With everything we will shout forth your praise!

I feel this call. God's Spirit is moving in my heart. And it excites me. I feel the peace that surpasses all understanding. Slowly, I am seeing what it means to fully trust God with everything and what it means to deny myself. At Thrive tonight, we sang this song by Hillsong that was appropriate considering what God's revealing to me.

With Everything -Hillsong

Open our hearts,
To see the things
That make Your heart cry,
To be the church
The You would desire.
Light to be seen.

Break down our pride,
And all the walls
We've built up inside,
Our earthly crowns
And all our desires,
We lay at Your feet.

So let hope rise,
And darkness tremble
In Your holy light,
And every eye will see
Jesus, our God,
Great and mighty to be praised.

God of all days,
Glorious in all of Your ways.
Your majesty, the wonder and grace,
In the light of Your name.

With everything,
With everything,
We will shout for your glory.

With everything,
With everything,
We will shout forth your praise.

Our hearts will cry
Be glorified,
Be lifted high,
Above all names.
For You our King,
With everything,
We will shout forth your praise.


I am just so thankful for God and for who He is. And I just want to rest in this peace forever.

Me gustan las cartas.

I think that everyone should mail me letters. I like mail. Snail mail, particularly. There is something about ripping open an envelope, occasionally sealed with a sticker. I like looking at different people's handwriting. It's always fun to read someone's thoughts in their own writing. It's like you get a peak into their soul. So you should send me a letter. And I will write you back.

Karen Collins
Western Carolina University
245 Memorial Drive, Suite 6701
Cullowhee, NC 28723

The Beauty that is Les Misérables

He was out there alone with himself, composed, tranquil, adoring, comparing the serenity of his heart with the serenity of the skies, moved in the darkness by the visible splendors of the constellations and the invisible splendor of God, opening his soul to the thoughts that fall from the Unknown. In such moments, offering up his heart at the hour when the flowers of night emit their perfume, lit like a lamp in the center of the starry night, expanding in ecstasy in the midst of creation’s universal radiance, perhaps he could not have told what was happening in his own mind; he felt something floating away from him, and something descending upon him; mysterious exchanges of the soul with the universe.

He contemplated the grandeur, and the presence of God; the eternity of the future, that strange mystery; the eternity of the past, a stranger mystery; all the infinities hidden deep in every direction; and,, without trying to comprehend the incomprehensible, he saw it. He did not study God; he was dazzled by Him. 

 This is in the unabridged version of Les Misérables. People don’t write like this anymore. I am tempted to reread this insanely long novel. Victor Hugo uses words so elegantly. I just wish I could read it in French.  

Love Regardless

This past weekend, I went on the BCM Mid-Winter Retreat in Hendersonville. It was a great time of discipleship and really fun! The theme of the week was love, and one thing that really stuck out to me was said during our breakout session on "Loving Others." Someone brought up the passage in Matthew 5:43-47 where it talks about "For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?" It is so easy to love the people that love us back, and so difficult to love those who we consider our enemies. Kelly said something brought me back to a conversation I had with Megan on a road trip to Robbinsville. Kelly said, "When someone's hurt you, it's impossible to love them without God." That road trip Megan mentioned how Jesus loved Judah even when he knew the ENTIRE time that Judas would betray him. She said it so wonderfully, that I am just going to put what she wrote here. I probably should have asked her, but for everyone reading this the lovely MEGAN HUNT wrote this and not I.

Make The Investment
Here is a tough question for you. Imagine that you are introduced to Suzy by Jennifer and as soon as Suzy walks away Jennifer informs you that you should invest in her, you should be friends with her and love her. Seems fair enough right!? Well what if the next thing Jennifer said was "I know Suzy will betray you." Would you still make the investment??

Honestly my human response is HECK NO. Thank you very much but I will opt out of a painful situation any day. However that is not the life God has called us to. His love is for everyone no matter what the outcome is. I know this seems crazy and your reaction is a lot of defenses. Like "I need to protect my heart" "I don't think I should invest when I know there is not a positive outcome" "friendships are suppose to be about give and take" "this will just exhaust me." All which seem to make sense but where is love in putting yourself before someone else!?

