Stand Courageous

“Courage stands strong… Even when it stands alone.” –Francis Chan

We all fight battles, we all go through trials, we all have to stand in the face of temptation, and we all are called to be courageous and stand firm in every challenge we face. It is during these times when you really find out how steady your faith is and what living fearlessly in love with God really means. 

            When I left for college, I left behind a very small family-like Christian high school, I left my incredible parents and family, I left some amazing friends, and I left an incredible support system and community that was constantly guiding me and picking me up when I needed. Now that I'm out on my own, I'm finding out how brave in my faith I truly am. 

“Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.”  -C.S. Lewis

        Everything I previously learned and believed about my values and my faith has been put to the test. Will I walk humbly and with integrity? Will I sit down and spend time with God even when there are a hundred other things I could be doing? Will I give in to the temptation to drink and party? Will I hang around the right crowd? Will I stand firm in my faith and set an example?

I wish I could answer these questions and say it has all been easy. But that isn’t what God promises. In fact, Jesus never promised that it would be easy to follow him, Instead he says that following him involves sacrifice and giving up ourselves for his higher calling.

 “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.’” Matthew 16:24-27

Jesus says in Matthew that following him means taking up your cross. Does that sound like a promising walk in the park to you? Not really. But what he promises right after he says this is that if we lose our lives for him, we may not gain anything in this world, but that we'll gain so much more in our souls through Jesus.

I said at the beginning of this year that my resolution was to live for God with everything I had, even if I had to stand alone in doing so. Is it easy? Definitely not. But I know that what I sacrifice here on earth will be more than worth it.

Take a look at the way you are living and what areas of your life God may be calling you to be courageous and take up your cross. Is it at work? At school? In your family? In your group of friends? Wherever it may be, at one point or another everyone is going to have to stand firm in their faith and be courageous. And as I’m learning, it is a blessing to be tested and given the opportunity to stand up for what you believe in. I’m not perfect and of course I’ve messed up along the way, but that doesn’t change the fact that God is using my faith and constantly working through me every time I take a stand.

                So remember that following Christ is a sacrifice, but taking a courageous stand for him might make all the difference in not only your own faith, but in the lives of the people around you. At times it may seem like you’re standing up for nothing, but you have to trust that God is working by you and through you every single time you stay true to your faith and make a courageous stand in him. Your courage may just plant a seed that in time becomes someone else’s courage.

"Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened."

-Billy Graham

"I can't keep calm, I miss my sister"

        I have a sister who is less than 2 years younger than me. When I was growing up, there weren't very many things I did without her. We shared a room, shared clothes, shared a bed, and did everything together. Wherever she went, I went, whatever I did, she did. She’s the friend that was with me every day. Because of this, I'm so used to having my best friend with me at all times.

Now that we're older, I'm at college, she's still in high school, and things have changed. I've had a bittersweet awakening of not always having her by my side. It's mostly been bitter, because every day I realize how much I miss her. But it's also sweet, because every day I realize how much I love her and how extremely blessed I was to grow up with her and have an unwavering best friend by my side all the time.

      I remember running down the hallway with my sister, sneaking around because we were supposed to be in bed. Then we would hear our mom or dad moving around in the living room, so we would sprint back down the hallway, jump in our beds, and act like we were sleeping. When the coast was clear, we sat up, looked at each other, and just busted out laughing as quietly as we could.

I remember playing countless games of house pretending to be secret agents or doctors or anything we could think of.
      I remember we would go outside and jump on the trampoline for hours straight sometimes.
      I remember coming up with crazy ideas like making forts out of mud, trying to tip the swing set over, having races with all our cats, or going fishing in the canal down the road.
      I remember fighting and fighting sometimes until we were both crying but then after a little while apart, we always forgave each other. And of course there were also those times when we would laugh and laugh until we were both crying.

One of my all-time favorite pastimes with my sister is the many countless hours we would stay up late talking about life and everything that comes with it. Even if we had to wake up early for school, there were always those nights when it seemed more important for us to share our thoughts and feelings with each other than actually go to bed. I wouldn't trade these memories for absolutely anything.
      I cannot imagine growing up without my sister. I refuse to even try. Of course we fought and screamed at each other over the weirdest things sometimes, but there was never a time when I didn't wish I had a sister. I don't think anyone in this world knows me better than she does. Without a doubt, she is always there for me.
      It doesn't matter if something comes between us.... We'll work it out, we always do. And that's the beauty of it. No matter how badly I mess up, she'll always come back around and forgive me.

