Gnat. Silent G.

While I was driving to my 8 am class this morning I had a small revelation that I thought yall might be interested in. There was a gnat in my car and it kept hitting my front windshield trying to get out. It was extremely distracting so I tried to help the poor thing find its way out. I rolled down my window and used my hand to try and usher it out the front driver side window but it was a failed attempt. It kept flying away from me and continued with its path to try and fly through my front windshield.

Light bulb moment! Why was it trying to go through my windshield? Well, because to the gnat it looks like a good idea, it can see where it wants to go… but to some unknown reason to it, it is hitting a hard invisible wall. To me though, who sees the windshield and sees that the gnat is never going to get through the windshield, I try to help. How often are we the gnat and God is me… you get what I’m saying. We are going down whatever path we are on and for some reason we feel like we aren’t getting anywhere, we keep pushing through, we keep praying. Even when God tries to help us to a new path that will lead us to the SAME place, just a different way of getting there, we are stubborn and keep flying towards the windshield. We say, “No! I can see where I’m going! I’m going this way!!! Why would I go a different way? I don’t need Your help!”

In reality though, God sees whatever windshield that is in your life… take a minute and think about whatever is going on in your life. Do you feel stuck? Not moving forward? Your destination might be right, but your path might be wrong. Has God been trying to push you out the side window but you’re so determined and focused on the front windshield that you are ignoring the One who is trying to help you? I pray that you find the side window in your life.

Love A.

Raw

Last night while serving in Kids ministry I had a little girl ask me a very interesting question. Why do you wear makeup? I was speechless, I racked my brain for a response that would be appropriate for a 5 year old. If I said, “Well it makes me feel pretty” then that would subconciously tell her that you need to wear makeup to be pretty which is definitely not true. I responded, “I like to look nice at church.” They guy I was working with made a joke about “making up” and being nice to eachother to change the subject and we moved on.

That question stuck to be like glue. Why do I wear makeup? For those who hang out with me outside of Sundays at church then you know I don’t wear makeup that often. It has taken me many years to get to this point but it’s a wonderful place to be. I use to literally walk through the halls of my highschool my freshman year looking at the ground because I hadn’t put my makeup on yet. That is a very sad memory to me. I wouldn’t go to the grocery store with my mom without putting mascara on. I had to slather my face with foundation before going ANYWHERE.

I think it was around my junior year that I really started to let God heal me of those insecurities of being told I wasn’t beautiful or I was too fat. God began to speak to me about how beautiful I was, and not by the worlds view. He spoke to me about how I was beautiful because I was created in His image. He gave me this verse that I have clung to for years now.

1 Peter 3:3-5

³ Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. ⁴ You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.

Just turning 18 and being where I am in my life I can say I have come a long way from where I was. When I have nothing on my face and my hair isn’t straightened and i’m just Ann… God still reminds me that i’m beautiful even when I’m raw.

I’m not bashing makeup, because I do wear it, but I think we have to ask ourselves the question behind why we wear it? I like wearing it to polish off an outift/look but at the same time I am fine not wearing it. I do admit, it does make me feel pretty, but i don’t feel like a monster when I don’t. It’s just something I have been pondering on and felt like sharing.

Do you feel beautiful when your raw? Is that something you need to let God work on in your heart. I have something to tell you and so does He……….

you are beautiful.

Love A.

May I have the honor?

May I have the honor?

The honor to what?

The honor to worship You.

I have recently been in awe of Gods love me. His patience for me. His mercy for me. His gentle whisper in my ear to romance me, to have an intimate relationship. To twirl me around and call me His princess.

I know that life gets crazy and we have our daily routines and scheduled times but stop for a minute, listen, worship, have a spontaneous conversation with our Creator. We get so caught up in our daily routines that we lose the fresh and invigorating reality of how amazing our relationship with God can be and SHOULD be! He desires for us to seek after Him. He already knows everything about you, but that doesn’t mean He doesn’t want to hear about your day. For those who are married or in a serious relationship… is it not true that you know A LOT about the person you’re with? You know about their past, you know what pushes their buttons, what makes the smile, their hobbies etc. Just because you know all those things though doesn’t mean you never want to talk to them again! How hurt would you be if all of the sudden that person told you that they didn’t feel the need to talk because “you already know everything.” A relationship is kept alive through daily communication! God wants to hear about your struggles, the things that made you smile today or the things that made you mad. Tell about what you want! He already knows your hearts desires but yet again that doesn’t mean He doesn’t want to hear about them.

