About Me

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Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be. Shel Silverstein

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Inspiration Sunday

Day 5:Ten
I totally forgot to get a picture of my outfit today! I got home from church/ lunch and got straight into leggings and a sweatshirt and took a nap. Anyways, I wore my dark jeans with the fitted crew neck white shirt. I wore an Ann Taylor Loft black cardigan with a black and red houndstooth scarf and some really cute black velvet flats with bows on them that I found at Goodwill! I haven't spent any of my personal money all week, which is awesome but it about to have to change! I am going to have to go both school supply shopping and grocery shopping tomorrow. Since these are both expenses that I need and obviously can't do in under $10, I am going to be as frugal as I possibly can. Today, I was packing everything to move back to my apartment from my parents house and it was nice to not have to pack ALL of my clothes and try to get it all done in one trip like I usually do. I also realized that, I have been living at my parents house for two months and have had plenty, if not an excess, of everything. Everything I could need and more fits easily in my car (not counting my bed), yet I have probably two to three times as much stuff at my apartment that I haven't touched in two months. Why do I have all this stuff that I don't need, or even use? I haven't decided what I am going to do, but I definitely want to do something to rid myself of excess. Simplicity is my word of the year.

Inspiration Sunday:
Okay, so last week I started my first weekly "Inspiration Sunday" and I was going to try to follow the same pattern but that's confining and totally not inspirational! Today I was really inspired by church, in it's entirety from the message, to the worship, to just the general "feel." Also, because I am starting school back and moving back to my apartment this week, I have a few goals for myself this week.

Praise:
Today was my first day to attend a different church than the one I have been going to for the past 6 years and I was a little nervous because I was stepping out of my comfort zone. I have recently joined Ethan in a college small group that I really love. We both knew the leaders before so transitioning into the group was really easy for me. They invited us to their church and Ethan had been before so I definitely had a safety blanket so I wasn't as nervous as if I was going by myself, not knowing anyone. But despite my anticipation, I felt totally comfortable in the congregation, just the whole feel of the church felt welcoming. It was so so so so nice to be able to attend church with Ethan since our conflicting schedules have prevented us from being able to do that in the past. There were quite a few twists on the way the service went that I wasn't used to but the one I enjoyed the most was that they save their worshiping for after the message. This gave me the chance to hear what God was teaching me through the message and then reflect on it and really spend the worshiping time with God, focusing on what He had revealed to me.

The message today was about baptism, but I got so much more out of it than just that. I won't go through the whole sermon and share everything, but I do want to share what God had my heart focused on.

Psalm 40:6-10 (New Living Translation)

You take no delight in sacrifices or offerings.
Now that you have made me listen, I finally understand—
you don’t require burnt offerings or sin offerings.
Then I said, “Look, I have come.
As is written about me in the Scriptures:
I take joy in doing your will, my God,
for your instructions are written on my heart.”


What I absolutely adore about this scripture is that it was written before Jesus came, before Jesus spoke about what God really wants from us, before He fulfilled the law. Before Jesus came, people did many things to be worthy of God's love and one of these was offering sacrifices to cover their sin. These verses tell us, before Jesus did, that God took no delight in those sacrifices, that He didn't require them, that all we wanted was for us to use our hearts to fulfill His desires. Beautiful!

Matthew 28:19-20

"Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

We are to be Jesus' disciples and we are to make disciples of all the nations. A disciple isn't someone who is simply saved by Jesus, someone who tries to live without sin and asks for forgiveness when they screw up, someone who uses scripture as a manual of how to live their lives. Although all of these things are great and pleasing to God, it's not being a disciple. A disciple is someone who does everything they can to live their lives as Jesus did. Jesus didn't do the bare minimum, and disciples don't either. Also, what is so beautiful about Jesus is that there is not one thing He asks us to do that He didn't do Himself.

1 Corinthians 12:27 (New Living Translation)

All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.


This is something I really focused on today, something I haven't really thought about the way I did today. We, the church, are Jesus' body, His presence on Earth. This means that not only should we as individuals be true disciples, but especially the church as a whole. What can we do as a collective unit of Christ lovers to do what Christ did in His life? Church is a wonderful place for community and furthering one's faith, but the purpose I somehow didn't get until now is that the number one purpose of the Church is to be Jesus' body.

1 Peter 2:21-25 (New Living Translation)

For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.

He never sinned,
nor ever deceived anyone.
He did not retaliate when he was insulted,
nor threaten revenge when he suffered.
He left his case in the hands of God,
who always judges fairly.
He personally carried our sins
in his body on the cross
so that we can be dead to sin
and live for what is right.
By his wounds
you are healed.
Once you were like sheep
who wandered away.
But now you have turned to your Shepherd,
the Guardian of your souls.


God doesn't call us to just BE good. God calls us, calls me, calls you to DO good.

DO= go, serve, satisfy, function, work, to be enough, answer, assuage, quench, satisfy, to carry through (as a process) to completion, accomplish, achieve, bring off, carry off, carry out, commit, compass, follow through (with), fulfill, make, bring about, effect, effectuate, implement; ace, nail, engage (in), practice, work (at), reduplicate, actualize, attain, realize, complete

Food:

Moving back into my apartment means shopping and cooking for myself again. I am so guilty of making something super easy at health's expense, or ordering in food, or going out to eat. I don't remember the last time I shopped and cooked from a recipe. My goal for this week is to find 2 or 3 recipes to make the week from Cooking Light and go buy the ingredients tomorrow, then cook every other night and eat leftovers on the remaining nights. (I am hopeful to post recipes and pictures as I accomplish this goal.)

Opportunity:

So, two weeks ago I decided to apply for an internship at LiveSTRONG on a whim, honestly not expecting anything because its LIVESTRONG! But, Friday, I got a phone call from the director of the internships asking me to come in for an interview. WHAT! I literally sat in awe for 20 minutes before I called her back. My interview is on Wednesday and I am super excited. Although it is an unpaid internship and I honestly don't have enough hours available in the week to dedicate to the internship, it can only benefit me to go and sit down in person and discuss any alternatives available (maybe a summer internship!) Here's a description of the specific internship I am interested in:

Advocacy and Engagement interns will help LIVESTRONG as we work to make cancer a national priority through grassroots advocacy and public policy initiatives. Tasks may include researching grassroots advocacy practices, communicating with advocates, preparing analysis reports on grassroots strategies and helping coordinate advocacy outreach communications.


Books:

I need to start Never Let Me Go. Still.

over and out

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