Who do you think Jesus is?

Or, more aptly, what do you think Jesus is like?

I think so many people have a perception of God, big and angry, sitting on a throne in heaven just waiting for the opportunity to strike us down with lighting bolts of wrath whenever we mess up.

Why?

I’ll admit that I sometimes catch myself thinking of Jesus in same terms I would think of a mythical creature: distant, unattainable, and far away.  But that’s just not true.

Last week was a rough week for me.  My husband went back to medical school, which was a drastic change to the amazing summer we just spent together.  I was feeling lonely and a little sorry for myself, and two of my best friends from college came to visit me. 

It was such a great feeling to see them.  To know that when I was feeling sad and bummed out on life, I had people who were there for me that I could talk to.

So we talked.  We talked about life and our dreams and our heartache.  We laughed and vented and told sad stories over bacon dip and the wine that costs four dollars at publix.

And do you know what that is?  That is love.  Friends that band together and just experience life for a minute.  Are sad for a minute.  Are happy for a minute.  Just live for a minute.  That is friendship, and that is love.

Jesus?  He is my friend.

And in moments like this weekend, I remember it even more. 

He’s always here, of course.  But in moments where I experience such a pure form of friendship, I am reminded of how that is exactly who Jesus is.  He loves me relentlessly.  He is not sitting around, waiting on me to mess up.  He is waiting on me to accept His friendship.  He beckons me into a relationship with Him, but not one of rules and punishments, as we so often think.  But rather, one of life.  One of discussion.  One of late night talks about dreams and heartache, lost chances and hopes for the future.  I may not know a lot, but I can confidently say I truly believe that is the kind of friend Jesus is. 

And if he was here in person, I think He would have been at my girl’s night.  He wouldn't have been sitting in the corner, scowling and waiting on us to mess up.  Instead, I think He would have laughed along and had a glass of wine with us.  He would have listened to our sad stories and given us advice on life, telling us not to worry.  He would have hurt along with us as we hurt, and rejoiced over our small victories with us.  Because that's just the kind of God that He is.  

Jesus is a friend, you guys.  I'm sorry if that's not the version of Jesus you were introduced to, but let me tell you from first-hand experience:  He is the best friend you could ever have. 

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Higher than I.

There are days where I feel like where I want to be is so far away from where I actually am. 

Weeks that are so busy, I feel like I should receive a worst wife of the year award for all the things I didn't get done. 

Days where work is so stressful that when I finish for the day, I want to sleep for two days.

Where my to-do list and got-done list are vastly different in size.   

And sometimes, all of these things happen at once. 

And that, my friends, is what we call overwhelming.

Overwhelmed looks different for everyone, but it happens to all of us, every once in a while. 

It would be really cool if we could just talk about our dreams and go after them and reach them, all the while keeping up with our to-do lists and the rest of life like pros, and never ever feel overwhelmed.  

But I'm pretty sure that's impossible.

Something I do know, though, is this: when my heart is overwhelmed, there is a Rock higher than I. {Psalm 61:2}

He knows I'm overwhelmed, and He is there.  To listen, to encourage, to renew and refresh. 

In an overwhelming world, He is a steady foundation--those don't come along too often. 

This is an incredible gift we have been given. 

A constant in our busy lives.  A quiet place in the midst of a world that never stops making noise. 

And sometimes, we need that. 

If you're overwhelmed today, I hope you take refuge in a God that knows you inside and out, and is there for you every second of your incredibly busy day. 

And if you're not overwhelmed, remember to be thankful that we have such a God, and take a few moments to rest in Him anyway. 

I hope you all have an amazing Tuesday!  Head over to Chevron & Lace to enter to win yourself some pretty things!

Freedom.

I had an amazing time celebrating yesterday, as I know the majority of America did.

my amazing parents.

fourth of july snuggles. 

just chillin' in the pool, no big. 

Why did we celebrate?
Well, most of us were taking advantage of a day off.
But the reason we celebrate?
We celebrate our freedom.
We live in a beautiful and place were we have freedom that is not given in many other places because of the sacrifices that many made on our behalf.
So we celebrate.
We eat hotdogs and go swimming and watch fireworks and spend the day with the people we love.
Because we are free, and that is worth celebrating.

