Wednesday, December 18, 2013

h o m e


I'm thankful for rest. 
I'm thankful for waking up to the sun rather than an alarm clock.
I'm thankful for quiet times on my porch.
I'm thankful for laying in my bed as long as I want, digging into the Lord's word.
I'm thankful for a good book.
I'm thankful for my mom's cooking.
I'm thankful for my family.
I'm thankful for honest, sweet, grace filled conversations with friends.
I'm thankful for the place I get to call home. 

My first semester in college I feel like I have constantly been on the go, never stopping. I've never been one for just sitting around. I was just running through the motions of my set and planned out days. [class-quiet time-coffee-class-lunch-class-homework-YL/bible study/babysitting-dinner-sleep]. It was all rushed, only to reach the next thing on the list. Even my times with the Lord, I felt like were rushed & I didn't truly take time to be still in His presence. Being home, forcing myself to rest, to be still, not always on the go and soaking in my time with Jesus has allowed me to open my eyes. To open my eyes and to realize what the Lord has been teaching my these past few months and how I have grown. I'm so grateful for this time and the ways it's taught me to slow down.

Being Christmas season, there is still a lot of presents to be bought, lights to be seen, friends to catch up with, books to be read, pictures to be taken, and so much more. But I'm stepping back and rejoicing in the birth that turned this world upside down. The birth of the One who came for me and for you. Jesus Christ. Born in a stable, from a teenage girl. Not an extravagant anything. A stable. So that we now walk with God, because Jesus Christ was born. Wow. That is Christmas season. I will delight and rest in knowing that Jesus came as Emmanuel. God with us.


Tuesday, December 3, 2013

I can't keep quiet about You.

"I could care less about evidence and proof and assurances. I just want God. I want God inside me. I want God to play in my bloodstream the way the sunlight amuses itself on water."

I'm on fire. I'm on fire for a King who created the entire universe, yet knows me and calls me by my name. For a King who loves me with a deeper love than I could ever imagine. How could I ever sit back and keep quiet about the One who volunteered to die for me, who took on my brokenness, my pride, my self-righteousness, my envy. Everything. I caused His death, yet He wants me to lay everything at His feet, to give it all to Him. WHAT? It doesn't make sense. How do we manage to go through life and just skim by this.

I've come to realize it more and more in college. How many broken people, just like myself, walk on this campus. Who I pass by every single day. Some who will never get to hear of this incredible love story, who will fill themselves with things that will not satisfy them, that will make them even more empty. He has called me, Sarah, to rise up, to GO.

{Isaiah 43:1}
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you, Sarah;
I have summoned you, Sarah;
Sarah you are mine.

{Isaiah 61:1}
The Spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me,
for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to comfort the broken hearted
and to proclaim that captives will be released,
prisoners will be freed.

Today I have my interview to become a Young Life leader. To have the opportunity to do just what two of my leaders, now best friends did for me in high school. To enter into high schoolers lives and to live life with them. And along the way, to share the Gospel with them. Sharing that they are loved and chosen by Christ. That they are known and named by Christ. That they are fearless and safe in Christ. That they are brave, always with Christ. I can't keep quiet about Him. I'm overflowing with His joy and want nothing more to pour that joy and love into other people, so that they too can experience the richness of a life with the King.