Expect God's Goodness

Happy New Year's Eve!

The Lord put something special on my heart to share that will take everyone into the New Year. It truly blessed me and I know it will do the same for you :)

God is good! Some people don't believe this, but time and time again, in the Bible, it is seen how good God is to His people. 2013 has been a year of God's great grace in my life and the lives of my family and friends and I know that 2014 will be even greater than this year! 

I hope that you choose to embrace this truth because God has great plans for you in 2014. He wants to do exceedingly and abundantly beyond what you ask or think (Ephesians 3:20) in the New Year! So let's learn a little bit more about God's goodness.

Psalm 27 was written by David and is one of my favorite Psalms. David starts out in verse 1 by saying, "The Lord is my Light and Salvation--whom shall I fear or dread? The Lord is the Refuge and Stronghold of my life--of whom shall I be afraid?" 

David had a revelation of the goodness of the Lord. He knew that this goodness meant God would protect him from any danger and this caused him to state that he did not have to fear. David knew that God was on his side and that He would cause him to triumph in every situation. 

All of Psalm 27 speaks of the goodness of the Lord and I want to focus on the last verse right now. Psalm 27 verses 13-14 say, "What would have become of me had I not believed that I would see the Lord's goodness in the land of the living. Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord." 

David is basically asks, "What would have happened to me if I hadn't believed the Lord was good and expected to see His goodness in my life?" He makes a statement by then saying to us that we should expect to see the Lord at work in our lives. 

What does God's goodness mean to you? How could His goodness work in your life in this New Year? 

Maybe you need to see a move of His goodness in your family, your work, or your health. I challenge you to expect to see God's goodness in every area of your life. Nothing is exempt from His goodness. His goodness will touch your family, finances, job situation, family, relationships, health, and anything else you need to see changed. 

I truly believe the Lord is calling me to expect an abundant move of His goodness in my life in 2014 and I know that He wants you to expect this as well. 

I also want to address one more thing that the Lord put on my heart. Romans 2:4 says, "The goodness of God leads man to repentance." God's goodness causes men to change their ways and to turn to Him. I believe that 2014 will be a year of family members who have been away from the Lord or never known Him to repent and turn to Him. 

I am believing for many salvations in my extended family and some friends as well. If you are believing for this, this would be a great scripture to pray over your loved ones. Stand in prayer believing that God's goodness will show up in their lives and cause them to change. 

Again, thanks for reading and sharing this new blogging experience with me this year. It has been a blessing for me to write and I know it will continue to be very rewarding. Happy New Years everyone!

Photo Source: Pinterest

Pruned and Flourising

Hello everyone, Alessandra's sister here! I had the honor of being asked to write as her guest blogger this week, and I couldn't be more thrilled to do so! Right away I thought "I'll just write something sweet and encouraging about Christmas!" But when I asked the Lord what to share this week, He kept taking me back to John 15. This came as no surprise since He has been teaching me for weeks now the importance of remaining one with Him at all times. Let's take this chapter apart one piece at a time...

John 15:1-2 "I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of Mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and He prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more."

Our Father is the true vine, which tells me that there must be other "vines" out there that we can become attached to, perhaps even unknowingly at times. Other vines can be pretty much anything that we idolize or give more attention to than we do God. Some examples: cares of this world, popularity, status at work, physical appearance, or any other empty filler we have access to. All of those will bring instant gratification but nothing that truly lasts. The stability our hearts search for will only come from the Author of Life as we faithfully draw near to and abide in Him. And it gets even better; as we continue to walk with Him, He corrects us where we miss it so that His grace can take us to a deeper place where roots will take form and yield a more bountiful harvest! What favor!

Let's skip to verses 5-6, " Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in Me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned."

So what happens when we choose not to stay connected to our Father, or what about those who have not yet committed their lives to Him? Let me just tell you the obvious, this is not a good place to be. I have heard other believers and even myself say something along the lines of, "that was just a spiritually dry season for me..." I have begun to realize why we experience times like these and I also know it is completely up to us whether or not we accept them as the "usual". "Anyone who does not remain in Me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers." Hmmm...let's think for a moment, how would you describe the appearance and purpose of a withered plant? Dry? Useless? Well, it certainly doesn't look pretty! And what's the point of having a dried up plant lying around anyways? It certainly isn't aesthetically pleasing...it kind of just takes up space! This is exactly what happens when we disconnect ourselves from the living water found only in Jesus. We know that our own strength will get us only so far and having to rely on ourselves is in no way an enjoyment. I personally remember times in my life where I was leaning on my own understanding, and let me tell you...it burned; it was painful! I had deprived my Spirit of the very One who could feed and sustain it. Grace found me, restoration began to took place, and I came to the point where jeopardizing my reputation, sacrificing my personal comfort and even some relationships no longer mattered. I knew in the end I would gain everything! Jesus is my life! Now for the next step: obedience...

John 15:10-11, " When you obey My commandments, you remain in My love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in His love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with My joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!"

It's hard to listen to and follow through with someone's instructions if you do not trust them, and you cannot really trust the person (God in this case) until you first get to know them; and it's difficult to develop a relationship with someone whom one day you speak with and the next you ignore or want nothing to do with! Let's be consistent sons and daughters of God. 

What does this all mean though? I believe the empowerment to consistently obey God or submit to His yieldings comes only when we commune with Him on a day-to-day basis. And from what we read in verses 10-11, obedience yields joy! But the truth is, our hearts don't become sensitive to God and desire to honor Him until we first rest in Him. "Dwell in me and I will dwell in you..." He is looking for a people to abide and make His home in. This kicks the toil of religion out of the picture and relationship takes its place. We now know that the sense of completion our hearts have been longing for comes from one source whom we cannot help but glorify and follow all the days of our lives.

Abiding in God will shift our focus to the spiritual things that are eternal and everlasting, all that will matter in the end. Now, you may ask, "What about all the other parts of life He wants me to enjoy, all that I've been believing for? The Lord has assured me time and time again: He will give you all you need from day to day, as you live for Him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern! Matthew 6:33 "Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need." 

I pray this blessed you, Merry Christmas!

Lots of Love,

     Antoinette (: xx

Happy Finals Week :)

Happy Tuesday!

