Jesus is Pretty Cool

So, it would not be fair to say that my life is perfect right now, because in reality it is far from that. It was finally getting warm here in MI, and we went from 50 degrees earlier in the week to getting 6 inches of snow tonight along with ice. Yuck. That is not perfect. At all.

However, other parts of my life have gotten better, which is good. My life is still not perfect, but things are better and I praise God for that. Life is filled with ups and downs, and I think I am just going to have to get used to it. My life will never be perfect here on earth until I get to go join Jesus in heaven :)

I am thinking about possibly applying to be an SLR (Spiritual Life Representative) here at Concordia next fall or maybe in years to come. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to help others when I am going through problems of my own, but some events in the past few days are seeming to change my mind. We will see.

I am also thinking about working at my summer camp, FaHoLa as a camp counselor or possibly as a staff member. We will see where that goes. I am leaving it all in God's hands. :)

So, I just wanted to give you an update on my life, and remind you that Jesus loves you and so do I!

Jesus is My Valentine

I haven't written for a while.... not sure if that is on purpose, or because maybe I have just been too busy to even sit down and think. I am thinking a little of both. My life has been super super crazy the past few weeks, to the point where some days I literally think I am going crazy. It has had it's up and downs, but overall it hasn't been too bad. Each and every day I am learning more and more about God through every day things. It is really kind of fascinating to me.

Today is Valentines Day. I have never really liked the holiday- in fact I find it rather dumb. Why set aside a day to show people that we love them when we should be treating them that way every day? But this year, I really did not want to deal with it at all. I didn't want to hear about people going on dates or anything of the sort. I was just sick of it. But my friend Stephanie wrote me something, and it just totally knocked me back into perspective. Jesus is the only thing we need. He gave His life for us for eternity. No one else on the planet can say that. They may be able to give their lives to save our earthly lives, but no human can save our souls for eternity. Wow. Why would I bother with all this earthly stuff when I have Jesus?! So awesome.

I hope you all have a blessed Valentines Day! <3

Marissa and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. I think I am going to move to Australia.

The past few days have been rough. We had CIT this weekend, and it was tons of fun, but I have still had a lot on my mind. I am extremely tired, and every day has seemed to present a ton of challenges. I keep finding myself thinking "I just wish this day could be over already!!!" I don't necessarily want to think this way, as I know that each day we are given is a gift from God, but it is hard to think that way when all you want to do is sleep. I am tired, worn out physically and emotionally, and it is only Monday. Each day I try hard to find a positive aspect to focus on, but this week I am really having trouble so far. Nothing has gone right this morning. I almost didn't have time to eat breakfast, and then I realized that I forgot to print my homework and was almost late to class. Then, class was the most boring thing EVER and I wished that I would have just stayed in bed. To top it off, I hit my leg really hard on the point of a table and it hurt quite bad. Bah. I just want this day to be over. Or at least something positive to happen to make me smile. I have had a hard time focusing the past few days and have barely gotten my homework done. I am hoping that something will happen to brighten my day a little bit.

Have you ever heard of the book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day ? This is where I got my title for this post and I think it fits my day quite well. I think I am going to move to Australia. 

Today

Have you ever had a day that you just want to be done with from the minute you got out of bed? Today is one of those days for me. From the minute I got out of bed, I wanted this day to be over. It's not that anything especially bad has happened, I just want it to be over.

I HATE having free time. I feel like I should spend it doing homework and I don't want too. I hate not being in a rush. I like waiting till the last minute because I feel like I have to do it then, there isn't any time left to procrastinate. And today, I have nothing but free time from 11:00-2:30 and then from 5:30-8:30. Something that I was supposed to do from 12-1 got canceled, and that really put a damper on my day. This doesn't seem like a lot of free time to most people. But to me, this amount of time is like an eternity. Sure, I have reading to do and homework I could probably be working on, but I just don't have the motivation to do it if its not due.

Bah. I really don't like days like today. I know God says to savor every moment because we will never get it back, but days like today I have a hard time doing that. Sometimes I just wish that I could fast forward to a new day. Oh well. At least I still have Jesus. He will get me through today.

Up and Down

Someone I really admire once told me that our walk with Christ is about ups and downs. It is a bumpy ride, but with Jesus help the waves won't seem as harsh. I used to disagree with her, but now I am seeing the truth.

