Radical

I'm alive! Ha ha You may have thought I died from my lack of communication but these holidays have been so busy and full of nonstop bliss. Also when I do have time I am too tired to even think about sitting down to write.

So over the break I have read 3 books and I am currently halfway though books 4 and 5! I know I did not even read this much at school but these books are mostly  "easy" read books. Except for one. I am about half way through Radical by David Platt. My precious boyfriend gave it to me for Christmas! I have been dying to read it because Dr. Platt is the preacher at my church in Birmingham. I love the book so far! But anyways the book has but so many thoughts and ideas in my brain about the Lord and the relationship I have with him.m

The first chapter is entitled "Someone Worth Losing Everything For".  I love this quote from the chapter that says.

"But if Jesus is who he said he is, and if his promises are as rewarding as the Bible claims they are, then we may discover that satisfaction in our lives are not found in what our culture deems most important but in radical abandonment to Jesus."
 (Platt 3)

I could write a whole post on just this statement and I think I might!

It DOES NOT MATTER what our culture thinks is the next biggest and best thing. It DOES NOT MATTER that I have the best resume. It DOES NOT MATTER what parties I go to or places I go. It DOES NOT MATTER sorority I am in or group I am involved in. It DOES NOT MATTER what I do on this Earth.

If Jesus is the man he says he is. The perfect, holy, Son of God who came to this Earth to sacrifice himself for me. And if all his promises are as rewarding as the Bible claims they are. That I get to spend eternity in heaven worshiping with MY FATHER. Why does it matter about anything else?

This semester this was a struggle for me because being in a new place and not having the support I did at home it was easy to get caught up in what the world thinks is important. We are told that we need to be involved in particular things because it will make our resume look good in the future. We are told that we need to be in a certain sorority because that's the "coolest" one. We are told that we need wear a particular style[long frat tees and leggings] and brand [Uggs,  Ray Bans, David Yurman, Tory Burch, Seven, JCREW]to look attractive or to be cool... [I know this sounds cliche but really you get judged if you don't]. The thing is though, this is all a bunch of crap. The Lord could be coming back any day now and when he does all of that will be gone. I get stuck in this too don't get me wrong but it makes me laugh sometimes at the people I see at school when I try to imagine what they would do if they lost all the things that they think are important to them [materialistically speaking...iPhone, mac books, clothes, shoes, keurigs].

"Somewhere in our lives we missed what is radical about our faith and replaced it with what is comfortable."

Be radical.

One of my favorite quotes that I try to live by is.... Your life should not make sense to Non-Believers if you are living Radically for the Lord.

With Love from my Father,

Diane Elizabeth

I Need You To Love Me

 Yay for Post #2!

I always feel a bit overwhelmed when I think about trying to organize my thoughts into writing but I think when I just start it comes out pretty good on its own. [mustbeaGodthing]

So today I spent a wonderful afternoon with one of my sweet sweet friends. I love our long talks about our lives now and laughing about old times. She is such an encourager, listener, and strong woman of the Lord. She gives me the best advice! Especially today. We were talking about how when we are at school we are consumed by rules and to do lists. We try to fix everything on our own by having it all organized out and getting everything done.  I am the queen of doing things because I have to and filling my day with "things to do". When I complete the tasks I have had planned I feel accomplished and at peace with my successful day. Sometimes I forget that I am not in control of my life and that I cannot fix everything. This comes into play with my walk with the Lord. I catch myself spending time with the Lord because that is what I am suppose to do. However, the motivation for spending time with the Lord is all wrong. I can walk the walk and talk the talk but how do I get that wanting to spend time with the Lord everyday?

This is where her advice comes in to play. She told me "At the end of the day it all comes down to the Lord wantings us to Love, how we love the Lord, ourselves, and others around us." Love. That's it. I am saved from eternal damnation only by LOVE. I think it is so easy for me to let this become dull and passionless in my life.

John 3:16 "For God so LOVED the world, that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrated his great LOVE for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

1 John 3:1 "See how great a LOVE the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him."

 

He loves me so much. It sounds cliche that I am saying this but its so true. All he wants is from me is to Love him back and to love others around me so that they can see his love through me.

