No one can romanticize and fully love you in the endless amount of ways that God can. He loves you in the gentlest form, with all the tenderness and compassion that you need, but only He can offer. God's love for you is incomparable to that of any earthy thing. it's unfathomable, intangible, incomprehensible, eternal, and all for us- not because He has to give that to us, but because He wants to. With that being said, let God romanticize you. fall in love with Love; fall in love with God.
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The idea for this post crossed my mind the day I wrapped up my summer internship and was on the road headed back home to see my family once more before I moved back in to school. While driving through the beautiful mountains of Tennessee, "Words," by Hawk Nelson came on the radio. It was the first time I had heard this song, so I turned it up and tuned right on in. The chorus completely captivated me and held my attention far after the song had finished. "Let my words be life Let my words be truth I don't wanna say a word Unless it points the world back to You." Of course, the one and only time I'm curious to know the name of a song I hear on the radio, the station it's played on transitions directly into another song. Ha! The chorus was still playing on repeat in my head though, so for the next hour I thought about what exactly those words meant and how they applied to me. My first thought? A battery. Yep, you heard me. A battery. My mind then started to drift off and think about the different types of batteries that exist. I laughed to myself once I pictured myself as a double A battery. To be honest, I even imagined myself as the Energizer Bunny, banging on a drum with some soft and fuzzy pink fur and those awesome stunna shades. *insert laugh here* What I'm really trying to say is I was losing sight of the path that my thought had been headed down. Once I got done laughing to myself, my heart started to focus in on one thought. Two words: Christ charged Batteries are usually the source of power to our materialistic wants and needs, correct? Correct. Well, in this case, I imagined myself as a battery whose source relies solely on the power of God. This battery is no Duracell. Nor is it a pink fuzzy bunny. (But the bunny is pretty cute, yeah?) This battery is Christ charged. And for once, you don't have to worry about when this battery will run out and when you'll need to buy a replacement. As a matter of fact, you won't ever have to buy pack after pack of this special type of battery to keep things running. Why? Because YOU are the battery, that's why. There is only ONE of you and ONE incredible God Who created you- with every intention. We are His batteries, and we are called to be His light to the world (Matthew 5:14-16). Many of us grew up with the song, "This Little Light of Mine." This light that has been sung about over and over and over again is the light God once planted in our hearts; His. It's not your own personal spotlight. Unfortunately, many of us need a wake up call for that matter. It's not about us, it's ALL about HIM. It's never been about us and it never will be. Many of us need to stop snapping our fingers and demanding our unnecessary wants. Rather, we need to start shining God's light to the world instead. How do we do this? Well, it takes a lot to say goodbye to selfishness and materialism, or whatever it is that has led us astray and we seem to find ourselves living comfortably in. HOWEVER Once you say hello to a life devoted solely to the One Who provided it to you, your life will flourish and your heart will blossom in ways you could have never imagined. Your beauty will radiate from the inside out. Empty your heart of your desires and ask God to refill it with His love and His desires for you instead. Become Christ charged. Talk about a life worth living! As His battery, the absolute only way you can run out of energy is if you start to lose focus of Him and His desires for you and, as a result, go back to recharging yourself with the wrong things (hanging with the wrong people, pursuing your own selfish desires, living a materialistic life, you and I both know the list goes on). These things can't give you the energy and spiritual nourishment you need to keep shining His light to the world. Of course, these things are appealing to the eye, but dangerous to the soul. You might tell your heart you want it, but your heart doesn't agree with you. Therefore, you go with your head over your heart. These things will make you run down, and run down fast. Not only are you not doing yourself any favors, but your actions might encourage others to live the same sort of lifestyle as well. Love Him. Invite Him in. Embrace His presence. Accept His mercy. Accept His grace. Accept Him as your Father, your Provider, Yahweh, and your Healer. He is all of these and more- to each and every one of us. Actions speak WAY louder than words, my friends. Words are a very wonderful thing, but make sure the words you speak are the words that go hand in hand with your actions. Be wise in your deeds AND wise in your words. I want to encourage you to be Christ charged. Allow His love to radiate over your entire being so that you can shine His light to the world and help the other batteries- your brothers and sisters- out there who are charging themselves with the wrong things. Think of it like this: Your regular, everyday batteries are only temporary. Christ charged batteries, on the other hand, never run out of power. God is eternal. Allow Him to be the Source of your everything. Power this world with a [Christ] charge that it has yet to see, the charge that this world needs. "Let my words be life Let my words be truth I don't wanna say a word Unless it points the world back to You." Join me, will you? In His light and love, Emily Lauren It's exactly 12:30 a.m. and I should be sleeping. But I'm not...because I'm so excited to share with you everything that's been happening as of lately!
