Overwhelmed...

So today I am overwhelmed. I just got an email from my college telling me that I have to buy all new clinicial uniforms as well as pay $83 to get my fingerprints. lovely right? Especially since school starts in two weeks! I also found out I have to read tons of  papers before orientation. So I am freaking out just a bit! I have two weeks left of summer and already have almost everyday planned out with either lunch dates with friends, church, zumba, working out, doctors appointments and other things of the sort.  Don't get me wrong, I love being busy but I can feel my blood pressure rising just thinking about this! 

I am trying my best though to keep a positive attitude! I like planning and organizing so that is fun, I am just beyond nervous for everything that is going to be going on in the next few months. I am going to continue to pray for God's peace and wisdom though through the entire thing though. So I ask you to pray for me as I embark on this next stage of my life. Pray that I continue to keep God fist in my life, and that I priortize everything in the way He would have me to. <3 Enjoy the rest of your Monday night!

The songs that are on replay

The songs that are on replay..... <3

So lately there are two songs  that I just cannot get out of my head! They are both such amazing songs and when you take the time to listen to the lyrics you will find that you like them too.

The first song is a song I heard in the car while driving home. If you have read any of my previous blogs you probably have read about the changes that God is making in my life. So when this song came on, it hit me. I started to cry and just listen to the lyrics. I felt as if this is exactly what I wanted to say to God, but just didn't know the words to say. That happens to me a lot, where I have times I just don't know how to say what I want when I pray. This song is everything I wanted to say. I could listen to it time and time again. This is my prayer to my heavenly Father! I hope you love it just as much as I do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxzVRTI6cPc

I used to walk this town
With my head hanging down
I felt so alone
I was so close to giving up
Lost all hope in love
So far from home
Oh, oh,

Thank You for finding me when You did
You changed my life, now I believe
That love is all, that I'll ever need
I promise my heart and all that I am
I'm Yours forever my love

You came and You rescued me
Showed me life as it's meant to be
So beautiful
You love me so differently
Chase all my fears away
I'm finally whole
Oh, oh,

Thank You for finding me when You did
You changed my life, now I believe
That love is all, that I'll ever need
I promise my heart and all that I am

I'm with You
You're right beside me
I feel You near
Right here to guide me
I'm with You
You're right beside me
To guide me home

Thank You for finding me when You did
You changed my life, now I believe
That love is all, that I'll ever need
I promise my heart and all that I am
I'm Yours forever my love 

The next song is a song you may have already heard of, yet most of us underestimate it. The other night in church our pastor started with this song. He began to cry as he was talking about how his little boy would not stop crying and screaming and the lyrics to this song just came to him....There is POWER in the NAME OF JESUS! When he started singing this to God, he stopped immediately. How awesome is our God?!  

This song means exactly what it says there IS power in the name of Jesus to break EVERY chain! Everything that you are going through, God can handle it and carry you through it and relieve you from the burden you are carrying. God loves YOU more than anything. I think we forget sometimes that if YOU were the only person on this entire earth, he STILL would have came to die just so YOU wouldn't have to die and you could live forever with him in a mansion! 

So remember no matter what you are going through, God IS greater than it. You may still have to go through this battle, because God is preparing you and something greater for you (talked about in a previous blog) BUT the fears, anxiety, and burden that come along with it, God can wipe away. He may let you bend, but He promised to NEVER let you break. 

The lyrics....  

There is power in the name of Jesus
There is power in the name of Jesus
There is power in the name of Jesus

To break every chain
Break every chain
Break every chain

There is power in the name of Jesus
There is power in the name of Jesus
There is power in the name of Jesus

To break every chain
Break every chain
Break every chain

To break every chain
Break every chain
Break every chain

All sufficient sacrifice
So freely given
Such a price
Bought our redemption
Heaven's gates swing wide

There is power in the name of Jesus
There is power in the name of Jesus
There is power in the name of Jesus

To Break every chain
Break every chain
Break every chain

There is power in the name of Jesus
There is power in the name of Jesus
There is power in the name of Jesus

