sing praises from the mountaintops!

on the crowded streets all the people that I see, want them to know the Jesus that I know! (garden in manhattan - josiah queen)

hey there & happy tuesday morning! I hope you had a very happy week full of love & memories. thank you for being here! if you enjoy my content, please make sure that you are subscribed to get weekly updates straight to your inbox:

the week recap! week of: 4/23/24 - 4/29/24

⛅️ something to celebrate: being excited about serving Christ! recently, I read a book that helped me realize that we will only ever devote our lives to something that we believe is worthy of our time of worship. the only thing truly worthy of your worship is Jesus, & let me tell you why: all of the things that we devote our time to have a restriction of some sort to place upon our shoulders. the difference between the worldly things & the eternal things that we give our time to is that the restrictions placed on us by our lives as a Christians are freedom giving, not death sentencing. a life spent side-by-side with Jesus brings true freedom! & that is a life not wasted. personally, I want to grow in obedience to the Lord by letting go of these worldly restrictions I initially let be placed on my shoulders. I like to think of Jonah 2:6-9 as a short Biblical summary of my own testimony, “I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God. when my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, & my prayer came to you. those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. but I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. salvation belongs to the Lord!” my life is proof that the Lord is good! He brought me out of my pit & offered me steadfast love. as soon as you realize you are truly homesick for Heaven, you need to be excited about serving a life for Him, set apart from this world, & reaching up towards eternity by being future minded. find pleasure in bring glory to God, not bringing glory to yourself. you cannot serve two masters! so, gladly serve the Master of all masters because He genuinely desires a relationship with you - devote your life to Him in complete worship & obedience. find joy in God’s grace & mercy! sing praises from the mountaintops! for all to hear! because God is good!

• this week, Elyse & I went to our last jiu-jitsu class - to say we are sad this leg of our class is ending is an understatement! we’ve learned so many valuable defense moves these past few weeks that we can take to college. we may, or may not, be considering signing up for some more classes this summer…stay tuned friends!

• another senior activity: senior night for the baseball team & diamond girls! I am so thankful for this unique opportunity that I have been given these past few years to serve my school. it was such a sweet night with some sweet friends! I also got to wear a new cute denim skort! just another last in the book.

⛅️ something out of my comfort zone: speaking at school! on Friday, I gave a message at our Fellowship of Christian Athletes gathering! first of all, I would like to thank my sweet friend Sims for thinking of me & inviting me to be this week’s speaker (it was our last regular FCA & it was so sweet). second of all, my heart is beaming with joy at the Lord’s goodness through this experience: when God blesses you with a certain gift, He will call you to use it & share it with others to bring Him glory! as Elyse encouraged me the other day, take this Kingdom opportunity & run with it! I am grateful to know that the Lord has blessed me with the talent of effectively using my words, on paper & in person, to bring the good news into the lives of others around me. when He calls me to step out of my comfort zone in any way, like by speaking in front of my peers, I will step out in obedience with a big yes in my heart & a big smile on my face. sometimes, God will destroy your comfort to complete your calling! one of my favorite verses this week has been Isaiah 52:7, “how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation.” wow, beautiful are the feet that carry the good news! be the messenger & break that news to others. be an influencer worth following! my message was about something that I featured on a section of my blog post from last week: you’re an ordinary person who is called by an extraordinary God - be future minded. the best part of this entire experience is that none of it was about me; the words may come from my mouth, but may God always be glorified through them. preach the good news, die, be forgotten!

• little bursts of joy I noticed touch my life this week: scrapbooking/journaling in a new notebook, filling out a new planner, perfecting choke holds in jiu-jitsu, sitting on the porch with Elyse, a honey cinnamon latte, a breeze at the baseball game, wearing a denim skort for the first time, painting my nails, a day trip, hugging my loved ones, constructive criticism, a fruit dip, & lots of sunshine!

⛅️ something I’ve learned: God will give you the right resources! be filled with the knowledge that the Holy Spirit is in you & the Lord has already gone before you into the future. plus, there is plenty of knowledge to glean from the people around you & those older than you. my favorite phrase to encourage my friends with recently has become, “you are so capable!” because it’s so true! whenever you feel disheartened or nervous over a task, grade, or event, remember that the Lord is (a) already in your future watching over the outcome, (b) has prepared you with all of the resources you need to overcome this obstacle, & (c) has provided you with people around you that will gladly be there for you in any way you need. this week, I realized that there is no need for me to worry about anything because that would mean I’m doubting God’s sovereignty over my life. all I need to do is use the resources He’s given me, confide in the people around me, & let go of my need for control because God’s always got my back. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:26-27, “look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, & yet your heavenly Father feeds them. are you not of more value than they? which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” imagine how much & how great the Lord provides for you! there is always more to your life than letting yourself be consumed by worry! 

⛅️ something I’ve read: A Crown This Cold & Heavy by Stacia Stark! this is the 3rd book in a 4 book fantasy romance series. I’m really into the banter between the main love interests, & the world-building is honestly fascinating. I literally just picked it up, so I’m only on page 2 out of 532 total pages (1%). the last book left off on a big twist, so I’m excited to see where Stark takes the plot from here. although, the 4th book doesn’t come out until May 30th. this makes book 33 for the year! make sure to check out my goodreads (linked on the blog’s homepage)! this was a big reading week for me:

• from last week’s blog post, Kulti by Mariana Zapata, a slow-burn sports romance, got a 3 out of 5 stars. it had an interesting plot, but I simply just prefer her book The Wall of Winnipeg & Me a little more!

• the 1st book in this series, A Court This Cruel & Lovely, by Stacia Stark was 550 pages & it got a 4.25 out of 5 stars from me! it was so good! by now, I think y'all know that I prefer faster paced books as compared to anything else, & this was just that. the ending had me upside down on the floor.

• the next book in Stark’s series, A Kingdom This Cursed & Empty, I rated 3.5 out of 5 stars. it was 527 pages! it was pretty good, but it did not compare well to how impressive the first book was. a slight let down, but the plot twist gave it some extra brownie points.

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recently, one of Elyse & I’s favorite music artists to sing along to has been Josiah Queen, a Christian singer! his song “Garden in Manhattan” has quickly taken a spot on my favorite song list. it talks about preaching the good news to anyone & everyone in every way possible. the very first line of the song goes a little like this: “on the crowded streets all the people that I see, want them to know the Jesus that I know!” friend, is that the posture of your heart today? do you crave for everyone to know Jesus like you know Him? cause I know I certainly do! you can step out in obedience today!

• a little snippet from my FCA message!

this week, I challenge you to say yes to something Jesus is calling you to do - big or small! (pray over someone, invite someone to lunch, be there for a friend, speak at an event, etc.) thank you for being here & I hope to see you again soon! 🕊️ 

• graduation countdown: 17 days!

“therefore, encourage one another & build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:11