Cue the Christmas Music

I feel so omni-present lately with the blogging, mostly due to me actually being able to relax a little bit and spend some much needed quality time with my family.  I truly am grateful that I have been able to spend some time with them, even though it is only for a week.

What I'm grateful for most is the fact that I do not have to do the dishes while I'm home, I feel like such an honored guest!  Anyways, now that Thanksgiving is completed, and black Friday is over (praise the Lord), as consumers we can put all of our focus and energy on Christmas, because that's what Christmas is about right?  Seeing how many boxes can be stuffed under the tree for whiny and ungrateful children. I'm not saying I'm perfect, because even at my best I whine a lot, which is not something I'm proud of, but I give it darnedest to keep the main thing the main thing during the Christmas season.  Jesus coming to this earth as an innocent and beautiful baby all because God gave us His perfect gift.

As I'm writing this Oh Holy Night is playing on my radio station thus making this seem more poetic than it probably is, but I would like to challenge you, my reader, to keep your focus not on the list of things that you receive, not the exact items you give people, but the heart that you had when you were able to bless a loved one.  I challenge you to focus on the pain and joy that God had while He blessed His people with the perfect gift that would ultimately bring everlasting life.

Confessions,
Chaleigh

Never Skipped a Beat

Well, where to start.  I haven't blogged in a few days because there has been so much hustle and bustle and its not even Christmas yet!  A few weeks ago, I decided it would be a wonderful idea to skip all of my classes on Monday and leave a whole day early for Thanksgiving break, all just to surprise my parents.  Amazingly, it worked out without a hitch and nowhere along the lines did anyone leak the secret.  I was able to get home Monday night around 4:30pm without any problems.  It was such a blessing for me to be able to spend time with my family, even if it was just a few hours different than me leaving at a different time.

This brings me to tonight.  I was able to make plans with two of my best friends since we were all in the area at the same time.  We went to the local Mexican restaurant and I gorged myself on homemade tortilla chips, amazing pork enchiladas, and margarita's... Don't worry, they were so virgin they should have been named Mary.  ;)  It was so nice to be able to be reunited with two of my three close friends from home, and have it feel like we haven't skipped a beat since I left for school.  One of my friends said "that's a sign of a good friendship, when you can pick up where you leave off without it being weird."  I think this is so true, and applicable to our relationships with Christ.  It doesn't matter how many times we go astray, or just 'forget' to have our quiet time with God, we can always go back to Him and pick up right where we left off.  There have been so, so, so many times where I feel as though I have let God down with my personal relationship with Him, but every time that I come back His grace is evermore abounding!  It drowns me like an ocean wave, like the ones that you don't see coming and it just hits you from behind.  Confession, I really feel like I'm being convicted as I'm writing this because I know that my walk with Christ is not as good as it could be, or should be, but I do know that His "grace abounds in deepest waters, [His] sovereign hand will be my guide"(Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) Lyrics).

Confessions,

Chaleigh

"Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) Lyrics." HILLSONG UNITED LYRICS. A-Z Lyrics. Web. 26 Nov. 2014.

Highs and Lows of Going to a Christian College

As I was pondering today, I was thinking of how amazing of a place I am able to call my temporary home in Salem, OR.  The fact that I can go to Corban University, where I am surrounded by amazing Christian people, and worship the One True God while getting a solid education baffles me!  God has provided me with so many opportunities that I could never begin to repay.  Some of the perks of going to a Christian school is being able to find people to agree with you, and pray with you about hard decisions that you are having to make, like what food you are going to eat in Aarmark.  Even though there are so many highs that come with going to a Christian University, there are also some lows.  My best friend from home, who is attending Oregon State University, was sharing with me about the opportunity she had to share the gospel with some people in her hall.  She shared with me that there is a girl from Sweden who asked her some hard questions about Christianity, and her faith, and it really tested her thinking.  Mostly because she had to translate her thoughts into something a foreigner could comprehend.  So, one of the lows that comes with coming to a Christian school is not having as many opportunities to minister and share God's light that is shining through you.  Confession, I was pretty jealous when my friend was telling me all of the opportunities that she has had to minister to people on her campus.  I think that even though I do have somewhat of a limitation, I can still put myself into different situations where I am forced to interact with non-Believers and share God's sovereignty with them.  I guess what I am trying to say is that we should not be limited by our circumstances because the instant that we believe that there are those fake walls around our life, that is the same instant that we fall captive to the negative thinking that the devil tries to soil our brains with.