To Break every chain
Break every chain
Break every chain

To Break every chain
Break every chain
Break every chain

There's an army rising up
There's an army rising up
There's an army rising up

To Break every chain
Break every chain
Break every chain

There's an army rising up
There's an army rising up
There's an army rising up

To Break every chain
Break every chain
Break every chain

To Break every chain
Break every chain
Break every chain

There is power in the name of Jesus
There is power in the name of Jesus
There is power in the name of Jesus

To Break every chain
Break every chain
Break every chain

There is power in the name of Jesus
There is power in the name of Jesus
There is power in the name of Jesus

To Break every chain
Break every chain
Break every chain

To Break every chain
Break every chain
Break every chain 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOyjD5Zw2ew 

Have a wonderful weekend! 

In everything you do, give God the glory. 

<3 

Day 10 of being completely insane...

No not really insane but Insanity....

So today Ellayna and myself finished my tenth day of Insanity and her second! Ten days?! holy cow! Yeah I know....I'm surprised I made it to. I definitely wanted to quit a few times!

Good news is I fell myself getting stronger! The first few days I could hardly do anything, but now I am able to do so much more than I started out being able to do. So that has got to mean I am doing something right.

I am also following the nutrition guide which I am liking. I eat pretty healthy now and I have eliminated sweets and pop from my diet. Plus I can only have fast food once a week! Tonight was that night :/

Waffle house.... if you've been there before you know the bloated feeling I am talking about. But hey it was a splurge night! We had a great church service and were just on fire and wanted to eat a good meal soooo waffle house is where we ended up. ha!

Anyways I tried the shakes that go along with Insanity...nasty! So just in case you are looking into it please do not do it! It is way to expensive it tastes like chalk. You can go to GNC and get so much more for your money!

Last night I did Insanity at 6:15, ate at 7:15, and went to zumba at 8. That was a rough one!!!

Well I figured I would share a little more about the lovely journey to I am on to be healthy and get fit!
More to come later!

Everyone Needs Jesus Time

Tonight was amazing...

I wish everyone who is reading this would have experienced the church service I went to tonight! You could just feel God's presence. Everyone I was with said they felt that that message was directly straight toward them! The funny thing is...we were all going through completely different things yet it was exactly what each of us needed to hear. I love services like that! Where they just speak to everyone yet the situations that each of them are going through are completely different.

He started out in John 14:1-3. He claimed that this message was all from God because he had read this verse over and over again and God awakened him in the middle of the night and just gave him this message to preach on this verse. I had always interpreted this verse a different way so I hope you see this verse in a complete different light as well!

The main verse was......                                     John 14:3

And if I go and prepare a place for you,

 I will come again, and 

receive you unto myself; that where I am, 

there ye may be also.  

Most people interpret this verse as God is going to prepare our mansions in heaven for us, but if you look at verse two the mansions are already there. In verse three it says IF I go. This is talking about sometimes we go through things and it seems like God is not there, in reality He is preparing us and the place (in our future) he has for us. It says in the Bible we will be blessed 7 times from what we are robbed. Well when we come to God and get our relationship right with Him, He has to take everything we have done and messed up and turn it into something so amazing we can't even imagine it. 

If you are going through a hard time remember that trusting in God is key. Praise Him in whatever difficult situation you are going through, whether it be depression, anxiety, financial problems, relationship problems, or whatever it may be. You gotta trust in God that this is your PREPARING time, not only for YOU but for what God has for you. He needs some time to take all the wrong and sin in your past and change it into something beautiful! 

Sometimes if we could get out of our hard decisions quickly than we would just be walking from one mess to another because it's not prepared yet. We must be spiritually ready for all the blessing God is preparing for us. Since GOD, the creator of this world is the one is creating this for you, the time you will have to wait WILL be worth it. Also when you finally get to your place, think how much stronger you are and now you can minister to someone else who is in that same situation!  

So no matter what you are going through stop complaining.... because THIS is the time of preparation! For something far greater than you could ever imagine! 

