Today I had a little extra time (when I probably should have been studying) to look through my old blog posts and my old twitter accounts. It’s amazing how much life changes, friends change, relationships change, and God reveals more of his plan for your life. Three years ago when I started Clemson (feels like just yesterday) I would have laughed in your face and called you crazy if you had told me the adventures that college would have for me. Some of them hard (when my granny passed away and my apartment caught on fire) Some of them funny (lifejacket diapers at the lake with Lauren and Cory-Marie and eating my birthday ice cream with forks because I didn’t have spoons) others memorable (spending my 19th bday watching the sun rise at Pretty Place, getting saved & baptized at Newspring) Many more can be added to that, the roommates I have had, the first Clemson football game, road trips, service oppurtunities, homegroups, tears and laughter with best friends 🙂 All of these things have made me who I am today. Sitting in a different country far from my family and friends, I believe that God has complete control over life and that we all should strive to be closer to HIM and that nothing is impossible. I went from the terrified to take any risks girl to the girl who changed majors at the end of my junior year and hopped on a plane to spend half a year in a country where I knew no one and barely spoke the language. My prayer today is that I will seek God in every moment in my life and that I will NEVER be afraid to take a risk. I also pray that if you are reading this you will take that risk that you know you need to. Whether it’s a small risk of talking to someone or a big one of moving to a different country or changing majors. Just remember that though you will have rough times, God will be there 🙂 Peace and Love
So Steven Furtick spoke tonight at Newspring and he totally whipped my focus around. How many of us are walking around holding this amazing man named Jesus in our lives, but not telling anybody? Why are we keeping it a secret? I don’t know, but that’s what I’ve been doing lately. I’ve been “sitting on the front row” and missing the “music”. I haven’t been thinking about Jesus as the holy magnificent amazing and every other word i can think of man that he is. So let’s get some front fillers and realize what an amazing God we serve. And let’s show Him to all those people we see this week 🙂 Oh, and if you missed it you should check it out on http://www.newspring.cc It’s well worth your time!
So Switchfoot is the most amazing band ever! I love every song they sing because it totally relates to my life. Well recently I saw this commercial and I got pumped up. This is exactly what I want my life to be like. Always taking risks and chances and just going for it. There are so many opportunities to meet new people and show them what you see and believe when you do things like that. I don’t want to look back when I’m 80 and wonder where my life went and why i didn’t take the chances I’m being given now. So look out for Switchfoot because they rock and take chances in life. God put you here for a reason, make sure you live out your reason to the fullest. 🙂
I work at a daycare, which means i get to have some fun and decorate for holidays and such. Well I am in the Christmas spirit and it shows in my classroom 🙂 I went a little crazy and made snowmen to hang above everyone’s cribs and mittens to hang where their diapers are. I get to decorate two bulletin boards and I can’t decide what I’m going to put on them. Not for lack of things, but because there is so much I could put on them! I’m going out to get bulletin board decorating books. And then, it hit me. I have stepped into my roll as teacher 🙂 Never thought in a million years that this would be the road God had for me. Just three years ago I was planning on going to med school and becoming an ER doctor and here I am today, sitting in an Education class. I am at a college I thought I would never go to (not because I didn’t like it, just because it’s where everybody around my area goes, but I’ve been a fan since I was a kid), and doing things I never thought possible. It’s a pure God thing that I’m here and that amazes me. 🙂
So last night the crap hit the fan and now I praise God that it did. Getting less than 4 hours of sleep every night since Wednesday, hell week (a week or two or three where you have all your tests and things), and work getting more and more stressful I finally broke last night. I have a problem of holding up all my hurts, failures, and anger up and then breaking down and crying. (something I’m working on) Thankfully one of my friends was there for me, but after he left the tears continued to flow. And not because of why I thought they had started, but because of why they really started. I’m a big screw up, yet God loves me. And just like a parent spanks you because they love you, God was giving me a spanking. He was EXPOSING my sin to me. But, because I’m so hardheaded he had to break me down to get me to realize what I was doing. As much as the pain sucks, God brings me back to him. Through the tears, I run to him and he gets me alone and tells me what he wants. It’s times like these that I’m thankful that God loves me and my hard head because he could easily let me keep going on my own path. So, just remember that in those times of weakness when all you can do is pour tears and beg God for answers is when you get closer than ever to him and learn from him. Praying that I can overcome these sins that God exposed to me and knowing that I can do it through Him!
