Giving Thanks

As much as I like to be original, I'm following in the path of my brother-in-law (Whitt Madden ) and others like him who have made lists of what they are thankful for.


So on this day, the last Thursday of November, I will share a few of the things that make me thankful.

• Salvation from the horrible sickness of sin that is given only from and through the Lord Jesus Christ. "Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free//For God the just was satisfied to look on Him and pardon me."
• The cross. This life doesn't make sense without it.
• The Word of God that is living and active and real.
• My family. I've been so blessed with godly parents who love Him and desire to live in a manner that brings glory to Him.
• Murray. The cute little city and school, but especially for the family of believers God has allowed me to be a part of. I am continually overwhelmed by their faith, testimony and desire to serve the Lord in all things, I'm so blessed to have friends my own age who are seeking the Lord's will for their lives and striving to live according to it.
• God's amazing provision.
• C&C (coffee and conversation) with my sister and brother-in-law.
• Music. Especially worship music like Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Tenth Avenue North, and others who sing the truth and display God's majesty through song.
• Books; like Radical, 50 Reasons Jesus Came to Die, When God Writes Your Love Story, and more.
• This summer and all the lessons God taught me through the experience.
• The Church.
• Scripture that says I am the bride of Christ.
• Fall.
• Spring.
• Baseball (St. Louis Cardinals).
• My iPhone.
• Cameras.
• Christmas decorations.
• Love. Infinite, free, matchless, deep; the Love that came to die so we could live. Love that covers all.

It is so important for us to be filled with thanks before and after we are filled with food. Be thankful today and everyday.

"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire." -Hebrews 12:28-29

How Many Ways Can You Spell Responsibility?

Only one way, really. (R-e-s-p-o-n-s-i-b-i-l-i-t-y.) But it's spelled out pretty clearly in these verses:

""So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me. When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you shall surely die!' and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.""          -Ezekiel 33:7-9

Thanks to my sweet friend, Lauren for sharing these verses with me.

God's Unchanging, Amazing Character

God is so good. Through my time at Murray (and where has the semester gone?!) God has revealed Himself in ways that I never imagined; He is constantly overwhelming me with His grace and surrounding me with His faithfulness. He is just so good!

I went to my sister's church for "Gathering of Worshippers" Saturday night, and it was so refueling! So many people there just to sing praises "with arms high and heart abandoned, in awe of the One who gave it all," and it was such a great time of fellowship. During the laid back time of worship we took communion together and one guy in our group said as he thought about the bread representing the body of Christ this thought came to him: He was broken so we could be whole.

Basically there were instant tears pooling in my eyes at that amazing thought. Since then, that fact hasn't been far from my heart but has been joined with a couple other little ironic thoughts.

• Jesus took on our sickness (sin) and became sick so we could be healed.
• Jesus became death so we could live.
• The Father turned away from the Son so we could be joined with Him forever (separated so we could be joined together).

Little as they are, those thoughts melt me into a puddle of thankfulness. God is just beyond good. Despite our complete worthlessness, He sees value in us because we are hid in Christ.

"Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that Faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.

"For as many as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise."                                            -Galatians 3:23-29

I hope you are experiencing the beautiful love of the One who gave Himself for you. If you arent, ponder the words of the Lord:

"Come to Me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life. I will make an everlasting covenant with you. I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David."     -Isaiah 55:3

Uh... what's that in your eye?!

Confession time...

*Deep breath* Here it goes:

I am extremely judgemental.
I place expectations on myself and others that no one will be able to attain.
Sometimes I find it easier to love people outside the church. Lost people. At least they have a reason for acting like a sinner.


We are to be set apart from the world and be different but we are still fallen creatures who will only be perfected upon arrival in heaven, yet I judge others as if they've already attained perfection.


Forgive me Lord for casting judgement on others. For pointing out the speck in their eyes while I have a log in my own. Help me to love them the way You love them, unconditionally and seeking nothing in return. We are the Body, an organism knit together by You, our High Priest, and as a member of that Body I am called to love and serve others the way You have loved and served me despite my complete and total undeservingness (and extremely long sentences).


*Sidenote- if you thought undeservingness was a new word, you were right. Fortunately, God doesn't mind new words.


I'm not trying to play off the seriousness of my sin, but this cartoon is perfect and super humbling. I'd like to introduce myself, I'm Sophie and I have a tree in my eye.

Not me, but You

So yesterday I was laying in bed praying for the people in my life and telling God I wanted to give myself away until there is nothing left to give. Then it hit me.

I don't want to give myself away, for the Bible says there is nothing good in me. However, I am a new creation whose heart has been replaced by the Holy Spirit and I want to give Him away for it is He alone who can make an eternal difference in someone's life. And, since He is the Maker of everything, the giver of life and because He is everywhere- He will never run out of Himself. He will always have more to give. Amazing.

