New Profile & Reader Appreciation

Since the "About Me" section of my profile (see sidebar) still included the words "newly-wed", "newly-graduated", and "newly-employed", I figured I should update it a little bit. Gosh, time sure does fly by! I've already been married, graduated, and employed for over 2 years! I'm officially grown up!

A big thanks to all of you who read my blog!!! I appreciate every reader, especially since I'm pretty sure I can count you on my fingers! I'd like to know who reads this, so whether you're a faithful reader or just someone who pops by every once in awhile, leave me a comment letting me know (1) who you are and (2) what types of posts you like hearing most from me!

Lessons on Joy

As a kid and teenager, when people had to use one word to describe me, it was joyful. I was truly happy most of the time - and always had a smile on my face. It wasn't hard for me. There was so much in the world to enjoy and experience. And finding joy in all of that was something that came easily to me. What a blessing from God!

And as I've gotten older and things in my life have gotten harder, the enemy has somehow taken hold of the one thing I always assumed would be in my life - joy. And I have let him.

And the funny thing is, God is teaching me about joy right now. He is teaching me about something I never thought I'd have to learn about since it always came so naturally to me. How naive was I to think that I had joy down? That I could check that off my list because I was a pro at joy? Ha!

The older and more experienced I get, the more I realize that there is always more to learn. God is HUGE, and I'm a fool to think that I could learn everything there is to know about even just one aspect of Him. He is way bigger than that. And so I have to accept that I will never understand everything. And as the circumstances in my life change, I will have more and more opportunities to learn how to be more like Him. While it's hard to accept, it's also saying a great deal about who my God is.

So here I am, learning about joy. And the one huge thing that God has been trying to get through to me is: I am called to be joyful, but I can't produce joy myself. Only He can give joy. It is absolutely a gift. The enemy will always try to take that from me - to keep me from bringing glory to God - so I will always have to fight for it. I am called to fight for it. And fight, I will.

John Piper explains it much better: "We must delight in God. And only God can change our hearts so that we delight in God. We are thrown back on God utterly. The Christian life is all of grace. 'From him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever' (Rom. 11:36)."

Girl Sings Opera

Check out this amazing 10-year old opera singer from America's Got Talent... Brad kept saying, "She's not really singing... it's a hoax... the woman who is really singing needs to show her face!"

This girl's got some talent! Here's Jackie Evancho:

Good-O-Meter

Thank God for grace! I would fail miserably if not for the One who stands in my place!


"For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant." -Hebrews 9:15


"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved." -Ephesians 2:4-5

Here's to Freedom.

What is this monotony? This going-through-the-motions every day without feeling anything? This unfulfilling, unsatisfying life that I have allowed myself to fall into? I know there is more to life than this.

I. feel. stuck.

-stuck in my daily routine. Get up, get dressed, drive to work, sit at work all day waiting for the "freedom" to go home, drive home, eat dinner, watch tv, maybe exercise, go to bed, do it all again. What is the purpose of this?
-stuck in this apartment. Even on the weekends when I am "free" to do whatever I want, I feel trapped in the walls of our apartment. And I have a feeling I wouldn't feel any less trapped in something bigger. It's not the size. It's the stuff. It's the familiarity. It's the isolation from the world.
-stuck at my job. It's not exciting most days. I really love what I do, but most days I'm not happy. It's my attitude. It's the environment telling me the way I need to act and feel and be.
-stuck in my neverending to-do lists. There is always a list - or two or three - going of the things I need to do. Or that I want to do. They are always going in my head. Sometimes I can write them down and cross things off of them, but most of the time they just get longer and longer, hanging over my head and trapping me in stress.
-stuck in my own expectations. The need to be great. To do great. To be my best. I have this idea of how my life should be and the goals and dreams that I have for myself. And they just mock me everytime I don't live up to them or take a step toward them.
-stuck in others expectations. Of how I should look. Of how I should dress. Of how much I should exercise. Of how I should spend my time. Of how I should spend my money. Of how much money I should make. Of what my home should look like. Of what kind of car I should drive. Of what I should like. Of what I should sound like. AHHHH!

I am a slave to this world. 

I am a slave to others. To my unnecessary expectations. To my "should be"s. I am trapped, caught, suffocating, imprisoned, stuck. SLAVE.

As Beth Moore puts it, "We become immediate slaves to the person(s) from whom we seek approval."

BUT, Christ came to set me free from slavery. "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourself be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." -Galatians 5:1

I cannot continue to try to balance the Spirit and the flesh. They cannot work together. "For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law." -Galatians 5:17-18 God has freed me from the law. From the world. From the expectations of myself and of others.

He has SET ME FREE. 

To experience this sweet freedom that God is trying to show me, I must keep in step with the Spirit. I must not be conformed to the pattern of this world. I must yield to the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to guide me through my routine, my job, my life. Every day I must make that choice. It does not come naturally. But it is so much better!

Here's to freedom.

Listen to this song: Better Way to Live - by Jason Gray

• Better Way To Live by Jason Gray

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