weather patterns

I have my "deepest" moments either in my car driving or running. So after my drive back to La Crosse Saturday night I decided to keep those thoughts goin', so I went running at 10:00 at night. It's so peaceful and beautiful at that time, it helps that I live in a beautiful area with bluffs, the Mississippi river, & trees. Then yesterday I went out for a run and 3 miles into it I got caught in a down pour. It was awesome!! The rain was strong & it was windy so it just made me run fast. :)! My running has been awesome the last couple days, it's good to be back! And I'm loving this weather. It was awesome to fall asleep last night listening to the rain and thunder.

My roommate showed me this article yesterday, click HERE to read it. Some of the comments on it really broke my heart. The article is about how a popular clothing chain (Forever 21) prints John 3:16 on every shopping page of theirs. It makes me sick to think that people find that so offensive and even say that won't buy from the company anymore. I want to know why they are so offended by Christianity? How can they continue each day with no hope? Why do the feel the need to advocate their hopeless ideas? This article just made me realize that we are not going to reach these types of people by approaching them and sharing the gospel. Most probably already have heard it before anyways, One lady wrote this comment on the article:

This isn’t just about religion– it’s about our phobia of Christianity. It’s about all of those awful memories of being mobbed by envangelizing nuts on campus, at parks, at the beach, etc. Christians feel the need to bring god into EVERYTHING– I’m simply overloaded… and I’m resentful of feeling so jumpy that even a bible reference on the bottom of a bag sets me off. To all of you Christians out there, BACK OFF! People might be more interested in talking to you if they weren’t constantly mobbed by pro-Jesus crap

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First off, God is my EVERYTHING is it's a little hard not to bring him into everything. :) But this comment really got me thinking about how we can reach people like this with such negative ideas about Christianity. Jesus is the only one that can change their hearts so we continually need to be praying for them. They may not be responsive to me if I approach them on the street but a more powerful way for them to see Christ is how we live our life. Love them, praise God when we're happy and rejoice in our suffering. Demonstrate the love that Jesus Christ has brought into our life and let in shine through us in every single thing we do. Let them look at us and want the joy that Jesus fills us with. That is how we can reach them without any feelings of condemnation, by simply living Christ like lives. My heart breaks when I think about them seeing Jesus and realizing that they had denied his glorious, amazing love for their entire life on this earth. Eventually every knee will bow and every tongue will confess, I don't want anyone to be too late. I want more brothers and sisters in Christ, so let His love shine through us, let everyone know how God has changed our lives, Share the gospel & rejoice in our suffering This world needs Jesus and everyone needs his word.

Alright, I need to get to class. Here's whats on repeat this week:

It's good to be alive

Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. -Hebrews 12:1

I love that verse. AIA (Athletes in Action) wrote bible verses in chalk on the riverside running/biking trails, that was one of them. It was so awesome & inspiring to see as I was running yesterday. Some other ones were 1 Timothy 4:8 Train yourself to be godly & Ephesians 3:19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. There's nothing more motivating then seeing God's word written on the surface I'm running on. My two passions! :) It feels so amazing to finally feel strong again while I'm running, It is an essential part of my life. Half marathon is 13 days away!

Since I've been in 8th grade I've kept journals. I fill up notebook after notebook with my random thoughts, goals, and struggles. I decided to read a couple entries yesterday and it just ended with me being really upset. For the past couple years I spend my time pouring out my pain onto my notebook paper instead of turning to God. I would literally spend hours by myself just writing, trying to figure myself out. Of course it's hilarious to read about all my dramas but I just wish I would've known to just give it to God, lay it at the cross, and let God heal & control my life. I'm so grateful that I've realized this now and that God is healing my wounds and molding me into the person I'm meant to be. But it's really hard for me to read them, I was constantly seeking something to fill my void. I always wrote about strengthening my relationship with God but I always seemed to get side tracked. Now he's captivated me and I will never let go, & either will he! :) The Lord has put amazing people in my life to get me to this point. I'm so unbelievably thankful and it's my honor to be used by Him to reach other people. I want to show God's love & compassion to as many people as I possibly can. Yesterday I was having an amazing run and I was just praising God for giving me strength and blessing with with this beautiful life. I was so overcome with compassion, I was about to yell "Jesus loves you!!" to another runner on the trail but I figured he might be a little freaked out. But why should I care? Oh that reminds me, I did share my faith with a guy that was walking on the trails while I was on my run on Wednesday. There's kind of a long story behind it but I stopped him, (he was wearing a shirt that said "God gave us free will, let's use it to party" I figured I could use that to spark a conversation, and gave him a quick version of the gospel told him that God is awesome, has changed my life and loves him! He looks at my kinda confused but he did say he appreciated me talking to him. Hopefully I planted a seed, if not.. it's good for me to share my faith on a regular basis. I feel so awkward and I get really nervous. But, I'm starting to get over that. I encourage everyone to reach out to at least one person this week, whether it be sharing the gospel or just showing God's love to someone.

