I'll show you what Love sees

"Looking for a color in a shade of gray
Looking for love in a drop of rain
Trying to find change from the old mundane
Everything I do just feels the same
Spending my life out in the desert
Been gone so long feels like forever..."
-Shawn McDonald


I've realized that I like to make people happy.
I really don't like it when people are sad, upset, disappointed, feeling rejected, lost, or alone.


People tell me their stories and I listen.
My heart breaks just as God's heart does when I hear about the pain and heartache people are going through.


No self-esteem, feeling left out, feeling alone in the world, feeling forgotten, breaking under the pressure of life.


All of these things point me straight to the Healer of it all who wants to take all of your broken pieces and make them right.
Jesus wants for you to trust Him.
He wants for you to begin seeing yourself as the Maker sees you, treasured and beautiful.


This has been a struggle of mine for the past few years as self-esteem almost seemed to take over my belief in myself.  Only when I began to see that having God as the foundation of my life was the answer did these issues begin to heal.  I could see that God desired so much more for my life and that I couldn't continue living in a never-ending cycle like I had for so long.


I could now see that God didn't desire a life surrounded and enclosed by lies that limits your potential and who God made you to be.
God wants for us to lead a life of reckless love where the limits exceed our mind's capabilities and His love strengthens us to be people of God.


God is always with us. His presence is inside of you and I and there are people all around you who need to feel God's love. This life is about being an extension of Christ to your friends, to strangers, to classmates, and to anybody else who tugs on your heart and captures your attention as needing love.  It isn't about fitting in and assimilating to the crowd, but standing up for Christ and striving every day to be more like Him.


"Tell me your story, show me your wounds, And I'll show you what Love sees when Love looks at you..."-Mac Powell (When Love Sees You)


Let us be people who take on the eyes of God and reach into the suffering to reveal Christ.  We all too often forget that we are God's avenue for others to see a glimpse of Christ and His grace.  May we open our eyes and take that step forward towards those silently crying for saving grace and show them Jesus the ultimate Healer and Savior. In Your name, Amen.

May we find peace and light in darkness.

"And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful." -Colossians 3:15


A few days ago on Hope's campus, a terrible tragedy happened.
At about 8:48 pm the life of a freshman boy was cut short when he was hit by a freight train in an accident on the tracks.


How do you even respond when something this terrible happens?


People were in shock, people were mad, people were mourning.


We turned to God in prayer and lifted up this loss to Him, but that didn't heal the confusion that swirled in all of our minds as we tried to make sense of what had just happened on our campus.


That night, people were waiting as events continued to unfold.  They hadn't identified who it had been and many thought it was a non-Hope student but as the night went on, it became clear it was a male and then later a Hope student and finally a freshman.


As I talked on the phone to my mom earlier on in the night she told me to account for all of my guy friends on campus, something that hadn't even crossed my mind.  As I started to do this, my phone stopped functioning and I was left without one and so I went to the worship night for our dorm where everybody raised their voices to Christ and prayed for the accident and other areas of hurt in our lives .


Later, two of our guy friends came to our cluster to let us know they were ok.
One of my friends came to me and a few of my other friends to say how much we meant to them.  This struck me so deeply and made me realize how much I cared for the people I had met on this campus and developed relationships with.  It also made me realize that I didn't tell people nearly enough how much I cared, friends and family included. 


As I sat down to write this letter to God and to the people who have added so much richness to my life, I realized something.  


It didn't matter that I didn't know J.P. Boerigter.  It didn't make it any less painful for those who did know and love him.
He was someone's friend, someone's son, someone's cousin, someone's classmate, someone's roommate.
He was a part of so many different peoples' lives and then one day, he was gone and never came back.  This could have easily been a friend of mine and that makes it all the more real to me.


The story of his life is closed now but the impact he had will live on in the lives of those he touched.  
His story is a reminder that every day must be seen as a precious gift from Jesus to simply live out the love in our hearts every single day to everyone around us.

"Lord,

You have blessed me with so many countless blessings in this life and what I count most special is the relationship I have with You and those You have placed in my life to walk alongside me through the joy and the pain.  

