The Powerful Phrase:Come as you are.

So a couple weeks ago I went to a another church with a friend. The worship was good, message was good, but something was missing. I couldnt put my finger on what this missing piece was until today when I had a lovely lunch with this same friend. She went on to explain that everyone in her church expects perfection and that it has, over time- rubbed off on her. We then went on and talked about the power in the phrase, "Come as you are." My friend went on to then say something so powerful- she stated," Sometimes I feel like everything I do at church has to be perfect and thats why its so hard for me to just come before God because I feel so unworthy because im not "perfect" yet! I wonder how many people in the church feel the same way? These walls, this band, this sermon are all trying so hard to be perfect but even with all these perfect things around them, they can still be broken." Wow. Her statement blew my mind. I went on to say to her that "Jesus would rather us come to him broken and in need, then trying to have it all together."     
 And even now Im thinking about what we talked about and I find myself needing to say -Perfection is in itself imperfection. And if we are never broken before God and realize we are imperfect, this leaves no room for him to move in us- which would be a great saddness to me.
So, What should we take away from this? :) You wanna go to church in your sweatpants, DO IT! :) Ive done it before and I will do it again. Because Jesus would rather us Come as we are, then not come at all.

Phobias, Life, and More

Today at my lunch with Steph, (I always get inspired to write when I have lunch with her) we talked about phobias and where/when they started or originated from. One of my major Phobias- Going underwater. For a very long time, I thought the problem came from my childhood but today, while talking to Steph we discovered it may come from a different source entirely. Weird? Well, You may not understand this but to me it is. I took a memory of a time I was playing with some friends in a pool and something sad happened later that day and I made it into a phobia.

The other night at youth group- A friend told a story about a situation in his life and how it was a "Huge burden"- What the group didn't know was that that huge burden was me? He repeated the phrase, "huge burden" about 5 different times... and then I found myself having a panic ATTACK! RIGHT THERE! Right in the middle of youth group! How can I solve this problem? I need to remember how to experience Grace- This guy obviously has forgived me and the only reason I am having a panic attack is because I have NOT forgiven myself. I need to rediscover the grace that God gives and then except it!

So- The goals for the next few months of my life. Grow closer to God. Rediscover grace. Deal with phobias that are actually suppressed tragedies. And LIVE THIS LIFE TO THE FULLEST :) Loving God and Bringing His kingdom!