I had an amazing day yesterday, and I am so thankful for the freedom I have.
It made me think of how I am not only free because of the country I live in, but I am free in another aspect, too.
I have an ultimate freedom because of an ultimate sacrifice.

The Bible reminds us over and over again that we have freedom. That we have been set free.

I run in the path of Your commands, for You have set my heart free. 

-Psalm 119:32

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 

-John 8:36

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

-2 Corinthians 3:17

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.

-Galatians 5:1

In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

-Ephesians 3:12

I am so incredibly thankful for that freedom.  That is a freedom worth celebrating.  
Remember that.  
You have been given the incredibly precious gift of ultimate freedom. 
So celebrate.
Not just sometimes, on special occassions. 
Not just on Sundays. 
Live a life of celebration because of the freedom you have been given. 
Jesus didn't come so we could have stuffy, boring lives that don't really amount to anything. 
He came so we could have life. 
Not only life, but abundant life. 
And abundant life is worth celebrating. 
An abundant life is a life celebrated. 
So celebrate. 

Well hello there.

I'm back!
And apparently my blog post letting you guys know I was going awol didn't actually post..so, sorry about that.
I've been in Haiti!  I went on a medical trip there with my husband (a medical student), and we were a part of a team that pretty much set up a little clinic in a different village each day where people could see a doctor, get medicine, and do other things they don't have resources to do over there.

I could write a lot about Haiti.
I could write about how it was really wonderful.
How beautiful all the places we went were.
How amazing it was to get to help people who were really, truly in need.
I could write about how hard it was.
How it was scary to fall asleep with people screaming bloody murder and playing voodoo drums outside.
How heartbreaking it was to have to turn hundreds of people away that probably won't be able to get the help they need.
I could write a lot about it, and eventually, I probably will.  But today, I want to write about something else.
About how it feels to come back from a trip like that.

I started thinking about this while I was still there, because I know how hard things like that usually are.
You spend a week immersed in utter poverty, and then you come home to America.
And for awhile you feel passionate and purposeful.
And then you feel guilty.
And then you just forget.

I was read this while I was over there:
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." -James 1:27

That verse always encourages me so much, but when I read it then, it honestly made me sad.  Because over there, it was so easy.  Orphans and widows were everywhere with great needs, and it was easy to look after them when that's what the whole purpose of being there was.  But here?  In America?  Not so much.
Because realistically, am I going to be able to take care of orphans and widows every day of my life here?  No.  So is it ever going to be possible to have real and pure religion here? That just bothered me.

So I did what I usually do when I get frustrated with something I read in the Bible: I kept reading.  And I found this, and it was exactly what I needed to hear:
"But if you fulfill the royal law as expressed in this scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well." -James 2:8

I may not come in contact with widows and orphans every day.  I won't always be able to hand out medicine to those that are sick.  But love people?  That I can do.  And here, I think that can sometimes be worth more than food or medicine or anything material, because the good portion of people I run into on a daily basis aren't lacking material things.  But love, a love so pure that it's the same love someone would show themselves--that is rare.  And that is something everyone needs.

That encouraged me so much.  I may not can help people as much as I would like to be able to, but I can sure love the heck out of them.  And if I love them--really love them, without motives or requiring anything in return--then hey, I'm doing okay.

Legacy.

"What kind of life to you want to be able to reflect on when you are facing death?"

This {sort of morbid} question was posed by the pastor at the church we visited tonight.

And while it's uncomfortable to think about, it's also amazingly inspiring.

I'm turning twenty-one this weekend, and there's nothing like starting a new year to make you reflect.

On what I want to do.
On what I want to be.
On who I want to be.
And, after tonight, what sort of life I want to be able to reflect on when I am facing death.

So.  What sort of life do you want to be able to reflect on when you are facing death?

Uncomfortable, yes.  But also extremely freeing.

Why?

Because you are the one who gets to decide the answer to that question.  You are the one who determines what your legacy will be.  You are the one who decides what people will remember your life for.  What type of mark you will leave on the world.

So what will it be, then?

There are so many choices to make and things to do and so many experiences to have.  I hope you make wonderful choices that lead you great places, that you do amazing things, and that you have incredible experiences.

