"My soul thirst for God..." Psalms 42:2

Everyday the Lord is showing us His power, Glory, Grace & His Divine Nature.  He shows us miracles and little glimpses of Heaven.  He shows us His Love!  From the moment we wake up to the second we close our eyes.  Everyday, even atheist have some kind of connection with God.
Yesterday the Lord proved Himself to me once again as if I needed to be reminded, (He knew I needed to be reminded).  So here is the story...
I really wanted to go to the hospital in Alma to see my beautiful sister-in-law and my brothers new addition to this world.  The only downfall was that I had no money at all.  I literally had 5 dollars total in my bank account, which is my fault and I did not deserve the miracle and love that I received from the Lord.  So after I had a meltdown from realizing just how little money I had and not enough to put gas in my Jeep I kept going over in my head if I had any cash on me at all.  I then was reminded of the few dollars I had stored away in my dresser.  And it was just enough to get me some gas to drive home on.  Which was even more then I deserved.  Once I had the money in my hand, I humbled myself and asked the Lord if He was sure.  He was pretty sure.  So needless to say, the Lord heard my cry (literally) this morning.  His heart broke because my heart broke at the thought of not being able to see my beautiful nephew that He placed on this earth.  He reminded me about that money.  He revealed Himself again and He poured His love on me.  He had mercy on me and I did not deserve it.  I was a whiny baby, but He supplied.  He is so gracious to His children.  And all to often I forget to lean on God to supply me, so this proved to me once again that the only way to live is to give all my worries, thoughts, and praises to Him. 
Psalm 13:5
"But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.  I will sing to the Lord for He has been good to me."  I rejoice in my salvation that came from Jesus Christ.  I trust in His unfailing love.  I will do nothing but praise His name for the rest of my days here on this earth.  Because He has been too good to me at times when I do not deserve it.

Thank You So Much God Almighty,
Your Child

Perfect Gift From Above

Yesterday the Lord poured out onto this earth another reminder of His love, power, and goodness.  My precious nephew Maxwell was born.  He weighed 10.3 pounds, that alone is a miracle.

The Lord did such an amazing job on this beautiful boy.  He is just so perfect.  I could not ask God for anything better than him.  The Lord probably had so much fun picking out the way Max's face was going to look and whose nose he was going to have and whose eyes.  He made such a unique little boy.  I just praise the Lord Almighty for this miracle.  I praise God for this awesome gift He has given our family.  And it reminded me of this verse from James 1:17, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."  Max was and still is a proclamation of Gods love.  It still amazes me that the Lord knew Max before he was even born.  All I know is that I thank the Lord for creating Max and for putting so much time and effort into Him.  For loving him already more than everyone in the whole family combined could.

Thank You Lord for Maxwell,
Kelsey

the One thing I'm sure of...

College is difficult even more so, chemistry is difficult.  I study, study, study and yet I seem to fall short from my expectation almost every time.  I have gotten some pretty low scores on some pretty important tests.  I have failed miserably a lot.  I have messed up information and I have forgotten a lot of things.  I have more questions than answers and I sometimes have so much going on in my head I literally feel myself loosing brain cells.  But the one thing that always reassures me is that no matter how many 36 % I get on chemistry tests, or no matter how many times I ask the same question over again, or no matter how many times I do the same silly mistake, the one thing that I know I can be sure of is that Jesus Christ is my Lord my Savior.  He is my light in this crazy dark world.  He holds onto me at night when I just cannot take it anymore.  He sits next to me when I am just totally failing that chemistry test.  He even tells me a bedtime story before I get rest from long and hectic days.  I am so glad that the one thing I am sure on is not anything of this world.  The One thing that I am sure on is whittling my Kingdom in Heaven.  He is rooting for me, He is guiding me, He is watching over me, and He already knew everything in my life that was going to happen.  I am so glad that the one thing I am sure of is True, Righteous, Holy, Pure, Just, Mighty, Loving, Almighty and simply Amazing.  I am so glad that the One thing I am sure of is Jesus Christ.
Thank you Lord for all you have done, and are going to do in my life.  Thank you for reassuring me that every else will fade, but Your love, and will for me has never been more strong. 

Find that One thing that you are sure of and embrace It,
Kelsey

"...working for the Lord..."

