Wait? You're a what?

Yes, yes I am a Christian. I have been since I was about five or six. My parents were Christians since they were in their 20's so I grew up in a Christian home. When I was younger I knew about my parents' Christian faith but it wasn't until I was like five or six that I truly understood that I needed to believe it for myself. So one day I asked mom tons of questions about it and she explained it all to me and at that young age I became a Christian. I got baptized a few years after I got saved and today I am just taking life a day at a time trying to be open to the Lord's leading.

That is my (very!) condensed version of my testimony. But I realized that even though I have been saying I have been a Christian since I started this blog a few years ago, I have never actually shown what that means. So if you don't mind, I will do that now (in the form of a letter) :)

Dear Friend,

Last time we talked you asked me about what I believed spiritually. In this letter I want to explain what the foundation of my belief system is: the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Firstly, God created you and loves you. Psalm 86:15, “But You, O Lord, are a God merciful…and abounding in steadfast love.” He wants to have a personal relationship with you. However, because everyone sins, we are all separated from God. Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Sin means that we have disobeyed God’s commands and not met God’s perfect standard, which is like people trying to throw a baseball to the moon. No one will ever reach it; we will all “fall short”. Due to this sin we will all die physically and spiritually. Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death…” That is what we earn from sinning. It’s like working; when you do a job you get paid—that’s what you earn. Because we have sinned, we all earn death, both physically and spiritually. Dying spiritually means that we will be separated from God forever. Therefore we can’t live eternally with a perfect God in Heaven because we are imperfect and are instead doomed to Hell. Because we couldn't get to God (that’s the bad news), God came to us (the good news!). God loved us so much that He sent His only Son to die our sin-earned death in our place. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a perfect, sinless life, died on a cross for our sin, and was buried. After three days in the tomb God resurrected Him from the dead and therefore Christ defeated death. Luke 24:6-7, “He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you…‘[Christ] must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’” Christ died a sacrificial death, which means that Christ died in our place. He took the punishment that we deserved. He didn't stay dead, like I stated before, but God raised Him up from the dead after three days. Because Christ defeated death, He has the power to save us from our eternal punishment. If we understand what Christ did, accept that it is true, and place our trust in Christ alone to save us from our sins we can be saved! Romans 10:9, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Let me illustrate this for you. Say you have never seen or used a chair before. You go to another country and they show you this weird chair-thing. They say that if you sit in it, it will hold you up. You UNDERSTAND what the chair does. Now let’s say that you look it over and you’re like, “Yeah, I can see that. I believe that this chair could hold me up.” You have now ACCEPTED that what they say about the chair is true. But have you trusted in it yet? No! Once you fully sit down in the chair so that all your weight is resting on it that is when you have TRUSTED in the chair to hold you up. The same is with Christ. Now, you have to understand that Christ alone can save us from eternal punishment. We can’t earn our way to Heaven by doing good things nor is there any other way other than understanding what Christ did, accepting that, and trusting in Him and what He did on the cross. Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace are you saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Once we are truly trusting in Christ alone for our salvation, saving us from our sin-earned eternal punishment, is when we have the assurance that we will live with Christ forever in Heaven when we die. 1 John 5:11, “And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.”

            I will explain more in my next letter, but in this one I just wanted to start with the foundation of my belief. If you have any questions don’t be afraid to write back!

            Much love,

                       Sarah

(As a side note: This letter was actually a paper that my roommate, Shelbi, and I wrote for a assignment for one of our Bible classes. I would suggest doing it yourself! Give yourself only two typed pages and try to fit the gospel in those two pages using illustrations, clear thinking, and Biblical references. It makes you think of how to clearly give the Gospel in a limited time frame, which is a good tool to have today. Because everyone is always running around and so busy, we may not have an hour to talk through the Gospel with someone. If God opened the door to talk through the Gospel with someone and you only had ten minutes what would you say? Think about this and what your response would be...and maybe even write something out so you have a resource you could go to. God will open doors for us to share our faith. It is our job to be prepared for them when they come.)

My first few months of college = complete!!!

