Camera in hand, seeking out the Lord. {week five}

I feel challenged by this past week. Several things happened that would cause me to be frustrated, and I had to choose between letting it affect me and being happy. I let difficult times affect me more than I care to admit. But when I'm frustrated and at my wits end, there's always a Voice that invites me to a quiet place for rest. 

Here's where I saw Jesus this past week: 

- J

Camera in hand, seeking out the Lord. {week four}

We are finally at FOUR weeks of this series. I can't wait to see how Kyleigh and I continue grow in love for our Savior.

This past week was definitely a rough one. Rough patches like this force me into pleading for help from someone so much bigger than me or you. The results are much better when I find my strength in God, rather than trying to make it on my own. 

Here is week four of "Where I See Jesus"

- J

Camera in hand, seeking out the Lord. {week three}

I love that I'm doing this series with my friend because it causes me to intentionally find something to be grateful for each day. I am so thankful for my God who reveals Himself to me in so many different ways. I love how He shows me He loves me in ways specific to myself and how I recognize love. He knows what my so called "love language" is. But I don't even need a test to know that I am very much someone who needs to be SHOWN love in a tangible way. I have always been a visual person. This has often caused a lot of doubt in my life because I can't see God how I see a friend, or the paper I'm writing on. A lot of my raw and vulnerable prayers to God have involved me expressing my frustration in not being able to "see" Him. But because God wants me to see Him, He intentionally shows himself in ways I will recognize. God doesn't show himself in the full splendor that would cause me to fall on my face, but He shows me HIMSELF in so many other ways. I see Him in my relationships with others, in my family members, in His creation, and in the grace that is given to me every day. I see him in ways I would've usually ignored. Now I see Him in things like having a silly little tradition of going to Starbucks with my friend each Sunday. I see Him in the quiet moments of life like in the car while I'm driving. I see Him in random road trips with a friend. You can see God in every little thing, you just have to look. 

Here's where I saw Jesus this past week:

- J

Camera in hand, seeking out the Lord. {week two}

Here goes week two of this wonderful little series. 

This week was hard. It was one of those "bland" weeks where it's even more difficult for me to see Jesus through all of the crap. However, this made me seek Him out even more fervently. Like someone in a desert searching desperately for water. He quenches my thirst for something more. 

I need to accept that sometimes I won't always have fantastic days. Bad days (or weeks) cause me to grow. They cause me to lean on something bigger and higher than myself. 

Here's where I saw Jesus this week:

FaceTiming my family in Target.

Little animals know when I've had a rough day. 

Driving home is when I have the best talks with my Savior. 

- J

Camera in hand, seeking out the Lord. {week one}

What would your life look like if you intentionally sought out Jesus daily? Desperately seeking the beauty of God. 

It is so incredibly easy to pass through your day with a glazed over expression. How many people do the SAME thing day after day, that it's hard to find beauty in the repetition? I know that I tend to be one of those people. I'm so focused on getting through the day in one piece that I forget to just STOP for a second and look around me at the wonderful world my God has created. I sometimes feel as though I don't "see" God in my daily life. And in all honesty, I had been blaming GOD instead of looking inward.

 

I expressed these feelings to a close friend of mine, Kyleigh. She is a fellow dreamer. In fact, she's the one who inspired me to start dreaming BIG again. We regularly talk to one another about what we want to "be" when we grow up. She's taught me that I don't have to limit myself to one thing. If I want to be a musician/blogger/traveller/designer/photographer, I CAN BE. She's what one would call a super encourager, and I love her to death for it. 

In my conversation with her, we uncovered that we were BOTH having a hard time seeing/feeling God in our lives. I found that I was the reason I wasn't seeing God, because I wasn't LOOKING for Him. I was too wrapped up in other things not as important. So instead of continuing in that way, I feel as though God showed us something we could do about it. 

We both are very visual people, and we LOVE taking pictures and blogging. So here enters our idea or "exercise". We decided to combine our passions and start what I like to call: "This is where I saw Jesus today." We will be intentionally looking for God in our lives, once a day (or more), one week at a time, and documenting it with a camera. My friend so lovingly called this using our "Jesus lens".  The possibilities are endless. We'll be posting our seven days every Sunday. (Yes, I've already missed the deadline. Whoops.) God has already revealed His amazing glory so much in week one of this exercise. He is completely WORTHY to be praised.

I pray that God will use this exercise to help Kyleigh and myself to see Him in a whole new, and loving way. I also pray that God would use us to point others to Him in all that we do. 