Two words: Church camp Two more words: was INCREDIBLE! I honestly don't even know where to start. I haven't been to church camp since my senior year of high school (wow, I feel so old), but boy did this past week bring back some memories! Clear Creek's church camp ranges from 3rd-8th grade and I had 3rd and 4th grade girls. As exhausted as I may be (my body is hurting in places that probably shouldn't be hurting for a 19 [almost 20] year old- ha!), every minute of every day was so worth it. SO worth it. This year's theme was Crossfit.. I'm sure you've heard of the fitness program before. This also served as a fitness program- not physically, but spiritually. And it was incredible. Natalie, one of the women I work for, and I started to brainstorm ideas behind the theme and what it would look like for the kids at the beginning of the summer. We came up with the idea of spiritual exercises and training the kids to be fit to carry their cross. Each day we decided to focus on a different spiritual exercise. Altogether, we focused on Prayer, Scripture, and Service, We designated a time each day for the kids (and coach cabins, aka counselors) to have Solo Time. They were given about 30 minutes to read through a lesson on the spiritual exercise for the day and answer questions to challenge their faith. I was curious to see how well they would pay attention to the lesson since they were off on their own individually. All of my girls stayed in tune with each lesson, answered the questions, and had great answers to our questions for them during our small group time with them. I was so impressed! Listening to our girls willingly pray made my heart melt, too. AH! Words fail to describe the overwhelming amount of joy I'm holding in my heart right now. This summer has helped me discover my passion for writing curriculum, and to see the kids reading, writing, understanding, and talking about what they know and are constantly learning is the most rewarding feeling for me! Why? Because God is alive and at work in their hearts- and they know it! I can't help but fall more and more in love with Him after witnessing such an incredible thing. God is good. God is so good. Another thing that was very rewarding for me was to lead these precious kids in worship and watch, as they closed their eyes with big smiles and open hearts while they sang praises to the Lord. On the last night, parents joined us for a final worship session. It was hard not to feel God's presence in the room that night. So many memories were made, laughs and giggles were exchanged, and relationships were established, between the kids and the adults. Camp was a blast! Here are a few stories worth sharing: My cabin was at the bottom of a hill with a very slow incline. In addition to that, we were one of the only cabins to have a bath house. And with bath houses come spiders- LOTS of them. One morning, one of my girls went to take a shower and laid eyes on literally the biggest spider I've EVER seen. It had a bump on it's back. You know what that means, right? Yeah...it was pregnant....and also going in to labor. Babies started coming out of this icky spider and Rachel, one of the co-counselors, got a Ziploc bag to scoop it up it. The spider had its babies in the bag and one of the girls carried it up to the worship center to show everyone. One of the older girls takes a single look at it and says, "DANG! That's like 19 Kids and Counting or somethin'!" It was hilarious. One of my favorite little boys introduced himself to me as Cluckers on the first day of VBS. Therefore, I called him Cluckers. He decided to call me, "cow," in return during camp and I told him I liked "Mooey" better.. He agreed. The last day of camp, Cluckers walks up to me, gives me a hug, and says, "I sure am going to miss you Mooey." It was so sweet. One of my girls saw my car when I was packing my stuff up and she said, "Wow, Miss Emily! I love your car........can I have it?!" I smiled and said, "For your 16th birthday, absolutely Ellie!" Once dinner arrived that evening, Ellie sat across from me and said, "Now don't think I'm going to forget about my 16th birthday gift Miss Emily! That's a nice ride, and I want it! Can I have your iPhone, too?!" One of the little boys has been determined to get my number since the beginning of summer. One night, he looked at me and said, "You know, Miss Emily, you're leaving soon. I'm going to have to get your number before you do! Just as friends though, I promise!" (Right...) I told him I would come back to visit, but I would not be giving him my number, called him silly, and left it at that.. He scrunched his little nose and said, "I'm going to get it one way or another! You'll see." About 3 minutes later, he let out the longest fart I think I've ever heard, looked at me, and apologized about ten times. Determination at its finest, eh? LOL I could go on and on with the stories and hilarious happenings that happened in 4 days alone. These are just a few off the top of my head. Bottom line is, I LOVE these kids and