Fluently Sassy

I cannot believe that I will be walking across the stage to receive my college diploma in 9 days. To think about all of the challenges God has brought me through is absolutely unreal. From seriously thinking I might fail a class, to wanting to give up and move back home, to writing papers until 3 am, to lots of heartbreak and lost friendships--it's incredible to think back and see how God was working in every situation, every time. With that said, it hasn't been the easiest journey. You are suddenly out in the real world, all alone, and mom and dad are SO FAR AWAY. You start thinking about having to pay bills, how you will ever be able to afford a down payment on a house, and how you will survive all of those roommates. In the past six months, I have finally started to feel like I am going to be okay and begun to really start creating my life in Seattle. Here are the three most important things God has taught me over the past four years. These things take time, and lots of ...

One of the best things about being children of God is that we actively get to participate in His story. We are not puppets He uses to accomplish His will, but instead we have the choice  to stand up with God and walk out the story He has called us to. Similarly, He doesn't NEED  us to accomplish His will, but chooses us to be His hands and feet on this earth. I also love that God's story is not always an easy one. Being a Christian is not a life where the Holy Spirit swoops in and fixes every one of our problems on demand, but rather a journey that we struggle with a nd cry through--a journey which often calls us to put on our big boy pants and make the move God is calling us to, no matter how difficult or uncomfortable it may be. In Exodus (yup, still there), we get a picture of this clearly laid out for us as the Israelites are wandering through the desert fresh out of Pharaoh's enslavement. Pharaoh has just realized the "grave" mistake he has made by letting ...

I love God's word for a lot of reasons (DUH), but one of the top reasons is that every time we read it something new can be revealed depending on what we are going through, what is on our hearts, or what God has chosen to show us. I love that God's word (an ancient text) is constantly relevant to our lives. I was reading in Exodus the other day and something jumped right out at me. Maybe because I had been going through a tough time and was yearning for true friendship, or maybe because it was something that God needed me to see. Whatever the reason may be, it's the coolest thing that God chose to reveal our need for true, deep, reliant friendship in our life through a mini snapshot during the bloody desperation of war.  It's as if God is freezing the frame, coming into the camera shot, and saying, "Do you see this? Do you see how you can't do this alone?" In these verses, Israel is fighting their first war against the warriors of Amalek just...

Proactively creating well-rounded students not standardized test machines. Amidst another school shooting at Marysville-Pilchuck Highschool, my heart is in agony. I feel it aching in my chest as I process why these shootings continue to occur. It truly hits home as I will soon be spending thousands of hours inside a school building and have experienced a shooting at my own school, Seattle Pacific University. I get lost in all of the details, but each time a shooting happens it grows more and more astonishing. I can't help but ask the question  why?  Of course, the over-arching explanation is that the shooters are mentally ill, or have unstable homes. Some people will point to violent video games and television shows. Others will point to the decrease of religion in our schools or easy access to guns. But, the questions still remain. Why do students feel so unheard and so unloved that they choose to bring a gun to school in order to hurt their fellow classmates? ...

First of all, HI! I haven't written a blog post for over a year now! I can't really tell you why, except for that I have been taking time to think more and write less.  This summer I have been taking Lucky, our 1 year old labradoodle, for walks every night just about the time the sun starts to go down. While I am walking, well actaully, while he is walking me (and it's less of a walk and more of a "walk, jog, run, bolt, zig-zag, and wrap his leash around my legs" thing ) I can't help but notice the beautiful sunsets and country scenery around me. And of course, being the "capture every moment" kind of girl I am, I quickly yank Lucky to a stop and try to seize the immaculate colors and  beams of light   streaming across the sky. When trying to snap the picture, I am often frustrated by the iPhone's innability to capture the beauty of God's creation in the way I want it to be captured. Now there are lots of things wrong with that previous...

Such a great article. Couldn't have said it any better. Jen Hatmaker - In the Basement

In watching the news this morning about the terrible tragedy in Colorado, I found myself reassured by my Heavenly Father. Reassurred that He is bigger then all of this, and can turn it around for His glory. Reassured that in the midst of tragedy HE is my only hope. Reassured that my life rests in His hands, and that my future is secure in Him. Reassured that while the Devil has his hand in many of the things that happen here on earth, OUR GOD is the one who rules this earth, who created this earth, and who has a plan for this earth.  My heart and prayers go out to the people affected by this horrible, obscene, and evil tragedy. I cannot begin to fathom what has happened, what people may be thinking, and what the families of the victims feel at this moment. It feels unreal.  I am thankful that my Heavenly Father loved me so much that He sent His only Son to die on the cross so that I can spend eternity in Heaven with Him. I am thankful that when I think of deat...

