It's the day after Christmas but...

Well. Christmas 2014 has officially passed. But guess what? I'm still in the Christmas mindset. Oops. It always makes me sad when people so quickly move away from this magical season. If we're gonna start building up to it in October we might as well enjoy it for at least the entire month of December, am I right?
Anyways, I have a confession. This year has not felt like christmas at all. The most un-christmasy I have felt in a long, long time...if not ever. I've tried so desperately to immerse myself in all things christmas but for some reason the dots just did not connect this year. Real talk, my life has felt so congested these past few months. Especially the past few weeks. November was just busy and full of changes.  December was stressful and dominated by all sorts of relationships. Every where I looked there seemed to be questions and it felt like I was expected to have all the answers. So yeah, this christmas was not filled with the usual obscene amount of christmas movies and christmas music playing 24/7...but still, reflecting on this christmas season, I can see the Lord's handprints sprinkled throughout it. That's one of the beautiful things about our God is it not? Even when we feel farthest and most out of touch, He is still there. He is always there. He never left. There were moments when I would be overwhelmed and, quite literally in a couple cases, brought to tears by the sheer beauty of the gift that our savior is.
The one resounding theme throughout my christmas season seemed to be "God is with us." This thought would just pop up in the middle of me thinking about my problems. It would be spoken by a youth pastor or in a song and would catch my attention. I fully believe that God himself was putting it in my path. He wants me to chew on the magnitude of the gift that is him giving us a Savior, a Fixer, that was and is with us. Who is among us. Who met us where we were in our brokenness and who continues to do so every single day. Our Emmanuel reaches down and scoops us into His loving arms. He never stops reaching for us. He always meets us where we are because he is with us. That is the gift that we wait for and find rest, peace, joy and celebration in each Christmas.
So in these wee hours of the morning after December 25th, 2014, I am still here. I am waiting here at my own personal manger. My own mess, my own brokenness...and I am waiting for the gift of my Fixer. I am waiting here, knees bent, arms reaching out, smiling because of the relentless hope and endless joy that my Emmanuel promises me not just yesterday, but today, tomorrow, and every single moment following.
I leave you with the lyrics of a classic christmas hymn, Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee. This past christmas season was the first time I have ever soaked in these lyrics. They brought me to tears. I pray them. I sang them to Jesus...and I will continue doing so as long as my heart aches for the same thing this song begs for.1 Joyful, joyful, we adore You,

God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flow'rs before You,
Op'ning to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness;
Drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness,
Fill us with the light of day!

All Your works with joy surround You,
Earth and heav'n reflect Your rays,
Stars and angels sing around You,
Center of unbroken praise;
Field and forest, vale and mountain,
Flow'ry meadow, flashing sea,
Chanting bird and flowing fountain
Praising You eternally!

Always giving and forgiving,
Ever blessing, ever blest,
Well-spring of the joy of living,
Ocean-depth of happy rest!
Loving Father, Christ our Brother,
Let Your light upon us shine;
Teach us how to love each other,
Lift us to the joy divine.

 Mortals, join the mighty chorus,
Which the morning stars began;
God's own love is reigning o’er us,
Joining people hand in hand.
Ever singing, march we onward,
Victors in the midst of strife;
Joyful music leads us sunward
In the triumph song of life.

54. Buy something from etsy

Well folks, I have officially crossed off my first 101 in 1001 goal! I am SOO excited about it! 

My first goal completed was big ole number 54, or (for those who haven't memorized my list), buying something from Etsy! Yes, I started with simple, but yes I also started with ADORABLE! 

My first purchase from the whimsical land of Etsy was a phone case from MonogramStyles. I LOVE it! Y'all her cases are so cute and girly and super customizable! (And cheap for all you teenagers out there!) 

So without further ado, here is my new favorite thing to stare at!! 

Seek

Seeking 

            God longs for us to seek him. This glorious maker that can move mountains, that designed the starry skies, that can name every hair on every one of our bodies, wants to lavish us in his love (1 John 3:1 NIV). He wants us, he has called us his masterpieces (Ephesians 2:10 NLT), his bride(Isaiah 62:5 NIV).However, because we have free will, we aren’t forced into an active relationship. We aren’t forced to pursue him. We aren’t even forced to like him. And he’s used to rejection, his people have turned their faces and their attention from his loving pursuit time and time again. Yet he is never far from us, he is always there, he is always holding our hand (Isaiah 42:6 ESV). He always wants our attention to be on him, our devotion to be in looking for his face.

            Because we have confessed our love for him, because of our recognition of his son as our one and only savior, because we have confessed our sins to him and he has forgiven them, we should seek him.