Confessions,
Chaleigh

Weekend Love

What do Christian college students do on the weekend?  Since a picture is worth 1,000 words, here's one to sum it up.  Dutch run, then come back to start on homework, then have one of your amazing friends go to the store and buy junk food.  I'm going to keep this short and sweet today, because that's how my temper is running.  Because this is a blog about my confessions, I'm confessing that I ate 2.5 croissant rolls, a handful of salt and vinegar chips, a half of a package Red Vines, and two Ghirardelli chocolate squares.  All smothered in Nutella spread!  I'm not ashamed of it either!  Praise the Lord that I am an athlete because I would weigh 1,000lbs. by now if I didn't workout.

Confessions,
Chaleigh

The Not-So-Typical Cinderella Story

After having a pretty good conversation with one of my friends, (we might have been talking about boys), we decided to watch a movie instead of doing homework.  While looking at her shelf of DVD's I noticed a series of Cinderella stories.  Without a second thought I grabbed all three of them and said "lets go!"  About 20 minutes into the movie I realized how much of a unrealistic expectation this story can be for some girls.  The expectation that we are to meet our 'prince charming' and fall in love with him while in high school is unrealistic beyond belief.  Heck, at times it feels unrealistic that I will find someone even in college!  But then I thought of Cinderella in a different light.  Because God is our one true King, we are designed to be His princess.  We are in a world where we are constantly being ridiculed and told that we need to act a certain way, or look a certain way, kind of like a world full of ugly step-sisters.  God is our prince charming, and should be the only thing that can captivate our attention and take our hearts.

I know, some of you might be thinking 'what about my future husband?  Shouldn't he be able to captivate our attention and take our heart?'  Essentially this is what needs to happen, we need to be so love-struck by God that the man we were designed to marry should be on about the same level.  He should have loved God so much that he learned how to love woman because of it.  I think of it two different ways.  As women, we should be running a marathon, at full force, toward the heart of God.  The man that is able to keep up with us, pursue us, and ultimately cary us when we become weak, is worth marrying.  The other analogy that I like to use is a triangle.  Put God at the top part of the triangle, you on one corner, and the man on the other corner.  You will only be able to love your spouse through God, and your spouse will only be able to love you through God.

I hope all of this makes sense!

Confessions,
Chaleigh

#TheStruggleIsReal

So today as I walked in late to my Macro Economics class, I already knew that I would not be enjoying my day.  I can tell you right now, its not a smart idea to take Macro at 8am.  Just bad.  As my professor began class I pulled out my computer to take notes, as I usually do, but from the look of the slides, there wasn't anything important going on.  So, what is my first reaction to getting bored in class?  That's right!  My Facebook tab opens right up.  For some reason I felt really compelled by doing this.  Something tugged in the depths of my stomach saying "don't do it."  I wanted to write this and sorta discusses it on here.  I'm not 100% sure why I felt that way, maybe because I'm already failing the class and I should pay better attention.  In Hebrews 13:17 it says "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account.  Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you."  I think that the context of this verse might have been the reason that I felt the way I did.  Obey and listen to your leaders, because they are looking for your best interest.  I know for a fact that this is not being portrayed in the correct way in our society.  time after time I see children and young adults alike being extremely rude to their elders, and it sickens my stomach.  I don't want to run out to be one of those people.  Ia am going to make it amy commitment for the next week to not get onto Facebook/Instagram while in class.  There is no reason for it and it is extremely rude to my professors.  

