Sorry I've been so absent lately, friends. But the first week of the semester is officially over, and schedules are set and things are full speed ahead!
I'm loving my classes so far (History & Analysis of Music, Proofs, piano, ear training, accompanying, online geology, online travel and tourism management) but I haven't had my lab yet. I have a feeling that's going to be the deal-breaker of the semester. But no complaints here!
Ahhh guys life is so good! I cannot explain to you God's faithfulness and awesomeness. I wish you could understand, but I do pray that you will be able to experience it also. I know that's vague and random but dude it's so true! No matter what happens in my life, whether it has to do with classes, friends, BCM, hanging out, studying, reading, piano, life in general, God is always good and I can glorify Him in everything! How cool is that?
Gosh I really wish I were more eloquent so I could portray to you the greatness of our God, but to put it simply, no words can contain Him. His love and mercy and power and wonder speak for itself. And it is so good.
Peace&Love, y'all.
&
"Do not grow weary in doing good."
2 Thessalonians 3:13
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Jesus First, Jesus Always.
So it's the beginning of the year 2013 and I immediately went back to look and see if I had made any resolutions last year. Turns out I did. I'm pretty, well, disappointed from the perspective that I didn't accomplish all of them (or most of them really). Granted, they were "Semester Resolutions" but I didn't make new ones for fall, so I guess they stuck around. Here they are:
1. Love people
2. Read the Word every day and spend quality time with God instead of just mindlessly skimming the pages
3. Be diligent when things get a little bit harder - don't give up or switch gears, but KOKO (Keep on keepin' on)
4. Bring a friend to Christ
5. Live a life God can be proud of
6. Eat breakfast every day
7. Leave a legacy - make my life count, and do it all for the glory of God
8. Put school work before fun things (this will be hard)
9. FINISH my homework before midnight (also hard)
10. Learn a new skill
I will say this: that even though I didn't necessarily "succeed" 100% on all of these, I think that I was useful to growing the Kingdom of God by His grace and power, and not because of my silly goals.
But just for funsies, I did accomplish #1 (mostly - I'm still learning a lot about mercy), #6, #9 (mostly), and #10.
I tried to love my friends, I always eat breakfast, I was really good about getting my homework done in time to go to bed (which was 11 on a good/normal night), and I've learned/am learning to play the violin.
But here's the thing: the reason that I did NOT accomplish these things is because I was LAZY and SELFISH. Which are both grotesque to God. That, I think, is my one overarching resolution for 2013 - DON'T BE LAZY. My wonderful roommate has a verse stuck to her bookshelf (which I see every day before I leave the room) that has Romans 12:11 on it, which says, "Never be lazy, and serve the Lord enthusiastically." Slap. In. The. Face.
So I've come to a lot of conclusions, which is appropriate the for the end of a year and the start of another. One is that I need to do a lot of work conditioning my insides before I commit myself to "full time ministry" (aka taking the Gospel to the nations as opposed to living it where I am right now). There are several reasons why I've been thinking about this: Americans are probably not the type of people Jesus would be hanging out with. Yes, we are LARGELY sinners, but we live in excess and Jesus cared about loving the outcasts. Here in 'Murica, we think we're something. We think very highly of our country and assume people are jealous of us. Check your pride at the door (and I don't just mean you, I mean me, Katie Leachman). The Great Commission - the work that Jesus commissioned us to do as His disciples and followers until the end of time on earth - is to GO and make disciples of ALL NATIONS baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and TEACH them to obey all that I have commanded you. Oy. So naturally I want to go because I'm sick of our culture. But then I realized that this desire I have needs to be cultivated into something beautiful and useful to God, because He did put it there for a reason. But since then He's shown me how I need to grow myself and my community and those I come in contact with on a daily basis before I can be ready and fully equipped to move across the country and love people and serve people and meet needs and share the love of Jesus there. Because I'm called to do it everywhere that I am, and that, like just about anything, starts at home.
So now, while Jesus is always right, and is always my everything, I need to be obedient to working on improving myself - my heart, my mind, my body, my spirit. I do want my life to be honoring and pleasing to God.
I am convicted that I am a sinner, doomed to fail because I will never EVER be able to measure up to meet the standards of a perfect God - my perfect King. But I will continually accept His love and grace and mercy poured out on me by the perfect blood of Jesus Christ. Because of Jesus, I can fail over and over and over again, and I definitely will! But I will not be afraid to fail. I will only be faithful. I will accept grace, and I will show grace. In everything I do I will pray for a mind and a discipline that is always looking to work hard in the name of Jesus, and never be lazy. I will fail at this too. But God will lift me out because Jesus already took the hit for it. I am so undeserving, but so grateful beyond words that my SAVIOR humbled himself to torture and death for me, so I could live in freedom from sin to do HIS glorious work for the Kingdom of God. My words do not do it justice. God is so good. Jesus is so wonderful. God is here and He is faithful. He is love.
