Gratitude 4

1. Thankful that I had a very entertaining dream this morning.
2. Thankful that I saw someone else napping in their car during lunch!! :) Glad I'm not the only one...
3. Thankful that what was supposed to be a really busy day at work turned out better than expected. 
4. Thankful for having met Joelinda at The 40 and possibly hanging out with her tonight at Fusion!
5. Thankful that I had a back up Client Distribution List saved on my desktop because I deleted the one in Outlook by accident.
6. Thankful for Gungor Radio station on Pandora Radio.
7. Thank God for how He got me this position at Nielsen - so divine.
8. Thankful for the message at Fusion tonight - really needed the push to go all out in helping someone know about Jesus.
9. Thankful for encouragement from Nesta after Fusion. 
10. Thankful that even though I was bawling tonight (from cutting onions), I am actually very happy. 

Gratitude 3

1. Thankful for Max Lucado on the radio reminding me that it isn't about My story but that it is about His story.
2. Thankful that I don't have much work to do today since I am taking a sick day - feeling really weak and tired.
3. Thankful that I got some good rest.
4. Thankful that I joined Delta Sigma Pi professional business fraternity in college.
5. Thankful that I can still spend time with my mom.
6. Thankful that I'm feeling better.
7. Thankful that I got to check off Watching Wicked from my bucket list. 
8. Thankful that I got to my dried clothes before my grandma folded them because I hate that it gets wrinkly. 
9. Thankful that despite all my desires of being in a relationship, I'm not actually in one yet.
10. Thankful that in exactly three weeks I will be partying it up at WashU and catching up with friends.

Grati(two)de

1. Thankful that mom helped me boil eggs for today.
2. Thankful that my presentation today got moved to tomorrow because I wasn't prepared to present it.
3. Thankful that in times of need, I accidentally left things in the right place. For example, leaving my peacoat in the trunk because it is so chilly today!
4. Thankful that I have a car that I can nap in during lunch time. Exhausted.
5. Thankful that my golf instructor has extra golf clubs I can use tonight since I accidentally left mine at home.
6. Thankful that a kind Samaritan returned my instructor's golf club that I borrowed and lost >.<
7. Thankful that I have a friend who knows how to cook with a limited budget. 
8. Thankful for Scoutmob deals in Atlanta.
9. Thankful that my umbrella was found. 
10. Thankful that I forgot about my sweet potatoes from this morning. Now I have lunch for tomorrow!

Also, this seems like it is going to be the Caveman month where I eat nothing but meat, fruits and vegetables and where I hit things with clubs. 

Gratitude 1

Hi friends! I have two really exciting updates.

1. "The 40" aka Georgia's Intervarsity Fall Conference. I'm friends with various staff workers in the Georgia region who invited me to help out as a prayer intercessor/minister. Since prayer ministry has been a huge part of my relationship with God, I wanted to help other students experience it too. This weekend, God really worked in huge ways.

Satan was really putting up a fight and continuously tried to thwart God's plans, and we knew it was because God was going to do something big. And He did. Last night, we invited students to receive healing by coming up to the prayer ministers. Going into it, I was very weary of how many people would actually come up to get prayer. Before coming to The 40, I prayed that God would at least give me the opportunity to pray for one person. Last night, I had the opportunity of praying for that one person, and after going back to see if anybody else wanted prayer, not only was there a line, but there was a pool of students standing there waiting to receive prayer. PRAISE GOD! I had the privilege of helping six students hear from God and be freed from what was holding them down.

This weekend has shown me how much I miss college ministry. While rooming with a fantastic woman of God that reminds me of my college roommate from last year, I learned that she moved to Atlanta and started work at a social media marketing firm the exact same day that I started work at Nielsen, and she helps with Emory's BASIC (African-American) chapter as a volunteer staff. That got some wheels turning in my head about the possibility of me being a volunteer staff as well. The idea is still premature and may or may not come to fruition next year or in the future. For now, I am committed to ACCCN's youth group and I know I won't have the time and energy to do that and help with Intervarsity and go to Fusion on Wednesdays. So we'll see where God brings me.

2. A few of us young adults around Atlanta were desiring community of people really seeking to follow Jesus and challenge each other, so we started a post-graduate small group that meets on Sundays. We currently began our group study of reading "Practicing The Way of Jesus: Life Together In The Kingdom of Love" which is a book that shows how to practically follow Jesus' teachings. I'm REALLY excited for this. Each week, we take on one or two of the experiments/challenges as a community.

This week we are experimenting with security:

• Gratitude. Each day, we are writing down ten things that we are grateful for. (without repeating anything)
• Time/money journal. We keep a detailed journal of where we are spending our time and money, and will share these with the rest of the group.

I will be posting my gratitude journal here each night (hopefully). I'm thankful that...

1. God really showed up at Georgia's Intervarsity fall conference "The 40" and showed His power as our Healer. 
2. The car ride to and from The 40 was great in the sense that we got there fast and had good conversation.
3. I have the privilege of choosing what I want to eat each meal.
4. We started this post-graduate small group.
5. I had the opportunity to lead a GIG my senior year & that our Bible studies still speak to me today!
6. I can bundle up when it is cold. 
7. God provides everything in my life abundantly.
8. The Kroger near my house is open until 1am. 
9. I got to see old faces at The 40 and met many new people!
10. I have a job to go to tomorrow.