I know this week is finals for a lot of people and I wanted to take the time out to blog about something that has been on my heart lately. I know the pressure that can come with finals and the end of a semester with grades. People want to do well and they scramble to try and learn as much as they can and retain it before they take their tests. This brings a lot of fear and anxiety. I've been seeing this all over the place and I really felt the Lord speak to my heart on this issue. 

Philippians 4:6 says, "Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God." Now, the first part of the verse is a command from God. He tells us not to worry or have any anxiety about anything. To some people, that may sound impossible. You may be thinking that right now. However, if God is telling us to do something, He always gives us the grace to do it. It is completely possible, through Him, to have no anxiety. The next verse resolves any doubt by saying, "And God's peace shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace, which transcends all understanding, will mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." The peace that God gives us, after we give every circumstance over to Him, guards our hearts and minds. This means that anxiety can't get in anymore because we are guarded with peace that surpasses all understanding. 

So basically this is a step by step process: 1. Do not have any anxiety about anything 2. Go to the Lord in prayer with what you have been anxious about 3. Thank Him continually for already meeting your needs and taking care of what it is that has been bothering you 4. God's peace is yours!

I realize this may sound easier said then done to some of you, but God makes it simple for us to go to Him and receive peace. Peace is a promise. God understands the pressure of finals and getting the grades you need to move forward. He has it all taken care of, so let Him take care of it and get back to studying! 

My prayer is that you truly receive this today and take the Word and apply it to your situation. Stress, worry, fear, and anxiety are all not from God. In this season, choose to resist that worry and anxiety and receive God's gift of peace. Also, take some time out of your busy schedule and just spend some time with God. He is calling you to get away with Him. He loves you and He knows just how to help you in every situation. Don't forget how much He cares about you just because you have 5 finals and 3 papers. He has brought you this far and He will bring you even farther if you just keep trusting Him.

I have been studying the book of Hebrews this month and I'm really getting excited about the things God has been showing me in this book. It's amazing! I will be sharing some about that this month. For now, have a blessed week! You will all do great on your finals! Thanks for reading :)

Photo Source: French Press Mornings

You're an Overcomer

Happy Saturday!

I am so excited I finally get the chance to blog! My semester is quickly coming to a close and that means tests, assignments, and final clinicals. This fall semester has been a major blessing. I am extremely excited about my future as a nurse and I am so thankful that for all the teachers, family, and friends who have helped me through these last few years in college. God has been my anchor through every seemingly impossible moment and has helped me to realize that I can do all things through Him!

Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend the Global Health Missions Conference in Louisville, Kentucky with 30 of my classmates.  Getting up at 3:30 am Thursday morning to begin the trip was definitely not fun, but I was excited anyways! We drove around 12 hours to get there (stopping way too many times) and finally arrived. Every major session that we attended brought such insight to my life. I have never been on a missions trip, but am planning on going to Africa with my nursing department next school year. I realized that it is important to spiritually prepared for stepping out on to the missions field because missions is a lot more about bringing spiritual healing than giving to those in need. I was able to attend a session on ultrasonography. For those of you who have no idea what that is, just think of that first baby picture mommies to be get to see during their pregnancy. I was able to hands-on practice a fast ultrasound of the abdomen and the throat. I got to see all the internal organs and look at nodes on a thyroid. It really appealed to the nursing nerd in me :) Overall, I had the best time! I got to know some of my teachers much better and spend quality time with my nursing buddies without studying.

Today, I wanted to talk about something that the Lord brought to my attention awhile ago. There have been so many super hero movies coming out in the last few years. I'm a huge fan of most of those movies, even though the remakes aren't always the greatest. I started to think to myself, why do I enjoy these movies? Of course, I love seeing Chris Hemsworth on the screen (and just about every other major super hero). However, I realized I had a much deeper reason for enjoying these movies. When I think about Man of Steel, Thor, Batman, and the Amazing Spider-Man, I think about the qualities they have that others admire. These men are overcomers. They seem to conquer everything that comes their way and end up on top each and every time. I realized that people want to see that quality in themselves.

The great thing about being a Christian is that Jesus lives inside of me. So, I can have all those qualities that set me apart from the world. You can too! When Jesus comes to live inside of you, every ability that He has transfers into your life. In John 16:33, Jesus tells us what He has already done for us. He says," I have told you these thing so that in Me you may have perfect peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer! For I have overcome the world. I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you." In the margins of my Bible I wrote: He is my conqueror. He is my Hero. To me, this means that no matter what I come up against God has already overcome it for me so I cannot fail. There will be trials and temptations and anything else you could think of, but God is on your side. 

Romans 8:37 says,"Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us."We have God's overcoming ability engraved in our spirits so we overcome anything through His power. So, every time you look at those super heroes that everyone adores remember that that's how God sees you. You're an overcomer! You're more than a conqueror!

I am praying that this post will speak to you the way it spoke to me. God is no respecter of persons and will strengthen you as much as He strengthens anyone else. Don't be worried about the circumstances or situations going on in your life. God has already empowered you to conquer whatever may come against you! You can do all things through Him! 

Have a great weekend and thanks for reading!

Times of Refreshing

Happy Friday!

I hope you all had a great week. I know I definitely had a week filled with lots of work, but it was still enjoyable. I have been very busy with my semester getting close to wrapping up and everything that comes along with that. I have many tests and projects coming up in the next three weeks before Thanksgiving, but amidst all of that I know I can have peace in the Father.

I wanted to share a little something that has been on my heart lately. Last night, I had the privilege of going out to do an outreach with hundreds of other students in the amazing student body of ORU. Every Halloween, ORU has a Fall outreach where students go around collecting canned foods for the homeless. This year, all of the donations were given to the Joh 3:16 outreach here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was an amazing experience as we got to share the love of Christ with so many. This week had been very stressful for me and I really wanted to pour into the lives of others to get my mind off of myself. We were able to pray for families all around Tulsa and it was so fun! 

