Good evening ladies and gentlemen! It has certainly been some time since we last talked. I apologize for being a stranger but believe it or not, the end of my Christmas break actually turned out to be hectic! The spring semester is about to start up again and I am already at school strategizing as to how im going to successfully pass this semester. Thankfully, I have the privilege of serving a God who has already decided the outcome of this coming semester. All I have to do is stay faithful to my creator and work on all my homework as if I were personally turning it into God himself.
Out of the things God showed me over this Christmas break, the biggest and I think most important lesson He showed me was to have open ears and an open heart to what
He has to tell me. BUT, not just listening to what He has to say, but also ACTING upon what is said. I find that I am surrounded by apathetic Christians. Listen ladies and gentlemen, Christians should be the LEAST apathetic people in the world. Anywho...the story goes like this:
It was around 2am and I was nice and comfy in my bed under my sleeping bag..yes sleeping bag because I use a sleeping bag as a comforter...its complicated, but I love sleeping bags. So I was all comfy in my bed when I felt God telling me to get up and start journaling. I was hesitant at first, but God reassured me to get up, find an empty journal and just write down my prayers to Him. I found a half empty journal and began praying. As I was praying, God began to reveal to me bitterness that I had towards people, people I have lost touch with, what areas I can improve my walk in, and multiple other things. It was amazing!! God was so tangible in that room with me that night. My encouragement to you guys and gals is to start up a prayer journal if you don't already have one. If you don't know what what a prayer journal is, it is simply a journal that you write your prayers down in. Not only does it keep you focused (because I have a hard time with that), but you can look back at certain prayer requests that God has clearly answered. Its great all around! If you don't have a journal, you can find them cheap at any bookstore! I prefer Barnes and Noble..just saying. They have a good selection. Ok well thats it folks, stay awesome!
-R
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Our God Is Everywhere!
Good evening fine ladies and handsome gentlemen, it is great to have you here at The Better Half of Me! I hope this post finds you well. Over my extensive Christmas break from which I created this very blog, I have re-indulged in the well known book series called The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. I started reading the seven book series over the summer and then stopped about three quarters into the third book when this past semester picked up. Well I picked the books back up over this break and I haven't been able to put them down.
C.S. Lewis as some of you who know me, know he is a man crush of mine. He comes second to Jon Foreman (Shame on you if you don't know who he is..look him up!). The dude has an amazing story and God greatly gifted him with brains, and a way to connect with people through writing. Lewis actually wrote The Chronicles of Narnia as bed time stories to try and describe the character of God to his children. I love reading these books not only because they are entertaining, but there are so many parallel's with scripture. It is super neat to be reading and realize as you're reading that Lewis is actually retelling a story from the Bible through the characters and circumstances in the book. As I was finishing the third book in the series called The Horse and His Boy, there was a parallel with the Bible that really spoke to me.
To catch you up with this book so my point will be clear, there is a boy in the beginning who washes up to shore in a boat. A mean man takes him in and makes him his servant boy. Years later a higher official rides in on a horse late one night and talks to the boys master. The boy, curious of this officials visit, listens in on the meeting and discovers the official wants to buy the boy off his master. The boy, not knowing whether or not the official is good or evil, decides to run away. He decides to run to the stable first. When he gets there, he finds the officials horse. To his amazement the horse can talk, and also to the boys amazement the horse want's to run away from his master, the official. Together they make their journey to Narnia. Along the way, they meet a girl who is also running away..she too is heading for Narnia. Her horse can speak as well. Hang in there my friends, I promise this is leading somewhere... Throughout their journey to Narnia, they have three encounters with lions. One encounter was with a pack, and the other were individual encounters. On one of these encounters, the girl is clawed on her back in an attempt to get away from the lion. Another encounter includes the boy and girl and their horses being chased through the forest by a pack of lions.
OK OK....Now that I have kind of caught you up, I can finally make my point..here we go, buckle your seat belt. (SPOILER ALERT) The gang eventually makes it to Narnia, but right before they do, Aslan confronts them for the first time(Aslan is the big lion that is in charge of Narnia. His character parallels with Jesus). When the boy and the girl begin to tell Aslan about their encounters with the other lions he stops them. He says to them, "There was only one lion, and that lion was me. All of the encounters you had were with me. I was there to protect you in your journey home." Ok, so these weren't word for word because I returned the book to the library, but that is the gist of what Aslan said. This dialogue that Lewis portrays through Aslan and the boy and girl is a beautiful parallel to remind us that God is all around us. He is guiding and watching over us as we go about our life here on earth. It is a reminder that he is for us and not against us! So many times when things don't go the way we have planned them, we start to believe the lie that Satan throws at us that God is against us and enjoys to see us in pain, or not succeeding. THAT IS FALSE! Our God is for us! He has a plan and a future for us, as well as hope as it says in Jeremiah 29:11. Sometimes things don't go as planned, or sometimes we are in pain like the girl who was clawed by Aslan, but sometimes that is what it takes for us realize that we have gone astray from our creator and God that loves us more than we can imagine. If being hurt is what it takes to get my eyes back on God, then that is a small price to pay to be in an unfailing relationship with the very being that created me and everything around me...the very being that I will have the privilege of spending the rest of eternity getting to know. Pain in temporary, God and his plans are eternal. Just like Aslan led the gang to Narnia, God leads us whether or not we are aware of that at the time. HE IS FOR US AND NOT AGAINST US!