I'm writing to this as a sign of appreciation to the beautiful and amazing friends that God has given me and the life I have led up until this point.  Some of you I have known since I was four, some I met in middle school, in the turbulent years of high school where all we wanted to do was get out and yet we made it out *Maryam* , and some just this year.  You have all seen me through the highs, the lows, the in betweens and just some of those days when we laugh until we cry *Nikkie* /dance like no one is watching..*Janel* ...truly :)

You have all shown me love.  

Shown me encouragement.

Inspired me to be a better person.

Pushed me to challenge myself in faith and in this life.

All of you mean more to me than you will ever know and I have been blessed beyond measure to know each one of you.  This is a letter of thanks to each of you who have changed my life.  I will be here for all of you through it all and you matter to me.  Thank you for being so wonderful to me even when I feel I don't deserve it.  Take time to remember those who have changed your life and personally thank them.

To the amazing friends I have at Hope-You have no idea how lucky I am to have met you.

To my friends back home-you have seen me through some darkness, some light and everything else in between.

To my family-you listen to me talk about certain things all too often.. *mom* an you love me through the ugly stuff as well as everything else. I am grateful.

"I want to leave a legacy
How will they remember me?
Did I choose to love? Did I point to You enough
To make a mark on things?
I want to leave an offering
A child of mercy and grace who
blessed your name unapologetically
And leave that kind of legacy.."

This is the day when you can decide.

You can look through God's eyes to see those around you who are struggling.

You can decide to stop living for yourself and for your own desires. 

You can start living the urgent life for Christ we are called to where the clock will one day stop.

You can love recklessly for the God who wants every piece of who you are.

We can choose to be thankful for the gift that this life is for every one of us.  

As long as your heart beats, then the door is still being held open for you to walk through into the type of life Jesus beckons us towards here on this Earth.  

Living, loving, breathing in honor of Jesus.

Rest in peace J.P. Boerigter

Your spirit will forever live in our hearts.  May Jesus carry you the place He has prepared for us. You blessed this campus with your presence and though I didn't know you, you will be missed dearly.  

"..I will trust in You, even in the moments I can’t find you, and I will hold on to Your promises of love You’ve never failed before I know You can hear me When the silence is deafening Even though You seem far away And I know You’re here with me But I just need faith to see Nothing can separate me from Your love..."-Meredith Andrews

May Your peace rule in our hearts overwhelming our darkness and suffering that we carry.

May we have thankful hearts for the beautiful gifts that fill our lives with family, friends, and fellowship.

May we learn to live in the truth that our days are numbered and may that impact the way we love and live the rest of our lives. 

In Your name, Amen.

Dreams: The Death of Me

"..And I know this dream I'm chasing could very well be the death of me.." -Ben Rector

Today I chose to listen to a song by Ben Rector...not super surprising because I'm in love with all of his love songs :). His words meant for the love of another person actually made me think of something completely different.

Dreams.

Not the cheap dreams of this world like fame and fortune...but God-given dreams.
Making a difference in this world.
Bringing restoration and healing to fallen people.
Breathing truth into the lies people unknowingly follow and seek.
Inspiring others to press on when their back breaks from the strain of this life.

Dreams for others to wake up from their deep slumber and see Jesus Christ, the everlasting King who loves this world with a fire that can never be put out and the Kingdom that will stand when this world crumbles and falls to their knees in awe.

Having God be the center of your life means having who you are now fall away and letting Jesus shine.  Letting the person you are be stripped away as Christ breaks through your cracks, your flaws, your insecurities, your shortcomings, your mistakes.

We are flawed people. I am a flawed person.
At least 50 times a day or more I make skewed choices, miss opportunities to live out Christ's love, and I get bogged down by the day to day monotony.

Today, in chapel we heard a message on Christ residing inside of us.
Not metaphorically having Him inside of us...but literally :).

Friends, Jesus is inside of every one of us. Every single day we walk this Earth we have the opportunity to chase after Christ with everything inside of us and yet we hesitate. Why do I all too often fall into this category?

Jesus has given me dreams.  Many of them.
I want to touch other people's lives, bring them closer to God, show them Christ.
I have the chance to do this in the everyday encounters of this life.  Calling a friend to encourage them, giving someone a needed hug, starting a conversation to inspire another, volunteering for others who are need of a mentor and leader.

Living solely for God means fighting the selfish identity we cling to and looking to Jesus as our inspiration, our joy, our passion, the source of our dreams.
This life can be a race and remembering who you run for may be the only solution to living out the passionate life Jesus wants for us to live.

