Hope

It is only day 3 of school and I am already exhausted. I am still excited though about this semester because I already see that I cant control anything and my strength has to be found in Him alone. Praise the Lord. He is always faithful and sovereign.

The Stand

Recaptured

New favorite song. The lyrics are incredible. Recaptured- Flame

Man my heart is heavy I feel a lot of pain

It’s been awhile now Since ya’ll have heard from Flame

But God has been rocking your boy

But at the same time I see Satan’s plot to destroy

And I know I ain’t the only one For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son

And Satan tried to knock Him too But when they knocked the nails in His hands Colossians 2

And 15 And yet I still see a common theme

That’s plaguing adults And it’s plaguing the teens

When Jesus died He did more than just give us some help

So help me understand Why we still living for self

We live for our families For our money and cause

We live for our happiness For our pleasure is lord

But ain’t we seen yet That that just doesn’t work

Living for self Can only lead to dozens of hurts

squeezing my heart Like a stethoscope

We’re taking steps towards death But looking for hope

Because we were captured by sin

We were seized And now we need to be captured again

That’s why we need to pick them Scriptures up

Start praying and fasting And ask the Father to forgive us of

Forgive us of laziness Forgive us Lord of our pride

Forgive us of worldliness Forgive usCleanse us up inside

Cleanse us Lord from telling lies Cleanse us from our selfishness

Cleanse us from our fear of man We need more help in this

We confess our lack of love We confess selfish ambition

We confess to You our lust Oh Lord bring us to repentance

See we were captured by sin

We were seized Now we need to be captured again

And captured again And captured again And captured again And captured again

Italy

I am beyond ready for some spring sunshine. But more importantly spring brings Spring Break.

This year I will be returning to Italy. Last time I was there the Lord completely changed my life. It is one of the darkest places spiritually in the world. But for me, I saw the light for the first time. It still amazes me how the Lord was so patient and gracious to me until this point and will continue until the end of my life. He never left me, and he never will. I can not wait to see how he works during this trip and the lives he is going to change. It is crazy to think how before he created the world He knew each person who would be going on this trip and we would be sharing the gospel with people around the world. God is so good. "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” -Matthew 28:19-20

Sharing the word of God with Italians is by far the best and most important part of the trip. But there are a few things that I also am looking forward to

unlimited amounts of nutella

Italian Food

Beautiful buildings and cathedrals

And not to mention the amazing group of people that are going

Lecrae at Passion

I know I'm safest when I'm in your will and trust your word.

And I know I'm dangerous when I trust myself; my vision blurred.

Spring Semester

I finally have decided to start blogging and I am pretty excited about it. For my first post I wanted to share some thoughts about the upcoming spring semester and give praise to our wonderful Saviour, Jesus Christ. First off, the new semester is about to begin and I am so ecstatic/nervous. New semesters always bring excitement and new beginnings but I want this semester to be different than any other.

Last semester was a huge season of growing for me. The Lord brought new friends into that my life that would shape my character and show me what true love from our Saviour looks like. There were many times that I was confused about life in general and felt as if I were not growing. But the Lord, as always, had very different plans for me. Now that i look back, He disciplined me in ways that I can not begin to describe. I am so thankful for all of his works, even though I often do not understand. I am so blessed to have solid Christian friends who love the Lord and constantly push me towards Him. But at this point in my life I feel that its time for me to step out in faith and stop relying on comfort that I depend on from my Christian bubble. Each day is a struggle in the sense that i seek immediate and temporary satisfaction. I don't want to be lukewarm, but on fire for the Lord. I pray this semester that my life will reflect this verse- He must become greater; I must become less.- John 3:30. I have a few things in mind to help achieve these things:

1. Use my time with an eternal perspective

2. Focus on others and not myself

3. Seek first His glory

4. Trust in His faithfulness and plans

5. Share the gospel with boldness

6. Reach out to friends who do not know the Lord

7. Speak with love and grace not just truth

8. Let go of my control issues and let Him lead

9. Learn more scripture and challenge myself

10. Above all, bring him glory and make His name famous

Life brings many unexpected twists and turns. I personally hate sudden or unplanned events. These are the things that make life "interesting" and eventful. In certain aspects of my life I prefer order,schedules, and ultimately control. But this morning as I was reading Jesus Calling this line jumped out at me- Disruptions to your routine highlight your dependence on Me. I immediately began to think of how angry I get when things in my schedule go wrong . PTL for showing me where I constantly mess up and reminding me there is hope found in Him.

For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us

a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! -2 Corinthians 4:17.

Again, another thing me and JC are trying to work out and hopefully improve in the days to come