Thanks for stopping by guys, I know it was long this time. I apologize if you needed to take a nap halfway through to rest your eyes, but hopefully this encouraged you in some way. Stay tuned for more posts from The Better Half of Me and make sure to follow me if you like what you hear. Ok im leaving now for real.
-R
C.S. Lewis as some of you who know me, know he is a man crush of mine. He comes second to Jon Foreman (Shame on you if you don't know who he is..look him up!). The dude has an amazing story and God greatly gifted him with brains, and a way to connect with people through writing. Lewis actually wrote The Chronicles of Narnia as bed time stories to try and describe the character of God to his children. I love reading these books not only because they are entertaining, but there are so many parallel's with scripture. It is super neat to be reading and realize as you're reading that Lewis is actually retelling a story from the Bible through the characters and circumstances in the book. As I was finishing the third book in the series called The Horse and His Boy, there was a parallel with the Bible that really spoke to me.
To catch you up with this book so my point will be clear, there is a boy in the beginning who washes up to shore in a boat. A mean man takes him in and makes him his servant boy. Years later a higher official rides in on a horse late one night and talks to the boys master. The boy, curious of this officials visit, listens in on the meeting and discovers the official wants to buy the boy off his master. The boy, not knowing whether or not the official is good or evil, decides to run away. He decides to run to the stable first. When he gets there, he finds the officials horse. To his amazement the horse can talk, and also to the boys amazement the horse want's to run away from his master, the official. Together they make their journey to Narnia. Along the way, they meet a girl who is also running away..she too is heading for Narnia. Her horse can speak as well. Hang in there my friends, I promise this is leading somewhere... Throughout their journey to Narnia, they have three encounters with lions. One encounter was with a pack, and the other were individual encounters. On one of these encounters, the girl is clawed on her back in an attempt to get away from the lion. Another encounter includes the boy and girl and their horses being chased through the forest by a pack of lions.
OK OK....Now that I have kind of caught you up, I can finally make my point..here we go, buckle your seat belt. (SPOILER ALERT) The gang eventually makes it to Narnia, but right before they do, Aslan confronts them for the first time(Aslan is the big lion that is in charge of Narnia. His character parallels with Jesus). When the boy and the girl begin to tell Aslan about their encounters with the other lions he stops them. He says to them, "There was only one lion, and that lion was me. All of the encounters you had were with me. I was there to protect you in your journey home." Ok, so these weren't word for word because I returned the book to the library, but that is the gist of what Aslan said. This dialogue that Lewis portrays through Aslan and the boy and girl is a beautiful parallel to remind us that God is all around us. He is guiding and watching over us as we go about our life here on earth. It is a reminder that he is for us and not against us! So many times when things don't go the way we have planned them, we start to believe the lie that Satan throws at us that God is against us and enjoys to see us in pain, or not succeeding. THAT IS FALSE! Our God is for us! He has a plan and a future for us, as well as hope as it says in Jeremiah 29:11. Sometimes things don't go as planned, or sometimes we are in pain like the girl who was clawed by Aslan, but sometimes that is what it takes for us realize that we have gone astray from our creator and God that loves us more than we can imagine. If being hurt is what it takes to get my eyes back on God, then that is a small price to pay to be in an unfailing relationship with the very being that created me and everything around me...the very being that I will have the privilege of spending the rest of eternity getting to know. Pain in temporary, God and his plans are eternal. Just like Aslan led the gang to Narnia, God leads us whether or not we are aware of that at the time. HE IS FOR US AND NOT AGAINST US!
Thanks for stopping by guys, I know it was long this time. I apologize if you needed to take a nap halfway through to rest your eyes, but hopefully this encouraged you in some way. Stay tuned for more posts from The Better Half of Me and make sure to follow me if you like what you hear. Ok im leaving now for real.
-R
Friday, December 17, 2010
In The Beginning...
Well hello there! So glad that you are here visiting my blog! So a couple house keeping things to fill you in on. First, I love exclamation marks...you have probably noticed that already. I'm just so excited you are here! That is why there are a plethora (yes, I just used the word plethora) of exclamation marks in this page already. Secondly, have I told you how happy I am that you are here? Well, I am stoked. Third thing, I generally can't stay on topic, so I apologize. The purpose of The Better Half of Me is just simply share my thoughts and funny stories with you (the world) in hopes of making your day brighter. I have never done a blog before so be patient as I finagle around with all these gadgets and buttons. It can only go up from here! Stay tuned as I share with you guys some things God has been revealing to me and some of the awesome stories God has thrown in as icing on the cake! Stay tuned, and stay classy! Subscribe if you like what you hear, make sure to comment and give me your feedback, I would love to hear what you have to say! Wait... can I say stay classy? Is that copy right...? I guess ill find out if its copy right or not if the cops knock on my door and throw me in the ice box with a jacked Russian dude named Vladimir (my apologies if you fit the description of "jacked Russian dude named Vladimir"..i assure you i respect you and your muscles)..don't be a stranger my friend, it was great to have you!
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