But at the end of the day, if it isn't ultimately all for God . . . then man, you guys.  It wasn't worth anything.

"I am the master of my fate.  I am the captain of my soul." -W. E. Henley

These words have been replaying over in my mind today.

Yes, I believe that God has an amazing plan for my life.  For your life.
But He has placed the pen that will write the legacy we have in our hands.
What a huge responsibility.
What an incredible gift.

I hope that today you will reflect on what type of life you want to be able to one day look back on.  I hope that you will then decide to start living that life, right this very second.

"For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be who you want to be.  There's no time limit, stop whenever you want.  You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing.  We can make the best or the worst of it.  I hope you make the best of it.  And I hope you see things that startle you.  I hope you feel things you never felt before.  I hope you meet people with a different point of view.  I hope you live a life you're proud of.  If you find that you are not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again."

-F. Scott Fitzgerald

Let's talk.

Let's talk about loving Jesus.

Let's talk about being cool and fitting in.

Let's talk about showing others how we love Jesus.

Let's talk.

Here's the deal, friends.  My mom sent me this article this morning.  I love it.  I agree with it.  And unless you read it, this blog may not make a ton of sense to you.

It's okay, I'll wait here while you read.

Got it?  Wonderful.

I posted it on my instagram and received some comments that made me think about it a lot more.

Don't worry, I'm not going to rant about the article {even though I think it is fantastic} or insta-oppinions.

I want to talk about something else.

I think that culturally, we have been trying to change the message of Jesus, whether we realize it or not.

Trying to make it softer, make it cooler, make it more accepting.

Trying to make it fit in more--so it will reach more people, of course.

In doing this, we've gone as far as disengaging ourselves from something as pure as calling ourselves Christians.

We've picked which parts of the Bible will reach people the most, and we've left out the rest.

When the topics of gay marriage, or abortion, or unmarried sex come up, we tend to pretend the Bible doesn't have clear views on those things.

My aunt texted me after reading that article and said this:

"It's not our message to change to our personal beliefs.  

It's His message to share with others.  People forget that."

And I think, that maybe, we have. 

"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" {Luke 10:27}

Love God.  Love People.

It's that simple.

Love God.

Love the things He has said.

The words He has left behind for you.

Love People.

Love them enough to tell them those things.

Love them enough to love them with full on Christianity, not with with a watered down version you've created for yourself.

Love them enough to be yourself around them, not a watered down version of yourself tailored to them and their feelings.

I believe in Jesus.  I call myself a Christian.

Does that mean that I agree and am linking myself to all the crazy people who have done horrible things in the name of Christianity?

No.

Does that mean I'm saying that I am affiliated with the ignorant people who want to burn the Koran and blame it on their Christianity?

No.

I mean, let's just put this into perspective.  I'm a female.  In the history of humanity, there have been some crazy females who have done horrific things, like murder their families.

So should I not call myself a female, because I don't want to be affiliated with them in any way?

Yeah, that'll do the trick.

I mean, really.  Come on guys.  If you follow Christ, YOU follow Christ.  It doesn't mean you follow every other individual who claims to follow Christ.  It means that YOU follow Christ.

I am by no means perfect.

I do not even come close to measuring up to the standards set for us in the Bible.

But that's why Jesus came for me, and that is why I happily claim His name.

When I say I am a Christian, I mean that I am a follower of Christ, and I will not apologize for that.

Nor will I try to make it something that it's not.

Yes, there are some churches out there with some seriously skewed beliefs.  I grew up in church and am fully aware of the backwardness and hypocrisy in some churches.

But let's not forget, Jesus calls the church His bride.

{So going to church is nothing to apologize for.}

A bride that He loved enough to die for.

Do not dishonor that by being ashamed of His name.

Do you know how you can make up for the ugliness of some churches?

By doing what Jesus has called us to do.  Love people with His love.  Share HIS message with them, not yours.

Love God.

Love People.

An unpopular opinion.

My friend texted me this morning with a question.

Should you throw a baby shower for an unmarried woman?

I gave her my opinion, one that I know I’m pretty alone in.

