Getting a Little Lost and Finding the Unknown

The first time I remember getting lost was in the woods at a local park when I was about seven years old. The park was large enough for me to remember it as a forest, and as a child I spent a lot of my time wandering with a freedom that happened to be measured by park boundaries. One afternoon, on a bolder day than most, I left the known perimeter of my mother's watch. I was pulled towards what I thought was the calling of my name from the trees, or perhaps, because I was prone to rebel against house rules.
As I entered an unknown area, I had a mild sense of panic, but curiosity overcame fear. Before I knew it, the park opening in the woods was far behind me. It was the size of my hand and I couldn’t do anything but move forward, in search for something I had no idea of what. I was lost but I was content.

Today as a young adult, that same allure of getting lost calls me by name. Though I am usually the planner of the group, or the organized traveler who is caught preparing my trips via detailed Excel spreadsheets, I’m faithful to a powerful tendency: my craving for discovery and adventure.

Planning is pleasurable, but it’s necessary to leave some space for spontaneity, shrugged shoulders and getting lost. What can be found might just be worth the initial unknown.


Though the word “lost” carries negative connotations, there is light in such a darkened word.
These are reasons why it’s a good thing to roam aimlessly—whether it be exploring a backyard forest or traveling in a new city to figuring out your vocational calling or 5-year life plan:

• Getting lost extracts characteristics that are nameless to us prior. It’s neat to see that you might be more quick-witted, patient or braver than you realized.

• It magnifies the things we may actually need to change about ourselves. Though it can be painful, it’s ultimately humbling to see that you can work on becoming less impatient, anxious or obsessive, thus becoming a more balanced and centered person.

• It initiates independence of self, because sometimes we define what “lost” personally means. Only we can untangle the tension or situation we find ourselves in.

• It sparks our imagination. Being lost creates a space for the overwhelming “what-ifs.” Countless possibilities arise from imagination and creativity.

• Most importantly, getting lost instills perseverance in the spirit. The faith built on the countless trials you’ve had, or the trials you will experience can muster up the kind of confidence we all need in a life, especially when we find ourselves at frequent standstills and question marks.

Author and missionary Jim Elliot ties up these thoughts with a plain and profound thought: “Wherever you are, be all there."

It takes a lot to accept ourselves fully when we are not at our best; when we don’t know the answers, and when we don’t know whether to go right or left. But if we are fully present and aware of the things around us, there is an adamant invitation of honesty, authenticity and deep appreciation for where we are—for our present. If we are lost, it doesn’t mean we have lost. And if we are present, we can be capable of all things.

Whether you are at a standstill in your life, or if you crave to see the world, do not fear getting lost.

Though traveling is more intimidating than leaving your backyard, boundlessness exists: our capacity to discover. Perseverance awaits us.
Sometimes the answers will be right in front of us, just a couple steps ahead. Sometimes our lives will require some dizziness before we can grasp clarity, some boldness before we can attain assurance and some getting lost before the right kinds of things are ready to be found.

Standing By Our Word

When I was little, my mother taught me a valuable lesson: let your yes be yes and your no be no.If a friend invited me to her birthday party and I accepted the invitation, I was committed. Even if a different girl who I liked more invited me to a different party on the very same day, my mom never let me back down on my first commitment. I hated this as a child, but today I realize the purpose behind the lesson. In a very basic way, she was teaching me to be a woman of my word.

It’s something we’re lacking today (I really never would have learned it if my mother wasn’t so diligent) and it’s something that we all need to learn if we want to have healthy relationships, strong marriages and successful careers. Yes should mean yes, and no should mean no. Period. No excuses, no waffling, no swearing on your future child’s grave. Standing by our word is important because it’s an element of our integrity, which takes years to maintain and one minute to erase.

Integrity is a noun that refers to adherence to moral and ethical principles, soundness of moral character, and honesty. We lose that when we lie, cheat, gossip, and flake out. Integrity requires consistency. Strong character. Discipline. Commitment. Communication.

