Mother Theresa's Daily Prayer

Dear Jesus, help me to spread your fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with Your spirit and life. PENETRATE me and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may only be a RADIANCE of Yours. SHINE through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel Your presence in my soul. Let them look up and see no longer me but only YOU, O Lord. Let me preach You without PREACHING, not by words but by my example by catching the FORCE, the sympathetic influence of what I do, the evident fullness of the love my heart bears to You. Amen
 - Mother Theresa

Thought Series: Psychology

 I've been studying for my psychology test and found out that women are more likely to conform than men are. That made my heart break a little, but I realized that I struggle with this every day. It's not hard, it's so easy. Just one little word or action will make me blend into the crowd. It's easier to blend in than stand out, but we shouldn't want to blend in.  So, this one applies to everyone but it's mostly for the ladies today: do not conform to this world, no matter how tempting or easy it is.

"Do not conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -- His good, pleasing, and perfect will." Romans 12:2

Ear Candy: Next to Me

     This song isn't necessarily "life-changing", but I love it and I hear it everywhere I go.

 Emeli Sandé's 'Next to Me' shows us an amazing example of one of God's greatest gift to us: the presence of a true friend. Having someone like that in our life will make it complete because with someone like that, there is nothing that we can't face. That person will be with us no matter what we go through, good times or bad. She's talking about unconditional love. Clearly, this whole song is referring to Emeli Sandé's 'other half', but that person could be a friend, parents, or even a sibling. Obviously, it would be amazing if we could have that kind of relationship with everyone we meet. It would be even more astounding if that was the person that you got to spend the rest of your life with.  It doesn't matter who they are in your life, that person will always be true to you. That will be the person that your heart turns to.
 To me, this song is about how lucky she is and how much she admires this man. The only time that she isn't describing this man is when she's shouting from the mountain tops that he will always be with her. The first verse tells us that he's faithful, always a plus in a guy. She goes on to say that he's not the type of guy who's going to go out with the guys and gamble all his money away through the night. Clearly, he's already a keeper. Second verse: he isn't greedy and people's bad habits don't rub off on him. Verse three: his love is pure and true. How many people can say that? She knows that he will always love her and it's not for her money because she says that he'd stay with her even without her money. Verse four talks about how he's there to relieve her stress. When the pressure's on, he'll be the one who is there and helping her through it. If that isn't enough, she tells us that when no one else is there, he will be.

 The love that she talks about in this song is unconditional. I know that God already loves me like that and a thousand times more. If I could find a friend like that or even just be that person for someone, I know without a doubt that it would revolutionize the way I live my life. Think about it.

A Virtuous Woman: Faith

 For the past eight months I have strived to be someone that my parents, especially my mom, can be proud of. My parents worked hard to make sure that their kid wasn't completely messed up and that has got to be hard. My mom has always stressed the importance of being a Godly woman, strong in the Lord. I have to admit, at a public university that's 500 miles away from the people who were watching me, it's a struggle. It's a struggle every single day to make choices that my parents would be proud of. Let's be honest, no one in college is perfect. No one makes the right choice 100% of the time. So I no longer think "Would my parents be proud of me?" but I now think "Would God be proud of me?". Some of you might think that it's a little extreme, but I am striving to be a virtuous woman, a Proverbs 31 woman.
 If you haven't read Proverbs 31, I highly suggest that you read it. It might be a little off-putting because I know that in my Bible it says "A Wife of Noble Character" above the passage and a lot of people aren't necessarily worried about or even considering marriage at this point in their life. Ignore that. I use this passage to encourage myself to serve God in every aspect of my life. This passage reminds me to live a life with purpose, forgiveness, diligence, and repentance. It touches on the the areas of faith, marriage, mothering, health, service, finances, work, time, home-making, and beauty. While marriage, mothering, and home-making clearly don't currently apply to me, I choose to use those as guides for the future but mainly focus on the other parts.
 Today I read Proverbs 31 and this really stuck out to me: "She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue." So, I just sat for a good three hours thinking ( ok, Facebook, Twitter, and shopping too) and I realized that I need to seek God's will and follow His ways. This means that I need to seek God's will about all things and not to stress. Stress and anxiety are prominent in the life of a college student, especially now since finals are coming up. But starting today, I am redefining my life. I am taking this passage and applying it to every area. It will be a struggle, but I'm going to take ten weeks and meditate on this passage, focusing on one of the ten areas each week. I'm praying that God will bless me from the inside to the outside. I am expecting will change my perspective and actions to continuously serve Him and become the Proverbs 31 Woman that I aspire to be.

