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My darling, I am not in the fear. I am in a new place, a separate place outside of it.
Step away with Me.
There is refreshment here. A new place to stand. There is room to move, to breathe, to spread your arms wide, hands open, fingers stretched, head relaxed.
I have work for you to do with Me, yes. We will go and I will push you to lean on Me and trust Me and do things uncomfortable for you to do alone.
But you donât go alone, my dear.
And when you are with Me in the place that could feel so uncomfortable and stress-filled, on your ownâwhen you depend on your own strength, when you look to yourself for answersâyou can rest and relax in My presence. You can head out into new territory with Me and not feel scared.
Sometimes I donât tell you why it is Iâve asked for you to go to a place with Me. And that can feel uncomfortable, too. I know how you like answers.
But donât not go to this new place with Me because fear grabs hold of your heart. Donât let fear paralyze this girl-amazing-woman whom I love and adore so that fear is more powerful than this truth: I am here with you, holding your hand, not leaving your side. I am enough. My presence is enough. Where I take you is enough. You are free here, in this place with Me, outside of fear and no longer trapped.
Stand up straight, girl.
Stand up.
You are not made to cower and fret and wring your hands. You are made to walk with eyes up, head held high, so you can see the path I take you. Together we go, just one step at a time, and into territory that may be unknown but will be safe and familiar too . . . because I will be there.
And I am your home.
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hey guys! this is gonna be kinda long buuuuut just gotta! đ€Șđ€© there is a HUGE revival happening at LH and in our community! people from all over are getting saved through the online campus and hundreds of students are giving their lives to Christ! I know we all go to different churches but WE are the capital âCâhurch and the school is OUR ministry and OUR Church! I think itâs the absolute coolest that God has put all of us together out of MILLIONS & BILLIONS of people in this world! that blows my mind! the video I sent is tonightâs sermon and I challenge yâall to look it up and listen to the whole video! but if anything go to 1:24:20 and listen to like 5 minutes of it!!!! *unrelated thought I have that convicts me often is this, âwhat if for one week we prayed and spent time with God as much as we spend time on our phones or with other distractionsâ food for thought* pastor Robby said if God looked at you and told you to do something radical that is SO out of your comfort zone and all the revival would start with that, would you do it? or would you wait for someone else to do it? made me think. are we thinking like that? we know that faith without action is dead but yet all the time we choose to just walk through the motions. we as Christ follower and as disciples, we are not normal. this revival is not normal. this is not a normal movement from the Lord. we can not be normal. Jesus tells us that when we choose Him over the things of the world that we WILL be mocked. we WILL be laughed at. thatâs a fact. If we arenât being noticeable different are we really living for Christ? we are actively being sought after by the enemy. he is the thief that comes to only steel, kill, and destroy. Iâm not content with the ânormalâ christianity. so many people at our school claim to know Christ but the real question is if Christ knows them, if Christ knows us. so many of the people at our school go to church on wednesdayâs and mondayâs and go to camps and everything in between but yet they donât look any different from the nonbelievers sitting next to them. do we look any different from the nonbelievers sitting next to us? I believe that a true revival in our school will start with a group of students who are FULLY on fire for the Lord! who are going to BE THE sparks that light the school. WE can be those students! Imagine and entire school completely sold out for Christ. a school that chooses every. single. day. to seek the hearts of our fellow class mates and to love them the way Jesus loves. Iâm again how different school would become iuf we made it all about Christ and where he wants us. if we used this season of our lives to bring God the glory through it all. what is we were the ones unashamed to stop and pray for someone in the halls, to stop and pray for someone at lunch, to stop and pray for and with our teachers. we can be the ones. my sweet, awesome, beloved friends! Iâm committing to grow with yâall and be yâallâs accountability buddy and to simply live in the seasons God gave us with our hesitation with yâall. letâs be the fire that brings God the glory! feb 2021đ€©
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Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness. We learn from Luke 4:2 that â⊠he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry.â What an understatement! Forty days without food is right on the edge of human tolerance. Jesus wasnât just hungry; He was literally starving to death. By that point, His body would have used up all of its fat reserves and would have started digesting muscle just to stay alive. In that condition, I would hardly be able to blame Him if He caved in to a little selfishness ⊠if He acted a little less Jesus-like, and a little more me-like. Yet thatâs not what He did. He did not allow His circumstances to dictate His behavior. Through it all Jesus stayed focused.