It's time to be dreamers.
To pray relentlessly and let the fire of Christ burn away the old you to make way for you to be the person God whispers into your dreams.

I certainly believe in every single one of you to be the people who change this world and push away the old to make way for the new.
Jesus certainly believes in you too, His most beloved creation.
So dream. Dream big and know Love is behind you every step of the way.

In Your name, we could change the world

"God's kingdom shall never be shaken, be grateful for God is an all consuming fire."-Hebrews 12:28

A story I had to read for my FYS says this:

"Mark Twain told the story of a man who searched his whole life for the world's greatest general. When the man died, he arrived in heaven and walked up to St. Peter and said, "I'm looking for the world's greatest general."

St. Peter replied, "I know. We've been expecting you, and I have good news. If you will look right over there, you will see the world's greatest general."

The older man excitedly looked over and said, "That's not the world's greatest general. That man was a cobbler on Main Street in my home town." St. Peter responded, "But had he been a general, he would have been the greatest general ever."

This story is not meant to demean cobblers at all. The work of a cobbler is meaningful and requires very special talents. But the story does raise some fundamental questions: Did the cobbler know what he had the potential to do? Did he know that he had the talent to be the world's greatest general? Did anyone try to convince him that he could be destined for greatness?

Twain's tale points to a painful truth that's echoed in the words of Oliver Wendell Holmes: "Most people go to their graves with their mu sic still inside them." There are plenty of perfectly good cobblers out there who could have been great generals, given the opportunity or en couragement. Maybe, given the choice, they would still have chosen to be cobblers. But they also could have pursued completely different, per haps historic, careers.

Give this tale some thought when planning your own career. We want the music that is inside you to be heard!"

...What a scary thought!!

My FYS teacher had us read this story for class and the idea of it struck me full force.


What if I go to the grave not living up to who I could be and who God has created me to be?  What if I miss a chance to impact and touch other peoples' lives because I can't muster the courage to follow Jesus fully with my life?


More importantly, why do we underestimate ourselves?


Do we think we're too weak, not smart enough, not influential enough, not faithful enough?


For my english class, we've been assigned something that will call people to action.
This class required us to go out into the community and find a non-profit to donate our time to and through this, gain insight into a relevant issue.  I knew that I wanted to work with younger kids and I ended up choosing the Rock ministries to do tutoring for middle schoolers.


The second part of our assignment was to brainstorm a list of things that the kids at this ministry would need.  In my head, I for some reason underestimated the number of needs.


We ended up brainstorming around 50 different things that the ministry was in need of and it really hit me.


If I went about this assignment the right way and wrote an effective letter to send out into the community, then I could help these kids get the resources they need to improve in school and to make them feel valued.  


Driving home from this meeting, I realized that we really do underestimate ourselves.  
We doubt that the undeniable power of Christ is strong enough to move through our veins and out of our hearts into this world.  


Here is the reality:
This world is crying out for people who have the courage to take a step in the direction of change.  It is crying out for leaders to emerge out of the cloud of fear hanging over our heads.  It is pulling us to give of ourselves as Christ did with an outpouring of love as our lives becoming living sacrifices to God.  He is calling us to walk in love for His name to be known.


Ephesians 5:2 says, "...and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us..."


This life is not about us.  It is FAR from about us.  
It is about Jesus and how we can serve the world more fully in His name.  It is about running and not stopping until people know who God is.  It is laying down your own agenda and seeking God daily to transform your heart to be in likeness to the beautiful Author who created you for a purpose.
Stop restraining your God-given potential because if You let Him, His fire will spread like wildfire into this world and we may begin to see a world the way it was intended to be, reflecting Love himself.


"We stand in Your love, in Your power and all You say we are. Jesus, in Your name we could change the world.."-Matt Redman


God, the only way to live up to who we are called to be is to seek Your beauty.  You are the only thing in this world worth following, the truest of all.  I pray you would push us to expand our bounds and to love abundantly with what we are doing daily for Jesus.  


God, I know through Your grace, we could touch this world beyond measure and show those around us the reason we have been placed here.


We could change the world.  But only if we let Him change us first.

Treasure or a prize

Up on the wall outside of my dorm, there is a thing about Hope's famous "October Rule".
It is an advisement to not date anybody to at least October 1st.


