Availability Check

**DISCLAIMER: This is coming directly out of my devotional Bible. I did not write any of this,but I felt like it was too good not to share!

First: READ Exodus 3:1-22

THE GOOD OFTEN cannibalizes the best. Think about it: How often do schedules, long to-do lists and our immediate line of sight trump the things we claim to love the most? A pile of laundry certainly seems insignificant the day a close friend wrecks her car or a parent falls ill. Certainly, life involves responsibility, but it also involves a need for responsiveness to urgent situations - a child struggling in school or a severely depressed coworker.
Moses was tending sheep - fulfilling a needed task - when God intervened with an urgent call. A bush burned without being consumed. God called Moses' name from within the fiery bush. Moses immediately answered. Moses was available and obedient. But then God told him what he wanted: Moses was to go back to Egypt to lead a rescue mission for the Hebrew people.
In the midst of our ordinary days - tending to our families, our jobs, our friends - how do we respond to the persistent pull of God's call? Regardless of how God makes his wishes known - a burning bush, a burning desire or a burning need - are we willing to have our tidy plans and schedules interrupted to listen to his voice? Or are we too busy or too distracted to answer? Bottom line: Are we willing to be recruited at God's bidding?
Like Moses, we may feel inadequate for the job: "I'm just a student, just a mother, just an hourly employee. I'm not equipped for this mission!" However, when God calls us to do something bigger than we think we can accomplish, He will equip us by working through us. We learn to rely on His strength, not on our own abilities. Simply put, God doesn't look for abilities; He looks for availabilities. That's how we can be confident of success: His great power trumps our lack of talent. We act in the power of the great "I AM" (3:14).
So when you hear the voice of God calling your name, answer without hesitation, "Here I am."
God's call. God's strength. Your availability.

REFLECTION:
1) In what ways has God indicated He has something for you to do, and how have you responded?
2) Recount a time when you felt inadequate to do something you knew God wanted you to do. How did God equip you to accomplish it?
3) What interferes with your availability to answer God's call?

Additional Readings:
1 Samuel 3:1-10, Isaiah 6:8; 50:2, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

"In a very real sense, not one of us is qualified, but it seems that God continually chooses the most unqualified to do His work, to bear His glory." - Madeleine L'Engle
 __________________________________________
So what do you think?
If I get enough readings of this post, I'll continue to post more devotionals from this Bible. It's seems that I always read the perfect one on the day I really need it!

Keep the faith,
Cherish 

Have You Seen Jesus, my Lord? ::Clarity

There are several places I like to go to get clarity and ponder about faith, God, Jesus, and well, everything. Usually they consist of outside in the country (home), church camp and even church. I think I have a new one to add to my list...the beach.

And really, it's not just anytime at the beach. Today, I was running around in the water, having a good time and not really thinking about anything.. However, we all went crab hunting tonight and we were walking along the beach, and letting the waves hit us. The high tide reminded me of God. This water, this powerful water that could take me under any minute if I lost my balance was God speaking to me. The song "Have You Seen Jesus, my Lord?" popped into my head. These lyrics specifically: "Have you ever stood at the ocean with the white foam at your feet? Felt the endless thundering motion? Then I say you've seen Jesus, my Lord." I'll admit, I've had a lot on my mind this last week. Things like changes I need to make, changes I'm going to make, where God is leading me, what He is asking me to do, why He is asking me, how I'm going to go through with it and so on... Tonight, I just got c l a r i t y from it all. I just don't understand how people can see the ocean, feel the waves and look out into the horizon and not see or feel God or even think He's real. He's everywhere! It's just so amazing to me.

Keep the faith!
~Cherish

Love, Marriage, and a great blog.

