I Am a Christian by Maya Angelou

When I say ... "I am a Christian,"
I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin'.
I'm whispering "I was lost,
Now I'm found and forgiven."

When I say ."I am a Christian,"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble,
And need CHRIST to be my guide.

When I say ... "I am a Christian,"
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak,
And need HIS strength to carry on.

When I say ... "I am a Christian,"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed,
And need God to clean my mess.

When I say ... "I am a Christian,"
I'm not claiming to be perfect.
My flaws are far too visible,
But God believes I am worth it.

When I say ... "I am a Christian,"
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches,
So I call upon His name.

When I say ... "I am a Christian,"
I'm not holier than thou.
I'm just a simple sinner
Who received God's good grace somehow.

***I DID NOT WRITE THIS POEM AND AM CLAIMING ABSOLUTELY NO COPYRIGHTS. JUST SHARING***

HIS track record

So last week was the craziest week of college so far. I was having a lot of issues with my roommate, I had three exams, I couldn't focus, and I just was struggling to balance all these things. On Thursday, I had my Chem exam. Now me and Chemistry have always had...bad chemistry (lol). So, out of all my exams, I was stressing this one the most. I also was feeling down because I'm so used to doing so well in school. However, whenever I went to study, I couldn't focus and ended up getting distracted, mostly due to my roommate and her noisy guests...And I also couldn't grasp this one concept so I wasted alot of time trying to understand it to no avail. So Thursday at 1 pm, I'm in class waiting for the professor to pass out the exams and I'm silently praying. There was a lot of worry in the back of my head. But instead of worrying I forced myself to think about all the times that God has come through. Just in High School alone, God has really opened a lot of doors for me. And I was getting all mushy inside thinking about this and I got my exam and was just hoping to pass with at least a D, but ready to let God step in. Today we got our scores back and I got an 80.5% on it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so overjoyed :) And then I went to my next class and got my spanish exam back with a 92% so I was pretty ecstatic. So, I'd like to encourage you all not to look at the scary mountains and obstacles ahead, but to reminisce on God's track record in your life.

No ordinary romance

So first, apologies for my neglect...I've just been busy and doing a lot of adjustments in my life. Luckily, one of these adjustments is perfect for this blog :) So, I've been saved for a couple years now, and when I first got saved I tried to have a relationship with Christ that resembled that of a boyfriend/girlfriend. At this time, all my peers were dating and had boyfriends so I thought that putting God in that position would work. It worked but, recently I've realized that it's so far from enough. Because the love God has for me is so far from any love that could be found between humans. And our relationship is so different than that between a girlfriend and boyfriend.  Because no guy is gonna lay down his life for a girl...especially one with as many flaws as me. So lately, I've been changing my perspective on God. I can't actually articulate how I'm beginning to view Him now...but it's kind of in this awestruck, head-over-heels, can't get enough manner.

ALL= Everything

When someone says "give it your all", they're saying do your best...But when God says "Give me your all", I think what He really means is give me everything you've got. Like the good, the bad, the unspoken, the fears, the shame. A lot of times, I neglect the fact that God loves every part of me, and try to ignore and hide the bad parts of me from Him. I neglect to pray about my fears, my troubles, my hurts, my emotions, my shortcomings, and my needs. But God really does mean it when He says He wants it ALL, the good, the bad, the ugly.

I love free things

So, as you all recently learned from my last post...I am a heap individual...and cheap people LOVE FREE!!! Unfortunately very few things are free anymore...But fashionablygeeked is having a giveaway...And I entered it :)

Awardness...

So fashionablygeeked gave me an award:

...now I must share 7 things about myself...So here goes:
1. I'm a freshman psychology major at West Chester University of Pennsylvania.
2. People say I'm very motherly.
3. My favorite color is pink.
4. I'm extremely cheap...yet I love to shop.
5. I love to read, sing, and shop.
6. I've always gone to school with at least one relative. One time as many as 6.
7. I love my family.

Open up, Baby! This is Love.

Ok, so that title's probably a little on the creepy side, but for some reason I think it's a quote or lyric from a song...really can't remember. But anyway, as teens we get hurt by a lot of people, things, and circumstances. Christians also go through hurt and hardships (Psalms 44:22). So for a Christian teen, it may feel like we're getting a double portion. And like most humans, when we get hurt, we shy away, we turn away, we close ourselves up. Which not only makes our relationships with friends, family, and others really difficult, but more importantly our relationship with Christ may suffer. Sometimes I find myself hesitant to "put myself out there", so to speak. One thing I've always struggled with is completely trusting God (a whole nother blog post). But when I feel the fear that attempts to keep me from really letting God in, I kinda have this realization that often makes me feel like the most idiotic fool. I realize that Christ put Himself waaaaaaaayyyy "out there", on a cross, to die, in  front of a taunting crowd, and He KNEW people (even His own) would reject Him. And if that's not love...then I don't believe it exists...