      Now I’m not saying all this to brag about how awesome my sister is (although that is part of it), but I think it’s really important to remember that we aren’t supposed to live this life alone. We need community, we need family, and we need relationships. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 says,

“Two people can accomplish more than twice as much as one; they get a better return for their labor. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But people who are alone when they fall are in real trouble.”

        Although we always have the Spirit with us, God wants us to have friends and someone that is always going to be there to hold you accountable and pick you up when you need it. 

         I just really lucked out, and that person happens to be my sister. I think sometimes it goes without saying that we love and appreciate the friends that we have, but it is always a nice gesture to reach out and let that person or your friends know how thankful you are to have them around.

  So to my dear sister,

Kristen, I am so proud to call you my sister. If you could see yourself through my eyes, you'd see an incredibly beautiful and talented young woman who has so much strength. You would see someone who always makes everyone around her laugh and smile. You would see that you are hands down the best friend I have ever had. I don't mean to get all sentimental on you, Sis, but there's just no way you can grasp how much I care for you and miss you already. Thank you for loving me for me and for always being there to lift me up when I fall and give me a hand when I need it. I love you so much. -Brooklyn 

"Let go and let God"

               Just recently, someone very close to me was carrying a tremendous amount of pain. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t really make them feel better. I just wanted to say something that would make everything okay, that would heal all their pain, and would put a smile back on their face. I couldn’t be happy until I knew that they were happy.

                I’m sure many of you have had similar situations; where someone you truly care for and love is really hurting and you wish that you could just take all their pain away. Now imagine Jesus. His love for us is far, far greater than any love you may have for someone else. He loves us so much, that he did what we can’t do. We may not be able to always take away the pain that someone else is feeling, but Jesus did this sort of thing for us when he died on the cross.

 Isaiah 53:4 says,

    “Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down.”

The pain I wish I could carry for just one person I care about, is the pain that Jesus carries for the entire world. Jesus came to carry our sorrow out of his unconditional love for us, so that we could live free from the burden of sin and sorrow. Isn’t that reason enough to be joyful?

                Far too often we take this for granted. Everyone experiences trials and struggles, but we should find peace in knowing that we have a God who carries our sorrow and pain for us.

               

        “Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you” -Psalm 55:22

Like I’m sure you’ve heard it said before, “Let go and let God.” There is absolutely nothing that God can’t save you from. So when you’re ready, give your burdens to God and be prepared for him to sustain you with a peace and joy that only comes from him. When you finally let go of all the weight you have to carry, you might feel not only a sense of peace, but a sense of strength. Not because you are strong on your own, but because God builds strength in our weaknesses if we are willing to give our lives over to him.

Wondering about Wandering

      I used to go snowboarding at least 3 times a year, but then as I got into high school sports it wasn’t really an option to go anymore. Finally, for the first time in almost 6 years, I had the chance to go snowboarding again. Needless to say I was rusty at first, but as the day went on I started to pick up the snowboarding skills I had lost (I never really had much skill in the first place, but I was able to end the day without physically harming myself or anyone else for that matter).

            My one day of snowboarding last week reminded me of one of my previous snowboarding experiences. I don’t remember all the details, but I remember enough to give you a brief overview. My friend and I were snowboarding, and we weren’t necessarily cocky, but we did think we were a lot more talented then we actually were. This attitude, along with our tenacious childhood spirits, motivated us to go on a higher skill level ski run. We had done it a couple times, even attempting to “get air” on some of the jumps. Each time we got just a little bit braver. Eventually we came across a side trail that we had never been on before. Without wavering, we started snowboarding right down that tiny trail that was carefully constructed between rows of towering pine trees. About 50 yards down the trail, this path started to seem incredibly ‘sketchy.’ But with nowhere else to board, we kept on going. Less than 1 minute later, the trail came to a stop. There was a huge pile of snow and a tractor blocking the way down the rest of the slope. There was no way around it, and there was no way that my friend and I had the skill to snowboard through the trees, let alone would we be able to find our way back down the mountain.