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Humans have always been pretty good at praising God when things are going well, then complaining when things go bad. But praise is not a response to what is happening in my life - itâs the response to who God is in my life. Because God is good and He doesnât change, then neither should my praise. Itâs the right response in my life no matter what Iâm going through.
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THE HEART
This morning I had a sweet convo with Leslie. She asked my opinion on giving people on the side of the street money. I began saying that I think itâs 100% a heart thing. You should feel lead to do so. Sometimes you will give a meal. Sometimes a ten dollar bill. Sometimes itâs a hundred dollars. sometimes itâs just your time. No matter what you do I think it should be a Jesus thing. I told her that time mom was getting me and jess food before dance and we were driving down the road and before we opened the food we stopped at a stop light. There was a guy just sitting there minding his own business. He was humble and very shy. We rolled down the window and gave him a whole meal combined of all of our food. That was a Jesus thing. Something I always think about is this, âYou can always give but the greatest gift you can give is your time and a relationship, gifts provide short time relief and relationships provide long term relief.â Think about that.
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TIME WITH GOD! it is so so SO important to spend alone time with God to seek Him for guidance and wisdom and to pray in preparation for the day. i read this thing and it was talking about how a God girl/ God boy is someone who wakes up before the rest of the world does to greet their father. to me that means waking up at 5:30 or 6:00 and to have my jesus time. to have intentional time with the Lord. that's when you seek Him. listen to Him. grow with Him. and do all the things. to simply go private before you go public. every time i leave my room i read this verse that's on my door and it says "i am leaving you with a gift of peace of mind and heart, the peace i give is a gift the world can not give so do not be troubled or afraid." john 14:27 as i read that i'm reminded that when i leave my room i am going public from my private place. it reminds me that it is not me who lives but Christ who lives through me. it gives me comfort in the Lord. it gives me a breath of fresh air. knowing that with the Lord i have peace. with the Lord i can be slow to speak and quick to listen. it helps me to remember to truly find rest in Him and be ready, be prepared for anything He has planned for that day and to focus on THIS day and to rejoice in THIS day. for today has enough troubles of its own. đ
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âOnly humans it seems have the capacity to live as something other than what they are (God reflectors, image bearers). Trees behave as trees; rocks as rocks; the sea is and does what the sea is and does.â
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Dear Mrs.B
My favorite quote. There are so many! I am such a quote person! If I had to choose, I would have to choose âAll to give nothing to risk.â & âLive in the moment.â These are my favorite quotes for many reasons; for one they help me to be intentional with everything I do. When it says, âAll to give nothing to risk.â, I am reminded that what I do is not all about me. It helps me to remember to love God and love others well. When it says, âLive in the moment.â, I am reminded to slow down, and to be slow to speak and quick to listen; to truly focus on today for it has enough troubles of its own.
These quotes make me a better person by helping me to keep my focus on the things in life that matter. It helps me to strive for the kind of person I want to be, and the way I want to be. It reminds me of all the little things and reminds me to keep my focus on my priorities. This quote can impact my future in so many ways; in some ways I donât even know yet. It will always be something I can hold accountable to myself and continue to push me further.
Mrs.B, I appreciate your class,
Lizzi Wilson
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Stand up for those who canât stand up for themselves.
In a world where opinions can go viral minutes after theyâre posted, and social media debates go from zero to 100 in a hot secondâitâs wise to remember to be like Jesus both online and offline. Jesus wasnât afraid to call out sin, but He did it in the context of grace and relationship. So, posting about problems is probably not going to lead to resolution. But standing up for someone who canât stand up for themselves? Thatâs close to the heart of Jesus.
