Reflect on His gifts

I was reflecting this morning on how much my life has changed in the last year.  The crazy amount of new people I have met- the people that are challenging me, the people that I am mentoring, the people who are closest to me.  It's an amazing thing to think about, that God placed each and every one of them in my life for a purpose.  Even cooler to think about the fact that we try to figure out what the purpose is for them in our lives, but I think we will never cease to be amazed by the numerous purposes they will have in our lives.  
About a year ago I started praying for the Lord to challenge me in new ways.  I constantly doubted my knowledge of the Lords Word and my knowledge of how to teach others.  Well... He soon slammed a lot of those answers in my face.  I was meeting so many people whom had these extremely differn't opinions and thoughts about Christianity than I had ever learned.  The more I thought about what I had heard, I knew they couldn't be true.  These teachings just didn't seem like things Jesus would do and teach, and didn't seem like ways the Lord would want us to be living, and just didn't sound glorifying to Him.  I soon learned after seeking after the Lord, that I had been hearing numerous false teachings, and then from that using His Word to learn the real truths.  I have grown so much in my knowledge of Him just in the last year, and I know that was answered prayer to my asking for Him to challenge me. 
I love spending time reflecting on what He has done in my life, the gifts that He has provided me with, it's glorifying to Him.  Spend some time today just praising Him for the things He has done in your life, whether it be that He has put certain people in your life, put you in new situations, taught you new things, brought you peace... whatever it has been, give Him praise.  Give and you will receive from Him.

Psalm 147:1- "Praise the Lord.  How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise Him!"

Opening a closed door

Wow, it's been a long time since I last wrote, but I'm so excited to get back into the rhythm of it, it's a passion of mine that I long to share!

God has been present and so good. And when I say good, I don't mean, the robotic, "I'm good, how are you?" I mean, He has been GOOD. So good, and all of the time. I love listening, just sitting, thinking, and listening to what He has me processing. I lose track of the things I hear, because He speaks so well and so much. No, I'm not hearing a little man speaking into my ear the truths and wisdom of life, I'm experiencing what He has for me. I'm listening and hearing Him through my actions and responses. It's mind boggling to me, the simplicity of how it sounds, but the magnitude of what it means.
Ah, but the tough spots have come often and harshly lately, and still through these trials, I am learning so much from my Good God. Doors have opened, and many doors have closed. But I am so proud and comforted by being able to say, I know my Good God will get me through! I truly believe that, and it's just another simplistic sentence, but has such strong depth. Trusting Him... it's so hard, please hear me out, it is not easy. It's something for me that I have come to learn after long, harsh, painful, yet exciting experiences He has put me through. But without a doubt, listen up, it has (and that is trusting Him) brought me nothing but complete JOY. I can't stress that enough, He brings me joy, end of story. He is the reason I am able to love, in which love brings so much more to the plate in my life. It opens a door, a door that was closed in my meaningless, dark, loveless life before Christ. John 10:10 says, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." I can have life to the full! The full, to love, to laugh, to glorify, to speak, to fellowship, to do all these things in the Name of The Lord. I have the blessing of being able to say... He is mine, and I am His.
And so are you. Open the door, it's not supposed to be closed, open it so that the Light can shine in.

xo, carly

Be Still

Not knowing what I'm going to do when I have things to do drives me crazy! On the other hand I can't stand having a plan when I have nothing to do! The Lord is teaching me a lot about patience and being confident in His great power. I have found myself lately wanting to know exactly what I'm going to be doing for Him next. But I've been finding Him saying, "Be still and know that I am God." That references Psalm 46:10, which says, "Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth." God isn't going to let us see clear every stone in our path that we will step on, but we can trust that He will guide us. Something I have been thinking a lot about, standing still in God and knowing who He is. What on earth does that mean and how do I do it? Be still- stop the hustle bustle of your life and stop and be with the Lord. "Know that I am God"- worship and meditate on who our creator is, realize the unfathomable being that our Lord is, know that there is no one like Him and the crazy amount of love for us He has. We serve a Lord who is greater than all, He has amazing love, grace, and mercy, He is creator and destroyer, He is the beginning and the end, He is our Lord and Savior. I shall be still in the Lord and know that He is God.

