What About Veggies?

It's day 30 of my 30 day challenge, and I'm feeling amazing, but grateful to be able to eat some of the foods I cut out like peanut butter, bread and frozen yogurt :).

Recently, I started my own network marketing business. The business I began provides exceptional nutritional supplements, and other business owners have started this program called "30 day detox." What drew me to the 30 day detox was my diet. I basically only ate dairy and carbohydrates. I wasn't fully balanced or open to trying new things. I knew I needed a change, and needed to stop hating salads. 

The detox cut out all my favorite foods, bread (gluten free), milk (dairy free), peanut butter (only almond butter: which is AWESOME), coffee, alcohol, soda, noodles, rice, etc. The list is long. It's easier to tell you what I could eat! Brown rice, and brown rice products, almond EVERYTHING, especially almond milk, lots of leafy greens, low GI fruits and protein, so eggs, chicken, fish, beef were on the table. Oh. And it was sugar free. Kill me now, haha. 

When I first started and read the list, I saw a few things I could like, and thought, what's 30 days? A lot longer than you think, haha. The first day, my mom and I went shopping. I was endlessly searching for the ok carbs, bought brown rice bread, brown rice cakes, brown rice, brown rice noodles, and tried to buy a few other things. When I got home and looked at the chart I was provided for learning how to portion meals, I was shocked, and appalled. I have to have a half plate of veggies?!?!!? How? What? Why?

So I started freaking out about veggies. (Idol right there). I didn't know how to include them in my lunches if I couldn't add cheese or butter, and I hated salad, so there was no way. 

I'm pretty sure I started supplementing my lunches with shakes right then and there, to make it easier on myself. I'm kind-of a cheater when it comes to food I don't like. But what sucked was I hadn't received my chocolate powder yet, so I was stuck with vanilla, and desperate for something to taste good! Thankfully I was surrounded by a community participating in the same process, and they had billions of shake recipes! I added mint extract and spinach to my vanilla shakes and it tasted like a Shamrock Shake! Delicious!

When my mom was serving me dinner, she would make sure to include veggies on my plate, cooked, of course. And she cooked them really well, and they tasted AMAZING! I stole the recipe and have been using it ever since to get my intake of leafy greens.

However, I wasn't perfect. The past two weekends were hard with traveling and youth group retreat. I was left with few choices when we went out to eat...so I chose a salad. And ate it! What? Who am I? And then last weekend I ordered a salad from Chick-fil-a and LOVED it! WHAT? Seriously? Me? Salad. Love? 

This detox was probably the hardest 30 days I've had in a while. Expanding my palette is hard. Learning to eat new foods in different ways is hard. And keeping track of how much you're eating and when you're eating and making sure to drink enough water is hard for a college student with a crazy schedule! But it has been such a good learning experience. I've learned how much I over-value food. How much my mood is changed if I don't get any, or the kind I like. I've learned that I idolize food. I idolize what kinds of food I eat, when I eat, what I eat, and it's been eye-opening. It's been good to rely on God for sustenance. Fully and truly.

This past 30 days has help me realize a lot of things and be aware of what I'm putting in my body. I'm planning on doing this again after spring break so if you're interested in my experience please talk to me about it! I'd love to hear you're thoughts, even if you think I'm a crazy dieting freak! 

On Counseling :)

I've been thinking a lot about why I want to be a counselor, and it's humbling what I've realized. I've realized I'm not good enough. I'll never be good enough. I'll never be able to love people enough or give them good advice because I'm not Christ. I'm not the Son of man sent down to seek and serve the lost. I'm not their Savior, their Redeemer, their Maker, their All. I'm just not. 

But I am His follower. And He does want me to chase after them, not because of anything I'll gain, but because of HOW much He loves THEM. Being a follower of Christ means more than reading your Bible everyday and going to Church. Being a follower of Christ means seeking Him in your daily life. It means trusting in Him for your salvation and not yourself. It means looking to Him when things are hard and not turning to something else that might seem easier. It means praying. A LOT. It means giving the glory to God. 

It's not about me. It was never about me. I'm merely a tool in His hands to save His people. I'm His servant, His worker. Someone so dearly loved that He wants me to help Him love His people. It's about being a helper, not being the answer. It's showing them the answer! Christ! How beautiful is that? He wants me to help Him save them? How incredible!?! 

Do you realize that Christ did more one on ones than sermons or lessons? Christ was a counselor! Of course! He's about the individual who is dearly beloved. He wants to redeem REAL people. His people matter to Him, not only as a collective but personally, individually. He's chasing after the hearts of people, just like I want to do. 

I want to be a counselor because I feel that God has equipped me to love His people. I believe it is the way I've been equipped to extend the supremacy. 

And THAT is such a BEAUTIFUL thing.

One Weekend in STL, Thousands of Prayers Answered

This is long overdue but..

This weekend I will finally be returning to St Louis, for the first time since August. The second week of December I received a call from the Seminary telling me that they wanted to interview ME! You wouldn't believe how joyful I was. There was no wiping that smile of my face for days. There are no words to describe just HOW excited I was. I was elated. Ecstatic. Jubilant. Delighted. My prayers were answered!

