postponing..

it is so easy to sit on the internet when you need to do work.

update..

so here's an update for those of you who aren't on my side of the pond!

not a whole lot going on.. but this tuesday was my birthday and it was awesome. my housemates put up signs and balloons and in the evening we went to chili's with some friends. my wonderful boyfriend, paul, got me a polaroid camera !!!!! wow.. i was so excited. (: [thanks love] and val, steph, and andrew got me a stuffed animal (a penguin that dances!! i named her shaquita, lucy for short).. both my sister and my parents sent me packages with loads of goodies in them. it was so lovely. steph even made me a cake!! just all around a good birthday. (:


been working more, seeing as it's the holiday season. i work at a shop called avoca. it's pretty cool. love working there but can get pretty tired after a full day of running around!

college is good. different this year, degree is a whole new ball game. just a lot of "this scholar says this" going on. boo. i would rather talk about what i think or how i feel, not what some dead guy thought 100 years ago.. but sure. ha... no i do like it for the most part. essays are a pain, but aren't they always?

going to church at a place called glenabbey which is really good. all the people there are so nice!!

hmm.. what else.. i went to the international Christmas market in belfast city centre tonight. it was so fun. got a few Christmas presents and ate a half of a kangaroo burger and half of a venessen burger with val. not bad.

yep. that's what i've been up to. (:

invisible children..

so tomorrow i am speaking at school for world focus. every tuesday students (well.. not all the students.. eh) meet for an hour and learn about a different country and what all is going on and then break up into groups and pray for different parts of the world. it's pretty cool. every week someone different leads and tomorrow i am leading it. i am going to speak about uganda and an organization called Invisible Children.

please check them out and let your heart be moved by their story. there is so much to be done to restore uganda. pray for them!!

the cross..

so this morning i have been listening to sermons about the cross, this series by francis chan. it has been pretty amazing to think about the truths of the events leading up to the cross. i ask you today to think about the kind of sacrifice that Jesus made. think about the fact that God had to watch His Son sweat blood in agony over what He had to do for us, while He pleaded in the garden that it could be done some other way. or remember the way He was sent from pilate to herod and back to pilate just being mocked and beaten over and over and although no fault was found, a murderer was set free instead of Him. Jesus knew this was coming. yet He did not back out. He knew that it was necessary for our redemption so He went through with it. be thankful. tell Him you are thankful and if only for a moment, COMPLETELY focus on the Creator who came to earth and died that you may have life.

this is beautiful.

i don't know what to do with a love like that.

PRAISE Him. with all that is in you. remember Him.

You never let go..

so today the only song i can think of is david crowder's "You never let go."

i started off my day reading a chapter from the solo Bible. it is really cool. goes through a section of scripture and helps you to "read, think, pray, live" and gives you a paragraph of each with things for you to do.

anywho.. the one i chose today was about when God let moses see His glory. pretty amazing. the "read" section for the passage suggested going through slowly and really thinking about one or two phrases or words that reveal a bit of God to you. what stuck out to me was when God asked moses to come RIGHT BESIDE HIM. i thought this was really beautiful and it reminded me of how much God likes us. He loves us enough to not give up on us when we keep chosing sin over Him.

He doesn't let go. ever faithful. ever true. the God that created the earth wants us right beside Him and He is not willing to give up on or let go of His children. let us be thankful.

o what joy.

o what love.

my soul fills with hope.

He never lets go.

You never let go.

motivation..

it's amazing how you can be so ready and pumped to do something and then somehow it just leaves you. i just did 1100 words of a 1500 word essay and i can't get back in the zone after a long lunch break. lame. i need to get to it. only 400 words to do. i can do this!!

blessed..

the past few days have been a true gift from God. just really enjoying the people around me and have been deeply reminded of how much i am blessed.

i think it is one of the most important things we can do for our souls- to sit down and think about the condition of our hearts and where we are with God. lately when i sit down and think about things, i feel really content.. which is so amazing because last year i was so unsure about everything. as much as i tried, i couldn't get my act together with God. i was a reed blowing in the wind and i needed to own where i was in order to move on but i just tried to be ok without dealing with anything. thankfully, a man i greatly respect told me to "move forward" this summer. for some reason, when he said this, something clicked in my heart. i sat down with God and talked seriously about things and owned the fact that i wasn't where i needed to be. since then i have really been trying to do well, trusting God that He knows what's best for me and that He loves me more than i can fathom. it is so important to ponder the truths of this God that we serve. it will humble you and remind you of why you started this whole "Jesus thing.." in the first place. God is so good and has blessed us all so much. we deserve nothing but have everything offered to us in Christ. beautiful.