While our word should be steady, reliable and trustworthy so that others can trust us to follow through on what we say, life happens sometimes and gets in the way. I know we’ve all been there—made a commitment to something and suddenly been unable to follow through. The key here is how we handle it, and we really have two choices:

1. Choose to let our integrity fly out the window, hoping the person or people who are counting on us will understand and forgive us later.

2. Have the courage to say something.

When something gets in the way of our word, the answer is to communicate. We’ve all had flaky situations in our past, but we always have the opportunity to rebuild our reputation. Let’s leave behind the wavering, unreliable ways of our past and choose to be women of our word. 

Our Best Hours

Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

Colossians 3:2

God has entrusted us with the precious gift of time.  Twenty-four hours in every day; seven days in a week; every day significant, every hour important, every moment of value to God.  Yet how many of those moments are truly being used for His glory?  If we are honest, many of us would have to admit that though we profess Jesus Christ to be our highest priority, our lives proclaim something quite different.  

A Christian young woman recently confessed to me, “I spend more time on Facebook than I do in prayer or studying the Word of God.”  

That’s the sad reality most of us (including myself!) are living in. 

It’s easy to think of our time, especially our free time, as belonging to us; that it’s our right to do whatever we feel like doing in those “down” moments of the day.  But when we come to Christ, we are to lay everything at His feet - including our time.  As Leonard Ravenhill said, “What does it mean to be a Christian?  Your life is hid with Christ.  You have no time of your own, no money of your own; Christ must become your complete Master.”

God has continued to challenge me with this statement - down to the very details of how I spend each moment of the day.  And I have discovered that when we lay everything at the feet of Jesus and find our deepest fulfillment, rest, peace, strength, and joy in His presence alone – not dulling our spiritual lives with worldly counterfeits – we are beckoned into the supernatural, superhuman existence in which God designed us to live.  That’s when the presence of God draws near.  That’s when our prayers are heard and answered.  That’s when the life we read about in Scripture actually becomes our reality.

Most of us constantly battle with the fact that God is distant, intimacy with Christ is difficult to obtain, and our prayers don’t seem to be heard.  But God says, “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:13).

We aren’t finding Him because we aren’t searching for Him with all our hearts.  We are too preoccupied with checking our Facebook, watching reality shows, downloading the latest songs on iTunes, and obsessing over Hollywood’s newest production to let our entire beings be poured forth in constant and unreserved devotion in the service of the Lord who died to save us.

Most of us feel that we don’t have enough time for prayer and seeking God.  But we don’t even consider giving up our nightly TV time, our weekend movie fests, or our iTunes fetish in exchange for spending time in His presence.

Whether we spend our best hours socializing on Facebook, texting about trivialities, rushing to the latest Twilight movie, or vegging in front of the newest reality TV show - the majority of our time is being given to things that are not of eternal value; and often, things that are just distracting. Most of us are far more influenced by pop culture than we are by the Word of God.  We can quote our favorite lines from 100 different chick flicks, but the only Scripture we know is John 3:16. 

It’s no wonder that Christ feels distant.

Only when we are willing to give Him the best hours of our day - rather than whatever is left after we’ve wasted most of our time on selfish pleasure - will we truly experience vibrant intimacy with our Heavenly King. 

Her Essence is Confident

After talking to some amazing young women in Christ I realized a few things. One, that even though these young women love Christ more than their own life they still struggle with confidence in Christ. Secondly, that confidence can be almost looked on as a negative quality in a young women. Lastly, I wanted to reassure and encourage some of these young women of their value and confidence in the Lord.

God calls us to a life of faith--- faith that He is God and we are not, and that he offers all we need to be complete and satisfied. It is this confidence that creates a mystery about you that others will notice. However I believe there a difference between self-confidence and God- confidence. Self-confidence scares others off. Before God called me to abide in Him I held all of my confidence upon myself and was overly assertive in my interactions and conversations. But once I made the gradual change from focusing on confidence in myself to focusing on confidence in who God is, I became more comfortable with who I was, more comfortable to be around. I needed to be seen and heard only by my God and not by those around me.

