You may be looking for a healing, but He is going to give you a resurrection.

Hi loves!
Last night I had a long life chat with a wonderful friend. She and I have become really good friends this semester, and I cannot thank God enough for bringing her into my life.

Our life chat was pretty solid. It wasn't always easy things to talk about, but it is important to talk about the hard things. One of the things that we talked about is seeing yourself how God sees you. This is something that is incredibly hard to do, and I am sure that 99% of all people have a hard time believing this on some level. Some scars go deeper than others, and some people are better at taking things to heart and believing them.

Something that I learned the Student Support Network group that I am in is that everyone has a number. We all have a certain number of times that we need to hear something to make it click or for us to believe it. It can be 3 times, 30 times, or 30,000 times that you need to hear something. For myself the number is definitely on the higher side, but is important to hear something when it is said, and assess if you should strive to believe it, or release the negativity and understand that is a lie from the enemy.

I have a tendency to be incredibly hard on myself and show just about zero mercy and grace to myself. I minimize my problems to others, and I will beat myself up about almost everything. I can have the same exact thing happen to me as someone else and process it, and deal with it in the same exact way. This reaction will have been completely valid for the other person, but it is not okay for myself.

I am a work in progress to change this about myself, and I have come a far way since the past.

If my life chat last night was not enough, the message in church touched on the heart of the issue. We read John 11:1-44 which is the story of Lazarus.

If you all don't know it, here is a brief summary of what happens, there is a friend of Jesus named Lazarus. Jesus, Lazarus, and his sisters Mary and Martha are all really chill buds. Someone comes to tell Jesus that Lazarus is sick and that he needs a healing from Jesus because he is dying. Jesus says okay, but he continues to do what he was doing, he doesn't take any quick actions despite the urgency of what the others are saying (but don't worry guys, Jesus knows what He is doing!). So in a couple days Jesus goes to where Lazarus is resting in peace. Martha, Lazarus' sister, comes to meet Jesus and tells him that is he was here earlier, Lazarus wouldn't be dead, he has been dead for 4 days (which is one day too late for the peoples to have any hope that he can come back to life, see back then they believed that after a person died, that there was still a chance that they could come back to life if it was in 3 days and they would try everything they knew to make that happen), but Martha says that she knows that Jesus is still good and that she will get to see her brother again in heaven. Jesus says that her brother will rise from the dead, not in the end times, but now.After this, Mary comes to Jesus and just asks why he didn't come and save her brother. Mary can be seen as tired and worn and hurt. Jesus knows that is all going to be okay, like super soon, but despite that he knows that it is all going to work out, he takes time to recognize his friends pain and sorrow and Jesus wept. And the story goes on to show 4 days isn't too late for Jesus to resuscitate his friend Lazarus, that no time is too late for Jesus.

The pastor tied this into our lives to tell us that no matter how far gone we feel that we are that we are not too far gone for Jesus to heal us. That is not too late for Jesus-- it's not too late, but there is the reality of not yet.

The not yet refers to the part of the story where Jesus waits to go to help Lazarus. There are not yet's in our lives every single day. You want to be completely healed from something right now in this very instance and not have to deal with it later? Hmm, that sounds something a lot like the fact that everyone wanted Jesus to come now because if he didn't that it would be too late for Lazarus.

No matter how far gone you feel like you are in something-- a particular sin, in being mean to yourself, in your brokenness-- it is not too late for Jesus. He can take you and heal you. He loves you because you are you and nothing else. He doesn't love you because of that A+ you got on your Calc exam or for the good deed that you did today or even your ability to refrain from that sin you struggle with the most. He loves you because you are you. You are His child. His little girl. His beloved son. He created you to be you. He created you in His image (This is not to say that we do not need to repent of our sins, but to say that He loves you despite of them).

So, where ever you are, you are not too far for Jesus. He can intervene, and He will. Just take that first step towards Him. There is hope for you. There is hope for your situation. There is hope for my situation.

And remember that there are not yet's. You may be looking for a healing, but He is going to give you a resurrection.

My trip to New Orleans: blessed and honored.

Hi friends!

As some of you know, I recently went on a missions trip to New Orleans over my spring break. My team and I have been so blessed to have the opportunity to help out the community in Hollygrove, LA, and to hear the stories of those who live there. Those stories have shaped and grown me in so many ways and we were only in NOLA for four days!

While we were there we worked alongside Trinity Christian Community (TCC). We were able to do an array of things while we were there. We did some yard work, helped clean out a house that had been infested with rats and was broken into twice, go on a prayer walk in Hollygrove to hear some history of the town and be able to pray over not only the town, but those that live there as well, worked alongside New Orleans Missions to prepare food packs, and hand them out to members of the community who were in need, we were able to tutor some of the kids at TCC's after-school program, we got to hear the stories of many people who live in Hollygrove, and we worked with Arc alongside adults with disabilities to sort recycled Mardi Gras beads.

We were also able to go out and explore the city in the evenings. We went to the French Quarter, the Lower Ninth Ward, the Garden District, and on a swamp tour.

We went to church in Alabama the Sunday after we left PA-- I really enjoyed Alabama! I want to live there someday. My heart felt like it was at home when I was there. I had a sense of peace and home.

On our way to and from NOLA we stayed at Covenant College to break up the driving time a little bit. When we left NOLA to head back to Covenant, our leaders surprised us with a trip to Pensacola Beach, FL. It was wonderful despite the rain that we hit!

I have been incredibly blessed to go on this missions trip. I have learned so much about myself, and the people of Hollygrove. I was able to bond with my team, and share some laughs not only with them, but also with the people of NOLA and those employed at TCC. It was an amazing opportunity, and I cannot thank God enough to have been able to participate in it.