As a 21 year old woman..no girl (woman sounds too grown up!), I often think about marriage and I might have even planned a little bit of my wedding day ( a miniscule amount) but what I see when I think about marriage is the outside of it. The exterior, if you will. I don't think about the interior of it. The hardships a married couple will have to go through as well as good times. I've always loved the idea of marriage and falling love but I think I'm just too picky ( my mom would argue and say I'm just to scared to date, hmph.). I was reading a post earlier on a blog I follow by a college minister at a church of Christ in Tulsa. The title had this word "love" in it so I was intrigued instantly. He talked about "synching" up with your spouse when you get married and the patience you have to have with them...
I'm not going to continue to talk about this blog because I don't want to down grade it any so you can read it by clicking HERE.

Let me know what you think. It's pretty good!

Keep the Faith,
Cherish

Listen To: Someone Worth Dying For by Mikeschair
Currently in love with: ....(I'll get back to you on that. Yesterday it was Kevin Durant and watermelon but he failed me last night...)

Losing...

God has seriously been working on my heart lately and it all seems to be about forgiveness. I hope this doesn't sound bad to say, but I don't know of anyone in my life that I need to forgive right now. When I say this, I mean I'm good with everyone I know. I'm not holding a grudge that I can think of so I don't understand why God is still working on this in my heart. Maybe He knows I'll be needing this more than ever later on down the road...

A couple of mornings ago on my way to work, this song came on the radio, I absolutely love it!
Click HERE to listen to it.

The song is Losing by Tenth Avenue North. 
This is my favorite part of the song:

Oh, Father wont You forgive them
They don't know what they've been doin' (oh no)
Oh Father, give me grace to forgive them
Cause I feel like the one losin'

Well it's only the dead that can live
But still I wrestle with this
To lose the pain that's mine
Seventy times seven times
Cause Lord it doesn't feel right
For me to turn a blind eye
Though I guess it's not that much
When I think of what You've done.

This is love or this is hate...
We gotta a choice to make
Credit (Click the credit for the full lyrics).

I seriously am in LOVE with this song right now.

On a different note, I had a friend tell me that I was being too "churchy" and I need to quit being so "churchy". As he told me this, my blood starting boiling. Then I calmed myself down. I was upset that he would say something like that to me, but then after I thought about it, I realized he's probably never felt what I've felt when I've gone to church or camp. He probably doesn't understand what it's like to feel so wrapped up and high on God. I realized I need to pray for that and that it's a good mission opportunity. So, Lord please help me.

Leave me some comments. :P

Keep the Faith,
Cherish

Listen to: Losing by Tenth Avenue North (duh!)
Currently in Love with: Watermelon and Kevin Durant. ;)

Forgiveness? I got this!

***DISCLAIMER: This blog has been and will be used to post my thoughts, questions, and concerns during my Christian walk. If at any time you disagree, have a question or simply would like to add to the blog, please leave a comment down below. Thank you! 

This past week at Lu-Jo one of the main topics were forgiveness and forgiving others. I think that is something that I struggle with the most. Forgiving someone. I'll say I forgive someone, but reality is, I usually still have that anger built up inside me and I build it up until I'm ready to explode and then it's all a mess from there. 
Lately, I've been with-holding forgiveness from someone who I didn't think deserved it. It made me nothing but angry inside and I started to become vengeful. Luckily, God & Lu-Jo stepped in just in time to show me that there was no reason to with-hold this forgiveness. I needed to FORGIVE & FORGET. It wasn't worth the emotional pain it was still causing me. This situation could be fixed and everyone else was trying to fix it but me. I guess you could say, I didn't want it to be fixed. I wanted to carry that anger, that burden and continue the stress. Why in the world would I want to do that and walk around miserable all the time pretending everything was okay? I still have no idea. 
The whole reason for the need of this forgiveness wasn't worth it for me. I deserve(d) something better. Finally, after much prayer, anticipation, and soul searching, I have FINALLY forgave this person. Life is better because of it. I'm not holding a grudge anymore. I feel free and happy and ready to take on whatever is thrown my way, because this situation just doesn't matter anymore. It DOESN'T define me or my future. God had no part of the situation planned out in my future. Who am I to plan my future anyway? God's already got this! 
Now? On to bigger and better things! My GOD is BIGGER than my problems! My GOD is BIGGER than my fears! My GOD is BIG enough to handle anything that is thrown my way! 


