"Take the time to do the things that make your soul happy."

Over this Christmas break, I have spent a lot of time reflecting on what those things are.

I find joy in helping people.

I am exorbitant when I am involved in ministry (Specifically BASIC right now, but I am also praying about serving in the nursery at church).

I love to create: poems, lyrics, photographs, smiles, sketches, paintings, music...

But even more than that? Creativity is a blessing, a true gift from God, because He was the ultimate creator. What an honor to enjoy something that so resembles who God is and what He is capable of! God created masterpieces: people (us) and the world (nature, animals, etc). It is our responsibility to continue the construction. We are called to be "fishers of men;" to guide and sculpt people into who Christ called them to be.

Jesus, You Fill My Cup

I have always heard messages preached about Jesus as the Living Water, and overflowing cups with God's anointing. I know I must not seek pleasure and satisfaction in things of this world, but let myself be filled with His presence. I even understood the importance in that.

Or at least I thought I did.

The past couple of weeks I have had a longing to spend more time with Jesus but not a lot of free time so I actually began praying for it. Yesterday, I was blessed with the free time that I have been asking God for lately, and I was admittedly SO bored. I couldn't contain myself. I was actually interpretive dancing to Hopelessly Devoted To You from the movie Grease while making chicken tacos. It was something, alright.

Basically, what I'm getting at, is that I took this free time for granted and didn't spend any extra time with God like I had intended. I tried to find satisfaction in other simple, little things like watching TV and keeping my face in my iPhone 6. Well, let me tell you something. I wasn't satisfied.

Yes, I needed to catch up on some rest. Yes, I enjoyed my phone conversation with Carissa and watching The Duff with my mom. And yes, I happily devoured those chicken tacos that I made.

But was I satisfied? No. Was I content? No. Was I bored? Yes.

Today, I was a little busier. I attended my cousin Kyle's high school graduation party, cuddled with my newborn baby cousin Coraline Rae under the warm sunshine, and went to the movies to see Jurassic World with my mom. But then I came home. And I honestly didn't know what to do with myself. I tried finding pleasure in how other people are spending their evenings via social media, scrolling through Pinterest, or online shopping. But I still felt like my cup was empty.

Until I watched Matthew Barnett's interview with Life Today on YouTube entitled "Building A Dream." This caught my eye because dreams are important to me. Especially God sized dreams. And there it was. Contentment. Satisfaction. An overflowing cup. Not because of Matthew Barnett, but because of Jesus. I need more Jesus.

So, there you have it friends. God revealed a new secret to me tonight, and that was how important intimacy with Him actually is.

"My cup runneth over."

Tell me what you want, what you really, really want

I was talking to a friend tonight, trying to encourage her as she always serves as a huge encourager to me, and was overwhelmed with how much God actually used me to encourage MYSELF.

Let's take a look at the verse in Psalm 37:4 (NLT)...

"Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart's desires."

We've all heard it. We all know it. We can all rehearse it by heart. But I always interpreted this scripture as, "As long as I'm doing my best to follow Jesus, He'll bless me with what I want as long as it isn't sinful." Now, this is obviously the simplified version, but I realized tonight that this isn't what the verse is talking about at all!

What this verse is actually saying, is that once we find our delight and joy to be in God, then our heart's desire will be for HIM as well. Therefore, my prayer is that that God will ultimatelygve me the desires of HIS heart, and help me to dream the dreams He has for my life.

Amen.

Hey now, you're an all-star

Okay, so we all know that Smashmouth song, "All Star," from Shrek, right? (I'm pretty sure I can count on one hand the number of middle and high school dances that song WASN'T blasting at while I was growing up).

Anyway, I was driving home from college yesterday evening, scanning through the radio in search of something fun to listen to, and that song was playing on one of the stations. I quickly hit the "scan" button again to sustain the station, and immediately began singing along, realizing I still somehow know every word after all these years. Then, all of a sudden, the lyrics during the bridge stuck out to me.

"So much to do, so much to see

So what's wrong with taking the back streets?

You'll never know if you don't go

You'll never shine if you don't glow"

WOW! Talk about profound! You go, Smashmouth!

Those lyrics hit me like a ton of bricks - straight in the heart. Being someone in a season of transition and with a wanderer's heart, I was impressioned by those lyrics... Especially considering I had just finished having a conversation with a friend/posting a blog about our longings to explore and discover the little things only the day before.

There really is SO much to do and SO much to see. So what's wrong with a detour? Never take a moment for granted, and never let a beautiful thing pass by you without taking a piece of it with you (whether it be physically and tangibly, through a photo, or in a memory). You'll never know what the outcome will be unless you pursue your dreams. Don't let fear hold you back. Give it a shot. And most importantly, you'll never see success until you put in the effort and try, try again.

It's so funny how a song you've listened to for the past 15 or so years can randomly have such a powerful impact on you. So, thank you Smashmouth, for this lovely little reminder. :)

Perks of Being A Procrastinator

Never have I ever been a procrastinator until this semester. Considering it's my final one as an undergraduate student, I am giving myself every right to embrace this characteristic.

So, here I am, In the library, not siting at my usual table on the second floor in the corner by the window, causing life to already be out of the ordinary, and 100% procrastinating all of the homework I have due way too soon. On, you guessed it... Facebook.

So after this past weekend, and how absolutely, truly incredible it was, I have nothing else to talk about other than BASIC related things. So that's what I'm doing. Talking to anyone and everyone I can about how much I LOVE BASIC, and how much God loves BASIC, and how coming to St. Rose was positively the best decision I have yet to make in my 22 years of living aside from accepting Jesus as my Lord and savior, and then... I start sobbing.

God's presence overwhelmed my heart so strongly that tears just began flowing from my eyes.

My purpose, my passion, my peace. It is all here. It is all right here in front of me and I refuse to overlook it.

Thank you, God for this powerful moment and reminder in the Neil Hellman library.

Where Your Heart Is

Lately, I've been thinking about this scripture a lot: "For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be." It is mentioned several times throughout the bible, on various occasions, including Matthew 6:21 and Luke 12:34. I have heard this scripture being used in countless messages lately, and it has stuck with me.

So, the question is, where is your heart?

I tend to say "My heart" in regards to a lot of things, because I love a lot. So here is just a list of a few things that I can think of right off the top of my head: My family, my friends, making new friends, my dog, pursuing a career in speech-language pathology, serving in children's ministry, pretending I can sing, long walks on the beach, exploring whimsical cities and villages, painting, learning new things, wearing fuzzy socks, writing ANYTHING, snapping photos of EVERYTHING, laughing loudly, eating caprese salad, drinking coffee, frolicking through sunflower fields, and watching hot air balloons rise.

However, as much as I may love all of those things, I think where your heart truly is, is where your passion and purpose also lies. So, let me tell you a little story.

I so badly want to work for BASIC someday. Like, I can’t remember another thing I was ever so passionate about as I am about St. Rose BASIC. And then to see everything that goes on at each conference, and what they’re all about, it makes my heart flutter. I think that’s why I want to hear back from Naz so badly. Like, I'd consider pausing school if the right doors opened.

Looking back on the last conference I attended, the very first one ever held in New Jersey, I like, couldn't breathe when they announced that they were looking for new staff and I could barely stay in my seat long enough for them to stop talking so I could go over and talk to them. Then, a few months ago? I felt this heart pounding sensation -- I even journaled about it -- about somehow, someway ending up in Rochester next year.

"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known."