One of my friends had a pretty amazing blog about accountability and he is SO right. We have accountability so that we don’t fall into sin, not only so that we can tell someone about our sin after the fact. I have found in my life that when you got accountability it makes life so much easier. Temptations are so hard to face yourself. Me and one of my friends are accountability partners at parties. We have become Team Sober (and we pretty much rock at water pong). When you have an accountability partner and you can overcome sin, like getting drunk, people notice and start asking questions. Those questions lead to intense discussion and people learn and grow. You can’t just trust anybody to keep you accountable because not everybody cares. So go out and find a group of people you can lean on in times of hardship (because we will all have times of hardships!!!). But remember what BCoop said about showing our fronts to the world and have our Christian friends get our backs. Do a backwards huddle and you see that we are facing the world eager to help them, but have our friends supporting our backs in case we fall. So go out and show Christ to the world, but remember that your friends are there and got your back when you need it.
Have you ever noticed how easy it is to get consumed with our own lives? Think about the people you see everyday as you walk across the library bridge. And don’t feed me that crap that they aren’t the same people. You see these SAME people everyday because when you see them outside of school you sit and wonder where you know them from. How many people do we let walk by us EVERY SINGLE DAY and not say one word to them. We don’t know what they are going through. They could be having the most amazing day ever and brighten yours or the could be having the worst day ever and a smile and a warm, “Hello, how are you.” could change their day. No wonder so many people are walking around lost, confused and depressed. We as Christians are too absorbed in our own little worlds to show the love to those around us. I’m not getting on to ya’ll because I’m guilty of it to. So next time you sit at a table in the library say a few words to the person sitting at your table, make friends with that person in your class, and that person next to you at the football game or in line. Guys we have SO many missed opportunities because we treat our lives as more important than loving on others. We need to get it together.
Today was probably one of the most amazing days ever. Jesus and football…what could be better??? This morning was FCA Rally in the Valley. It is basically a huge FCA before the football game for anybody high school and below. So many accepted Christ today. It was amazing! But what really pumped me up was something that was said. The speaker had a lot of hardcore amazing stuff to say! During the music, one of the band members said something that made me want to stand up and shout. He said we get pumped up and lose our voices at football games, doesn’t God deserve more than that? Although I do struggle with this too, I firmly believe this. So next time you’re in church think about how much you yelled the night before at the football game. God deserves so much more than that. So give Him what he deserves and show Him how much you love HIM!!!
Tonight at FCA, the speaker said something that got my mind to wandering. (yeah i know in the middle of the message, but it was a good wandering) He was talking about a drama that was put on for a high school and how at the end the speaker came up and pretty much said that we aren’t granted a tomorrow.
That’s when my mind set off on its only little tangent. We aren’t guaranteed tomorrow. Only the minute we live in here and now. What if I knew today was my last day before Christ came back? I started thinking on my regrets, missed opportunities, positive moments, influential moments, and thats when i realized, I wasn’t living my life like I didn’t have tomorrow. I had been putting off my Bible studies thinking that I would do them when i finished my homework (which will never happen 🙂 ) I had been passing up opportunities to hang out and get to know new people. I pretty much had been overlooking God and getting dragged down by life. So what if you knew this was your last day? Would you change anything? Would you do anything? Would you be ready to see Christ? These are all questions we should ask ourselves.
With tuition at Clemson going up around %6, I am thankful that my scholarship money increased at the same pace. If it weren’t for that, I along with many other students from middle class families may not have been able to attend Clemson this fall. Most of my friends are throwing down the big $$ to come to school. Some getting loans exceeding $40,00 A YEAR! What does this mean for our future? And, how are we supposed to have financial stability when we are going to be in debt for the rest of our lives because we wanted a good education. These days you almost always have to go to college to get a decent job. So where does that leave people who can’t afford it? People who are barely making ends meet as it is? Just a little food for thought.
Ashley's Weblog 