About two weeks ago I got to go home for fall break (through it wasn't much of a break because I had a huge paper to write...but anyways! :) ). It was so nice to be home and to see my family again. And of course being able to pet my cats and dog :) Fall break really represented the end of my first quad at the University of Northwestern - St. Paul. One fourth of my first year at NW was done. Have I learned anything is the two+ months that I've been here? Of course!! What did I learn? Well, let me tell you :)

The first thing that God taught me is that even though my surroundings change, He never does. When I first came here I was in a whole new area. Not only was I with new people, having new responsibilities, doing new things, and in a whole different world,  but I didn't have my family near by. Sure I could call and FaceTime them, but that isn't the same as talking to them in person. I used to talk to my parents and brother about my whole day. Every detail. So it was weird not being able to do that everyday. Even though I had tons of encouraging people around me, it wasn't the same as having my family there. So what did I do? Well, let me tell you what I didn't do! I didn't turn to the One who is always there. Going to college really opened my eyes that I really did rely on my friends and family a lot more than I thought. Not that that is a bad thing!! Having close relationships with your family and having close friends is not bad, but we need to remember that (as much as we want them too) we won't always have those people around us. So we need to make sure that our relationship with God is strong even when we are with those closest to us. God will always be there. I had to re-learn that, and I had to really believe it, and I had to practice it!

The second thing that I learned was that God gives us loves and interests for a reason. As one of my favorite Pinterest (Yes, I am addicted to Pinterest....*sheepish smile*) pins says: "The things you are passionate about are not random. They are your calling." I always loved to write but I never thought that I would be able to turn that into a career. I am still confused how God is going to use me as a writer. I want to use my writing as a ministry. To write things that cause people to think...and to ultimately draw closer to God because of what they read. But I also need to make a living. How can I do both? Well, let me tell ya!!......I have no idea. Fortunately God does. Yes that is easier said than truly believed... I have no clue what God has in store for me for a career or even for a ministry. All I know is that God called me to NW for a reason and to get my writing degree for a reason. The rest I will just have to let Him handle.

The next thing I learned was that God opens and closes doors for a reason. At the beginning of the semester I had tried out for this touring theatre production. I thought I had a really good chance! My audition went great and I was excited to see what happened! Well...I wasn't as excited when I saw the cast list and I didn't see my name on there...I was not very happy. I tried to look on the bright side of things and see what God had in store instead. And honestly, I'm very happy I didn't get in. Because I didn't get in I got to work in the costume shop (shout out to Carmen!! ;) ) and I got to do run crew/backstage stuff for the production Oliver! If I had gotten in to that touring theatre I wouldn't of been able to do any of that. I have made so many good memories working in the costume shop, helping backstage with Oliver! and meeting all the amazing people that are involved with the theatre department here at NW. God definitely closed that one door for a reason, but just because He knew that He was going to open up a better one for me later.

The last thing (definitely not the last thing I have learned, but the last one I'm going to talk about :) ) that God taught me is about prayer. What would happen if you were talking to a friend and all you did was say stuff like, "I need your help with this paper! I'm freaking out over this interview. I really need you to do this for me. Why didn't you help me with that?..." What would your friend do if you talked to them like this? Slap you? Maybe! lol Seriously though, why do we talk to our friends with respect, tell them about our day (the good and bad), ask for their advice, listen to them, and be honest with them but we don't do that with God? We just ask for things. In one of my books for school, The Me I Want To Be by John Ortberg, there is a chapter that talks about prayer. One part that stood out to me says "The goal of prayer is not to get good at praying, as many people think. The goal of prayer is not to try to set new records for how much time we spend praying. The goal of prayer is to live all of my life and speak all of my words in the joyful awareness of the presence of God." God wants to know about our day, He wants us to always be in the mindset of prayer, God wants us to come to Him first, God wants us to listen to Him as well... So through many things God has been teaching me how to pray. And not just pray, but pray openly and honestly with Him.

There are so many other things that I have learned, but if I took the time to write them all you would probably get bored with reading them :) I hope these things encourage you in your walk with God and I hope that you are always open to learning new things, because God always has something new to teach us.

Why AHG?

This is the month that I have been dreading and looking forward to the most for the past year. In the span of three weeks I will say goodbye to my best friends as they head off to college and say hello to my new roomies and friends at the University of Northwestern. I am beyond excited but nervous as well. How did I get here today...well a lot of things, but American Heritage Girls is something that I owe a lot to.

Ten years ago mom started our AHG in our home town. Ever since the beginning I have been one of the first ones in the building before every meeting and event and the last one out after everything has been cleaned up. Has it always been fun? No. Has it been easy? No. Has it been worth it? Absolutely.

