Day number twenty three :: child like faith

For awhile now I have been trying to figure out what Matthew 18:3 was trying to say:

And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

I think I truly knew the essence of the verse, but it still wasn't very clear to me... until recently.

My nephew and I headed out to walmart, in hopes of finding everything I needed for a preschool lesson at church. He loved being able to pick out the "little kids" craft. I told him how in church the next day, we would be talking about how Jesus is going to come back one day and those who truly believe that Jesus died for our sins would live forever with Him. He didnt really have much to say about this, but I could tell his little seven year old mind was thinking.

Finally, after getting all the odds and ends from walmart, we made our way to the cash register. About half way there, Dominic perked up and practically shouted, "Wait!" Being the typical Aunt, I thought he wanted candy for being good in the store, but looking at him, he was not centered on the candy aisle. Instead he was looking at an older man, standing in line at the register. "We need to tell him about Jesus, aunt Lauren. Can we? Jesus might come back tonight, and it wont be nice if we dont tell him."

I literally had to do everything I could not to start crying right there in Walmart. My seven year old nephew was showing a child like faith, and being completely intentional. He didnt care what people thought.

I want that faith.

He asked me what he should do, and I couldn't muster up any words. Within seconds the older man had paid for his items and was heading out the door. Almost as soon as he stepped outside, his wallet fell out of his back pocket and it took only a second after my nod of approval for Dominic to run at full speed to the man. Dominic picked up the wallet and ran to the doors to give it to him. He was upset that he didn't tell the man about Jesus, but I said that sometimes we do nice things for people and they can see Jesus through that action.

I really dont need to explain why I am thankful for this. I couldn't believe how blessed I was to be able to witness a verse that I have been wanting to see for so long... and through my own nephew. :)

Day number twenty two :: Prayer

When I first became a Christian, five or so years ago, I didn't really like the idea of prayer. Don't get me wrong... I did pray. But I never really connected myself to Christ through that. To be real, I felt it more as a burden. It was just another person that I had to tell all my crap to.

Back in my 15 year old mind, I should have dug deeper. Why was it that praying was so hard to do? As I mentioned before, I was a "newbie Christian." The things I had done before I gave my life to Christ (and was currently going through) I wasnt the least bit proud of. I was afraid to confess and give it to Christ. If I would have seen a clear picture of Christianity, I would have seen a God that was yearning for me to come to Him and cling to Him. Instead, I saw a God who was waiting to smite me and tell me that I wasn't good enough for His grace.

And the thing is - I'm not. Nor will I ever be.

The funny thing about running from God, is that He knows exactly what is on my heart anyway, so I might as well give up from hiding. A speaker came to Chapel this semester and emphasized the fact that we GET to pray. We should be completely honored that Christ wants to have an intimate relationship with us and wants to hear our burdens and praises and comfort us when life just seems to suck.

Anyway, I choose prayer particularly for today because I was blessed with a couple opportunities to pray with people and be prayed for. It is a huge blessing for us as sisters and brothers to come together and pray....admitting that we cant go through this life without our Savior.

Day number twenty one :: 2 Day Weeks

The typical dread of a Sunday night hasn't hit me yet. Usually this feeling comes around Sunday morning before church and peaks at about 7 PM on Sunday. That gross feeling of the weekend being over is definitely not my favorite.

But tonight it is different. The teacher that I am a TA for has cancelled her class tomorrow, therefore putting me off the hook to work. Instead of not having a break between 10 AM to 9 PM, I actually have a break in my day. :) Yay!

Also, this week is a TWO DAY WEEK. I will be going home to spend some lovely time (and turkey) with my family. Cant wait!!

Day number 20 :: Giving

(( I was going to take a picture of the "ornament" Im going to talk about .. But  I have lost it))

Today at church, an announcement was made by a member saying that the place she works at for under privledge homes was going to partner with us. In the back of the church was a Christmas tree with little paper ornaments with a gender, age and list of a few things that particular person wanted for Christmas. She told us that most of these families do not have electricity nor have an idea where their next meal comes from. All of the familes live in east stl and are in great need of help. Also, the lady at my church is going to personally deliver all of the gifts herself to the families... what a blessing!

I picked up one that was for a two year old little boy.
He wanted:
Socks
Pajamas
Craft Supplies
3T Clothing

Today I picked up for him two pairs of pajamas, six outfits, a baseball bat & ball, trucks, coloring books, crayons and bubbles.

