Faith Not Fear Part 3

Over Spring Break I realized this semester is an "in between semester".

It's the gap between being a carefree college student and accepting the responsibilities of teaching.
It's the gap between being spirit-fed (dare I say almost too much) and feeding myself.

There are a lot of things that happening this semester that will only happen this semester.
The lesson plans AND course assignments.
The Harding AND the high school.
The cooperating teacher AND me.

After this semester, I'm completely on my own. I've been waiting for this for years and now that it's here, I don't feel prepared for it.

I've been waiting to do things because I feel so unprepared and scared. But I realized I just have to make some decisions. Make them and trust that God knows what He is doing and will pull you through.

Faith not fear.

Faith Not Fear Part 2

Here's the post you've all been waiting for. I said I was going to explain how I settled on this title for my blog...here it is! It is not the story of how I became a believer. It is simply the explanation of how this space got its title. It's not perfect, but here it is...

It all started with a problem I had with a friend about a year ago. We worked to forgive each other but we both ended up going our separate ways. During this escapade, my preacher talked about pruning and how necessary it is for us. We don't always understand why it needs to be done or see how it will be for our benefit, but we have to trust that God knows better than we do and that He is going to work things out for our good. It was also at this time that Hillsong's "Oceans" came out and it seemed to be on the radio every time I turned it on. One day it sank in: God is testing my faith and encouraging me to trust him.

As time went on, three themes began to emerge and I realized God was teaching me something that was going to play an important role in my life. The first area was contentment and you can read some of my thoughts on it here. God turned my little world upside down with a bunch of little things in my personal life that didn't go my way and my type-A personality did not approve.

From there He showed me my lack of respect for others and how it stemmed from trust issues. Some issues were brought on by big, traumatic events that took place years ago and some were miscommunications that should not have been a big deal. The bottom line was that I had some things to sort through and I knew I had to approach them with my faith at the forefront, fighting my battles, and allowing God to take the reins on things I couldn't control on my own.

About this time, the word, fear kept appearing in my quiet time and in some blog posts. It really began to sink in and I realized the full circle the Lord had brought me when I came across the verse in 1 John 4:18 that says, "There is no fear in love but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love."
This link will take you to my Pinterest board that that contains some of the blog posts I kept handy while going through all of this.

With all of that said, I am not a star-student at any of these things. But if the Lord found it necessary to spend a year showing me these areas of my life that needed work, then I figure I better straighten up, start listening, and obey.

Phew! I'm not keen on sharing personal things so this post is not easy for me to write, but it's a necessary one. God has put this little space on my heart to stretch me and to continue to deepen my faith. I want to encourage all of you to do whatever it is that God has put on your heart. No matter what it is, I hope you will step out in faith and trust His plan.

Thursday Thoughts

Lately I haven't been feeling very inspired. And sometimes I have a good idea but don't have a computer available to type up a post. Then I forget and FNF is left blank for another week. Let's just chalk it up to student teaching and the fact that it's my last semester... aka senioritis.

Here are a few of my favorite things from the last couple weeks.

1. Downton Abbey
     Does this actually need an explanation?? I mean what did Mr. Bates do while he was gone? Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes are finally engaged! And what is this awkwardness between Lady Mary and Thomas? (maybe that one is just me ;) Rumor has it, the sixth season will be the final one. I can't wait!

2.  College Prepster
      I've been following Carly aka The College Prepster for almost two years now. She's a Georgetown graduate and lives in NYC (my dream!) with a cute lil pup. She started blogging in college as a way to share her ideas with anyone that would listen. Years later, she became a full time blogger. Lately I've really been enjoying looking through some of her older content. For example, since I'm graduating in a couple months (43 days and counting!), I've been reading the posts from March 2012. You can check her out at this address.


3.  Dance Academy
      I don't usually get so absorbed into a television show, but Dance Academy is a different story. Well for one, they all have Australian accents, so there's that. Two, I've never been interested in ballet, but after watching the first episode I was hooked. Warning, if you watch it there are some things that go on that I do not agree with. It's a very clean show and it starts out teaching you the basics of dance and the pressures dancers face. From there it takes you through three years of, you guessed it, dance academy until they graduate and face life post-academy. You get so attached to the characters and you feel their pain as they struggle through the academy.
Rarely do I rewatch a series, but I'm watching Dance Academy again. Everyday. Like it's the first time watching it. And I will probably watch it again after that because I don't want it to end.

4.   "The Giver" by Lois Lowry
      I read this book in eighth grade and loved it! Thank you Mrs. Guerrier for sparking my interest in psychology and theology! It fascinated me to think that another world could be so different, yet so similar to ours.
      I promised myself I was going to reread the book again before I watched the movie. I downloaded it a year ago and started it a couple times but never got very far (oops!). But I started it again on my flight on Saturday and read 48% of it.
       Why do I love it so much? I guess it's the structure of their community. In some ways I think we would be better off with it. But then I think of all the people who don't thrive on structure and how miserable they would feel.  I also love the idea of an old man investing in a growing boy and passing down all his wisdom to him. I know we need more of this in our society. Good ole' fashioned, get your hands dirty and talk it out sessions. Yes and yes.

5.  Stephanie Wilson
      I read Stephanie's book over Christmas break and loved it! Like crying on the plane kind of good. I immediately subscribed to her list and have loved it ever since. Everything is so bright and colorful, even when she writes about more serious topics. Lately I have enjoyed her Instagram and it helps that I'm on Spring Break and this girl is all about adventure! Also, her book is FREE so check that out here.