There is part of Jesus' story that has greatly changed my view on investments and on what my motive should be. You see Jesus in His all knowingness knew that Judas would betray Him and in my mind that is pretty much the ultimate betrayal. Yet Jesus' still invested in Judas. He was one of the twelve that were always with Him. He was one of the people He ate with. He shared His time, wisdom, love, grace, power and everything else with Judas. Remember that at EVERY moment Jesus knew where it would lead, but He still chose to love Judas. Now there is one other thing to address not only did Jesus invest but His investment in Judas looked no different then with the other twelve disciples. He treated them all the same and we know this because when Jesus said He would be betrayed by one of them they all looked around and wondered who it would possibly be. There was no room for speculation, they didn't look at each other and say "well you know He has always been distant or short with Judas." Jesus' heart went out to all of them equally all along the journey. Not only did He invest but His investment was pure in heart. He just loved Judas and that was the only thing He focused on.

John 13:21-25
After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, "I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me."
His disciples stared at one another, AT A LOSS TO KNOW WHICH ONE OF THEM HE MEANT. One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, "Ask him which one he means." Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, "Lord, who is it?"

My challenge to you is that you would make investments. That you would love people as God loves them. Don't with hold love simply because you may not get anything in return. "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends" John 15:13. Lay down your life for a friend just as Jesus laid down His life for Judas. Love regardless of the outcome.

I pray that you would live for something bigger then yourself. I pray that you would live to reflect Him to others and give Him all the glory.
- Megan Hunt

It really sucks when someone has hurt you. It's easy to hold on to that bitterness towards them, to get defensive and justify your rudeness, but that is not what God has called us to. This has really challenged me to look at how I love those that have hurt me.

"Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no 'root of bitterness' springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;" - Hebrews 12:15-16

Not Completely Abandoned

Dear blog,

You have not been forgotten. I am sorry I've ignored you for the past month or so. I've gotten on everyday to read all the lovely blogs I follow. I have thought of many ideas of things to post. But general laziness and fear of not being able to post something worthy of other people reading have kept me from updating. It won't happen again, I promise. Well, I can't promise that because it probably will. I will promise to try to post soon.

Yours forever,
Karen

Lily and Leila, Diana and Danni, Eustace and Liam, James and Charles

As I sit here attempting to write a Psychology paper on attachment, my mind wanders and the internet is a very big place.... sooo much to look at and explore! I find my Listography, a place where I have many random lists. Two particularly stood out to me tonight, lists of names, one for boy names and one for girl names. Such a girl thing to do, but alas, I am female, so it's okay. I've decided I like names a lot. Some of them just sound so wonderful. And I must have many children, so that I can use all my favorite names (or maybe just lots of pets with rather human names instead of the typical Fluffy). I like rather classic names for boys and pretty names for girls. I shall share a few (or my entire lists...)

Boys:

• James
• Jeremiah
• David
• Liam
• Charles
• Eustace
• Cedric
• Seamus
• Isaac

Girls:

• Liliana (Lily)
• Evangeline
• Leila
• Marisol
• Diana
• Isabelle
• Violet
• Charlotte
• Danni
• Natalia
• Kristin
• Veronica
• Abigail
• Joy
• Deborah
• Esther 

Scatterbrained No More

It has been almost a month since I have updated this blog. That month has been filled with many fun weekends, wonderful conversations, good friends, rushed projects, procrastinated papers, and good grades to name a few things. Time sure has flown by, and I cannot believe it is already November. Professors keep forewarning us of the upcoming two weeks until Thanksgiving and then of the difficulties to come in the subsequent weeks after the holidays and before finals. But oddly enough, I am not worried. I feel prepared. I feel like my scattered thoughts have disappeared, and things are getting done.

I find that my problem in getting things done is distraction. It is so easy to come back to my dorm and plan on finishing X, Y, and Z only to have difficulty actually beginning the task at hand and seeing it through to completion. This weekend, I decided to change that. I powered off my computer, stuck it in the desk drawer, and started on all the odds and ends I needed to finish (i.e. take out the trash, do laundry, put up pictures on walls). Cleaning always relaxes me. I find that if my environment is organized and clean, then I can sit down and focus on the task at hand. Earlier this week, I found myself missing those nights where I would find myself late at McDonalds, sweeping, mopping, and cleaning the store for the next morning. Now, I know if you put me back in that situation for several days in a row again, I would be begging for something else because it's tiring, but at the same time de-stressing. A chance, to just let your mind wander as the mop goes back and forth across the tile floor, on the events of the week. And this Friday was my chance to do just that, to turn up the music and not force my brain to go fifty million different directions. I think this will be something I must do more of, forcing myself to ignore that tendency to open up a new tab when I haven't even finished the email I am writing, to turn on the radio as I work, or to check the news feed as I write that paper. Multitasking gets me no where, only leaves me scatterbrained.