Journey Day 307

Last night was amazing and such a blessing!! Not only did God provide earlier in the day with the pizza, but he provided in a gigantic way with people! We had over 85 people there, and we raised 531 dollars for the CFF!!! I was so blessed by everyone that came out, and the generous heart of all of the people that came and showed their support! It was amazing and such an encouragement to me! God was so very real to me last night, and it was a reminder that God always wants what is best for us, and not only that but He will bless our hard work! : ) My favorite part was at the end when I was able to give Meagan the 65 roses that we had collected! It was such a special moment for everyone, but I think especially for Meagan and I. It was a night I don't think I'll ever forget!!!

Journey Day 306

This morning I almost had a breakdown. I have been planning on feeding all the volunteers and bands for the benefit concert tonight. I had been talking to Dominos and they told me they would donate pizzas, but I found out on Wednesday that they would be only donating 5. Don't get me wrong, 5 is better than none and I am super grateful for the contribution but now I had to find more pizza to feed all my awesome volunteers. So I went to another dominos that is in a neighboring town and talked with them about donating a few more pies. Well yesterday it looked very promising, but today the general manager told me he "didn't feel like doing that tonight". So I stood outside my school's convocation, on the verge of tears. I didn't know what I was going to do! So I held my tears, and walked as fast as I could to my car. I drove to a local pizza place, just praying that they would have a big ol' heart and be willing to help me out. So I walk in and wait for a few minutes and a man walks out from the Kitchen...

Man: "Can I help you with something?"
Me: "I was hoping to talk to a manager."
Man: "Well I'm one of the owners, would that work?"
Me: "That actually works perfectly."

I then 'splained my situation to him and the minute the words were out of my mouth, he said, "Absolutely! We'd love to do that! How does 4 large pies sound? We'd also love to give you some certificates to raffle off!" All I could say was, "thank you thank you thank you thank you!!" Woah... In a small but powerful way God reminded me that He was in control, He was on my side, and He could provide! And boy did He provide way more than I could hope! Not only do I now have more pizza than I need, but God also provided more certificates for me to raffle! God's goodness never ceases to amaze me! I don't know about you, but His presence even in the small things is such an incredible comfort to me! I am sooo looking forward to this concert, and to see how God is going to work! : )

Journey Day 305

Tomorrow is a really big day! This year I have been doing some advertising work for a coffee shop in town and tomorrow we are using that facility to have a benefit concert for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation! This benefit is something I have been working on since November so I'm looking forward to seeing how it all turns out. However amidst my excitement I'm also a little nervous. Why, you ask? Well I'm nervous that noone will come, that I will have failed my dear friend Meagan, and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. I'm scared that even my best isn't good enough and we won't raise any money for this awesome organization. I think what it comes down to is that I'm scared that maybe I'm a failure. When I think about it, its an entirely selfish thing to feel. This benefit concert isn't for me or about me! It's for Meagan! It's for the CFF! But there is still that lurking, selfish fear in the back of my mind causing me to doubt myself. But it seems the moment I allow those feelings of doubt to come in, God comes to my rescue! He says, "Sarah, attendence at a benefit concert doesn't define you, money raised doesn't define you, the opinion of your peers doesn't define you... I alone define you! I think you're pretty special. I rejoice over you with singing, I take GREAT delight in you! I knit you together in your mother's womb, you are fearfully and wonderfully made! Find your worth in me Sarah, seek my kingdom and my righteousness and all of these things shall be added unto you. Don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself! Simply be still at know that I am God and I am in control of ever single circusmstance. Find your worth in my love, my grace and my power. Do not allow the world to define you." Are you allowing the worries and opinions of the world to define who you are?  I challence you to see what God has to say about your worth... I'm positive that it will encourage you and maybe even change the way you see yourself! So while yes I'm still a little nervous about tomorrow, I'm more excited to see how God is going to work! And whether 100 people come or 10 people come, I find my self worth in something that never changes... God's incredible love for me!

p.s. my "self-talk" is based on bible verses... I don't want anyone to think I'm a crazy literally hearing God talk audibly to me! haha God uses the bible everyday to speak wonderful truths into our hearts and lives!

