{Enough}

I am enough. I have enough. I do enough. I am enough. I am enough for my Lord to send His only Son to die for me. Enough that I am able to serve Him will all my might & with all my will & strength. I am enough.

I constantly hear people telling each other how they need to change so that they can be enough. So that they can reach some certain standard that society has branded into their minds so deeply that we can never be enough. But you are enough.

No, we're not perfect people. & no, we will never have the perfect day.We will never always know the right thing to say or how our actions may affect us in the future. But we are all enough to feel worth from others & ourselves. To feel special. To feel loved & appreciated. To feel that we are doing everything in our power to be the best version of ourselves that we know to be.

Instead of comparing myself to other people, taking my weaknesses & placing them right up next to someone else's strengths, not an even balance in any way, I need to compare myself to what Jesus would want me to be. How He would want me to be strong, courageous, fearless, faithful, truthful, & patient. I need to be enough for Him because He gave his life for me.

My whole life I've never thought of myself as a smart individual. School has never been my strong suit & it's incredibly hard for me to feel that I am doing my best when I don't really know what my best is. But lately, I've been thinking on how I'm smart enough to be in college. Talented enough to be in the concert choir & a small traveling choir. I'm coordinated enough to be on the cheer squad here. Lucky enough to know that I will be graduating early. & I am more than blessed enough to have the friends that I do here.

I may have my struggles here, but I have enough. Enough support & love. & whatever may be thrown my way, I know that my God Will be there, right by my side, because, to Him, I am enough, & I am worth it.

Peace & love.

B.

{It's Complicated}

Sometimes life is complicated. Too complicated. & as humans, we make it even worse by adding more complications to it!We complicate relationships, we all can recall DTR talks, we complicate money issues, school, family situations. Anything! But wouldn't it just be great if we could all live simply? No problems, no struggles. Just living life, going with the flow. All that hippie junk you always hear about. Sounds great, huh? What if we only had the things we need, not the things we want? Let's face it, I'm greedy. Society is greedy. We want & want, & once we have it, we want more! It's this never ending cycle of never being satisfied, never being content. We let the pleasures of earthly things take up space in our hearts that should be given to God.

Jesus taught us to be simple. To take what extra we have & give it back to others & most importantly to back God. Remember the story about the woman at the temple where she gave only the two pieces of silver while everyone else was placing bag of money into the offering? Jesus said she gave more because she gave all she had. She was humble enough to think that God would provide for her when she gave all she had to him. What if we were to give our hearts to the Lord with the same intentions that the woman at the temple had in giving all she owned. "The poor will eat & be satisfied; they who seek the LORD will praise him -may your hearts live forever." Psalm 22:26

Imagine your life without a cell phone.

Yeah, that's rough.

But think about it, do you need it to survive? Is it vital to your existence? No? Yeah, that's what I thought. It's not. People did just fine without advanced technology for thousands of years, but we act like our life is ending if we don't have these stupid little devices on us at all times. Trust me, you're not going to die. Sure they're convenient & helpful, but we don't need them to survive. Last semester, in my Organizational Communications class, we were given an assignment which required us to turn off & turn in all of our electronic devices. That included iPods, cell phones, computers, laptops, radios, anything that would connect us to the modern communication. We were required to journal throughout the day when we were tempted to us the technology & when we thought the technology would be helpful.

At fist, I hated this assignment. First off, because now I had nothing to do in class because I couldn't sit on Twitter, & secondly because I had no way of getting a hold of any of my friends to make any sort of plans. & let me tell you, it is quite difficult, even on a campus of only 500 students, to find a few select people. Extremely difficult. But as the day progressed, I began to enjoy the freedom of not being tied down to my phone. I didn't have the desire to text or Tweet or really waste my time looking at an itty bitty screen. I was able to open my eyes to the world around me & focus on the beauty of that day. Because it really was a beautiful day.

Sometimes, taking the simplistic approach to life is a good thing. it gives you a break, gives you freedom. It's beautiful. I'm not saying I want to go every day without my laptop or cell phone, but it was a nice blessing that I didn't expect to have.

So I don't know why we complicate things. I can;t give you that answer. Maybe it's just that we are drama driven, or greedy, or jealous, selfish, who knows. All I know is our Savior was none of those things. Just keep that in mind as you go about your day & when things get "Complicated."

Peace & love.
B.

Building.

So the second year f my time at York College began a week ago. It's technically the second half of my sophomore year, so that's pretty cool, but that also means I'll be done in 3 1/2 like my sister, so yay for saving money! I came in hoping to be a full fledged junior at the start of this year, but due to some events this summer, I wasn't able to complete an online class that I was taking, so I'm spending another semester here in good, ol' Thomas Hall. Dorm life, for life. It's not so bad, I just miss having a kitchen, really. My best friend since I can remember lives directly next door to me & so happens to be my wonderful RA. So that's pretty chill. The problem with this dorm though, I'm on first floor, & the girls who I'm closest with all live down in the basement, yeah, one floor, not that big of a difference, but oh it is!

I've felt pretty alone this semester. But because of it, I've had a lot of reflection time. I've been able to think about the decisions I've made in my life & been able to look at where my walk with God is. & frankly, I could use some help. In our Campus Ministries group, I m a part f the outreach & encouragement area, but it's hard for me to fill others up & build them up when I'm not being built up, or building up myself.

So this has led me to setting a challenge for myself this year. Goals that I can take baby steps to achieve.

My first goal: Strengthen my relationship with the Lord. Learn not only to lean on Him in my times of struggle & need & when I feel most alone, & to trust that He has a plan for me & is using me everyday to help someone else.

Goal number two: Become a better friend.

Finally, goal three: Work to use the people God has placed in my life as positive influences, & to rid of all the negative junk I deal with everyday.

Pretty simple, right? Well, probably not. Any relationship takes work & discipline. You have to be willing to give a part of yourself to the other person involved. Relationships take trust & understanding. There is no way anyone will ever be perfect, & as humans, we have to respect that of each other. We all will mess up. Make each other angry. Disappoint one another. But you know what? That's a part of the life cycle. That's a part growing up & maturing.

I have a lot to learn & a lot to fix. Just like when trying to construct a building, you start with a layout and then move to the foundation. I need to set a firm foundation based on Jesus & His promises to us. I read a quote the other day that said, "I may not be perfect, but I worship a Savior who is." God's grace & love can cover any flaw. & no matter what, you are always going to be loved & His arms will always be opened wide for you to run into.

Trust in Him, & He will provide.

Peace & love.
B.