The title of this blog entry is May I have the honor?  It is my honor to wake up everyday and be in the presence of the Lord. It is my honor to worship Him. It is an honor to be called His daughter.

Honor: the privilege of being associated with or receiving a favor from a respected person, group, organization, etc.

Worship: reverent honor and homage paid to God

I have the privilege of being associated with the Creator of the universe. wow. Thank you Jesus. Thank you for calling me Yours when so often I fall short. Thank you for loving me on days that I have retreated from your love.

It is an honor to worship you.

I pray that this week your heart is captivated by how much He loves you.

Love A.

Change your confession Taylor Swift

My church, LWFC, has had a conference going on all week called Dominion by the Word; it truly is life changing if you allow it to be.  What stood out to me the most has been the teaching on the power of your words and your confession over yourself and the people around you.  Just recently did I become aware of the negativity I was speaking into my own life AND I WASN’T EVEN AWARE THAT I WAS DOING IT! I would say something and not even think twice about what I was actually speaking over my life or over those closest to me. Then I would wonder why those things were true… wow.  If you speak something over your life long enough then that will be your reality. I was in the shower and I began thinking of all the negative confessions I have spoken over myself and those around me and realized how much different my life would be if I was speaking positive things over my life. SAYING SOMETHING POSITIVE IS SO SIMPLE! I will be joyful. I will have all my needs met because I am a tither and a giver. I have amazing and blessed relationships with the people around me.

I have a radio in my shower (haha) and Taylor swifts song “whitehorse” came on. Here are some of the lyrics to the song:

stupid girl,
I should have known, I should have known
I am not a princes, this ain’t a fairy tale

I’m not a princess, this ain’t a fairy tale
I’m not the one to sweep off her feet,
Lead her up the stairwell
This ain’t Hollywood, this is a small town,
I was a dreamer before you went and let me down
Now it too late for you and your white horse, to come around

When it comes to relationships how often  have we spoken this over ourselves. THAT NEGATIVE CONFESSION IS A LIE! You know what?!?! I am a princess, I deserve a fairytale! I am Gods princess and He only wants the best for me AND YOU, so as a woman of God it’s about time to start changing my confession about everything in my life.

I will have blessed relationships.

I will stand strong and rooted in the Word of God.

I am a passionate woman of God.

I am a patient woman of God.

I desire God above all else.

I will be uplifting to those around me.

I am a pure and holy woman of God.

I will love like God loves.

What confession do you need to change in your life? If you wonder why some things in your life aren’t the way you want them to be, check your confession. Are you speaking the right things into your life? Into others? Start speaking positive things into your life and watch things start to change. I dare you.

Love A.

Dominion by the Word

There is going to be an amazing conference at my church and I think it would be a wonderful idea for you to go! Check out lwfc.org for more details or leave a comment if you have any questions!

Auto pilot

So as I was driving home from my boyfriends house last night I  cranked the worship music and settled in for the long drive. I normally hate the drive because for starters, it’s butt long (about 45 minutes) and two I’m normally tired.  Well as the minutes passed and the tracks on my cd came and went I began to really just cry out to God.  Do you ever want to be so intimately close with God that you just cry? To feel close to Him, to know He’s there? Well tonight a lot of stuff that is going on in my life sat heavy on my shoulders when really I needed to lay it at the foot of the cross. God gave me a revelation that I thought was worth sharing with yall. I hope it has some sort of “light bulb” moment for you as it did me.

Every time I drive out to his house or I am driving home I take the same route.  I take the same turns, stop at the same stop lights, slow down in the places I know that cops stake out. You know the timing of the stop lights and how long the lights normally last….. you get the picture. For anyone that has driven for at least a while and has acertain route that you take to school or work you know that you sometimes go into autopilot. You stop paying attention to what’s around you because you are so use to it.  You stop paying attention to the street signs and all the other signs that are on the roads.

How often in your life do you ask God for direction? You say, “Lord, speak to me, I need direction, I’m lost!” Are youreally lost or are you just on “auto pilot” because you take the same “route” in your life. Have you stopped paying attention to the stuff that God has ALREADY put in your life to direct you because you’re just so use to it you by pass it?

