http://vimeo.com/10868953
Here's a video of the song too:
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Worship Wednesday "How He Loves"
Click the link to see the story behind the song "How He Loves" (there wasn't a youtube video so I couldn't link it straight to my blog/I don't know how).
http://vimeo.com/10868953
Here's a video of the song too:
http://vimeo.com/10868953
Here's a video of the song too:
Saturday, February 25, 2012
The Mind
Do you ever stop to think about the thoughts that are running through your head? How about how they are affecting your life? These questions were brought up on Friday night at Women's Ministry Night. The importance of your mind and how what you are thinking determines many of your circumstances. This was something that I was very interested in. I had never before really looked at whether my thoughts were positive or negative. If my thoughts are always negative towards a person or situation than I will not enjoy being around that person or in that situation. But if I take the time to be positive and thankful for the people in my life or find the good in a certain situation than it will be a much better experience. I'm probably not explaining this very well, but it really got me thinking. I spend so much of my time either outwardly complaining or inwardly thinking negative thoughts that it makes situations seem that much worse. Emily Boyd talked about this and the book by Joyce Meyer Battlefield of the Mind. How your thoughts play such an important role in your relationships with God and others. How satan uses your mind to give you those negative thoughts, etc. The book sounds really good and I really want to check it out and read it. I also want to consciously stop and assess what my thoughts are this week. Am I looking at things from a positive angle or making situations seem much worse than they really are. Hopefully this post makes some sort of sense. Women's ministry night really made me think about a lot of things and I may be posting on this more later we will see.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Mom's Weekend
Last weekend was mom's weekend for DG. My mom came down on Saturday. It was really nice to spend the whole day with her and to also meet some of my friends moms. It was a pretty busy day for us. When she got here we had a bbq at the house and then I gave her an official house tour. After that we chatted with Erin and her mom for a bit in our room before we went to Ankeny to do pottery. We each painted some pottery. I'll try and take a picture of it when we get it back on Saturday. I painted a mug and my mom painted a flower. Then we went to shopping at Target and Jordan Creek. After that we picked up Courtney and went to Boston's to eat before we each went back to our houses.
It was really great to spend time with my mom and just talk with her. I'm lucky that I see her often, but it still great to spend a whole day together rather than just a meal. I'm really glad that DG does things like this otherwise I probably wouldn't spend that long with my mom unless I went home.
It was really great to spend time with my mom and just talk with her. I'm lucky that I see her often, but it still great to spend a whole day together rather than just a meal. I'm really glad that DG does things like this otherwise I probably wouldn't spend that long with my mom unless I went home.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Holy Spirit
I've been meaning to write this post for about a week now, but never got around to it. Now I'm finally doing it. The past few weeks at Intervarsity we talked about the Holy Spirit. It was a great topic and now I really want to read The Forgotten God by Frances Chan, but will probably wait until this summer to read it.
Last Wednesday as the ending of the series we got into small groups to just sit and listen to what the Holy Spirit had to say to each person in the group. We focused on one person at a time and just listened for 5 minutes or so and then shared with that person anything that we heard, saw, etc. I normally don't like activities like this because I'm not very good at turning off my brain and actually listening to what the Holy Spirit has to say to me. I really tried to focus though and since it was only 5 minutes I decided I could do it.
The first thing that I found so refreshing was that I came late so I didn't sit by my usual group of people and therefore I wasn't in a group with them. The group that I was with though, was really great because we each seemed to be in a similar place in our lives and I think everything that we heard for each other also related to ourselves. I was also really excited to actually hear some things and to allow myself to listen to what the Holy Spirit wanted to say to the others in my group.
The first person that shared what they heard was to be bold. At first I was really confused by this and didn't exactly know what they meant. Then the other 2 shared and said they heard something about building bridges, and also related to DG and how I know so much about these women and we share so much. We then all talked about this for awhile and it made perfect sense and was also very encouraging to me.
I've spent so much of my semester so far feeling really down and like all of my worth was in my school work and just super nervous about the whole semester. Encouragement in that area of my life was what I expected to hear from the Holy Spirit. Instead the things that I got were about how I need to step out and be bold and really be there for my sisters. I need to continue to love my sisters and show them what Christ's love is. I don't need to shove the gospel down their throats, but instead through my actions spread that love. When words or conversations are needed or come up though I need to be bold and say what I'm really thinking. I really felt encouraged by this. It also made me really think about how I really only have these last few months with my sisters and living with all of them. I'll still have school next year. These relationships that I'm building now will be very important. The goal also isn't to convert everyone to Christianity instead it is to show all of my sisters who God is. Even if they don't accept Him now they will know that I really value my faith and later in life if they need someone to talk to I will be there. I really hope that this will be evident for the rest of the semester.