You do not just wake up in a day and bam everything in your life is fixed.  You cannot want a good relationship with God, a friend or anyone in that matter if you do not put forth the effort.  If you realize that you are not getting anywhere still after putting forth effort then it is time to evaluate.  How are you trying to reach that person?  Is it a way that they are able to respond?  But when does it get to the point where you give up or you stop trying so hard because they are not putting forth the effort either?  When can you decide that it is not worth it?  When is the right time for you to justify why you do not call that person anymore?  Never. Wanna know why?
We are to be imitators of Jesus.  He laid the foundation for us to follow.  Has Jesus ever decide in all His years that He was not going to talk to that person because they were not putting forth the effort?  Did He ever stop "calling" someone because He felt like it was not worth it anymore? Did He ever stop loving them?
Nope.
He went against the grain, He loved when others would never think about loving.  He ate with tax collectors and prostitutes.  Yup, that is my Amazing Father that I look up to and that I strive to be like more and more everyday.  You know what? If the Lord wants me to call someone every stinkin' day, I will.  If the Lord wants me to travel a thousand miles I will.  Because that is what you do for someone you love.  When you truly know how to love and when you know how to just look past all that "stuff" that gets in the way of someones personality, then that is when you can begin to see that you are not wasting your time.  What if that call happened at just the right moment, just the moment when they needed to hear someones voice?  What if that visit changed the way they see the world, people, or even God.  This verse in Colossians 3:24 helps me a lot especially when I do not feel like calling, visiting, writing a letter or even typing on this blog. "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." 
Would you like it if God just gave up on you?  If He just stopped calling, if He just decided you were a lost cause.  And yet we do this to our Lord constantly.  We repeatably ignore His calls, we do not listen for His cue for us, we give up hope, we give up, we stop loving.  But does He ever stop calling?  Does He ever stop sending us mail, or stop loving us? 
Nope. 
It is time to evaluate the way you treat people.  It is time to realize that everyone is worth your time.  It is time you realize that Jesus Christ our Savior is sending us mail, and calling us and we are not getting it.  We are doing the same thing to Him that we do to other people. 

Start fresh with God, with your family and friends and give diligently to all of them just as Jesus gave to everyone. 

Do not be a slave to your old ways,
Kelsey

Jesus our God, Great and Mighty to be Praised

My heart is broken.
But I thank the Lord for opening my eyes once again and making me aware of just how low and broken this world is.  Something that major should not be hard to forget, but it is.  It is like I become numb to the problems of this world.  And it is not until the Lord shows me right there in front of my face how bad things are, and only then does the numbness begin to wear off.  The problems people face are so real, the sin that people are slaves to is so real.  It cannot get any more real than that.  I never thought it was going to be easy to be a Christian, but I also never realized the strength it takes to go through a day where you are constantly being persecuted.  Right now I am praying for the people in this world, for the "Christians" that need Jesus in their life more than ever, for the people who have seen and tasted His glory to make it more prevalent in their life, for the people who have His Words tattooed on their body to come to the realization of what those words mean.  I'm praying for the people who repeatedly use my Fathers name in vain.  This world needs Jesus more than ever now, I need Jesus more than ever right now.  "I seek You with all my heart; do not let me stray from Your commands."  Psalm 119:10  I want to make this verse my prayer.  That we will all seek Him with all of our hearts, and that we will not stray away from His commandments just because our society ways go against it because that's the point.  We are not supposed to be of the world, but we need to be in it to be that light.  I do not want to gain this whole world because my Father in Heaven, my hope my joy, my strength that He provides me with is much more important than the "norms" of this world.  The life that I have been given is a privilege and I am going to use it to the best of my abilities in honoring what the Lord has set for me. 

"The Lord protects the simplehearted; when I was in great need, He saved me."
Psalm 116:6

Pray for this broken world,
Kelsey

Baby Lima Beans

This morning as I was finishing up a Christmas gift involving lima beans, hot glue, and a wreath (that would soon be covered in baby lima beans) I noticed myself picking out certain sizes and shapes of the lima beans before I would place it on the smoldering hot hot glue.  While doing this it reminded me of Mitch's sermon last Sunday.  He said that God has this big tool box and He chooses the right "tool" (us) for the job.  Some tools are made for a certain purpose and some have more than one.  But for the most part any tool you use could potentially get the job done, but it just might take more work.  And the same with my baby lima beans.  Either way I was going to use up all of them, some were going to work in a certain spot better than others were.  So in essence we are all baby lima beans in a old Cool-Whip container just waiting for God to choose us, maybe not necessarily to place us on hot glue but to place us where we are needed and to fulfil our purpose better.  Have you been a willing servant lately?
If not, become one now.

