yes!

I'm finally done with exams! I think that if I ever look at Organic II Chemistry again, I will explode. Minus a little 5 1/2 hour sleep break, I was looking at chemistry for a total of 24 hours. DANG. That is ridiculous!

Now off to Christmas break :) Wisdom teeth removal tomorrow - can't wait to have chubby chipmunk cheeks. Pray everything goes well!

The Joy of Confessed Sin

This is how I feel at the moment:

Psalm 32

Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven,

whose sins are covered.

Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him

and in whose spirit is no deceit.

When I kept in silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.

For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;

my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.

Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.

I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord" - and you forgave the guilt of my sin.

Isn't that amazing? God forgives the guilt of our sin! Romans 6:6 says that for those who believe, we know that our old self was crucified with Jesus Christ so that our body of sin might be done away with - we are no longer slaves to sin. Hallelujah!

The joy and freedom you feel after confessing built up sin is unlike anything else. God already knows our sin even before we do it, but our pride gets in the way of confession. We are prideful, so we want to hide away from the fact that God loathes sin. But when we finally humble ourselves enough to confess our sin to our Lord and whoever we sinned against, God holds out His hand for us to reach out and grab. He always takes us back.

Praise the Lord.

the finish line.

13.1.

That number has been echoing in my head for the past two and a half weeks. For about a year now, I have always thought about running a half-marathon eventually in my life.

Last winter, as I was casually training with my brother, we both realized we were super busy, and it wasn't going to happen at that time. Then summer rolled around, allowing me to consider that maybe I would give this race a second-thought. I was doing good, running was becoming more enjoyable, and I started looking up schedules to follow.

Act 1, scene 1. The pain. It started slowly in my ankle, only hurting after a long run. A few days later, it got a little worse. Then the next day it worsened. It hurt to walk. Something was obviously wrong and had been building up for a while, but I was ignoring the problem, trying to push through the pain.

Act 1, scene 2. The doctor's office. Confirmed: stress fracture. Boot: 6 weeks. Running: nope. I was limited to swimming and the elipitical machine, which didn't really allow me to continue training.

Act 1, scene 3. Freedom. Finally, the boot came off, and the air cast came on. I was allowed to slowly work my way up to running again, and the doctor approved my half-marathon training for the future. A few strengthening exercises with the good old theraband, and I was good to go.

Intermission.

Act 2, scene 1. After rationalizing it for so long, I finally decided that I'm going to do it. I was all talk, no action. The best time to run is in the fall and winter, so why not train for a half-marathon now? Soon after thinking about it, I asked some of my friends if they wanted to do it with me, because running with someone and having a friend there to push and encourage you is worthwhile. Praise the Lord for Katie Nehm. Love her.

Act 2, scene 2. Here we are. Week two and a half of training (kind of). I know it's not going to be easy. But I also know that God gave Katie and I the same desire to run this half-marathon for a reason. Through this whole training process, Katie and I have developed a friendship completely centered around God and our new hobby: running at sketch times in not so good weather. I've realized that the way we have encouraged each other to finish the last mile strong and the way we have shared our enthusiasm about the race can easily be used for God's glory. We started praying before we run together, asking that the Lord would give us strength, thanking him for the opportunity to be physically active, but most importantly, asking that God would use this run to glorify Himself. Our spirit-filled conversation and just the way that we get to pour into each other has been a growing experience in and of itself.

Not to mention, we are turning into running fanatics. The idea of getting up at 6:00 am to run four miles before church now excites us. The thought of new running shoes and trying electrolyte gel packs for the first time makes our hearts beat fast. But this might be the greatest: the image of us running through the finish line after working so hard to conquer the big 13.1. It can be done, and it will be done.

i promise.

I promise that I will blog soon after my physics test.

too religious.

Lately I've felt really convicted that I have been "too religious".

Let me start off by saying, my schedule is ridiculous. In between my 16 hours of classes, I have to set aside time for meals, homework, working out, meeting with Ashley (my co-leader), University Relations team meetings, getting discipled by Jenique, discipling a girl in my Bible Study, Crusade, the Bible study I'm in, the Bible study I lead, tutoring for Organic Chemistry II, and office hours for physics, because I need all the help I can get in that class. Oh yeah, and friends slash social life?