Also doing this activity showed me again how important it is to sometimes just be silent and listen for what God wants me to hear. At the Ash Wednesday service Jon talked about all of the noise in the world. I'm definitely conscious of this noise more recently and want to do a better job of just being silent and seeing what God says even if its only for 5 or 10 minutes a couple of times a week.
Last Wednesday as the ending of the series we got into small groups to just sit and listen to what the Holy Spirit had to say to each person in the group. We focused on one person at a time and just listened for 5 minutes or so and then shared with that person anything that we heard, saw, etc. I normally don't like activities like this because I'm not very good at turning off my brain and actually listening to what the Holy Spirit has to say to me. I really tried to focus though and since it was only 5 minutes I decided I could do it.
The first thing that I found so refreshing was that I came late so I didn't sit by my usual group of people and therefore I wasn't in a group with them. The group that I was with though, was really great because we each seemed to be in a similar place in our lives and I think everything that we heard for each other also related to ourselves. I was also really excited to actually hear some things and to allow myself to listen to what the Holy Spirit wanted to say to the others in my group.
The first person that shared what they heard was to be bold. At first I was really confused by this and didn't exactly know what they meant. Then the other 2 shared and said they heard something about building bridges, and also related to DG and how I know so much about these women and we share so much. We then all talked about this for awhile and it made perfect sense and was also very encouraging to me.
I've spent so much of my semester so far feeling really down and like all of my worth was in my school work and just super nervous about the whole semester. Encouragement in that area of my life was what I expected to hear from the Holy Spirit. Instead the things that I got were about how I need to step out and be bold and really be there for my sisters. I need to continue to love my sisters and show them what Christ's love is. I don't need to shove the gospel down their throats, but instead through my actions spread that love. When words or conversations are needed or come up though I need to be bold and say what I'm really thinking. I really felt encouraged by this. It also made me really think about how I really only have these last few months with my sisters and living with all of them. I'll still have school next year. These relationships that I'm building now will be very important. The goal also isn't to convert everyone to Christianity instead it is to show all of my sisters who God is. Even if they don't accept Him now they will know that I really value my faith and later in life if they need someone to talk to I will be there. I really hope that this will be evident for the rest of the semester.
Also doing this activity showed me again how important it is to sometimes just be silent and listen for what God wants me to hear. At the Ash Wednesday service Jon talked about all of the noise in the world. I'm definitely conscious of this noise more recently and want to do a better job of just being silent and seeing what God says even if its only for 5 or 10 minutes a couple of times a week.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Lent
I've never given anything up for lent in my life before. I always associated giving things up for lent with being Catholic. I don't know if it was never mentioned in church growing up or if I just wasn't really paying attention. This year however, after hearing the sermon (when your spirit runs dry) this Sunday I got to thinking that maybe I should give something up.
The things that I took away from the sermon was how easy it is to let your spirit run dry. We have so many distractions in our lives that take away from our relationships and our time with God. I am so guilty of spending so much time on facebook, twitter, etc. I'm not gaining life from the hours I spend on these websites. Instead I'm mainly just looking at other people's lives and seeing what is new in their worlds. It's also so automatic for me to go to my computer check my email and facebook and I do it multiple times in one sitting. Pastor Mike also discussed how we are all so overwhelmed and such because of all of our distractions. I find myself always saying that I don't have time for things because of work, school, etc. I don't have time to read my Bible or pray regularly. But in reality I do I have the time. I just don't make the time. Instead I spend my time on the computer doing random things.
This why I decided to give up facebook, twitter, and pintrest for lent. I spend so much of my time doing these things without helping me grow as a person. I hope that this will allow me the time I need to do my homework, while also allowing me to grow closer to God, which is really what Lent is all about.
Today at the Ash Wednesday service at Hope (you can watch it streaming live at 7 pm on the link above if you read this before or else I'm sure they'll put it up later) the message was on how clean is your (spiritual) house. It was a really good message and I really related to a lot that was said. I know that currently my spiritual life is very cluttered and not growing. The thing that really stood out to me from the sermon was when he talked about how much time you spend with God and how complacent people get in their faith. I know that lately I've gotten very complacent. I go to church each week and go through the motions. Yes, things resonate with me, but I don't actively seek to grow in my relationship with God. Instead I live off of the faith and examples of others. The stories the pastor tells on Sundays, the stories from Intervarsity on Wednesday, Christian books I've read, mission trips I've been on in the past. I really haven't been working on my relationship with God and growing in that.
My hope for this Lenten season is to grow closer to God and to have experiences with God that are uniquely mine. Instead of relying on the faith of others I want to rediscover who God is to me. I'm very much looking forward to this 40 day journey and seeing what God will do in my life especially with my very small sacrifice of not going on facebook, twitter, and pintrest. I'll hopefully be blogging more about this experience and where I'm going or where I'm struggling. Tomorrow I'll post a little bit more about what I've heard when I stop and listen to God.