One of the words in our creed is perseverance. Ten years ago I started as an AHG member. Since then my life has not gotten any less busy. In fact, in the past two years especially, it has gotten even more hectic than I thought it would. But I stayed in AHG and I persevered. There were times that I didn't want to. My Junior and Senior years of high school I was tempted to quit AHG because I had added on being a volleyball manager, plays, basketball, choir, work and college classes. I was very busy and sometimes I really didn't feel like going to AHG meetings.

But I'm so glad I did.

In ten years God has used AHG to really shape who I am today. I want to encourage those who are thinking of starting AHG: do it. I want to challenge those that are thinking of quitting: don't. And I want to tell you why.

#1 AHG is a program that has helped me step out of my shell. I was really shy. Like, painfully shy. I hardly talked to anyone and I would NEVER start a conversation on my own. AHG forced me to talk. Literally. At meeting I would have to answer questions, read Bible verses, give badge presentations, lead songs and games and make conversation with the other girls.
My AHG tip: If you want to get a lot out of AHG, force yourself to step out of your box. You will NEVER accomplish anything while you are comfortable.

#2 AHG is a program that gave me so many amazing opportunities. Not only did I work on badges that I normally would not have (like outdoor cooking, archery and kitchen scientist) but I also got to tour a theatre (which was where my passion for theatre probably started!), be a Junior Leader at camp (where I had to be an example for the younger girls while showing them that you can honor God, do badge work, give devotionals to the troop and honor your country while still having fun! P.S. Our group won the Spirit award that week ;) ), plan many tea parties, father/daughter dances and spa nights (which was where I learned budgeting, planning skills, how to work in a group and prioritizing), and I even got to march in parades and honor our veterans by putting flags on their graves during Memorial Day.
My AHG tip: If you want to get a lot out of AHG, grab a hold of the opportunities that God brings your way. Don't look back on them with regrets.

#3 AHG is a program that has showed me what a servant leader truly is. I was a "Leader's Daughter" from the very beginning. But that didn't mean I got any perks. In fact, it probably meant that I had to work harder. My mom and I were always the first ones in the building setting up the rooms and making sure everyone was ready and the last ones out of every meeting making sure all the girls found their parents and had a ride home. There were many, MANY late nights. It wasn't always fun. Sometimes I didn't want to do it. But you know what? I feel like I learned initiative and how to truly be a leader. Christ didn't come to be served, but to serve. To truly be a godly leader you have to get your hands dirty. You can't just sit on the sidelines and boss others around. Christ didn't. So we should follow His example and not just sit there either. We need to get off our seat and take the first step.
My AHG tip: To get a lot out of AHG, do things first. Don't always wait to be asked to do things. Be a leader by showing others how it's done.

#4 AHG is a program that let me use my talents. I love writing. Because of that I have written skits for Tea Parties, End of the Year Programs and other things. I have also used my learned leadership skills in a lot of ways. I have also used my love for planning things. Through AHG I have honed my gifts and developed new ones. I have learned what I like to do, what I don't like to do, what I'm good at and what I need to work on.
My AHG tip: To get a lot out of AHG, learn what you love to do and use it. Don't hide your talents away. Take them and use them for the good of others. You will bless others and you yourself will be blessed if you do.

#5 AHG is a program that I have learned to honor God in all that I do. Setting up chairs and tables isn't glamorous. But you can honor God doing it. Washing dishes after AHG camp isn't fun. But you can show a good attitude while doing it. Having to put on a genuine smile for the girls at AHG after a really long day is hard. But you can learn to think of others first by doing it.
My AHG tip: To get a lot out of AHG, learn to honor God through all that you do and He will send you blessings in ways you never imagined.


Don't get me wrong, I was so glad I was in AHG. But I want you all to know that it isn't all fun and games. Sure, when you are younger it kind of is. But as you get older and stay in the troop longer you get more responsibility. But the thing is, looking back I see some of the best times of my life. I learned so much, I made amazing friendships, I grew closer to God and I had the time of my life!

Know that being in and getting the most out of AHG isn't easy. But really, nothing in life that matters is. 