With all of that, there is little free time. And the free time I do get, there are awesome opportunities to go to things like Raleigh Worship on Tuesdays, prayer and communion in the Brickyard on Tuesday nights, and prayer meetings on Monday afternoons. I love all of these things, and I think they are great ministries that the Lord is boldly using around our campus. We have seen people just stop by and ask what we're doing in the brickyard, we've seen students be blessed by how God is using our prayers. God is working through us and a revival is beginning at State, and it is nothing less than incredible.

But here is the problem. I am the type of person that cannot say "no" to things. When people ask me to head up a project or help them out in starting an organization on campus, my immediate thought-process is, "they are going to think I'm not dedicated about this, so I have to help them out". A lot of times I find myself getting into things without even praying about them first. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that leading a Bible Study or servant team was something I didn't pray about (because I did), but other little things throughout the week that come up I tend to commit myself to before really sitting down and looking at if it's possible to work it in with my schedule.

That's why, on Tuesday night, I skipped prayer and communion.

I realized that I need to really look at my schedule and prioritize my time. I had spent all this time doing "things" for God, but had forgotten to be still before the Lord. On Tuesday night, that is what I did, and it was so great. It is so easy for me to get caught up in the busyness of life, forget to take the Sabbath, and constantly make "to-do lists" with "things" I need to check off once I'm done. I need to take time to smell the roses. As cliche as it sounds, I was forgetting to do that. But more importantly, and more dangerously, I was forgetting to take time and sit in wonder of my amazing Savior.

I know that God is not going to put more on my plate than I can handle. But that doesn't mean that every opportunity I get to do something else in Crusade or other ministries is one that I should take.

Prayer Box

This concept may sound cheesy, especially to boys.

Thanks to Kelly and Zoey, I recently made a prayer box. Aka: a shoebox decorated with cute paint colors. When anyone gives me prayer requests, I write it out on a little sticky note with the date, fold it up, and put it in the box. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I get up real early and just spend time before the Lord lifting up these prayer requests to Him. Some of them seem minute, but some of them are huge (my friend's salvation). I know it's going to take time, however long the Lord has planned, but I truly believe that if I am before the Lord and my heart is burdened for their salvation, He will instill in my friend a desire to yearn for God. I've already seen one prayer request answered - praise the Lord! After a prayer request is answered, I put a big check mark on the sticky note with the date it was answered, and then set it aside to look at and constantly be reminded of God's faithfulness and provision.

The cool thing about this is that I get so excited to pray now. It's not the fact that the box is real cute, even though it is, but the fact that I can visibly see that the Lord does work and the power of prayer is incredible. I'm so excited to see the Lord answer some of the "far-fetched" requests and to better understand trusting in His timing and His answers.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 - pray without ceasing.

summer project 2010.

I'm so excited for this summer.

God has really been laying on my heart this last week how much I need to start praying about where He wants me this summer. I know that He put a desire in my heart to go on summer project for a reason. I just have no idea where. There are probably about 75 locations to choose from, but today as I was browsing through it I was able to narrow it down a little (to about 5ish). I definitely am more passionate about being in a mountain area rather than the beach. There are two in Colorado that look amazing, one in the Smoky Mountains, and another one working at Yellowstone National Park. The thing is, I can see God using me at all of these places, so trying to figure out where He wants me is so tough. I just need to keep wrestling in prayer about it so that I can be confident that my desires line up with His.

I'm so excited. Trying to be content in school right now is a struggle, because I'm looking forward so much to this summer and how the Lord can use me wherever He places me.

Application process starts November 3rd. Only a little over a month to go. Dang dizzle.

my new sleeping pattern. its before midnight and im pooped.

so, i am trying this new habit. tell me if it is a good idea.

go to bed by 11 pm.

wake up by 645 am.

i get enough sleep, and i get to spend the peaceful mornings with the Lord.

pros: great quiet time, not wasting the day away, can easily start liking coffee (p.s. if you didn't know, i don't like coffee. but lately i have had a bookstack mocha and vanilla latte and am slowly falling in like with them)

cons: can't hang out late with friends, feel so exhausted by 11:30pm

pros outweigh cons in this case. correct?

thought so.

friends.

My friend's threw me a "suprise" birthday party.

God has blessed me so much by giving me such great friends that have a heart for the Lord above anything else.

