Friday, October 31, 2014

Happy Halloween!

It's October 31st! I may be too old to dress up and go trick-or-treating, but I'm never too old for scary movies and the same sugar cookies with a little pumpkin on them that I ate when I was a little kid. (pictured below...you're welcome)
Wednesday night, my roommate and I saw that Xfinity was letting users watch the Conjuring. Later that night, a dorm next to our's was having a "haunted dorm" so we decided it would be a brilliant idea to watch a scary movie before we went to the haunted dorm. So we turned on the movie (after minor technical issues) with me sitting in a bean-bag chair down on the floor while she was in her bed. Of course we both eventually ended up in her bed, along with our favorite disney stuffed animals (yes, this is acceptable in college). The fact that we watched this movie in a dark dorm built in the 1960s complete with bugs and lights that have been out since the beginning of the semester probably didn't help to ease our minds either. Nevertheless, we watched our movie.

If you've never seen The Conjuring, it's about like any other scary movie. Possession, demons, exorcisms, the works. Upon watching this movie, something dawned on me. The people being haunted always inevitably find a priest to perform an exorcism or bless the house. They put up crosses in their house, wear them around their necks. But in every single movie like this that I have ever seen, a statement is made about how they "aren't religious people". The reason they are putting up the crosses is to get rid of the spirits (if you've lived under a rock your entire life and have never seen a scary movie, religious icons scare the spirits away), so they obviously believe that these ghosts and demons are real, yet they still don't believe in Jesus. The very icons they are ornamenting their houses with to scare away an entity that is obsessively oppressing them are the same icons they decide to continuously deny. How? How can someone know that demons are real, know that images of Jesus Christ defeating death on a cross is the only way to get rid of them, yet still remain ignorant to the fact that Jesus has to be real if these demons are also real? It blows my mind.

Of course, I know that these are movies, but how often do  we see real people do this in real life? Too often. They deny the obvious, and it blows my mind....

**Important: the next paragraph actually has nothing to do with the subject of the blog but it's kind of important for the paragraph after it ***
I don't know about you, but I wholeheartedly believe in spirits, ghosts, and demons. We all know that demons are mentioned several times in the Bible, but have you ever read about ghosts? If not, you need to spend some time in the Old Testament. Saul goes to see a medium to conjure up the ghost of Samuel, and it worked. Thats enough proof for me. Granted, in this case the ghost was not meant to spook people and it definitely was not a work of Satan. However, I believe that exists too. Maybe not in the form we see in scary movies or even in the form mentioned in the Gospels, but I still believe it exists.
 *BACK TO THE POINT**
The thing I like most about The Conjuring would have to be the end. Most people probably would have turned the movie off by now or maybe didn't even read the last slide, but I did. It read something like "The Devil is real. God is real. Your destiny hinges upon who you decide to follow".  And it's so true. The saying "If you're not for me, you're against me" definitely holds true with Jesus. So on this Halloween I will choose to think of Jesus and not ghosts. The comfort of knowing that even though every day Satan is fighting for my soul, my God is stronger. Dress up as ghosts and witches today and rest easy, because God is still God.

Friday, October 24, 2014

"But my God you never will"

Quick update on my life: I'm in college, I have a hard major, I am stressed and don't have time to think.

That about sums it up without going into too much boring detail. I've had some ups and some downs in the last month, many of which were cleaned up after dropping a class taught by a professor who thought very highly of himself. All in all the college experience is getting progressively better, even as I head into a very hectic and stressful week.

The worst thing about college, for me at least, is the intimidation. I am a woman engineering major, which means I am among the a vast minority of people. I go to a college where every freshmen enters majoring in some type of engineering field and quickly changes to a business major. Engineering is HUGE here. Definitely the best college to go to for engineering in the state, and almost in the entire southeast. Engineering companies around here only hire graduates from my school in a lot of cases. But think about how incredibly intimidating that is! I am in a male-dominated field, and I am by far not the smartest student in the college. I live every day in intimidation and awe that I can actually do the things that I am doing. I mean, a year ago I was going to go to a private school and become an elementary school teacher. My life has not always looked like what it does right now. The difference is God stepped in and told me what he wanted me to pursue. He laid on my heart mission work that I can do as a Civil Engineer. He put a love of math in me (something I was NOT born with) and a fascination with structures. And so I made the switch and here I am. And I'm doing pretty great so far.

Granted, it will get much, much harder as I get into higher level classes. But I trust God. I know without a doubt that I am in the major God wants me in. He blessed me with scholarships specifically for engineering, something I know he wouldn't have done with this is not where I was supposed to be.  I know that right now I'm not studying for me, I'm studying for the gospel. I will not ignore the mission calling that God has on my heart. I can't wait to see how that unfolds, but I'm not giving up on it. But bottom line is, I'm not in school for me. Which is why I am working my butt off. I'm doing the Lord's work right now. And I truly believe that. It may sound crazy, but I truly believe it.

The only thing that is getting me through it is knowing that God is stronger. I go back to a worship song I have sang many many times. Part of it goes a little like this:
"I may be weak,
but Your spirit's strong in me,
My flesh may fail,
but my God You never will"

Whenever I'm intimidated or scared about what the future is going to look like this, I remember these verses. I know that I can do NONE of this on my own. Not joking, none of it. I would be doing terribly in college. I am not strong enough to handle this pressure by myself and I know that. I know that sounds crazy because many people go through college without Christ, but it's been a tough transition and on my own I am not emotionally or mentally capable of handling it. But God is. And God never fails. And I'm here by his calling, by his plan. So I know he's got my back, and I'm going to follow him throughout this journey, no matter if it takes 6 years and I lose all my scholarships and I'm a nervous wreck. I'm where I need to be.

I challenge you all to find exactly what it is that God is leading you to. It may not even be a degree or a call to the mission field in the sense that most people see it as. It could be something totally different and crazy. I just want you to listen to that calling and stick with it. It will be intimidating, but let God amaze you. He will work wonders in you, no matter how crazy it is, and you will push through. I'm going to use the very over-used bible verse Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength". It's over-used because its so incredibly true. Go out there and be awesome. And listen to this worship song because it is the bomb. (ps. I'm a civil engineering major, not a computer engineering major, so you're going to have to copy and past the link below into your browser, but it's worth it)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMVvqI1-tM4