No Pain, No Gain

So recently I've been on a big "get in shape" kick. I'm tired of seeing people more fit than me and wishing I could be them. This time, I want to make results happen. So the famous words of coaches everywhere keep echoing in my head...NO PAIN NO GAIN!

Yesterday, I decided to ask my friend to go on a run with me. This friend of mine is very athletic, so in my mind this was a good choice. WRONG. My first mistake was asking a seasoned athlete to go on a run with me. Who was I kidding? I can't keep up with this guy! Well, I tried to keep up with him...only had to stop twice. And by the end of the 30 minutes of running, I was certain my lungs were going to collapse. Motivation to keep going? Yes. Pain? YES. I am sore beyond belief today. But that soreness will allow me to hopefully keep getting better every time I go out (if my legs don't fall off first).

I was thinking about it though, "no pain, no gain" can be applied to lots of areas. It can be applied in the way I've just stated...that without a little bit of pain and muscle tearing, your muscles won't grow bigger and get stronger. Without the pain and hard work of tending to a garden, you won't get food out. Without going through pain and hurt in life, you won't know what true joy is when something extremely great happens.

But the main "no pain, no gain" example that just crossed my mind was that, without the pain and suffering Jesus went through on the cross, we wouldn't be able to receive eternal life and spend eternity with Him in Heaven.

So next time you're feeling a little pain, whether it be stress at work, pain from a hard workout, or whatever context you are feeling pain, remember that sometimes pain can be a good thing...I mean, we owe our lives to the pain that Jesus felt on the cross. Kinda puts it all in perspective a little, right?

What are some ways that you feel pain? Give them all to Jesus! He's a good Daddy like that, he likes to take away his children's pain. So write them all on here and give them to Him!

Gobble gobble gobble

Hello all of you people out there in blog-land!

I am sorry I have not posted anything in over a month! I have nothing but horrible excuses, but here they are anyway:
-Final exams
-Final projects
-Working full time
-Brother's Graduation
-Boyfriend's Graduation
-Moving into a new apartment
-Moving out of an old apartment

So there we have it! Anyway, I am going to get better about posting pretty regularly. I know all of you are just dyyyying to read my thoughts on life...(even if you're not, just humor me).

Recently, as my roommate and I moved into our new apartment, we have encountered MANY stressful obstacles and hurdles to cross in order to make this move happen. But amidst all the stress, we keep realizing that we have SO much to be thankful for.

I know that the third Thursday in November is really far away, but I thought I'd take this time and this blog entry to say a few things that I am very thankful for that sometimes go unnoticed and forgotten.

I'm thankful for:

-A Mom who puts up with my calling her 9,000 times a day to complain or chat about anything
-A dog who is, well, perfect
-A Dad who always "checks my car for strange noises" every time I go home
-Really cool travel coffee mugs
-A Brother who I can tell anything to and he'll still love me the same no matter what
-Bathroom floor mats so my feet aren't cold
-A Boyfriend who loves me because I'm me, not because I pretend to be anybody else
-A really awesome apartment that's cooler than anything my parents lived in during college :)
-A roommate who drinks coffee with me every morning
-Remote controls
-Finding old cards that belonged to my Grandma right when I was missing her the most
-An amazing prayer partner, even if she's all the way in Canada
-The ability to TALK to my friend in Canada!
-Skype!
-Cell phones
-The best friends any girl could ever ask for
-Romantic movies
-Spain (Sevilla, more specifically)
-Locks on our doors to keep bad guys out
-Men and women who fight for our freedom every day
-Really cool apps on my iPod touch
-MUSIC
-Local Law Enforcement who protect us right here in our cities
-The candles in my room and bathroom that smell SO good
-Hugs
-Kisses
-Smiles
-My Camelbak water bottle
-An amazing Church where God is DOING THINGS
-An amazing God who LOVES US INTENSELY and gives us all these things we need to be thankful for!

Thank you God for blessing me so so so much.

Don't forget to thank God for the things He's given you. If you gave someone lots of things wouldn't you want them to thank you every once in a while? Amidst the stress of life, don't forget all we have to be thankful for.