I am horrible with directions and getting lost so I normally end up calling people to ask for directions. I once waslooking for a street and the person I was on the phone with was giving me directions. I asked for a land mark and he said, “Look for the sign that is green with the street name on it”. Smart butt hahah but it was true.  Sometimes we want God to give us this huge sign or direction when really all we need to do is follow the ones that were already there.

We were giving a wonderful set of directions that sometimes we forget about. The Bible!

[NKJV] Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct(a) your paths.

*(a) Or make smooth or straight

[AMP] Proverbs 3:5-6 “Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain

your paths.”

[AMP] Psalm 119:66 “Teach me good judgment, wise and right discernment, and knowledge, for I have believed (trusted, relied on, and clung to) Your commandments.”

There are so many directions and “road signs” in the bible if we would just get off auto pilot and start paying attention to them. They have been there all along, we just need to take the time to acknowledge them. What would this world be like without street signs, or stop signs or stop lights, or lines on the road?!? It would be sheer chaos! So whenever chaos in your life starts rearing its ugly head, stop and remember that you have the perfect set of directions already written out for you.

I pray whoever reads this gets something out of it like I did. Let God lead your life whenever you are feeling lost or out of control. Let Him lead you in the right direction. With the Word as your foundation, let nothing shake you of the path you’re suppose to be on.

Love A.

Hello August!

So was it just me or did August sneak up on you too? I looked at my phone a couple of days ago and August 1st was the date. Where did June go? What happened to July! It is absolutely insane how when summer started I thought I had all the time in the world for anything in everything.  Now I have two weeks until I start up my 1st year of college. WHAT?!?!?!?! Intense nervousness would describe my thoughts on that. It has however been a wonderful summer full of changes, growth and memories.

Training. What’s up?

Well let me just be honest for a moment. I am sooooo burnt out from training. I love working out and I love being healthy and all that jazz but I miss going to run just to run. Now I run because I have too. Instead of feeling good about myself for running, I get frustrated because my time wasn’t what I wanted or I had to walk more than I wanted. It has taken a tole on my body and my mind. My knee’s have started to really feel the pain from all this training. I am thinking of running a different half marathon that would be in november instead of september which would give me more time to train and would also be in the city that I live. It would allow more of my friends to come and support me…. which means a lot to me. I’m still thinking about it but I’m just discouraged and burnt out. I need that new “umph” of energy and encouragement. My worst fear is feeling like I have failed my dad though. I know I can do this, it is just the hardest things I have had to do… just like I said from the begining. I will keep yall updated… I have good days and bad days, it’s all apart of my journey.

to love like You love

God has been speaking to me a lot lately about love. All kinds of love, the love for my family, the love for my friends, the love for strangers, you get the picture. Our lives are made up of different types of relationships, it could be your spouse, your boyfriend/girlfriend, your best friend, your sibling, coworker, boss, acquaintance etc. Without thinking about it, you express some sort of emotion to them whether its good or bad. For example, I work at a coffee shop and encounter a plethora of people and they don’t always get a smile from me. If I have a rude customer they are more likely to get my “fake nice” rather than my genuine friendly-ness or sometimes I’m just rude back. My first reaction is normally, well if you’re going to be mean to me, why should I be nice to you. That is so messed up. As a Christian we are called to love. Not just some days, or sometimes or once a year, but every single day.

A couple of weeks ago during Stage 20 (the college ministry for my church) a couple of friends and I were talking about how strong of a word love is. When God tells us over and over in the bible and in our daily lives about His love for us, He is serious about it. He isn’t just throwing that word around saying, “Yeaaa I kind of care about you. You’re kind of special to me. I kind of love you.” No. When God is telling us about how He loves us, He is passionate about how much He loves us. He is passionately in love with us. With You. So lets turn that around. We are suppose to be Christ-like right? Well if Christ loved and loved passionately, we are suppose to love and love passionately too. Anyone and Everyone. Plain and simple, no matter what the circumstances.

Not only does God forgive our wrong doings, but He also forgets them because He loves us. He is patient with us because He loves us. So if I want to love the way God loves, here is a good outline. Take 1 Cor 13:4-7 (NLT) and take the word love out and replace it with your name.