Are you giving anything up for lent? Are you adding anything to your life?
The things that I took away from the sermon was how easy it is to let your spirit run dry. We have so many distractions in our lives that take away from our relationships and our time with God. I am so guilty of spending so much time on facebook, twitter, etc. I'm not gaining life from the hours I spend on these websites. Instead I'm mainly just looking at other people's lives and seeing what is new in their worlds. It's also so automatic for me to go to my computer check my email and facebook and I do it multiple times in one sitting. Pastor Mike also discussed how we are all so overwhelmed and such because of all of our distractions. I find myself always saying that I don't have time for things because of work, school, etc. I don't have time to read my Bible or pray regularly. But in reality I do I have the time. I just don't make the time. Instead I spend my time on the computer doing random things.
This why I decided to give up facebook, twitter, and pintrest for lent. I spend so much of my time doing these things without helping me grow as a person. I hope that this will allow me the time I need to do my homework, while also allowing me to grow closer to God, which is really what Lent is all about.
Today at the Ash Wednesday service at Hope (you can watch it streaming live at 7 pm on the link above if you read this before or else I'm sure they'll put it up later) the message was on how clean is your (spiritual) house. It was a really good message and I really related to a lot that was said. I know that currently my spiritual life is very cluttered and not growing. The thing that really stood out to me from the sermon was when he talked about how much time you spend with God and how complacent people get in their faith. I know that lately I've gotten very complacent. I go to church each week and go through the motions. Yes, things resonate with me, but I don't actively seek to grow in my relationship with God. Instead I live off of the faith and examples of others. The stories the pastor tells on Sundays, the stories from Intervarsity on Wednesday, Christian books I've read, mission trips I've been on in the past. I really haven't been working on my relationship with God and growing in that.
My hope for this Lenten season is to grow closer to God and to have experiences with God that are uniquely mine. Instead of relying on the faith of others I want to rediscover who God is to me. I'm very much looking forward to this 40 day journey and seeing what God will do in my life especially with my very small sacrifice of not going on facebook, twitter, and pintrest. I'll hopefully be blogging more about this experience and where I'm going or where I'm struggling. Tomorrow I'll post a little bit more about what I've heard when I stop and listen to God.
Are you giving anything up for lent? Are you adding anything to your life?
Thursday, February 16, 2012
You're Always Wearing Your Letters
Here's a video someone posted recently that I think was a great reminder to everyone in a sorority/fraternity and what it really means to be a part of these wonderful organizations.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Happy Birthday Mom!
Happy Birthday to my wonderful mom today as she celebrates her 47th birthday today! She is an amazing women and I'm so glad to call her my mom. She is always there for me when I need someone to talk to and is always willing to take me out to eat when she's in Des Moines. I know that she would do anything for any of us kids or really anyone in general.
Relationships
I will be the first to admit that I'm not an expert on relationships. As the only "romantic" relationships that I've been in involved elementary and middle school "relationships" so of course they were very serious. However I do have friends (surprising as that is!) and so I do have experiences with friendship.
I decided to do a post on relationships because it is Valentine's Day so that seemed appropriate. Also relationships have come up a lot recently in my life. Whether it's my roommates and I talking about their boyfriends, joking about me marrying Tim Tebow or dating a certain classmate of mine, or a church sermon a lot about relationships have come up.
I've never been someone that needed a guy in my life and I'm ok with that. Sometimes it's hard to have never had a boyfriend, but I pray that God is just waiting to put that special guy in my life when the time is right. Currently I'm too busy focusing on my self and school, etc. to put the time in that it takes to have a healthy relationship.
Saturday at church the sermon was on relationships. Pastor Mike was mainly talking about marriage, but also said it translated into relationships with friends which I agree on. The main theme was finding out what your spouse/friend etc. likes and trying to do that for them. Instead of showing your love by what you would like you show your love in the ways that they like. He used some humor to show the differences between men and women to demonstrate that each sex values different things in relationships. This also related a little bit to what we talked about at DG Bible study last Wed. on friendships. We talked about how figuring your out your friends "love" language whether it's time, gifts, physical touch, etc.
I think it's important in relationships whether they are friendships or romantic relationships to find out how other people feel valued and appreciated and try to do those things for them!
Happy Valentine's Day everyone :)
I decided to do a post on relationships because it is Valentine's Day so that seemed appropriate. Also relationships have come up a lot recently in my life. Whether it's my roommates and I talking about their boyfriends, joking about me marrying Tim Tebow or dating a certain classmate of mine, or a church sermon a lot about relationships have come up.
