I'm gonna be honest with you. Recently, I've been kinda busy and stressed out. I've caught myself numerous times thinking something like, ugh, can't wait to finish this or I just wanna be done and take a nap. It's been a week. Actually, it's been a few weeks. But when people come up to me and ask me, "How are you?" I've actually replied, "Good!" I'm not the type of person who likes hearing that response from people. It's sooo generic, and half of the time (let's be real) people are literally lying to us and giving us their default response. I hate that. However...this week, as friends were asking me how I was doing, it was actually kinda weird. Maybe this is the extrovert, energized-by-people part of me, but I think it's the Lord's faithfulness: every time someone's asked me that, I've felt good, and I could genuinely tell them so without lying through my teeth. I told my friend just this weekend, "You know, I should be telling you how stressed out I've been, because honestly, between school and having houseguests who generated negativity and stress, I didn't feel good. But if there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that perspective matters. So I've been looking at every situation as, how is God growing me? What is He trying to teach me here? and that has completely changed me. I'm just so much happier and so content!" 

This mindset didn't come to me automatically; it came over the course of a 4-5 year period; one of the hardest I've gone through so far. (See: YOUR PAIN IS NOT POINTLESS.) Instead of dwelling on my emotions or wallowing in an endless hole of self-pity...ew, don't wanna ever intentionally do that again...I'm learning to let go of my circumstances and fix my eyes on Jesus. See, that is the secret to contentment. Take the well-known story of Peter walking on water. He started off, probably smiling, when he took those first steps on the waves, lookin at Jesus. But then, when Peter took his eyes off Jesus, he began to fall into the waves. By focusing on his circumstances, which were unpleasant, he was invoked to fear and he promptly began to sink. But Jesus offered His hand to Peter and rebuked him, saying, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" (Mt 14:31 ESV). Here's the thing: our circumstances will pretty much never be absolutely perfect. We live in a fallen world; therefore nothing is perfect. People, circumstances, nature...none of that is perfect. If we focus on our problems, we will eventually be filled with fear. However, when we choose to intentionally focus on Jesus rather than the surrounding problems, we can be filled with joy. Because He is perfect, we can be wholly satisfied in Him. Now, that doesn't mean we have perfect faith; we don't. But by choosing, again and again, to turn back to Him when we stumble and fall, there will always be a hand waiting for you to pick you up and guide you back on the right path. It takes intentionality and it's a choice you have to make every day, every hour, every minute - because the devil sure ain't gonna leave you alone if you're focusing on God. He's gonna try, EVERY CHANCE HE CAN, to distract you and tear you out of peace and security [God]. The devil wants nothing more than to get your attention off Jesus and onto your problems. He loves fear. He loves peeling you away from the truth. Therefore, be on your guard and surround yourself with truth more than problems. You know that song Surrounded? It goes something like this:

It may look like I'm surrounded but I'm surrounded by You / It may look like I'm surrounded but I'm surrounded by You / It may look like I'm surrounded but I'm surrounded by You / It may look like I'm surrounded but I'm surrounded by You / This is how I fight my battles

Note how many times it repeats that line, and that's only one of the many repeated verses! When we immerse ourselves in something, repeating it and hammering it into our brains, it's harder for it to escape. What is something that's been heavily on your mind lately? The stress of school? Family problems? A break up? What to wear at church? How you're gonna cram for the exam tomorrow?

How are you doing? Like really. Are you anxious? I'd encourage you to figure out the root of that and try your best to lift your focus off that and shift your gaze UP to God. This morning, God gave me this visual of a house. First, it was a straight-on view of the front of it, with all the lights lit up through the windows. Then the view backed up and then became and aerial of the top of the house, so that all I could see was the roof. Sometimes we are so focused on the surface level matters, or matters that will at least pass in time, that we forget to look up and remember what's protecting us from all those problems - God. He is the roof to our house, representing our lives. We want to seem put together or we want things to just go well. And there's nothing wrong with that at all! I hate when things fall apart. But ultimately, when that happens, we just have to commit to remembering that God is still in control and that everything is under control. Even when it's not! I find so much comfort and peace that God has this intricate plan and that SOMEHOW He's able to use even the bad things for my good. Sooo when bad things happen and you're just plain STRESSED OUT and you want to just be done with life, friend, lemme tell you: surround yourself with truth; THE Truth. Take a break and pray, read the Bible, listen to worship music or a sermon and just refresh yourself. If we're always go-go-go, we'll definitely burn out. I know I do and have to remember to rest (blog post on that coming soon!). When stress hits, our natural instinct is to focus on that and either try to fix it or stress about it. But if we take a step back - go for that aerial view - and look up at Jesus, we see His hand reaching out to us to pick us up out of those waves. He's got it. And He's got you.

How you doin? Are you stuck on the ground, falling with your problems into fear, or are you looking up and striving to see from God's view? You must be intentional if you want to be happy in life. Choose Jesus and there will be joy even among the waves. Joy comes from peace, and peace from trusting the Lord. He has a plan and He is faithful to complete it in His timing. 

REAL LOVE IS WORTH DYING FOR.

REAL LOVE LASTS FOREVER.

REAL LOVE IS JESUS.

In our day and age, love is being sold for getting whatever you want, fulfilling your happiness and everything. This is true, but it's unattainable by anyone other than Jesus. Why? Because people are sinful. They can still love, but they don't have perfect love. Their emotions often sway their so-called love, and dash it to pieces. Real love does not forsake. Real love does not die. Real love does not hide. 1 John 3:16 (NLT) says,

Jesus is the perfect example of real love because He really was perfect. Experiencing this radical love can happen and has happened with millions of people. It's supernatural.

Are you experiencing real love?

Merry Christmas, lovelies!