How big are you letting your GOD be in your life? 


Keep the faith, 
Cherish

So much to say...

It's been a good while since I blogged.
I just got back from a week of church camp out at Camp Lu-Jo. It was life changing, exhilarating, and everything I needed. During the week so many topics to blog about popped into my mind but I didn't write them down so I can't remember everything. I'm going to try to remember everything so this blog might be a little bit of a rambler. Sorry, in advance.

1.) I learned so much this past week. I honestly didn't expect to take much away because I'm not a camper. But boy, I could not have been more wrong! God seriously "messed" with me this past week in ways I didn't think possible. I'm so excited to see what He has in store me.

2.) We may not realize it, but we "plant seeds" in everything we do. These seeds can be good or bad. Either way, we are going to reap what we sow. So, why not "plant seeds" that are good? Invite a friend to church or simply smile at someone. I heard so many stories this past week about seeds that were planted and how they completely turned someone's life around. I want to do that for someone. I WANT to help someone turn their life around. I already have a few seeds I'm ready to plant and I can't wait to see how they turn out.

3.) Where there is struggle, there is life. There is always going to be some sort of struggle going on in our lives. Whether is be something little like a money situation and your bank account is overdrawn $10 or something big like you lost someone who meant a lot to you. God doesn't promise that there will not be struggles in our lives, but He does promise to get you through them. We have to remember that we are not alone in our struggles and someone out there is or has gone through he same thing.

4.) Galatians 6:9 - Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Enough said.)

5.) Sow a thought ~ reap an action. Sow an action ~ reap a habit. Sow a habit ~ reap a character. Sow character ~ reap a destiny. (What do you think about this?)

6.) Sin separates us from God! Sin is an everyday struggle for every single person on this planet. No one is perfect.

7.) Proverbs 31:30 - Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. (A girl mentioned this verse in one our devos. I've heard it before but I fell in love with it all over again.)

8.) I jotted down this thought during quiet time in one of our class sessions. I'm not really sure if it makes much sense but I liked it at the time. (Lord, make me weak for You!)

That's all I have for now. Questions? Comments? Leave them down below!

Keep the Faith,
Cherish

I'm finding myself at a loss for words and the funny things is, it's okay.

April is finally here. I cannot believe it is month four of twelve. It feels like it should still be December of  2011. So, did anyone get you with a good April Fool’s joke or did you get anyone with one? I’d like to hear them if you did, so just leave a comment down below.

I have to admit, I’ve considered deleting this blog. I never get on anymore and when I do it’s usually to read the other blogs I follow, but tonight I just really had the urge to blog. I knew I wanted to blog, I just didn’t know what about. I had the idea to go back to the blogs I had written in April of 2011 and it’s nice to see what was bothering me or what I was looking forward to a year ago. I only blogged 9 times in the month of April. Can you believe that? Here’s what they were about:

Germany Mission Trip – I had just gotten back from the retreat we had for the trip out at Lake Tenkiller and I was so excited to see what God was going to bring to us on our journey. Such great memories were made out at that lake. 

Things that made me happy – It’s interesting to see the list of 25 things that were making me happy during that time. It was fun to go back and see if those 25 things are still making me happy to this day. 

An earthly father’s love – In this particular blog, my dad was concerned because at that time I was supposed to go to Amsterdam while I was in Europe. That is when he stated to me that “if anything happened to me, he’d spend the rest of his life looking for me overseas.” I still get chills when I think about that and how compassionate and how deep my earthly father’s love is for me. Then when I try to compare his love to my Father God’s love, it’s incomparable. God’s love is my dad’s love for me, times infinity. If you ask me, that’s some pretty amazing love right there. If I get chills just thinking about my earthly father’s love, then how in the world am I supposed to feel about my Father God’s love? A few emotions come to mind: overwhelmed, compassion, thankful. God loves me SO MUCH and I can only briefly understand how he loves me through a small example by my earthly father’s love, what I read in the Bible, how He gave up His ONLY son so that I can have a chance to be with Him someday, and how He shows me His love through His blessings. Isn’t it amazing how many ways God shows us His love for us, yet how often and in how many ways do we show Him our love for Him? 