The entire map goes over the different things which you want for a guy to either do/say/have as a quality.  (It was basically like a quiz you would take in Seventeen to figure out if it was the right guy for you...but a bit different)


One of the last things that caught my attention was the question that says:


"Does he consider you his treasure or his prize?"


What a great question because this alone could determine a lot of things about a guy.


Thinking more about this, I began to wonder if some girls choose to overlook the fact that it goes both ways...
It's easy to point the finger at guys, call them only out for "one thing" and then cast a wide net over the whole bunch saying so many of them treat girls as objects and something to be won.


But I am choosing to turn the tables.
How many girls are treating guys, also human beings, like something to be won? Like they were an object that can bring them instant happiness and joy.


"The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”-1 Samuel 16:7


Next time you're tempted to judge a guy based solely on outward appearance, remember how God calls us to see those around us.  Girls, if we desire for guys to see us beyond surface beauty, into our character and heart for God, then we need to change our thinking.  If we want guys to see us for who we are, we have to do the same in return for them.  Men are not objects to be won and lately, I have noticed it seems people are treating them that way.


The end of this October map says something true for every one of us:
 "You are a treasure in the eyes of the Lord."


This statement rings true across the board, not only for girls but for guys as well.  Treat the people around you with respect and look on them as children of God and not a goal or conquest.  


Then...maybe... you might find yourself a keeper and a real Christ-centered relationship worth pursuing :)

A privilege

"I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service...'' -1 Timothy 1:12

Today in English class, we had two guest speakers come in to wrap up the book my English had just finished reading called "Mountains Beyond Mountains" about a man named Paul Farmer who continues to change the lives of millions with his visionary ways.

These two speakers had attended Hope college with a potential focus on missionary work, met each other, fell in love and so began the story of their lives with Jesus at the center.

A simple school teacher and a surgeon led lives of faith in action across the world in a variety of third world countries for over 40 years.

Sacrifice was a topic that came up throughout the discussion and his responses were always simply put.
Him and his wife did not sacrifice anything in their lives that they didn't feel was necessary to have.

Giving up the luxuries of living in America making the 'big bucks' as a surgeon wasn't really a consideration for this man.  Using his skills and talents to change and heal the needs of those who were broken stood as a first priority in front of leading a comfortable life with all of the things that Americans convince themselves we "need".  

Pointing to the ways and values of our self-obsessed, materialistic culture he asked us, "What here will be important to you in five or ten years?"

The answer to this is nothing.  Not the clothes we wear, the new TV we bought, the brand of food we buy, the makeup we use, the trends we keep up with, the shows we watch, the media hookups/breakups/divorces/flings...

None of it will matter standing at the end of your life as you look back over your shoulder at the past and the life you led in the rear-view....

The end to their talk?

"We received far more in return than we ever gave away..."

The lives these two Christ followers led inspires me.

A life devoted to genuinely serving the needs of others while administering the love of Christ is something I aspire to lead one day in some way.

My question is this:

Why do we keep turning the spotlight back onto ourselves when God is the center of our stories and we are merely pulling the behind the scenes work for His glory?  

The world has enough self-centered and self-serving people in this world without you and me following suit to jump off the same bridge as so many others.

Three things this world needs more than ever are abundant love, passion and devotion.  Nothing in this world will ever change unless people start living...

A verse that was highlighted was 1 Timothy 1:12 of living like the true privilege it truly to know Christ and to have Him desire our services.  

To have Him deem us worthy to be His hands and feet. 

.
As 1 Timothy 1:12 says, "..he has judged me faithful, appointing me to his service..."
We are worthy because God tells us we are.  In our brokenness, He is made strong.  In our brokenness, He still desires to use our lives to tell His story and for us to influence those around us to see His beautiful face.

What a privilege.
To have the darkness lifted off of a life of selfish ambition to find the true Light.
To serve something far beyond yourself by spreading the fire of Christ's love.
To have our lives revolve around the love that holds us together.
To have Jesus be the main character in our lives.
To know and to serve Him with every piece of our broken spirits and to have Him accept us with open arms.

