So as you may have noticed, in my last blog I mentioned that I was a Christian. However, I just briefly mentioned it, not because it isn't important, but the exact opposite actually. I started to go into it and then I realized that it just needed to be its own blog. So here it is:
I figured I might as well start with how my Christianity started. I am extremely fortunate in that fact that grew up in a Christian home. My mom and dad took me to church every Sunday and taught me the importance of having a God centered life. I had older sisters to look up to and a great church family as well (Side note: my pastor, Cory Snyder, at Riverdale Baptist Church is one of the greatest speakers of all time. You can listen to him at http://rbcflint.org/sermons/). As I get older and get to make more and more decisions on my own, I appreciate the things I was taught as a child. Before I went to college, it was easy to make the "right" decisions. I wasn't sneaking out of the house, drinking, partying, or any of that because, yes I knew it was wrong, yes I knew it wasn't what God wanted (which should have been #1), but most importantly, I knew if mom and dad found out I might as well just run myself up to the hardware store when it was all over and invest in a pad lock for my bedroom because thats where I would be spending quite a bit of time for, oh I don't know, ever. Not that I think my parents are tyrants by any means, but because my actions would deserve a punishment and I knew exactly what it would be. Anyways, living at home made it very easy to appear to be a "Good Christian". It wasn't until we did a study on lukewarm Christians in my youth group that I realized being a "Good Christian" wasn't enough. God didn't want me to JUST be making good choices, He wanted me to be in His word, talking with Him, trusting Him, following His plans, the whole nine yards. It wasn't a concept that I grasped easily, and still don't, but none the less I knew that some things had to change. We all know the old, overused, beaten into the ground saying: "You can't just talk the talk, you've got to walk the the walk". Well, that completely applies here. Can you imagine if Jesus came to Earth, lived His whole life saying He was the son of God and preaching but never actually put any of that into practice? We wouldn't have the open communication we do now, we would still be doing sacrifices, and we wouldn't be able to repent our sins asking for forgiveness and for the Holy Spirit to come and live within in us to guide us in the path God has for us and taking us to our eternal home in Heaven with Him when we die. That is a pretty big change! Well just as Jesus was sent here to do a job, so were we. Now, clearly our job and Jesus's job are two completely different things, but they are similar in the fact that they need to get done and there is no one else to do them but the one who is meant to. This was exactly the mentality that this study taught me and realized I needed to adopt.
Now that I am at college, things are a little different. I don't have my parents looking over me as closely as they previously were. This is were everything I had been taught as a child had to kick in. I knew that things were going to get tougher and that it was my job to keep my relationship with the Lord strong now. Luckily, I have my best friend, Ellie, here with me who is also a Christian to be accountability partners with, but all the same, choices had to be made. Getting into the new college lifestyle was a difficulty all on its own. Establishing a new way to maintain a relationship with Christ was on a whole different playing field. I will be the first to admit, devos were not on the top of my priority list and praying was not the first thing that popped into my head on the mornings of those lovely 8 a.m. chemistry classes. I used the excuse that I was just too busy and stressed out, God would understand, right? The old mentality of early high school years started to set in. I wasn't really doing anything "wrong" so I was okay. Thankfully, just as this was becoming a norm, God placed the Mason's in my life just as He did for my sister Natalie when she was at OC. This brought me to the services at Nashville Baptist Church that I desperately needed to hear. One in particular that Pastor DeGroot preached, was a sermon called "Holy Book". With many verses backing his every point, he taught about sowing the word. What made this stick in my mind are three statements that really stood out to me: 1. "The problem is not with the seed, but with the sowers and the soul." 2. "Never be ashamed of the Bible, its truth is the ONLY thing that can changes lives." 3. "I used to try and hid the fact I was praying in public and now I WANT people to know that I am praying to the God of the universe! I WANT them to know I am NOT ashamed of my Savior." Wow. Talk about conviction. Well for starters, I guess if I'm not in the "Holy Book" I'm really doing anyone any good and that would definitely be considered a problem with (me) the sower! With the second one all I could think was that if I was ashamed of the Bible, that means I'm ashamed of its' author: God, which was definitely not okay. That lead right into the third statement. He mentioned how at one point he was trying to hid the fact he was praying. Being totally honest, I'm so guilty of that; but why? Well, why else would I hid this except because of shame or fear? More importantly, why was I embarrassed to let others know that I was exercising the privilege the Creator of life itself gave me to talk to Him whenever I want? As an imperfect, sinful person being treated as a flawless princess of the Lord of Lords, I have absolutely no right. Needless to to day, this was the a rude awakening for me and I knew that some things had to change.
Where I am now, finally feeling renewed:
I determined that it was time to "turn over a new leaf". I had some serious, much needed one-on-one time with my Savior. I prayed for forgiveness, help, strength, courage, and everything I could think of. I wasn't sure what exactly I needed but I knew that He did and that was good enough for me. It dawned on me that I really needed some good devotion material. It took awhile to find something that really stuck, but I think I've got it now. Its actually quite ridiculous how long it took me to come up with a devotion to keep me focused to be perfectly honest with you. I literally have a collection of about 15 Christian books sitting on my shelf in my dorm 6 ft away from my bed. When I looked at this neglected shelf all I could think was "You're an idiot, how did you forget about all of these!" Nonetheless I know have material for quite some time. My first pick was "When God Writes Your Love Story" by Leslie and Eric Ludy. So far, its amazing. What they have to say its awesome. They talk about the direct connection between God and your relationships and why it is so important that a relationship is for the purpose of serving and coming closer to God, not your own personal benefit. Another big point is how God doesn't want just part of us, but ALL of us. He wants the Captain's seat and the key to every room and won't settle for less. (For anyone who is interested just contact me I would LOVE to discuss it with you or lend it to you if you want to read it!)
I think after all of this tying this post into my blog theme really isn't a stretch. Its a simple concept: God is great. His love is above all love, His grace is the greatest gift, and if anyone could come up with something "enchanting", its God. He is the creator of goodness, wonder, and the only definition of perfection. Nothing can compare to the enchanting life that God has planned for you if you allow Him to lead you through it. To put it simply, if you truly want to "Live Life Enchantingly", walking hand in hand with the King of Kings and Prince of Peace is the best way to accomplish that goal.
Sorry this blog was a little bit longer than I plan on making the usuals (thanks for putting up with me), but even after all of this, I don't think I did my Savior the justice He deserves. He is an indescribable God that I have roughly attempted to put into mere, insufficient worlds. Nevertheless, hope you enjoyed this blog and it puts you in an uplifting, inspired, positive mood and given you some food for thought. :)
P.S. Sorry I am technically posting this a day late, I'll do better next time ;)
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