P.S. I feel like sometimes I blog when I'm:

a. trying to avoid studying

b. in deep thought slash reflection

c. trying not to be stressed out

d. really tired

I'm all of the above right now.

This blog entry is so boring. But basically the point is, I love my friends.

go vertical.

In bible study last week, we talked a little about horizontal vs. vertical relationships.  Horizontal relationships - meaning your relationships on earth.  Vertical relationships - meaning your relationship with God.  As humans, our sinful nature draws us to think that our horizontal relationships are the only thing that matters.  We forget that it was God who granted us those relationships, and if we trust in Him and focus our relationship in a vertical direction, then everything horizontally will fall into place.  It kind of goes along with only depending on the Lord, and no one else.

P.s.: something crazy.  We talked about horizontal/vertical relationships on Monday in Bible study.  Then on Wednesday, Ashley and I led a Bible study where we talked about fulfillment in Christ alone (based on John 7).  Throughout the whole week I had been struggling about focusing my life on Christ - and it is crazy to think that the Lord has shown me to turn to Him and depend on Him so many times this week through those two Bible studies.  I'm realizing that a lot of the things that we're going over in the Bible study I'm leading with Ashley are basic, but they apply just as much to me as they do to someone who has never heard the gospel before.

So, go vertical.

Peace.  And Blessings.

I'm so small.

Have you ever encountered an experience where you are praying and then all of the sudden, in the midst of your prayer, you feel super super tiny?  That's how I feel sometimes.  I think it just proves that God is so great and so much bigger than us.  We are so small and insignificant compared to Him.

I love being small.

My God is a creator, not a duplicator.

So today I was listening to Francis Chan's podcast.  He briefly touched on change, but it really hit hard for me.

Change is biblical.  "He creates all things new."  I think so many times we are afraid of change, but think about it.  I don't want the same experience in my quiet time today as I had yesterday.  I want it to be even better and I want to feel even more intimate with my Lord.  God didn't save me so that I could be the same.  He saved me so that I could be born again.  He wanted me to change.  

God, you are not a duplicator.  You are a creator.  So everyday create something new in me.  Thank you that your mercies are new every morning.  Let me worship you and experience you like I never have before.

This is more important than my nutrition test tomorrow.

My 7:30 alarm clock will most likely be a rude awakening to my somewhat procrastination.  Oh well.

Psalm 91:4 - He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

I just want to take a moment and focus on the first part of this verse.  Especially, "and under his wings you will find refuge."  So many times in my life I have looked for refuge in other places, whether it be friends, music, boys, family, school, etc.  I think you can even go as far to say that often times we look for refuge in church.  People come to church broken and bruised, expecting to be filled with encouragement from fellow believers.  Don't get me wrong, the body of Christ is meant for fellowship and encouragement, but instead of running to earthly things for help, why do we find it so hard to run to God?  He is the one who provides faithfulness that "will be your shield and rampart."  

This is something that has been on my mind a lot lately.  Our loving God wants us to look to Him through all circumstances.  He is our foundation.  He loves us more than we can even imagine and understands and relates to our circumstances more than anyone here on earth is able to.  So the next time I go through a hard time, instead of venting to my friend or the nearest person I can find, I am going to look to God and accept the gift of His open arms.  After all, He is head over heels in love with us.  Why wouldn't I accept that offer?

Summer Reading List:

1. The Shack

2. The Ragamuffin Gospel

3. Crazy Love

4. Three Cups of Tea

Honestly, I don't have much to say right now.  But for some reason, the fact that I have my first blog is so overwhelming and exciting that I must write something.  As probably everyone who is reading this knows, I'll be staying home this summer.  At first, I was really bummed I wouldn't be going on a summer project somewhere or doing some type of missions.  But after praying about it a lot, I realized that God is definitely calling me to stay at home this summer.  He has put so many opportunities in front of me for His light to shine through me while I'm home.  And for those that are going on projects or missions trips, I know God has so much in store for you.  It is so neat to see how He can work through you guys somewhere other than here, and He can work through me just in my own area.  I realized the other day how much we limit our prayers.  God can do something radical, so why do we let our doubt take over and cause our prayers to seem "reasonable"?  For example, I'm going to be taking a summer class this summer, and the other day I prayed for revival in the whole classroom.  That's over 50 students.  But God can do whatever He wants, so why not ask for it?

Until next time,

Kerri