Shout Unto God

I have so many different things I want to write about right now…since I am honestly having a hard time deciding I will just leave you all with a song that spoke to my heart today…This is Shout Unto God by Hillsong United. I’m sure many of you have heard it.

The enemy has been defeated
And DEATH couldn't hold You down
We're gonna lift our voice in victory
We're gonna make Your praises loud

Shout unto God with a voice of triumph
Shout unto God with a voice of praise
Shout unto God with a voice of triumph
We lift Your name up
We lift Your name up

Oh SO good…We were made for so much more than just surviving! God made us conquerors. He made us victors, not victims. Praise God we can confidently live in His favor! Let’s lift up His name for death couldn’t even hold Him down!!!

More tomorrow =)

EPIC Ride

It’s funny how often sports principles can be applied to everyday life…Today I came up with a bit of an analogy after going for a bike ride with my brother, Ben (only two short days after extracting my wisdom teeth haha). As is typical of any post-ride, I was super hungry walking around (in a bit of a fog) looking for food. Today my thoughts took an unusual path as I began comparing the day’s ride with other past rides my brother and I have taken. This morning, my brother and I simply took a nice little leisurely ride around the beautiful Amish country that surrounds us, with our ultimate destination being home. In comparison to our four day, 342 mile trek from Pittsburgh, PA to Washington D.C. last summer, I just felt a real difference in motivation. Something was missing…Our D.C. trip is something my brother and I fondly refer to as an “Epic Ride.” Epic rides are the kind of rides that deliver loads of anticipation for the finish throughout the whole ride with plenty of challenges along the way (and I mean PLENTY). The excitement is like nothing else out there. Today’s ride, while a lot of fun, just lacked that kind of excitement and anticipation…After digging in a little bit deeper I finally realized the difference, and that is where the analogy comes from. The difference was the end goal…the ultimate purpose. While riding around close to home, knowing full well that home is your final destination, is all good and well, it is nothing like spending multiple days on a bike to get to a somewhat unknown destination. There are just so many unknowns in a ride like that, and the destination is not necessarily a place of comfort, but a place of achievement of purpose and contentment. So many things can go wrong…the weather can change in a moment, you could hit a tree (did that one!), you could get lost. There is no guarantee that you will even make it to your waypoints let alone the end. It makes the ride almost bigger than life, certainly bigger than you or I. So how does this relate to my life and my walk with God? It really just served as a nice analogy for my thoughts about the need to go into uncharted territory, away from “comfortable” home, to do something bigger than myself. Oh how crucial it is to serve a transcendent purpose; to adventurously go out into the unknown, take the challenges head on and serve the Lord, with the ultimate goal being the ushering in of His Kingdom. It is here that so much growth happens, both in yourself and in those you serve. Sure there are challenges and growth in “short rides,” but it is nothing compared to 100% putting yourself out there to serve something bigger than yourself…While I don’t know what exactly I want to do after college, I am certain that I won’t be content unless I am serving my Lord by serving others…it’s vague, but SO exciting to me. I truly want to live out the “epic ride” of my life as cliché as it may sound.

I will leave you with two lighter thoughts…

1) Every time I try to use the word analogy in something I’m writing, I completely forget the word. It’s weird, I know. It took me an hour to remember it this time.

2) As I said earlier, I had my wisdom teeth removed on Thursday the 21^st. My parent’s now call me motor mouth because I have been talking from the second I came off the anesthesia…What can I say? I love to talk! Good thing I’m a business major. Haha

Alright, that’s enough about my favorite hobby. God bless!

Reckless?

So I still have about two weeks until I head out, but I thought I’d get started on this blogging thing. I am sure the title of my blog has probably grabbed somebody's attention, and I don't know a better to start my blog than by just speaking about why I even chose to name it as such...Am I a reckless person by nature? Well...when it comes to driving my car, maybe a little. I like to refer to myself as adventurous ;-) Seriously, though, I will often, like most, try to “play it safe” and stay within my comfort zones. Following the status quo is simple, easy, and rarely brings with it much challenge. Change is hard; being uncomfortable is not enjoyable, daring to go where others dare not is downright scary, but oh how often God calls us to stretch ourselves out of our comfort zones to a place where we MUST rely on Him for our strength and guidance...SO OFTEN does obedience to Christ seem reckless to the world. Even more often it doesn't even make sense to us! But why should it? We are fallen beings nowhere near capable of comprehending all plans that God has. God commands us to choose this path less traveled, so as to offer ourselves to him as living sacrifices and grow in our faith:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2 NIV

This summer as millions of college students are seeking out internships and future employment which is a reasonable, safe approach, I am choosing to listen to God’s clear voice and offer all that I have once more in Monterrey, Mexico. In the first chapter of Isaiah it speaks clearly of my mission for the summer, “Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.” God is asking for the teachable, those who will be willing AND obedient to stop doing wrong in order to learn to do right and to go and do his work. The harvest is plentiful and the workers are few, but let me tell you something. The few of us that do choose to do God’s work be it in Mexico or elsewhere, will surely see the awe inspiring power of God.

Friends, as reckless as it may seem (especially since most of you have heard either something about the violence or the swine flu in Mexico), I know this is God’s purpose for me this summer. I do not know what exactly will happen, but I do know that the Lord is going to usher in great healing for the orphan child in Monterrey this summer. How? I don’t know. I just believe it will happen. Like I said, I’ve been sent, and it is up to the Holy Spirit to guide me from here on out. I just want to be the Lord’s tool even if it means seeming reckless to the world.

So this is exactly how I live my life, as a giant adventure. I truthfully have no idea where exactly God will take me durin and after after my trip, or even after college, but I am completely comfortable with that. Does it sound reckless? Perhaps a little bit, but let me tell you something. God has blessed me mightily, even when I have let my human nature get the best of me and have been less than focused on Christ’s calling than I should be. Like I said, God is seeking those who are willing and obedient and promises that they “will eat the best from the land” (Isaiah 1:19). Even though my focus has lacked at times as I have been so often distracted by all sorts of things, God has still gracefully blessed me for having a willing and (most of the time) obedient attitude. I cannot image my life going any differently...

So as I leave my first blog post (EVER!) I just want to challenge each and every one of you to willingly ask God where he is leading you, and LISTEN! Don’t rationalize it away like so many do…rather it is best to be obedient right away and ask questions later =). You can have such an impact on the world around you! Don't let anyone tell you anything different. Let your faith be stretched. Take that challenge. Walk right into those situations that scare you the most! God will deliver. It is my hope prayer that each of you who reads this will soon jump in to your own adventure and have your eyes opened to the wonders that abound in Christ. BE RECKLESS! Do everything in love. I love you all and cannot wait to share more in the coming weeks!