In John chapter eight, we see a story of a woman caught in the act of adultery. The crowd wanted to stone her for itâand the law said they could. They asked Jesus what He would doâtrying to trap Him into saying something Heâd regret.
Jesus didnât take the bait. Instead, He asked whoever had never sinned to go ahead and cast the first stone. He started writing in the sand, and some people believe that He was actually writing the sins of the people around Him. The people scattered, leaving only Jesus.
Jesus gave the woman grace by letting her go, but He gave her truth by telling her to not sin anymore. We should strive to model that for the people in our lives. We should start relationships by extending graceâreminding people that their mistakes can be redeemed. And then we help people realize that thereâs a better way to liveâthrough following Jesus.
So stand up for those who canât stand up for themselves. Stand up for the people the world rejects. Stand up for the overlooked and the outcasts. And donât just stand upâget ready to serve.
In Matthew 25, we see Jesus talking about two groups of peopleâsheep and goats. Hang with us. The sheep are those who served the least of theseâoffering support to the poor, water to the thirsty, care for the sick, etc. The goats? They ignored people who were in need. Read todayâs passage to learn how that ended. Spoiler alert: serving matters a great deal to God. And it doesnât matter if we say we love God if we donât love His people by serving them well.
So, who will you stand up for? Who will you serve? Because when you do thatâJesus says youâre actually doing it for Him.
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My Life? What Do I Want?
What do I want in my life? That's a question that can be hard to answer at times. A question that changes often, but when I stop and think about what it is that I truly want in my life there are several things that come to mind. I want to do full time ministry, whether that's going on missions around the world or that's simply being love to the people all aoud me. I want to pursue lifelong friendships, to go out of my way and be the kind of frind i want in my life, to be the one others can trust and grow with. I want to grow in bettering myself inside and out, by carefully watching what I let myself think and what I let myself do, by simply having fun and never stop learning and changing for the better. I want to go to college and get a degree, not even sure what the degree will be in but I know I want to achieve one. I want to start my own business, whether that be a small cafe or a small pottery store, or something I would enjoy doing and enjoy owning. I want to have a billion little hobbies and things I love doing, like playing guitar to drawing to playing cards to dancing to stargazing to smiling. Most of all I want to enjoy every minute and not miss a second. That's what I see when I think about my future. When it asks us âwhat are you willing to struggle for?â That is a huge wakeup call to what we are actually doing. It gives me more questions like, âam I working every moment to make those things happen?â âam I using evry single second to try my absolute best?â I love hard questions, questions that make you think. When I think about the response I would have in answering those, I want to be able to say that yes, I do strive for those things every moment and yes, I truly truly want those things. Even though I may be able to say that I want all those things it's a different thing to say I am pursuing those things. This is what gets me, âI wanted the reward and not the struggle. I wanted the result and not the process. I was in love not with the fight but only the victory. And life doesnât work that way.â Iâm making today a day where I say I will strive for what I dream of, I will allow myself to struggle, I will fight through till I make those things happen. That's what I want to do in my future and it's what I am going to start now. Because âBecause happiness requires struggle.â
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"we hope and we hope and we hope it some more. when we do our brain can fool us into thinking we're actually helping. but hoping isn't helping. hoping is just hoping. don't be fooled. it's easy to do."
-everybody always
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"it's easy to agree with what jesus said. what's hard is actually doing what jesus did."
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PRAY // Sometimes we make faith too complicated. Do this. Donât do that. Memorize this. Attend that event. Sing this song. Listen to this message. Pray this prayer. Serve that community. And these are all GREAT things. But if weâre being honest, it can get a little overwhelming, canât it? Thankfully, we can make things less complicated by focusing on one word: love. Today, ask God to help you simplify things by focusing on what it looks like to love Him and love others as you go about your day.
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Feedback was a new concept that was introduced to me on the race. When we were first told about feedback, I thought it was telling people what theyâre good at and what theyâre bad at. But thatâs only one layer of it. We are encouraged by our leaders to consistently give our teammates feedback, and my teams have made it a daily practice.
