This Life by MercyMe

I found this song while going through videos on Godtube and this was the song to a video on funny church signs. anyways, fell in love with this song and downloaded it to my Itouch. it is...it is my theme song and my goal and my inspiration for when I am in China. I love this song!I especially love the line that says "hold your heads up high, this is our moment to rise, we were meant to shine, not just survive."

Simplify My Life

Yesterday on My Charm Bracelet Blog, I wrote a post about my first time donating some of my stuff(click here to read). I wrote about loving the idea of getting rid of the excess stuff in my life, stuff I don't use and/or don't need. later on last night, I was reading  Joshua Harris's I Kissed Dating Goodbye and in it he quotes Hebrews 12:1, which says "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us"(Hebrews 12:1).the part about "throwing off everything that hinders us" and "running with perseverance the race marked out for us"really reminded me of what I had written in my Charm Bracelet blog hours earlier. that image, of running a race, really struck me. I am not a runner by any means, but when you go running, you try to carry as much stuff as possible. Brent goes running all the time, and every once in a while I would see him running on the ACU track, and when he ran, he was not carrying a backpack, a set of books, his laptop, etc. he usually only had his Ipod and maybe a water bottle. so I assume that I am correct and running a race, or running in general, means carrying as little stuff as possible. granted, I am not sure if a relationship with God can be thought of as a race, but I want to keep moving towards having a good and deep and honest relationship with God, and in that sense, it is a race you know? not a competition type race, but a race in the sense of moving towards something. and it hit me after reading that reference to Hebrews 12:1 and having it sound a lot like what I had written in my Charm Bracelet post, that the more stuff I carry, the slower I am moving. still moving, but not as...not as fast as I could be if I had less stuff. we spent so much of our energy and time thinking about school, about eating healthy, about keeping your car in good shape, about staying in good shape, about how we look, about whether we are going to ever get married or not, whether guys/girls like us in a romantic way or not, about jobs, about grad school, etc. even missions trips, we are worrying about the actual job we are going to be doing and the raising money for it and preparing to leave, etc and then so much of our time worrying about our material possessions: car, Itouch, Iphone, Ipad, TV, DVDs, cell phones,etc. so much time and energy that we could(and maybe should)be spending on worrying about and working on our relationship with God and spending time with Him and trying to do what He wants us to do,etc. It really confirms in my mind that I really do want to simplify my life, and starting with material possessions is a good way. I am going to donate everything that I don't need, that I don't use, will never use, have never used, or have no interest in using again. the less stuff I have on me, the more room in my mind and in my heart and in my life and in my energy that can be spend worrying and working on my relationship with God. if you are going to go running, you carry as little as possible with you. and going towards a relationship with God is the most important race that we will ever run and are running(even me, who doesn't run at all!).
I am not saying that I will be good at this. it is kinda counter-cultural, but if giving away a few books(a lot of books actually lol) made me feel this good, and having that verse quoted in a book I am reading the same day I wrote a post on simplifying, has to mean something, not saying what. like I said, not saying I will be good at this or even that I'll succeed, but I am going to really really do this. I like the idea of not having to worry about having so many possessions and using everything that I have. having clothes that I wear and a limited wardrobe, having books that I read over and over again and don't sit on my shelf unused, having my apartment be one where I use all the rooms in it, etc. and like I said, the less stuff, the faster I can run this race: a relationship with God.

*I welcome any and all advice, suggestions, and comments on this*

From God

http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=FJ1JCJNU

Videos on God Tube I found funny!

http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=D7GLLPNX

http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=76PWPPNX
   video about inviting people to church. its a comedy, so it's the worst that could happen scenarious. pretty funny yet makes a good point.

How To Worship Video

http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=FBC12CNU

This video is funny yet it makes the point that we have this notion that worship has to be a certain way. I don't do the hand raising, the standing up for singing or the word of God, and I do feel like I'm...breaking the rules somehow. like I'm not doing something that I'm supposed to. yet I know that just because you raise your hands or start crying doesn't mean that you are being sincere, and not doing these things doesn't always make you insincere. maybe worship doesn't have to be a certain way. maybe doing the hand raising, the clapping, the standing up, etc. just because its what you do, or what everyone else is doing, or because you feel you have to, is the insincere part.

Ice Cube Molds and Christians

This will be  a super short post but I had this idea a few nights ago while driving home from the movies. I know that somewhere in the bible, it says that we are supposed to be in the world but not of the world. my though is similar to this. what if as Christians, we are like ice cube molds? or more like...water freezing. see, when you put water in any kind of mold, it takes on the shape of that mold, yet it is still water and it does not become that thing, it's just...shaped like it. while the analogy does have its limits, what if Christians were like that? what if when we go somewhere, we do our best to taken on the shape of the culture, of the environment, etc. but if stay water? we don't become that thing. I know this problaly is not making a whole lot of sense but it is a thought that I had. when I go to China, I am going to do my best to...take on the shape of Chinese culture. I will try to follow their customs, learn their language, etc. yet, like we were told in orientation, I will never be able to become Chinese, just like the water does stop being water and does not become what it takes on the shape of. water is a good model for Christians I think. water takes on the shape of whatever you put it in, yet it still remains water, just in different shapes.

Maybe God Works Like A GPS

the other day this random and weird thought came into my mind. I started thinking about how God might work in terms of His plan for our lives. Does HE control everything, micro-manage the universe. like if you don't get into a certain college or you break your leg, is that God's will?is that part of His plan for you somehow? I don't think we can or should try to figure out "God's will." I like to wait until He reveals it to me if He so chooses and I am very wary of calling something "God's Will." and then I started thinking that maybe God works like a GPS. on a GPS(the one on my blackberry anyway)you put in your destination, and then it shows you the best route to get there. if you make a wrong turn or miss a turn or something, the GPS recalculates the route from where you now are, and shows you how to get to your destination with your run or missed turn or whatever as part of the new route. what if God works like that? We have free will, He gave that to us, just like we are free to choose or not the route that GPS shows us. God has a destination and a route for us, but because of that free will, we miss turns, we try and find shortcuts, we purposely don't go one way, we go another way, we get lost or confused. but God works with that, He works with and through our mistakes and wrong turns. we might not follow His original route for us, but when we make that wrong turn or miss that exit,etc He doesn't just shut down on us. He recalculates a new route to get us to us to His destination.

I know this sounds weird and kinda crazy, but if you are reading this, let me know your thoughts on this.