I wanted to mention that because yesterday wasn't the greatest day for me. I had been feeling a little worried about some upcoming tests and assignments. After the night was over, that feeling had completely gone away. After I got back to my dorm room, the Lord reminded me of a scripture. He gave me Psalm 119:114 which says, "You're my place of quiet retreat; I wait for Your Word to renew me." (This particular version of the verse comes from The Message Bible)

Three huge things stuck out to me about that verse. First, God is a "quiet retreat" to those who choose to seek Him. I am so happy that I can turn to Him when everything around me seems to be loud and busy. When I turn to Him, I get quietness and rest. Second, we need to wait on God and be patient which brings us victory. I believe that God doesn't want us to strive or worry. He just wants us to wait on Him and receive our help from Him. Third, when we speak God's Word, we get renewed every single day. We don't have to feel worn out or tired. We can always be renewed even in the worst of circumstances. This verse has been speaking volumes to me all day and I really hope it impacts you, as well. 

Lastly, I didn't blog about my trip to the pumpkin patch two weeks ago, but I still wanted to include some photos. It was super chilly but I still had a great time with my family and my boyfriend. We did get a chance to make two pumpkin pies, but I didn't get to try any :( I guess I'll have to wait a few more weeks for that :) 

Haha :) I thought this was super cute!

Us with our little baby pumpkins :)

I hope you all have a great weekend! Thanks for reading!

The Lost are Found

Happy Thursday!

I have been back home for fall break all week and it has been so fun! It has been nice just being able to relax and not think about homework. I love spending quality time with my family and my boyfriend. Friday night, shortly after getting home, we all went to a Bible study and it was awesome. We talked about the importance of speaking the Word of God over situations in our lives. We each got a card and were told to write a scripture on it that represented what we were believing for and say it two times a day for the next two weeks and see what changes in our lives. I put two healing scriptures on my card since I had not been feeling well. The next day I found out I had an ear infection, after going to the doctor, but I continued to believe for my healing. Even though I could barely talk, I continued to believe I already had my healing. Well, today is Thursday and everyday I have been feeling better. I have my voice back and I am able to sleep through the night without any congestion. God is soooo good! I just thought I would share that short testimony to remind you all of what you might be believing for. I encourage you to do the same and write a scripture or two on a card and speak it over yourself two times a day. Just watch as God changes everything in your life! 

I was really inspired to blog today because I ran into an old friend as I was on my way to my grandma's house. I've known him since I was four and we grew up together in the church. Well, I hadn't seen him in around 3 years, but before then it had been much longer. As I talked to him about his life I realized how important it is to always hold people up in prayer before the Lord. As I asked my old friend how life was going for him, he hesitated in answering, "It's been okay." He told me he was no longer living at home, he didn't speak with his mom anymore, and that his brother had been arrested. My heart went out to him at that moment because this is a guy who grew up in the church and went through a lot and somehow walked away from the Lord. I told him I would pray for him, but something inside of me wanted to do much more than that. 

In speaking to the Lord about my friend I really felt led to add him to my prayer list. I don't think I have mentioned my prayer list on my blog yet but it has really been amazing what the Lord has done for those people on my list. Last spring, the Lord instructed me to put together a list of people I pray for on a daily basis and He gave me specific names. These people are all people who know God and many of them are even saved. Some of them have been dealing with difficult things and some have even walked away from the Lord. Others have never known God or had a relationship with Him and I have been praying for their salvation. Anyways, over the last 5 months or so, I have noticed things changing in many of these people's lives. Some of them have contacted me saying they have wanted a change in their lives and I have seen a visible change in others. It has been so awesome to see God on the move and I know that things are daily getting better for each of these precious people. 

I guess I said all of that to say that God's heart is for every child of His to be restored to Him. God wants a relationship with every individual on this planet. There is never someone "too bad" or "too messed up" to know God and invite Him into their lives. I don't care what it is that you've done or what mistakes you have made, God absolutely loves you. The heart of God is that every lost person out there in the world be found and made whole. That is why He uses His sons and daughters as lights for His kingdom. James 5:16 says, "The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results."Isn't that awesome?! I love knowing that the prayers I pray, from the Word, will produce something amazing in someone else's life. That is the importance of prayer in our lives not only for us, but for the people we love. That is one of the easiest ways to get God involved in our lives and effect the lives of others. So, pray for those who are lost in your life. God will work in their lives and bring it to pass! I am encouraged by this because I want the best for my friend and that is why I am going to pray the will of God over him. 

On another note, I am having a great week. Sunday, after church, I spent the rest of the day with my boyfriend. I have missed him so much so it was great to be able to spend time with him. That night, we watched the Dallas Cowboys game at my house and it was super fun. I am convinced I'm dating the best guy in the world and he happens to love football which means I get to watch it with him. I've been trying to get more into it (even though I don't entirely get what's going on) and I have actually been enjoying it. I bought a Cowboys shirt so we could match and he was really excited about it. It's those little things that make him happy that I just love to watch. He is such a blessing to me and I love him so much :)

Here's us with our matching Cowboys shirts :) Aren't we cute?! 

I am planning on blogging again tomorrow because we're going to pick out some pumpkins and I am so excited! Fall is definitely here and I am loving it! Being home this time of year is always great because the leaves change colors so beautifully here in Chicago. Fall isn't quite the same in Oklahoma. I hope you all are having a great week! Thanks for reading! 

Home is Where the Heart is

Happy Sunday! 

I had another busy week with all my nursing stuff. Friday I got to skip all my classes to go to a Cardiac Seminar at the Hyatt downtown. It was really fun. There were about 8 sessions where doctors from the Oklahoma Heart Institute talked about different diseases and their effects on the heart. It was really interesting. I felt so smart because my friends and I could all understand most of the terminology these doctors were saying. It was so great. We also got all this free stuff. There were tons of pamphlets and booklets on different diseases, pens, ice scrapers, candy, stress balls, and lots of other stuff. It was awesome! I really needed a break from all the work I had been doing and Friday was the perfect opportunity for that. 

Anyways, I am so excited because I get to go home Friday! I'm skipping all my classes Friday and leaving early for fall break :) I am so ready to go home and see my family and my boyfriend. It feels like it's been forever (even though it's only been like 65 days haha). I have had a countdown going since the day I got back to Tulsa so this is a really big deal to me. I love Chicago so much. No matter where I go, my heart always wants to go back home. There have been some challenges this semester with being homesick. Every year I kept thinking it would get better, but it mostly stayed the same. I decided to go to the Lord about it because He knows how to satisfy the longings in my heart. 