Before:

⁴ Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud ⁵ or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. ⁶ It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. ⁷ Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

After:

⁴ Ann is patient and kind. Ann is not jealous or boastful or proud ⁵ or rude. She does not demand her own way. She is not irritable, and she keeps no record of being wronged. ⁶ Ann does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. ⁷ Ann never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Am I all of those things? If God is love and love is all of those things, am I being Chist like with the way I love? Are you showing Christ like love in your relationships,to your spouse, family, friends, coworkers? I know that this is something that I need to work on, and this was a revelation that I thought was worth sharing. This world would be a better place if we could just learn to love like Christ loves. That is my prayer for myself and all who read this. I don’t want to just love either, I want to love passionately. I want to love like He loves.

Love A.

Ps. I pray you are flooded with love today.

Keep on running!

I haven’t updated yall in awhile about my training, so I figured I’d let yall know whats going on. Well I would say that in about a week or so i will be at the half way point of my training. Some days are better than others. I admit that sometimes I wake up and the last thing I want to do is run. That’s when encouragement comes into play. I know that this is the hardest thing physically I have ever done to my body so I have to be patient with the slow progression. Its such a beautiful thing that I am blessed enough with good health to run… or for that fact, do anything I really want to.  I love when I get to run in the mornings when the sun is just coming up and the air is still cool and crisp. That is when I am just in awe of God, He is such a beautiful creator.

My long runs are 6 miles now and my short runs are 4. A month ago there would be no way I would be able to do that. Now to be honest, I do have to walk some parts of it, but my recovery rate is soooo much better than when I first started. I love seeing and feeling the improvement from all my training and hard work!

When I first started training there were a few things I needed/wanted.

1. iPod nano because my 30 gig video was messing up from running with it. My mom blessed me with a new nano for my graduation gift.

2. A sports watch to time my runs. My brother blessed me for my birthday with one. I love being able to time my runs now.

3. I still need a sports water bottle. It will be more efficient to run with a sports bottle than a plastic one. (real cheap, I just have to go pick it up)

4. I still need to buy my new shoes… yet again, I just have to take the time to go find the right pair.

Anywhos, I’ll still keep yall updated. :]

Love A.

Up it.

Hello wonderful people. I figured I should update yall on my training seeing how the last couple of post haven’t really told you anything.

Training for this half marathon is one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. I am two weeks in and overall its going well, but at times it is extremely frustrating. Some days are better than ever and some days I just want to give up. The last run I did was horrible. I cramped up under my rib cag and then I have a shin splint in my right leg. I came home soooo discouraged. Yesterday was my rest day, but today I have to do strength training. I actually love lifting weights at the gym! Last time I was there though, I was referenced to use steroids. hahah it was ridiculous. This guy came over to where I was lifting free weights and asked me why I wasn’t huffin and puffin like all the other guys were. Not many girls are ever in the weight part of my gym so I tend to stick out like a sore thumb. Anywhos, I politely told him that I had just run sprints in the hot heat outside and that this wasn’t suppose to be a heavy workout. A general conversation was sparked and he told me that he created a website that wasn’t directly linked to running but it could help me out. Of course I was interested and but when he told me the website the word steroid was in it. RED FLAG! He began to tell me that the website covered everything from working out, calories, nutrition and even the benefits of using steroids and how to use them. WHAT?!?!?! I quickly told him that my workout was over and left. Sketch.

Well, every two weeks my mileage ups. I’m not looking forward to it uping because now my long run will be 5 miles. That seems like such a daunting task!!!! I’m basically freaking out. :/ I know I can do it, but physically it is going to take everything that I have to get through this and honestly probably a little walking.

I have chosen my half marathon!!! Its going to be the Rock and Roll Marathon in VA beach in September. I know my dad would have loved this one because he loved rock music. It isn’t linked with the heart association or anything, but this will be fun, and my dad was a fun guy. Ohh that reminds me of a joke! haha

A girl mushroom asked the guy mushroom why she should go out with him. The guy mushroom responded, “I’m a fun guy”.

hhhahahahhahah Ok I am seriously easily amused. I found it funny. Anyways, I need to get ready for church. Just thought I would give you guys an update!

Love A.