Praise Him.

Today is such a great day! To start off, I did not have my 8 am gym class. Praise Him. Then I had to time actually get myself ready this morning, to eat breakfast, and do to my devotional. Praise Him. I went to class and finally got my placement! SO EXCITING. I actually got placed at my elementary school and I am with 1st grade! Praise Him. And on top of all that, it is one gorgeous day outside. Ever since the start of 2014 we have had pretty much a constant of cold/snow/ice which makes for some really gloomy, tiring days. But not today folks. It is sunny and in the 50s. I definitely cannot wait for March and so that we can get some warmer weather (except a little fact about myself- I HATE storms... terrified of them!)

This morning I was reading my bible study for my core group at CSF. We did something different this semester where we have a little short page to read everyday. To be completely honest I haven't done very well on keeping up with it, but when I do read it hits exactly where I am in life. And todays did just that. What I read today was talking about God perfect love and that he wants us to become fully like Him. His love will never end and leave our lives. It is always there. When we encounter God, His goal is to have us fully transformed into His image. All of our sinful desires and tendencies are being undone when we encounter Him.

Philippians 3:12-14

Is this not perfect?! Just like His love. I am still trying to fathom how He loves us no matter what and wants us to become more like Him. I needed this truth this morning. I have been in a pattern of feeling like I am never going to be good enough for Him. That no matter how much I read or worship or talk to Him that I will still have problems and will never be like Him. But today He reassured me that there is no way that He could ever stop loving me and that I should continue to "press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Praise Him. 

I pray that each of you know this truth and that you continue on in your journey to become more like our God. Have a blessed day.

Favorites Friday!

So I don't know about you but I'm quite excited that it is Friday. Since we have had a lot of snow days it has felt like the semester has gone pretty slow, but we've been in for 3 weeks now (I looked this up in my planner and I completely thought we had been in longer.. 3 weeks isn't that long lol- #awkward). But anyways, I decided to do a Favorites Friday for you all today. And be aware, these are completely random... but it is what I've been enjoying.

1. Revenge
Everyone I know loves this TV show but I never get into too many things that the whole world loves. Just isn't me to be that kind of person. But I finally started watching this from the beginning on Netflix this week to see what the hype is about. I love it! And it keeps my attention because there is always something that is going to happen that keeps you on your toes.

2. My new Camelback
I recently got a Camelback because I wanted to start drinking more water and knew that for me personally have a straw, I would drink more. I definitely have! I've had it for over a week now but I take it with me to classes and I can drink about two (20 oz.) things of water a day. I know that may not seem like a lot, but I normally go hours without having anything to drink. I am not a soda person, so I am not addicted to that and I love sweet tea but don't have it that often. So I am super happy and proud of myself that I have gotten in the habit (even to the point of craving) water. *I do put a little bit of lemon in it for some extra flavor :)

3. My Christian music playlist
I have been loving- Rend Collective, Matt Maher, Hillson, Josh Wilson, Newsboys, Matthew West, Crowder, Jesus Culture, Matt Redman and many more! All of them are so uplifting and can help you to clear your head of the real world and put it on Jesus.

4. Trying new recipes
Since I've gotten my crockpot I have definitely been feeling a little domesticated. I love finding new recipes that sounds good and trying them out. It is kinda fun, lol. Any suggestions on some new recipes that I should try?? :)

5. Traveling with Jesus
Throughout January I spent one weekend in Atlanta for Passion and another in Gatlinburg for CSFs Winter Retreat. I love getting away from the reality of life and putting my mind on Jesus and worshipping him.

What have you been loving this week?? Hope everyone is doing well. :)

February Goals

Before I give you all my February Goals I wanted to share how my January Goals went. The first four goals I decided to do I accomplished; the last two I did not accomplish fully, but I am still figuring them out/working on them.

5. Memorize a verse each month of 2014.
I chose to memorize John 3:30- "He must become greater, I must become less." This definitely was a great verse for me to memorize because #1- it is simple and I think that starting off scripture memorization (at least for me) is easier with something shorter; #2- it definitely stuck in my head/heart and God always popped that verse into my head when I needed to hear it or when it was relevant to what someone was talking about. I am so happy that I started doing this and cannot wait to see where I am with scripture memorization at the end of the year. 

8. Go back to Passion.
I did get to go back to Passion this year and it was really great! I have to admit that last year, for me personally, was better though because my faith was very new to me and it just "started a fire down in my soul" but this year since it was only two days it was much harder to relax and not feel so rushed. Still was pretty awesome being in an arena with 20,000 college students worshipping OUR LORD?! If you haven't gone, then now is the time to start thinking about Passion 2015! They already have the dates, and believe me.. It is SO TOTALLY WORTH IT!

9. Go a week without listening to anything but Christian music.
I did this one. I knew that it wouldn't be too hard for me because most of the time in the car I have it on. But I was able to get my hands on an iTunes gift card and download some albums/songs that I have been wanting so that has also helped my desire to only listen to Christian music, not only in the car but even just in my room.

43. Participate in Carabox.
I sent out my Carabox to a wonderful lady on Friday. It is so cool getting to know people who you would never have met if you did not participate in something like this. 

77. Organize my iPhoto.
I have somewhat started to do this. I have deleted photos I didn't need/want, but other than that I haven't gotten very far. We will have to try this out again for another month where I have more time to sit down, relax, and go through the photos.

98. Learn how to budget.
This is SO difficult. I had a plan of doing the envelope system but realized that that just would not work out very well with my income not being consistent. I have though done really well with not spending money very often and even go food to pack lunches to take on campus with me! All I have been doing really is trying to swipe by debit card less (which I have been able to do) and use a certain amount of cash that I have pulled out for a week or so. It has gone pretty well and I have fairly motivated. It also helps that I have an awesome person (Megan, from Life of a College Girl) who I am walking through this new experience/habit with. :)

February Goals

5. Memorize a verse each month of 2014.

This month I am going to memorize 1 Corinthians 10:31. I am so excited that I am getting into the word and actually memorizing it and apply

7. Read the 7 Experiement by Jen Hatmaker.

I am so excited because I am actually starting this book with Megan, from Life of a College Girl.

16. Send a letter to the 3rd graders in Haiti.

I still have not sent a letter to the 3rd graders I was with while on my mission trip in Haiti and I know that I need to do this. I want them to know that I did not just come on any other mission trip like other people do but that they are constantly in my thoughts and prayers. 

78. Print out my Haiti photos.

Going along with the Haiti theme, I want to also print out the photos that I took while in Haiti so that I always have them and can put them up in my room. 

97. Try a new meal in my crockpot
I finally got a crockpot for christmas and made my first meal in it! Chicken Tacos. It was so simple- just chicken breasts, salsa, and taco seasoning. Very good! And tonight I tried another new recipe in my crockpot- Santa Fe Chicken over rice. It was good, but I definitely need to find some recipes that have other things besides chicken in them. Any suggestions?!

100. Go a full week without eating out or having Starbucks. 
My goal is to do this four time throughout the 101 in 1001 challenge. But I'm hoping that with my trying to budget that I do this a lot more than just 4 times. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to do it for a full month?! I'll let y'all know.

So there ya have it.. my February Goals. I am excited about these and cannot wait to see how they go. What are your goals for this month or even this year?! I would love to hear them!

Hope everyone has a great week.