The Lows.

I went to Christian Chapel this morning after a few weeks doing The Crossing. It was soooo amazing. I want to share a little about the message and what I was thinking about. The new series starting today is called "Miracles". This sermon was about how God prepares you for miracles to happen. So why God brings lows into our lives. These numbered points are directly from the sermon.

When God brings you low...

1. The lesson is not about you.

Pastor John brought up the book of Job in the bible. How he had everything taken away from him and he still glorified God. This book is not about Job, but is about God getting glory. That is what everything is about. It is never about us.

This point opened my eyes to the fact that through the low times God brings you closest to him, so even the low times are good. I've always known the low times bring a person closest to God, I am just now realizing that that is what makes them good. Pastor John said when we're down, we should stay down if that's what it takes for us to be close to God and learning about him. When everything is perfect in life, when we are full of hope and joy and thriving relationships, THAT'S when we reject and forget about God. We think we have solved everything on our own, that we are deserving of all the amazing things in our life...that we don't need him anymore.


2. To test your heart.

This point rang clear as a bell. God puts so many low points in our lives to test the state of our heart. Where does it lie... Where does it find it's hope, worth, security.... It made me think of a couple weekends ago when my car was dented by a stranger and how that was a true test of my heart. It opened my eyes to my insane materialism. Sometimes God has to give us lows to open our eyes to the condition of our hearts because we alone cannot see them! Another low that God gives me is lonely nights. Sometimes all of my friends are busy and I am so annoyed that I have no plans. I fel lonely and start over thinking things. In those times, God is testing my heart. He is showing me that I find my worth in my friendships and not Him. It all ties together with another post I wrote about God giving you those lonely nights so that you do have a chance to open your bible, listen to worship music and be brought closer to Him. In our eyes, these things are lows, but it is really God seeking after us.

3. To show you the person you can become.
We should see ourselves as God sees us. His daughters and sons. Lovable. Perfect in his eyes. When we are experiencing a low, we yearn for a change. This gives us the opportunity to evaluate what kind of people we want to be and the bible provides us the perfect example to follow: Jesus.

4. To do a miracle.

Other awesome notes from the message...

--Our sin affects other people. (gossip, greed, pride, insecurities, complaining,) are a few that popped into my mind for me personally. While my sin affects other people, I also can't let others' sin affect me and drag me down. I have to be aware of this two way street and it's definitely something I have not been so aware of.


---If we do not have Gods peace, we begin to fear God in an unhealthy way. We have a flawed view of who he is. We need to figure out what our idol is, what are we finding our hope and worth in, instead of God that is leaving us disappointed and, therefore, fearful.

I just thought this was a great message and had to share it! Thoughts??
xoxo Katie

my weekend.

This past weekend my car was backed into and dented on its driver side. It was parked on the street and I'm about 99% sure I know who did it, but the person is convinced he didn't do it sooo it won't be fixed.



At first when I saw the dent, I was so mad. I had to play detective for the next 24 hours trying to figure out who did it and if it would be fixed. The thing that pissed me off the most though, wasn't the physical dent in the car, but the fact that someone didn't have to take responsibility for it and that they were getting away with it. There was no justice.

Through this experience though, it has forced me to look at what I find value in and what I take for granted. I took my car for granted and only realized how great it is after it was dented. More importantly though, I found that I do find my value in materialistic things. I have known this for a long time (or why would I find the need to buy new cute clothes every few months). I think a ton of people find their value mistakenly in materialistic things. My car getting dented though, was an actual TEST of that value. I just kept repeating to myself "it is only a car. it is only a car. it still works. be thankful it wasn't damaged worse." I mean, it is just a piece of metal that moves me from one place to another. It is a tool. It says nothing about who I am, and it certainly won't last forever. It was overall a good wakeup call to show me that materialistic things are of little importance and I should try my hardest everyday not to be defined by these things.

So my car was dented on Friday night. The next morning, I coached my 1-3 grade girls soccer team. They had a game at 9am. I have been meaning to blog about them, but this weekend I particularly learned from them. So after I was so frustrated about my car...I went to coach the game and there standing, excited, ready to play were a bunch of little girls with smiling faces excited to see me. Coaching upward is such an escape from my problems--it's such a blessing! I get to leave the college campus, problems, homework, drama for 2 hours each week to hang out with little girls who find so much joy in an acorn, or the playground slide... (below: Grace, Molly, and Eliana).



That same day I babysat two little girls (2nd grade Emily and 7th grade Rebecca) for 5 hours. I coached the 7th grader last year. Again, it was just so refreshing to hang out with kids who just like to have fun and are happy all the time! I've found that hanging out with kids has really changed and grown my perspective on what joy is. I feel like they rejuvenate my cranky old soul and unknowingly remind me of the important things in life.

Here are a few hairstyles Emily (2nd grade) did on my hair:)




xoxo Katie