Isaiah 26:3 is a specific scripture He gave to me for those times when I feel lonely or really just want to go home. It says, "You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You."  Perfect and constant peace sounds amazing to me. The truth is, that's what we can have in Jesus. He provides us with more than enough of that peace to completely guard our hearts and minds in Him. The other truth is that I'm at home because Jesus is always in me. He is Who I abide in. I can feel at home wherever I am because He's with me. That is just the best news to me! 

Next week, since I'll be home (yessss!), I plan on blogging at least twice. I want to get back to my baking and talk about some more of God's goodness so you should definitely check that out when I post it! I hope you all have a lovely week! Remember, God is for you, not against you! You have nothing to fear :) Thanks for reading! 

Life is Sweet

Happy Saturday everyone!

This past week just flew by. My family came to visit last weekend and we literally had the best time. Friday was the presidential inauguration of ORU's new president. Friday night we went to a football game and it was super fun! Saturday wee visited Philbrook Museum here in Tulsa and I got to show my family all around the gardens. It is so gorgeous at Philbrook and I would recommend visiting it if you ever travel to Tulsa. We also got to tour downtown a little. My parents don't usually stay very long but this time they stayed about 5 days. It was so nice just being able to see them again and being able to hug my mom. I love my family so much! Sunday we went to church and visited Utica Square and went to the mall to do some shopping. Monday we just relaxed and I had some classes. I had the best time! Here are some pictures from their visit. 

I love my sisters so much :)

These are the gorgeous gardens I was talking about. It was such a beautiful day and the sunshine was amazing!

This is a picture from taken behind the museum where you can see most of the gardens. It is so beautiful!

My lovely parents :)

My mom and I :)

One last photo of the back of the museum :)

Every day of my junior year has been getting better and better.We had a scenario day on Thursday with two of our clinical groups in the nursing department. Basically, we had to act out scenarios with the mannequins in the sim lab. It was super cool because the mannequins can talk, blink, sweat, urinate, etc. Plus their eyes dilate, we can feel their pulses, listen to their heart and breath sounds, and inject drugs intravenously into their arms! I was super excited about this to say the least. I love all things nursing and my instructors are seriously the best so even though it was kind of scary at first, I really enjoyed myself. We all had different roles like primary nurse, charge nurse, tech, orientee, and wife of the patient. Our two patients had congestive heart failure and a myocardial infarction. I was the primary nurse the first time so I was in charge of everyone in the room. That really made me nervous because, even though I'm a junior, I still need to work on my confidence. So, basically, as the primary nurse, I did everything to help the patient. I even had to practice calling the "doctor", which was totally new to me. At then end of the whole event I really felt I had learned a lot. I got a lot of compliments on my performance, even though I totally felt I had messed up a lot. It was nice to know I had done my best to practice being a real nurse. 

I guess the reason I shared that story was to encourage everyone that we can have joy in the small things. Lately, I have been overcoming some depressed feelings. There have been days where I didn't want to do anything because I just didn't feel like it. I have also missed home a lot. I just wanted to encourage all of you that when it seems to be difficult in life, relying on God is the only way to go. Psalm 42:5 says, "Why are you cast down, O my inner self? And why should you moan over me and be disquieted within me? Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall yet praise Him, my Help and my God."God has really been showing me that I have no reason to be sad. Everyday is sweet because I can hope in Him constantly and I know I will see a reward from believing in His promises. He is my daily help and He is always there in every moment of every day. Life is good because God is faithful! His blessings make every day better and better. If you've been down or stressed out I encourage you to just rejoice in the midst of it all. You'll be pleased in how fast things turn around in your life. Rejoicing defeats depression and sadness. As you focus on God, joy becomes rooted in your life and you can face any circumstance with peace!

I hope this encouraged you as much as it encouraged me this week. I am so happy that I get to go home in less than two weeks and see my family and boyfriend. I miss his hugs so much! Anyways, I hope you all have a great weekend! Thanks for reading!

Pure Romance: Part Three

Happy Friday!

I have had a really busy week with tests and homework so this post is a little late. I had wanted to post it earlier, but I am now just finding the time to do it. I feel like time has literally just been flying just because of all the stuff I've been doing. When I'm not in class I'm usually studying, reading my Bible, sleeping, or hanging out with friends. Due to my class schedule, I have unfortunately been taken away from blogging as much as I have wanted to so I apologize for that. I love being able to share stuff God has put on my heart and I have really missed writing lately. I am going to work at being better at keeping up with my blog since it is important to me and to the Lord.

This is the third post about pure romance and I am really enjoying this topic. There have been a lot of people who have been asking me for relationship advice lately and I really just felt that these posts could not come at a better time than now. This series is based on a message the Lord gave me a few weeks ago and then He led me to write these posts. This week I wanted to talk about the levels in a relationship. I have heard these levels discussed many times before and I think that they are very important to romantic relationships with the opposite sex.

The first level of a relationship is the physical level. This the level of physical attraction and is usually the first thing that brings two people together. This is the lowest level and so you can't really base a relationship on this. Physical attraction is definitely important and the Lord wants you to be with someone your physically attracted to, but that should not be the basis of a relationship. Unfortunately, some people never progress beyond this point to reach the deeper levels of a romantic relationship. 

The second level of a relationship is the soul/personality level. I love talking about this level because this is what helps sustain a relationship. I'm going to explain this in terms of friendship, for now. When you first meet someone and you don't know much about them, you really don't have a deep relationship with them. In the soul relationship level, two people are connected and know each other really well. These are the kind of relationships that last for a long time because there are so many ties keeping it together. Now, in terms of a romantic relationship, a man and a woman who get to know each other really well by talking and fellowshipping come to the soul level of a relationship. One of my favorite scriptures on this topic is found in Song of Solomon 3:4. Song of Solomon is a book in the Bible which talks about the love of a man and a woman and it truly reflects our love relationship with God. Verse 4 says, "...I have found the one whom my soul loves." When love comes from the soul, it is far greater than anything physical attraction can bring and it's pure.

The third level of a relationship is the spiritual level. This level is the deepest and most intimate level of a relationship. As a Christian, my spirit is connected with God and that's how I have daily communion with Him. God wants a man and a woman who enter into a romantic relationship to be connected spiritually, as well. I think one of the biggest ways people can be connected spiritually is by reading the Bible together and praying which each other. That brings a connection that can't be broken because it's founded on God and His Word. Romantic relationships that have reached the spiritual level will last because God is the foundation and the Rock on which it stands. 