I am also really starting to see how much I hate when people don't just follow Christ. When people look into certain unnecessary details too much and try to look like a "good person" instead of just taking our faults for what they are and realize that we sin. We do sin. You can't ignore that. We arn't perfect. I read a review on a devotional book that I got for Christmas and this reviewer was saying it was a horrible book because it mainly focused on finding peace through Christ. Hence the name of the book: Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence. HELLO! Of course the book is going to focus on peace if that is what the title is! They were saying it wasn't a truly Christian book because it didn't focus on other aspects of the relationship with Christ. I think they are just dumb. The Bible covers all the aspects needed to follow Christ. This book just focuses on finding peace. Sometimes I really can't stand people like that, but in reality, it just reminds me that I need to be praying for them instead of just getting annoyed.

Life

So, I have been meaning to post an update on my life, but I have been trying to decide which topic exactly that I want to write on. My life has bee extremely busy and interesting since I got back to Concordia. Not necessarily bad, I have had a lot of fun and been enjoying it, but there are still hard times.

God has really been getting my attention, especially the past few days- especially in the realm of gossipping. I can honestly say that I have been doing better, but not a ton better. At least now I recognize when I am doing it. I realize the words that I am saying, and I try to make sure that I say things in a way that would not be hurtful to others. I am realizing more and more how hurtful we are to each other a lot of time here at Conco, myself included. We are constantly gossipping and excluding others and forming cliques. Is this really how God wants us to live our lives? Everyone deserves to be loved and included no matter how weird or annoying they are. They are still God's Peculiar Treasure. What makes you think you are any better than the person next to you? In reality- you are no better than them. You are still a sinner, and that is what really matters. We all need God's forgiveness to be saved. It's not going to matter how "bad" your sin was. It just matters that you sinned. End of story.

Music. That is the other part of my life right now that I am paying attention to. I love love love music. I honestly don't think I would survive without it. God has blessed these artists. Their words just bring me to God and it just amazing. I love it. That is how I have been spending my free time with Jesus and the Bible, and I LOVE IT! I don't understand how I used to get through my day without doing devotions or reading my Bible. It's like I literally don't know how I could get through the day without at least a taste of the word of God. Even if I have read it a million times, it is still so comforting to me. I just love it so much.

Last weekend I had the opportunity to spend some time in our campus chapel with God, and it was just amazing. I spent about an hour just praying, listening to music, and reading the Bible. It was honestly the best hour of my life I think I have ever spent. I have a lot going in my life right now- nothing that needs to be mentioned on here, but I want to say this; I am going through a lot, but it is soooooooooo much easier now that I have let God take control! SO much easier! Please, please, please just let God take control of your life already. I'm not saying that stuff doesn't hurt me anymore, trust me, it does, but God heals the hurt and helps me to move forward and give me the strength to face tomorrow. I still have a long way to go, but I'm not scared anymore. I am ready to face the fight.

These are some lyrics to one of my new favorite songs. It is called "I Loved You Then" by 33Miles. To me, this just summarizes Jesus' never-ending love for us:

I loved you then, I love you now
I will love you tomorrow
When this world breaks you down
I will give you strength to stand
Look to me, take my hand and just believe
Before this day ever began, I loved you then


I don't understand how people make it through their lives without Jesus. I honestly would not be able to survive if I did not have Him. I would have no hope, no future, just darkness. It is so sad to think about. Please find Jesus, and give your life over to Him.

God is just so awesome!

Sometimes I really wonder how people make it through their lives without God. I find it sad actually. God is the only reason why I make it through each day. People are great and can be helpful, but they also can be harmful. I used to always go to people, and then sometimes God. My views have changed in the past few weeks. Now I go to God, and then sometimes people. Now I feel like if I go to people, God is showing me who to go to, the person who can be the most help to me at that moment. It's a great feeling.

This thought just entered my mind- Can we rely too much on God? Do we need to allow ourselves to rely on people a little bit? But what I realized, is that God will help us to rely on certain people when it is necessary, but in reality He is all we really need. When someone helps me get through something, I used to see it as them helping me. But now, I see it more as God helping me through a certain person. He is giving them the words to say and the things to do. He is using them to help me. I find it fascinating.

This past week, God answered a prayer request that I have been praying for for about 6 or 7 years now. It made me so happy. My friend once said a quote to me "You have to be willing to wait until you would be willing to wait forever." I have been praying for this, and I knew that God was going to answer, and I was willing to wait. My waiting paid off. The whole situation is such a God thing. It is really awesome.

So in short, God is good- all the time. I have seen this week how great He is even on the rough days. Keep fighting the good fight!