Lord, thank you for deeming us worthy of spreading Your love in our hearts to others.  It is an honor to live a life honoring You in everything that I do and will do with the rest of my life.  I have no idea where I would be wandering in the darkness without Your truth to awaken my heart.  You have appointed me into your service and I pray every Christ follower will remember the magnitude of that statement.  Knowing You means understanding the grand magnitude of who You and the power You carry to change a broken world.  Help us to see we are Yours to use every day we breathe. In Jesus' name, Amen.




"...You’re all that satisfies, to know You is to want to know You more, to know You is to want to know You more..." 
-Casting Crowns

Talk is cheap

"It's not enough to just say I believe, 
because truth is that { talk is cheap } 
so grace give me eyes to see..."


Do you ever think about how easy it is to say something...but then not follow through?


So many people claim to be true, authentic Christians.
Saying all the right things, wearing the 'right clothes', posting the right Facebook praise statuses, going to the best Christian school....


I myself am guilty of this at times but I often wonder...


What is it really about?
Do the words and things we say we believe mean anything if not backed up by action?


Aren't God's children supposed to be a people of action, 
a people of compassion,
a people of forgiveness,
a people inspired by the greatest Love this world has ever seen.


If there are as many Christians in this world as the statistics claim (2.1 billion!!!!) then where have we gone wrong?  
Are we letting ourselves off the hook and saving God's work for us for a rainy day?  


Every day we pass up opportunities to further God's beauty in this world because we're too busy furthering our own agenda.
We can say all the right things every single day, but without deeds our faith is dead, stagnant, and comfortable.


He loves us too much for us to miss these chances,
miss the transformation in our lives awaiting us if we take the step for Him.
Take a moment to remember why we're here and let that guide your actions today.  There isn't enough time in this life for us to waste  it or to leave this world with regrets.


"I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way He loves us..."

What have you got to lose?

Life. Death. Days. Minutes. Hours. Judgment. Schedules. Rejection.

What is standing in our way from living?  

From sharing Christ with every single person we meet in some way...

Random acts of kindness. 

Friendship. 

Encouragement for people we know. 

Compassion for those who have been shattered.

Radical love for the poor.

Appreciation for your parents.

Gratefulness for an education.

Happiness simply to be alive.

Talking with one of my best friends a few days ago, we discussed a certain situation I have in my life that I was unsure how to act on.  Responding to my fears, she quoted a Facebook status I had put up that day that read, “What have you got to lose, think of all you have to gain” from a Third Day song I loved. Immediately, I started laughing.  Mostly because it was ironic...but then I started thinking..

You see, I have this bad habit of giving out advice that I know in my heart is truthful, but then when it down to myself I cannot accept it all the time.  I mean it makes perfect sense, right?  I think ‘God has a story written in every one of our hearts and has given us a hopeful future…but that excludes me’

WHY am I so doubtful?

God, You consistently appear in the workings of my life and I have felt you. 

I can see Your beauty in the leaves,

in the stillness, in the conversations I have with others about You and Your love.

The passion I have for You can nearly break my heart because I want to grow deeper with You.

How can I let my heart lead my faith in You when every breath I take in this world is numbered?

What have we got to lose God?

Our image?

Aren’t we called to live for the glory of Your name alone?

Matthew 16:25

“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Jesus, Your truth is the only one I desire in this life. 

Like the seasons that move this life forward and changes the colors of the leaves,

I will live and die.

I have nothing to lose in this life because this is all I have that you have given me.

It’s time to start giving.

Giving our heart and soul every day that our hearts still beat for You.

Searching for Your truth to invade the darkest crevices of our hearts.

Battling against the ways of this world for Yours to be made known.

Pushing for Jesus to renew the hope we had at the beginning.

Resting in the stillness of Your creation every single day.

To love so deeply, so richly that we need Your heart to support us.

Lord, You have my attention and my prayer is that You would get the attention of those You gaze upon and chase every day.  Every breath is a second chance for a new beginning.

“I have chances everyday to live like You, die to myself, and give myself away…” –“While We Sing” Leeland

Give me the courage to take those open doors and free chances you give me and to ignore the risks or sacrifices it would take to complete the work.  Jesus, I want to find You, I want to know You and I want to show others who You are.

When we choose to live a reflection of the life You led, we fade away and Your beautiful mercy and compassion is put on a stand for others to see and understand.  We are living extensions of Jesus Christ and it’s time to start loving like this world has never seen before.

                                                   What have you got to lose?

                                                                    This life?

                                       Losing it for His sake is the only way to find it.

