too religious.

Thursday, October 29 | | 3 comments »
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

Monday, October 12 | | 3 comments »
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.