You were made for a very great purpose: to love and serve the Lord of lords. Confidence is being convinced that "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength." (Mark 12:30). You must know that the Creator didn't make a mistake when he made you. You may have moments when you think he did things wrong when he got to you, but God never messes up. Everything about you is made divinely in His image. The cut of your nose, the family you were born into, and the longings and hopes and dreams in your heart were all initiated by God himself, and all it takes to make the world see the beauty in you is trust-- not in yourself but in the God who created you. We all have weaknesses and areas in our lives where we are lacking, but God helps us work with those things, bringing them into line with his Word. He promises to burn off the impurities and leave only the finest gold in their place.

All of us as women have something we could choose to be unhappy about when it comes to our bodies, personalities, and life circumstances. But the secret is acceptance of things we can't change which manifests itself in contentment. Contentment is simply a steady knowledge that God is ultimately in control of everything that has been given to us. "Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession" (James 1:17-18). And because you are his prized possession---his love and creation---he knows what is best for you. Acceptance understands this and takes everything that comes as a gift and not a trail. It is this confidence that changes everything about you and your essence within Christ.

Beautiful

I see Your face in every sunrise
The colors of the morning are inside Your eyes
The world awakens in the light of the day
I look up to the sky and say 
You’re beautiful

I see Your power in the moonlit night
Where planets are in motion and galaxies are bright
We are amazed in the light of the stars
It’s all proclaiming who You are
You’re beautiful, You're beautiful

I see you there hanging on a tree
You bled and then you died and then you rose again for me
Now you are sitting on Your heavenly throne
Soon we will be coming home
You’re beautiful, you're beautiful

When we arrive at eternity’s shore
Where death is just a memory and tears are no more
We’ll enter in as the wedding bells ring 
Your bride will come together and we’ll sing
You’re beautiful, You're beautiful, You're beautiful

I see Your face, You're beautiful, You're beautiful, You're beautiful
I see Your face, You're beautiful, You're beautiful, You're beautiful
I see Your face, I see Your face
I see Your face, You’re beautiful, You’re beautiful, You’re beautiful



Beautiful by Phil Wickham


This is one of my favorite songs to sing at Breakaway (a rather large Texas A&M bible study and worship on Tuesday nights) 


I woke up with the lyrics playing through my mind and heart as I had my quiet time looking out the window into the sky and the colors of the morning. In three days I will be moving out of my dorm and back home for the summer to take some summer classes and work at PINE COVE! However this presents a bittersweet moment for me because I am ending my Freshman year at college where I have learned so much and so much has changed. I am a different person than the girl who moved into this dorm room 9 months ago. God has worked wonders in those around me and in my life. He is doing such great things and it has been amazing to see and experience it all. I am so excited to see what this summer brings and how He will work in the next few months :) 

MusicDAY

Yesterday was amazing.. I'm talking much needed, much welcomed, and enjoyed day! My roommate and I spent the day together and went to a local music fest--- Island Party by TAMU BYX where we listened to some great musicians and heard some good teaching while laying in the grass in the lovely weather. Later we went and tried on dresses at the mall (I mean c'mon.. dresses=happy day) and then relaxed a little before heading to Mugwalls for the Artist's Benefit Concert where Taylor preformed and was extraordinary!

It was so relaxing to sit outside in the cool spring air and listen to talented musicians praise our Lord and fellowship with dear friends. Oh yes.. Yesterday was most needed and most enjoyed :D

This is her blog.. you should check it out :)

http://taypraisehisname.blogspot.com/

The Top 10 Things I Want to Tell Teenage Girls

First off I want to say I saw this on another blogger's blog and loved it so I am adjusting it a bit and reblogging it. :)

1.  If you choose to wear clothes that show off your body, you will attract boys. To be more specific, you will attract the kind of boys that like to look down girls’ shirts.  If you want to date a guy who likes to look at other girls’ bodies and chase skirts, then great job; keep it up.  If you don’t want to date a guy who ogles other women, then maybe you should stop offering your own body up for the ogling.  All attention is not equal.  You think you want attention, but you don’t.  You want respect.  All attention is not equal.