Before the race even started, I convinced myself that I would never give feedback to other people, I would never âcriticizeâ someone. Now, feedback is one of my favorite things that the World Race has taught me. The way I give and receive feedback has changed and developed over the course of the race and has become something Iâm super passionate about.
I know that feedback isnât easy and sometimes a little confusing. Iâve learned from experience that the way you see it has a huge influence on how well feedback goes. For any other racers who donât like feedback, donât understand feedback, or love feedback and just want to learn more: here are 5 things I learned that feedback is, and 5 things feedback is not.
FEEDBACK IS...
1. A gift. When you give someone feedback, you are telling that person two things. One, they are seen. Two, you are invested in their growth and seeing them continue to look more and more like Jesus. Jesus allows you to see His child, and you get to help them see that too. If it doesnât feel like youâre giving someone a gift, check yo self.
2. From love. Check your heart. Giving feedback should always come from a place of loving your teammate. If you are angry or frustrated or annoyed with your teammate, feedback is not the time or place to air out your complaints. Feedback comes from a place of loving your teammate and wishing success and growth and achievement for them. Your teammate should leave feedback feeling lifted, not beat up.
3. Dynamic. Thereâs no âformulaâ for feedback. It doesnât have to be âOkay, give one positive and one negative piece of feedback. Done.â Allow feedback to be an opportunity for you to speak life, and give Holy Spirit the space and flexibility to do that in any shape, number or time.
4. Uplifting. Feedback is about raising up your teammates to be more like Jesus, to be better versions of themselves, not a better version of yourself. Take the time to see each other, love each other. Your desire should be to see them excel and reach new heights, not to hold out a magnifying glass to their flaws. Ask yourself what your goal is in giving them this piece of feedback.
5. Spirit-lead. Giving and receiving feedback comes hand in hand with prayer. Holy Spirit may tell you not to say something you want to say. He also may tell you to share something that you havenât even observed. Donât depend on your own understanding or expectations, lean into God.
EXAMPLE
An example of incredible feedback that I received - You have a gift of perspective and giving great feedback, but donât hide behind the structure of feedback to tell people what you see in them. You have a gift of seeing people, and you can use that to connect with them and ask questions and follow-up. Donât avoid connection or interaction by only bringing up your insights in feedback time.
I felt seen, loved, and challenged. Amazing.
FEEDBACK IS NOT...
1. A place to air out complaints. Feedback is not a venting session, and itâs not a place for conflict resolution. If there are 14 things you want to tell Susie to stop doing, I think you need to check your heart and maybe figure out whatâs going on in yâallâs relationship.
2. A debate. A rule we all agree on from the very start of the race is you respond to feedback by saying one thing and one thing only, âThank you.â No matter how hard someone tries, any response to feedback comes across as defensive. When you reply in rebuttal to someoneâs feedback it takes away from it being a safe place to be honest and share. It's never a bad idea to ask Jesus what He thinks before letting your pride respond.
3. A criticism. This is something that you start to see the more you give feedback. Iâve learned that feedback (yes, even constructive feedback) isnât nitpicking or criticizing or basically telling someone to do something the way you would do it. Itâs pointing them to the gospel, to Jesus, to a better version of themselves. Maybe itâs challenging them to grow further in a gift they already have.
4. Perfect. I can look back and think of a few pieces of feedback given on my teams (including things I have said) that maybe werenât worded so kindly or couldâve been given one-on-one...but weâve all survived. We all still love each other. And weâve grown in humility from it. There is grace.
5. Dependent on otherâs response. This is a biggie. A huge fear of mine that keeps me from giving others feedback is how they will react. "What if they think Iâm being mean?", "What if they think Iâm wrong?", "What if they get defensive?" Iâve learned that if God chooses to show me something in someone else, it is my responsibility to speak to them in love and grace. But it is not my responsibility to control how they receive it. Thatâs between God and them.