He's there: EVERYWHERE

I nanny and I nannied a family recently for the week. So the kids had to get used to the fact that KLOVE was the only radio station that I played. So one day in the middle of the week one of the little girls said, "hey Carly I like that song Oh Sliver!" and I'm thinking to myself what the heck is that?? So I told her I'd tried to figure out what it was and a day or two passed. "Oh Sliver" came on the radio and she got SO excited. I busted with excitement when I found out the Oh Sliver song she loved so much was really called "What a Savior" by Laura's Story! My little one knew most of the words and she was BELTING them out, not caring what anyone thought! It brought tears of joy to my eyes. I explained to her what she was singing and sure she may not have understood but maybe she did and how cool is it that she'll probably be singing that around her friends now. AND the coolest part, she was glorifying God by loudly busting this song and she may have not even known. God is SO good. And cool. And awesome. And amazing. And jaw dropping. And unfathomable. He's OUR savior. How blessed are we? Incredibly. I always say this but it's true, I'm blown away by the things our God does for us to show us He IS present in our lives even in the times where we feel like we're carrying the wait of the world. HE IS THERE! HE'S EVERYWHERE (:
Praise Him for that today! Just take a couple minutes, take a walk, a drive,whatever! Just do it, praise Him for who He is!

Beauty

God made a BEAUTIFUL day today in Virginia Beach! I nanny and right now Im walking down the street with the stroller in amazement of what a beautiful day it turned out to be! When I got up and went to class today it was FREEZING but what a complete 180 it has made! Ya know when you walk outside you usually hear a couple lawn mowers and just all that background noise of work being done? It's silent today, all I can hear is the swaying trees with the light wind and my footsteps on the road! How peaceful right? It's a gift, I wouldn't think twice not to call it that! Whether it lasts just a few minutes or a couple of hours, I will cherish it! "Your eyes will see the king in his beauty and view a land that stretches afar." (4Isaiah 33:17 NIV) That verse in my opinion explains this day. I can see our Gods greatness in viewing the creation of lands in which he has made.

God,
Let us stop and enjoy your beauty today! You have created an amazing world for us, give us the opportunity to fully appreciate it!
In Your Sons Awesome Name!
Amen

Have a spectacular day (:

PRAYse be to God!

So I am continuing to be amazed by God. I truly don't know if there is anything better than getting confirmation from the Lord about something you have been continually praying about. He's so good and shocks me with the plans He has. I have learned recently how much I absolutely love to pray! It is so cool that we have a way of communicating with our creator! Anytime I get the chance I just love to sit (preferably by the water) and just talk to God, pray about struggles, ask for advice and just praise Him for His presence in my life! It's blows my mind how He responds! For anyone who says prayer doesn't work, I beg to differ! (: Praise be to God today for He is awesome!

Set a fire in my heart!

Those six words can sum up how amazing last night and today have been. I've been at Acquire the Fire with my church youth group, but I've been able to experience it from the "adult" perspective! Being able to watch the younger girls and guys just worship with all they have has been simply incredible. I have also met some incredible people, whom God has so smoothly put into my life. How wonderful are Gods plans to intertwine all of us into each others paths. This weekend has been also very spiritually renewing to me, and in a few different ways! Worshipping with my full heart just putting away everything around me and completely focusing on God. I've had this feeling in the pit of my stomach all day long (holy spirit!) that's just been making me SO happy. I've talked to a couple people who have just been encouraging me with what I have been facing lately and I'm so thankful God provided those people to advise me! Lastly the messages in which are being spoken to the whole group are incredibly perfect timing for me! And the neatest thing is hearing how those messages were perfect for someone else and me at the same thing referring to two different things! I know that God so purposely planned for me to be put on this trip after not thinking I would be able to because of conflict of work or not being able to afford it, but God provided and I feel so blessed to be here this weekend! Romans 5:8 says "but God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." That sums up this weekend, just experiencing the grace of Jesus Christ.