I've never been someone that needed a guy in my life and I'm ok with that. Sometimes it's hard to have never had a boyfriend, but I pray that God is just waiting to put that special guy in my life when the time is right. Currently I'm too busy focusing on my self and school, etc. to put the time in that it takes to have a healthy relationship.
Saturday at church the sermon was on relationships. Pastor Mike was mainly talking about marriage, but also said it translated into relationships with friends which I agree on. The main theme was finding out what your spouse/friend etc. likes and trying to do that for them. Instead of showing your love by what you would like you show your love in the ways that they like. He used some humor to show the differences between men and women to demonstrate that each sex values different things in relationships. This also related a little bit to what we talked about at DG Bible study last Wed. on friendships. We talked about how figuring your out your friends "love" language whether it's time, gifts, physical touch, etc.
I think it's important in relationships whether they are friendships or romantic relationships to find out how other people feel valued and appreciated and try to do those things for them!
Happy Valentine's Day everyone :)
Monday, February 13, 2012
Wine Tasting
Michelle, Emily, and Carley made a bucket list for the semester and one of the items was to have a classy wine tasting night. Saturday night was the time. A bunch of people dressed up (which I didn't want to and had to be forced into doing by Nikki and Nikki), then we each paired up and bought a bottle of wine to bring. Once we got there they had plastic wine glasses with our names on them for us to try the different wines. They put up a sign for each of the wines so people could write comments about what they liked/didn't like about each wine. They also had lots of snacks for us which they made and they were all really good.
I'm not a huge fan of wine (either is Nikki) so we decided to pick a wine to try out. It ended up being one of the favorite and was the first bottle that was gone. So we decided we were obviously the winners of the evening :)
I had a lot of fun chatting with friends and seeing people that I don't always see on a daily basis. It's nights out like this that I enjoy. Relaxed atmosphere with friends. (Also there were more people there then these photos show so there were more people to drink the wine!)
I'm not a huge fan of wine (either is Nikki) so we decided to pick a wine to try out. It ended up being one of the favorite and was the first bottle that was gone. So we decided we were obviously the winners of the evening :)
I had a lot of fun chatting with friends and seeing people that I don't always see on a daily basis. It's nights out like this that I enjoy. Relaxed atmosphere with friends. (Also there were more people there then these photos show so there were more people to drink the wine!)
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Sisterhood Skating
Friday after work I head to Brenton Skating Plaza for some sisterhood ice skating. It was pretty cold and I couldn't feel my thighs or legs, but it was still really fun. I only ended up staying for about an hour and I didn't fall once so I was excited about that.
After ice skating Courtney, Nikki, Nikki, Autumn, Sarah and I were all going to go to the movie The Vow. We got there and it was sold out. Courtney and I got tickets from fandango and so we were able to get in. Autumn and Sarah came and picked up the Nikki's and they went to a different theater. I really enjoyed the movie. The ending was different than I expected, which is what a lot of people have said, but it was still a great movie.
After ice skating Courtney, Nikki, Nikki, Autumn, Sarah and I were all going to go to the movie The Vow. We got there and it was sold out. Courtney and I got tickets from fandango and so we were able to get in. Autumn and Sarah came and picked up the Nikki's and they went to a different theater. I really enjoyed the movie. The ending was different than I expected, which is what a lot of people have said, but it was still a great movie.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Monday, February 6, 2012
Drake Basketball
Saturday I did homework for the majority of the day. Then around 4 Nikki, Erin, Marc and I all went to a tailgate party benefiting Erin's capstone. There were a lot of people there so I think they made quite a bit of money which was good. It was fun to sit and chat with other people that I knew there before heading to the basketball game.
Then we headed to the Drake basketball game. I made us go early and everyone that went with was very happy with that decision because we got free t-shirts, sunglasses, pizza, and pop. We also had really good seats in the student section. The beginning of the game was a lot of fun, but then Drake wasn't play so well so it got kind of boring. I'm also a fan of close games and this one wasn't so that is also probably why it was boring.
During one of the time outs Marc and I played the chicken toss game. Though we weren't very good at it (I was throwing the chickens too slow I guess) we still won a long-sleeve t-shirt and some more sunglasses.
Then we headed to the Drake basketball game. I made us go early and everyone that went with was very happy with that decision because we got free t-shirts, sunglasses, pizza, and pop. We also had really good seats in the student section. The beginning of the game was a lot of fun, but then Drake wasn't play so well so it got kind of boring. I'm also a fan of close games and this one wasn't so that is also probably why it was boring.
During one of the time outs Marc and I played the chicken toss game. Though we weren't very good at it (I was throwing the chickens too slow I guess) we still won a long-sleeve t-shirt and some more sunglasses.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Worship Wednesday (on Thursday)- "Where I Belong"b
Sorry I forgot to post yesterday's Worship Wednesday...but here it is:
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