Be the tool that God can use,
Kelsey

Romans = love!

The Book of Romans is amazing!
I literally thank God so much for it.  Not only is it straight forward but Paul wrote it with oodles upon oodles of love and with that love he makes it very clear.  Many times while I was reading it, it was hard for me to even fathom just how real it is.  The verses relate so well with this day in age.  I would encourage anyone to read Romans!  It has humbled me, broken me, and showed me that God has many great things in store for my life.  He wants me to succeed and see Him in everything I do, think and say.  And I should because what is the point in life if I do not?  We read this book as a small group, and the last day as we were going over verses you could tell that all of the girls in the small group including me were just mesmerized by this extraordinary book.  But enough of what I think about it, just read it, you will not regret it.  Here is a sneak peak on just how dense this book is!
"This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.  There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..."
Romans 3:22

"But God deonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Romans 5:8

"For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
Romans 6:14.

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing the glory that will be revealed to us."
Romans 8:18

There are so many more great verses, but that would take up the whole blog page so just read Romans, okay?


Read & discover God's glory,
Kelsey

Seeking Council from the Great Counselor

Lately I have been struggling big time.  I have seen myself set goals and knowingly destroy them.  But then I quickly came to the realization that my goals are not going to be met in one day and that I certainly would not be able to reach these goals without help from my Awesome God.  I realized that they are going to take time and I just need to stick with them and pray for strength and for the ability to prioritize them.  Something that I also find interesting in my life is my ability to hold back.  I hold back from a lot of things and for different reasons.  Sometimes in my chemistry class I hold back because I feel like I'm never going to understand it so why even try.  And especially with God I hold back.  I have not yet fully grasp the concept of many things.  I hold back by not praying out loud because I feel as though I wont say the right things, but you know what who cares because I'm praying to God and for God so no one else should matter in that circumstance.  I also hold back by not stepping out of my comfort zone and not giving God the chance to mold me and make me a willing servant.  I also found that I give my best in other areas then for Jesus my Lord.  Okay the One who created me and this world for me to live in, and I do not give Him enough time.  That just does not seem right, if anything it should be Him that I exert all of my energy to, and it should be Him that is on my mind, and it should be Him that is my main focus.  The good thing about all of these "bad things" is that I'm able to see them and acknowledge the fact that I'm lacking big time, but nothing is impossible for me.  Nothing is impossible for anyone.  If you have a goal, seek council from the Great Counselor and allow Him to help you with the areas of your life where you are lacking.  Persevere no matter what with the help of Christ. 

Pray, Seek, Listen,
Kelsey

"Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him."
James 1:12

Thanksgiving Everday

I find it very interesting that in our society today, we have set aside a certain day just to be thankful.  I mean think about it.  We cook a dinner, we get all of our families together, and we say grace and we go around the table saying what we are thankful for.  But why don't we do that everyday?  Why is it only one day of the year we truly make an effort to give thanks?  I bet Jesus loves our version of "Thanksgiving" because that is the day that most everyone says a prayer before they eat.  Thanking Him for providing in their lives.  And that whole day He is just soaking it all in.  All of His children giving Him thanks, recognizing Him for the things He has put in their lives.  We as humans really appreciate it when someone just stops and says, thanks you.   So why don't we do that to God?  The one who created us, and the one who is guiding our lives, who sent His son Jesus, to die on the cross so that we may live here on this earth and have our sins erased and a shot at eternal life.  That is more than any human could ever give, but yet we still don't give Him the glory He deserves. 
You know, I pray that everyday will become "Thanksgiving", I pray that everyday we will give Him all the thanks for our lives.  I pray that we wont only talk to God 3 times a year (Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving), but every time we get a chance.  The next time you get a free moment, just send a prayer up to Heaven, and let our Heavenly Father know just how much you appreciate Him, and pray that you will draw close to Him in all circumstances.  Because He deserves our up most attention and thanks. 

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.
-1 Chronicles 16:34


Happy Thanksgiving (today, tomorrow, and all the days to come),
Kelsey

King of Anything...

