Running the Race

As most of you know, on Saturday I ran a half marathon.

That is 13.1 miles people.

13.1 miles. 

I repeat.

13.1 miles.

5 months ago, I couldn’t even run 1 full mile, and that is not an exaggeration. 

And here I am, 5 months later, running 13. 

It’s insane. 

Most of you know that I am not an athletic person. Like at all. I don’t do physical activity unless I am forced, but running this race was my choice, and I was determined to do it from the start.  I heard about World Vision in May, and for some reason decided it was something that I wanted to do. (Don’t ask me why because I honestly don’t know)

I started following the running schedule, exercising multiple days a week, and I hated it, but I kept on going. 

It was a lot easier training in the summer because I could run whenever I wanted, but it got hard when school started because of homework and all the various other activities that come about. But somehow I still found the time to keep running. 

About one month ago, my mom decided she was going to run the race with me, because I did not want to run it by myself. My mom is like a mad exercise ninja, so it was no big deal for her. 

The race was hard. it was freezing outside, my body was aching, I was tired, and I literally had to go to the bathroom like every two miles, but I was determined to reach my goal of finishing in under 3 hours. And that’s exactly what we did!

It was exhilarating—having random strangers yelling for you, holding up really funny signs, giving you high fives, handing you water, etc. It was awesome seeing so many people running at the same time, and it was even cooler seeing so many people that you know running with you for the same cause. 

If you would have told me 6 months ago that I would be running a half marathon in October, I would have laughed in your face. I would have laughed so hard. But here I am. 

Our World Vision Team raised $200,000 just for this one race. I’m not sure if that’s a lot to them, but I still think it’s pretty cool! We raised enough money to give 4,000 children clean water for the rest of their lives—that’s huge!! 

It was so cool seeing so many people that I know and love come together to exceed their personal roadblocks and run for the Lord! And I am so glad I got to be a part of it.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Rescue

Speaker: Merle Mees

 Hmm..What is wrong with the world?

A lot. A whole lot. 

Is it the devil? Is it us? Is it others? What is it?

Let’s take a step back. 

If we are the problem, is it a heart issue? A mind issue? Or is it just the nature of our being? 

"The heart is the spring where life flows from.”

If our hearts are no good, then we are no good, because our heart is what makes us..us. 

Do we have pure hearts? Of course, we aren’t perfect,but a pure heart is what we should ultimately be striving for. 

A pure heart has one God and no idols. A pure heart does not speak poorly. 

But without God, our hearts are not pure at all. Our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked when we do not have God. 

So you see, there’s a lot of things wrong with the world. Our hearts, our minds, the devil, sin, crime, brokenness, deceit…and the list goes on and on and on. If we view humans as the problem with the world, then how do we fix ourselves?

But there’s good news…Great news!

…Are you ready??

JESUS IS THE RESCUE. 

Yes, that’s right. 

Jesus rescued us when he gave his life for us on the cross, and Jesus continues to rescue us every single day of our lives if we seek him through our troubles and problems. 

“You’re blessed when you get your inside world-your mind and heart-put right. Then you see God in the outside world.” Matthew 5:8

And when we live knowing that Jesus is our rescue, our constant, and our everything, then we are able to live completely for him, striving after a godly life, and having the heart and eyes of Christ. 

So how can we show the world that Jesus is the rescue? We are the body! We, living with Christ through us, are the rescue team!!

But how do we rescue? We must make a difference, and here’s some ways how:

1. Get right with your faith.
2. Stop judging, and accept people-sins are like skyscrapers. From the ground where we stand, all sins look different. But from the sky where God stands, they all look the same. 
3. LOVE EVERYONE-everyone burns differently. Everyone has different convictions. 
4. Representing Christ in your actions and words- If you don’t represent Christ, then how are you any different than the next person?
5. Being open to other people’s opinions
6. being kind
7. not being forceful or argumentative
8. Taking the heart and eyes of Christ- Faith not accompanied by actions is dead. 
9. having a good attitude
10. Being respectful
11. Being fruitful
12. Obeying rules
13. Making godly choices-You know something is bad when you are sinning and don’t feel guilty about it. Romans 12:1-2 "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."
14. Having a pure heart by 1. acknowledging the nature of your heart 2.Asking God to search your heart 3.Allowing God to change your heart, and 4.Actively guarding your heart.  Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?"
15. Be aware of yourself and your surrounds-Your heart has the capacity to do more evil than we care to admit
16. Having faith-Our whole faith is based on faith, not knowing. If our faith was based on knowing, then it wouldn’t be called faith. 