With that, however, I do want to "plan" or "resolve" to do some things this year:
1. Love people
2. Read the Word every day and spend quality time with God instead of just mindlessly skimming the pages
3. Be diligent when things get a little bit harder - don't give up or switch gears, but KOKO (Keep on keepin' on)
4. Bring a friend to Christ
5. Live a life God can be proud of
6. Eat breakfast every day
7. Leave a legacy - make my life count, and do it all for the glory of God
8. Put school work before fun things (this will be hard)
9. FINISH my homework before midnight (also hard)
10. Learn a new skill
I will say this: that even though I didn't necessarily "succeed" 100% on all of these, I think that I was useful to growing the Kingdom of God by His grace and power, and not because of my silly goals.
But just for funsies, I did accomplish #1 (mostly - I'm still learning a lot about mercy), #6, #9 (mostly), and #10.
I tried to love my friends, I always eat breakfast, I was really good about getting my homework done in time to go to bed (which was 11 on a good/normal night), and I've learned/am learning to play the violin.
But here's the thing: the reason that I did NOT accomplish these things is because I was LAZY and SELFISH. Which are both grotesque to God. That, I think, is my one overarching resolution for 2013 - DON'T BE LAZY. My wonderful roommate has a verse stuck to her bookshelf (which I see every day before I leave the room) that has Romans 12:11 on it, which says, "Never be lazy, and serve the Lord enthusiastically." Slap. In. The. Face.
So I've come to a lot of conclusions, which is appropriate the for the end of a year and the start of another. One is that I need to do a lot of work conditioning my insides before I commit myself to "full time ministry" (aka taking the Gospel to the nations as opposed to living it where I am right now). There are several reasons why I've been thinking about this: Americans are probably not the type of people Jesus would be hanging out with. Yes, we are LARGELY sinners, but we live in excess and Jesus cared about loving the outcasts. Here in 'Murica, we think we're something. We think very highly of our country and assume people are jealous of us. Check your pride at the door (and I don't just mean you, I mean me, Katie Leachman). The Great Commission - the work that Jesus commissioned us to do as His disciples and followers until the end of time on earth - is to GO and make disciples of ALL NATIONS baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and TEACH them to obey all that I have commanded you. Oy. So naturally I want to go because I'm sick of our culture. But then I realized that this desire I have needs to be cultivated into something beautiful and useful to God, because He did put it there for a reason. But since then He's shown me how I need to grow myself and my community and those I come in contact with on a daily basis before I can be ready and fully equipped to move across the country and love people and serve people and meet needs and share the love of Jesus there. Because I'm called to do it everywhere that I am, and that, like just about anything, starts at home.
So now, while Jesus is always right, and is always my everything, I need to be obedient to working on improving myself - my heart, my mind, my body, my spirit. I do want my life to be honoring and pleasing to God.
I am convicted that I am a sinner, doomed to fail because I will never EVER be able to measure up to meet the standards of a perfect God - my perfect King. But I will continually accept His love and grace and mercy poured out on me by the perfect blood of Jesus Christ. Because of Jesus, I can fail over and over and over again, and I definitely will! But I will not be afraid to fail. I will only be faithful. I will accept grace, and I will show grace. In everything I do I will pray for a mind and a discipline that is always looking to work hard in the name of Jesus, and never be lazy. I will fail at this too. But God will lift me out because Jesus already took the hit for it. I am so undeserving, but so grateful beyond words that my SAVIOR humbled himself to torture and death for me, so I could live in freedom from sin to do HIS glorious work for the Kingdom of God. My words do not do it justice. God is so good. Jesus is so wonderful. God is here and He is faithful. He is love.
With that, however, I do want to "plan" or "resolve" to do some things this year:
- Learn another new skill, but something crafty. It is yet to be determined, but I would really like to learn how to make a quilt and also how to knit. I would also like to learn how to snowboard, but I don't have as much control over that as I do learning how to knit.
- I want to be disciplined with what I eat and how I exercise. I won't bore you with my detailed plan, but I will be making one and trying to keep up with it.
- I want to read more/every day. I had a goal to finish reading the Bible by the end of this year, but I didn't quite cut it so now I'd like to finish it before Winter Break is over for me. Beyond that, however, I would like to read more in general.
- This is going to sound weird, but I would like to not get on facebook every day. Or only once a day. I admit, I have a problem with being on far too often.
- Obviously do well in my classes.
- Pass continuation.