<3 I feel like I could go on for forever because so much was said tonight but I'll leave it at that. 

Tell someone about Jesus this week! 

Go to church and start living for the one who died for you! <3 

Complete Surrender?

Complete Surrender...that just sounds scary right? 

If you have read one of my previous post about changes in my life...well I am going to expand on that today. Today my devotion was about complete surrender. The video was thirty minutes and throughout this entire video I kept asking myself if I was willing to give up everything I have wanted and just ask God to take every thing I want and surrender it to Him to do whatever He wants to do with me. I kept bringing up different situations. For instance, I would ask my self if I was willing to let go of everything I give my time up for and just let God do with it what He wants. I asked myself if I was willing to forgo every dream I have ever had, and just put those aside and let God fulfill me with His dreams for me. I asked myself if I could surrender every relationship I have with all of the people in my life and make them glorify God.

Wanna know how I answered these questions during this video? I practically said no. No? Yes, I kept making excuses like well I'll give this area over to God, because that is easier but I think I can keep a few areas to myself though. This troubled me greatly. I kept asking myself question after question...why can't I give this over to Him? Yet I kept saying no in my heart. No, I don't want to have to give everything over to Him because that is just asking a lot. This may be shocking to hear but it's the truth. This was a serious battle for me!

So after thirty minutes I went about my business getting ready, cleaning, etc. It wasn't until an hour or two later that these questions just kept popping into my head. I felt though God just kept asking me like why won't you give your life over to me, I promise it will be far greater that anything you could imagine, but yet I kept trying to hold on to my flesh. That is a big deal! Being able to say my life is not my own, and God WHATEVER you want me to do with this life YOU have given me, I will do it. That just seemed so out of reach for me.

In the video Lesley Ludy kept mentioning different women that gave their lifes up for the cause of Christ. Some were thrown out of their homes and told they never wanted to see them again, some were put in prison, some were torn limb by limb by ferocious beasts, and the list just goes on. This kind of surrender just sounded so far out of reach. Impossible is the word that came to mind.

Anyways, my heart just was feeling heavy the entire night. I am really good with putting my feelings and thoughts that trouble me in the way back of my mind where I just don't have to deal with them, but this was different. I kept pushing them aside and it would work for a while, but then they would just pop into my head again. It was almost as if God kept asking me with everything I did...Is this glorifying me? Will you give this up for me? By this time I was just speechless. I had no idea what to do.

If your friends with me on facebook you may have seen my status today:
What does God ask for? All of us. Every single thing. 
Not just certain areas of your life, but EVERYTHING: 

Your future 
Your dreams 
Your ambitions 
Your reputation 
Your comfort 
Your romance ideals 
Your popularity 

Your free time
and the list goes on...
-Lesly Ludy 

This was something I put as my status to challenge myself with! I wanted to be able to say this is what I am willing to do for the God of this world who gave His life and DIED a horrible death just for ME. This was really starting to trouble me. 

Tonight I left my boyfriends house and just felt worn out, mentally and physically (we had just finished day 5 of insanity!). I don't know what exactly came over me...but I began to cry. I do not mean little tears were falling down my face, I mean full out sobbing. I couldn't even control it. That is when I just felt God pushing me to believe and trust Him that if I gave everything up for Him and would be so worth it. 

I cried the entire way home and just prayed out loud to God asking for his wisdom, guidance, peace, strength, courage, and so on. I know I cannot even begin to do this alone, but thing is I don't have to. He is right beside me the entire time. I truly feel THIS is what I want for my life: total surrender. I know this is not going to be easy. While praying I kept saying I know I am going to fail and I know I am going to need Your help to be able to do this, but this is truly what I want for my life.  

I do NOT want to live a life that is just wasted on material things of this world. I want to live a life for Jesus Christ! Plus that is the only reason we are here on this earth! Why wouldn't I give my life up for Him? I should be dead, but I am ALIVE because Christ stood in front of me and died so I wouldn't have to.  

