daddy.

Well, after talking about prayer, we just started praying. Some people out-loud and some people to themselves.

After I had prayed for a while. I looked up and me and this woman met eyes. She saw me and came over to where I was sitting.

She asked, "what's your name?" And I said, "My name's Lindsay." She asked me, "Lindsay, could I pray over you?" And of course I said, "YES PLEASE!!"

She put her arm on my shoulder and I bowed my head.

There was silence.

She didn't start praying.

I looked at her and then I was like, "OOHH, she is praying over me silently...that's cool!"

NOPE.

I was totally wrong.

She looked up at me 45 seconds later and said, "Lindsay, I think the Lord has given you much wisdom. You understand and have grasped who God truly is. You understand and you love to teach others about Christ."

HOLD UP!

Let's think about this. This lady does NOT know me. We have never met. SO, how in the world does she know this about me?!?!

This lady puts her head back down.

45 seconds later, she looks at me again saying, "Lindsay, BUT you struggle. You are worried about your future. You are on the right path, but you can't see what's coming next in your life and that makes you scared. You need to ask the Lord to shed some light on your path. Ask Him to show you what to do."

HOLD UP AGAIN!

How does she know that?!?!

Everything this lady said to me, was correct.

I am scared about my future. I don't know if I am to be a nurse or not. I am scared. I have been worried for a long time. How did she know?

THE HOLY SPIRIT. THE LORD. OUR HEAVENLY FATHER SPOKE TO HER.

That is the only thing I could come up with. The Lord told her what I needed to hear. The Lord interceded for her.

So, pretty much the Lord is telling me, "Lindsay, STOP FREAKING OUT. I have it all figured out. Rest in me my daughter. No need to worry."

I WAS FLOORED.

I sat back in my seat after hearing her speak to me and just felt in AWE.

How amazing is our God?

He is so good!!

Just thought I'd share my amazing radical moment.

Remember: The Lord is powerful. He understands.

HE LOVES YOU WITH AN OVERWHELMING LOVE.

Mission-Oriented

For some reason I LOVE going to church by myself.

Odd right?

Most girls that I know go to church with a group because they feel awkward going alone.

BUT, I'm different.

Don't get me wrong, I love inviting people to go with me and sometimes people will ask to come with me and I LOVE it too!!

I just love those moments sitting in church by myself because I feel I can keep my eyes completely focused on Christ. I feel so much closer to my Daddy.

Well, this last Sunday I went to church alone and Man, did the Lord show up!!

He came and captivated me.

First off, worship was perfection.

We sang some songs I had never heard of and fell in LOVE with them.

The entire church was lifting their hands, kneeling, letting go of themselves and dancing for the Lord in their own way. I love my church that God has given me. It is a place I can go to get prayer, learn about my Heavenly Father, and let myself go and fall into my Father's love.

After worship, there was a special speaker who preached.

He was from an organization called "MountainChild."

There motto or purpose is, "Carrying Hope to the Himalayas."

He and his family help kids in villages by sharing with them Jesus, help them through problems, heal their physical and mental wounds, and show them God's love.

So, here's what I learned:

Did you know that there are people in our world that don't know Christ? They have never heard the word God. They have no idea that a God loves them and created them. How Sad?!

We are to go into the world and "herald" the word of God.

When he said, "herald," I had to sit back. Why did he use this word? Don't we ALWAYS hear the word "tell" or "show?" Why did he use "herald?" Well, I looked it up and it means "an official messenger bringing news."

WE ARE OFFICIAL MESSENGERS FROM GOD.

How amazing is our job?!?!

Let me digress.

He told a story of when he was first in the Himalayas. He was on a trip, and he ran into some men. These men were on there way to sell a bunch of kids into the sex-slave-trade. When he heard this news, his heart immediately broke. He knew at that moment that he had to do something about it.

He gave this great analogy of our world as a whole.

Pretend that each country or state or city in the world is a key on a keyboard. Granted this would be a really long keyboard, but stay with me.

The angels have this keyboard in heaven and are taking notes.

Whenever a country or state or city is told about the Lord, the key would be able to make sound. If an angel was to hit a key and it made no sound, it means that that country/state/city had not heard the word of the Lord.

This keyboard still has many keys not yet played.

So, let's make music and spread the word so that the piano can be fully played! Let's make new music tones!

What a cool analogy! I had never heard it put that way.

Moving on.

He pointed out that ANY DENOMINATION CAN DO SOMETHING.

That is powerful to me because it shows us that WE can join together on this journey. WE ALL believe in the same God. We are all loved by the same God.

Lastly, it say in Romans "How shall they hear without a preacher?"

We are called to GO and herald the word of the Lord.

This sermon was a whole lot to take in.

I personally grew up in a mission-oriented church. I am a mission-minded person.

I love the idea of someday going to wherever the Lord calls me and evangelizing, healing the sick, and above all loving them with God's love.

If you are called, GO!

Pray. Seek. Love.

You don't have to Worry

So, it's been quite a while since my last post. I'm sorry! My life has been a tad crazy.

To catch you up, I've had Spring Break now. I spent most of it in Texas with my family which was so great to see them. You never know how much you miss someone until you have to say goodbye. When I was at the airport leaving to come back for the rest of the semester, I started tearing up and began to start crying in my seat. I am so lucky to have such a loving precious family. Well, I got back to Samford and am going strong in school. Atleast trying to.

I've hit a few bumps on the road, but nothing will stop me.

These past two weeks have been hard. Lots of worrying, freaking out, mind-boggled, and just plain going crazy. I want to get into nursing school so bad and I must keep my GPA above a 3.0

I almost started crying because school was getting overwhelming.

BUT, I went to the Lord. I was sitting in Shiloh (a worship service at SU) and began thinking.

The Lord is proud of you.

