Looking Past Your Own Pain

Hey Interwebs!! I hope you've had a good week. I did.

At my church, I sing in the praise band with mostly the mothers of my peers. And our Worship Leader, Dennis. Oh, and my doctor. But anyway, one of the mothers, Ms. B, she's been sick for a while now. First she had breast cancer, then as soon as she found out she was cancer-free, she had some other health-related problem, and now she's on this medicine that makes her feel sick a lot. Well, even despite her illness, she always finds ways to encourage me. This morning, I made a mistake with our music, and yet after we finished singing, she whispered to me, "Great job Becca." It was little, really no big deal, but that she, in all her suffering and difficulty and pain, would look beyond all that to see an insecure teenager humiliated by an insignificant mistake and want to alleviate my discomfort?? It's such a gratifying experience, and I'm so thankful. So very thankful. It's Christ-like love like that that I strive for, and yet fall short of, every day.

I hope everyone has a good week!!
Love, Becca

A Day at a Time

I've been thinking a lot lately about my own issues in my relationship with Christ. I'm really judgmental. I tend to be condescending, and impatient. I want to live my life 100% for Christ, but sometimes I just can't. Anyway, I've been thinking about this lately. How can you eradicate sin from yourself? Well, I can tell you, it won't be done in a day. If you just try to fix your whole self in a day, when you get to the end of the day and you're not only just as sinful as you were when you started, but you're frustrated, and mad at yourself, too. But Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither will you be completely changed in a day. Look at the Olympic Athletes. They didn't just wake up one morning, decide they were going to go to the Olympics, and then show up there that same afternoon. They've been working for months, even years, to get where they are now, at the opening ceremonies of the games tonight. We have ups and downs, and we really just have to take them one day at a time.

SNOW FLURRIES!!!

This afternoon, I went out to run some errands for my parents, who are currently fighting a relatively legit cold (relatively legit for a cold). Anyway, while I was out, it started flurrying!!!! It was super exciting!!!! Even though it probably won't actually snow, it was really fun to see them. It's amazing the way God shows Himself through the smaller things in life. :)

Music :)

Hey Everyone!!!

Well, I'm a musician. Music is in my blood. It's in my heart. I'm pretty sure its coded in my DNA. Anyway, that means music is my most heartfelt form of worship. I just connect so easily to it. It touches me so profoundly. I don't know. But anyway, this afternoon, I was feeling a little lonely, driving home from a basketball game, when I decided to turn my radio from the classical station that I often listen to (yes, I am well aware I'm a dork), to my local Christian station. And I just connected. One song in particular, Signature of Divine by NEEDTOBREATHE really touched my heart, with the words "Take me, and pull me through./Cause I can't move without you./I won't leave you alone, you say./It will be okay." Anyway, it really touched my heart, and reminded me how God is always with us, and He never leaves us alone.

Also, just quickly, all the time, God reminds me to love others, and to forgive. I'm still struggling with forgiving my friend of a friend (see my post entitled "Get Nicer or Stay Away") who really hurt me. I want to, and I kind of have, but I'm still struggling. So if you could pray for me, I would hugely appreciate it.

Love,
Becca

Oh, and one last thing. A friend of mine is struggling with some personal things with people in our youth group, and if you would pray for her too, I would hugely appreciate that too! It's not exactly an SGM, but it's still very important. Thanks!! Becca ;)

Mission Trips!!

Okay, guess what!! I bet you guessed it! That's right!! The mission trip process has begun!!! I'm uber (is that even a word anymore? It was when I was a youngster...) pumped!!! Seriously, I can't wait!!! Although I can already tell you that mission trips will be different this summer. There are a lot of things changing this year, and that's not necessarily a bad thing, but I can't promise that it'll be a good thing either. So keep us in your prayers, please!! Love, Becca <3

The Joys of Reading on a Cold, Snowy Day

So... I live in the south, and because of the crazy weather that has left us cold, snowy, and completely shut down, I got almost a whole week out of school. I missed 3 days in a row. and then we had a weekend. So I've just spent 5 consecutive days not in school. Anyway, because we had no school, and it wasn't planned that way, I got some extra time, that my teachers hadn't expected I would have, so no extra school work was planned. So I had free time, which is almost a foreign concept to me now. But because of this free time, I got to sit down and read this series of books that I haven't gotten to read since I was a freshman. It's a great series by Donita K. Paul. I don't exactly know what the series is called, but the first book is called DragonSpell. It's really an excellent truth. Anyway, in each of the five books, Ms. Paul explores concepts that are really crucial to our Christian faith. It's a really excellent series of Christian Fantasy for Young Adults, but I would recommend it to anyone. The message is simple but clear. It gives a new insight into what it is that I claim as my religion. Anyway, when I read these books again, God really just spoke to me through some of the conversations people had. I can't really explain it, and there were a lot of these moments, but I really just heard God in them this past week.

Anyway, since I mentioned her books, Donita K. Paul's website is linked here: http://www.donitakpaul.com/

Oh, and the series I mentioned, it's apparently called the DragonKeeper Series. Which makes sense, if you read the first couple books. Anyway, I would recommend it!!

Love, Becca :)