No, I am not talking about that Sara Bareilles song here, I am talking about real life, important stuff...that you need to know!
As I have been observing myself and other people around me.  The one thing that I seem to always notice is the king in their life.  My definition to king would be something along the lines of anything that either controls you, consumes you, takes up a lot of time either in a good way or bad, makes you subject to change, basically whatever is the "ruler of your life".
What is the "king" in your life?  Is it video games? Computer games? Facebook? T.V.? Cell phones?  Homework?
What is something that takes up most of your time in a bad way?  Most importantly is the king in your life taking over what the real King should be? Are you missing out on family time because of the things of this world have you so trapped? Are you letting video games, or facebook take up your time so that when it is time to go to bed you quick say a prayer and tell God that you will read two chapters in the Bible tomorrow because you feel guilty.. if so, you need to rethink the "king" in your life.  If your "king" is not Jesus Christ, make it that.  He is a jealous God.  Do not let facebook, or television shows, or even the internet in general take up precious, precious time that you will never get back.  Limit your time, and make sure things are equally adding up.  If facebook hears more from you then your God then I think it is time you re-evaluate where your time goes.
Now for me the "king" in my life is not always God.  I am not perfect and a lot of the times I'll cram my day with so much stuff so that at the end of the day I'll be able to just relax and read my bible and spend time with God, but what actually happens is that I am so tired from doing everything that day, that the last thing I want to do is read my bible.  So just take time out of your day and spend it with the most High, will you?  The only real King in your life should be Jesus.  After all He deserves every bit of our short life on this Earth, because He is the one who gave it to us.  

Destory the old "king", invite Jesus to be your new King,
Kelsey

Read slowly and two times over...

You know when something is just so great and you cannot find the right words to describe it.  Mainly because you are so excited that there are a million words popping up in your head that you know if you were to say those words it would not come close to how you are actually feeling.  And then sometimes when you do try to say those words they get all mixed up and they get slurred together.  It happens to me quite a bit, and I have witnessed it a lot, it is pretty amusing.  I feel like this should be our response to the way we feel about our Heavenly Father.  Sometimes I cannot even say His name, because it just is too precious, to say His name is a honor to me.  Right now I feel as though I would not be able to describe for you my love for God simply because He is just working so powerful in my life that the best thing for me to do and to keep responding to Him, love Him deeply no matter the situation, and to never settle in my relationship with Him.
        It says in James 1:2, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance."  Do you consider it pure joy when you are in a trial or do you consider it a curse?  The Bible says in 1 Peter 4:16, "However if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed but praise God that you bear that name."  There have been so many times in my life that I did not consider it pure joy when I was suffering, but the one thing that makes me feel better is just worshipping God and realizing that I am too small for all of this, and He has a great plan and greater purpose.  It is hard to consider it pure joy.  Because when we think of pure joy, it seems like that "pure joy" is an earthly item.  Such as a raise, a new car, a new house, a new video game.  Really we should have pure joy in all circumstances, and situations.  Pure joy comes from God. 
      The thing we tend to forget lies in this very verse..." I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."-Philippians 4:13 Paul and Timothy want us to know that with that word everything, they mean everything.  No grey areas, it is everything. 
      So my brothers and sisters let us consider it pure joy when we little money and a lot of Jesus in our life.  Let us find joy in using our spiritual gift.  Please let us always give God the glory!  Find God in all circumstances, because He is there.

Bring Him Praise,
Kelsey

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt59GR64Ivk<-- Listen to me!

Short, Sweet, and to the point

"This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."- Psalm 118:24

I know that sometimes we forget this... but try not to!  Rejoice that you are alive, because God has put you here for a reason!  Share the Gospel, spread some love, accept the gift of God because you do not want to miss this!

Photo Credit: Lynn Overmyer

Pursue the Truth

Over the weekend I was given the wonderful oppourutnity to travel to Lake Ann Camp with college students from all over Michigan from the His Houses on our campuses.  I met some amazing new people, and got to spend quality time with my friends!  The Lord was testing us all in different ways over the weekend.  He was giving us challenges left and right, but He knew that we could overcome them.  I cannot even describe to you how much I learned about my God that I never really understood until this weekend.  There were many points that stuck out to me, and overall it was an amzing experience.  I just have to share some right now! (Don't worry I took lots of notes, and many blogs from here on out will come from my notes!)
At one of the sessions I attended was called A Reasonable Faith.  This session really tested me, and has continued to make me strive for a better relationship with the Lord.  He asked us questions and to us how to pursue the Truth.  Want me to let you in on a secret?  I know you do.. here is goes!

How to Pursue the Truth!

