Jesus, Take the Wheel

I found this quote the other day and when I came across it, it really struck me in a weird/neat way. It says,

"An evidence that our will has been broken is that we begin to thank God for that which seemed so bitter, knowing that His will is good and that in His time and in His way, He is able to make the most bitter waters sweet." --Nancy Leigh DeMoss

WOW! When I read that, it made me think about certain things in my life that I have tried to control. When I try to control things, or do things my way, it ALWAYS ends up a disaster! Sometimes we wonder why certain things happen to us or we ask God "Why did you do this to me?" or "why can't I just have THAT?!". We question "why do bad things happen to good people?" Well first of all, we live in a fallen world and are all sinners with a devil that will stop at nothing to keep up from having a relationship with God, so of course there are going to be bad things happening to us all the time. The good news is seeing God's amazing grace IN those situations we seem to be thrown into. This quote to me, describes exactly what God's grace is all about. When we thank Him for being the amazing God that He is during our rough times, He is able to teach us things through our hard times. We learn, we grow and we come out of the valley being a better person, a stronger person and having a stronger relationship with God. Sure, it hurts like heck while we are going through trials, but when God takes that situation and makes it "sweet", that's his amazing grace poured all over you! I guarantee you, that if you look back over the last few years of your life (or longer), you will be able to see so many times how God took that situation and taught you SOMETHING. It may have been something so small, but my theory is, if you go through something and you don't learn anything, what's the point? We don't always understand God and why His timing is SO completely different from ours, BUT we can rest in the fact that He IS God and His ways are always best. They may not always be the easiest, but the best.

"Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand all the time."--Oswald Chambers

There have been PLENTY of times that I cannot for the life of me understand why I am made to wait for certain things, or why certain things happen to ME. But what I have to constantly remind myself of is that God is in control and if I let him take the wheel of every situation in my life, He won't steer me wrong...

Ok, on a different subject 2 Sundays ago one of my very best friends (and roommate) got baptized! She recently joined our church (First Baptist Church of Opelika) and since she was a member of a Methodist church before, it was time for her to get dunked! I love this sweet girl SO much and don't know what I would do without her in my life (and house)! Her little sister's best friend got baptized on the same night!! Praise the Lord x2!!

Watching their baptism made me think of one of my favorite songs right now. It's called "Washed by the Water" by Needtobreathe. They are AWESOME!! check it out!

Thank Goodness God Doesn't Make Junk!

I watched this video tonight and I HAD to post it and write about it. Please take the time to watch it because it is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! It will definitely bless your heart because it most certainly blessed mine.

It is SO true that God knows what we need even before we realize it or even know we need it. It continues to amaze me how things happen and then I realize "that was SO God". It's such a neat and comforting feeling when I actually realize that. This video has such a good message and God knew that I NEEDED to hear it. Lately, I feel like I am in such a battle with the enemy. I feel like just when things start going good and I am happy in the place God has me, the enemy comes along and tries to make me believe otherwise. The enemy is VERY good at doing that...very good at casting doubt. But the truth is, if we can recognize when it's the enemy, then we really have the upper hand. We can choose to believe the lies the enemy tells us everyday, or we can choose to believe the truth that our Heavenly Father tries to impress upon us everyday. It is hard not to believe the enemy..he is very good at what he does, but God is SO much bigger and better. I make a concious decision everyday to believe what I know to be TRUTH. God says He will make us His masterpiece and He doesn't make junk. He created each and every one of us in HIS image....and anything He creates is "good".

For so long I have let the enemy tell me that I am really not a good person or good enough etc. But God tells me different. Sometimes we get to points in our lives (just like the video says) where God is trying to "chisel" away what shouldn't be there. I'm sure if you sat down and thought about it, it wouldn't take you long to come up with a BIG list of things that shouldn't be in your life. I know I can. Another way God has come through and helped me defeat the enemy is by words of encouragement through my wonderful friends. I have realized that over the last 2 or 3 days, I have gotten so many words of encouragement and I had no clue where it was coming from...then I realized..this is God. This is God letting me know that I am fearfully and wonderfully made and whatever bad opinions I may have of myself simply aren't true--they are lies. So watch the video and BE ENCOURAGED!!!