Dear God, hear my cry and make Yourself so intensely apparent to all those around the world whether it be in Kentucky, Africa or the Dominican Republic. ...Shine Your light and let the whole world see we're singing for the glory of the risen King.

Bittersweet Goodbyes and Happy Beginnings

It’s hard to believe four months ago we were praying about going to Murray and an awesome internship opportunity and now I’m at Murray State University after spending the summer on the internship. Time flies by seriously fast. Too fast maybe.

It’s been hard transitioning from the summer to the school semester, but harder still adjusting to being alone again. I use “alone” loosely because I know we’re never really alone. God is always with us despite the times it feels like He’s no where to be found, His Word promises that. However, after being with six people 24/7 for 92 days straight then leaving them and learning to be alone again was harder than I ever imagined.

But, once again, God has shown me that He is my comfort. He’s my friend, provider, protection, and security when I’m completely insecure.

He’s amazing.

Classes are going well, and I love (!!!) writing for the newspaper- just praying for a staff position. Speaking of jobs, God has given me a fantastic job that works with my school schedule and allows me to work from Murray. Such a blessing.

My first week back home included:

• Moving into the dorm

• Going home and visiting mom and dad

• Getting caught up on classwork

• Church (and lots of hugs)

• C & C with Camillia, Whitt and Eric

• Disc Golf with Jesse and Joseph

• Cookies with Ben and Beth

• Lunch with Amanda

• Working out with Aimee and catching up

• Sleep. Lots of sleep.

This weekend is a big deal for me. Tomorrow we celebrate my mom’s birthday and Sunday is especially important. It’s the first Sunday of the month which means we have a fellowship meal after the morning service. For those of you who aren’t following this fantastic news let me spell it out for you: I’ve had restaurant food for the last three and a half months straight. First Sunday Fellowships means a whole buffet of homemade food made by the best cooks in the world- Church ladies! Green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, chicken and dumplins, fresh desserts and SWEET TEA. I CANNOT wait!

Below are some pictures from the end of the trip… We met the sweetest kids from the Dominican Republic and even though they didn't speak a bit of english it was as if there wasn't a language barrier at all. God has moved half of my heart from Africa to the DR… I want to go to both places now insanely bad. I just want to tell the world about the hope of Christ and the power of His cross and His love.


I pray you are experiencing that power in your daily life.

Laodi and I. He pitches 86 mph. He was so sweet.

Ethan and Hunter with Eduardo, Alex, and Laodi.

At the Orioles-Rangers game at Camden Yards.

On the way to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. We met Amish people and I loved them!

New York scenery- it is SO pretty there. I'd be fine moving to Cooperstown.

Crossing the bridge into Manhatten!

At the Yankee-Red Sox game. Amazing!

Last night with the team...

 

I miss them so much!

"God's deliverance isn't always in taking you OUT of a situation, but preserving you through your situation."

Summer Documentation: Part Three

So this summer has flown by. This is only my third blog and we only have 25 days until we get back home. Crazy!

Lots of things have happened since the last time I wrote- We've been to six different states, set up at a bazillion different tournaments, made oodles of kids smile (and, consequently, lots of parents broke), and had lots of fun. I went to the ER for the first time- heat exaustion is no fun and IVs aren't as bad as I expected (it still hurt though). I'm so thankful for being placed on Ethan's team and for him making me take it easy and taking care of me when I didn't know what was best for myself. It showed me a lot about God's sovereignty- When I thought I was okay and fully capable of continuing as always, Ethan knew better. He didn't give in to my pleas (more like whines) to continue working, but made me rest and reccuperate, wanting the best for me when I didn't even know what that was. That's a lot like God- He always knows what's best but sometimes we try to do it our way and end up making things worse and hurting ourselves in the process. A good lesson to learn but I don't recommend going to the ER for it.

We're down from eight people on our team to seven, Lizzy went home and Ben is leaving for home this weekend. It's going to get harder without them but we'll make it happen- we always do. We really do have the best team, and I'm so thankful I was placed here with them.

We drove from Myrtle Beach, SC (probably my favorite stop so far) to Richmond, Virginia last night and arrived here about 2 am. Thankfully this is an off day, so we slept in until 1 pm. I finished all of summer classes today which calls for a big sigh of relief but also a big ol' groan since I probably failed miserably in chemistry- hardest class ever.

I've had an amazing time this summer, and while it hasn't been easy it's been a huge learning experience and I'm without a doubt a much stronger person than when we started two months ago. I miss home cooking, church, my family and friends, and shooting. My bed, my shower, and Camillia and Eric only being two miles up the road, but I know in 26 days I'm going to miss the East tour of the Baseball Youth Roadtrip Fanfest, palm trees (I already miss them and I've only been away for 24 hours), experiencing new things in new places, and taking care of people.

Thank you for your emails, texts, calls and love. Please keep praying for us!

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