Journey Day 304

This week=filled with stress!! But instead of freaking out, like I usually would, I have a peace about the craziness of my life. I have two group projects due next week... on the same day, I have finals to study for, papers to write, work, and a benefit concert on Friday... but I have that peace that passes understanding. Don't get me wrong, I have a moment where I have a mini freak out but then I start to calm down and God gently reminds me... "I'm in control, I love you, and I'm in control of every part of your life." Such an incredibly reassuring thought! Sure, I could chose to freak out and stress hardcore about everything I have to get done... but I mean freaking out won't add a moment to my day, nor will it help me get anything done! So instead I have been choosing to take it one day and one step at a time. The end of the semester is almost here... I can almost taste it! All I have to do is attack one thing at a time, and take refuge in the fact that God is completely in control! So here's to only 12 days left in the semester, and 12 days left of projects and 12 days until the freedom of SUMMER BREAK!!!!

Journey Day 303

I follow Mr. Rainn Wilson on twitter. Mr. Wilson plays Dwight on "The Office" and is seemingly a political/social activist in his free time. That being said, he tweeted something very interesting yesterday, and it said, "F You, God'-http://www.soulpancake.com/post/1378/f-you-god.html" Needless to say, I was intrigued so I clicked on the link and it brought me a discussion board about "3 reasons why you are pissed at God." I began to scroll through and my heart began to break. All of these people are so broken, so sad, so lonely, so mad, so insecure and so lost. I believe that God wants us to be real with Him, and that includes being honest about when we are angry with him, but these posts were just so sad. One person posted this, "I'm pissed: 1. That your name makes it to my secular humanist lips during moments of ecstasy- how the f bomb do you do it? 2. That your followers are content spewing your non existent words in order to push their political agendas. WTF? 3. That you're not real, I'd truly love some deity to talk to about my son having autism, in hopes for some miracle, or at least some funding." Most of the posts seemed to be posted by atheists, and their desperation and anger at a God that they claim doesn't exist shows that in their heart of hearts they hope He does! If they truly didn't believe in God, why are they telling Him why they are mad at Him? There were so many more posts just like that one, and some more heartbreaking. All these people are so lost, and so lonely and so angry at God when all the while He is just sitting there waiting for them to come home to Him. See, this is why were are called to preach the gospel to all nations, including our own! There are people everywhere that are just as lost as we used to be, and we need to reach out to them and show them Christs love! Let's be honest, much of the reason the world hates Christianity is because they actually hate people who claim Christ! Oftentimes we aren't the best representation of the love of our Father. One person wrote this, "1. Why are your followers so hateful, ignorant, and terrible to others." Man.... that sucks. Our love for others should shine through us so that everyone around us can feel the love of Christ, our actions should not drive people away from the cross! I know we can't be perfect, but as Christians we should work harder to be new creations and to live a life so different from the world, that when people look at us they can't help but wonder what we have, and then we can share the life saving and life changing grace and mercy that we have found in the cross and in Christ! Today I challenge you to do something loving for someone, whether it's buying coffee for the person behind you in line at Starbucks, or writing a nice note for someone and leaving it on their car... the choice is yours, but show Christ's love to everyone you know!

Journey Day 302

It has been a loooooong day, but a good day! I went to this awesome health food store called Whole Foods, and it is a magical food heaven! haha It was awesome and I wish they had one in town! Now I am completely exhausted, so I leave you with this verse, "But he said to me 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest on me." (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Journey Day 301

Today I watched "Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader". Lucy, one of the main characters, was really insecure and she only wanted to be as beautiful as her sister Susan. She found this book, where she could see herself in a mirror, but the person she sees in the mirror isn't actually her... it's her sister. So she rips the page out of the book to bring along with her so that whenever she wants she can see this beautiful "version" of herself. One night Aslan comes to her in a dream and basically tells her that she is worth so much more than she can even imagine and that she can find her worth in his love for her. In this moment I was reminded of two things... C.S. Lewis never disappoints with his metaphors AND we are just like Lucy. We find our self worth in everything but God, and allow the world to define how we see ourselves. But God gently says, "Find your worth in me dear one, find your worth in me. My love is all that matters, so find your worth in me!" Even when are hard on ourselves, and we don't like the face we see in mirror... even when the world is down on us, and we feel discouraged, we can take heart and find our worth in the creator of the universe, who created us with a perfect plan and purpose! If you doubt that, go give Psalm 139 a read... it might just change your mind! : )