Until next time,

ST

Whose Fault is it Anyway?

Have you ever been somewhere fun, where you're having a great time, and you can't imagine how things could be any better?

Everything is almost perfect, and you want your fun to last forever.

Now: have you ever been in the middle of this perfect scenario, and someone ruins the whole thing? Messes it all up? Did the Mexican hat dance all over your good time?

It sucks even WORSE when no one can pinpoint who exactly it was who messed up the whole thing. Therefore, the whole group of people who were having a practically perfect in every way time, you included, get dragged down with the troublemaker.

This ever happened to you before? Where you get to carry a piece of the blame for someone else's wrong doing?

It happened to me this weekend...and let me say, it isn't fun. When you're one of the ones whose done EVERYTHING right, but you still have to take the blame and get in trouble. But we've all experienced this to some extent. I'm sure you all can agree with me how NOT fun it is.

Well I didn't really realize it until today, this kind of not-fun scenario is exactly what Jesus did for us on the Cross. Except it was a MILLION TIMES intensified. First, God created the garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve resided in complete perfection with God. Can you imagine? Living in a GARDEN with GOD!!!!! How cool! Anyway, then Satan decided to ruin everything and tempt Eve, who tempted Adam, who messed everything up for all of us. Then everything started spiraling out of control...mankind was doomed to forever be born with a sinful nature.

Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years later, Jesus came to the Earth. Lived a sinless life. Was perfect in every way. Fully God, yet fully man. Perfect Lamb without blemish or defect. And what'd he do? He took the BLAME for EVERYONE'S SINS! Not just for the people alive then, but for EVERYONE who will EVER live! If you ask me, that's a TON of blame all for one person to take. But he took it, because he loves us. He didn't do anything wrong, and yet he was scorned, beaten, mocked, and killed.

Good thing the story doesn't end there though :) On the third day HE ROSE! We serve a Risen God who took away our blame and made us clean with the blood of His son Jesus!

So next time someone else drags you down, before you start pointing fingers and assessing blame, remember the blame that Jesus Christ took for us on the cross...bet it'll make you think twice about things. It sure did for me.



Feel free to leave some comments or share any stories you have, I'd love to read them!

I hope you dance

Tonight, I went to my West African Dance class, just like any other wednesday...

But today was different. We started a new dance today. A new EXTREMELY upbeat piece. One that took a TON of physical energy to do well.

I don't have too much to say about it, but it was completely freeing. Have you ever had a moment where you're doing something, and the whole rest of the world seems to blur away? That's what dancing is like for me. In this intense dance where I'm literally dancing my heart out, the rest of the world seems to vanish. And it's just me and the music.

God totally knew what He was doing when he created dancing. No wonder people dance as an act of worship, I am sitting here imagining what David felt like dancing for the Lord...nothing else mattered! It was just him, the Lord, and the music...he didn't even wear his clothes! I wanna dance like that! (Maybe keeping my clothes though haha!)

I'm glad God created dancing. I wonder what dancing before God in Heaven will be like...man I can't wait to find out...talk about one amazing party in the sky. Til then I can just keep doing what I can on earth here, but man, what an awesome party to look forward to!

Praise God!

At the end of the day...it's all the same food!

Here's something that's been weighing REALLY heavily on my heart the past few days.

Let's examine two restaurants. Restaurant-A and Restaurant-B.

Restaurant-A has excellent quality food. Everybody loves the food there. Some people have been going to eat there every week since they were little. After they leave this restaurant, they leave full, happy, and wanting to tell everyone about how they should go to this place.

Restaurant-B also has excellent quality food. Their menu is slightly different from Restaurant-A, but everybody who goes there loves the food there. Some people have also been going to this restaurant every week since they were little, and after they leave this restaurant, they leave full, happy, and wanting to tell everyone about how they should go to this place.

Now think about this: what if someone who had been going to Restaurant-A their whole life decided one day to test out the food at Restaurant-B? They went in, and said WOW! This food is great! I'm full, happy, and even though it's slightly different from the old place, I still love it!