I mentioned in my last post that I would share a little bit about how God led me to start a relationship with my boyfriend. I'm going to share some of my story just to talk about how faithful God is.

I had never dated any guy before Matthew because I really believed that God would bring the right man to me. I didn't want to waste my time or waste a guy's time if we weren't right for each other. More than anything, I wanted to please God in my relationship and I felt He wanted me to wait. The summer before my freshman year of college I had started to like a guy and really get interested in dating him. When I started school at ORU, however, I found out the truth about him and some stuff he had been hiding from me and I was really hurt because I felt I couldn't trust him anymore. It was really hard for me to let go of that relationship especially because I had invested a lot of time into it only to find out it wasn't the right thing to be pursuing. I realized overtime that God didn't want me to be with a man who wasn't serious about Him. He wanted me to be with a man who would pursue a relationship with God because then he would know how to pursue me. 

I started to move away from worrying about my love life and just focus on God. I didn't want to continue looking. I decided to rest in God. It was a great learning period in my life. I became so much closer to Him in that season and I gained so much clarity about my future. I realized, more than ever, that God is all I need. I knew God was going to do some amazing things in my life even though I didn't know exactly what they would be. 

During my Christmas break, I hung out with Matthew for the first time. We had been talking for awhile, but I never really thought anything of it. I knew his family pretty well since our parents had known each other for years and they had been going to our church for a long time. Matthew and I started talking more during that time and I really started to enjoy our conversations. I remember thinking that he was really interesting and that he was really different from any other guy I had talked to before. When I went back to school, we started to skype a few times each week and that's when the soul level of our relationship really grew. We would talk about so many different things and he quickly became my best friend. One of the biggest things I noticed about him was that he had a desire to know God more. He would always ask me about books to read in the Bible and tell me about what he heard at church. We eventually started to have feelings for each and he asked me to go out with him on our first date when I got home for spring break.

I wasn't always so sure about our relationship because I had a lot of fear that I would get hurt again. Fear is not of God and so I knew that that wasn't the right reason to make a decision. After a lot of prayer (probably a few months haha) and talking with Matthew, we decided that God was truly bringing us together into a romantic relationship and Matthew asked me to be his girlfriend. I am always so happy I never let fear stop me from something God wanted for me. The Lord has truly blessed me with an amazing boyfriend and I know that He is the one who will keep us together. I love him so much <3 We have been together for a little over a year, and I am always seeing the awesome things God does through our relationship. God is so good and He knew exactly what I wanted in a man. 

I hope you all have a blessed weekend and that you enjoyed this series of posts! Thanks for reading! 

Pure Romance: Part Two

Hello everyone! 

I hope you all have been enjoying yourselves this week. This week for me has literally flown by and before I knew it, Friday was here! I have been very busy this past week and a half which is why I hadn't had the chance to sit down and blog. Over my long weekend I really got to spend a lot of time with the awesome girls on my floor. God has brought me some awesome friends this year that and I am so thankful for that. I also wrote my 11 page paper for my mental health class and studied for some other nursing classes. I'm learning so much this semester and I'm finding out more and more each day why I am called into nursing. I love my clinicals and I love just being able to care for the patients. I am so blessed to be called into such a great field!

I want to continue talking about and expounding on my last post about the pure side of romance that God presents to His people in the Bible. I want to apply this to relationships with the opposite sex and  just reveal God's heart on this matter. I am no expert in this area, by any means, but God has really given me wisdom in this area as I sought after Him. In my own life I always go to God for advice first because He is full of wisdom to offer His children. I really felt God give me words of wisdom in the area of romantic relationships even though I don't have a dating history. I don't believe you need any sort of history to receive knowledge from God. You just need to be open to what He will speak to you and be ready to bring it to others.

I want to start off today talking a little bit about what God says about what a relationship should look like with the opposite sex. I truly believe the main thing that should be important in a these romantic relationships is a strong foundation in the Lord. I mentioned this in my last post, but it is very important so I'm going to say it again. When a relationship is founded on Jesus and His love for us we are secure enough to love the other person. That's why both the man and woman who enter into this relationship should first have a strong relationship with God. That is the starting point of a relationship that will truly withstand any test or trial. Now, I'm going to break this down a little bit. I've heard so many people in relationships talk about how their boyfriend/girlfriend is needy. They always need more affection, more gifts, more time with the other person in the relationship and then this causes some issues. I have also heard of many relationships where, usually for girls, one person is not secure enough in themselves so they depend on the other person for support. Both of these scenarios present a big problem. When entering into a relationship, we should be so secure in God that we don't need the validation of another person. The God of the universe created us all uniquely and beautifully and we don't need another person's affection to feel this way. God's love is more than enough. When a man and a woman believe that they can now enter into a relationship totally secure in how much God loves them and they won't put any pressure on each other.

1 Corinthians 6:19 says, "Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received (as a Gift) from God? You are not your own." I love this scripture because it basically says that we are God's people. He made us and we are completely His. When we give ourselves to Him and make Him our Lord and Savior we are not our own. He lives within us and we need to be led by Him each day of our lives. To me this means that when I'm in a relationship I am Jesus' daughter and I need to always be aware of that. I want to respect Him first because He's my Father. A pure romance that originates with the Father will be reflective of this truth. I'm not writing this to tell people to stop doing inappropriate things in their relationships. I am just writing about what God thinks about a relationship. He wants us to respect our bodies and stay pure sexually till He brings us our partners for marriage. One of the most beautiful things in life is a purity. These days, it is hard to remain pure. We are surrounded by so many perverted things on television, in music, and in magazines. However, it is not impossible to remain pure. God gives us the strength to overcome temptations.

You might be reading this and feel that you've already messed up in this area. However, I'm here to tell you that there is redemption in Jesus. He makes you new every day and all you need to do is come to Him. He is the healer of your heart and He wants you whole. So, if you've made a mistake, like every human being has on this planet, bring it to Him and know He has already forgiven you. You can move forward and live the life He has called you to live. You don't have to be perfect to have this pure romance God has called you to have. You just need to trust Him and be obedient to His voice.

