You are Beautiful. You are loved. You are so much more than enough. -God It's been five weeks since I settled into my new home, in a tiny college dorm room with the best of memories already flowing through it. It's been incredible seeing how God is working through me, my friends, the campus ministries, and this school since I've been here. I have made friends that I know will last a lifetime and taken classes that have challenged me more than ever before. It's truly amazing to see God's work in a new environment and in a new and developing chapter of my life. At least one night a week, some friends and I get together and have a girls night and discuss the things that weird us out about college. One of the things all of us have noticed is that it's incredibly hard to stand out. Everyone here is intelligent and talented and beautiful: how do you compete with that? It's been an adjustment trying to figure out how to still be myself while being in a group of people that make it incredibly challenging to make a mark on this school and the people in it. Self confidence has been a hard thing, not only for me, but for my friends and for others. It's intimidating to see how special God has made the people we encounter everyday but we need to remember that he included us in that too. God says many things in bible about self image and one that I think speaks volumes comes from the book of Matthew. 6:25-27 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" The material things of this world are not important to God and they shouldn't be to you. He tells us over and over again not to find validation in others, but to find it in Him. One of my favorite examples of this comes from the Fruits of the Spirit. Galatians 5 says, "25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other". Another key component of self love, if not the most important, is that it doesn't come from ourselves. If we search for happiness and validation from within, we will end up empty and at a dead end. None of us can fathom how much God really loves us and we won't entirely feel that love until we stand before him in heaven. It would be pointless to look for that kind of love and assurance within in ourselves when we can not even comprehend how great it is. What can I take away from this? -God made you special -You are beautiful and worth so much more than what the world says you are -We are called to stand out and that starts by putting all of our validation in Christ -Love yourself because God loves you and that love is greater than we will ever come to understand -Trying to find joy and validation within yourself and others only leads to a dead end -You aren't adding any value to your life by worrying about what others (and yourself) think It is easy to fall into the pressures of doing what everyone else is doing just to fit in or to feel less intimidated. If you're feeling self conscious or less than beautiful remember that you were created from God's image and he is perfect and you are perfect to him. Lean not on your own understanding, but fully rely on Him and try looking for validation in the God that created you. We are all just trying to "fit in", but try standing out for God by putting your full trust in Him. Happy happy Thursday! Life has been crazy as I just wrapped up my first month as a college freshman. God has been showing me incredible things through the people I've met and the connections I've made and I'm so blessed to be able to share those experiences with you. Remember that you are beautiful and nothing less! God bless, Sydney The pictures below are from Key West 6 months ago when I visited with my Manya. In light of recent events, I found it necessary to take a moment and add these as a reminder to keep those effected in our prayers.
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Here I am Lord, send me.
Isaiah 6:8 If you've been reading my blog for a while then you've most likely read a post or two on mission trips; what I did while I was on one and why you shouldn't go on them. You can probably infer from those posts that I am a huge fan of mission trips, I think they are great. You get to go somewhere locally or out of the state or out of country and serve people. Not only do you get to show God's love to them, but his love builds stronger within you. For however long you're on this trip, your faith has probably never been so strong and your spiritual life is on fire. It's an amazing feeling and it sometimes last for weeks or months after you get back from them, but eventually that fire burns out and we turn back to our everyday lives. What if I told you there was a way to change that. Why not go on a mission trip everyday of your life? Sounds a little strange, but we're called to serve, so why not serve the people we're around every single day. I'm not saying you have to go out in your community and start fixing some random persons house(although that would make a bold statement), but rather start living a life with God as the biggest part. With the recent events in Texas, we've all seen incredible examples of brothers and sisters serving one another. In a extremely difficult time, people have set aside their own needs in order to help others survive. I can't think of a better definition for serving, but just for a comparison I used the best dictionary out there; Google. To serve means to perform duties or services for (another person or an organization). It's heartwarming to see people serving others in saddening times such as those of Hurricane Harvey, especially when the worlds been a negative place, but how exactly do we serve others in our day-to-day lives. Normally, I would have come up with a list of things you could do everyday to keep the spiritual high of a mission trip in your heart, but I don't think that really applies here. The thing about serving, is that it's different for everyone, so unfortunately there's not a set list of things to do. I think rather that God calls each of us to serve differently. The most important way to serve, I think, is to show God's love through your actions. Serving isn't necessarily physically doing something for someone else, it can also be what you don't do. People notice when you don't do something. For instance, if I someone didn't hold the door for me I would notice, not because I expect it, but because I was raised to always hold the door for others. Something as simple as that can change someones view of christians. Seems a little scary, but I think of it as an opportunity to show God's love. When we don't conform to hate or to the generation of people that don't hold doors, we're serving not only others, but also God. The best ways to serve each other is to listen for what God is calling you to do. He can sometimes give us weird instructions, but if there's a will, there's a way, especially if it's God's. You never know when an opportunity to share your testimony or share God's love with someone may present itself. The second part of serving has to do with how you prepare to serve. What would you say to someone that doesn't know about God's love? Would you be prepared to share with someone your beliefs and why? To go along with the mission trip theme, this would be a lot like a devotion. Study the Bible and learn more about God, grow in your relationship with Him so that you'll be able to help others grow. Now what exactly does the Bible say about all of this? Galatians 5:13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh ; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 1 Samuel 12:24 But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you. Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” 1 Peter 4:10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. Matthew 20: 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave-- 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Romans 12:9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Happy Tuesday! Thanks for reading today's post. I hope you enjoyed my take on an everyday mission trip. My thoughts and prayers go out to those effected(affected?) by Hurricane Harvey and other natural disasters. Keep serving those around you, and don't forget to thank God for giving you those opportunities. God bless, Sydney |
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