            To seek means to actively pursue, to continually strive for, and to ask for. In fact God is the ultimate pursuer, he has taught us what it means to continually seek. He has shown us what seeking is from seeking out Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden after they ate from the tree of knowledge to pursuing every one of his children’s hearts by sending his only son to make a way for us so that we may bring Him glory.  Seeking God is a natural part of our relationship and walk with our loving and sovereign maker.

            There are 5 main reasons for seeking,  pursuing, striving for, or asking for our God.

1.     He wants us to, so that we can be with him and praise him for all of his glory- His word makes it clear over and over again that he wants us to seek him.

1 Chronicles 16:11: Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!

Acts 17:26-27:  And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us. (ESV)

2.     Seeking Him is part of our repentance for our sins- By turning from our mistakes we show that we truly want to be as focused on him as possible.

2 Chronicles 7:14: If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. (ESV)

3.     He promises to reward us with answers and truths- Maybe my favorite part about God is that he sees us in all of our yuckiness, and yet he is still holding our hands through it all (Isaiah 42:6). He is still pursuing us as his brides. As our bridegroom he wants to be our help, no matter what is causing us pain. He promises us that if we just ask for him, just look for him, he will reveal his presence to us. He will show up with a fist full of truths and our hearts will be joyful because of it!!

Jonah 2:2: Saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.

Jeremiah 33:3: Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it—the Lord is his name: Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. (ESV)

 

Questions:

1.     When do you feel closest to God?

2.     What can you do to bring yourself closer to him?

3.     Do you seek God, even in the middle of tough times?

Challenge: 

The next time you are upset, instead of turning your face down and away from God, turn your face up towards Him and your future home and ask him for his comfort to pursue his presence.

Chosen and faithful

     I am a teenager. I am easily persuaded. I am young. I am nïave. I am moldable. I am evolving. I am exposed to more choices constantly. So what is my rock? What is there to help me through the countless decisions life throws at me? I mean y'all, life is flat out HARD sometimes. Sometimes it even feels impossible to come out on top. So do you want the Sunday school, short and sweet, easy answer? Our help is Jesus. 

     How can that become more real? Don't get me wrong, Jesus is enough and He is the answer, but just saying "Jesus" doesn't seem to adequately explain the realness that name holds to this stubborn heart. I mean when you're faced with decisions, real life, hard decisions, just saying "Jesus" doesn't always give you a solution. 

     What if the root of the problem isn't "coming out on top"? (Let's be real, sometimes our version of "on top" or success isn't what God's plan for us is.) What if the real struggle begins with what we ultimately want to accomplish with the success? What we want the "ding ding ding" or the gold star to mean. Do we want it to mean "Hey look how much Jesus shows His face through this"? Or what about "Gosh don't you just want to praise our maker now for that showcase of His love?" I feel like more often than not, these aren't the reactions we're seaking when we're pleading for an answer. We aren't seeking out Jesus, we aren't trying to make Him known, we aren't being faithful to what His mission is for us. More often than not, especially as teenagers, the answer we're seeking is acceptance. It's inclusion. It's respect. It's envy. That's the enemy in us, urging us to choose popularity over kindness, to choose deceitfulness over love. 

     Guess what I love about Jesus though? He IS NOT surprised! He already knew we would make the choices we make. He already had a plan of action. He used his blood to wash us clean and as he took those final nails he thought of us and our yucky hearts. He read our minds because he made our minds! 

     He gave us a specific piece of encouragment and gentle reminding for these struggles. "They will go to war against the Lamb but the Lamb will defeat them, proof that he is Lord over all lords, King over all kings, and those with him will be the called, chosen, and faithful.” (Revelation 17:12-14 MSG). He's constantly helping us. He is our help. He has always been, and He will always be our stronghold. And you know what else? At the end of the day, when our help comes back to rescue us, He will NOT call us "popular" or "deceitful". He will call us "chosen" and "faithful". 

     So i pray that that be my guide and your guide. Your new Sunday school answer for whatever the world has to throw your way, for whatever the enemy tries to whisper in your ear. Our loving and almighty father will not call us by our earthly "accomplishments". Instead, he will call us by what He longs for us to be, chosen and faithful. 

101 in 1001

      Have you ever heard of the 101 in 1001 challenge? Yes? Okay good, so I don't need to explain to you that it is basically a bucket list that is to be completed in 1001 days. Sweet. Well I have managed to somehow pick 101 random goals of mine that seemed doable with in the next 143 weeks. (Please don't judge me if I fail.) 

Side note: I love reading through different people's list because I feel like is shows a glimpse of who they are, or who they want to be. These lists reveal a little piece of people's hearts and dreams, and I love seeing people's hearts (no thanks to the literal image though) so these lists are right up my alley! 