One last thing I want to mention is that God wants every relationship in our lives to be filled with complete love. It's not always easy to love other people. From experience, I know that I have had a hard time always loving people. 1 Corinthians 13 is the love chapter in the New Testament which gives a perfect picture of God's love for us and how we should love others. I believe this love is especially important in romantic relationships. I'm going to apply this to my relationship with my boyfriend. If I don't know how much God loves me, how can I love my boyfriend? If I wasn't sure of the love God had for me, I probably wouldn't be able to treat him the right way. 1 Corinthians 13:7 says, "Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, is hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything without weakening."I love this verse because it totally applies to what a committed, romantic relationship should look like. I need to believe the best about my boyfriend no matter how I feel that day because God believes the best about me. I need to look through the eyes of love and respect him for who God made him to be. I encourage everyone to read the rest of this great chapter because it is such an awesome picture of love.

I believe this post is something that God really wanted me to discuss and I know it will really minister to you. Sometime next week I want to continue this series and talk a little bit about how God led me to date my boyfriend. I also want to talk about the levels of a relationship and what God has to say about those different levels. Have a great weekend and thanks for reading!

Photo Source: FaLaLa Designs

Pure Romance: Part One

Hello everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your Sunday as much as I am. 

Something has really been on my heart over the past few days that I felt the Lord directing me to talk about in my blog. I have been reading a book called "When God Writes your Love Story"written by Eric & Leslie Ludy. I have still not finished it because I have been taking it really slow and just thinking about a lot of the content in the book. So far, I have really been receiving from the book spiritually. It basically talks about how God has written a unique and beautiful love story for each and every one of us. I believe this with all my heart and I just felt led to start sort of a short series of posts on God's view of a romance. This romance begins with Him and spreads throughout our entire being even before we meet our future spouse. It starts from even before we were born and continues throughout our lives. 

I am truly a romantic in the sense that I love to read poems about love, watch romantic movies, and get flowers from my boyfriend. However, I have noticed that romance these days is no longer viewed through the right lens. It has gone so far to become impure and many men and women in our generation today feel it is even unachievable. It is so difficult to watch a romantic movie these days and see the pure side of romance. I was with a few girls last night in my dorm and we were watching one of the most popular romantic movies: The Notebook. Now, I love that movie and I love Nicholas Sparks as a writer. I think he does a great job of putting love stories together and moving me with his fiction. However, after watching the movie, I felt a weird feeling within myself that I hadn't felt before after I had watched it in the past. I knew what it was. The story line is beautifully written and the love between the two main characters is evident. It was the portrayal of their love that bothered me though. The characters almost seemed to have only a physical relationship. You could tell their love was deep, but it only seemed to manifest the most in physical affection for each other. All the girls in the room agreed with my opinion and stated that they felt that it would be much sweeter if the couple were actually married before all that intense stuff had happened. 

I wanted to start off this little series of posts by talking about the pure side of romance that we evidence from our Creator. He gave everything, poured out His whole life, to make us daughters and sons and to make us right-standing with Him. I honestly think that is the true face of love. Even before this took place He knew us intricately. One of my favorite passages is Psalm 139:13-16 which says, "For you did form my inward part; You did knit me together in my mother's womb. I will confess and praise You for You are fearful and wonderful and for the awful wonder of my birth! Wonderful are Your works, and that my inner self knows right well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret intricately and curiously wrought in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days of my life were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them." This is an awesome picture of how precious we are to God. He knew us before we were born and He loved us before anyone loved us. I like to think that since He was the first one to love me He was the first one I truly had a relationship with. This is the beginning of a love story God starts with every one of His children and it continues through all of life. I encourage anyone who needs to see a real picture of God's thoughts towards His children to read all of Psalm 139. It gives a great picture of how much He truly thinks about us. 

John 3:16 is a verse that everyone knows well, but if you take the time to look at it and really meditate on it you see that after over 2,000 years ago God sent His precious son Jesus down to make us clean. This was truly so that we could have a relationship with Him. The purpose of His death and resurrection was love. A personal relationship is all that God truly wants with His people. He wants us to know Him and walk with Him everyday. To me, this is the basis of a romantic relationship. We learn the core of this from Jesus. Romans 8:38-39 says, "For I am persuaded beyond doubt that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to come, nor powers, Nor height nor depth, nor any thing else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."This means no matter what it is you have done, will ever do, or whatever you go through, nothing can separate you from the love God has for you. That's how powerful that love is. It goes beyond mere human love and transcends into something supernatural. 

The love that God has for us should be the basis of every relationship we have with our family and friends. I started out talking about God's love since it is the purest form of love that we are to replicate in our own lives. I want to specifically address romantic relationships with the opposite sex in the next couple of weeks. I wanted to talk about God's love first though since His love interweaves through us and moves into these romantic relationships with the opposite sex. Romance can be pure when it is led by God and those in the relationship are looking at Him for constant guidance.  Any Godly relationship with family or friends that is founded on His love will last forever since that love is unbreakable. 

I believe that God leads us by His love and will never force us into anything which is why He won't make you obey Him. He lets you choose whether or not you will accept Him. If this speaks to you at any level I encourage you to seek God for yourself and come to know the love He has for you. Accept Him as your Lord and Savior and experience this love for yourself. It will be the start of the greatest romance you will ever experience! 

I hope you all have a great rest of your weekend! Thanks for reading! 

Photo Source: Pinterest

Ducks- The Best Floor Ever

Happy Saturday everyone! 

I have really missed being able to blog and just share things about what the Lord is doing in my life. I just finished my first full week of classes of my junior year and things have already begun to pick up speed. I have gotten a lot of homework and stuff I just need to start looking at and focusing on over the next few weeks. I wanted to take some time today to just talk about how awesome my floor is this year. I live on a floor called Ducks (it was called that since the girls swimming team used to live on this floor).  I lived on this floor last year and decided to stay on this floor again this year. Last year at this time I was having a really hard time getting to know the right kind of people. I felt like I was missing Godly influences in my life. I have lots of great friends back home, but I had just moved into a new dorm and really needed to get to know new people. This sort of carried on throughout the year. I met a few girls who I really felt were promoting a Godly environment in my life, but I still felt like I was lacking in that area of my life. 