Yes, I think you should.  Because that’s the woman who needs support and love and gifts, because she’s going to be doing this alone.  And regardless of the circumstances, children are a gift from God, and don’t deserve to have a lesser life because of something their parents did wrong.

Then came the kicker.

What if it’s a married man’s baby?  He told her he wasn’t married, but he is, and it’s his baby.

Ouch.

I thought about it, and told her my answer was still the same. 

No, I don’t think you should stand up in front of church and say “hooray, we’re going to celebrate this!”  But that doesn’t mean you abandon her and throw her out on her own. 

Her response hurt my heart.

Try telling my church that.

Jesus came for the sick, you guys.

He came for the sinners.

He came for the broken.

And let’s be honest here:  if this woman had been having sex with a man that she wasn’t married to, realized it was wrong and was sorry, no one would have any problem.  She would be accepted and loved on, and even glorified for her testimony.  But because that resulted in a pregnancy, she’s an outcast.  A sinner.  Unredeemable.  When really, she did the same thing, merely the result was different.

Why is that?  Because sometimes, some of us get churchy.

And we put our churchy pants on.

And we don’t care about the sin.

We care about the appearance.

This isn’t about a baby shower. 

I hope that women of God will rally around this woman and her child and encourage her.

I hope they will pray for her and offer her friendship and assistance.

But this is about more than that.

This is about the fact that we seem to have forgotten that Jesus came for the sick.

We’re more comfortable sitting in church and organizing events and taking missions trips than we are with getting involved with people who are living messed up lives.

It’s easier to go to another country where people have never heard about Jesus and love on them than it is to reach out to people who have heard about Jesus and are living opposite of that.  It’s harder to love on them.

It's harder to love on the promiscuous girl. 

It's harder to love on the gay guy. 

It's harder to love on the intelligent atheist. 

It's harder to love on the one who knows about Jesus, but chooses to live a lifestyle of partying and destruction instead. 

It's easier to politely forget about them. 

To turn our head and cary on with our church business and just leave them alone. 

Sin is messy.

It is ugly.

It is not pristine and clean.

That’s why Jesus had to come.

And, hello, if you’re confused about how to reach out to people living in sin, take a look at Jesus’ life and how He lived it.

After all, we’re supposed to be following that example, are we not?

Or have we sacrificed that too, for the sake of a pristine appearance?

When was the last time you befriended someone living in sin?

And just rolled up your sleeves and wallowed through the mud with them?

When did you last grab on to them and promise to not let go, no matter what?

No matter how messy it got

No matter what other people thought

No matter how it made you look

No matter how frustrating it got

Until you had shown them the unconditional love of Jesus that was so graciously given to you?

That, my friends, is what it’s all about.  

Dreams.

We all have dreams, right?
Things we want to accomplish.
Ways we want to impact the world.
There's something I've noticed lately, especially with myself.
We don't really talk about our dreams.
There are plenty of reasons for this, of course.
We aren't sure if they'll ever actually come true.
We get caught up in the monotony of life.
Or the business of life.
Or, for me--fear.
I don't talk about my dreams because I'm afraid of failing.
Or of what people will think.
Or that I'll fail, and what people will think about me failing.

Do you know that some form of the phrase "do not be afraid" appears 365 times in the Bible?  I've seen things about this several times this week--through pinterest, other blogs, and twitter.  It seems to be blowing up right in front of my face.
And you know, it has really made me think.

God did not give us dreams so we could be afraid of them.
And God sure enough did not give us dreams so we would ignore them out of fear.
This has really challenged me this week, and truly given me a new perspective.

"I want to be a writer."
Sure, that's easy enough to say in conversation.
But when people ask questions beyond that, like "what do you want to write?" or, "what are you working on now?" I tend to change the subject.
Why?
Because what if I tell them, and then I fail at it?
Today, I have decided that I am done thinking that way.

I want to be a writer.
I am currently writing a book.
There are thirty-nine days until my twenty-first birthday, and my goal is to have a completed {unedited, but completed} manuscript ready by my birthday.
That is my goal.
That is my dream.
Sure, there's a chance that I could fail at that.  But that is certainly NO reason not to try.

It feels really freaking good to write that down.
What's your dream?
You should write it down.
You should tell be.
You should not be afraid. 

"For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

-2 Timothy 1:7