The majority of my time between now and the last time I posted has been used for school finals and research papers. Since school ended about a month ago though, I have been working at Chick-fil-a about 20 hours a week. The rest of the time I've basically been watching Netflix. And reading a little. And going to Panama City.
Speaking of Panama City, we recently got back from a 3-day trip down there. It was sooooo lovely. I could have spent the whole month of May down there. We decided to get a condo this time and it was THE BOMB.
We were on the 22nd floor. That's second from the very top. It was pretty righteous. It also made me feel a bit queasy looking down from our balcony. The best part was that we could go down the elevator to the first floor and literally walk around a corner straight to the beach. The ocean was our front yard. (I'm not trying to make you jealous...really.)
I think my favorite part was walking down to the edge of the ocean at night and rubbing the sand until it sparked. My sister showed us how to rub the wet sand really fast, and something about the sun on the sand during the day made it spark at night when you rub it. I'm not sure why. Something about science. (I'm an English major. Sorry.)
My other favorite part was doing a Bible study one morning on our balcony. The constant, cool breeze and the rich words of the Bible were both physically and spiritually refreshing. I listened to some Chris Tomlin and Sovereign Grace while looking out at the vast ocean which our God holds in His hands. It was truly awesome and wonderful.
I started reading Sense and Sensibility while I was down there. I have made it to chapter 9 so far. If you know me at all, you will mark that as quite an accomplishment. I'm a very slow reader (and an English major....? That was a good life decision on my part).
I also started reading Because He Loves Me by Elyse Fitzpatrick. I'm so excited to get started on this book because several people have told me that they love it! My dear friend Kimmy (who also works with me at CFA) is going to go through it with me. I'll keep this blog updated with how that study is going as we continue through it.
I also started reading Because He Loves Me by Elyse Fitzpatrick. I'm so excited to get started on this book because several people have told me that they love it! My dear friend Kimmy (who also works with me at CFA) is going to go through it with me. I'll keep this blog updated with how that study is going as we continue through it.
My daily Bible readings recently got more frequent. During this last semester of school, I really slacked on doing any sort of daily devotionals. I kept telling myself that I would make up for it as soon as school was over because then I would have nothing to do and could spend more time on it. But when Summer finally hit I suddenly had all the time in the world and had no idea what to do with it (I'm sure some of you can relate to that as well). It was one of those times when I knew I could do so many things but couldn't decide which thing to do. Often times Bible reading was at the bottom of the list. Being at the beach away from home, away from social media (mostly), and away from work gave me a desire to sort of "begin anew" and use the time beneficially. That was when I started reading Because He Loves Me. At first I really didn't want to read it and almost put it down because it was sort of boring, but God is faithful and His Word always has a way of convicting you of sin and re-kindling a desire for God and a hunger for the Word. It usually doesn't happen all at once for me, but after reading through some verses Elyse Fitzpatrick put in her book and praying to God I felt refreshed and excited about meditating on Him and His promises. It's pretty easy to be reminded of how amazing He is when there is a bright blue and green ocean stretched out in front of you with manta rays swimming in the clear, shallow water near the beach. (okay, maybe I'm trying to make you a little jealous....only a tiny bit. ;)
God is great and always faithful, even when I am faithless and fail to abide by His Word. Something I heard in a John Piper sermon recently was that we should not only read but SWIM in God's Word every single day. There is such richness and beautiful truth and comfort in those verses that I cannot express. It tells us how we can glorify God the most, and that is the best knowledge anyone can have. We were created for glorifying God, the ocean was created to glorify God, the trees and the sand and the sky were created to glorify God, and all the seasons (including summer) were created to glorify God. Remember and be encouraged, my friends. Use this summer to glorify our merciful God to the best of your ability. Don't get too caught up watching Netflix like I have. ;) Let's try to make the best possible use of our time.
God is great and always faithful, even when I am faithless and fail to abide by His Word. Something I heard in a John Piper sermon recently was that we should not only read but SWIM in God's Word every single day. There is such richness and beautiful truth and comfort in those verses that I cannot express. It tells us how we can glorify God the most, and that is the best knowledge anyone can have. We were created for glorifying God, the ocean was created to glorify God, the trees and the sand and the sky were created to glorify God, and all the seasons (including summer) were created to glorify God. Remember and be encouraged, my friends. Use this summer to glorify our merciful God to the best of your ability. Don't get too caught up watching Netflix like I have. ;) Let's try to make the best possible use of our time.
