Month: March 2020

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Walking on Water or Swimming Through the Motions

Hello y’all!

Have you had “dry spells” in your devotion time? Still in the valley and can’t see how you could be joyful? Tempted by the shiny things of this unglamorous world?…. Me too. I am going to share 5 little things I do each day to keep God at the front of my day.

  1. PRAY- You are probably thinking Hannah, this is a duh! Of course I should pray, what a “church answer”. 6 months ago I thought this same thing.  According to Dictionary.com, the definition of pray:to offer devout petition, praise, thanks, etc., to (God or an object of worship). Growing up I learned the five steps of prayer, but as I have been meditating on the Psalms, I’ve realized that David was raw with God. He would tell him how angry he was and then praise God for seeing him through a difficult time. I no longer think, ok now I have to pray. I think , I GET to pray!
  2. LISTEN- While it is important to talk to our amazing creator, we need to listen to Him too. He has so many plans, blessing and little things he wants to convey to us each day. I love to talk,  and while God loves hearing what I have to say, we can’t have a real relationship if we don’t listen to him. I pray that my thoughts, desires and dreams would be set aside so that I can truly hear/see what God has for me. My prayer for you is that your eyes , ears and heart would be open to all his plans for you.
  3. ARMOR of GOD- Before I start my crazy day I go to Ephesians 6:10-18. I speak out loud the entire section of verses. From Verse 16, I list flaming arrows the devil may distract me with so that I am 100% prepared to fight and stand tall each day.
  4. JOURNAL- Like the Psalmists, I have found that this is a great way to get all my emotions out and collect my thoughts with God. I tell him what I’ve been experiencing and sometimes he will reaffirm truths to me which I also write down.
  5. READ- The bible is amazing! I never thought I could learn anything for my daily life from the OT (Old Testament) but I was sadly mistaken. The word of God is very much alive and will speak to you, where you are. This is one of the main ways God will speak to us too.

Bonus thought: While God loves to hear from us all day long, I strive to start my day with God because then I feel more aligned and ready to take on the day. I already know He has gone before me and my day.

A relationship with God is personal and exciting. While these five things have filled me with joy and Jesus daily , you have other things you do to connect with God. I would love to hear from y’all. Comment below and let me know what you do to grow your faith and grow closer to Jesus!

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Rain or Shine

Recently I went to NOLA (New Orleans, LA) to visit my grandpa with my family. One of the days it was raining pretty hard and as we pulled into the driveway my mom mentioned that the rain was pushing the roses down. How sad the roses were getting beat up.

But THEN I took a step back (in my mind of course) and realized how this is a wonderful analogy to my life and life in general.

Scientifically speaking flowers need water to grow. Without water, flowers would stay seeds in the ground and we wouldn’t know their beauty. When flowers get their water; whether thats from a watering can or rain/storms, it fuels them and they grow.

Like flowers, God waters us right where we are planted. Sometimes he may use a “watering can” as  positive influences he puts in our lives or a “rain storm”,  a season of difficulty. But through the seasons of watering, God is shaping us to become beautiful flowers to radiate all that he has created us to be. You see, without the rainy season we would never become all God created us to become. We must preserve and lean into God during the rainy season and then praise God in the sunny season.

While God waters us we must also water our relationship with Christ. Otherwise we become stagnant in our faith. When we become stagnant in our relationship with God all other areas of our life stop growing as well. In Matthew Jesus talks about having faith the size of mustard seed. When we first believe in God, our faith is small but by studying God’s word and growing to know him more ( watering our faith) it should grower bigger and take control of all areas of our lives.

On the days where I am overwhelmed and think that there is not enough time to get it all done ( homework, chores, work, etc.), I do my devotion time with God first and WOW he multiplies my time and gives me peace that I will get it all done. The little things we stress about on this earth won’t even matter in the grand scheme of things.

So remember, your rainy season will end with a sunny day! Lean into God and your faith and life will grow and prosper more than you ever imagined.