I LOVE my job. These kids have poured an overwhelming amount of love from their hearts throughout the summer directly into mine. I'm tearing up just writing this because I love them so much. As my internship draws to an end, I'm starting to get emotional. I don't want to leave this church, I don't want to leave this family. I have been so blessed to have such incredible spiritual leaders and mentors this summer. My eyes have been opened to so much more within the field of ministry, and it makes me all the more excited to know that this is the direction in which I'm headed. This job was a dream come true for me, and I wish more than anything it didn't have to end. Excitement is an understatement for the future that God has laid out for me. I'm so happy that He chose me to pursue this path! This week is going to be bittersweet, and I refuse to think about the word goodbye until Thursday arrives. Here is an AWESOME video of the Camp Vesper Point highlights...it's lengthy, but so fun! And there may or may not be a Harlem Shake towards the end ;) Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXxj87tQrLs In His light and love, Emily Lauren A reflection excerpt from Psalm 91 (read that before you read this!) I was reading and reflecting in Psalm 91 yesterday afternoon, along with doodling in my prayer journal, and now I'm bringing it all to my blog. Yippee Ky-yo Ky-yay! I hope this serves as a reminder for you just as strongly as it did for me while I was writing this. Bless you! The psalmist's praise of the Lord's deliverance and protection displays the kind of faith that we should all have; the type of faith that dismisses fear and allows us to rest with the knowledge that we are held safe and secure in the hands of our God. With the materialistic and self-absorbed world we live in today, many find it hard to obtain an unbreakable faith. Some don't even know how to start or where to look. This could be because the strength needed to acquire this faith cannot be found in any earthly thing. It takes spiritual discipline to get started and a heart full of His love to keep going. This indestructible strength can only be found through our relationship with Him. He is the source, and in His perfect timing, He will provide. We tend to forget that our desires are not always going to be His desires. Therefore, when He does not deliver the desires of our heart, we are disappointed and might even question our faith as a result. However, with an unbreakable faith we understand that regardless of our selfishness at times and what goes on in the world around us, nothing can penetrate the shield that God has placed around our spirits. When we trust that we are everlastingly safe and secure because of God's infinite love and His ultimate victory over evil, we can experience a steadfast peace that exceeds our circumstances. We cannot always depend on Him to make things happen the way we want them to. He has placed a calling on each of our individual lives, along with two feet to get started on the path that will ultimately lead us to our eternal Home. Of course, this fallen world is temporary, but while we are here it's our job to start rebuilding the walls with Jesus as its permanent cornerstone. Take refuge beneath His wings, but also place your faith in Him so that you can faithfully spread your wings as well. As nice as it would be to just stand back and watch things fall in to place for us, that's just now how it works…it's not how He works. With an unbreakable faith, we understand that. With an unbreakable faith, our failures won't stop us. With an unbreakable faith, our fears become minimal and our dreams become maximal. Let us train our hearts to love Him through the storm, because He has loved us through it all. Find the strength to take up your shield, to fight the battle, and to defend your faith. Age is no setback for this fight. Always keep your eyes on Him, no matter what. Train yourself to fly with your eyes, ears, and hearts all set on Him. No matter how scary it might be, He will take care of you. He will provide for you. And He will continue to love you all of your days. God is our refuge, our fortress, and our cornerstone. Trust in Him. He will protect us, rescue us, answer us, be with us, deliver us and honor us, satisfy us, and redeem us. Allow Him to be the Author of your life. You are the pen in His hands. He writes it out for you because He is the greatest Author of them all- yours. He is the Creator, and you are no mistake. He loves you. "He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long will I satisfy him and show him my salvation." -Psalm 91:15-16 In His love and light, Emily Lauren "…when we acknowledge God’s supreme role in our life and set our mind on Him, He enables us to be women of hope." ~Elizabeth George