            We came to the conclusion that we were lost. Even though we were only about 100 yards off of the main trail, nonetheless we felt incredibly hopeless. Our eyes watered up as we decided that the only way out was to unbind our boots from our boards and hike up the mountain until we got back to the main ski slope. The task seemed awfully grueling. We kept hiking and made it back to the main trail, sat down, and started screaming for help from anyone that we saw. Did we really need any real help? No… no we definitely did not. We were back out in the open on the main trail, not at all injured, and not at all lost… but we were so worked up that we failed to realize those facts. We put our boards back on and were sitting right in the middle of the main slope that we had gone down tens of times that day, but we still thought we were doomed to a slow death freezing on that mountain.

            Yes, we were just dramatic 6^th graders, but we seriously were scared out of our minds. Even though we were on the main trail and all we had to do was snowboard around one corner to get back to the ski lodge, we still gave up all hope. Looking back at this time in my life, it is actually quite a humorous story. But I can tell you that in that moment, I was seriously scared for my life.

            So now if you’re wondering if there is a point to this story… of course there is!

 Have you ever felt this kind of feeling of hopelessness and feeling completely lost in life? Obviously I have, but not just this one time snowboarding. I have felt like this many times with trying to figure out where to go to college, what to major in, who I want to be, and etc. And many, many times when I experienced these feelings, there was often a simple answer and many other reasons to hope standing right in front of me.

            But so often when something unexpected pops up and gets in the way of the path I’m going down, I freeze up and become completely pessimistic. Even if there is a solution right around the corner, I become so frustrated and stressed that I completely lose sight of any hope and all the answers stay hidden in the dark.

            When my 13 year old self freaked out for no reason, I lost sight of the right way down the mountain, even though I was still on the main trail and actually wasn’t lost at all. I think this exact thing happens in life all the time. But instead of freaking out and immediately clouding out all of our optimism, we have to learn how to remain calm and look for the simple solutions that are often right in front of us.

 If you feel lost, maybe you aren’t really lost after all. Maybe you are just on your way to something truly great right around the corner. Like J.R.R. Tolkien wrote,

 “Not all those who wander are lost.”          
 

So don’t be afraid of having to wander or wonder. Maybe you are wondering where to go to college, maybe you are wandering around trying to find a place where you belong, maybe you’re wondering what comes next in your life, or maybe you are just wandering around because you don’t have a GPS handy and you are legitimately lost. Whatever it may be, don’t fear the unknown and don’t give up hope, because you never know what God has in store around the corner.

It's that time of the year again...

It’s January 4^th, 2015 and I’m going strong… blog number 2.  

Because it’s still just barely 2015, guess what I’m going to write about… New Year’s resolutions. It's that time of the year again! 

Let’s get the elephant out of the room… Resolutions are a joke sometimes. It’s January 2^nd and you’re still going strong. But then a couple days will go by, the willpower to stick with your resolution will fade, life will start moving faster, and pretty soon its February and you decide you’ll wait till next year to try again.

But why wait till next year? Does it have to be a resolution just for the year? How about, take it a day at a time. Wake up every morning, and set your mind on accomplishing a specific goal or a task. Use short term goals to accomplish your long term goals. Why wait for a new year, when every single day is a new day. Every morning we wake up, blessed to still be breathing and blessed to be given another chance to get something right, to try again, to fix a broken relationship, to do something for someone else, to become stronger than yesterday, and to live like it may be the last day you're alive. I don't think there are many people in this world that don't take life for granted. But in the big scheme of things, life is but a "vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away (James 4:14). I can't really control how long I live, but I can control how I choose to live the short vapor of a life that I do have. 

So, my goal for each and every day is based off of this quote by Jonathan Edwards.

 “Resolution One: I will live for God. Resolution Two: If no one else does, I still will.” –Jonathan Edwards

I really couldn’t think of a better resolution for this time in my life. I’m out on my own for the first time, trying to figure out who I am, what I stand for, and what I believe. With every single choice I make, it is so important for me to remember that God is central. Not only is he central, but no matter what criticism I face, I’m going to be steadfast and unmovable in my faith. I know what I stand for, and no one else will change that.

But instead of this just being a long-term yearly basis kind of thing. This is an every morning, every day kind of thing. Each day, I’ll wake up with this attitude: “I will live for God.” After all, it’s his breath in my lungs, so who else would I live for?

                Now this may not be the resolution or goal for you, but that’s not a problem. It’s still January, and there is a new day tomorrow. So, why not come up with some goals now and you can start knocking em off your list tomorrow and the day after tomorrow and the day after that and etc. And hey, if you fail at reaching your goal tomorrow, remember that there is still about 360 days left this year to try again. 

