May your Friday feel like this…

 

   

Have a great Friday! :)

It’s All About Perspective

For me, a typical morning starts with hitting the snooze button one too many times, singing in the shower, multiple trips across the house to go to and from the bathroom to get ready, several outfit changes, collecting everything I need for the day that has been scattered around the house, grabbing a bite to eat, and rushing out the door.

The last few weeks, I have been working on setting aside about 30 minutes when I get up to have “quiet time” to read my devotional books and write in my journal. I have found that I am much more positive when I start off my mornings with a focus or goal for the day. Sometimes they are simple things, such as praying for someone, and sometimes they are more personal goals such as working on my patience or perspective.

Lately, my thoughts keep going back to a common theme; being content even when I think things would be better if they were different. It’s a hard thing to swallow. Sometimes it’s just difficult to accept that you don’t have life figured out, and things aren’t going to go the way you want them to. But if I decide that I am going to have that mindset of contentment, it helps to face whatever comes my way. I definitely have my bad days, but staying positive and having faith in God has had an enormous impact on my day to day life.

I read Philippians 4 today, and it is filled will all kinds of super-awesome-encouraging-goodness:

“⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  ⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ⁹ Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. ¹⁰ I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. ¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”

I find such incredible comfort in that scripture! It’s yet another constant reminder of the compassion and grace that is found only in Christ. And thank goodness for that grace! I would be in deep water if it wasn’t for second chances.

Here’s to tomorrow, and trusting in Him no matter what!

 

40 Days To Change My Life

Today I started the 40 Day Prayer Challenge, by Mark Batterson. Although I am extremely excited about where the Lord will take me on these next 40 days, I am also extraordinarily nervous. Why? Because I am circling my future.

The 40 Day Prayer Challenge is a devotional of sorts that comes from Mark’s book, The Circle Maker – which if you haven’t read, you really must do so. This little excerpt from the website explains it nicely:

According to Pastor Mark Batterson in his book, The Circle Maker, “Drawing prayer circles around our dreams isn’t just a mechanism whereby we accomplish great things for God. It’s a mechanism whereby God accomplishes great things in us.” Do you ever sense that there’s far more to prayer, and to God’s vision for your life, than what you’re experiencing? It’s time you learned from the legend of Honi the Circle Maker—a man bold enough to draw a circle in the sand and not budge from inside it until God answered his prayers for his people. What impossibly big dream is God calling you to draw a prayer circle around? Sharing inspiring stories from his own experiences as a circle maker, Mark Batterson will help you uncover your heart’s deepest desires and God-given dreams and unleash them through the kind of audacious prayer that God delights to answer.

Woah, right? The book blew my mind. Now, it’s time for the Prayer Challenge to blow my life out of the water, out of proportion, and out of all other sorts of normalities. As you may know, I am graduating from Texas A&M in approximately 9 weeks. The catch is that I am graduating and currently have no post graduation plans. I have been waiting, more or less, for God to show me where He wants me. Some of the waiting time has been spent applying to jobs I have no interest in to satisfy my need for security, control, and answers. As He would have it, none of those jobs have panned out. So I will continue to wait.

Not having answers or direction puts me in a place of discomfort, the exact place where God has so often times worked wonders throughout time. I have no choice but to wait, which is hard, but deep down its exactly what I want because I want nothing more after graduating than to know I am exactly where HE wants me to be. I am on Day 1 of the challenge and already I feel relief. Simply knowing I am willingly setting my future in His hands brings peace in and of itself.

Today I prayed for my eyes to be opened, and for clarity in my heart and mind. I prayed He would guide me to the right door and that my faith would be multiplied. I prayed for Him to use me, allow me to serve Him. I also prayed for the relationships in my life and that He would show me which should stay and which should be released as I take this next step in life. I prayed for my family and friends, that they would have the same peace about wherever He sends me.  I told Him I didn’t really know what to pray or how to do this, but I know without a doubt He knows the cries of my heart.

^” In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” Romans 8:26

I may be nervous, but I am blessed beyond my understanding to serve such an awesome, powerful God. I challenge you to take the 40 Day Prayer Challenge. Pick up the little book that will change your life. Like Mark says, “If you pray to God regularly, irregular things will happen to you on a regular basis.”

– KaRonna

And then a butterfly landed on my face.

Today, most importantly, is an amazingly beautiful day outside.

I woke up this morning with a dead phone, no alarm clock, and everyone in the house was gone. The microwave didn’t even know the time. It’s a great thing that I didn’t have class today or else I would have no clue if I was late or not. I splashed my face in the cold water from the sink and pulled back my hair. Today is one of the days where I slept in the clothes I wanted to wear. I was ready in no time. It was raining.

I decided to go ahead and face the rain. No umbrella, I walked out into the day and headed toward the library. The rain stopped. How did the sky know I didn’t want to get wet?

I remember thinking my thanks to God as I enjoyed walking in the sunlight instead of having to go the rest of the day with wet clothes.

Mentally, I began to list all the things that this weather would be perfect for: Six Flags, a trip to the beach, a day in Austin, Texas, a trampoline, a walk in the park, tennis, having a dog… Then my mind turned to what I actually have to do today: study for the two tests I have tomorrow, write two papers, and go to three different study sessions… depressing, I know. It is by far the most beautiful day of the semester, and I am confined to the great indoors.

Luckily, my thoughts were not clouded by my disappointments of the day. They somehow kept focusing on the sunshine. That’s when it hit me!

No, literally. That’s when a butterfly landed on my face.

It was truly remarkable, really. It was one of the butterflies that flutte

rs around all day, one of the bright yellow ones. Sunshine. I’m going to call her sunshine.

I am so thankful that I have a God who takes time out of His busy plans to get my attention. He is jealous for me. He puts His sunshine in every aspect of my life, whether I choose to see it or not.

Most of the time, sadly, I am wearing shades that keep me from seeing His awesome light. I am on the phone, or thinking about stupid things, or worrying for goodness sake. My goal is to make every day like today, come sunshine or rain.

I want to take off my shades to God and allow His light to shine straight into my eyes.