2. Don’t go to the tanning bed.  You’ll thank me when you go to your high school reunion and you look like you’ve been airbrushed and then photoshopped compared to the tanning bed train wrecks formerly known as classmates – well, at least next to the ones that haven’t died from skin cancer.

3.  When you talk about your friends “anonymously” on Facebook, we  know exactly who you’re talking about.  People are smarter than you think they are.  Stop posting passive-aggressive statuses about the myriad of ways your friends disappoint you.

4. Newsflash: the number of times you say “I hate drama” is a pretty good indicator of how much you love drama.  Non-dramatic people don’t feel the need to discuss all the drama they didn’t start and aren’t involved in.

5.  “Follow your heart” is probably the worst advice ever. 

6. Never let a man make you feel weak or inferior because you are an emotional being.  Emotion is good; it is nothing to be ashamed of.  Emotion makes us better – so long as it remains in it’s proper place: subject to truth and reason.

7.  Smoking is not cool. Ever.

8.  Stop saying things like, “I don’t care what anyone thinks about me.”  First of all, that’s not true.  And second of all, if it is true, you need a perspective shift.  Your reputation matters – greatly.  You should care what people think of you.

9. Don’t play coy or stupid or helpless to get attention.  Don’t pretend something is too heavy so that a boy will carry it for you.  Don’t play dumb to stroke someone’s ego.  Don’t bat your eyelashes in exchange for attention and expect to be taken seriously, ever.  You can’t have it both ways.  Either you show the world that you have a brain and passions and skills, or you don’t.  You can be respectful and appreciative to the guys but there are no damsels in distress managing corporations, running countries, or managing households.  The minute you start batting eyelashes, eyelashes is all you’ve got.

10.  You are beautiful.  You are enough.  The world we live in is twisted and broken and for your entire life you will be subjected to all kinds of lies that tell you that you are not enough.  You are not thin enough.  You are not tan enough.  You are not smooth, soft, shiny, firm, tight, fit, silky, blonde, hairless enough.  Your teeth are not white enough.  Your legs are not long enough.  Your clothes are not stylish enough.  You are not educated enough.  You don’t have enough experience.  You are not creative enough.

There is a beauty industry, a fashion industry, a television industry, (and most unfortunately) a pornography industry: and all of these have unique ways of communicating to bright young women: you are not beautiful, sexy, smart or valuable enough.

You must have the clarity and common sense to know that none of that is true. None of it.

You were created for a purpose, exactly so.  You have innate value.  You are loved more than you could ever comprehend; it is mind-boggling how much you are adored.  There has never been, and there will never be another you.  Therefore, you have unique thoughts to offer the world.  They are only yours, and we all lose out if you are too fearful to share them.

You are beautiful.  You are valuable.  You are enough.

PSBS- Post Spring Break Syndrome

Well it is two class days after Spring Break and nobody has seemed to completely get in the swing of things. This morning for instance.. I do not remember 8:00 AM's being so painful to wake up for... or that might have also been the dread of walking ALL the way across campus while it was pouring down rain enough so that it looked like I had jumped into the pool for a swim with all my clothes on.. lovely right?


Well Spring Break is over and we are in the last half of the semester and tests, assignments, and papers are weighing down heavily upon us. It is a mad scramble for studying, sleeping, and going to class and then having the energy to do it all over again.. Coffee was always a good friend of mine but now has been bumped up to the honor of being titled as my best friend who keeps me going all day :p


Being on break was wonderful though! I don't know if I could have gone much longer without that much needed rest! Plus I got to work at Pine Cove over the break which made me more than happy to be around the horses again and become excited for this summer where I will be working as a wrangler for Pine Cove.. Finally after almost 5 YEARS of working there as a part time wrangler I will work a summer and receive a camp name.. oh yes..  camp names.. :)


Well this was a good way to distract myself from actually studying from a Political Science test I have. I better get to it or this blog may be reading the life of a flunked college student and that wouldn't be the same ;p 


Remember with all the craziness of school going on: 


Psalm 27:14
Wait for the Lord; Be strong, and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.

James 5:7-8 
Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near.

Romans 15:4
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.