God moments – God moments (as I like to call them) are instances where God reveals Himself to me in situations where I’m scared, confused, happy, sad, etc. I’ve had these moments several times, but now I sit here and wonder how many times have I had these moments without realizing that they were happening? 

“Once saved, always saved.” – Apparently this was bothering me so much last year, that I felt I had to blog about it. I’m not going to go into detail about this again but if you want my opinion on it, you can click on the title above to read that blog. 

The Royal Wedding – I wasn’t the only one obsessing over this last year, the entire world was. They’re one year anniversary is coming up this month. I wonder what he is going to get her.

I’m really glad I decided not to delete this blog. It was good to look back at me a year ago and see how I’ve changed (good and bad) and see what I need to work on. 

God works in mysterious way and I’ll admit that I’ve been putting Him and my faith on the back burner lately and I don’t like it at all. While I’ve been surrounded by family and by friends, I’ve still felt empty and alone and it’s because I’ve tried to push God away and I can’t do that anymore. I can’t be whole without Him and I don’t understand why I ever thought I could be. I can’t believe I was so selfish and was trying so hard to push Him away. I’m getting everything back on track. No more pushing God away from me. He desperately wants to be in my life and I desperately need and want Him in my life. I just need to find the courage to ask Him to forgive me for ever trying to push Him away. 

If I could ask this, pray for me. Pray I have the courage to face any demons, trials, temptations that are thrown at me and that I can remain solely focused on God and His brilliant and faithful love. Here’s to a new me. A new and better me.

God bless,

Cherish

P.S. As I writing this a few songs came on Pandora that couldn’t of been more perfect for my “situation”.

Here’s the lyrics that stuck out to me:

So you thought you had to keep this up. All the work that you do. So we think that you're good
And you can't believe it's not enough. All the walls you built up are just glass on the outside.
So let 'em fall down. There's freedom waiting in the sound; when you let your walls fall to the ground.We're here now. This is where the healing begins, oh. This is where the healing starts. When you come to where you're broken within, the light meets the dark. The light meets the dark. Afraid to let your secrets out. Everything that you hide. Can come crashing through the door now. But too scared to face all your fear. So you hide but you find. That the shame won't disappear. “Healing Begins” by Tenth Avenue North

All this pain, I wonder if I'll ever find my way.I wonder if my life could really change, at all.
All this earth. Could all that is lost ever be found?Could a garden come up from this ground, at all?You make beautiful things, You make beautiful things out of dust. You make beautiful things, You make beautiful things out of us. All around, hope is springing up from this old ground. Out of chaos, life is being found in You…You make me new, You are making me new. You make me new, You are making me new. (making me new.) “Beautiful Things” by Gungor

If you haven’t heard either of these songs, I suggest you go give them a listen. They’re so powerful and they speak for themselves.

Where do I begin?

Hello fellow bloggers,
Long time no see.

Let’s see where do I begin? So much has happened in the last several months. I’ve lost touch with friends, gain new best friends, discovered new things about myself (good and bad) and been completely torn. I would love to say that these last few months have been absolutely splendid and that nothing has gone wrong, but I’d be lying. Don’t get me wrong, these last few months haven’t exactly sucked, but they’ve been tough. For my friends/family who may be reading this, you’re probably thinking what’s been so tough about them? You seem happy. Truth is, I am. I’m very happy. However, there are certain things that have been weighing heavy on my mind. Decisions I’m making/made, choices I’m making/made, and so on.

Now we all know that I, Cherish, am obsessed with love and the idea of it. We also know that I haven’t been kissed and am of 21 years of age. Let’s correct that. I have been. Whooo hooo! Finally…but there is no prospective boyfriend in my near future that I know of.

I changed my major. I’m think I’m finally happy with what I’ve chosen. Education just wasn’t my route and I’m glad I woke up to that before it was too late. Okay, let’s cut the suspense. Ha. I changed my major to Mass Communications – Advertising. For those who know me know I love the creative aspect of things. I also really like my internship that I hold right now. My goal was to pick a degree that was somewhat related to my internship but that was too straight and narrow.

