I think I will post on this site again soon.

Stay Tuned.

My Secret: Not Alone

Unveiled is coming soon.  There will be a slide in chapel and folks visiting section devos in the very near future. 

I'll go ahead and give you a little synopsis.  We're going to have it during finals week as kind of a break from study and stress.  There have been boxes in the dorms and quads for you girls to put secrets in and Unveiled is going to hinge off of those secrets.  We all have our secrets and the things that weigh us down that we carry around.  These things make us feel alone.  Unveiled wants to take those secrets and make something beautiful of them: show that we identify with one another's struggles, secrets, hurts and humiliations...that we are not alone. 

This time of year a lot of people feel alone.  Where am I going from here?  What will next semester be like?  What does the summer hold?  We're all getting ready to start a new chapter.  Freshmen will come back in the fall and their circle of friends will change drastically.  Sophomores and Juniors are changing roommates and changing living situations.  Seniors are either saying "will i ever graduate" or "what the heck do i do now that i've graduated".  Everyone goes their own ways for the summer.  What's important to remember though, is that we are not alone.  We are the bride of Christ and what does a bride always have surrounding her?  Bridesmaids.  Reach for one another and let yourself be reached.

Let's end the disconnect between women on this campus (and everywhere!). 

Let it be a secret no longer: You Are Not Alone!

Life is weird right now.  It seems to be in one of those slow, valley places for a lot of people.  The sky is gray outisde and seems to be kind of looming and it feels quite appropriate. 

Why do we do this to ourselves?  Yes, life gets rough sometimes, but why do we choose to dwell on it?  When we hit a low period we bring up everything bad that has happened to us in our whole lives and start--maybe not throwing a pity party--but letting the bad times define how we act and how we think; we let the bad times define us. Why do we think that this makes us feel better?  What lie did satan tell us at the beginning of time that made us think that feeling bad feels good?  How did we get convinced of that?  I do it, too.  I mope and whine and dwell on things because it feels good to feel bad--but feeling genuinely good (or not even genuinely good) feels soooo much better!!!!  It's a matter of changing our attitude.  If something makes us sad or depressed, why think about it 24/7?  Yes it creeps back into your mind unconsciously and you can't help that--so make a conscious effort to think of something else!!! Dwell on whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy--it's right there in Philippians: God doesn't want us to dwell on the sucky things in life.  We need to change our attitudes--we need to change our approach to life--we need to suck it up and pull ourselves up out of the dirt and stop believing the lies about feeling bad, the lies that satan tells us about our past, our future, our present, our souls, our purity, our worth.  Stop looking at each other through Satan's eyes: "that person sucks at that" "i wonder what they're thinking about me, probably something bad" "that girl's a bitch" "my life sucks" "why am i here" "what's the point"

I know changing your attitude isn't just a simple task and it's easier for some people than others, but the point is that you have to WANT to change it or you'll make no progress.  Amber said it in her myspace blog a couple of days ago that just singing words to songs that praise God and lift him up and talk about how much you love him makes her feel closer to him.  The same goes for life.  Just trying to have a good attitude will eventually change your attitude.  I don't mean lie to people and say you're ok when you're not--that's not going to help either of you.  But look at things from a positive light even if it doesn't come naturally to you. "How are you?" "Life sucks, but i'm trying to get out of this slum." Something, anything that gives hope not only to you when you say it, but to others when they hear it.  maybe your honesty with a resolve to change it will inspire them.

This got really long and i'm sorry, but i think it's important. 

I was on a couple of people's sites and a few phrases jumped out at me: 'a glass can only spill what it contains'; '...glass half empty view and we forget to thank God that we have a glass at all'; 'psychologically enhanced troubles'.  these aren't verbatim, and are a little abstract on their own, but take them as you will.

Come, let us return to the Lord.
   He has torn us to pieces
   but he will heal us;
he has injured us
   but he will bind up our wounds.
After two days he will revive us;
   on the third day he will restore us,
   that we may live in his presence.
Let us acknowledge the Lord;
   let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
   he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
   like the spring rains that water the earth.

Hosea 6:1-3