Many women these days like to think of themselves as "hopeless romantics," and we often say something along the lines of "a girl can only dream," right? Right. If we are hopeless romantics, then why do we even dream about a romance? Because we aren't hopeless, we're hopeful- hopeful romantics. That's why. We all have that longing and special hope inside each of our hearts that one day we'll find that special someone who will romantically love and cherish us with all of his heart. That special someone who has been waiting for us just as long as we've been waiting for him. Before I proceed, there's something you need to know. No one, and I mean no one, will ever be able to love and cherish you as much as our Father does. Not now, not ever. He knows what you need, and He will provide it all in His perfect timing. That's one promise I can make to you, because He's already made it- to all of us. We are His treasure, His most prized and precious jewels. He is the One who allows us to realize how valued we are and how valued we should always feel. It's been almost four years since I've been on an actual date. I'm not ashamed of that, nor do I think that anything is wrong with me. Sure, I've struggled with why it's taken so long for someone to come along, but then I take a step back and remind myself of Who is in control and how deeply loved I am by Him. A few summers ago, I made a late night Sonic run with my best friend. We talked about relationships and got caught up in talking about our hopeful futures; getting married, having children, and living next door to each other so we could cook out and our kids could be best friends- haha. In all seriousness, I told her I wasn't wanting to date just to date. I proceeded to talk about everything I knew I didn't deserve after a previous relationship and being thankful that I could now know what to keep an eye out for for my future. Because of the realization I was able to make at that age, I decided to wait. I can remember driving home after our conversation that night and making a promise to myself that I would start to pray for that special someone. I've prayed for him almost every night now. That Sonic run was nearly three years ago now. So what exactly have I been praying for? Well, I've been praying for the man I deserve and long to be with, and the man that deserves and longs to be with me. The person whose heart belongs with mine. The type of man who makes it known that his love for our God will always be stronger than his love for me. The type of man who knows that my love for him will always be less than my love for my King. A man who can lead me closer and closer to the Kingdom, with God's hand in one of my own and his in the other. Always know Who your heart belongs to ladies. Your heart belongs to the King. You should always wear His name stitched across your heart. Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you in return. Know this. Your love for Christ should radiate off your entire being, so bright that people can see you coming from miles away! He is our first love. The type of man I long to be with is the type of man who sees me for my heart and the love that fills it, and falls in love with me for that very reason. The type of man I long to be with is the type of man who knows that the Lord is the joy of my joy, and vice versa. And as I await his arrival, I will continue to pray for him. And when/if he arrives, I will still pray for him. And I encourage you to do the very same- to be a hopeful romantic. . Max Lucado words it well; "A woman's heart should be so hidden in Christ that a man should have to seek Him first to find her." He should always seek the Lord in order to find you. The ONLY type of beauty that should define you is the beauty of your own heart. Your outside appearance is minimal compared to this! Any guy whose heart is full of the right and Godly things knows this. And as women after God's own heart, many of us have come to know the same. "You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you." (-Song of Solomon 4:7, NIV) Don't let Satan tell you otherwise. "I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." -Psalm 91:2, NIV Run to Him. He is waiting for you with open arms. Fall in love with your God. His embrace is the warmest and safest embrace you could ever immerse yourself in. I promise. And once again, so does He. Ladies, do not EVER accept anything less than what you deserve. You deserve the world- nothing less, and EVERYTHING more. Pray for the one you long for. God has prepared something great for each and every one of us. With that being said, never forget that His love is the only love we need. When we realize this, our hearts will receive an overwhelming sense of peace and an even stronger hope for our future. Let us romanticize Him with a burning passion that we can only experience through a relationship with Him. If I could choose one take away from this post I would like for you to have, it is this: God knows you better than you know yourself. For crying out loud, He molded you!! And regardless of your desires, His desires will always take place in your life. He knows what's best for you. Open up your heart and let His love in! Let Him love you. And love Him right back. God is your