While praying and just crying out to God a song came on... What Faith Can Do by Kutless and I felt that was God speaking to me because those words were exactly what I needed to hear.... 

It doesn't matter what you've heard
Impossible is not a word
It's just a reason
For someone not to try

Everybody's scared to death
When they decide to take that step
Out on the water
It'll be alright

Life is so much more
Than what your eyes are seeing
You will find your way
If you keep believing 

That word was there.... impossible. Did that just hit me in the face? Giving your life to God is NOT impossible if you believe in Him and trust that He has the strength to help you. It is going to be scary, He didn't say it was going to be easy, but we have to be willing to take that step.  

So with that I leave you to think about your life. Have you completely surrendered EVERY area in your life? It's gonna be hard, but I know putting your life into God's hands is far greater than keeping it in your own! <3

Sooo day 4 it is! 

Well today was a pretty good day..let's start out with that. Got up and I was determined to make sure everyone of my meals was in the nutrition guide (which if you knew me, this is a very difficult thing to do!). So I got up and made 2 eggs and 2 egg white, mushrooms, and onion breakfast wrap along with some wheat toast and all fruit preserves! Sounds fancy doesn't it? :) I thought so to! 

Then I had to mow.... this seemed like an impossible task since walking was still a struggle! Gotta do what you gotta do though! So I put on my mowing shoes and off I went! It takes me forever too because no matter how many times I do it, I manage to miss a lot of spots. After that was done I decided to be a good daughter and edge that grass. Well that took me forever...why??.... my arms were so sore from pushing the push mower that holding the edger up was an extremely difficult thing to do! For a little while after I finished my arms were still shaking (boy I am out of shape! ha)

Anyways...if you have heard of Insanity you probably have heard of Shakeology. This is their "miracle" shake. No they really don't call it that, but it's the shake that has like everything from all over the world in it and is supposed to help with energy. So I decided to take a risk and spend a little money to try this (I had heard nothing but good reviews).

Welll I did a milk, water, ice, banana, and peanut butter one and I don't know if I did something or what but it was....to say the least...disgusting. ha My Shakeology was chocolate flavored too! So I guess I shall try different mix ins tomorrow!

To make things go faster... I followed the meal plan the whole day! I even packed food for work tonight. I took a much needed nap after mowing and worked until 9:30. I still don't have the dvds since my boyfriend and I are sharing them at the moment so I ventured onto the wonderful world wide web.

Youtube is a wonderful gift! I found a link of a 51 year old man doing this and I just watched him and did it. (kinda creepy I know!) Here's the link if you want to get an idea of how I spent my night haha http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jtyS_Qx58w So today was "Cardio Recovery" sounds nice right? Well it was for the most part!

Today consisted of mainly stretching: lots of squats, lunges, and rep stuff like that. Although it wasn't so bad like I felt like I was going to get sick (like how all the other ones are) it still was hard! We would do 16 squats slowly then have to pump up and down really fast 16 times!! Talk about the BURNNN. ha

My feet kill after this. I am not sure if it is because of my new "training" shoes or because I did this barefoot (which I normally do not) or maybe your feet are supposed to be sore? Idk! Other than than my thighs burn too!

I am looking forward to tomorrow though! Although it is insanely painful and awful during it! It feels good knowing I'm getting in shape and taking one day at a time will get you to your goal! 

ANYWAYSS the GOOD STUFF: 
Right now I am doing a devotional book from an amazing couple: Eric and Lesley Ludy. If you haven't heard of them I strongly suggest you check them out and look into investing in some of their books or devotions! The devotion I am doing is probably a little young for me but that doesn't mean I can't learn from it! It is called:
                   Series One: Study Guide True Femininity The Radiant Beauty of a Set-Apart-Life
This is an 8 week study guide that you can use for yourself or to teach to a group of girls. It comes with a study book and two dvds with four 30 minutes lessons on it. They really are awesome! I like them being on video too because I will play it while I get ready in my bedroom and then spend time in my Bible and devotional after I'm done.