Prayer of Contentment

I wish I had written this, but I found this when I was killing time today. It's a C.S. Lewis quote and I am going to make this a daily prayer:

    "I would rather be what God chose to make me than the most glorious creature that I could think of; for to have been born in God's thought,  and then made by God is the dearest, grandest, and most precious thing in all thinking.

This is a prayer of contentment."

Just think about that for a couple minutes.

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139:14

The One

We all dream about "The One". If you say that you don't, you're lying. Everyone wants that someone who will love them no matter what. It is so hard to wait but I know my husband is out there, the man God has chosen for me. I know that everything with fall into place perfectly. His proposal will be perfect, I'll know that he loves me with all of his heart. I dream about our life together daily. On our wedding day, he’ll shed quite a few tears when he sees me walking down the aisle. I imagine him being a lot taller than me and carrying me down the aisle after our “I Do’s."

I’m going to guess and say he’ll wake up at the crack of dawn. I can’t wait to wake up to him kissing my forehead every morning… I can imagine him trying to cuddle before crawling out of bed, even though he knows I’m not a morning person. I can picture him getting up and getting ready for work. I’ll be laying in bed annoyed that he leaves the water running when he brushes his teeth. I’ll finally get out of bed but only because I absolutely have to. I’ll walk into the kitchen looking like death warmed over and he’ll say “Good morning, beautiful.” I can see myself whipping up something quick for his breakfast. And before he leaves for work we’ll kiss about 20 times before he finally walks out the door.

I know that he will be the best dad. Our daughter will be daddy's little princess and our son will be just like him. I can already imagine our family playing in the backyard. He’ll be throwing all the kids in the pool and they’ll all be splashing me to jump in too, but Mommy only does that occasionally. I can see our house becoming the neighborhood hang out spot. During football season we’ll have BBQ’s every Sunday, because he’ll be the master of the grill.

I know we’ll crank up old 90′s hits in the car and scream the words at the top of our lungs. There won’t be a single time when we’re out in public and he won’t hold my hand. He’ll always remember to open doors for me. I know we’ll have more silly selfie photos than serious ones. Our fights won’t last long because he hates seeing me cry and I cry at everything. He’ll always pick which restaurant to eat at, because I’m too indecisive. He’ll watch A Walk to Remember with me whenever I want, even though he’s sick of it.

I know he’ll be a Godly man. He’ll love the Lord with all that he is. I imagine us praying before every meal. I’ll make him lead the prayer 8 out of 10 times. We’ll be avid members in our church and attend as many functions as possible. I can picture us attending a home Bible study together or leading one ourselves. I know he’ll love me as Christ loved the church and will honor me as the weaker vessel.

We will be the couple that everyone is jealous of. I know he’ll remind me every day just how beautiful I am and just how much he loves me… He’ll be my best friend. I can dream all day of how I want my marriage to be, but I know our life will be better than I could have ever imagined. I pray for this man every morning and I pray that he’s praying for me too. I know the one is out there and that is such a blessing.

Ear Candy: Bombs Away

I promise that I'll get back to my relatable posts soon, but this is my blog. I do what I want. 

 If you've never heard of Rachael Lampa, she is one of the most talented singers that I have ever heard. She lead me to this gem, which is now one of my favorite songs. I definitely recommend listening to it, but what you really need to check out is the music video. I know that it's a little long, but let's be honest.. you probably weren't going to spend the next six minutes doing anything particularly important. Personally, I believe that this video can be life-changing. It changes your perspective.

 The reason that I love this video is because it portrays God's forgiveness. This song is actually about original sin and is very representational.** I like to apply this to my life and the mistakes that I make every, single day. It reminds me that no matter what I do God will ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS forgive me. And I've done some pretty messed up stuff. It honestly blows my mind because sin is part of human nature. Even though we choose sin, God forgives us out of His unconditional love for us.
 I listen to this song when I'm struggling with temptation, feeling defeated, or when I feel like I need to be reminded of God's everlasting, all-powerful, unconditional love. It reminds me that I can live a life of victory, a life full of joy; I do not have to live in defeat because my bounty has been paid in full.