The Story of Your life

Do you ever wonder how your life is going to turn out?
Do you ever wonder what or who God will put in your path?
Do you ever intentionally think of things God wants to do with your life today?


"When I stand before God's throne, nothing hidden, nothing unknown. Dead to my body, my old life he took, God will hold my life in His book. When I will remember with trembling every single moment, every memory..."-Leeland


A song by Leeland really caused me to think about what I am intentionally doing on a daily basis to enrich my story... 
To enrich the life God has given me
To make Him known to those around me
To encourage those around me to deepen their love for God
To push others to question what this life is meant for and what you're doing to be an extension of Jesus.
To think of what I will have to offer to God when the story of my life has come to a close.




A reoccurring theme these days has been thinking about the day when I will come face to face with God.


I will have to look Jesus Christ straight in the face and testify to the life I led here on this Earth.
I will have to justify the amount of love I gave in His honor, 
the questions I ponder stretching my limits,
the words of Christ I spoke into the hearts of God's children,
the kind of person I was in my friendships, with my family, to every single stranger I passed by...


It's time for us to stop living like tomorrow is guaranteed, that God will always give us a new tomorrow with a second chance, because that is simply not the truth we are called to live.


Isaiah 57:2 says, "Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death."


Jesus Christ, the everlasting Light in this world, is the driving force that stretches our love to fill this world and to fulfill our lives.  Walking uprightly is the mission we are called to and what will fill the stories of every true believer in Christ.  Death is not something to fear because leading a life on this Earth is the mere journey to the real life awaiting us beyond the grave.


Our days are numbered here.
We must regain that sense of urgency to spread the Love of Christ every single day of this life God gives us.  We must remember the real reason we breathe, the reason we sing, the reason we continue on this journey.
At the throne of God, our story will be recounted.  Through the joy and the pain, I want to say that my passion, my desire, my love relied solely on Jesus Christ,
that my life was a reflection of Christ living inside of me.
I want it to sing of the salvation that I have been granted not by my own human strength, but by the greatest  power of Love and Mercy that brought me from a life of painful darkness and into the brightest light that heals my brokenness and leads me on.  


"You make known to me the path of life; 
in your presence there is fullness of joy; 
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." -Psalm 16:11

"Who am I and where am I going? 

What kind of fruit are my actions growing? 

He'll be staring at the pages of my life. 

Is my passion just to know You, am I living this life to show You? 

You are staring at the pages of my life.."-Leeland

God, you are the author of this life, yet sometimes we selfishly grab for ownership of being the ultimate author.  We scratch our dreams into the sand and watch as the storms wash them away.  You write the truth into our hearts, put the light in front of our eyes, show us how to live by faith.  At the end of this life, I pray to have pointed to God's heart instead of my own, I pray to be a living extension of Christ. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Raised.

"The tension is here between who you are and who you could be, between how it is and how it should be..."-Switchfoot

On the day of my baptism, it was a very stormy day.

Waves crashing all around me and the wind whipping at my face I felt Him.

Looking around, I knew that I would never forget that day because on that day, I dedicated my life to being a kingdom bringer, a Christ follower, someone surrendered to God.

Since that day just over a year ago, God has taken my seeking heart and led me away from things I used to pursue but He has also reminded me that every day is a struggle between our own desires and His.

"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on Earth.  For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is your life appears then you will also appear with Him in glory." -Colossians 3:1-4

The thing is that we have been raised.  God raises our lives to a higher standard above that of this world's.

Carrying us away from a life of hurt and self-destruction that our foolish hearts can lead us to...

Away from drinking, partying, empty love, and our own selfish pursuits and into a life worth living.

Don't you think God deserves your best?  The dedication to live a life following in His love with every step we take.

He raises us to sing beneath the shadows of His wings, lifted up above the masses.

Every single thing you do in this life is written inside the definition of who you are in Christ. He loves us no matter what we choose to do, but why should we choose to stray?

God loves every piece of who we are and grants us access to a love beyond anything we deserve, raising us to persevere through the rain and storms this world batters our hearts with.

If you have dedicated your life to Christ, what is stopping you from living like it were true?

If Christ resides in your heart,

 allow Him to direct your steps, 

allow Him to raise you above the worldly standards restricting our dreams and hopes for this life.  

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” -Isaiah 30:21