Nothing else really going on in my life, nothing of significant importance anyways. Oh! I do want to acknowledge my beautiful Mother, If it wasn't for her I would not be the person I am today. I'm so thankful I grew up in a christian home and was provided with so much love. My mom is the strongest and most beautiful person I have ever met. She is so forgiving and I admire that quality in her so much! God has used her in so many amazing ways, I've watched her reach out to so many people, whether it be having bible studies at our house or driving Kara, our friends and I to see Crystal Lyons. She is an amazing woman with a beautiful heart for God. Thank you Mom! You are my best friend and I'm so proud of you. When our life was completely shaken, you stayed strong, kept faith and continued to provide a beautiful life for me. You're awesome!!!

I hope everyone enjoys the week, it's good to be alive. :)

endorphins & passion for Christ

After a long run, my endorphins kick in and I am on a complete runners high for a good hour. I get excited, happy, & extremely energetic, it's pretty much amazing. Last night I got that "runners high" feeling for about four hours. It was intense, amazing and not because of running but because of God's extreme love for me. I can feel my heart growing and the passion inside; it's almost overwhelming, in the most wonderful way. I don't know what God has planned for my life & I hate that I don't know, but I can feel God preparing my heart for whatever it is. I'm so excited that my stomach is in knots right now, I woke up this morning and before I could even fully open my eyes my heart & mind were racing. Honestly, my heart feels like it's going to explode. hahaha.. I just want to share this passion with everyone. I want everyone to know the joy Jesus brings to my life, the amazing love he fills my heart with and the blessings he blesses me with every single day. He rescued me from complete emptiness and has restored my life. He has given me a purpose and a happiness that I didn't know was possible. I'm finally at peace with myself, I've surrendered my life to Him and it is so unbelievably sweet. It took me so long to realize that Jesus' blood completely covers my sins. For so long I couldn't let them go because of the guilt that I felt. I was upset at myself for straying away from God, but this Easter as shown me that my sins are forgiven and forgotten. I'm finally looking ahead without dwelling in the past. Jesus has restored my life and healed me in every possible way. I'm making huge steps forward, learning his wisdom, feeling is love and yearning to fulfill his plan for my life. What can be better than His amazing love? Celebrate and worship Him today, because he has saved us, loves us and is coming soon. Hallelujah!!

Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe

Praise Jesus, my King, Savior, & Lord for paying my debt. Praise Jesus for washing away my stains. Praise Him for giving me the gift of salvation. Jesus is alive and living within me, He brings me hope, joy & love. He has RISEN, he is alive and his love for us is AWESOME.

musica

If it weren't for music I would probably be failing school and a very slow runner. My favorites right now:

the greatest text of all tells it all

I've spent the last couple hours studying for my Sociology exam and I've realized something.. I learn the same exact thing over and over and over just with a different minority group as the subject. Even now prejudice is still present in our society, you'd think we'd learn huh.
Soo... I was reading James the other night and here is what it says on Prejudice:
James 2:1 -How can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others? 2:9 If you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law.
Well, this pretty much tells me all I need to know. I'm tempted to just put that on the essay part of the Exam but I'm sure that would be a fail. I don't know how God puts up with us, the human race annoys me (yes, including myself). We were all created by the same wonderful, God almighty and he loves us all the same. End of story.