The Lord is watching over and guiding us through this crazy thing called college and the beginning of our amazing lives with Him and for Him. Have a great day!

Joy

Sometimes it is hard to find joy in the day to day life of classes, homework, tests, and late nights. However I have found it is sometimes the only thing that keeps me encouraged to continue my pursuit of Godliness. Joy coming from and in the Lord is the best thing for lifting spirits when all else seems worthless or depressing. 
Joy reminds me of a song from my childhood –♪♫♪ I’ve got that joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart … ♪♫♫. Once that song gets into your heart you will be singing it all day! True joy can only be attained as part of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22). It is that overwhelming sense of comfort and contentment that floods one’s soul. It is the thing that we have when we are walking with the Holy Spirit and mortifying the deeds of the flesh (Rom 8:13 KJV). True Joy comes only when we are focused upon walking with the Lord and esteeming others (Phil 2:3-5 KJV). Since Joy is fruit of the Spirit it is a special gift that only the believer has (Eph 1:12-14; 4:30). Ecclesiastes 9:7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.


Joy has transformed my life from just surviving in a hectic world into actually enjoying my day regardless of what went wrong or what should have gone better because I see His work in the lives around me. My prayer is for each and every one of you to have joy and peace in your day to day life. It is hard to find joy when everything is going wrong but when you find it your joy will surpass any grievance against you. 


One of my role models for finding joy in life and trials is my roommate Taylor Whittlesey. She is a remarkable example of those who find joy in anything. Check out her blog   
http://taypraisehisname.blogspot.com/




Tell me your thoughts on joy! What are some verses you use?

Love is Kind.. and Mansfield Park

"Kindness is a language the dumb can speak and the deaf can hear and understand." - Christian Nestell Bovee

One of the most atrocious characters in Jane Austen's novels is Aunt Norris in Mansfield Park. That woman is a cold-hearted, mean-spirited, self-centered, old bat. Unfortunately I've met a few people in the real world just like her-- and I'm sure you have too. Aunt Norris however is the antithesis of Fanny Price. Wow!  What a woman Fanny is! When Austen created her, she created a character who shines as a person of kindness and wisdom. Fanny might as well attach a halo and wings. She even managed she catch the eye of Henry Crawford who wouldn't know good unless it kicked him, however he notices that Fanny is different.
 When I think of Fanny, I'm reminded of Cinderella, who meekly slaves away under the abuse of her wicked stepmother and stepsisters. Like Cinderella, Fanny begins the story as nothing more than a poor relation of the Bertrams, who view her as a second-class servant than a true family member. At the end of the fairy tale, Cinderella gains a prince but never reconciles with her family. Fortunately Austen presents Fanny with a better outcome. While she certainly wins her Edmund, her own prince charming, by the book's ending she has also risen to a place of honor with the Bertrams.
 According to the book of Galatians, we reap what we sow (6:7). That principle pays off big for Fanny. After years of being mistreated and abused is the face of her selfless service and kindness, the family finally awaken to see Fanny for what she is: a very wise queen waiting to happen. Joseph Joubert, a French moralist, stated, "Kindness is loving people more than they deserve."  Fanny's individual generosities are so numerous they could fill this post, but each of these acts is colored with nuances from Scripture. Given these observations it's indisputable that Fanny manifests four major kindnesses found in Luke 6.

She 1) Does good to those who despise her, 2) Blesses those who curse her, 3) is kind to the wicked, and 4) is merciful, just as her heavenly Father is merciful. As you consider Fanny's many kindnesses, challenge yourself to follow her example. It will be hard!

Kindness #1: Fanny does good to those who despise her.
I'm not sure about you but when someone shows me their dislike or despise of me I am not too eager to be especially generous and kind to them. I am much more likely to try and ignore them and just avoid any conflict that might arise if they were rude to me. However Fanny takes these opportunities to show the dramatic difference that kindness can have in the face of hatred and disgust. Again she gives us an example of John 6 when he says we should do good to those who hate us.