You can see Kyleigh's week one post on her blog here: www.kyleidoscopeoflife.blogspot.com

Here is where I saw Jesus in the past week: 

- J

Family; I am thankful.

(Let's all ignore the fact that I haven't posted anything in almost four months.) 

I could sit here and wrack my brain for an eloquent way to explain myself and impress whoever is reading this, but simple is best. I am thankful. 

If someone were to ask me what exactly I am thankful for, my first thought would be my family. No question. Obviously there are thousands of other things that I am thankful for, but family is what resonates. 

God has blessed me with an amazing family. 10 people that fill my heart with so much love. (and that's just my immediate family) 

Parents, five siblings, two in-laws, and one niece. Each of them unique and quirky in their own way. 

I should've warned you, this post is going to be extremely sappy and gushy. 

To be honest, the writing of this post is inspired by my niece who was born in October. When I met her for the first time, my heart was just overcome with a crazy unconditional love for her. I mean I loved my family immensely before, but I feel as though the birth of my niece has reinspired my love and thankfulness for the whole family. It's crazy how a little person can bring everyone together. 

(Sorry Mom if this part makes you cry) When moving to Texas I didn't realize that I would feel the great distance between my family so quickly. Family that I lived with AND family that lives far away. Obviously I love my family, but I didn't realize that I would be so affected by moving away. On the last drive back to College Station from Oklahoma I found myself crying ten minutes into the trip. I'm talking full on blubbering, hiccups, danger to myself driving on the road because I was crying so hard. I called my sister who has lived away from family longer than me and just asked: "Is it ever going to be easy to leave?" and she so blatantly said no. She explained to me that although it won't hurt as much sometimes, it's never going to be easy. I'm honestly thankful that it's that hard to leave them.

I longed to stay with my family. I longed to stay with those who know me best. There are so many unknowns in life, but I love that I can always count on my family. This may sound as if I am bragging, but I don't care. I am crazy thankful for them.

I know that sometimes family can be difficult and I'm not going to have a perfect cookie cutter relationship with my whole family 100% of the time. (Trust me, I do not always love my family like I should.) But at the end of the day, God has placed each of them in my life perfectly. It wasn't an accident; I was always meant to have the family that I have. They have caused me to grow in ways I didn't think I could, and they have stretched my patience to a place I didn't think it could go. ;) I feel as though that is what family teaches you most of all. Patience and love. 

All of this to say: love those around you. Even if it's not your family. It could be friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc. Just be thankful for your loved ones and make it known to them how much you care. There is always at least ONE thing in your life to be thankful for, what is that for you? It's incredibly easy to get caught in the day to day craziness of life and forget to tell people how you feel and how thankful you are. 

- J

Thoughts. Thoughts. Thoughts.

I believe I appropriately titled this blog because my mind has been on overload lately. I stared at this blank page wondering where I should start... Where should I begin after not blogging for several years?

So here I sit (at the coffee shop where I work) just wracking my brain on what to write.

Here goes nothing.

As of October 23rd, I have lived in Aggieland for 2 months. It's so hard to believe. If someone had come up to me eight months ago and told me that I would be moving to Texas, I would've laughed in their face. I didn't know what I had planned, but it wasn't 100° weather. (Sorry, that wasn't too clever.) I have a nasty habit of taking 1,677,736,346,678 years to make any type of decision. (You should see me order at a coffee shop.) Even though I didn't have this crazy elaborate plan, I still knew what I DIDN'T want. Anyways.. Rant over. The point is I had my own plan, as much of a plan I could have and God made it abundantly clear that HE had other things in mind. 

Looking back now I realize that I was incredibly arrogant to believe that my plan was better. I fought God's plan then and I've fought it many other times as well. But now, in my current stage of life I can honestly say that I know God's plan is best. That sounds so incredibly corny, but I believe it with my whole heart. I don't even know why I try to make plans on my own because God is my Father and He knows what is best for me. In no way am I saying that it's EASY to "let go, and let God" but it is so incredibly freeing. One of favorite verses is Psalm 46:10. “Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.” (NLT) The first two words are my favorite. Be. Still. 
I imagine God saying that to me when I scared of the unknown in my life; scared of letting go. I'm freaking out and God just locks me in a hug and says: "Be still. I am God." That is just a crazy comfort for me. The (one and only) God of the universe CARES for me. 

He states over and over in the Bible about how much He cares for us. So why is it this hard for me to  let go and let Him have His way in my life? 

I know He has great plans for me.