Over the summer, the Lord prompted me to pray for the right kind of friends and to really believe that I would be surrounded by the right kind of people on my floor. Well, God is so good because the minute I stepped back into ORU I noticed that things were going to be a huge blessing this year. I knew my RA previously from my freshman year. She was my leader in my first real fellowship group where I met other new freshmen. My chaplain is a nursing student and she is also a junior, like me, so we share most of our classes and I have also known her since freshman year. These are two women of God who I was so excited to find out I would be sharing a floor with the entire school year. 

This past Monday night we had our first hall meeting where we all introduced ourselves and went over the school announcements/rules. After it was all over, my RA shared a little bit about the vision God gave her over the summer for our floor. Our floor's verse is Isaiah 58:11 which says,"And the Lord shall guide you continually and satisfy you in drought and in dry places and make strong your bones. And you shall be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters fail not." A recurring word she kept receiving from the Lord was water which means refreshment. She encouraged each woman on our floor to seek God more and more and just dive deeper into a refreshing relationship with Him. Everyday of our lives should be a better day since we are seeking Him and coming to know Him more. 

I was incredibly blessed by this short vision that was shared. I know that God has brought these girls on my floor into my life to just further the relationship I have with Him and to bring more friendships into my life. He is so faithful and always answers our prayers! On Thursday nights here at ORU devotionals are typically held on each floor. This is time to get together as a floor and just explore the Word and talk about what God has been doing in each of our lives. This past week our chaplain, Jessica, had us go around and talk a little bit about some of our goals in life. I was so blessed to hear all the great things that people want to do with their lives and the unique plans God has laid out for them. Everything from medical missions to Godly marriages was discussed as a goal. I shared a little bit about my calling to go to Uganda and just be a blessing to the people over there. I also talked about how God has put it on my heart to adopt children from China, Uganda, and Afghanistan. This time of fellowship really made my week. I just thought I would share it with you all. 

We had a movie night last night which was actually really fun even though we started two movies and then eventually stopped them. It's sometimes hard to find the right movie since so many these days are full of the wrong things. One girl in the room didn't want to watch a chick flick even though everyone else wanted to. We ended up watching She's the Man which was kind of funny since one of the girls kept saying she wanted to watch a Channing Tatum movie. It was a great way to end the school week and just have fun. 

God is doing such great things in all of our lives and we need to be watchful for it. Be aware of these things and continually have a thankful heart full of praise. He is good to us and He will remain faithful each day. I will continue to talk about the interesting and great things that have been going on this year since I love to write and want to spread stories of God's faithfulness. Studying and doing school stuff is one of my priorities right now, however, so I think that I will only be able to post once or twice a week. 

I hope everyone is having a great time in whatever the Lord has called you to do. Thanks for reading! 

Peace for the School Year

Hello Everyone!

I am now officially moved in at ORU for my junior year of nursing school. There has been so much going on lately. My family and my boyfriend drove down to Oklahoma with us on Friday for the process of getting settled in on campus. It was really nice being able to spend all weekend with them before they left to go back home yesterday. My sister and I won't be returning home till October for our fall break so I will definitely miss everyone back home in the great state of Illinois.

Today was such a busy day. I had nursing orientation for 8 hours and so many different things were going on. It started at 8:30 am with a great devotional and prayer time with the faculty and nursing students. It was so anointed and the peace of God just flooded the whole room. It was definitely what I needed to start out a great semester. We had a dosage calculation test after that. I had been so nervous and kept praying about this test because we were required to get a certain grade to move onto clinicals. However, after the devotionals I had so much peace that everything would be alright. When the time came for the test and I had finished all the problems I knew that I had gotten a perfect score. God is so good!

I just wanted to share that today because I had woken up this morning with an uneasy feeling in my stomach and just felt so nervous about the test. I immediately started to bring it before the Lord because I knew that His peace goes beyond understanding to deliver comfort to us. Philippians 4:7 says, "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." I love that verse because it totally describes a bubble of peace that we can walk in everyday of our lives. We can't allow ourselves to get so caught up in what's going on and anxious about the future. God gives us peace that helps us to walk through anything and come out on top!

I am excited to be back at ORU this semester and I know that God will do such great things this year. Every year gets better and better! I hope you all have a great week. I will try to post sometime later this week! Thanks for reading!

A Lifestyle of Praise

Happy Thursday! 

I hope everyone is having a great week. I apologize again for not posting much this week. Time has been going by so fast. My summer is coming to an end as I will be heading back to Tulsa pretty soon for school. Times like this are always bittersweet for me because with all the packing and the goodbyes to everyone I start to get excited, but also sad. I am usually an emotional person so leaving even for just two months can be a really big deal for me. ORU is an amazing university and I am so blessed that I have the opportunity to go there. However, I do still miss my friends and family back home a lot. 

One thing I noticed about these times of getting down and feeling depressed are that they can easily turn around if you choose to focus on something else. These last couple of days I have been seeking the Lord about this and I this is what is on my heart to talk about today. I want to talk about praise being a lifestyle change for you. No matter who you are or what you've been through I am sure you have been through a season of change in your life that brought sadness. The truth is, however, we are not to accept this sadness at all. It's a negative emotion. Instead I believe that the Lord wants us to praise Him through every situation and that brings us joy. 

Psalm 8:2 is an amazing verse to describe the power of praise and it says, "Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger." We can see from this verse that praise stills the enemy and makes him powerless in our situations. As we shift our focus to praising God we no longer view the situation as disheartening because we know that God is working on our behalf. This has been so encouraging to me and has given me a lot of hope this week. 

I want to choose to live a lifestyle of praise to my King no matter what the circumstances have been like. I want to wake up and praise Him. I want to praise Him before I go to bed at night. I want to praise Him every moment of every day with my thoughts and my actions and believe He makes all things work together for my good because I love Him and I'm called according to His purpose. God has been so faithful to me every year I have been at ORU and I keep reminding myself of that. He will continue to be faithful to me as I enter my junior year. No matter how tough it is, I will choose to praise Him constantly. 