- Make new friends but keep the old.
- Pray for myself, for my friends and family, for people I know or have come in contact with, my school, the BCM, missionaries, brothers and sisters in other countries, countries who don't hear the Gospel, people who haven't heard the Gospel, people who reject the Gospel, and people who are persecuted because they are not ashamed of the Gospel.
I know this was a lot, but I'm brainstorming.
P.S. I got to spend the New Year with 2 of my best friends already, and I am incredibly thankful for that! This will be an exciting year for many reasons, but I'd like to just take it day by day. (: Because God is good all the time, and His mercies are new every morning. I could not be more thankful for that!
&
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Because I Really Don't Like Bragging...
And not many people read this so I can share my excitement mostly with myself...
I MADE THE DEAN'S LIST AGAIN!
Barely... but still.
Here's what happened for which I was very excited:
Intro to Programming in C++, thought I was going to get a D (deserved an F); got a B.
Differential Equations, thought I was going to get a B (deserved a C); got a B+.
Geology Lab, though I was going to get a B (probs deserved a B); got an A-.
Ear Training, deserved a B- ; got an A.
History and Analysis of Musical Style: I GOT AN A! That made me happier than everything else I'm pretty sure.
There was one class I got an A- in that I thought I was going to get an A in, but the 4 A- 's I got were all in 1 credit classes so it didn't mess me up too bad.
Needless to say, I'm glad this semester is over, but it has been fun. I'm so relieved that my grades checked out okay and I'm pretty elated that my grades exceeded expectations. That was all God's doing and I am praising Him so much right now!
And now... I am getting excited to be reunited with my good friend over coffee, silliness, conversation, and quality time! <3
&
I MADE THE DEAN'S LIST AGAIN!
Barely... but still.
Here's what happened for which I was very excited:
Intro to Programming in C++, thought I was going to get a D (deserved an F); got a B.
Differential Equations, thought I was going to get a B (deserved a C); got a B+.
Geology Lab, though I was going to get a B (probs deserved a B); got an A-.
Ear Training, deserved a B- ; got an A.
History and Analysis of Musical Style: I GOT AN A! That made me happier than everything else I'm pretty sure.
There was one class I got an A- in that I thought I was going to get an A in, but the 4 A- 's I got were all in 1 credit classes so it didn't mess me up too bad.
Needless to say, I'm glad this semester is over, but it has been fun. I'm so relieved that my grades checked out okay and I'm pretty elated that my grades exceeded expectations. That was all God's doing and I am praising Him so much right now!
And now... I am getting excited to be reunited with my good friend over coffee, silliness, conversation, and quality time! <3
&
Sunday, December 9, 2012
So Here's What I've Noticed:
No matter how many times I say something to someone else, it never stops me from acting in a contradictory manner. 'Tis the nature of the circle of life/humans though I suppose.
I've also noticed that finals suck a lot, and that even though I am very much aware and hopeful that my GPA does not determine my salvation, I still feel quite overwhelmed with school.
So I'm praying for peace and joy, and I'm also rejoicing in my Hope!
Despite the fact that I have a total of 11 finals, 4 Christmas parties, 1 baby-sitting gig, and 1 performance, not to mention 3 more days of classes, studying, homework, studying, forgetting to eat, studying, drinking too much caffeine, studying, getting distracted by facebook and Youtube videos, studying, OH AND MORE STUDYING, I think that I am joyful. More so than I ever have been during this time of the semester.
So God is good, basically. Like I legitimately have no adequate words to describe how good He is, but I can tell you that I do not measure up and am so unworthy of His love. And goodness gracious, I am SO thankful that Jesus interceded for me so I could be freed from the bondage of sin that separates me from God.
And when you think about it, that's all that really matters.
A lot of people (myself included) miss the point of salvation. We do tend to get wrapped up in the world, don't we? Especially this time of the year. 'Tis the season, indeed.
As for me, "I celebrate the day that You were born to die so I could one day pray for You to save my life."
Hallelujah, Amen.
&
I've also noticed that finals suck a lot, and that even though I am very much aware and hopeful that my GPA does not determine my salvation, I still feel quite overwhelmed with school.
So I'm praying for peace and joy, and I'm also rejoicing in my Hope!
Despite the fact that I have a total of 11 finals, 4 Christmas parties, 1 baby-sitting gig, and 1 performance, not to mention 3 more days of classes, studying, homework, studying, forgetting to eat, studying, drinking too much caffeine, studying, getting distracted by facebook and Youtube videos, studying, OH AND MORE STUDYING, I think that I am joyful. More so than I ever have been during this time of the semester.