I'm excited. I'm nervous. But I think I'm ready. So much has changed since I was up there last and it will be good to spend time with close friends over the weekend. If you're reading this and you're in STL, yes, I'm coming to see YOU! And I CAN'T wait!!!

Most of you know how stressed out I was about this never happening, a lot of you heard me complain and worry about why they weren't getting back to me. And of course at the end of it all, all of that was worth it. So worth it. I'm so thankful, encouraged and excited to be following the path that Christ has set out for my life. It's only through Him that I want to go to Seminary, and it's only through Him that I will be accepted!

For those of you who've been praying for me, THANK YOU. It is unbelievably appreciated. I love y'all and I'm so grateful to have friends like you praying for my future.




For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. --Jeremiah 29:11

What If There's More To Life Than Marriage?

That’s bold, right? And scary! But I think it’s true, and I think ALL of us, young or old, engaged, single, newlyweds or recently divorced need to hear this.

That we’ve made marriage an idol in our culture, and that is not the place where it was meant to be! We can’t put it on a pedestal and expect all our problems to be solved once we get married. Cause guess what? Life goes on. And sometimes (a lot of the time) life can suck. And it’ll still suck when you’re married.

This is not a rant about how I’m still single and WOE is me for having no one to love me yet. Neither is it a post about how life is lived more when you’re single and unattached. It’s simply a serious question as to WHY WE CARE SO MUCH.

Even for myself! Why does it feel, like my mom said recently, that engagement is like a disease that keeps catching everyone at my college? And why does it feel like I’m worth so much less because I’m single? And it isn’t simply because I tell myself that, I mean, I probably do, but that’s not the only cause. I honestly think our culture is telling us that.

In the secular world and the Christian world, in pintrest, and romantic movies, and all realms of social media, and especially the Church, it isn’t cool to not be married. And that is SO FALSE.

I’m not married. I’m 21, I never expected to be married by 21, but for those people I know who are younger than me or within a year of me and engaged, I seriously am happy for you. I’m so glad you found your soul-mate and your best friend to spend life with. I can’t wait to hear about the adventures and the journey through life that you have together. It is a BLESSING that you have found each other.

But as for me? I’m going to live life to the fullest, figure out who I am, get to know and love people deeper and get involved in the lives of those around me. Because that’s what I love. I love people, and I love listening to them and being there for them and simply going on walks to rejoice in the good Creation all around us. I couldn’t do those things if I was married. I wouldn’t be up so late, or have so much free time to get to know people if I had that gift. So I’m glad that this is my gift! I’m JOYFUL that I get to be single for another year and figure out what God’s calling me to. I’m excited for new friendships and new goals that I couldn’t make if I was married.

I’m not against marriage. I am so excited for the day when I finally can spend the rest of my life with my best friend, but I’m against our culture. I’m against how we act superior about it. ALL OF US. Single or married, we somehow have come to think that we’re entitled. But that’s not the truth. The truth is that it’s a gift. It’s not something to search for or for you to find on your own. It’s something that Christ will give us in His time because He loves us and it is not good for us to be alone. And it’s really ok if you’re time is 5 years from now, or 6 months from now. It’s ok if someone close to you is getting married and you’re still single. And it’s ok to be grateful for that.

I am so thankful that I have grown so much in the past year, and I cannot wait to see where Christ takes me in the next, with or without a man in my life. I can’t wait for the unveiling, the PROMISE, the beauty.

He has made everything beautiful in it's time... I perceive there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live --Ecclesiastes 3:11-12

What does 2014 mean to You?

What does the New Year mean to you? Does it mean dieting, working out, loosing weight and becoming a skinnier you? Does it mean praying more, trusting God more and being a "better" Christian? Or does it mean taking every chance you have at this life to live it to the fullest?

The New Year this year for me has a lot of meaning. I'm graduating in less than 5 months, interviewing at the Seminary in less that 3 weeks, and I've made it into qualification for District Manager with Arbonne! Life is happening for me, and fast!! I can't believe how quickly things have turned around since May last year, or even the beginning of the school year. My life has changed, and my goals have changed. That's why 2014 is so significant to me.

I feel renewed today. I feel different, inspired, encouraged and enthusiastic, for the first time in a long time. 2014 to me means college graduation, growing up, moving on, taking chances, looking forward, and living life to the FULLEST.

I can't wait for what this year will bring because I completely believe that God has a perfect plan for me. I believe that He will help Baylor RUF through this semester. I believe He (and only He) will help me get into seminary. And I believe that He has prepared the way towards May 17, 2014, and onward. I believe there is life waiting.

It's hard. It's rough, and I'll go through a lot in this year. Cause no one ever said seminary (or helping run a ministry) was easy, but I can't wait for it. Because if it's for His Kingdom, it HAS to be good. If we're fighting for and with the King of all creation, isn't that incredible? Even if it's hard, even if it sucks, even if it's hopeless, it's good. Because He's the King.

"Safe? Who said anything about safe? Course He isn't safe. But He's good. He's the King, I tell you."
--The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

So I will find joy in sorrow. Light in darkness. Hope when it seems hopeless. Because Christ HAS come, and HAS redeemed us and IS fighting for us. And nothing could be better than fighting for his Kingdom.





And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ
Philippians 4:7