Thank you, Jesus, for your rescue!

Dude, Calm Down

Speaker: Brad Daniel

No matter how strong, devoted, or spiritually mature you are, you can’t grow fruit on your own-whether you think you can, or not. 

If we are living our lives with Christ, our lives should be fruity and phenomenal.

Our world today is a rush. Lots of school, lots of activities, lots of places to go and people to see. We hardly have any down time at all. We hardly get any rest because we are always going, going, going. 

And often times, when we find a break, we just want “peace and quiet”, and that peace and quiet is usually really nice. 

But peace isn’t just being quiet. Peace isn’t just being relaxed. 

When we have true peace from God, it allows us to engage with the turbulence we face because we know that God is with us. Peace is believing that all is well, even when the world says, “Hurry up and fix it.” But we must remember that we need peace. Peace is a fruit we need to grow. And the process of growing fruit is slow. 

Romans 12:18

If it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Matthew 11:28-30

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” 

Last night, week 3 of our Peeled series, we talked about peace and how peace relates to self control. Because no peace usually means no self control. 

But like peace, we often have a skewed view of self control. 

Self control is not just doing good things. It is learning to master our good AND bad personal desires and passions. 

Self control is surrendering your control over your life, and giving it to God.

Self control is the freedom to do what is right when you are under pressure and stress. 

We were asked, “What is your bigger better yes?”

When you are with your friends, tempted to do something that they are doing, stop and think:

What is my bigger better yes? 

Your bigger better yes is saying no to things that are not life-giving or fruitful or godly.

Maybe your bigger better yes is watching your language, controlling your temper, turning off your electronic device, or changing what you allow yourself to consume….whatever it is…say yes to what is bigger and better, even when it is hard. 

That is self control. 

When we are growing in Christ, our fruit should reach a point where it becomes good enough that those around us who are struggling can come and see and taste that God is good. All the time. 

1 Peter 1:5-7

5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

morethanapastor.com

Patience, Young Grasshopper

Speaker: Jared Mellema

Week one of our Peeled series, we discussed the fruit of patience. 

Fruit of the Spirit Quote:

“The moon gets its light from the Sun. So God, if you are the Sun, then make me the moon.”

Patience is something our world today lacks. Why? Because we have everything at the tip of our fingertips! We don’t have to wait for hardly anything!

We can have a new song in 20 seconds. 

We can have a new pair of shoes within two days. 

We can complete our homework on the Internet without waiting for the teacher to give the lesson…and we can even google all the answers to get them right! 

It’s kind of ridiculous. 

It has gotten to the point where patience has become counter-cultural. Patience is not normal anymore. Patience is rarely even expected. 

When we are able to get so many things at the touch of a button, we get the mindset that we don’t have to be patient for anything at all. 

But that is so wrong. Even when the world tells us that patience is not necessary, we still must remain patient.

For example:

We must be patient in our waiting for God to do His work in someone else’s life. 

We must be patient in waiting for God to work in our own lives. 

We must be patient in the waiting of God’s perfect timing for the plan He has for our lives. 

We must remain faithful in our waiting. 

Patience is waiting without worrying.

We also must be patient with others.Being patient in a world where patience is no longer attained can spark great conversation.

God is perfectly patient with us, therefore we should be patient with others. We must allow margins, allowances of grace, for other peoples failures. Just as Christ did for us. 

Patience towards others is giving grace when someone does you wrong, just as Christ did for you.

Exodus 14:14 I will fight for you, you must only be still.

thesweetestfragrance.com

The Vegetables of Evil

I'm Okay, so I have literally been promising myself every day for the past two weeks that I am going to do a blog post, and I just keep pushing it off. So I am now finally here!

We started this new series at church called “Peeled”, and it is about the fruits of the spirit. I am really loving it so far, so I figured it would be great to share! 

I remember in 7th grade, we talked about the Fruits of the Spirit. Our leader asked us what the opposite of the fruits of the spirit were, and I remember someone saying “The Vegetables of Evil…?” 

Not how I would have thought to put it…but basically they were right!

If we are spiritually alive, we should be living the fruits of the spirit every single day! Gentleness, kindness, goodness, love, peace, joy, faithfulness, patience, and self control. When you are spiritually alive, you have the power to resist temptation, because all desires of the flesh are against the holy spirit. 