King, and Jesus is your prince. Wait for him, ladies. The wait will be worth it, God will make sure of that. I only want what He has laid out for me. For that reason and that reason alone, I'll wait for however long it takes. Won't you? He is my forever love, and I invite you to accept Him as yours, too! "Even a beautiful God-scripted love story can never satisfy the way Jesus does. Even the most heroic and Christlike man on earth can never fulfill the longings of our heart like the true Prince and lover of our soul (Jesus Christ). And until we are able to truly make Him our first love, until we are willing to give up our dream of an earthly love story for His sake, we will never know the fullness of Him who fills us all in all. We will always be looking to a mere man to meet the desires of our heart, rather than to the One who created us, who knows us better than we know ourselves, and who gave His very life's blood to rescue us." ~Leslie Ludy Blessings, Emily Lauren I know, I know. It's Monday and I'm blogging about my weekend....but hey! I'm here now, and I am here to share the Good News. :)
Last week was a rough one for me. You see, I am living and interning with a children's ministry here at a church in Hixson, TN. I am not originally from here, so I am living with a host family and pretty much am on my own. The first week flew by! I love my job, the people I work with, and the family I am living with. I was greeted with a nice, warm smile just like everyone else, even people who had been coming for 20+ years. I have been welcomed with warm arms since day one, before anyone in the church even knew that I was the intern for the summer. The environment here is genuine, warm, and full of love- LOTS of love. God's presence is not only known, but fully embraced at this church! On top of that, Hixson is right outside of Chattanooga.. If you've been to Chattanooga before, you know that it is a beautiful place to get in a wonderful and breathtaking hike- literally breathtaking, ha!.. It's an incredible feeling to be surrounded by mountains on each side of you.. The air here even smells good; so fresh, so green, so heavenly. And even though I am having the absolute time of my life, I'm homesick. Two hours away and I'm homesick. And I started to really think about how much I miss my family., especially my brother- my twin brother, my best friend. And in the midst of missing everyone, this weekend truly made me realize the other family that I am starting to become a part of. I was placed in the care of two of the absolute sweetest people I've ever known- the Marlowe family.. I feel so blessed to know them and am thankful that God placed me in their atmosphere. They are so uplifting and encouraging and always remind me that I am loved. Saturday was the best part of my weekend. I took part in a nonprofit organization called Feed My Starving Children by packing meals with 200+ people for the afternoon with the Marlowe's and the church I am working at. Get this: Each box held 36 meals and in two hours, we were able to package 267 boxes. That's enough food to feed 167 children for an entire YEAR. What's even better is how many genuine smiles I saw on the faces of strangers who were gathered in that room for the same exact reason I was; to serve. Even 4 year olds were in there doing what they could with the biggest smile on their faces. How encouraging is that?! They were watering their own spiritual roots and they didn't even know it. I could feel the true meaning of community lingering within the room. Intentional community. And that, my friends, is a very beautiful thing. Two hours out of my day Two hours out of their day Two hours And we fed 167 children for a year That's 365 days straight I didn't feel so homesick anymore after that. There are kids in the world who are out there on their own, maybe even raising their siblings- being their own parent. I can't imagine.. There is so much heartbreak in the world, and to have been able to participate in something that will keep hearts beating longer brings endless amounts of joy to my heart. Wherever God needs me to be is wherever I'll consider my home. He blessed us with one of the most beautiful, yet most devastating worlds we could ever possibly live in. But we're here. And while we're here we should not only make ourselves at home, but we should make ourselves at home by serving others. JOY Jesus first Others second Yourself last He is truly the joy of my joy! "You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." -Psalm 16:11 Until next time. because of Jesus, Emily Lauren **If you're interested in seeing what Feed My Starving Children is all about, check them out at http://www.fmsc.org. We are called to serve, and this is one golden opportunity to do so with family, friends, and that beautiful servant heart of yours. No worries, I won't be writing this post in another language or anything! Boker Tov means "Good morning" in Hebrew. I thought it might catch your eye since it caught mine, so there you have it my friends.
