in him is the fullness of all things

It's crazy how being in the presence of God changes everything. Worship has this unreal ability to shift our perspective. We go from setting our eyes on things that are fleeting--fear, hardship, stress, anxiety--to setting them on the One who never changes. All those things suddenly seem so small and insignificant in the light of who our God is. This has been a very trying last couple of months. While I was so blessed  with the opportunity to go back home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, I have found that going home always seems to make returning here that much more difficult. This term has been INCREDIBLY difficult and I find myself questioning why I am here all the time . I know that is probably not the best thing but I think that most of it has to do with the fact that being here is keeping my from being at home with my friends and family. And also...there was a boy. And things didn't work out. And God has been gracious in allowing my heart to heal and by allowing me to ...

So this morning I was listening to a teaching on identity and was totally wrecked by this passage in Revelation 2:17 that reads:   “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives  it. ” Here are some of the truths that the Lord ministered to my heart as I read this passage. 1) The Lord gives us a new name , a secret name.   This signifies intimacy. You only have special names for those with whom you are very close to and care deeply for. The fact that God will give  me a new name etched in stone,  that is unique and different than the name that he gives to his other kids speaks volumes of the uniqueness of my relationship with him. 2) The white stone signifies justification .  Apparently in the days that John wrote this passage, stones wer...

Let me first begin with a tiny little vent-sesh. Our school has a goose problem. A BIG ONE. It's bad enough that the geese squawk loudly every morning waking the poor souls that just want to sleep in an extra 10 minutes. It's bad enough that they congregate at the sidewalks and don't give a rip as to whether or not they are in anyone's way. But the ABSOLUTE WORST thing about them is that they defecate. EVERYWHERE. Well mostly just the sidewalks. But it is so unbelievably obnoxious because you literally can't take a step without trying to dodge a pile. You heard correctly. You know how bird poop is usually all white and liquidy? Well goose poop is more like a doggie doodoo. Cylindrical. Anyways, onto the main purpose of this blog. Humility. It's something that the Lord has been teaching me a lot about lately because, contrary to popular belief, I am not perfect! Let me paint a picture for you. I am walking home from the library after a long study sesh. Acro...

Well folks, I have officially been in pharmacy school for 7 weeks! God has been very gracious to me during my time here. Its funny how much growing up can occur when you pick up and move to a whole new place and the cool thing is that God is totally present during the whole  process. We aren't alone.  This last week I turned 22 and I think it's one for the history books. Not because I did anything over the top crazy, but because I realized how truly blessed and loved I really am. I was completely blown away by my friends here and their desire bless me with decorations and gifts! My friends Nina, Emily and Alyssa decorated my dorm room door and snuck into my room and filled it with balloons! And to top it off, the balloons were decorated with my favorite things: babies beards birds sriracha sauce oregon beavers tim tebow ... I was very impressed with how well they know me already! In addition to that, friends from Oregon literally lavished me with cards and...

'sup ya'll. I just wanted to do a quickie update and let you know that though I feel it on the inside due to all that studying, I am in fact NOT DEAD. Just totes cray busy up 'n hurrr. I cannot believe that I am more than halfway done with my first term!   Here are some awkwards and awesomes for the last few weeks: Awkwards thinking my headphones were plugged in to my computer while I was listening to an australian man teach me the basics of the stretch reflex on youtube while sitting on the silent floor...they were not plugged in...everyone could hear. when people wear sunglasses inside...weird! trying to eat my applesauce without a spoon. Essentially I was drinking it...not the quietest way to go about consuming food (again on the silent floor!) when the automatic toilet flushes whilst you are...ahem...taking care of business. when the worker at the dining hall calls you "sweetie"... sneezing super loudly (on the silent floor of the library) wh...

Day after day, week after week, I continue to be astounded by the goodness of my Father. Leave it to him to lead me a beautiful congregation on my first Sunday...he would :) In the weeks and months leading up to this huge transition, I was told by a few people that had done their share of moving that it can take a while to find a church and I was fully prepared for it to take a while. But God certainly has a way of exceeding our expectations! Those of you who I have spoken with since being here know that I comprised a list of 8 churches that I wanted to check out. I couldn't even tell you what it was that lead me to search for yet another church...But somehow I found myself on the page of Church in the City and even though it was a half an hour away, I just felt like I needed to visit it.  From the moment that I stepped into the building, I felt so welcomed, so comfortable. I really appreciated the fact that the congregation wasn't too large; the people seemed a bit more...

Well folks, I have finally jumped on the awkward/awesome bandwagon (c/o Sydney from The Daybook )and I am going to take a moment and share some of the highlights and {awk}lights of my week! I don't normally do this and I can't promise that I'll do it again because most weeks nothing particularly awkward happens to me. This week was a little bit of an exception. So without further adieu... AWKWARD The fact that it took me 5 tries to spell awkward correctly. Showing up to my class an hour early and then proceeding to stay in the empty classroom for the extra hour until class started. Eating by myself in the cafeteria. Getting to this new home fellowship 15 minutes early and awkwardly walking up and down the street until 7:30 instead of owning up to the fact that I was just so excited to be there that I got there way too early. Walking into a Walgreens seconds before they were closing Being on the phone while trying to check out and apologizing both for being on the...