living in reality.

this post came from an e-mail i sent a couple days ago, just a culmination of some things that i've been learning about lately and where my heart's been.

"i've been learning so much about prayer lately and what that looks like to really be faithful to the Lord and what is looks like for the Lord himself to be faithful. i for sure do not pray enough, yet i want to live in this reality of a holy God who is continually present in my life and in my actions. to live in this reality means that i must be praying continually, living moment by moment in the supernatural, believing that there truly is this living God that who is always at work.

1 thessalonians 5:16-19 says: "rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. do not quench the Spirit." (ESV)
to do this means that i really am acting as if God is always present in my life, always present in every moment, not just in my morning quiet time or in my quick prayer before i head to bed. and he is present because i need him to be present always, an hour in the morning can't and won't sustain me all day.

be encouraged: "for to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people," (1 timothy 4:10). guys, we are working because we believe that God is going to use that work, because he is a living God and He is working in all of our actions. that is our hope, and that is what keeps us going. we can go on because we know that God is active and is busy at work.

this weekend i started and am almost finished with a book called "L'abri" by edith schaeffer. it is FANTASTIC and i really recommend it to you because it will challenge you so much, and you will be AMAZED at the power of God. here's an excerpt that i really like near the beginning of the book:

"One morning at Chalet Bijou's breakfast table, Fran (Francis Schaeffer) had said to me, "Supposing we had awakened today to find everything concerning the Holy Spirit and prayer removed from the Bible--that is, not removed the way liberals would remove it, but that God has somehow really removed everything about prayer and the Holy Spirit from the Bible. What difference would it make practically between the way we worked yesterday and the way we would work today, and tomorrow? What difference would it make in the majority of Christians' practical work and plans? Aren't most plans laid out ahead of time? Isn't much work done by human talent, energy and clever ideas? Where does the supernatural power of God have a real place?" Challenged by this, we began to think and look over our own lives and work...and, we asked God to give us something more real in our work of the future.""

something beyond ourself.

i love how eugene peterson says this:

“[Imagination] catapults us into mystery. Imagination seems to be the thing least valued in our present culture. There is a lot of attention given to fantasy, but the difference between fantasy and imagination is that in fantasy, the story has us at the center of it, indulging us. Imagination takes us beyond ourselves. There’s not enough of that happening today... Throughout civilization we have lived by stories. Stories draw us into worlds bigger than ourselves. They help us live. Wallace Stegner says that we live by forms and patterns, and if the patterns are wrong, we live badly. Good stories—good fiction, in particular—provide us with good patterns. Every time someone tells a story well, the Gospel is served. Stories invite us to participate, to identify with the characters, to get caught up in the emotion of them.”

it's time for planting.

so plans for the summer are underway. so exciting! we'll see what happens, but it is really is so cool to think about and plan and pray for where God wants me.

i'm excited for this semester and for everything that i can feel God is going to do. i need to get my head on straight and stop living like it's summer, which is so hard to do sometimes. i think it was a hard transition to go right from summer to school since i was in Columbia the whole time... i never came back, never left anywhere, never really got in a different "school" mindset. so that's what i'm trying to do. i'm so ready for princess academy starting up with granny's house. i've been praying lately that God gives me a clearer vision for what he wants me to do with some of the girls this semester. i feel like the relationships that have been formed can go to a whole new level. it's kind of overwhelming; God is making me so uncomfortable with some things which hopefully will be really great for me.

"i have great faith in a seed. convince me that you have a seed there, and i am prepared to expect wonders." -- thoreau.