Good morning. The plan this morning was for me to get up and go for a run. Did that happen? No...because it's raining! So instead, I'm staring at my computer screen with some fruit medley oatmeal and a nice cup of joe. I pulled the bowl of hot water for my oatmeal out of the microwave this morning and spilt it all over my left leg. It burns! Once I woke up and realized it was raining, I went to lay back in my bed to decide what I wanted to do. Rainy days are the "lazy" days around here, and maybe for you, too. I can never find motivation to do anything besides read a nice book and drink coffee or stay in bed all day watching Netflix. I was really bummed that I didn't get to run because I really need to. Running is my top form of releasing stress and refilling myself with peace. I absolutely love running down a road surrounded by the smell of all the greenness and pretty flowers that surround me on both sides. There is a special type of run that I go on at the most random times, though. These are called my spiritual runs. If I'm stressed, feeling empty, emotional, or anything that has to do with me just not being myself, I go on these runs. I don't plan these runs, they are a spur of the moment ordeal. Even if I'm working on homework, having a conversation with someone, whatever it is, I will get this kick inside of me from out of the blue that tells me it's time to run. Now. That's when I drop what I'm doing, toss some shorts and a tee on, lace my shoes up and fly out the door. I have a playlist of all my favorite Christian songs that I run to on these runs. During these runs, I count my blessings, thank God for many things, and especially admire His creation. This brings me such peace and I walk in the door feeling renewed afterwards. These runs are when I have my best running times, too. Something inside of me makes me run faster, and I do. something inside of me won't let me stop, so I don't. Talk about a runner's high- this is mine! And I encourage you to try it and see what you think! I went one night over my Christmas break and just so happened to look at the sky at the most perfect time and guess what I saw? A shooting star. Nashville's sky was planted with stars that night so there is no way you could have seen it unless you were looking at that very small ounce of the sky for that one second to watch it disappear back into darkness. I like to call it my special shooting star, because it was. Maybe it was yours, too. I'm willing to share :) Well, you see, this morning I was going to go for a spiritual run. Considering I don't have a rain jacket, however, that couldn't really happen without me getting sick. I might have chanced it, but I also woke up with a sore throat this morning. Naturally, I complained and went to lay back in bed. The very second I laid back down, the thought of "peace" was planted on my mind. And you know what I realized? Peace can be obtained from so many other things- not. just. running! This is an obvious thing I know, but when I get set on something it's all my mind thinks about. But right now, as I type this, other ways of obtaining peace are starting to cross my mind.. God kept me inside today for a reason. Today I will be still. And I will listen to what He has to say. I am going to plant myself in scripture this afternoon and dig deep. I don't know what book I'll be reading in, so let's just say whatever I open up to is where I'll begin. With that being said, Shalom! (that means peace in Hebrew), Emily Lauren |
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