Confessions, 
Chaleigh

Plans to Give You a Hope and a Future

Jeremiah 29:10-14  "This is what the Lord says: 'when seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place.  For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you,' declares the Lord, 'and will bring you back from captivity.  I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,' declares the Lord, 'and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.'"

Jeremiah 29:11 has become a very well known verse, especially around the time that you get into your senior year of high school.  Everyone comes up to you and says 'so, where are you going to school and what do you want to do with your life?'  Frankly, you just want to shout from the rooftop 'I DON'T KNOW!!!!!  PROBABLY NOWHERE AND NOTHING IF I HEAR THAT QUESTION ONE MORE TIME!'  I would not be surprised if somewhere down the road I have a friend confront me about my behavior during my senior year of high school, and say '...remember when you did...'  The reason I am telling you all this is to identify with you.  Yes, God says that He knows the plans He has for us, promises to prosper us and not to harm us, but at times we just think God forgets...  How could the God of the universe remember who I am.  There are so many other problems going on in this world, and the lives of others, how could He have time to tell me what college I am supposed to go to?  Confession: He is trying to tell you.  You just aren't listening.  The biggest part of my testimony was when I was able to see the Glory and Goodness of our God.  I told God, open the doors you want open for me, and shut the ones you don't want me to go through.  I needed a simple concise answer from God.  The sermon at youth group that same night was learning to be still... and listen...  I wish I could make an audio of this for you because I would insert a dramatic three second pause (which I'm learning about in my speech class ;) ), but in all seriousness, you really have to learn when to tone-down, pipe-down, quit talking, quit thinking, and listen to God's voice.  I can here you right now 'Chaleigh, I try to listen but I don't know how.'  Well, thank you for being honest.  I didn't know how either.  It was a learning process for me, and I had many struggles along the way.  The biggest ways that God communicates with us is through prayer and through His word, but there are other ways to connect too.  I learned that the biggest way that I make a connection with God is through worship, and fully surrendering my heart to Him through acts of obedience.

You might be wondering why I underlined a part of the verse up at the top, I want to discuss this a little bit too.  As Jeremiah 29:11 becomes so popular, which is a good thing, we have a tendency to forget about the rest of the verse.  To me, this part, verse 12-14, is amazingly important.  "Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you..."  It starts off with 'then' this usually means that there is something that you must do after you receive your blessing.  God is blessing us by giving us hope for our future, then... we must call upon His name and pray to Him, then He will listen.  Seek him whole heartedly, then you will find Him.  The word 'then' is killing me today.  Like, seriously guys!  We need to clean our room then we can have a cookie.  Complete your entire work shift then you'll get your paycheck.  These are examples of the order of operation.  Funny thing is, if you notice, we don't have to do anything on the first part.  Let me show you what I mean.

"For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you."

We do not have to do anything here, all we have to do is follow His command here.

I hope this inspires you as much as it did me.

Confessions,
Chaleigh

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

If I could tell you that taking the stairs up to the gym, from Aagard, is the easiest thing that I have done while at college, I would be lying to you.  If I told you that Aarmark's food was amazing, I would be lying to you.  If I said that all of the homework was a breeze, I would be lying to you.  If I told you that I survived my freshman year without having a 'middle school' crush on a guy, I would be lying to you.

I embarked on my college journey just three short months ago, and boy has it flown by.  At times, my brain cannot fathom how fast it has gone, yet when I look back I remember all of the great memories I have made thus far.  With Thanksgiving break approaching quickly its given me some time to sit back and think upon what God has done in my life as well as the lives around me.  I have been able to hear all of the amazing testimonies of how God paved the way financially for students to come here, or how God had redeemed them from sexual sin, or even how God kept them far away from those temptations!  Praise the Lord for testimonies!  In Revelation 12:11 it says "And they have conquered him [the devil] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death."  Because of the things that other people have gone through, and the sharing of those stories, we are able to shed light into the darkest places of our lives and overcome the devil.

I would be lying to you if I said that God hasn't done anything significant in my life, but I will save that story for another time.

Confessions,
Chaleigh