Always and Forever [5/24/13]

Hello hello hello!

So lately, I have been falling deeper and deeper in love with my beautiful saviour and wonderful creator. It's so nice to be able to spend time with him daily, rejoicing and thanking him for how he has blessed me! When I was still in Sunday School, I can remember thinking "how is it possible that people talk about God all the time? Aren't we going to run out of things to talk about? We talk about him every week... I DON'T UNDERSTAND."

What a silly little girl I was! As I dive into the word, I'm not only discovering more about God, but also discovering how little I know about God. It's a chain reaction. When one question is answered, two more pop up! As I've been seeking him more, one of God's many characteristics has been sticking out to me and challenging me in new ways.

Psalm 16:8
I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Matthew 28:20
...And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Deuteronomy 31:8
The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.

These verses are only the tiniest examples of God's persistence and consistence in our lives! I'm sure all of you have experienced similar ups and downs in your faith and lives to my own. We have our good days and our bad days, we have our struggles and our joys, our trials and tribulations. But we have a God who always remains the same! There's no such thing as a bad day for him. He doesn't go through the same roller coaster rides that we go through - he is constant in our lives and persistently showing us his beauty and love no matter how hard we try to push it away.

This brings me great comfort knowing how reliable, dependable and consistent our father is! When everything in this world falls away, we will still have our father - he does not change like shifting shadows (James 1:17)

When I see verses that say "surely I am with you always" and "he will never leave you or forsake you" it reminds me of multiple choice questions on exam. Before you get super confused, question how God reminds me of a multiple choice question and then call me crazy, hear me out.

In the beginning of first year, I went to the Academic Success Center to get some advice because I was absolutely terrible at multiple choice questions (I mean seriously, who tells you to pick the better answer of two right answers?!) Anyways, one piece of advice they gave me was to try avoiding answers that contain the words "always" or "never" because nothing is consistent enough to be always or never.

What great advice! It's so very true! Things in this world will not go on forever and ever. Things on this earth are simply temporary and will one day cease to exist, but God is the one constant in all of our lives! Always loving and guiding us as we journey through this world. This love and persistence he has shown us has brought up a desire in my heart to be just like him in this way! Persistently loving my fellow brothers and sisters in all situations and at all times! I know there will always be people in this world we struggle with - people who manage to push all the right buttons at all the right times. I have people in my life who seem to just cause so much trouble for themselves and then complain about it endlessly - asking me for love and attention that I eventually become reluctant to give. It's easy to stop paying attention to these people and spending the time we used to because we don't want to hear about how they made the exact same mistake as the last ten mistakes.

Yet this is one of the many ways our father loves us. We are constantly making the exact same mistakes over and over again! We try to learn from our mistakes but we so often end up making the same ones. But thankfully, God is persistent and patient with us. He loves us and is there for us despite the situation and I hope to love my fellow brothers and sisters just as he loves me. How eternally grateful I am to my saviour! I am grateful for him loving me despite all of my silly mistakes and mountains of complaints! I hope to imitate my wonderful maker and learn to love even those who push those buttons! Join me in this journey of learning to love as God first loved us :)

"Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."
- Ephesians 5:1

- kjoosaurus out! 

Planned Perfection [7/29/12]

Hello dear friends,

I'm truly sorry I haven't written in such a long time... I could give you a huge list of excuses, but I think I'll save you all from having to listen to it. Instead, I will do my very best to fill you all in on what has been happening in my life, and how God has been working!

In all honesty, a lot has happened, and I've had many ups and downs. I started going to a couple of bible studies, and I was really pumped at the beginning of the summer! I was going to do SO much. I was ready to take on the world! But, as usual, my plans did not go as I had assumed they would. My fire went down, and it turned into nothing but a little flame. I began to feel discouraged, and many distractions and temptations began to come my way.

One of the biggest things that has happened so far is that in the middle of my summer, I began to have an identity crisis! Well, more like I realized I've been having an identity crisis. I'm not sure if anybody else has done this, but I would always try to be like somebody else. I wanted to be wise like my Mom, I wanted to be a good listener like my best friend, I wanted to be spiritually strong like my grandmother, I wanted to be hard-working like my Dad, I wanted to be as loveable as my friend. I wanted to be talented as that photographer, or as tall as that model. And you know what? I tried to be all of these things. I wanted to be an all-around perfect person. But, this perfection was for selfish reasons. For worldly reasons. I've been like this for years and years. I've always tried to be somebody else, and I've never been satisfied with what I have. But this summer, God has gently been encouraging me to stop this jealousy and obsession.

Psalm 139:13-14

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body

and knit me together in my mother's womb.

Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!

Your workmanship is marvelous - how well we know it. 

In all the years of trying to become somebody else, I had forgotten who created me. I had forgotten that my creator had a perfect plan for me. I had forgotten that the person I am is who my creator wants me to be. He doesn't want me to be my Mom, he doesn't want me to be my friend, he doesn't want me to be a carbon copy of anybody else in this world! Our God, my creator, wants me to be who he created me to be. The gifts I have are from him. The body I have is created by him. I shouldn't be searching for the gifts of others, but trying to discover the gifts he has given to me! 

I'm not sure if anybody else has gone through the same thing... But isn't it crazy how we might forget who our creator is? He created the world. He created the trees. He created the oceans. He created all of the creatures on this earth! Everything has a purpose; everything is made perfectly. If he created all of these things with such precision, he most definitely created us perfectly. God makes no mistakes! He loves us for who we are, because he created us the way we are. 

Lord, 

Thank you for making us who we are today. Thank you for letting us be your children! May we only seek to be more like you, and nobody else. 

In your name,

Amen.

- kjoosaurus out!