Coffee & Honeycomb: prayer

Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts

JOURNALING IN JULY.

Sunday, August 4, 2013

One of my favorite aspects about journaling is that afterwards, you are left with a collection of all your old thoughts, agendas, and insights. Our ability to retain information and memories is slimmer than we'd like to believe, and a record of old words serve as a time portal back into the yesterday's. Past journals offer perspective: a better understanding of where you are going and an attitude of thankfulness for how you have gotten there.

I looked back at all my journal entires of July on the train one day, and I was shocked of how eventful the month was without even realizing it. As I knew it, another month had just came and went. Weekends seemed too quick and workdays were too long, but as I read through my prayers and recollections, I was reminded of both little and big things that had taken place. I was filled with thankfulness and inspiration. It was cool. (:

Here is a peek at some of my journal entries: (click to enlarge)

If you don't journal already, I encourage you try it for the month of August! If you have ever asked yourself if God's hand is present in your life, this might help you. Journaling forces you to slow down, and in those moments of reflections is when God's presence is evident. You see the promises the Lord has declared over you, and how they are personally manifesting in your life! God is always, always working, slow down or you might miss it.

Journal about anything and everything. (: Talk about the highlights of your days and your weeks, and even vent about the worries that consume your heart. Share your blessings and express your wishes. God hears all of it. I believe that putting language to your emotions has the ability to pull them from the depths and hidden corners of your heart, onto the surface where it's accessible to be touched, processed, and communicated. And when you are able to communicate it with yourself, you are more able to communicate them with God.

Good luck! (:
I'd love to hear your journaling adventures, please share below.

Look Book : Emerald Green

Sunday, June 9, 2013

{ Top & shorts: Banana Republic | Necklace and blazer: Forever 21 | Purse: Kate Spade | Shoes: Dolce Vita, Nordstrom }

Happy Sunday, guys!

Banana Republic Factory was having a huge sale this past weekend and I wanted to just pop in and eye shop (first mistake), but I ended up walking out with a new pair of beautiful green shorts. After discount, they were 16 bucks — which was a number I could totally justify. And I did. Proof: LE SHORTS! :) Today's weather was high 70's so I wore them to church today, which I was happy about. (Sidebar: how do we feel about the length of these shorts? Church appropriate? Work appropriate? ZG appropriate? I figured they would be fine because the shape/design of the shorts was pretty modest — not too tight, not a flashing color... But then again, idk.)

Anyway, I made one of the girls in youth group take these outfit photos for me. She did a good job. :) To be honest, I'm 100% awkward/shy about every aspect of the outfit photo process (what do bloggers call these things anyway? I'm gonna call them look books). But I'm learning to get over it because I enjoy it more than I'm shy about it. Blogging, photo editing, and documenting my outfits is fun for me and I am going to be bold and proud of my passions and aspirations. :) I hope you like them, too.

Besides, when you step out of your comfort zone, that's where the magic happens.

On another note, tomorrow is my first day of my internship! YAY. I can't believe time has flown by so quickly... People kind of have a hard time really grasping what my MAIP internship is — mostly because I do a half-ass job of explaining it, excuse my french. Maybe I'll try explaining in full detail tomorrow, along with how day one went... if I survive that is! I hear it's a dog eat dog world out there. Pray for me.

Really, pray for me. These are my prayer requests:

To be kind and humble... to my colleagues, my bosses, my barista, the lady on the corner, whomever. I remember at my last internship last summer, I acted like a know-it-all. I thought I was a rockstar. But really, I was only an incoming junior and 19 years old, so... that's kind of embarrassing But really. There's a fine line between confident and cocky, but that line makes a world of a difference. Confidence allows room for growth and welcomes learning; cockiness is intimidated and threatened by new knowledge.

To be confident... with my ideas, my opinions, and my story. (: One that that I should not be shy about is the way God made me. I am who I am by the grace of God and I shouldn't shrink down to be anything else — because when you try to be anything or anyone else, shrinking is actually what you're doing. I want to learn to love the person God made me to be.

To be bold enough to speak up when something is on my mind, and confident enough to remain silent when there is nothing to be said. < My pastor said this last week in his sermon and I fell in love with this saying. Relevant to me in every facet of my life and interaction because I am often aware of the risks of speaking up and the anxiety of being quiet.

I'm reading the OT right now — and I'm learning a lot! However, I'm very behind in my reading plan. How behind? Oh, about 75 chapters behind. So, I'm excited to be commuting again because I have a guaranteed 2 hours (give and take) in my day to read... Or do my makeup, or check twitter, or sleep, or play 7 by 7. SO! Please pray that these train rides to and from work will be more than mundane transportation, but magical and real and life changing intimacy meetings with my Lord.

How can I pray for you? Have a good week! XO.

I'm linking up with:
Style Elixir
The Life of the Party
What Jean Likes

Revival Conviction

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Just this weekend, our church hosted the annual revival— one weekend of the semester, during midterms, to provide a "retreat" for students. Personally, I was so out of it. Both my head and heart were at such different places that it was hard to just rest during the time of (services, worship, prayer time, etc). I just wanted to lay in my bed, shut my brain off, and watch tv, to be honest. ha. I told you, I'm addicted.

But one thing that I was convicted with and I want to hold onto is that I've become so consumed with being successful and all the means to the end have become a distraction to my walk with God. Being successful and diligent started out as my worship to Him; but along the way, my own selfish desires took over and anxiety grew to its peak. And I grew so consumed that I couldn't even realize that these things were getting in the way of my relationship with God. God says he has big plans for me, and me trying to find identity in my success isn't one of them. when did i become so desperate to be someone. when did i become so desperate to be successful. god desperately wants to give me peace and fulfillment and i'm not letting him. this was a rude awakening. my heart has grown so attached to this worldly measure that i can't even let it go. but i have to, sooner or later.

This is a response to an article I wrote last week tying to this same topic:

This school semester has been very productive and rewarding, but it’s also been filled with anxiety and restlessness. I know the Lord has so graciously opened all these doors for me, but I’ve received all them with self-sufficient and ungrateful hands. I try the best I can in every facet of my life, but there’s no fruit or power present because I’m not dependent on the Lord. I think the author phrases it best when he describes the cause of weariness and burn outs to come “from our inner compulsions coupled with the pressure of circumstance,” not from the Lord. I strain myself to point of exhaustion telling myself that quality time with my God can be pushed back, that I can run off old gas. And I forget that the work itself is neither worship nor pleasing when I try to do it alone. Society tells me independence is an admirable quality, and I so blindly obey. But really, it’s not independence; it’s slavery to the tyranny of the urgent. The author touches upon the fact that since the enemy knows how precious and crucial it is for us to have that personal time with the Lord, he will do anything to keep us away from it. This was a wake up call; how could I forget that in the busiest of times that Satan will try to destroy my relationship with the Lord as well as my effectiveness as I try to build up His kingdom? I just felt so dumb realizing how consumed I was with myself; Jesus was busier than I was but in the midst, he found peace because each morning he went and prayed. This convicted me to make prayer a priority; P.T. Forsyth said, “the worst sin is prayerlessness,” and I’ve been committing the worst sin of all. Reading the word is not enough, and it’s no wonder there’s a lack of strength present in my life; I need sufficient quality time with the Lord and I need his strength and provision.

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