Five Minute Friday: Change

    A night of homework sitting at my desk is what I had planned. It was 10:40 p.m. I had headphones in both ears as I sat in front of my laptop, the lights were off, my roommate's soft classical music was playing, and the ac unit running. Over the noise I somehow heard a short knock on my door, stared at the door, and after several seconds decided to become "Agent Bev," and do some investigating in the hall. My investigation lasted only from the door I was sitting in until three seconds after I closed the door to my room. My sweet neighbor quickly said, "I have a doubt," and ran around the corner into her room. I made sense of the quick, mumbled yet frantic four words after entering her dorm room and skimming her email. All she had to do was leave the dorm and walk around the corner to an office to pick up a few items, one being her passport...yikes...at the front desk. She had absolutely no idea where the building was and what to do next. I put on my flip flops, grabbed my keys, and we ventured out into the warm summer night together. We laughed as we talked and she was no longer worried.
     I have been living in a dorm for the first time in my life for a little over three weeks and I strongly desire to live a "interrupted life." I am so thankful for these little divine appointments and I pray He will help me to be willing to change my plans and just be a part of what has been a part of His plan all along. 

Why is that?

    "Why is that?" my friend asked. One of the girls on my hall is from India. She has been in the United States for almost two months which has lead to wonderful and challenging questions. Our chat was a series of stories that somehow led to her statement, "All the people in India are fat and here they are all skinny," she continued and asked, "Why is that?"
     I explained that in the U.S. movies, television, movies, and magazines place value on a woman being skinny and small. In retrospect my answer was somewhat valid, but I failed to address the root of the issue. I may have figuratively taken her hand and helped her understand, but what I did not realize was that I needed someone to take me by the hand and help me understand.
    The Holy Spirit took my hand and took me a little deeper. We as women have sadly bought the lie that Satan held out. We've bought the lies about what we "ought to look like." We took the lies and we ran with them.
    I've bought the lies and run with them. I've run beside them in a few different seasons of my life. Jesus lovingly grabbed a hold of me, specifically my thoughts and heart.
    For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:13-14   Jesus Christ created each of us! He knit each us together! How special and marvelous is the truth that He took the time to knit us together!
    It is never too late to ask Him to grab a hold of our thoughts and heart.
  

Five Minute Friday: Join

     Join. It has been what we as Crusade ( normally called Cru) students have been trying to encourage freshmen and transfer students to do, simply join us! Since August 10 we have been reppin' our Cru t-shirts and spreading the word about Cru on our college campus!
     I was reflecting on the strong desire we have as Cru students for others to join this ministry yet I felt the Lord asking me personally what my focus is. Is my focus on simply trying to get students to check out and potentially join Cru or is it for them to join in hopes that they would seek out and/or continue their personal relationship with Jesus? Hhmm....food for thought.
    I am so encouraged to be surround by students involved in Cru who desire for others to join so they too may experience this loving community and most importantly experience a personal relationship with Jesus Christ!

"In India my dad follows behind..."

   Through a series of events I met a girl on campus from India. She expressed how different American culture is from hers as she said, "In India my dad follows behind me every where." This concept rocked my world as I understand a Father's positioning to be ahead of his daughter, but never behind. Even when thinking about Christ I never picture Him behind, but I think Christ can and does  walk and direct us while behind us.

   There are seasons in our walks with Him in which He will direct us from behind. His position behind us does not mean we are not following Him or that He has forsaken us, it simply means He is guiding us from a different position; place. I envision Him walking and directing us from behind with His hands on our shoulders.  As we can continue to seek Him His fingertips grasp our shoulders as He motions us. He may motion us to stop, pause, go forward, or to the side as we continue to keep in step with the Spirit. He may even help us by fixing our gaze in a different direction as we continue to walk out our faith by the power of His Spirit! While I may not live in India I think there are moments and seasons where my Heavenly Father has His hands on my shoulders as He directs from behind.

Five Minute Friday: Connect!

     We connect. We connect because we are daughters of the King. He has put His Holy Spirit in each of us the second we came to Him confessing our sins and our need for a Savior. We connect because He is sovereign.
      None of us were wired to do-life solo. We were wired to do-life together. We are called to connect. As a sister in Christ I need to slow down and connect with the sister beside me that God has placed in my life. A few ways to connect is to listen, talk with, walk beside, and even to cry on her shoulder.
      To the woman who is hiding behind a tree, do a little Jesus dance around her and wrap your arms around her. Pray that your arms wrapped around her while you take a moment or several moments to connect would remind her about her Heavenly Father who wants so deeply to connect with her! One of the greatest ways to connect with her is to love her where she is in her life! Go connect!

Five Minute Friday- Here

Here is wherever the Lord has placed you today and in this very moment. Here is also where we can have an encounter with Jesus. Yesterday I had the weirdest “Here, really?! experience.” Yesterday my “Here experience,” was in Target. My “here experience” was on the ground next to my best friend’s purse and a roll of moving and storage packing tape. I opened up a Bible app on my phone knowing that my best friend would be in the dressing room for quite some time. I decided to ask the Lord, very humbly and sweetly to meet me “here,” and to myself I laughed that about the fact that I never thought I would be sitting on the floor in Target having a quiet time. I totally needed Jesus in that moment. I thought, I am so thankful that His Spirit is “here,yes, here with me in Target.” Let me tell you my Heavenly Father met me when I asked Him to please meet me “here, here in Target.” 

The View-Master and The Master's-View

      A family friend asked me, "What are you going to do with your major?" I replied, "I'm still trying to figure it out," and he very seriously responded, "You have to figure out what will put money in the bank, that's whats most important." I understood there were good intentions behind the statement, I was silent and frustrated.
      I sat frustrated across the table from a friend as I recounted the story. I explained how I understood silence to be the same as agreement. I explained how I wanted to lovingly and gracefully express myself in conversations concerning my major and the future. I would love to verbalize the following. I am a follower of Jesus Christ and I know He has lead me to study Communications, but I have no idea what I'm going to do after I graduate. One of my greatest desires is to live a life of obedience unto Jesus and I am confident that as I seek Him He will reveal the next step in His perfect timing.
      The old toy in the picture captivated my attention for hours on end as a little girl, its called a View-Master. As a kid I would put a paper film into the View-Master to see a cool little picture that I could not see until I put it in. The View-Master holds the paper film in place and can show all the pictures on the paper film rotation, but it will only show one picture at a time.
      Jesus is my View-Master. I believe He is the one who holds the paper film of my life. I want to look to Him and through His eyes. I want to look to Him. I want to know, see, and experience the Master. And I want to view His heart and His plan for my life. I desire to see the next slide of my life just like the next girl. As I look through the View-Master I will View-The-Master and get the Master's-View of my life. I will view the next paper film slide of my life in His timing.
      Will you look through the View-Master and ask the Master to give you The Master's-View of your situation or season?