Reminders

I was reminded of two amazing facts about life this afternoon.

1. God is in control. No, really. Everything. That being said, why worry? Why are we stressed out about school, relationships, and money? Stop worrying! God has you where you are for a reason, He is putting you in those stressful situations for a reason. Maybe He's trying to show you something, shape you, bless you, change you, tell you something. Relax, God knows what He's doing in your life!

Whenever I'm stressed out and asking myself "what on earth am I doing here?" I have to remember to step back and remind myself that this is part of God's plan. I may not understand why I am going through something at a certain time, but there is a reason for it.

However, I'm not saying that I won't ever get stressed out again. I'll forget and be a mess for days before it hits me again "God is in control."

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
 Jeremiah 29:11

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Matthew 6:34

In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind
Job 12:10

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
Revelation 4:11

2. God answers prayer. Again, this is something I have always known, but have more fully realized in the past year at Providence. Time and time again I am blown away by this realization. Sometimes its in the little things, like a BTS exam or HIS paper, other times its about relationships, health, or church.

I could name several examples about the many times just this semester that I'll pray about something, forget about it, and then remember a week later only to realize that God answered my prayer. Granted, it hasn't always been the answer I wanted, but knowing that God is in control, it must have been the answer I needed.

Go to God in prayer. What a comfort it is to know that you can ask God everything. Bring to God your questions, concerns, thanksgiving and praises. Our God is so good!

And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.
Matthew 21:22


Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7 



Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Thessalonians 5:16-18

It Is Well With My Soul

Blessed

I am so incredibly blessed. It is nearly impossible to fathom how greatly God has blessed me these two short semesters at Providence. Every day I am completely blown away by His great blessings.

I do not have room or time to list all the blessings, and I don't think I ever will. God is constantly doing things in my life that I never would have imagined. I've always known that I was going to go to Providence, that it was going to be my college. But I don't think I would ever have guessed or imagined how it would shape my life.

I still can't put into words how blessed I am. I have amazing, supporting friends, I'm surrounded by God's beautiful and diverse creation, I have learned so much in all of my classes, and have been greatly humbled through them. The list would go on and on. Everyday I discover another reason to praise God for what He's doing in my life.

Even through mid-terms, homesickness, and stress, there is no other place I want to be right now more then Providence. My senior year of high school I knew that this was were God wanted me. I can see that even more clearly now. I belong here. God has greatly blessed me through this college, praise the Lord!

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

his mercies never come to an end;

they are new mevery morning;

great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

Surrounded by His Beauty

 

On the wall in our dorm room there is a large bulletin board that contains close to 100 photos of everything that happened during the first semester here. A daily reminder of everything that has happened in such a short amount of time.

Thankful for: Chapel

It's November. Crazy isn't it? November means Daylight Savings Time, leaves changing colors, sweaters and jeans, boots, pumpkin pie, half-price candy corn, and Thanksgiving. I love the Fall!

This year is different. I'm not in Iowa where there are dead, smelly, wet leaves laying under piles of snow. I'm in California where there are palm trees un-willing to loose their leaves (thankfully!) and no snow. That being said, I want to start this month off being thankful for the main thing in my life right now: Providence.

Every day (depending on homework, obviously.) I want to post about one thing that I am thankful for here at college. Accompanied by a picture. You probably guessed that. I don't think I could do something like that with out some photos tossed in. : )

Today I am thankful for Chapels. Singing praise to our God with the students is amazing. There might not be hundreds of students, but listening to all of the students lifting their voices high unto the heavens is an amazing sound. I especially look forward to Tuesday night chapels every week. There is something about ending the first day of the school week praising God in chapel. It helps me to relax at the end of a normally super stressful day.

What are you thankful for today?

God's Glorious Creation

I just want to start by saying God is good. He is amazing. It's never been so plain to me before, He is in creation! Open your eyes and look. He's there.

Tonight I drove up a mountain, a windy, wet, mountain road, through clouds, fog, and rain to stare at stairs that weren't even visible. The intent was to watch the Orionid Meteor Shower on top of the mountain  but the weather did not want to cooperate. Regardless, that was a blast. The cold foggy night reminded me of home, right after one of those really pretty snowy day. It was amazing. My camera had a blast too. :)

Coming to Providence has opened my eyes to what is out there. The world isn't just one vast corn field to me anymore. There is so much more out there. God's creation is so amazingly beautiful I can't even describe it. My camera can't do it justice. Words can't tell of it. You need to see if for yourself to truly experience it.

I've been in California for over two months now. I'm looking back at everything I've done and am amazed at the beauty of everything. Overwhelmed by it. I have done so much more then I ever would have thought I could do. For example:

1. The Ocean
2. Hiking Eaton Canyon
3. The Getty
4. Exploring Hollywood
5. Exploring Pasadena
6. Exploring Los Angeles
7. Santa Monica Beach
8. Camping on the Beach in Malibu
9. Hiking in Malibu
10. Star gazing on the Beach
11. Sailing in Long Beach
12. Watching for Meteors on top of Mt. Wilson.

Monday I go to Hollywood again for the Avadah: Homeless in Hollywood.

Life is amazing people. Open your eyes to God's beautiful creation. It's astounding and superb. Step out of the corn field (which, I guess, is also pretty amazing) and look at the world. Every inch of this world was created by God. Upheld by God. Creation shouts God's name. There is a world out there to explore, open your eyes and explore it!

 I have some pretty sweet pics from tonight as well, but since it is almost 2 the morning and I have to get up to go to church . . .I shall load them on later!

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Tornado Twenty Twelve

Wow. What a day. I feel like I've been running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. Three minutes before the weekend truly starts and the siren goes off. When it started I was really confused, we already had a drill today . . .two in one day? Little drastic for such a beautiful day out. Five minutes before hand we were filming our Comm II movie and it was so sunny out. But, 45 minutes later still at school in a hot cramped hallway.

Work at OCCS was a different story. They are currently replacing the roof about the office and entry way, back by the locker rooms. The guys had about 1/2 hour left of work on it, with only the drain left to finish. Beautiful timing, huh? Flooded hallway, what a mess!! I worked for as long as I could before having to take off and go work at Don's.

Due to me not having my camera and teachers locking us in the school, I sadly did not get pictures of "Tornado 2012" Oh well. Safer I suppose. If the tornado had come even five minutes later there would be over 300 students on the roads, track kids going to Storm Lake, (or was it Spirit Lake? I don't care), soccer practice, and I'd be biking to work. BIKING. God works in wondrous ways. Thanking Him!!

So, tonight, I share with you Facebook photos of the storm. In such a little amount of time it went from being beautifully sunny to a dust cloud black out. Scary!