So God is good, basically. Like I legitimately have no adequate words to describe how good He is, but I can tell you that I do not measure up and am so unworthy of His love. And goodness gracious, I am SO thankful that Jesus interceded for me so I could be freed from the bondage of sin that separates me from God.
And when you think about it, that's all that really matters.
A lot of people (myself included) miss the point of salvation. We do tend to get wrapped up in the world, don't we? Especially this time of the year. 'Tis the season, indeed.
As for me, "I celebrate the day that You were born to die so I could one day pray for You to save my life."
Hallelujah, Amen.
&
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
A List
Today I made a short list of 3 things I will really miss about this semester and three things I will really NOT miss this semester. So here it is:
Things I will miss:
1. Being an OL
2. HAMS part 1
3. My friends who will be leaving/moving/graduating
Things I will NOT miss:
1. Differential Equations
2. Computer Programming
3. Resources Geology
I realize that most of these things are about school. But I guess it makes sense because I'm talking in terms of semesters. Oh well.
I miss lots of things. Like my friends. A lot of my friends I haven't seen in a while. And for some reason I'm feeling more... sentimental today? I'm also just tired of school. But it's whatever.
A lot's going on, but I haven't processed it yet, so I shall just say that God is always good. And God is always faithful to do what's best for us when we trust in Him even if it's not fun or doesn't feel good. Which is unfortunate, but then again we're the ones who sin and separate ourselves from God, so I'm pretty excited about the fact that He still loves me. So. Yes.
&
Things I will miss:
1. Being an OL
2. HAMS part 1
3. My friends who will be leaving/moving/graduating
Things I will NOT miss:
1. Differential Equations
2. Computer Programming
3. Resources Geology
I realize that most of these things are about school. But I guess it makes sense because I'm talking in terms of semesters. Oh well.
I miss lots of things. Like my friends. A lot of my friends I haven't seen in a while. And for some reason I'm feeling more... sentimental today? I'm also just tired of school. But it's whatever.
A lot's going on, but I haven't processed it yet, so I shall just say that God is always good. And God is always faithful to do what's best for us when we trust in Him even if it's not fun or doesn't feel good. Which is unfortunate, but then again we're the ones who sin and separate ourselves from God, so I'm pretty excited about the fact that He still loves me. So. Yes.
&
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Too Much For One
A lot's happened this week. It's been incredible! God is so good and He is alive and well and doing some really awesome things in our towns, our countries, and our world! More on that later...
Right now I'm finishing a book called "Radical Together: Unleashing the People of God for the Purpose of God." It's phenomenal. Basically for my own sake I want to jot down some of the awesome key points/quotes I took from it that I will hopefully apply to my life and the furthering of God's Kingdom.
Right now I'm finishing a book called "Radical Together: Unleashing the People of God for the Purpose of God." It's phenomenal. Basically for my own sake I want to jot down some of the awesome key points/quotes I took from it that I will hopefully apply to my life and the furthering of God's Kingdom.
- "Then let us give God NO REST from our praising, confessing, interceding, and let us watch Him unleash His people in His church for His purpose in the world."
- We are selfless followers of a self-centered God; we exist for the glory of God, and God exists for the glory of God.
- Prayer is fundamental, not supplemental.
- "God does not need me."
This whole passage: "Humbled by the reality of a self-existent, self-sustaining, self-sufficient God, I realized:
- God does not need me
- God does not need my church
- God does not need you
- God does not need your church
- God does not need our conferences, conventions, plans, programs, budgets, buildings, or mission agencies.
The reality is that you and I, your church and my church, al the structures we have constructed and all the stuff we have created could turn to dust, and God could still make a great name for himself among the nations. God does not involve us in His grand, global purpose because he needs us. He involves us in his grand , global purpose because he loves us."
"So let us live radical together in eager anticipation of the day when we will see his face and, as a community encompassing every nation, tribe, tongue, and people, enjoy his beauty for all of eternity."
Don't worry, I'll add more later. (:
&
Thursday, November 15, 2012
ATLANTA.
I'm going on a missions trip. I'm so pumped.
Because we're called as Christians to GO - make disciples of all nations. But we're also called to take care of the least of these - the poor, the starving, the naked, the destitute, the unloved. Those are the ones we're called to love so I'm going to do it. Because I'm too comfortable. So I'm going to get uncomfortable and answer the call. God wants me to do more and to obey Him and love His people - His children.
Peace out.
&
Because we're called as Christians to GO - make disciples of all nations. But we're also called to take care of the least of these - the poor, the starving, the naked, the destitute, the unloved. Those are the ones we're called to love so I'm going to do it. Because I'm too comfortable. So I'm going to get uncomfortable and answer the call. God wants me to do more and to obey Him and love His people - His children.
Peace out.
&
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