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Life Lessons from Painting

This semester I have decided to take a painting class. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but we have already turned in two paintings. I’m certainly no Picasso however by the end of this class maybe I’ll be an apprentice level.

Both projects are gray scale meaning we only used black and white paints and had to mix them to create different shades of gray.

Now being the novice artist I am, I was struggling to draw each painting before I began. Then mixing the paints to make the different shades gray. And painting with a pallet knife for the first painting was a struggle. I now know why we are taught to color inside the lines in kindergarten; So that painting with a pallet knife will be easier or so that we learn to follow directions. I digress. Anyway

…as I was going about my project I realized there are 3 life lessons we can gather from a simple painting:

  1. Don’t be afraid of the outcome, just go for it!                                                                          If life is the canvas and we just sit around and don’t do anything we will be left with a blank canvas stained with regret of not trying. Fear should be a motivator not a reason to shut down. If its not scary it probably ain’t worth it. One must climb the mountain of success, not wish it away but accomplish it.
  2. Sometimes we need help along the way and thats ok.                                                  Novice or expert we all need a little guidance along the journey of life. As humans we were created to rely on each other. Doing life together is important. The mountain can get scary with roadblocks and other such things we do not expect. Having people in our lives that can build us up, teach us and do life with us is important.
  3. Someone is always going to critique your work.                                                           Take what others say with a grain of salt. You may learn a new skill or find out  something you has previously missed before. However not every critique is positive and we need to learn how to move forward and not let others keep us down. There is only one critic that we should please: Jesus.

What can we conclude from this painting class?

That it is our job to try new things, learn and explore. If we don’t pick up the paint brush we will never know what the out come will be. Just go for it! Years from now it will be a memory shared around the dinner table.

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Brain Games or Action Steps

We are a week and a half into the new year. Everyone is high on motivation and getting those New Year resolutions completed. For many of us those resolutions are just empty words we cling to hoping that one day we will be: healthier, spiritually stronger or spending more time doing the things we love. STOP CLINGING TO WHAT COULD BE AND START DOING WHAT IT TAKES TO GET THERE.

Today I am going to share how I am taking control of my 2018 instead of watching it go by hoping, wishing and dreaming for a different outcome.

Dream Board in the Making…

  1. I got my butt off the couch and got some paper. I then wrote down all I wanted to accomplish this year under the different categories: health, hobbies, spiritual, school, work and financial.
  2. I then went to my local craft store and bought a poster board.
  3. Once I arrived back home I compiled all the craft supplies I owned and all the magazines I could find.
  4. You know what comes next…
  5. With my goals set and my crafting supplies ready I began to look through the magazines for pictures that were inspiring or represented what I plan to achieve.
  6. After 7 hours of looking, cutting and glueing I felt inspired for the year to come.
  7. Its not enough to just make the poster, hang it up where you will see it everyday inspiring you to make real change

Another fun way to get on track of your dreams and goals is to make lists. Not the kinda list that sits on your desk hoping to be acknowledged, a living list.

As a college student winter break can be exciting having a whole month to get stuff done or it can feel like a drag once you hit week 3. This year for break instead of wishing I would read a book, paint or get a coffee with friends I made a list of everything I wanted to get done this break. What made this list successful…

  • I wrote down everything I wanted to do
  • I then made a detailed chart of how it would look to accomplish each task.

For example one of my goals this break was to read. I expanded this in my chart by explaining that I would like to read 1 1/2 books this break. By expanding what reading looked like for me I then knew what I needed todo to accomplish this goal. Other goals my be a project coming this spring semester and planing how to get  it done without the panicked procrastination. Or maybe starting that hobby you “wish” you did. Whatever the goal it is possible. Just take baby steps.

If I’ve learned anything its that setting the timer for 30 minutes and then starting any task you want to achieve, time will go by in a jiffy. So don’t get to January 31st wondering what happen to the New Years resolution, make a dream board, make a list and then go achieve it.