The first lesson was talking about surrendering all to Jesus! The main points were:

1) True purity starts inside your heart 

2) GOD'S plan for your life is WAY more beautiful than yours, but you must have 

complete surrender! 

3) Build your life around Him, don't just try to fit Him into your life! 

4) Seek Him with an undivided heart 

5) Proverbs 31: Do your husband good ALL the days of your life. Praying 

for Him know and honoring Him now in all that you do is key 

6) The perfect hero/ prince that we dream of will ALWAYS be Jesus Christ, 

AND he will never let you down!   

This truly is an amazing devotional and I highly recommend it! http://store.ellerslie.com/True_Femininity_2_Disc_DVD_Study_Guide_p/dvds-tf.htm << the link. 

Well that is all for now! Gotta do my devotion for tonight and get some sleep! <3 

The truth on Insanity and some Jesus :)

Well Insanity...let's just say it gets worse! Today was day three for my boyfriend, his brother, and my boyfriends brother's wife. It started off in the morning with waking up. As soon as I woke up I could feel it. The aching in my legs and just overall weakness. Once I finally decided to be brave and get out of bed I realized exactly how sore I was....SORE. ha. Walking up and down the steps all day was the biggest challenge! Walking alone was difficult, but stairs were quite the challenge.

I found this odd though since the first and second day were different. On the other days I was weak after working out but I felt like I had more energy, I love that feeling! Today, that was not the case. We were all so worn out. All I wanted to do was sleep and not be able to feel my legs. (I know I'm complaining like a crazy woman...but I am just letting you know the truth!) 

How was day 3 you ask then?? Well we were supposed to all meet up at 10am to do it, but that didn't happen. Then we decided we could eat and then do it at 1:30....that didn't happen either. We were just so sore and we knew if we could hardly move, then there was no way we could squat or jump! So then 3:30 looked good, but by then we were playing Xbox and that just sounded way more fun that killing ourselves during a workout!

So FINALLY we decided to be brave and do it after church! We had an awesome church service and we were feeling good and brave, ready to take on the challenge! So around 9pm tonight we pressed play. Well we started out pretty good, then got about 9 minutes into it and were seriously feeling the burn (we were also feeling the burn after 2 minutes). This was not looking good as you can see! So we tried to give our all...but we were still sore and our all just wasn't there! We had heard the third day is one of the hardest days to get past too. So we tried as hard as we could and decided our bodies could just not take any more. We decided to stop with about 12 minutes left (they are 40 minute workouts).

We are hoping tomorrow will be better! I got in the hot tub tonight so I am hoping that will help with soreness, but we shall just have to wait and see. I am looking forward to Sunday more than ever!! First because of church and second because its "rest day" for Insanity...Praise the Lord!!

Jesus time.... <3
First of all I am sure if you are reading this (should I say most likely sure) if you watch any tv you know about the whole chickfila appreciation day. Well my boyfriend and I wanted to go there to stand behind a man of God and show that we christians agree and will refuse to compromise what is truth in the Bible. I could get into the details about how it wasn't a day of boycotting gay people but a day of standing up for what's right. Plus we aren't supposed to hate the sinner, we are supposed to hate the sin. We are to love the sinner and show the compassion of God and show them the truth...but I won't get into all of that.

So around 5:30pm my boyfriend and I hop in the car to go support chickfila and get some of those AMAZING nuggets! We got there and the line was wrapped around the building and out pretty far into the parking lot. We assumed the line would be an hour to an hour and a half long. Well we had church at 7 and we got there around 6 so we knew we couldn't stay. So although we didn't get a chance to actually buy something we did show up and supported with them in spirit!

Anywaysss... church. Church was AMAZING, as always! Right now I just love going to church. I want to be there every chance I can possibly get because I want to soak in every single word from the men and woman of God that God has placed in my life. We had an awesome message about the laws of God and how we can not comprehend them but they are just higher than the laws of nature, because they are God's laws. I'll have to expand on this later because it would be too much to write at 1 am and I am exhausted from my long day of dreading working out, then actually doing it (haha).So until later....