“Do not  use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Watch out that you are not consumed by one another. Walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desire of the flesh. Those who are with Christ have crucified the desires of the flesh. Live by the spirit and keep in step with it.” Galatians 5:13-21

Everyone has their “strong fruits” and their “weak fruits”, but we must always continue to grow stronger in all of them. We may always have some fruits that we are a little better that than others, but if we are striving towards Christ, we should strive towards living out the fruits of the Spirit everyday, even if some of them are hard. 

It sounds so cliche, doesn’t it? But it’s so true!

If we do not bear fruit, how is anyone supposed to come to know Christ through us? If they don’t see the difference of Christ in us, they will never have the opportunity to ask questions! If we are following Christ, but we are not bearing fruit then how are we any different from the next person? 

If you love the Lord, you desire to live like Him. Jesus is a perfect example of how we should bear fruit every day. And if we desire to live like Him, that is exactly what we should be doing-in our actions, our choices, our words, and our every breath. 

Desire to live a life honorable to the Lord, living and loving as He loves us, seeing through His eyes, speaking His words of wisdom and compassion, and bearing the fruits of the spirit to a world full of the vegetables of evil. 

http://www.homedecoratingdiy.com/fruit-of-the-spirit-digital-diy-wall-art-graphics-of-galatians-522-scripture-quote-for-home-decoration-10-00-via-etsy

Mission Trip!

This past week, I had the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Ramah/ Pinehill/ Navajo Reservation in New Mexico. If you donated financially or through prayers and are reading this, thank you so much for helping me to have this opportunity!
This was my very first mission trip and I absolutely loved it!
I got to go with an amazing group of people. We shared so many laughs and prayers and great devotionals and a heart for Jesus! It was an amazing experience!

We flew to Albuquerque on Wednesday, and drove to Pinehill that night. We stopped at Pizza Hut for dinner and saw a couple of deer on the way there. It involved lots of long, twisty roads. We arrived at the staff houses and got settled and some sleep for the next day.

Thursday we helped get ready for their annual rodeo. We organized, cleaned, hung things up, painted, put up tents, moved chairs and tables, all kinds of exciting stuff! We also went to visit Pinehill High school, where we donated a lot of art supplies and got to meet some of the teachers and eat lunch with some of the students.

Friday was the first day of the rodeo/ carnival. The youth band played at the Gospel Fest where we got to worship with some amazing people! On Friday, I tried my first ever Navajo taco and some really really really amazing potato fries (carnival food is the bomb). On Friday night, we watched the bull riding and roping, which was really cool!  There was also a Miss Ramah Navajo pageant which I really enjoyed watching!

Saturday morning, we got to be a part of the annual parade, where we played worship music on the float for hundreds of people to see! It was AWESOME! Although, my throat hurt afterwards, it was totally worth it! We also had a booth set up at the carnival where kids and parents could come and play a dart game for free, and register for some awesome prizes we were going to give out. That night, I got to watch some traditional dancing which was pretty neat.

Throughout the weekend, I got toe meet a lot of cool people, pray with a lot of cool people, and serve with a lot of cool people.

Sunday morning before we left for the airport, we did a church service open to anyone. We worshipped and then whoever wanted to come up and speak got the chance. We discussed what love does, some shared testimonies, and some people from the reservation even came up and talked. It was definitely one of my favorite things that we did.

We left with lots of hugs, some tears, and a lot of new friends. This was one of the best experiences of my life. All I have to say is, if you haven't been on a mission trip? Do it.

God Bless!

Carlie

School: Day Uno

There is something I have to tell you!! Unfortunately, school is upon us. Run, hide, do whatever you can to get away. But since I haven't been an avid blogger this summer, here is a blog dedicated to going back to school. (heaves a sigh)

1.We, or at least I, usually set goals for myself at the beginning of the year. But don't worry if you don't meet your goals. Just do your best, and work hard! That's all that matters!

Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,

2. As school starts, you are reintroduced to the culture and environment that comes along with being surrounded by 2,000 teenagers. Don't fall under any traps! Stay on your wall!!!! Don't let your guard down and don't lower your standards! 

Psalm 62:6 Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

3. Meet new people! Get involved in new things! Try new activities! Get uncomfortable and branch out! Don't allow yourself to be a part of a secluded group. Be someone who is friendly with everyone, but always have your Christ following friends for support! 

4. Live your life in such a way that people ask, "why?" Let your difference be known! Show the love of Christ and live your life like Christ. This will make a huge difference! 

Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

1 Peter 2:15-16

For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.

Trust me, I'm not so great at these things, but I must work on them too! I'm excited and nervous about all this school year has in store. Keep on the lookout for more blogs as school begins! Have an awesome school year!