Happiness

I absolutely LOVE The Fray!! I have liked them ever since they came out with their very first single "Over My Head (Cable Car) a few years ago. A few months ago I purchased their 2nd album and I must say that I am in love! Here is one of my favorites off the album..its called "Happiness"

"Happiness is just outside my window
Would it crash blowing 80-miles an hour?
Or is happiness a little more like knocking
On your door, and you just let it in?

Happiness feels a lot like sorrow
Let it be, you can’t make it come or go
But you are gone- not for good but for now
Gone for now feels a lot like gone for good

Happiness is a firecracker sitting on my headboard
Happiness was never mine to hold
Careful child, light the fuse and get away
‘Cause happiness throws a shower of sparks

Happiness damn near destroys you
Breaks your faith to pieces on the floor
So you tell yourself, that’s enough for now
Happiness has a violent roar

Happiness is like the old man told me
Look for it, but you’ll never find it all
Let it go, live your life and leave it
Then one day, wake up and she’ll be home
Home, home, home"

So here goes another one of my lyric interpretations. This song has great meaning. It's obviously talking about happiness. I think they hit the nail on the head with this one too. It's basically saying that happiness is not something that should be looked or searched for..it's something that should just...happen. I like the part where he says, "Happiness feels a lot like sorrow. Let it be, you can’t make it come or go. But you are gone- not for good but for now.
Gone for now feels a lot like gone for good." He is saying you can't make happiness (which is alot like sorrow) come or go. Then, to me, it's like he is saying happiness is gone (not for good) but just for now. Maybe he has gone through something that has hurt him, made him sad, made him wish each day would get better. He knows that eventually it WILL get better, that the sorrow he feels WILL go away and he WILL be happy again, but basically the way he feels right now, feels like he won't ever be happy again. He feels like happiness is gone for good. We have all been in those situations. Situations where we can't seem to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Situations where it's hard to put a smile on our face even though we need to.

My favorite part in the whole song is towards the end where he says, "Happiness is like the old man told me. Look for it, but you’ll never find it all. Let it go, live your life and leave it. Then one day, wake up and she’ll be home". He is saying don't go looking for happiness; just let it go and go on about your life. Then out of the blue one day, happiness will find you. I believe this is how God works. Sometimes there are things in our lives that we hold on to so tight and all God wants us to do is give it to Him. He is there waiting and most of the time we are the ones fighting. We are fighting it because we want to have control. But why do you think God wants it this way? He wants it this way because that's what's best for us and that's how we will ultimately be happy. Most of the time, the moment we give something up to God, that's when He surprises us. Isn't that SO neat?! God wants to do that for us! He wants to give us the desires of our hearts if we would just let Him. He knows what's best for us so much more than we do.

Here is the song in case you want to hear it. :)

Coming Back to the Heart of Worship

This past weekend was such a good weekend. Not only did I get to spend some sweet time with my friends Dacy and Robert in Birmingham, but I really felt like God spoke to me as well. Today was Robert's birthday (along with his very first Father's Day), so initially it was supposed to be a "birthday surprise" that Kyle and I were coming, but Dacy ended up having to spill the beans, but in the end, it was a great weekend. They have such a precious 3-month old baby girl, Dacy Caroline. It is just SO neat to watch Dacy and Rob with her. Dacy and Rob have been good friends of mine for years now. Dacy and I went to high school together and then I was in their wedding and now I am able to share in their joy of having a daughter! It's just SO neat how life changes. Here are a couple pics from the weekend.