I told you what I got because I wanted to jumpstart some of your own ideas. I pretty much got the little boy covered, but if you would feel led to donate anything (gift cards, girls clothing, toys, body gel... etc) I am positive they can find a good, loving home for it thiis Christmas.

Let me know if you want to donate anything and I will pick it up from you :)

Day number nineteen :: Laughter

I know I have said this before, but this world would be so boring without laughter. Think about how strange the concept is all together.. When we find something funny, we smile. Ever think about why? Scientifically, it is crazy. To God, it is to show joy. I love it. I love seeing others smile, laugh, laugh til they cry... I bet God was giving His own little smirk when creating laughter.

Also, the SOUNDS of it.. A childs first laugh, a toddlers belly laugh, a teens giggle...

Laughing is contagious, and so is smiling. Be sure to spread it :)

Day number eighteen :: Security Systems

You may be thinking... security systems? Really? But this post has a story to go along with it.

This night I was babysitting two preschoolers.. I have watched them regularly for about the past two years. Right before their mom left this time, she pulled me away from the children to remind me of the home security code. She also gave me a print out of all the neighbors numbers. Confused with all sudden new information, she told me that there have been several break-in's on the street she lived on within the week.

Was it too late to make an excuse why I had to leave?

Yes, it was too late. Seconds later she was out the door on the way to "date night" with her husband. Only a half an hour later the kids went to sleep and I was left to deal with a spooky, large and quiet house to myself. Each noise outside made me jump and when the dogs barked, I pretty much took cover.

Sitting there, scared, I realized how thankful I am for security systems. I knew if anything really did happen, alarms would sound and police would be there quickly. Thankfully it remained a quiet night of bed-time stories, checkers and "monster checks." :)

Day number seventeen :: Sun

How beautiful is that? Ridiculously beautiful.

Anyway, the sun holds a lot of meaning.. one (the most obvious) is that it gives us light, energy etc. not to mention the wonderful sunsets and sunrises we get to witness to EVERY day. I absolutely love that blessing and never take it for granted. Also, the sun can make peoples day better, like coming out after a rain storm.

On the day I was supposed to update day 17 (fell behind!) a friend asked me a simple question. She said, "Will the sun still rise tomorrow?" She asked this because the silly rough day I was having was so small in retrospect to my God. I am so thankful for that humble question, and of course that friend.

So, I ask you, Will the sun still rise again tomorrow?

Day number 16 :: Conversations

 

I cant count the amount of times just this semester that I have had a day that I just wanted to be over. It seems like i've had more bad days than I would have liked lately, and I'm totally not a fan of that.

However, God knows my heart. Simple enough, right?

He knows the things that He can bless me with to turn an entire situation or even day around. He continues to bless me with conversations with friends that go far beyond my own little world and my own little problems to see the bigger picture in life. When I take my eyes off of selfish wants and needs, petty issues just dont seem to consume me anymore.

I love being able to sit down with someone and become vulnerable with them about what is truly on our hearts. Its also eye opening to see how much each and every person desperately needs a savior; therefore the urgency to make disciples is that much more real.

God showed me His glory from bad days, to great conversations, to wanting to share the Gospel more... What an awesome God I serve.

Day number fifteen :: Notes

Encouraging notes are probably one of my single most favorite things ever in the whole wide world.

(Not to be too dramatic)

I love receiving notes and giving notes. Getting a note, in my opinion, tells you that someone was thinking about you and that they generally care.  Something like "Have a good day" or "Psalm 41" can go a LONG way, especially if someone is having a rough day.

In this note a recently got, was a note/rap from a mobap student... its just a rap about him sitting on my bed. To make it weirder, he left it right there on my bed. It took me a long time to figure out who it was... thank you, Jake Webb. You win ultimate creeper award.

Day number 14 :: Open Hands

Since part of the challenge is to find something from that day to be thankful for, I am still on the subject of D-now!! Anyway, this band - The Matt Papa Band - came and sung worship all weekend. They were overall great - and I even bought the CD which isn't something I usually do. I loved his passion for the true essence of worship, not just the music.

He sung a song called "Open Hands" that totally hit home with me.

