August: There is a Fountain

I cannot fully express my gratitude for what Christ has done for me. He has redeemed my unworthy, wretched soul and has called me his own. He chose me (Romans 9), someone who beforehand despised and hated him and was completely deserving of his eternal, just and righteous wrath(Romans 3).

I wrote a letter to a friend, who is beginning college, and it was about guarding your heart. As of recent I've been struggling with this. How ironic, right? I'll blog about this later. Anyways, I told her that if ever she were to struggle with this, to pray earnestly and look to the cross.

I feel that this song is a great reminder of what Christ has done for us. (Click HERE to listen to the song)

There is a Fountain

There is a fountain filled with blood

drawn from Emmanuel's veins;

and sinners plunge beneath that flood

lose all their guilty stains.

Dear dying Lamb, thy precious blood

shall never lose its power

till all the ransom church of god

be saved, to sin no more.

When this poor lisping, stammering tongue

lies silent in the grave,

then in a nobler, sweeter song,

I'll sing thy power to save.

This is the gospel:

Ephesians 2:1-5

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience - among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved...

1 Peter 3:18

For Christ also suffered once for sin, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but being made alive in the spirit...

Romans 12:12

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Be encouraged, live out for Christ. What more could we possibly want? What precious gift could possibly outweigh the richness of God's mercy and grace? Apart from Christ is death and damnation, but in Christ, we are alive. He is everything or he is nothing.

And So It Begins... Again

Part Deux

After a five and a half hours of singing at the top of her lungs, Hannah arrived at a familiar destination. As she slung her backpack over her should, she began to approach the house. Previously receiving a text about how to get into the house, she checks under the doormat to see if there really was a key waiting for her. Sure enough, it was. "And so it begins," she said.

Well, I'm back at school sure enough and I definitely can't say that it was easy leaving home. In fact, I believe it was harder. I have mentioned to my friends already that whenever I thought about leaving for school, I had already become homesick. Just so much has gone on this past summer and I feel like there wasn't enough of it. I feel as if summer was a rug beneath my feet that was yanked out from underneath me. Kind of crazy. Alas, I need education to get a job and pay for the rest of my life the countless bills I'll be receiving. Unless... you know... there's some kind soul out there... that would.. you know... pay for the rest of my life. :) please and thank you.

Anyway, with this new school year starting, I've got a couple goals in mind that I hope you, the readers, would keep me accountable. 

1. I hope to keep up a regular schedule to read my Bible.

This is such a struggle for me. I find that I spend a ridiculous amount of time on social media websites as opposed to read the Bible, and it shouldn't be that way. Pray for me that I can be immersed in God's word daily.

2. To stay disciplined in my studies.

This semester, I'm taking two online classes and we all know that there are so many distractions on the computer and what not, especially on the internet. Classes in general this semester are going to be interesting. Pray for me that I can have self control and remain on the task that is given to me. 

3. To stay focused on Christ.

Amidst all this education, extra-curriculars come into play and once I get overwhelmed the whole, "I have to fix this" mentality takes over me. Also, there are so many distractions all around me that take my gaze off Christ. Thankfully, God has put wonderful people in my life to keep me accountable and remind me of why I really live, and who I live for. Pray for me that I live for Christ fervently every second I have.

4. Gospel Opportunities.

Pray that these opportunities would be presented to me, that I would take advantage of them and not take them lightly. Pray that I would be strong in my faith and not in anyway timid. Pray that the Lord would give me wisdom and discernment in my words when I share the Gospel.

Thank you for all your love and support and just seeing me through my years of college, and my life in general. :) Love you all so so much.

Refreshed and Revived

so i've been working on this huge project of mine all summer long. in fact, it started during spring break when i decided to paint my room and redecorate it. there's so many fun ideas running through my head, but i can't seem to come up with the funds to make it happen. however, there are ways around it. luckily for me, i took a ceramics class and i made some pretty fun stuff for my now room decor. beforehand, i honestly didn't know what to do with it all, but with a few friends who took a liking to my work, they found a home. yes, there are things that i would like to have, but can't afford. when life gives you melons, you may have dyslexia, however when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. so...

want a new bookshelf?

click the photo for a more detailed picture

this contraption cost me $11.00 with each wine crate being $3.50 each.

the most expensive thing on this shelf, unfortunately, cost more than the bookshelf, which is the dried flowers in the mason jar. that project ended up being about $13.00.

click the photo for a more detailed picture

i also purchased these wooden shelves that fit in the corners of your walls. 

click the photo for a more detailed picture

installing these shelves was not fun. though, i must say i am very happy with the end result. ironically, these corner shelves ended up costing more than my bookshelf. i believe $29 total, give or take (i never said that this was a money saving project).

click the photo for a more detailed picture

so now this oh-so-very bland corner is now looking like the best part of my room and i'm very proud of it. but what about my bland walls? i've already started on it and that's another blog post i suppose seeing that it's not complete. however, i suppose a sneak peek never hurt anyone right?

click the photo for a more detailed picture

i guess this'll have to be a project for the next summer... it's a shame that i've done all this work only to leave for college. oh college...