truth

Truth: The Lord your God is with you. He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you. he will quiet you with His love. He will rejoice over you with singing. -Zephaniah 3:17

Truth: Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. -Psalm 126:5

Truth: I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow. - Jeremiah 31:13b

Truth: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness! -Lamentations 3:22-23

Truth: Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. -Proverbs 4:23

Truth: Now glory be to God, who by this mighty power at work within you is able to do far more than you would ever dare ask or even dream of. Infinitely beyond your highest prayers, desires, thoughts or hope. -Ephesians 3:20-21

Truth: He has made everything beautiful in its time -Ecclesiastes 3:11

Truth: We also rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, becaue God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us. -Romans 5:3-5

Truth: But those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. -Isaiah 40:31

Truth: Apart from me, you can do nothing. -John 15:5

Truth: Savior, He can move the mountains. -Mighty to Save by Hillsong

Truth: Please be still and know that I Am God. -Peace be Still by Rush of Fools

Truth: You have calmed greater waters. Higher mountains have come down. -The Valley Song by Jars of Clay

Truth: My sin, not in part but the whole, was nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh my soul! -It Is Well With My Soul by Horatio Spafford

Truth: And He will fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy! -Job 8:21

project

I'm working on a project. I like it a lot. We'll call it my truth journal. Really, it's a journal of truth and lies, but the truth is all that matters. Anyway, I got the idea from my conversations with a woman that I love. For me, it's about being proactive. It's good for me to be able to open a journal and see the lies that I've been told and believed. So here's the process:

1) Pray. I open my heart to God and ask Him to reveal to me where I've allowed Satan's voice to creep in more loudly than His. This is a very important first step.

2) Write the word "lie". I write it five times on my page. I skip a few lines in between, but I always do five at a time. Sometimes, it's a struggle to come up with five. Sometimes, my heart is overflowing with the identification of lies that I've been told. Of course, if I'm writing and God has put more than five lies on my heart, I will write them all.

3) Start at the top. I write down the lies that God shows me. Sometimes they surprise me. Sometimes they seem too obvious. But I write everything that is put on my heart.

4) Reflect. I look back on the things that have been revealed to me. I pray over each one and ask God to remove the lies from my thoughts. I ask Him to help me identify when I'm giving into the lies.

5) Find the truth. I open His word. Sometimes, this part of the process doesn't come until later. I have entire pages filled with scripture. I write the promises that He has given me. Sometimes, the truth is a direct contradiction to one of my lies. In that case, I write it on the same page. It's comforting to know that when I'm starting to believe one of the lies, I can open my journal and find God's truth for my life.

This has been one of the most powerful exercises I have ever done. I try to find the time to write some every day. Sometimes they're lies that seem so obvious and small, but if Satan can use it to pull the darkness around me again, I want them on paper. I'm loving my truth journal and the fact that it gets me in my Bible every day. It's an awesome long-term project. I can't wait to see where God takes this!

thankful

I am so thankful for the people that God has put in my life. I am blessed to have professors and friends who really actually care about me. It's new. I like it. There are people here who know me. They allow me to be honest about the way that I'm feeling even if it doesn't make sense. I know that it doesn't make sense that I still want attention from him. It doesn't matter here. There are people here who love me and tell me that they do. I think that's the biggest thing. My friends at home never tell me that they love me. And that's fine. Sometimes they show me that they love me. But my friends here tell me every time we talk. They hug me. A lot. They're patient and understanding. It's all new. They tell me I'm pretty. They pray for me. I have healthy relationships for the first time in my life and I love it. I'm thankful for them.

I am so thankful for the experiences that God has given me. He brought me to Harding. I know a lot of people may not be able to understand. All they see is the curfew and dress code and chapel requirements, but they don't understand how important Harding is to me. I complain about it sometimes, but I love it more than I could ever express. It's normal for me to go out on the front lawn and read my Bible. It's normal for me to tell my friends that I'm praying for them. God has blessed me with the opportunity to grow. He has blessed me with the opportunity to learn to be content. He has blessed me with the opportunity to be hurt and to bounce back with the help of my friends. He has allowed me to see how important other people are in the healing process. He allowed me to travel to London this summer where I was blessed to be surrounded by some of the most important people in my life. Whether they know it or not, their continued love and patience has blessed me beyond belief.

I am thankful that I don't know what dorm he lives in or when he has classes. I'm thankful that I only ever have to see him at soccer games and football games. I'm thankful that my friends are understanding and don't mind when I talk about him.

I'm thankful for the dorm that I live in. I love my room. It's comfortable and already feels like home. I have covered the walls in His word, pictures of family and friends and postcards from my dad. I love my RA. I love my dorm mom. I am so blessed by both of them. God knew what he was doing when he put me here. I want to live in Kendall forever. I am so thankful for that.

I am thankful for the life that I'm living even if I'm not always happy with it. I'm learning to be content with the situations that God gives me. I get frustrated sometimes when things don't go the way I want them to, but He is showing me that He remains in control. I'm thankful that He is.