Here is a little part of it. I'll put a link so you can hear it for yourself. Seriously check it out.. good stuff :)

And I lift my hands open wide let the whole world see how you've loved, how you died, how you set me free!
Free at last I surrender all i am with open hands
with open hands

Verse 2:
To finally let go of my plans
These earthly kingdoms built of sand Jesus at your cross I stand with open hands

http://www.onlylyrics.com/hits.php?grid=11&id=1034609



Day number 13 :: Crafts

For D-Now I got some crafts together so that the girls could make prayer journals. They wound up loving the idea and some spent as much as 4-5 hours constructing how they wanted it to look. I LOVE crafts. I love how you can put a bunch of various stickers, ribbon, colored paper, buttons etc together to make something totally unique and cute.

Day number 12 :: D-Now Girls

On Friday I started off my weekend with a D-Now group at first baptist church of ellisville. D-now is a weekend filled with worship, speakers, small groups and activites. There is pretty much no room for sleep, who needs it anyway?

About the picture :: I felt like a traitor getting all Mizzou-fied. But on Friday night of D-Now each grade level has a team to support and you need to be as creative as possible to have the most spirit. The host homes get CRAZY involved with this, including making it their personal responsibilty in tracking down the mascot....

These girls were simply AMAZING. I got them last year as well, so it was awesome to keep building our relationships. i know that I came to invest in them, but ultimately these girls witnessed to me. Getting to hear their side conversations with eachother about the nature, character and love of Christ made me want to cry (and I am not an easy crier!!) They were constantly there to encourage eachother and help eachother up when they fell (sometimes literally).

Oh, and these girls were FRESHMAN! I have strong hope for this generation... I cant wait to see where God is going to take them next.

Day number eleven :: Chapstick

Vitamin Schticks

These are my favorite. If you have EVER tried these, you will know exactly why!! Vitamin Schticks come in all variety of flavors (two personal favorites are pomegrante, and lemonade). Plus, they are super moisturizing without getting that dreaded "sticky" feel. I have about 6 or 7 floating around my dorm because I buy them in bulk when I can actually find them. They used to sell them at all Walgreens, but they are hard to come by there any more. Now the only place I can find them is the St Charles Community Bookstore. And yes, I make a special trip there just to get me some :)

Day number ten :: Grace

The reason that grace comes to mind for this day, is that I am obviously slacking on this project. It is now Sunday night and I haven't updated since Tuesday. You know why? Cause life got in the way. How often is it that we forget to be THANKFUL (what this whole project is about) because we are too busy? I hate that.

Without grace, I would literally be nothing. I think I can admit that I am nowhere near a perfect person. Daily I fail at expectations, say the wrong things, dont glorify God enough, and become lazy in my faith. But its because of the crazy grace that Jesus has for us that we can continue to stay in perfect community with Him.

Day number nine :: Chiropractors

Yay Chiropractor!

For the past two or so weeks, I've had an achey neck. Thats never a lot of fun, especially when youre crouched over a computer writing papers for too much of the day. I wanted to see a chiropractor, but I am a poor college student. That usually becomes an issue in times like these.

But NOT this time! :) I found a fabulous place called Tree Top Chiropractic. The lady there did a wonderful job in making me feel better and stretching out my neck.(she could even guess how many credit hours I was taking by how tense I was. Haha!) Anyway, they do an unusual payment method which makes it super convenient. Instead of a standard fee, you can feel free to donate to their cause. Its completely confidential, and you just slip however much you want to give in a little box. I love places like these!!

Day number eight :: Dad

Oh, my crazy Dad.

Throughout my life, I was continually told that I was like my dad. To say the least - I was mortified. He was corny, sung obnoxiously and to top it off, bald. Just over the past year though was when I realized how great of a compliment it was for anyone to compare me to him. You see, my dad will drop everything - everything - to help someone out. Not to mention, when any person walks into our home they will for sure have left with eaten much more than they would have liked. My dad doesn't simply ask if they would like food, he force feeds them. Many times my siblings and I will get irritated with this, especially those mornings before heading off to High School and he would make us eat an array of food... which typically made us late to first hour. If we didn't eat it, he would be sure to put it in a baggie to eat on the way to school.

On top of his italian nature of food, he is one of the most reliable people I know. When he tells you he is going to do something, you can count on it. Not only can you be sure it will get done, but he will exceed your expectations on it as well. My dad is highly sensitive to detail and will make sure everything is done correctly.

