Abiding with Adonai

  When I am drawing near to Jesus and seeking Him consistently, I find myself writing a lot more. So it's easy to say I haven't written a blog post in a while... This season of life I have been in, has been a drought to say the least. Playing my last summer of select softball, getting surgery on my hand, saying bye to my friends leaving for college… It’s been full of tears and opportunities to depend on God, but to be honest I didn’t do that; I haven't done that. I’ve been numb to the feeling of drawing near to Jesus, and honestly, that is probably why this season of life has been so hard.  I'm going to be open and honest with the hope that at least several people can relate to what i'm going to say... When life gets hard, sometimes I start to rely on this world. I rely on the music in my phone to make me happy, I look to my friends to give me joy during moments of sadness, I seek the approval of boys when I start to feel ugly, I scroll through social media to distr...

  Darkness and light. Every single day we physically encounter these two things. In the morning, we wake up to sunlight, and at night we go to bed to darkness.  But just as real as light and darkness is physically, so are they spiritually.  Different seasons of life leave us feeling as though there is a dawn breaking, or that there is darkness surrounding us.  The “light of dawn” in the bible refers to the hope of Jesus Christ that is growing inside of our hearts. But the exact hebrew meaning of “with no dawn” is uncertain. And I thought how perfect is that? That the definition for a time of darkness where we are full with uncertainty, is itself uncertain.  But there is a hope. Despite the darkness you feel, and the uncertainty that you face, there is a hope.  There is a confidence that as believers we can have despite the insecurity we face in our season of life.  And that hope is Jesus.  When earthly circumstances show despair and sadness, the J...

  In Isaiah chapter 6, he starts by telling us that “in THAT year”, that he “clearly saw the Lord.” So I think, for us, people living in a world full of idols and people trying to show us altered versions of who our God is, not to listen to what Isaiah has to say would just be ignorant.         In verse 4, He begins to tell us about how when he was in the presence of the Father, he couldn’t help but exclaim how sinful he was. He writes how he didn’t even deserve to be in the presence of God and His angels because of his unclean lips. The crazy thing about Isaiah saying that, was he was a speaker! That was his calling. He spoke in front of people about the amazing works and nature of Our King. But yet, when He stepped into the presence of Jesus, he says “For my words are tainted and I live among people who talk the same way.”        But then he tells us that in that exact moment of stammering confession, “that out of the smoke, ...

  When I started to think about writing this blog, I began to think of a word, just one word that could describe my generation. I started thinking of things I have noticed, especially these past four years in highschool that have been a common theme for us. And I have got to say, after a lot of thought, there isn’t just one word for our generation… Actually, the more I thought about the characteristics of this generation, the more I realized how every human has one common desire, that we all just pursue in different ways…  We all just want to be fully known, accepted, and loved.  No, I don’t mean that I believe everyone is in a constant pursuit of fame and fortune, with the dream of having their name in lights, or in a star on the sidewalk of Hollywood, but rather that everyone longs for the acceptance of this world, and the people in their world. Deep down in each of our hearts, we desire to be told who we are, for that to be okay, and then for someone to love the parts ...

     In my eighth grade history class, I remember one day my teacher was trying to illustrate to us a point in a lesson he was teaching... I don’t remember the lesson exactly, but I know it had something to do with someone’s circumstance, or family they were born into, attempting to make it in the world, getting a job and such. He made each of us take out our notebooks, crumble a piece of paper in a ball, and give it our best attempt to make it into the trash can at the front of the room. We couldn’t move from our desk to shoot the shot. Whether we were at the very back of the classroom, or in the front row, we had to stay exactly where we were, just hoping and wishing we would make it in the trash can. And recently God brought that day in class back into my mind to remind me of something. We do not have to stay at our desks to shoot our shot at an eternal life and relationship with Jesus. Whether you were born into a super poor, middle class, or filthy rich family, He co...

  A couple days ago, one of my friends sent me this quote on instagram that Shelley Giglo had posted. It read, “Let’s not waste the faith we have spent our whole lives building during this season of unknowns. It is for this very season that it was built.”  I was reminded of that quote today when I read a story in Mark about a widow, and her offering in the church. If you don't know what story I'm referring to (because frankly before today I had never heard it before either), it goes like this…  Basically Jesus and the disciples were sitting where the people of the church placed their offerings. They watched as many people came and dropped in what they had.. Rich people put in large amounts, middle class people put in pretty decent money, and all of the betweens… But it wasn't until a widow came by the offering box that Jesus’ attention was caught… This widow walked up in front of the people of the church and placed “two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents” (12...

  Did you know that YOU were in every single part of the Easter story?  Yes, you have heard that you were on His mind when He was on the cross. But did you know that when He sat at the table at the last supper, He was thinking of you then? As He told Judas that he would betray Him, and when He said to Simon Peter, “you will deny Me three times.” (Luke 22). He thought of you. He thought of when you will choose the wrong crowd to hang out with. He thought of the time where you would choose drugs to handle your situation instead of turning to Him. He thought of when you will choose that relationship with a boy over one with your Heavenly Father. But guess what? He broke the bread, drank the wine, and STILL declared that sacrifice that He was going to make for you, despite your own betrayal of Him in your own life. (Mathew 26:17-30).  But did you know you were also on His mind in the garden? As His disciples were asleep, He was awake thinking of you. (Luke 22:44). He was swea...

  This blog is one that has been on my heart since I got back from the Bahamas, and I'm really excited about it because I think this message is super important and definitely needs to be heard by everyone at some point through life, including myself for sure.  One of the schools that we worked with while in the Bahamas, had a nursery connected to the school. There were kids ranging from newborn babies to about 2 years old. I found myself in this nursery any opportunity that I had, so basically anytime we weren’t teaching, I was in the nursery holding and playing with the babies… It was my favorite part of my day for sure. There was one baby in particular that I grew to literally love so much just within the first hour of being with Him, and that was baby Grasyon. I was spending so much time with Him that the women working in the nursery even began to call me “Grayson's second mom”, and I absolutely loved it!  There were a lot of things about Grayson that taught me so many...