Photo Source: Joshua Stannard Blog

I believe that the Lord is calling us all to choose this lifestyle of praise and to turn to Him each day. If you've been going through a hard situation and can't seem to find a way out of the feelings you have been dealing with, just praise God. Your Spirit is already full of joy, you just need to get your natural body in line with the joy that is already yours. It is a blessing to know that I can wake up everyday and have joy because I don't have to be depressed. God is so good! Psalm 30:11 says,"You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy." Be strengthened by this today and choose to be clothed with joy! Thanks for reading! 

Cast your Cares on Him

Happy Thursday everyone! 

I just felt led to mention a few scriptures this morning to encourage you all. If you've been dealing with any worry, stress, or anxiety lately you can know for sure that is not from Jesus. He is here to give us peace and rest and to take upon Himself whatever has been bothering us. Psalm 55:22 says,"Cast your burden on the Lord (releasing the weight of it) and He will sustain you; He will never allow the consistently righteous to be moved." Whatever it is that has been coming against you, whether it's financial trouble, a relationship issue, or a problem at your job, you can cast this burden on the Lord in prayer trusting that He will take care of it as you're obedient to Him.

God is fully able to meet every single one of our needs. His provision goes above and beyond what we could ask or think or even imagine in our minds. This is why He tells you to cast all your worries on Him because He cares about you. 1 Peter 5:7 says,"Cast the whole of your cares (all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns) on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and He cares about you watchfully." I encourage you to let God take care of things for you. Place everything in His hands and He will make all things work together for your good! 

I know this was short, but it really spoke to my spirit this morning as I read my Bible and I wanted to share it with all of you. Cast all of your cares on the Lord today and have a carefree day! Thanks for reading!

Photo Source: Born to make an impact tumblr

An Unending Supply of Strength

Hello everyone! 

I have been so busy over the past week with seeing family, finishing up my physiology class, and other things which conflicted with me being able to post on here. I had planned to post two more times last week, but that never happened. I am planning on posting more this week, though since I will officially be done with my summer class this Thursday! I am way too excited about that. :)

I want to talk a little bit about the source of eternal strength that comes from the Lord. I'm sure you can relate to running back and forth each week to work or school or to pick people up and how much that can affect your energy levels. The past couple of weeks have been very busy for me and I kept finding myself feeling really tired physically. I needed way more than 8 hours of sleep; I needed energy and strength that would last much longer than what sleep could offer me. I realized that I needed to be looking to Jesus more in the area of strength for my daily life. I needed to trust God and not rely on my feelings.

This opened up to me such a revelation yesterday in my devotional time with the Lord. I was reading Psalm 23 which I usually read daily since it is one of my favorite Psalms and one verse particularly stuck out to me more than it ever has before. Verses 1-3 say,"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not lack. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still and restful waters. He refreshes and restores my life." Verse 3 is the one I focused on, but the whole passage reflects God's rest in our lives. In this passage we see that the Lord causes us to lie down and rest and He daily restores us. To me, this sounds amazing. I can trust Jesus to restore me physically, mentally, and emotionally each and every day. This restoration brings energy that nothing else can bring. This goes far beyond sleep, energy drinks, running, etc. and taps into an unending supply of strength which only the Lord can provide. 

After reading Psalm 23 the Lord told me to confess something over myself whenever I feel that my energy is getting low. He said to say this: "My strength comes from the joy that is within me from the Father." To add onto what I was just talking about, Nehemiah 8:10 is also another great scripture about the strength and energy the Lord provides. It says, "...for the joy of the Lord is your strength." I love this verse because it proves that the joy that God gives us can also be a source of strength for our natural bodies. Another great verse that goes along with this is Psalm 73:26 which says,"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the Rock and firm Strength of my heart and my Portion forever." Our earthly bodies will fail in giving us strength, but the Lord is a Rock. That means He is stable and we can stand on Him everyday and rely on His unending, abounding strength to show up in our lives. 

One last verse I wanted to share today comes from Isaiah 40:30-31 which says,"Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall feebly stumble and fall exhausted; But those who wait for the Lord shall change and renew their strength and power." When we wait on the Lord, He renews us beyond any natural remedy and He changes us day by day in His strength. Start relying on God as your power source and you will see amazing changes in your everyday life!

Photo Source: danielleburkleo.com

I hope you all were encouraged by this as much as I was. Have a great week everyone and thanks for reading! 

True Love

Happy Monday everyone!

I'm a little late on this post because of all the studying I've been doing for my Physiology class so please forgive me. However, I wanted to post a little something special about the man in my life. Matthew and I celebrated one year of our relationship together July 11th. It was so special. He surprised me first by taking me to downtown Chicago and then we went to Navy Pier. I love Navy Pier because it is full of so many different restaurants and vendors to look at and, of course, the huge Ferris Wheel! Next we took a mid-day cruise in Lake Michigan which was super fun. The water was beautiful and the sunshine made everything so perfect. After the cruise, we went to the Art Institute on Michigan Avenue and looked at all the interesting exhibits. I ended up getting home pretty late, but it was totally worth it. Matthew planned an amazing date for our one year anniversary and I was definitely surprised. I loved getting to spend the whole day with my love! 

Matthew is my best friend and I am so continually blessed to be with a man like him. His love for God is what makes our relationship work because it is our common ground to stand on. With God's love as our foundation our relationship will continue to grow. Here are some photos from the past year of our growing relationship. 

This is a photo from the Spirit Cruise. As you can see, the city of Chicago is beautiful. Every season brings out something more unique about it. 

What's funny about this picture is that we didn't really mean to match. Matthew's shirt was actually red but appeared pink in these photos my sister took of us.

This photo completely describes our relationship! We are such a goofy couple. 

Us matching in ORU shirts! This was another random matching day. 

My sister took this photo of us over spring break when we went downtown to the Ritz Carlton with some friends. 

This was from our trip downtown with my family around Christmas time taken in the Water Tower by the beautiful trees. 

Making our first gingerbread house which turned out looking pretty good despite the huge mess we made. 

This photo and the next two were taken last summer at the start of our relationship. Matthew's cousin, Alicia, took them and she is so talented. This was such a fun day! 

It has been such a blessed year and I just wanted to take the time to mention this amazing man. I love you Matthew! 

I hope you enjoyed reading this today! This week I will be busy preparing for a test on Thursday so I am not sure how often I will be able to post. I am still planning on talking about something that's been on my heart this week and possibly a recipe Friday, however, so definitely stop by to check those out! Have a great day everybody!