The rare weekends that I am able to come home, he is typically either at my car to greet me when I arrive or at least at the door before I can even turn the knob. He greets me with a hug and every concern of his is completely on the back burner for those few moments.

Now when people tell me I am like my father, I take it as one of the greatest compliments. I hope to inherit even half of the fabulous attributes that my dad has.



Day number seven :: Education

Education.


As much as I whine about having to do homework, study, get up early and stay in class on beautiful days, I really am thankful about getting an education. These words pain me to say considering I have a rather large paper I need to be working on - due tomorrow. Also, the fact that I can freely worship Christ at my school, get a chapel service every Thursday afternoon and have an army of friends who also believe the same thing. I am excited to let these next few years here at MBU grow me into a better teacher and also a stronger Christian.

Day number six :: Community

Community

This picture was taken under the arch during Spring Break of last year. This was our last stop from being at Art Hill, the Zoo and our picnic. It was a lovely day, and to sum it all up into one word, it would be community. I love having friends I can truly count on, be there for, encourage and keep me in line. We were never called to do this life alone. We need to take on our relationships, be blessed by them and grow in them.

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Galatians 6:2

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
1 John 1:7 

Day number five :: Roommate

Roommates...

As you can see from this picture, I was being a studious student. It is approaching a Friday night and I have more homework to do than possibly physically possible for one weekend. I had my computer open, 8 page New Testament paper being written, and stressed as all get out.

Annnnnndddd here is my roommate, here to force me to let loose a little and live. Here she is singing me a song, (I'm pretty sure the one that is the 5-minute Wizard of Oz song.. dont ask) Tonight she is performing again in our schools play, Godspell. Singing and dancing like a fool is just in her nature, and although at 2 in the morning it drives me crazy, I still love her and am ridiculously thankful to have her in my life, and to learn to live a little :)

Day Number Four :: Redeemer

This is some of the youth at my church, Redeemer. How I even wound up at this Church is a crazy story all inspired by God. I was blessed enough to be able to go on a second mission trip with them over the Summer to Chicago. How their lives reflect Jesus, and the gifts that they have been given to glorify God is crazy awesome. I love serving with these kids, and look forward to my future with them.

Day number three :: Goddaughter

Maria Kristina Maniaci

My Goddaughter (also known as niece) means more to me than a single blog could ever contain. Maria will be four in just two short weeks, yet she is so caring and passionate for people. She knows when i'm having a rough day, even sometimes before my closest friends. Her simple words of "Whats wrong aunt Warren? You sad? You want chocolate?" brings a goofy smile to my face each time. The excitement that she shows when I tell her we are going to hang out for the weekend brings pure joy to me. Or the mornings before church that she crawls into my bed and we lay around and talk for an hour.  I cherish these years that she finds it awesome to hang out with her Aunt. I am blessed to be able to call her my Goddaughter. I want to be "that" mentor in her life, and lead her to Christ effectively. I pray our relationship only grows and I can truly invest into her.



Day number two :: Dorms.

Dorm life is something that has so many pro's and so many con's. Ultimately, the good definitely outweighs the bad. I love being able to come back to my room (without driving) and be able to have some peace and quiet. After all those crazy 12 hour days on campus, its nice to be able to come back and relax quickly.

Some of my favorite things about living on campus are:
Community
Sleep in later for classes
MBU food!!!.......
Roommate conversations
Hall activities
The deer outside my window
Living partially on your 'own'
Trying every possible way of making something edible in the microwave
Mattress sledding
Being able to attend more events

The first one...

The first one has to be the hardest. This is the one that most would think that I am most thankful for.. but that may not be the case. Actually, it isn't. My goal this month isn't to go from least to greatest.. but instead to think of something new every day.

Although this picture may look a tad on the crafty side, they definitely will not all be.

Nature

I LOVE nature. Everyday we are blessed enough to see what God created for us to enjoy. Leaves, sunshine, snow, trees, rocks, lakes... I love it all.

Here we go!

I have been challenged to create a blog about "Things I am Thankful For In My Life". Since you are reading this blog, you can see I accepted the challenge. I know the first few days and possibly weeks could be pretty easy to do, but as time goes on, it will become more difficult. My challenge for this is to post a picture and blog entry each day of something I'm thankful for.. even if its small!

It would be awesome to see a bunch of people start to do this! :)