Step 1:  Use your brain!
-"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power."- 1 Corinthians 4:20
-  Get to know God.. read, read, read, study...  The Bible is Gods word, and our authority

Step 2: Do not fear!
-  Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?"- 1 Peter 3:13
-  When we trust God we are free from fear.. isn't that nice to know? It is for me!
-  When we suffer for what is right, we get a tiny glimpse of the suffering that Christ did for us. <-- Think about that..
-  You are worried about what people will say, you know what, don't, because you do not have to defend yourself.  And if/when people question you give them reasons with gladness and joy. 

Step 3:  Be Prepared!
- Give a reason and proving are two different tings.  We cannot prove Gods exsistance, but we can give a reasonable answer. 
-  When we are giving reasons of Gods exsitance, it is nice to remember that God is working in it also. 
-  Spend time with God and allow Him to give you the words to say if you ever have to give reasons. 
-  Some of the best evidence of the Gospel is how we live our lives, so learn why things are the way they are so that you can live your life to the fullest and ultimately pursue the Truth. 

Why do you trust Jesus?  Why might people not?

"Look, here is water..."

10.10.10

What an amazing day.. a day that I will never forget.  A day that I cannot wait to tell my husband, and kids, and even complete strangers about.  This day was the day I got baptized at Diamond Lake. 

"As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water.  Why shouldn't I be baptized?"  And he gave orders to stop the chariot.  Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. Acts 8:36  This passage was read at my baptism by my youth pastor.  He said that when I had asked him to baptize me that day, like as soon as possible, it instantly reminded him of this passage in Acts.  Because no matter what is going on in a day.  If the Lord is telling you to do something, do it! Run the good race, run fast towards the goal of God.  You have nothing to loose, only blessings to gain.  For a near three seconds of my life while I was being dipped in the water I had no thought in my brain.  Not one.  Seriously, it was amazing to just not think for a second.  And I'm not sure if maybe it was from the shock of the water being so cold, but I believe that in that near three seconds or so the Holy Spirit makes it home inside of your soul.  And from there on out, you are resurrected from sin and were made new and washed clean from the inside.  Isn't the Lord so powerful and great?! I believe so!

Find God, accept God, find water, get baptized!

Kelsey

Trip to D-Town

10.9.10

As part of the Homeless Outreach and Ministry Equipped (H.O.M.E.) we travel to Detroit every month and spread the love of God to the homeless.  We pass out lunches filled with love along with bottles of water and the daily necessities for the homeless.  What I took part of was an amazing way to talk to people who do not always have someone there and to reassure people on the streets that God loves them and there is hope in every situation. 

Our group teamed up with CMU's His House and we all traveled to Detroit on Saturday.  I was a little apprehensive once we got to downtown Detroit.  I am not going to lie, I was shaking a little bit with fear.  But then I had to stop and remember that fear is a sin.  Why fear when God has everything under control, so I gave Him my fears and allowed Him to guide my feet.

It was very surprising to me just how nice and receptive these people on the streets were.  Once we asked them if there was anything we could pray for them about, they basically knew we were there to spread God's joy and love.  We did not have a single person who did not want us to pray for them.  I met some guys who spoke Spanish so I really enjoyed that time I got to spend with them talking in Spanish.

Being on a trip like that takes a lot of faith.  I believe that God put every person that we met in our path for a reason though and hopefully we will see the people when we go back even more encouraged and excited about God.  Being on that trip would obviously make you very fortunate for what you have.  It definitely humbled my views and brought me back down to Earth.   But going on that trip did not just take a lot of faith from me and show me just how good I have it, but it showed me even more so not to settle with my relationship with God.  That night as I was driving home the Lord told me to get baptized and that is just what I did the next day....

Love Whole Heartily

As my day is winding down and turning into night many thoughts linger in my mind and I have came to realize something very valuable over my span of just being alive today.  And that is that no matter how much money you have in your bank account or how many friends you have on your facebook.  Money cannot buy you happiness and when it comes to friends it is not the quantity that matters but the quality of the friendship.  If only we could treat the people we love whole-heartily.
If only we could respect everyone and look out for their well being.  If only we could treat everyone with the kind of love that God has shown us.  Do not let the days pass by without giving someone your respect and your time by simply telling them that you love them.
Because in the end love conquers all.

Choose love.
Kelsey

"Inspired by Faith"

It's official I've started my own blog!

This blog was definitely "inspired by faith"... hence the name.  I just have so much on my heart and it would be a shame not to share it with the world.  The biggest goal here is to share with you what the Lord has and is doing in my life.  And if I ever stop doing this blog I hope to have inspired many people along the way. 

God is Love.
Kelsey