“Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 4:5-7
Sister: Jane, you’re not coming to visit this summer are you?
Me: I am
Sister: Oh. Can you teach me how to cook?
Me: Haha aite. Why do you want to learn to cook?
Sister: I need to woo a rich boy so that he will become my husband
Me: AHHA WHAT. This is a joke right? Regardless I’m putting it on tumblr
Sister: I mean, I guess I also want to learn to cook to feed myself…. but my priority is to get me a man
I lava my seestar. <3
“Don’t mistake God’s patience for His indifference.
It was 400 years between the close of Malachi and the opening of Matthew. Four hundred years of silence. Four hundred years of looking at the prophecies. Four hundred years of wondering if today was the day when God would act on behalf of His people in a dramatic way.
That 400 years mirrors another 400 years between the death of Joseph and the rise of Moses. Four hundred years of slavery. Four hundred years of oppression. Four hundred years of stories of a supposed deliverer.
In both instances, that’s one generation of fathers telling their sons to remain faithful and wait. And then that generation of fathers dying off, and another generation of fathers telling their sons the same thing. It’s a lot of waiting. A lot of hoping. And a lot of questions about the “when” of this God we’ve heard about. But we see, in hindsight, see that God was not inactive during that time, but instead knew the right “when.” We know this of course. Of course we do.
Except we don’t.
We think we do, but our impatience and frustration betrays us. In fact, I wonder today how much sin might be avoided in my life if I really believed in the perfect timing of God. Every time I think I must manufacture an opportunity I show that I don’t believe. Whenever I try and manipulate relationships to my own ends show that I don’t believe. Whenever I am discontent with what the Lord has seen fit to bring about in my life I show that I don’t believe.
Not really.
But thank God His timing is not dependent on my recognition of its rightness. Thank God He is not swayed by my complaints. Thank God He is willing to press on to the right time. But thank God His timing is not dependent on my recognition of its rightness. Thank God He is not swayed by my complaints. Thank God He is willing to press on to the right time. And thank God that He didn’t wait for me to be ready to exercise His good work in my life:“For while we were still helpless, at the appointed moment, Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6).”“
—Soon and Very Soon
Can’t wait.
I keep forgetting to update this. For those of you who wanted to know, I have decided to stay in SD for the time being and continue to serve at LBC SD. :)
Thank you for praying for my decision making and keeping me accountable! <3
all other costumes fail when compared to this family
(Source: thebingalings, via gracehy)
(Source: stuffimake, via thehumblerejoice)
“Do not think yourself better than others lest, perhaps, you be accounted worse before God Who knows what is in man. Do not take pride in your good deeds, for God’s judgments differ from those of men and what pleases them often displeases Him. If there is good in you, see more good in others, so that you may remain humble. It does no harm to esteem yourself less than anyone else, but it is very harmful to think yourself better than even one. The humble live in continuous peace, while in the hearts of the proud are envy and frequent anger.”
- Thomas A Kempis, “The Imitation of Christ”
“The pure, simple, and steadfast spirit is not distracted by many labors, for he does them all for the honor of God. And since he enjoys interior peace he seeks no selfish end in anything. What, indeed, gives more trouble and affliction than uncontrolled desires of the heart? […]
He is truly great who is little in his own eyes and makes nothing of the highest honor. He is truly wise who looks upon all earthly things as folly that he may gain Christ. He who does God’s will and renounces his own is truly very learned.”
- Thomas A Kempis, “The Imitation of Christ”
Update!! And now it appears that I will need to find my own way to pay for grad school, which means I will have to rethink some thigs after all. Please pray for me as I consider these things, to put down my pride and desire to hold on to my own plans!
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My dad is worried and a bit sad that I chose this career path for myself. “I always thought you would be a lawyer, or a journalist, or a college professor. […] Nurses have to work hard. There is a large turnover rate. You have to keep taking tests and more school before getting your nurse practitioner license…”
My dad is saying I have so much potential. If I had pursued prestige, glamour, respect, I could have attained them. I could be so much more than just a nurse. And I wouldn’t have a hard life if I succeed in those other paths. My heart is really glad to realize how highly he thinks of me. And also really sad.
In the end, my dad is worried for me because I chose a path that is difficult. It involves emotionally and physically burdensome tasks. It requires me to see a lot of death and deal with life threatening situations. It is not glorious and doesn’t pay as much as it should. He wants his daughter to live in prosperity and comfort. He wants what a parent naturally wants for his child.
I am so thankful for my dad’s care for me, and partially heartbroken that I am unable to obey him in everything. Because in the end, the One whom I serve is greater than myself and greater than my parents.
It is my prayer that God will allow my parents to see how the life to which Christ calls me is full and joyful because of who I live for. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.
**disclaimer: I am not trying to say that the other career choices listed above are “unholy” or bad.