Sunday was so great because we got to go visit Rob and Dacy's church, Clearwater Community Church (which I LOVE!) I felt like I was back in "Revolution" which used to be our college ministry at FBCO. Chris Harris was the college minister then and now he has started his own church in Birmingham (Chelsea) with quite a few of the same people that were leaders during the "Revolution" days. But the great thing about church this morning was the worship. To be perfectly honest, I have felt a bit disconnected from my worship for quite some time now. I used to LOVE praise and worship..it was one of my FAVORITE things to do above anything else and lately I have just sorta lost touch with that. Maybe it's because I need more of a contemporary style of worship and I haven't been involved with that lately. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the sunday school class that I am in at FBCO, Mrs. Karen Scoggins is wonderful, and I feel like I'm being fed there in such a great way. But at the same time, after experiencing the type of worship I did today, it is starting to make me think otherwise. The praise band led us in a song called "Marvelous Light" and it really hit home. Not only is that such an amazing praise song, my eyes were filling up with tears, and I felt like in THAT MOMENT, I was coming back to the heart of worship. I felt like the Holy Spirit just came to me and filled me up like an empty cup, and it was such a marvelous feeling; like no other. It felt so wonderful to be able to sing at the top of my lungs and cry out to Jesus and know that He heard me. I must admit that I have struggled lately with sort of finding my place in church. I thought I had definitely found my place when I joined the One2One sunday school class about a year or so ago. It has blessed me so much and I have found great friends through that, but I am starting to think now it is time for me to try and branch out a little. I think my heart needs that contemporary worship, so I may try doing that for a while. Lately I have just been feeling a sense of "unrest" I think. I couldn't really put my finger on a word to describe what I have been feeling lately, but Natalie put it perfect to me when she said "Amy, I think you are just feeling lots of unrest right now." I think she hit the nail on the head. I am settled into my new job and the whole night shift thing is going really well! The Lord has blown me away by that. He has totally helped me adjust to nights so easily and I am SO thankful for that. I was so nervous about it and worried that it was going to turn my world upside down to be on night shift (I NEVER thought I would have been able to stay awake at night, much less sleep during the day), but God has totally made that transition easy for me. That's lets me know (even in something small) that He will provide for me; He will take care of me when I need it. He knows our needs even when we don't even know. Isn't that awesome?! It reminds me of a verse that I love that says,

"Now to him who is able to immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us..."
Ephesians 3:20

And that verse reminds me of another great verse,

"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."
Philippians 4:6-7

I have definitely heard that verse plenty of times before, but it's one I need to hear right now. He is telling us to not worry about anything, but take our requests to God. Tell him what you want/what you think you need. Tell Him your fears, tell him your feelings; that's what He is there for. I have realized that if I am upset, I can cry to God. I can tell Him that I don't understand, I can tell him that I'm mad/upset/hurt...He is the ultimate comforter. It's hard not to worry about things. But a footnote in my bible says, "Whenever you start to worry, stop and pray." I guess in my case, I should be praying a whole lot more than I am, because I know I'm a worry wort.

Although some parts of this weekend were tough for me, I definitely had an eye-opening experience today. It was something I needed..something I think my heart has needed for a while now; just needed to be in the right place. Here is a video of "Marvelous Light".

Facing the Giants

I finally watched "Facing the Giants" last night. I know it has been out for a long while now, but I finally watched it and I must say, aside from the cheesy acting at times, it was a GREAT movie. It brought up quite a few points that I feel like I need to consider in my life. For those of you who haven't seen the movie or don't know what it's about; it's basically about facing your giants. It's about loving God no matter what. Loving and praising God in the good times and the bad times; whether you win or lose. At one point in the movie, a man is telling a story about 2 landowners who had been praying for rain because there had been a drought in the area for years. Here is the clip from the movie..I don't think I could do it justice...


That was such a great point to me because I think so many times we ask God for so many things that we aren't ready for and we don't even realize it. Whatever it may be, I think we all need to start preparing ourselves for it because I have learned that God has our best interest in mind and He is not going to give us something if our hearts aren't ready. Lots of times we agonize over handing something over to God because we think we can handle it better when often times, the minute we finally relinquish it all...that's when BIG things happen. I know it's a constant struggle of mine, but it's definitely something I'm working on.