Here’s what my summer looks like so far and I couldn’t be more excited for it to get here:
May – Moving in with my best friend, Virginia. J
            Several close friend’s high school graduations.
            Trip to Houston area for cousin’s high school graduation.
June – LU-JO! Oh, how I have missed it. So very very much.
July – Possible trip to North Carolina for a week with best friend.

Well, that is all I have for now. Please pray for me as I’m making some decisions and choices.

God Bless!
-Cherish

Kony 2012

Yes, this video has gone around Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, etc. But don't you think because of how much it has gone around, it's important? If you haven't watched this yet, take 30 minutes of your life and do it. I just did. I don't regret it. If anything, I want to join the movement. There's been talk about how everyone is all for this now and how people are motivated to do something about it. I don't see why people are hating on it! It's a good thing! If this was happening in America right now, you'd be doing everything you could do about it, wouldn't you? These children that are having to go through this are children of God, just like you and me. Just because they are in another country doesn't make the cause different. If our corrupted government has gotten involved when they said they wouldn't, don't you think you should to? You aren't being asked to go fight for it in Uganda. You're being asked to share this video, "purchase" the action kit, be part of history. If Joseph Kony is stopped, imagine the history that will take place, not only in Uganda but all over the world. That history can start with you! Give up 30 minutes of Facebook creeping and watch this. It's important and it's the right thing to do. 

 

In Christ,
Cherish

It Was Harder Than It Sounded..

Remember my last blog about fasting?
Well, I did it.
Yesterday, I tried fasting to see what it would do for my relationship with God.
What did I fast from you ask?
Food.
It was way harder than I expected it to be. Sadly, I only lasted 19 hours, not the whole 24 like I originally planned. After fasting, I was left discouraged. I didn't feel any different in my relationship with God and then only thing I got out of it was that I was super super hungry and I had a headache.
Next time I fast, I believe it will be from something like Facebook or texting, or maybe school? Okay, maybe not really from school, but I wish I could!

If you've fasted before, comment below and tell me about it if you don't mind. Tell me what you fasted from, how long you fasted for, and what you got out of it. I wanna see if I'm missing something.

God bless,
Cherish

Winterfest Weekend

I had ONE AMAZING WEEKEND. I went to Winterfest with the youth group from my home church. I knew I needed this and I'm so glad I went! This weekend at Winterfest, the speakers talked about 12 disciplines of the Christian faith. Two of them really sparked my interest: Fasting and Meditation. For my whole life, I've always thought fasting was something that followers did in the Old Testament. I knew of different faiths who were doing this in today's modern world, but honestly I kind of thought it was weird and not something members of the church of Christ did. Boy, was I wrong! In Matthew chapter 6 verses 16-18, it says: ¹⁶ “Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. ¹⁷ But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

You are to fast, but it is only to be seen by God. You aren't supposed to go around bragging about it and informing everyone.

Secondly, meditation. I did not think mediation was for Christians, but again, I was wrong!
Meditation actually very helpful in hearing what God wants to say to you. Try it!

Overall, I really learned a lot this weekend and I am excited to apply it to my everyday life.

God bless,
Cherish

If I Just Realize....

