Isaiah 58:9-10

"If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday."

As I was doing my FUEL for tonight (a guided bible study our youth group is doing together) this scripture was part of what we were supposed to read. It seemed to jump off the page at me and get me really thinking. There are so many of us who claim to be Christians and do God's work, yet seem to only stay within the confines of the four walls of the church. Now, I know God calls each of us to be used for Him in different ways, but do we sometimes hide behind that when we encounter the people that God is talking about in this passage? Do we hide behind our deeds towards the "perfect church service" when we come across someone in need right in front of us on the street corner?

It seems that throughout scripture God tells us, either through prophets in the OT or from Jesus' own lips in the NT, to reach out a hand to those in need. I think many have heard this call and have embraced it fully, but I also think a lot of us miss it- especially those of us who have been churched our whole lives. I know that I have become quite content with my pew-sitting self in the past and have often turned a deaf ear to the cry of those in need because I'm a good, tithe-paying, song-singing, Bible-quizzing Nazarene girl.

Its not enough to simply live a life of a good church-goer. I've felt God's tug on my heart to do more than simply be a good Christian girl who stays within those four walls of the sanctuary. While the church community is vital to our walk with God because of its fellowship and accountability, I think that what is beyond the front doors is something we can't forget about. God is calling us to step out of our comfort zone and listen to the voice of the oppressed.

Listen and act and your days will be filled with a wonderful light that can only come from God. :)

Catching up,

Well, the past two weeks have been one of the most eventful weeks of my life! I had two major things going on: Lip Sync and Exec. Elections for SGA.

I will spare you all the boring details about no sleep, skipping a few classes at the end, and having my every second pretty much planned out and cut to the chase. I won for my position of Office Administrator for SGA, and Lip Sync is done! I can't really comment on the success of the event, mainly because I'm my own worst critic, but besides that, I heard it was received well.

The most exciting thing about it all is how I handled everything. I was... to my surprise, really calm all week. That's not common in my life when I have a lot going on. I tend to be SUPER stressed about even the littlest of things! All I can say is that God was with me in a very REAL way this week, and He gave me a sense of calm and joy that can only come from Him!

Man, life is good, and I am so very thankful for all the Lord has done in my life. He has given me so many blessings, and one of them is a loving circle of family and friends who have encouraged and embraced me when I need it the most.

I'm just so thankful...