     So, in the next 24024 (1001 days, in case you haven't caught on by now) this is a piece of what I'll be dreaming to accomplish! 

Start date: June 25th, 2014 

End date: March 22nd, 2017 

1. Ride a horse

2. Go surfing 

3. Hike part of the app trail

4. Swim in Pacific Ocean 

5. Go to California 

6. See all national parks 

7. Road trip across west 

8. Go to every state

9. Spend a summer as a park ranger

10. Go to Greece 

11. Go to Spain 

12. Go watch college sand volleyball tournament 

13. Study abroad

14. Spend more than a week doing missions 

15. Start a small group 

16. Read whole bible 

17. Go to Ireland 

18. Cook through a cook book 

19. Follow an ab routine for a whole month 

20. Spend a New Years Eve in NYC 

21. Go backpacking 

22. go hunting 

23. Go to Passion City Church

24. Go to Elevate church (again) 

25. Print out Europe pictures 

26. Make a scrapbook 

27. Sew a skirt

28. Sew a dress 

29. Sew a shirt

30. Take a painting lesson 

31. Pet a giraffe

32. Go to Uganda 

33. Get a legit Chaco tan line 

34. Paint a piece of furniture 

35. Start envelop system 

36. Make bread 

37. Decorate a room with only ikea furniture

38. Do a bible study on Hebrews 

39. Buy full pack of sharpies

40. Buy a Vera Bradley tote 

41. Watch sunrise over ocean

42. Watch sunset over ocean 

43. Go to Hawaii 

44. Do a national geographic adventure 

45. Read a Beth moore book 

46. Buy every movie off my wanted movie list 

47. Go to a luau 

50. Phone free weekend 

51. Drive up California coast 

52. ALASKA; explore it 

53. Build something 

54. Buy something from etsy 

55. Sell something on etsy 

56. Get a legit camera 

57. Go through memory boxes 

58. See northern lights 

59. Go snorkeling

60. Go cage diving with sharks 

61. Do a random acts of kindness birthday 

62. Cut someone's hair 

63. Organize pinterest boards 

64. Print out old Facebook pictures 

65. Organize apple files 

66. Fill a journal with prayers  

67. Be a counselor at a Christian camp 

68. Organize my Jesus materials 

69. Keep up with my journals 

70. Buy someone's meal randomly 

71. Take a calligraphy class 

72. Go snow skiing 

73. Go snow boarding 

74. Start a Christmas oranment collection from different places i travel to 

75. Start a decor collection from different places i travel to and somehow label them 

76. Make a travel bucket list 

77. Compete in a half marathon 

78. Compete in a road race 

79. Coach volleyball 

80. Start a healthy habit 

81. Get a Kureg 

82. Make crepes 

83. Plan a trip 

84. Get a new pair of toms 

85. Start a link up 

86. Write letters to my future children 

87. Write letters to my future husband 

88. Be in a wedding 

89. Take a spontaneous road trip 

90. Take a spontaneous plane trip 

91. Ride in a hot air balloon 

92. Get a LaRoque dress

93. Get a seersucker swimsuit 

94. Do a selfie-a-day month 

95. Study my grandparents lives 

96. Travel to a country i had previously never heard of 

97. Go to a country with no prior plans made 

98. Go to Greenville 

99. Play hooky 

100. Make plans for my future house 

101. Bring someone to Jesus 

I can't wait to see what this list looks like on March 22nd, 2017! 

If I Were A Boy...

Living in the here & now

Well hey bloggedy-blog world! It's nice to meet you. I'm Louisa, aka lover  of Jesus, hot weather, the color green, anything with polka dots, pretty quotes, and chocolate milkshakes. I'm a born and raised South Carolina girl, where the grass is green and the skies are almost as big as people's hearts around here. Another fun fact about me, I LOVE reading blogs. It's one of my favorited past times. In fact, I love reading blogs so much that my boyfriend asked me to prom over my favorite one!! I'll have to tell y'all about a few of my favorites later.
Anyways, this blog seemed only natural for me to make, considering how much I love reading blogs. I thought something along the lines of "Hey, I want to do that too!". The more I thought about it the more perfect it seemed, especially at this time in my life. I am about to begin my senior year of high school, I'm living my last year at home, I'm standing at the footstep of the beginning of my adult life. So this blog will serve as a way to document my memories, my laughs, my hardships, my thoughts, the different seasons of my life. I think it also serve as a way to help me appreciate the here & now (hence the title). One day when I go back and read through these posts, it'll hopefully highlight just how much Jesus has worked through my life. Y'all that's my first confession here; I so want Jesus to work through me. As my favorite hymn , Come Thou Fount, says, I want Him to take my heart and seal it. 

So, there it is. There's the game plan. And here comes my life.