So, I have this really wise friend Alicia who I mention a lot in my blog and we got together the other night because I hadn't seen her in a while.. Well, we started talking about Christ-centered relationships and dating, like we usually do and this got me thinking. I am so busy wishing and praying for that "someone" to come into my life, that I'm almost to the point where I'm contradicting what I really want in a future husband. Now, I'd be willing to say that I believe most of us single ladies have done this before, just in fantasy. I have to admit, I've been crushing on this guy for a while and not really sure where God wanted me to go with it. I've been praying and having dreams about it, so I thought maybe God was trying to tell me to do something, like maybe I was supposed to take the first step. I even realized that I began contradicting who I was a person to be the person I though he would want. A big NO, NO.  But tonight, I realized something...this is not someone who I would desire to marry. Yes, he's the same faith but I know for a fact that there is one MAJOR thing we don't agree on - instruments in the church. This is something that I believe with ALL my heart that should not be used in worship but that is something to be saved for another blog. When I take a deep look at what I want for a husband (which mainly happened tonight after I watched the Bachelor), I not only want someone who will be a GREAT dad to my children, but someone who has a burning passion for God and is more in love with God then he is with me. Someone who is not only the leader of the household but the spiritual leader. As Alicia and I were talking about this, I realized how IMPORTANT it is that my "future" husband and myself agree upon beliefs, if not all , then most. My "future" children shouldn't have to choose between mommy and daddy's beliefs, while I believe they should figure out what that believe about Christianity, they need a good "base" to mold and shape them. I'm so very glad God revealed this to me.

For you single ladies, what are your thoughts on this?

In Him,
Cherish

The Pen

My mother has always told me that she believes that I was born to love, that I basically came out of the womb searching for my "perfect" mate. Some days, I believe this is true. I have always been obsessed with the idea of being in love and being with that someone God created for me. Growing up, I had a new crush every week. I had 3 different "boyfriends" in elementary school but none in middle school. In high school, I would just "talk" to guys, but it never went any further than that. Going to college, for me not only meant that I would start a new life and I could "re-create" myself, but it meant more boys and more opportunities to date. But, oh was I wrong. I figured being at a school that consisted of around 25,000 students and having friends at a local Christian University, I would have been engaged by now. This is something I really struggled with over the holidays. Honestly, I probably know around 15 engaged couples right now. Don't get me wrong I am super excited for them and wish them the best, but in a way I'm also jealous. I believe in some way I have struggled in my relationship with God in this area. I know I'm supposed to give Him the "pen" to my love story, but every time I do start talking to someone, I lose all interest in them. Trust me, I've worked really hard to stay interested in them. I have a good friend, Alicia, who I go to for a lot of advice. She's very wise. Think of a 80 year old in a 21 year olds body. ;) I've told her about this reoccurring "problem" and she seems to agree with my theory of why I do this. It's simply not who God intended me to be with. It's seems though, that every guy I'm interested in doesn't even know who I am. And then guys who I am mildly interested in are interested in me, but I lose interest. I don't understand. Yes, I do think I have a pretty good theory, but sometimes I wonder 'was my brain not programmed the right way during my creation?' Am I not made to be married? I sure hope not, because I have my whole "future wedding" planned out on Pinterest right now...just kidding. Okay, maybe not. I've been your typical girl. Planning my wedding since I was the age of 5. When I was 5, my groom was probably my daddy, but that has changed, of course. An old friend, Alana, and I used to set and talk about who we could see ourselves marrying. Boy, have our ideas changed. Thank goodness for me! I honestly don't see anyone at the end of that isle that I'm walking down. Which isn't necesarilly a bad thing. It just means I'm not sure of who God has for me which isn't bad either, but I have to admit I'm getting a little impatient. For those 'guys' who are reading this, if you are, I'm NOT saying the next guy I date is the guy I want to marry, so don't freak out. Ha. But I'm your typical girl who has marriage on the mind.


I know God has a plan but sometimes it so hard to be patient. Is anyone with me?

In Him,
Cherish

Goodbye 2011

I realize this is a little late - bare with me.

Here is a recap of 2011 in pictures and in no particular order.

My brother came to visit and got to hang out with some college girls. 

A snow storm in February that consisted of sledding in our pond on our land. 

Club level seats at a Thunder Game - so awesome. 

This beautiful angel turned 3!

Surprise party for my mom because she turned 40!

I spent half my summer in Germany spreading God's word with these people. 

I helped lead a Bible study with a group of girls over Song of Solomon. 

Dylan turned 15!

Morgan got baptized! 

Dad turned 44!

I turned 21!

We spent Christmas in the mountains. 

Here's to 2012. Praying that what I hoped for in 2011 happens this year!!

Happy New Year to all! 

In Him, 

Cherish