I was driving home today and for some reason I randomly changed to one of the christian radio stations. The song that came on was I Need you to Love Me. I love this song because my sweet friend mentioned earlier actually sang this song for a chorus thing at my school. It was such a coincidence that this song was one at the exact moment I changed that station. I love seeing the Lord do things like this. He is constantly wooing me back to him. How special! 

Why? Why are you still here with me?
Didn’t you see what I’ve done?
In my shame I want to run,
And hide myself.
Yeah, but it’s here I see the truth,
I don’t deserve you.
But I need you to love me,
And I, I won’t keep my heart from you this time.
And I’ll stop this pretending that I can,
Somehow deserve what I already have
I need you to love me
I, I have wasted so much time
Pushing you away from me.
I just never saw how you
Could cherish me.

Cause you’re a God who has all things,
And still you want ME.

 [Barlow Girl]

I want to spend time with him because I love him and he is loving me back in a way that I could never wrap my mind around. How cool is that. The Creator of the Universe LOVES ME!

With Love From My Father,

Diane Elizabeth

Micah 6:8

Hello Friends!

I finally decided to start blogging. I think I have started to create a blog at least 10 times but always stop and think its too much work. NOT THIS TIME! I wanted away to let people know how I am doing and what the Lord is teaching me in my life.

There are so many new things going on in my life right now. I am so incredibly blessed to have a heavenly Father who is constantly opening doors for me and putting such huge blessings in my life along this new journey. I am currently a Freshman at Samford University, a sister, a friend, a girlfriend, a daughter, Nursing major, member of Alpha Delta Pi, and a Young Life leader at Vestavia Hills High School! I am just a little busy! But that is where I take after my mother! I love being involved!

Where do I even start explaining my life and all that is going on?! I will start with why I wanted to start blogging this time around. I am home for the holidays and just love catching up with old friends. It is a little nostalgic seeing everyone and talking about how our lives are going. My school is  5 1/2 hours and a time zone away from my sweet sweet home town of Johnson City, TN (yes the one from Wagon Wheel) . I feel so out of the loop so love reading blogs and facebook stalking to see how all of my friends and family are doing. I thought that this would be a great way to show my friends what is going on in my life. I also wanted to show people what the Lord is teaching me. In one of my classes at school we learned about Augustine and his book Confessions. He wrote that book to not only confess his sins to the Lord but to show others what he had learned so they will grow from it. That is similar to what I want to do.

One of the biggest areas of my life that the Lord is working through is Young Life. I honestly could say that I would not be the woman I am today without it. I have learned how to express my faith and to not just be a Christian but to really just LIVE and SIT in the Lord's Love. I am so excited to get to go to Vestavia and meet sweet new friends :)

OK so enough about the old stuff for now but what about what is going on currently in my life. I went to my home church this morning, which I just LOVE LOVE LOVE. I have been going there since preschool and really enjoy seeing familiar faces of the people I have grown up with all of my life. In my parents Sunday school class the teacher gave us an amazing verse that he thought we should put on our refrigerator and live by. ..

Micah 6:8

"He has showed you, O man, what is good.

And what does the Lord require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

Where do I begin with this verse. I think this is a great verse for my life because I finally left home and I am starting my journey on my own so what am I supposed to do with that? I am no preacher. So I am sorry if someone disagrees with what I say. This is just what comes to my mind. The Lord says 3 things. Not one and the other two are less, or two are more important and the other is less, but all three things are required. First, to act justly. I think that is a big thing in the life of a college freshman. When we go off to college we are thrown into a world where there is a lot of freedom and very less guidance. It is so easy to slip into some bad habits and ideals. I have experienced this in the way people act toward one another. Its all about ME sorry everyone else but I need to get what I need. But anyways. Second, we wants us to love mercy. I thought this was interesting because he does not say to love with mercy but to LOVE MERCY. This first struck me as hard to do because it is hard for me to love people that have done wrong to me, or are rude to me, or have cheated me. But I love the mercy the Lord has for me. It goes both ways but I only like one. Third, is to walk humbly with your God. I have been learning this more recently because I get so busy at school and with all my activities that I forget or just neglect my time with the Lord. It does not take me long to start feeling bitter, drained, and just yucky. But the days that I just rest in the Lord I can see and feel the Joy that Overflows (hints the name of my blog).

The Lord is doing huge things in my life. I just want this blog to be a way that I can express that.

With Love from My Father,

Diane Elizabeth

p.s. I kinda like bolding :)