Let's take that in for a minute.

The Lord is already proud of you.

Yes, we mess up and sin. BUT, when you are trying your best, seeking after Him wholeheartedly, loving His people, and showing people who Jesus is, Then the Lord is already proud of you. I DON'T have to worry. When you seek after Him, everything else will follow. I have to keep my eyes on Him.

That is what I'm learning to do. When you set your eyes on him, there is no room for worry or freaking out. It's ALL HIM.

"You don't have to worry, He's got you right inside the palm of your hand."

Was Broken, and now LIFTED UP!

How an awful week turned for the better.

I began last Sunday crying on the phone with my mom. I had a huge paper due on Wednesday that I had no clue how to write. Now usually I wouldn't call my mom for help, since I am capable of writing a paper. BUT this time it was different. It was over a topic I had never read about, and it was not supposed to be my opinion. There were many other little things that made it even more hard, but let's not go into detail.

Let's just say I was so tired and stressed past my limit.

I felt helpless.

I felt like I was drowning all week with homework and studying. I felt I couldn't do it. I was struggling everyday this week.

I felt like I was trying so hard in school, but I was still failing. I failed my first Anatomy test, failed some CP quizzes, and now I knew I was about to fail this CA paper.

Just to tell you, I DON'T FAIL THINGS. I try so hard to keep my grades up.

So, all of these failing grades were getting to me.

People kept telling me, "Lindsay, you can do it. You got this. Don't stress. Don't worry, you'll do great."

I said to them, "I think you are over-estimating my abilities."

NO. MY THINKING WAS ALL WRONG.

YOU CAN'T THINK THIS WAY.

Well, Thursday something changed in me.

I listened to this song called "Find you on my knees" by Kari Jobe.

Take a listen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGumE9nkP3o&feature=player_embedded

I started crying after listening to this.

It reminded me that whenever you are at your end, or there's nothing left except brokeness, THE LORD LIFTS YOU UP.

When you are weak, or sorrow takes over your life, or you are torn down, THE LORD LIFTS YOU UP.

He truly NEVER leaves you. He is always there.

So, whenever you feel this way of feeling lost, broken, or just plain down in the dumps. Remember the Lord will lift you up, place you back on your feet, and wrap His precious arms around you.

Do not let the pain get to you like it did to me.

I picture Him saying, "Precious Daughter, do NOT worry or stress. I have you in my hands, so there is no need to freak out. Rest in My Presence. Be still. Turn your eyes to ME. Feel my Love."

What a perfect picture of Daddy-daughter Love.

And guess what?

I got through this week, BUT only with HIS help. I don't know where I would be without Him. And I passed my paper. Not with flying colors, but ya know. I'll take a passing grade. It's all thanks to HIM.

Our ABBA Father is always there. Remember that.

Love you all. If you're struggling. Go to the word. Go to the Father in prayer. He is always listening.

The Perfect Passage

I want to start this off with a little scripture.

Here we go:

Ephesians 4:4-7 (The Message) (Warning, put your thinking cap on. This is an amazing passage, so read it slowly and carefully).

"You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness. But that doesn't mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift."

Now, I know that was a lot to take in, SO let's read it again.

Following my last post about the denominations, this verse truly says it all.

I was sitting in O'Henry's Coffee Shop this afternoon reading and journaling and I happen to come across this verse. It truly spoke to me.

And let me tell you why!

Although we are ALL different denominations, we still believe in the same God, serve the same God, and ALL LOVE THE SAME GOD. We might have different ways of worship or different outlooks of life, but it truly doesn't matter. (unless it's a faith issue that is).

We love the same God, but we are all different.

We are also, supposed to stick together. When one falls, pick them up. Help them. Be a sister or brother to them and show them love. I love that we are a family. We are called to help one another and stick together through the good and the bad.

Also, Christ gave us different gifts to share with the world. How cool right?!

For some people it's the gift of teaching, some it's the gift of evangelism.

If you haven't figured out what yours is, go to God. Ask Him to make it evident to you so that you can do work for the Kingdom of God.

So, again How Freaking Amazing is it that we are all different denominations, but we still love and serve the same God?!

Can I get a WOOP WOOP?!?

HAHA!

Anyway, let me know what you think. I'd love to chat with you about it more!

Love to all :)

Insight into My Brain

Alright, please read this with an open mind. I am going to fully explain myself so, if you don't agree with what I'm saying, please by all means don't just stop reading. Read till the end.

Today I did some thinking. And we all know when I think and run into a problem, I must stop doing whatever I'm doing and research, ask others there thoughts on the subject, and so on.

Okay, so here it is.

In my Cultural Perspectives class we are learning about Martin Luther, Calvinism, The Council of Trent, and Roger Williams. They all have different beliefs of faith and works and other little things.

So, I'm sitting in class just listening and taking notes about all these different beliefs like Protestantism and Catholism. Then I started thinking about how Christians have so many different denominations. We have the methodists, Catholics, Baptists, Episcopalians, Non-Denominational, Protestant, Presbyterian, and so on.

BUT

Christ came to Earth and directly and plainly said what we as Christians are supposed to believe. He got His disciples to write it all down for Him so we would know what to believe is true.

SO, why is it that we have all these different denominations of Christianity?

I feel like the question I and many others ask in college is.."Ohh you're a Christian? What denomination are you?" WHY DO WE DO THIS?

Did God mean for all of us to read the Bible and interpret it all different ways? I don't believe so.

It's making me go crazy!

I asked my Professor and he said, "Lindsay that's a very good point. Why don't you bring it up in class next time."

Excuse me, but that was not an answer...Haha!

Alright people, that was just a little look into my brain right now. If you have any thoughts on the subject or want to talk to me about it let me know!! I'd love to know your thoughts!

Thanks! And Love to all :)