The Problem: People who go to Restaurant-A every week do not think about the fact that the person who decided to eat at Restaurant-B is still getting the same nutrition, or that he is still leaving full and happy. All they care about is being upset about that person leaving the place they've always gone their whole life.



Now...imagine that these Restaurants were not Restaurants, but Churches.

Here's the part that bothers me...if we are all getting the same Jesus, the same Bible, the same Word...why does it matter what house we're in?

At the end of the day, we all get fed, we all leave happy, and we all leave wanting to tell everyone about how they should go to this place.

How come it seems that the bigger picture has been kinda lost...the one about being filled up with Christ so much that we pour out His love to others? No matter what the source, no matter which "restaurant," we all still get what we need, the tools to reach people for CHRIST!

At the end of the day, it's all the same food! Shouldn't we be GLAD that people are being fed and not starving, rather than being mad about the fact that they are eating at a new restaurant?



Feel free to leave comments.

Let Me Tell You a Little Story, Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7wEa8YTGhM

Here's a song and some images about the Dad from my last story...look at what our Heavenly Daddy did for us. Amazing.

He has risen! He has risen indeed!

God bless you this easter. If you need a place to come to church you're more than welcome to come with me. I'd love to go with you.

Let Me Tell You a Little Story

Hey friends-

I wanna tell you this story that is pretty powerful and has changed my life.

There once was this Dad. He was a great Dad. Like most dads, he had a love for his kids that is bigger than his love for himself. You could basically call him the perfect Dad, he gave his kids so many wonderful things to do, places to see, the works, taking complete joy in seeing his kids happy; never asking for much in return but for his kids to just love him back.

Pretty little family huh? Well, you all know how kids are, these kids started being rotten. They wanted more things than their Dad gave them, and started drifting away from him. They wanted to find out everything for themselves, and not just trust in what their Dad told them. Of course, this broke their Dad's heart. He cried every day that he didn't get to talk to his kids. All he wanted was to chat with them, but they didn't even talk to him. Oh this is the kicker, the kids finally only started talking to their dad when they needed something, money, new things, etc. Their Dad was glad to hear from them, but he wanted more, craved more. He wanted them in their good times too, not just their needing times.

Then, one day, their Dad had to make one of the most difficult decisions ever. He learned that his children had a disease and unless he did something, his kids would die. Of course, he wanted to do whatever he possibly could to save his children from dying. He loved them with every fiber of his being. Even if they didn't really talk to him anymore, he didn't care. They were still his children, he was still their Dad. So after going to the doctor, he learned that he could have a specific surgery that would save the kids lives...

There's one catch...the surgery would kill him.

He was totally distraught...he was terrified actually. He begged to know if there was ANY other way he could save his kid's lives and heal them without having to die, but this was the only way. Well in this case, love was stronger than fear, so their Dad agreed that he'd do whatever he needed to do so that his children could live.

That very next day, the Dad was cut open, and he died, but his blood saved his children. They got the treatment, and were cured of their disease; forever having a piece of their Dad inside them. And without him, they wouldn't be alive.

Then, a medical miracle happened. The nurses had called a time of death, but for some unexplainable reason, the heart monitor started beeping again! Their Dad wasn't dead! Sometimes things happen that can't be explained, and this was one of them. But their Dad was living again! And the children were so touched by their Dad's sacrifice that they begged him to forgive them and they wanted to have a relationship with him again. This was the happiest day of their Dad's life.





This story sound familiar? The doctor is God, the Dad is Jesus, and we are the children who will surely die without the help of our dad, our HEAVENLY father who LOVES us more than anything in the entire world, and who ROSE AGAIN after being crucified to SAVE us from OUR disease, sin.

This Easter weekend, remember this story. Remember the love of our Heavenly Father. Imagine if you had to die to save someone's life? Do you love anyone enough to do that? Well Jesus did that for the whole world.

If you haven't talked to your Heavenly Daddy in a while, it's never too late to start talking to him. He LOVES you and would be the happiest Daddy ever if his children talked to him.

God Bless.

If you'd like to come to church this weekend for your first time, or if you haven't been in a while and are scared, call me or email me, I'd love to have a friend with me at Easter church :)