God is like Excel

Thought of the last two months: God is like Microsoft Excel in that I thought I knew all about Excel in high school and college, but I've been learning that there's SO MUCH more to it. I'm continuously humbled by what little I know about Excel's capabilities and just how powerful it is.

Which segways into something AWESOME that happened to me tonight.

While cleaning up my room, I found a $20 Barnes and Noble gift card from my birthday. Since I've been learning so much about Excel at work, I wanted to get a copy of Excel for Dummies, so I drove to Barnes and Noble. I went to my local Barnes and Noble on Peachtree Rd, picked up the book, and got all the way to check out to find that my debit card wasn't in my wallet. NOOO. It could've been in my other bag, it could be in the car, or it could be left at the Peruvian restaurant I was just at. After apologizing to the cashier, I ran back to the car and found my debit card in the cupholder - hallelujah! I got back in line with three people in front of me. The first was this really down to earth girl with tousled brown hair and a huge smile, the second was her friend who had a grey beard and a baseball cap on. The man in front of me was a really tall balding business man.

As the girl was checking out, she pulled out a 40% coupon from her iPhone. The cashier exclaimed, "Wow, what a great deal! And you can use it over and over - it is a public coupon!" She let her friend use the coupon too, and the man behind her was saying, "You and I should be friends. What's your name?" With a huge smile, she said, "Patricia! It's nice to meet you." She proceeded to graciously wait for the third guy to check out, and let him use the coupon too. The whole time she was so friendly and loving toward this stranger. At the end, he said, "I really need to make this up to you! Thank you so much Patricia!" She replied, "Oh no, not at all! You can just return the favor and pay it forward," and she left. He turns around to me and asks, "Are you a Barnes and Noble Member? If not, you are tonight!" and swipes his card before the lady rings up my transaction to get the 10% discount. The cashier looks to me and says, "What divine timing! If you didn't have your card, you wouldn't have gotten this blessing!"

She was so right. If I hadn't found that gift card while cleaning my room, then I wouldn't have gone to Barnes and Noble tonight. If I hadn't gone to the Peruvian restaurant and left my debit card in the car, then I wouldn't have been in line behind those three individuals. Divine timing indeed.

I really admire Patricia. I'm not sure if she's a Christian or not, but she was so kind and loving to strangers that we were all immediately drawn to her. I want to be like her, a magnet that draws people to Christ. And look at the impact that she had! Her little action of sharing her coupon caused a chain reaction, a butterfly effect. Imagine what God can do through us!

I went to Barnes and Noble tonight so that I can learn more about Excel, but tonight, I also got to experience God's grace. Thank you God for being the master systems engineer that so intricately weaves our lives together.

Lies

These past few days, my head has been filled with lies. Lies that I'm not good enough, desired enough, capable enough.

Then David talked about Samson & how he had the spirit of strength in him that he was strong enough to rip a lion's jaw in half. Like ripping a sheet of paper. Imagine what you can do by having the power of the Holy Spirit on you. And we need the Holy Spirit because Satan is roaming the earth like a lion, seeking people to devour and destroy.

One of those people was me. But Holy Spirit, I pray that you would anoint me with wisdom to discern those lies, rip them up, and hear truth.

I really do make you happy, God.

-----------------------------

On another Fusion note, worship also spoke out so loudly today.

Many of my friends are getting engaged & planning their weddings already. That's bizzare to think about, but I guess it's been making me think about romantic relationships a lot lately. Like, a LOT. And I've been trying to think of what kind of guy would be good for me - but whatever I come up with, I can never find in real life among the guys in my life. Nobody can meet my expectations.

Then worship came on:

He is faithful to the end

He is faithful to my heart

He is faithful to the end

He will come and marry me

(Jesus is Faithful to the End - Cory Asbury)

I can't find what I'm looking for because only Jesus can be that person for me. Not that he will literally come and marry me, but the idea that Jesus has bound himself in a covenant relationship with me (like marriage) & that He will always be faithful. And that our hearts can resonate with each other and seek God and his Kingdom. That there's no way He can't not meet my expectations. So reassuring & satisfying.

I realized that my ridiculous expectations weren't meant for humans, they were meant for God. Time to be more realistic with my expectations from people & myself.

Knocking down my Idol

Fusion really convicted me of something tonight.

It started with us singing " as the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs for you." And that became the cry of everyone in the room.

Pastor Johnson began talking about how we look for things in our lives to satisfy us, whether it be porn, boys/girls, food, etc - but these things can never fully satisfy. What we really need is to be satisfied in God, and that we would be filled & satisfied with spiritual food.

Yes, I've heard this countless of times, but it really strung a chord in my heart tonight. Lately, I've become such a foodie with my facebook food blog and all, I've come to criticize everything that I order and eat. Food has become the thing that I live for, but my body has become increasingly less satisfied with what I'm eating.

Then it dawned on me that food has sadly become my idol. It took a higher priority than God. And I need to change that. So from now on, I forbid myself to eat out unless I've done my devos & Bible reading for that day. In addition, each time I go out to eat, it needs to bring glory to God in some way.