Please help (a prayer)

~Saturday Stories~

Dear God,

My thoughts are scattered. 

The to-do list is huge.

I don't know what I'm doing.

I haven't been reading

The Bible consistently.

You still hear me, though, right?

I don't have too much time

Left with my family.

I feel so torn. Again. Again.

I feel so happy sometimes 

Then I cry in the bathroom

Because there is a lock there  

Dear God,

I have nothing figured out

No matter how hard I try

Please help

I know you are with me

You hug me so tight

Even if I don't see it right now 

And in the middle of my ache 

You will never leave 

Thank you. I can't thank you enough

How about you? Have you ever felt utterly helpless? How has God made His presence known to you lately?

There is a poll on the left sidebar that I would love if you checked out. It's about how often you think I should post, something I have been thinking about lately and would love your opinion on.  

I did what?

A Little Announcement 

What's up! I am so excited to share with you guys that I ... started my own YouTube channel!!!

I have been wanting to do so for a good long while, and this acting contest by ActingIsLitMyLife has given me the urgency to finally do it. By the way, the results of this contest are coming onto her channel on the 28th, so don't forget to stop by and check it out!

About two months ago, I told you guys about making Christian playlists, and I am so happy to be adding more to my channel. I'm hoping to talk about:

- Christian media: books, music, and movies (because they can be amazing)
- Scripture (and how it does still apply to our lives)
- College life (and trying to stay sane and failing)
- Monologues and acting videos (because maybe dreams can be goals, ya know?)
- Miscellaneous, as in, I have no idea yet. Any ideas anyone?

So there you go. A new video is coming this Monday. I hope you share in my excitement!

How about you? Do you have a YouTube channel? Did you know how much work it would be before you started it (joking, but not really)? What's something you've been working on lately? Please do share!

Why I relate to the Psalms

~Tuesday Thoughts~

What's up! I was working on a project this past weekend. While I'm extremely excited about sharing it this Thursday, I am sorry about the lack of posting this weekend. Also, there is a poll on the left sidebar, that I would absolutely love if you checked out! It's about how often you think I should post, something I have been thinking about lately and would love your opinion on.  

Just recently I decided that I will be reading the Psalms. I have been having trouble with having consistent Bible reading and prayer times for a while now (anyone else?), but hopefully, since I have figured out what I will be reading exactly, I might get back on track.

The main reason I picked the Psalms was that I feel I relate to a lot of them. So many Psalms are outcries of a heart in pain, a heart afraid to hope. And God hears those prayers. 

God reminds us again and again that He is our hope. The Lord is our Deliverer. He will never leave us, even if we've spent the first half of the psalm crying that it feels like He has. God hears those prayers, those screams about the unfairness of life and the horrors of it. He hears them, and He answers them. 

 "You have put more joy in my heart

    than they have when their grain and wine abound.

  In peace I will both lie down and sleep;

    for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." Psalm 4:7-8 (ESV)

How about you? Have you had times when your prayers to God are mainly crying for help or asking Him if He's still there? How has God answered your prayers and shown you His presence?

Only what is helpful

~Tuesday Thoughts~ 

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Ephesians 4:29 (NIV)

This can be very hard to do. But it is worth doing.

God, help us keep our mouths shut when we should and help us open them when we can help others with our words.

Never too many mistakes

~Monday Movies & Music~

Unspoken's song "Who You Are" (lyrics) is a gentle reminder that we can never mess up too much that God won't see us through. 

"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,

“Never will I leave you;

    never will I forsake you.”[a]" Hebrews 13:5 (NIV)

How about you? Do you ever feel like you have made too many mistakes for God to love you?

Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis

~Saturday Stories~

After years of reading countless quotes from Mere Christianity, I finally read the book myself. It was for a church small group, which was fairly enjoyable and pleasant and full of serious conversations.  

C. S. Lewis's logic, I believe, does not get enough credit. It was beautiful to see solid reasoning behind all of his claims. One of my favorite quotes that I had found before I actually read the book is this:

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” 

― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

I enjoyed the simple everyday conversation that Lewis pulls us into and in which he shows us what Christians believe. Because that is the reason for the book.

Keep on praying

~Friday for Friends~

"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:14-21 (NIV)

I love when Paul prays over a church. When he shares about the outpourings his heart makes to the Father on the church's behalf. And while we should not necessarily memorize and simply recite these prayers, they are a good reminder for us to pray for our fellow believers. 

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people." Ephesians 6:18 (NIV)

Who can you pray for right now?