Living for Your Glory

 Right now in life I am just in awe of what God is doing all around me I have never realized how blessed I truly am until these last few months. Because I took a risk for God, He has completely changed my life. He has opened my heart and showed me how to truly love people like He does. God has soften my heart and taught me how to trust again when I thought it would take so much longer. He has also given me a passion for Jr. High kids which I can't imagine my life without. About two weeks ago, I completed my CIY challenge from last summer and spent the weekend at Anderson University with 25 junior high kids. Throughout the whole weekend I got to watch these students grow in their faith and truly worship God, holding nothing back. The first night as we wrapped up, we went back to the church to crash for the night and had a chance to get in small groups. One of my best friends, Kat Ho and I lead a small group of about five girls. It was awesome to just talk to them about what God was teaching them and what their favorite part was. The main thing we talked about was trying to help them grasp the fact that God is not a feeling. CIY is a "mountain top" experience. It is so easy to get caught up in the music, the lights and the passion of the speakers. It’s easy to worship God when you are surrounded by people who are pursuing God has hard as you are with no distractions. What matters is coming back changed and worshiping God through the good times and bad times. To be honest the first session, God convicted me of getting caught up in the feeling and expecting His presence in a selfish way. God had to put my heart back in the right place and reassure me that He is a person; He is real and much more than a feeling. I got as much out of that weekend as the students did. The week before I went to CIY was not that great. I was really stressed about school and life. I was frustrated and jealous that everyone knew what God wanted them to do with their life and I still have no clue. Saturday at CIY, the lady who was doing worship said something that I will never forget. As we finished singing a slow song, the lights got dim and she said "do you know there are no mistakes in this room, no 'oops'. Then said read Ephesians 2:10 which says "For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." This has become my life verse. It just amazes me that before God created the Earth, He had a plan for my life right now. The God of the Universe thinks I’m a beautiful masterpiece and finds delight in me, now that just blows my mind. The worry about my future plans diminished and I know that God has a plan and as long as I follow Him in everything, He will work everything together in His time. So Lord, I'm living for Your glory and I am so excited to see what you have planned for me!