Hello 2015

                With a full new year ahead of us, it isn’t only the future we are saying hello to. We’re also waving goodbye to the past year, 2014. Now I don’t know about you (and no, I’m not feeling 22… I’m only 18), but 2014 was a year I will never forget (minus a few minor details maybe… Simply because my memory is most likely getting worse with age, and I also took a nice blow to my cranium which gave me my second concussion). I obviously will be leaving out a tremendous amount of details… mostly because I don’t have time for that and you probably aren’t interested in reading about my entire life story anyways.  

                Now before you really get too deep into this, this is simply just a way for me to express some feelings, write for fun (yes, I am one of those people who actually enjoys writing), and share a little of my life with you. You may like it, and you may think I’m the worst writer in the entire history of all writers in the universe. I really don’t care, so feel free to think what you wish and read as you please.

                I’m sure I experienced almost every emotion possible this past year... some of these include anticipation, indignation, surprise, rage, joy, sorrow, anxiousness, shame, fear, envy, courage… the list goes on and on. I had quite a feat of firsts and conquered a mountain of lasts.

                First, I’ll tell you some of my firsts… It’s only logical.

I graduated high school, yes that is a first (and thankfully a last.) With my senior year came some fun, exciting, and yet grueling athletic firsts. I had the privilege of playing for the volleyball team which went to state to become back to back state champions… (Technically this occurred in the year 2013, but hey… this is my blog so I’ll write whatever I want). Then, I had quite a unique experience with basketball and getting to go to state with my team for the first time ever in our entire school’s history. That was quite awesome…that is… until we lost and took home 5^th place. Although it legitimately pains me to write about it, it really was a great experience. Not because we didn’t win, of course, but because basketball in a strange way became the love of my life. And then, I signed to play college volleyball which led to my first time leaving home and going to college, my first time playing college volleyball and my first time spraining my ankle so bad that it looked like abstract art...

2014 also marks some pretty cool traveling adventures for me. I traveled a lot for volleyball, to places like Las Vegas, Reno, Spokane, San Diego, and Missouri. I also went to New York for the first time with my senior class. That was really an amazing trip. For the first time ever, I realized how much I really did love my class and how much I would miss the good times we had together… But then I graduated and left for college and high school became like, so 6 months ago.

Another adventure, the most life-changing two weeks of my life, was my trip to Israel. If I were to tell you what I learned, this blog would be a whole lot longer than you probably would ever want to read, and I don’t think I could ever write well enough to do those life-lessons any justice. But I will tell you this:

1-      God loves you and me more than I can ever and will ever be able to fathom

2-      There is a whole other world outside of my own, and I wasn’t created to sit back and do nothing… I was created to be a light, to be an En Gedi (more on that in a future blog post hopefully), to be a city gate, to love the least of these, and to love God with everything I have.

      Now, I won’t go into too much detail on some of my lasts… because I think a lot of my firsts allude to my lasts. For example, it was my last year of high school, my last year of playing basketball, and my last year of club and high school volleyball. I met some cool people this summer that I wish I could’ve gotten to know better. And I also lost some friends that I thought I might have in my life forever. I had to say goodbye to some really amazing people I met in Israel, which was a last I wish never had to have happened.

                Speaking of goodbyes, I had my fair share of those this year. And to say the least, I am absolutely terrible with goodbyes… my family and close friends can attest to that. But sometimes it seemed like with every goodbye, came a new hello. And I think that’s what New Years is really about. I’m not saying I’m going to close the door to 2014, lock it, and never open it again. No, I’ll keep a small window to 2014 open so I can look in every once in a while and remember the good times, the bad times, and all the lessons that came with those memories. But once I lock that door and wave goodbye, I’m heading straight for another door and getting ready to say hello. I don’t know what is even beyond this door… maybe some more traveling adventures, meeting new people, or finally meeting the love of my life. Only God really knows what is in store, but I trust his timing and I am done with goodbyes for now and saying hello. (Cheese factor of this last paragraph may have just blown through the roof… you can be the judge of that).

So long 2014, maybe I’ll see you around, and hello 2015… Let the memories begin.

Happy New Year’s guys! And thanks for taking the time to read this. Hopefully this is a new year’s resolution that I actually stick with and you’ll be seeing some more blog posts soon.

And I will say, if you are reading this, thanks for the support, the love, the laughs, and the friendship you’ve given me this year. I wish you all the best for 2015!