Kindness #2: Fanny blesses those who curse her.
Again not my first thought when someone curses me is to bless them. You must have a humble and contrite spirit to be able to bless those who have cursed you. But having the restraint to pull away and then the love of Christ in you heart to bless them and serve them is more rewarding than any insult hurled back at them. Just like in my roommate's(Taylor) bloghttp://taypraisehisname.blogspot.com/2012/02/no-regrets-you-are-made-worthy.html she says that to love someone you have to be vulnerable with them and open yourself up if though it comes at the risk of getting hurt. Because when you open up you also open the chance to love as Christ loves. That to me is worth all the hurt and the insults that could be pointed my way.

Kindess #3 Fanny is kind to the wicked.
I have found that people find it quite easy to love those that they like or can tolerate. They are the ones that that are easy to serve. However it is those that get under our skin and make us wish we were anywhere else but with them that is hard to serve in love. They could have done terrible things to us and others that we are also called to love. Jesus dined with sinners, had his feet washed by a prostitute, and had even more prostitutes in his family lineage. A goal for me is to approach the people that have annoyed me this semester and talk to them and see how I can love them. They may be going through a lot and have chosen a less liked route to let out their pain.

Kindness #4 Fanny is merciful, just as her heavenly Father is merciful.
Mercy is my saving grace is life. I have screwed up more times than I count however God knows the exact number and the exact things that I have done but still is merciful to me and forgives me and loves me. Fanny exemplifies this and shows mercy to those that have done her wrong and deserve to be punished. Instead she offers mercy, grace, and love. She allows them into her family and her heart. I mean come on! They hurt her SOOO bad but she opens her heart once again and loves them!! That is incredible but also very convicting to me. How many times has someone wronged me and I have not extended mercy to them and offered my love once more? This has been a prayer of mine to be able to have the help to extend mercy to those I truly don't want to reach out to again. This again calls for your heart to vulnerable which is hard when you have been hurt once before by someone. It is much easier to close that door and build a wall decorated with smiles and laughs and pretend.

My life is always changing and my so is my walk with God. Always a new turn in the road to learn to drive. I look forward to it now. It is an adventure... which is something everyone wants right? I know I do :)

Jane Austen and Wisdom

Over  christmas break I have had more time than I know what to do with so what is my go to for banishing boredom? All the Jane Austen that I can find (which in my home is every published novel of hers) ;p
I have noticed quite a few things about Austen the more I reread her works. She had a lot of wisdom tucked away into her characters and dialogue.  She seems to paint the picture of 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 which is the love is kind, love is patient verse. I decided to analyze some of her greater works while I still have time to enjoy reading and not have to dread the required reading thrust upon me for scholastic purposes. :p

One of my favorite books and BBC movies is Emma. The storyline is simple.  Love is patient. A wealthy young woman who has little to do but match make and meddle in people's lives befriends and schemes in her town to make the perfect matches while her older lifelong friend that she views as a brother falls in love with her and despairs because of her friendly love to him. Later Emma realizes her jealously of other women around Knightly and discovers that she is in fact in love with him. However the road to this discovery is comical. Through her intricately woven plots, Jane Austen brilliantly depicts five stages that bring her characters to life because they are also manifested in real people as they struggle with real life. These stages are 1) Recognition of the problem, 2) Frustration, 3) Confrontation, 4) Withdrawal, 5) Resolution.

1) Recognition of the Problem
When Knightly first mentions Emma and matrimony, he wants her to be in love but also in doubt that the man will love her back. Even though he thinks it good for Emma , he only wants her in love in a "safe circumstance" meaning the man in question would not be equally enamored with her. He also mentions in this conversation that he like to look upon Emma. Though he is clearly attracted to Emma he had yet to realize the extent. Only when Frank Churchill arrives does Knightly get a clue that he has a problem. He then reacts by slamming Churchill with insults even though he seems to be quite nice as a result of his ensuing jealously of the sparking of interest from Emma to Churchill.