White as Snow

Can I start off by saying WOW!!! Oh my gosh! The snow! I really didn't believe it would snow! I said to someone on Saturday (when it was so warm) that I would have to see it to believe it, well God sure showed me! I woke up Sunday morning about 7:00 and looked outside and it was steadily coming down. I ran into the living room and said excitedly to my mom "It's snowing!!". I honestly was SO surprised, I was in complete awe because I really couldn't believe my eyes. First of all, we NEVER get snow (and it was at least 60-70 degrees the day before) and second of all it was BEAUTIFUL. I went to church for the first time in a while (yes, I actually braved the snow) and walking from sunday school to the church this is what I saw....

It was actually kinda fun walking through what seemed like a blizzard, but then when I arrived in the sanctuary with my hair soaking wet and cold, that wasn't so fun. In our prayer groups in sunday school, while Janet was praying, she said something that was really cool. It was really neat to see the snow yesterday and to be reminded of how Jesus' blood on the cross washes us white as SNOW. Isn't that SO great! God sent that little reminder yesterday and I felt so refreshed. Then to go out and play in the snow made it that much better! Here are a couple pics from my snow day.






Snow is so much fun, but I can only handle it for so long...it get COLD! I will have to admit, I am SO ready for warm weather to get here and stay. Although there is something about every season that I love, I think I have discovered my favorite season must be summer. I just love being outside especially at the lake or the beach. I love being on a boat just soaking up the rays and floating in the water. It's so relaxing. Summer get here already!

Saturday night Josh and I watched the movie Fireproof. Despite bad acting, it ended up being a great movie. It has some really good points in it, so I advise anyone to see it (especially married couples). There is a song in the movie called "While I'm Waiting" by John Waller that I have fallen in love with! (Here is the video from the movie--you should really take time to listen and watch!)



I heard it then downloaded it later and it really spoke to me. One of my faults is that I don't have a whole lot of patience.....period. When it comes to anything, especially waiting on God's timing. Even in little things like buying something, I just feel like I HAVE to have it RIGHT THEN. I know that sounds awful, but it's the truth. I have always wanted to learn to be more patient, but it's something I have always struggled with and I can admit that being impatient, for me has definitely had its drawbacks. It has caused me alot of heartache too that I could have avoided had I just been patient and trusted in God and realized that he has a perfect will for my life. I heard someone speak once about when you pray and ask God for things and they said that God will always answer you and He will tell you 1 of 3 things. He will say "Yes", "No" or "wait". Of course hearing a "no" is awful, but let me tell you, waiting is hard too because during that time you feel like you just don't know, but that's when this song really spoke to me. It's during this "waiting" that God wants us to be totally consumed in Him, to use this time to rest in Him and worship Him and better our relationship with Him so that we can be better prepared for whatever it is that we have asked Him for. Obviously if God has told us to "wait" then He knows we aren't quite ready for whatever it is that we have requested. Remember...He knows our hearts and He knows our desires...He put them there. He tells us "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." What He is saying is that as long as you are seeking Him, He is going to give you what you desire or either He will change your heart to be more in line with what He wants for your life. Isn't that the coolest thing?! I have definitely witnessed that in my own life. There are SO many things I thought I wanted at one point only to find that once I started seeking God, those desires TOTALLY changed and now they are in line with what He wants for me. It's so awesome when you realize that.

Friday, of course I had to go out and support Auburn Road. As usual, I had a good time. Here are some pictures from that night.

Laminin...just watch!

I have another video. I know some people may not like to actually sit and watch a video, but I wouldn't post it if it wasn't good. This is Louie Giglio speaking. For those of you who don't know Louie Giglio, WOW!! he is amazing. Such an amazing speaker! I have had the privledge of hearing him twice. Once when he came to Auburn a couple of years ago with Chris Tomlin on their "Indescribable" tour and then I heard him again 2 years later in Atlanta on their "How Great is Our God" tour. This video is from the "How Great is our God" tour. I absolutely LOVED this message! It was just so incredibly neat! You will have to watch it to find out. Louie is talking about how we are fearfully and wonderfully made....if you are feeling kinda low...just give it a listen. It's 8 minutes and 43 seconds. You will be blown away!

Stethoscope

I got this video in an e-mail and I think you should all watch it, and make sure you watch it to the VERY end. It's VERY good!! I PROMISE you will be blessed!! Let me know what you think!