I'm sure you've heard it many times, but in "Christmas" is the word "Christ." Christmas. Christ is at the center of this holiday, and no matter how much this culture tries to deny that, whether by saying some other greeting without His name in it, or insisting this holiday is just about giving or love, it all comes back to Christ.

No matter how much the world tries, it can't get rid of Christ. Especially not at Christmas.

Some people say Christmas is all about love. Well, it is! It's about God showing us His perfect love though Jesus, and then Jesus showing us His perfect love to God and also to us by obeying His Father.

Others saying Christmas is about giving. God gave Jesus to us and we celebrate His earthly birth. That is why we give gifts at Christmas - to remember the ultimate gift God gave to us.

See, even though people try to take away Christ from Christmas, they still grab parts of the truth and part of His actions. Just as Christ is at the center of "Merry Christmas," so should Christ be in the center of your heart - this year and always.

Quick shoutout to my amazing guest writers, Drew, Emma, Gabriel Brown, Gloria Kluth and Leanne Zuiderveen. Couldn't have done this series without you guys, so thank you for all the time and effort you threw into your beautiful posts. You. Are. Awesome!

Lastly, thank YOU, my readers, for sticking around and reading my blog. Hope you have a fabulous holiday celebrating the birth of our amazing Savior. May God bless you with the incredible joy that comes with knowing the truth about Christ - His perfect love, example and sacrifice given to us so we could become sons of God. Merry Christmas.

Hey, guys! I'm starting a four-day series called Grateful to God leading up to Thanksgiving. There is so much to be thankful for. I wanted to highlight four topics this week as we get in the mood for this American holiday. First things first: I'm titling this series Grateful to God because ultimately, God's the One Who is the Giver of all good things, as James 1:17 says:

It's important to remember that He is the source of everything we're grateful for. He created this beautiful world; the least we can do is show our gratitude. 

Today I want to highlight God's goodness. Without it, where would we be? First of all, there would not be grace. There would only be justice and that would result in all of us in hell, separated from Him forever. There are a lot of psalms that give thanks to God. Psalm 107:1 comes to mind for me.

This verse gives us two reasons to give thanks –one, because He is good and two, because His steadfast love endures forever. I'm so thankful that God is good and that He's so full of forgiveness and love. He gives me good things even though I definitely do not deserve it. Without His goodness, I would be so lost. I still don't always understand why He gives me grace when I'm so horrible, but I do know that it just makes me wanna praise and worship Him even more.

I'm thankful that, by God's goodness, I have a second chance every day. I'm grateful to God for His forgiveness.

I'm thankful that, by God's goodness, I have a personal relationship with Him. I'm grateful to God for His love.

I'm thankful that, by God's goodness, Christ lives in me and I don't need to get by by my goodness but by His. I'm grateful to God for salvation.

How has God blessed you with His goodness? Comment below!

Happy New Year! 2017 is really here. And I'm still sorta blinking my eyes in surprise. Well...not really. In a perfect world, this would've been posted on January 1, but I got a bit sidetracked. This semester, I have more school, so I won't be posting as often. I'll try to post at least twice a month, though, so stay tuned! I'll try not to disappear for too long. I took an unplanned four week break from blogging without letting you know, so this turned into a Lunar New Year post now (Happy year of the rooster!). Oh, well. Better late than never, right? Heading back to the subject, I feel like the years just flip by faster and faster each year. Even though the days sometimes drag by, it seems like we pin up the new calendar sooner every year. You really have to seize every moment.

In the beginning of each year, we tend to think, okay, I guess last year's resolution didn't work, but now's the time to start over. Let's say you've made a few resolutions here and there over the years, but the thing is, by June or so, you've forgotten or lost interest in that goal. (Sad, I know. I've done it a few times...) Then the next new year flips by, and you decide that this time you'll reach my goal. And then you forget. Repeat that a couple of times and that's basically my general new year thoughts. On New Year's Day, I was in the car, on the way to church, thinking over the phrase "new year." Generally, it's thought of as a blank slate - brand new, not written on. Although in a way it's true - we don't know what the future holds - there is Someone who does knows what your year is gonna look like. Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV) comes to mind on this topic:

For me, this is what these verses mean for me, specifically regarding this new year:

I don't know about you, but this really inspires and encourages me. This year, 2017, I personally want Lamentations 3:22-23 to be my anthem. When I'm discouraged, I want to remember that God is still at my side, cheering me on. When I let others down, or myself down, I want to remember that God is my comfort and that He still loves me. When I do something right, I want to remember that all good things come from God!

Even though we'll mess up every day, whether it be not going to bed early, speaking kindly, or being patient, we can have comfort and assurance that God's mercies are brand new every morning.  If you feel like you've already stained your "blank slate," I've got some news for you: God's not keeping score. If you are a child of God, then He's already forgiven you! You don't need to worry about being good enough because when your Father sees you, He sees Jesus - a truly perfect slate.

Another thing to keep in mind is that our plans for the year are not the same as the Lord's. So even if you mess up on your plan or don't follow through on your new year's resolution, it's okay because God has an even bigger and better plan for you, and He keeps His promises no matter what! In fact, every morning He has brand new mercies waiting just for you. This year, even if you feel wearied by the busyness of life, or you still haven't completed your new year's resolution from last year, take heart. God has a big plans for you, as it says in Jeremiah 29:11:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Your future is secure in His hands. Do not fear - God's love lasts on forever, as does His mercies, faithfulness, and promises.

So what does this look like in my life? I want to remember how loved and cherished I am by God and my family, without feeling discouraged or unsure of their love for me because of my actions. I want to seize every moment and use it for God's glory, because every single second is a gift from Him. Because God is so loving to me, regardless of my actions, I want to share His steadfast love with others as well.

Are you aware of God's steadfast love and mercy for you? Is it impacting the way you live your life?