Pharaoh, Pharaoh, whoa baby let me people go, ooh ah. Ya, ya, ya, ya. Sorry, I just had to! There are many things that have hit home for me in this story, but I will spare you and only share a few. The first, as many of us have probably heard before, is how Moses complains to God that he cannot in fact talk to the Pharaoh because he is "a clumsy speaker" (v. 6:30) Now, if any of you know me, I literally cannot talk . I stumble over my words ALL OF THE TIME, and it makes me look like a complete idiot. So, I know where Moses is coming from here. But to think that Moses actually argued with God that he wasn't capable of doing what God was asking of him makes me think of what I am arguing with God about. What am I refusing to do, because I am scared that I will not be able to do it well, or that I will look like a fool? Basically, Moses was denying God the power to move in Him, he was telling God that he didn't think God had the power to change him, and to use him. Now,...

Well, I haven't been able to write in a while, not because I have been too busy, but simply because I have been enjoying life and the last couple of weeks I have here at SPU with the amazing friends God has blessed me with, the amazing Church He has placed me in, and the incredible city He has surrounded me with. God has been teaching me to enjoy the season of life that He currently has me in. We often get so caught up in where we have been, and where we are going, that we forget to enjoy the present. We forget to learn what God wants to teach us, we forget to enjoy the people He has placed in our lives, we forget that God is the Great I Am, and has us right where He wants us to be. Forgetting is not really the correct term, more like ignoring, whining, and stomping around like a 5 year old wondering what's next, why we are going through what we are going through, and why we are where we are. Take comfort in knowing that God is the GREAT I AM. He has a plan for you. He knows ...

I just had a revelation, rather, I just stopped lying to myself and owned up to the will God has for my life, to the person He created me to be. As a college student I have been battling what in the world I am going to do with my life! Frustrating, exhausting, and stressful would be the words to describe this process. Of course, it would have been much easier if I had just accepted who God created me to be. But no, I had to go through the battle of "I want to make lots of money. No, I want to be a missionary. Yuck, I would not enjoy being a missionary, I want to be a teacher. No, I want to make lots of money. No I don't. Ugh!" I have been afraid to own up to the person I was created to be because I was scared and did not want to hold myself to those standards. It is quite amusing that I have such a hard time trusting God, the creator of the UNIVERSE. He has brought me through so many things. He has blessed me abundantly. He has provided for me, and gotten me to where ...

Well it is 12:24 am on Easter morning, and I am back on all electronic-ways-of-making-ourselves-feel-important-cool-and-heard. I have discovered a few things while being “away” (and unfortunately one of those things was not better grammar), but I will refrain from telling you all of them because quite frankly I don’t feel like typing them all out, you probably don’t feel like reading them all, and I am tired. So let’s cut right to the chase shall we? The most important thing I have discovered through this fast, is that I have been ignoring God’s grace. I know, sounds awful and horrible, and it is just that. I have been in this state of mind for an extremely long time of always trying to earn my faith. Always trying to prove to myself that I am worthy enough to have God’s grace, always trying to prove to  others  that I deserve it. Whether it is trying to earn it through what I do, through what major I choose, through what I post to Facebook, through what I say to others, ...

I am absolutely astounded by God’s grace. Seriously….ASTOUNDED. I am such a sinner, such a dreadful awful person. I open my mouth when I shouldn’t, and refuse to open my mouth when I SHOULD. I am lazy. I don’t read my Bible nearly as much as I should. I suck, basically. I am rude to those around me. I am annoying and loud. I am impatient. I don’t always think things all the way through. I am just this horrible, awful, gross little sinner, it’s disgusting.  Even after all that, after all the stupid things I say and do, God still loves me. After mistreating people, after giving Him the silent treatment,  He still WANTS me. He still yearns so deeply in His heart to talk to me, be in relationship with me, and love me with His everlasting and steadfast love.  God wants to be in relationship with us so badly. Thankfully He made it so easy to be in relationship with Him by sending His only Son down to this earth to die for our sins. Now of course, accepting Him is the e...

I am supposed to be writing a paper on the history of the Russian Economy. But obviously I would MUCH rather talk about Jesus….I mean come one, let’s be real here.  I have been working my way through the book of Genesis these past couple of weeks, and have been absolutely astounded by who God is. The book of Genesis has 38,000 words, and is packed full of stories about waiting for God’s plan and redemption. I mean seriously there are stories about sacrificing, the inability to have children, death, murder, moving, marriage, incest, animals….EVERYTHING. I love it. The story of Joseph has really been on my heart. We are all probably familiar with it…but here is the jist: Joseph had some really jealous brothers, who first off wanted to kill him, but then decided to sell him to some Egyptians as a slave. Joseph, by the grace of God, grew to be Potiphar’s favorite and was put in charge of his entire household. Potiphar’s wife was constantly after Joseph, and one day took his robe a...