Little Things.

i continue to notice each and everyday how much God does truly care about the details in my life..
true story: yesterday i was talking to allison and i was like, "man i really love that old song all in all..i wish we sung it more at corban." guess what we sang today at chapel? yeppp...all in all. when the song started playing all i could do was laugh and tear up a little bit..and allison just looked at me and her jaw dropped a little. just little things like that amaze me. i love my Jesus more and more every stinking day!! :)

It Not About Me..Really.

it happend again. God slapped me in the face. this was a gentle slap though...much more gentle then it should have been...
so monday morning me and God were having a little chat. you know when you have that feeling where "something" is wrong or there is that feeling and your just like "grrrrr...what the heck is wrong with me" well i have kinda had been feeling that the last few weeks and i didnt really know what was wrong. well i realized that it was mainly because me and God had not had a one on one in a very long time. all along, i knew that we needed to have a long chat but i kept worrying about other things first...like school and social stuff. so finally when me and God finally had that much needed chat, he showed me something SO awesome! first off, i have realized that those one on one talks with God are so important, they have to come before everything!!!!! my quiet time with the Lord is extremly important, and i need to start taking it seriously. okay...so i havent even gotten into what he really taught me..haha...

so, i was reading in Deuteronomy 33..and this is a verse i came across: "Who is like your children, O God, a people saved by the Lord? You are my shield and helper and my glorious sword. Cause my enemy to cower, Lord! Trample down his high places." so the first time i read through it, i was like, yeah yeah, i know...God is my sheild! awesome! but then i got this most amazing picture in my mind about God protecting me from satan and my enemys. i pictured him standing in front of me with his arms spread out fighting off my enemys and telling satan how close he can get to me, and stopping him when he gets too close..i was reminded of that verse that says God wont allowed us to be tempted with more that we can handle. just thinking about this amazes me. it makes me feel so safe and so loved. then as i was thinking about how God protects me, and fights off my enemys, i began to think..wow! nothing is ever about me. God is the one fighting off Satan, not me. so many times i find myself patting myself on the back..like God job fighting that tempation, Amanda...good job not gossiping...good job having a quiet time. why i think like this makes me sick! its not me!!! its Christ, taking control of my life like i desire, and fulfilling his purpose through me! how awesome! what an amazing God i serve! i am so thankful for his gentle slaps on the face. :)

Weekends.

top 10 reasons why i am thanking God for the weekend (mainly saturdays) today..

1] good excuse for not doing homework..."its not due tomorrow"
2] my friends get to come visit me
3] i get to sleep in
4] i can watch movies all day
5] baseball games in the rain
6] sweatshirts
7] applebees on satudays is always fun. :)
8] church is coming soon
9] only one week until i go to allisons
10] dr pepper :)

It has been awhile..

hello to all you fellow bloggers out there! i have been kinda out of it for the past month! i cant believe that it has been so long. jeesh. well, much has been happening in my life and in my head over the last month..so get prepared. :]

here is a little update on the "shallow" side of things..
1] still working at the police academy..not loving it, but not hating it either.
2] school is extremly tough. i have less credits this semester. but alot harder classes. i am struggling to find that "medium" between doing what i can to just get by and working my best at everything. when i do what i can just to get by, i feel guilty. i know that is not how Jesus would do his work...buttttt...sometimes i feel like if i am so consumed with doing all my work perfectly then i get too stressed out and i dont even have time for God. so yeah, just something im working though on the school side of things...
3] i started my OPE (observation participation experience) last week. what this is where i go into a [3rd grade] classroom and observe the teacher and the students. my classroom isnt what you call the "traditional" classroom. it is half spanish and half english students. at first i was overwhelmed but i am really, really enjoying my experience there. i am talking about Nepal next week...like in front of the class..i am teaching! i am so jazzed. :]
4] im still poor..
5] still have amazing friends..and making new ones each week.
6] still addicted to dr. pepper..although i have reduced my daily intake. for real.
7] i drink water now and eat healthly...(haha..i had ya going didnt i?) ;]
8] i want duke to win the ncaa championship. haha. that would be amazing..
9] i lead a middle school small group at highlife community church here in salem. i love it so much! its nice being involved in service out side of the school..
10] i am planning on interning at daddy mike's church this summer. im stoked.

..okay so now its my favorite part. :] i get to share what God has been challenging me with lately. (i mean, thats what you are supposed to blog about, right?)..haha..anywho, this last month, so much has happend in my relationship with God. its been awesome..i will cover the high parts...

i am reading a book my john piper called "dont waste your life". the book caught my eye in reena's room awhile back because i have been in this "what the heck am i doing with my life?" phase. i didnt know if i wanted to be teacher or a missionary. i didnt know what to with some relationships in my life. i was just to put it simply, really confused, and kinda angry about it. anywho, wow. the book has been amazing. funny to me how God does that. kinda weird/cool to think that that God knows what i am personally going to take from the book..the main thing that has stood out to me is something piper said. he was talking about the idea of delighting in God. he says this: "God's purpose for my life was that I have a passion for God's glory and that I have a passion for my joy in that glory, and that these two are ONE passion." That one statement is packed with soooo stinking much stuff! holy cow! i have been thinking alot lately about what passion is. i want to live with such passion for Christ that people are like, wow, that girl has passion for Christ! something else awesome about that statement is that if you are passionate about God's glory then we will have joy! God desires for us to have joy! awesome! piper goes on to say "God created me- and you- to live with a single, all-embracing all-transforming passion-namely, a passion to glorify God by enjoying and displaying his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life. enjoying and displaying are both crucial. if we try to display the excellence of God without joy in it, we will display a shell of hypocricity and create scorn....the wasted life is the life without passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all people." dang. kinda got slapped in the face there. God spoke through those words in suck a powerful way to me. i wont forget the way i felt sitting on my bed after i read those words. glorify God with everything..i recieve pure joy.. and im doing what i am supposed to! as i am doing this, it may lead to places i dont want to go, and into situation i dont want to be in, but its all in God's plan. i am trying hard not to overthink my life lately. just gloryfying God in everything i do is something i am really trying to do. im just now wrapping my head around how awesome this is, if i fully understand what gloryfying God is. i know that i dont fully understand it, but he is showing me. and let me tell you, it hasnt been a walk in the park, but it truly brings me neverending joy even through tough stuff! :]

dangg...that is long. and not even all that God has been teaching me! ill post about the other "stuff" later. :] i love times like this where he is teaching me this much, but honestly, it gets overwhelming and kinda scary. but so yeah...i miss you all out there in blogger land. sorry it took me long to post..i would love all your thoughts and stuff. :] thankssss.