Here are some questions I like to ask myself before I give feedback:
What is my goal in sharing this piece of feedback? Does it have anything to do with my hurt pride?
Have I prayed and yielded to where Holy Spirit is leading me?
Is there bitterness in my heart towards this person? Do I need to take the log out of my eye first (Matt 7:3-5)?
Am I actively loving this person through the words I have chosen? Does it feel like Iâm giving them a gift from the Lord?
Have I taken time to really see this person? Am I making any assumptions?
Feedback is tough, and there are still times that I don't like it. It still stings to receive feedback when someone points out something in me that I try so hard to hide. But I've seen trust cultivated, humility grown, and love shown through it. Even when we do it horribly wrong, God still blesses the heck out of it.
P.S. The "beep boop" comes from a little hand signal our squad mentor taught us when we first started feedback. You hold up a fist and say "beep" as if you're holding up a mirror to someone. Then, you point up and say "boop" as if you're pointing them higher. Beep boop haha
WORDS BY EMILY ORLICH!!đ„ł
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A piece of advice I would give to the next year's students would be simply this, âsay you can and you will, say you can't and you won't.â What I mean by that is to try everything and explore everything. Donât go into things saying, âI can't do thisâ or âthis isnt my thingâ cause when you do, you really won't be able to do it. What you think and the way you think can and does 100% control what you do or what you think you can do. Everyday you get to decide what you think and what you do. I hope the students of next year have the outlook and demeanor of trying new things. You are going to struggle but that's what will ultimately help you grow. It's hard to struggle, it's uncomfortable, it's messy, but try to deal with it in a healthy way. Handling struggles and dealing with the tough things are hard. Dealing with struggles are going to be different for everyone. There is no right or wrong way of handling things (hopefully you do it in a healthy way). What works for you works for you. One way I like to look at it is this, if you at least try something you can't look back at it later and say you regret not trying it, but if you donât try something then you have to live with the âwhat ifâ. In everything, you can try your best and succeed or try your best and not succeed, but the way you take the outcome is your choice, that's what matters. You can use it to push you and try harder, you can use it to learn something, or you can do the opposite and let it take you down. You decide.
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Donât Settle for Less
Are you excited about your life? Or do you feel as if youâre merely existing, drifting along from day to day without any sense of purpose or direction?
Through the years, Iâve met countless people whoâre living what I call a âsettled-for-life.â Somewhere along their journey, they became complacent and content in their circumstances. They settled for what they believed was adequate or satisfactory instead of exerting the effort and work necessary to living a life thatâs truly excellent and outstanding.
The truth is, itâs easy to find ourselves settled and complacent in life. And there are many reasons we can feel stuck, discouraged, or adrift; lose our enthusiasm for life; and forfeit our hope, sense of purpose, and peace.
In my opinion, the foremost reasons are because many people have lost sight of who God made them to be and what He designed them to do. As a result, countless people are not actively, intentionally, and purposefully pursuing what the Father has planned for them.
If you truly want to pursue your purpose and reach your full potential in life, then you must face up to these two truths:
Truth #1: God has placed more within you than you realize.
Truth #2: You likely have settled for the life youâre living now.
You must remember that your heavenly Father sees you through the eyes of love and forgiveness (Eph. 2:4-5). He sees where you are, but He also sees the person He made you to be. God sees all the awesome potential and possibilities Heâs created you to fulfill.
If youâre willing to discover and align yourself with His plan and purpose for you, Heâll bless you more than you could ever imagine and open doors of opportunity you never dreamed possible. Heâll restore the joy, peace, and hope youâve lost and show you the path to the accomplishment He wants in your life. And He promises to bless you with life at its very best.
God has placed you in this time and your current location to allow you to maximize your role in establishing His will âon earth as it is in heavenâ (Matt. 6:10). If youâve ever wondered why youâre on this earth, understand that God has placed you here as a unique person with a unique mission aimed at establishing and extending His kingdomâand your potential lies securely and completely in that purpose.
The question is, do you truly believe it? And more importantly ...
are you ready to get started?
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