2) Frustration
Knightly starts to see for the first time all the qualities that Emma possesses. He views her as a fascinating female who is witty, charming, and a little too sassy and confident for her own good. Austen brilliantly depicts Knightly's frustration as he sinks more deeply in love with Emma, and she remains focused on Frank Churchill. When Emma plans to attend a ball with Churchill, Knightly provokes and mocks Emma and grows more aggressive in his verbal barbs against Churchill. Frustration is that awful, uptight feeling we get when we believe we are powerless to stop the situation that holds us captive and requires our patience. The longer the situation stretches, the more uptight we become. From this stance, we often build to the point of some form of confrontation.

3) Confrontation
Jane Austen depicts George Knightly as a mature young man who does a remarkable job handling the confrontation with Emma over Frank Churchill. By the time Knightly mentions the issues to Emma, he has measured the situation and decided a frank conversation is a must. However, unknown to Knightly, by the time he has the talk with Emma, she has already decided she is not in love with Frank and that Harriet should be. But all Knightly can see is Frank's flirting with Emma while the subtle clues point to his attachment to Jane Fairfax. When Knightly reveals his suspicions to Emma she denies that attachment could happen and while Knightly is stunned and dismayed. he doesn't erupt or go into an impatient frenzy He just quietly withdrawals from the scene. He completely distances himself from Emma.

4) Withdrawal
Sometimes the hardest thing we can do is take our hands off a stressful situation and allow God to do His work. Often in the face of completing everything possible to the best of our abilities, withdrawal is the best recourse. Sometimes that means emotional withdrawal; other times it means physical withdrawal, even taking a break or ending a relationship.Knightly chooses both and disappears to visit a relative. Little does Knightly know that his absence will catapult her from fondness to love. Often, at the height of our impatience, we say and do things that aren't as powerful as our absence or our silence would be. In Knightly's absence Emma learns how right he was and how wrong she herself was. In our own lives, so many times we underestimate the hand of God to work in our silence. Once we bravely step forward and lovingly confront, the temptation to repeat a confrontation can seem too strong to ignore,especially if we are so impatient we are pulling our hair. However, simply stating the truth and then quietly withdrawing usually work together to create a powerful change in situation and thought, which many times lead to a satisfying resolution. Such as Knightly getting his girl ;p

5) Resolution
After hearing the news of Frank and Jane's engagement, Knightly approaches Emma to discover how she is enduring the shock because he still believes her in love with Frank which he soon discovers is false. One thing leads to another until Knightly begins his famous speech: " My dearest Emma, for dearest you will always be... my dearest, most beloved Emma," With these words Knightly ushers in the resolution that he loves her and she admits what she has learned in his absence: that she too loves him. Knightly's patience has paid off. There are many situations and circumstances in life that demand our patience. Some people might readily identify with Knightly while he waits for his love and fears the outcome will be anything but happily ever after. Others might wait to have children but fear never being parents. Or perhaps the child that showed so much potential grows up to be a prodigal, leaving the parents to despair if the child will ever succeed. Ecclesiastes 3:1 states, "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven." Often the key to having more patience involves recognizing what stage of patience we are in and following God's timing for when to make the moves that will resolve the situation. Sometimes that might mean accepting the situation and adapting our expectations and choices to overcome the problem.  The key is understanding that there is a time for everything. Therefore, there is a time to patiently endure and a time to stop enduring and get busy with the resolving.

"He that can have patience can have what he will"
Benjamin Franklin

 What are your thoughts? Agree or disagree?

Rest, Rest, Rest- What I have been up to over break

Three weeks into Winter break and two more to go.. getting excited to go back to campus but have enjoyed my break so far such as getting to spend good times with my family and friends and also go to Dallas with my four best girl friends, eat at Bernard's (one of the nicest places in Tyler) at New Year's Eve, run with my sister who is training for her first 10k, shop at the Galleria in Dallas, and develop an obsession for Pinterest :)

Pinterest has actually given me a lot of fun ideas for DIY projects for my room and gifts for friends :) I am looking forward to completing some of them :) Here is a link to some of my future projects :)
http://pinterest.com/hannahsaxon/

Books have always been a treat that I have indulged in that normally I would not have time for..
I have been reading A Praying Life by Miller, Let Me Be a Woman by Elisabeth Eliott, The Help, and Heaven is For Real. Of course wonderful coffee always follows :)