AHG is a program that I will have my daughters in someday. I want them to experience what I did. I want them to learn to be leaders and to step out of their comfort zones. I want them to know the Creed and Oath by heart and not just know them, but practice them. I want them to have the opportunities that I have had. I want them to know that they are a daughter of the King, they are loved, they are beautiful and God can use them if they are willing. Please, put your daughters in AHG. And challenge them to stick with it. You, and your daughters, won't regret it;

even while you're taking down tables after a Tea Party :)



http://www.ahgonline.org/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TECs55-7Fk

Use the open doors God gives you...

Well, it has been WAY to long since I have blogged. My word...a lot has happened in these two months. Basketball ended and the play started. I have starting working on my internship at my local theatre. I'm writing a screenplay for a short movie. I'm helping plan a Tea Party through AHG. All while taking a few credits as well as choir. College is getting closer so I'm finalizing A LOT of stuff for that. I'm already starting to look into what classes I will be taking next fall, buying things for my dorm and figuring out what extracurricular activities I want to do.

Life is hectic so I just wanted to take a few minutes and reflect.

In a little over four months I will be at the University of Northwestern - St. Paul. Four months 'till I start my plan to major in English-Writing and minor in Bible and Theatre. Four months 'till I start living in the dorm. Four months 'till I won't see my family every single day. Four months. Only four months. Wow.

Time has flown by.

Looking back I realize a lot of different things helped me get to where I am. But the two (besides my faith and family :) ) that really stand out are my school and my AHG troop.

My school. Well, my second school really. My first school is also my home (I have been homeschooled since kindergarten) but my second school is Owatonna Christian School. I starting playing basketball for them five years ago and my relationship with the students as well as the staff has just blossomed. If you were to ask me who my friends are, I would name every single person in the senior class of OCS. I have gotten to know them really well and they really are my best friends. We have played basketball together, been involved in volleyball, sang in the choir, been in plays, gone to banquets and even just hung out as a class. I love them all. Some I have known for years, and some I have only gotten to know in the past few months, but you really won't find a better group of kids. OCS really has opened their arms to me. I wasn't sure how I was going to fit in (as a homeschooler coming in) but everyone just treated me as one of their own. I have been given so many opportunities through OCS; so many that I couldn't begin to tell them all to you. Being involved with the school helped me grow as a person. It gave me confidence, helped me know my likes and dislikes, showed me what a "classroom setting" looks like, given me lifelong friends, and some of the best memories of my life. So, to Janae, Jenessa, Jessica, Rachael, Alex, Kendrick, Wesley, Daniel and Ben: Thank you for the many years of memories. I love you all with all my heart and we will have to hang out a lot this summer so that we can make up for time we will lose when we all go our separate ways next fall :) Pool parties at our house!!

The seniors! (Minus Alex)

My AHG troop. I have been involved with AHG for ten years now. I really don't remember life without it. My mom started the troop in Owatonna ten years ago, so because I was always the "leader's daughter" I was thrust into leadership positions starting at the age of eight! But I wouldn't change it for the world. AHG is a wonderful program and I have the confidence and poise I have today because of AHG. In the past ten years I have basically done everything: Planned tea parties, bingo nights, spa nights, father/daughter dances, movie nights and end of the year ceremonies, I have done the slideshow for the end of the year ceremony, helped plan the troop scrapbook, set up and cleaned up after nearly every meeting, been the first to show up to things and the last to leave,  done badges and gotten level awards, gone on fieldtrips, put flags on veterans graves for memorial day, marched in parades, gotten a lifelong friend through the pen-pal program (shout out to Bethany :) ), and much, much more. AHG, just like OCS, has given me so many opportunities that I never would have dreamed of. Like being the National Girl Guest Blogger! Never in a million years would I have dreamed that would have happened! But it did. AHG is such an amazing program. If you don't believe it, you should have been at one of the last meetings we had. A girl in our troop, Alyssa, had been crowned Miss South Central's Outstanding Teen. The next weekend she would be competing for Miss Minnesota's Outstanding Teen. So, she wore her crown and sash to AHG and we all gathered around her and prayed for her and her testimony at this competition. She ended up getting Second Runner up and did an amazing job! But that's really what AHG is all about: Building women of integrity who have confidence in themselves and who aren't afraid to ask others to come around them and pray with them when they are scared. AHG is a program that every girl should be in, because through it a girl will learn to lean on Christ, be confident in herself, learn her strengths and weaknesses, be given amazing opportunities and come out with amazing friendships. A special thanks to Alyssa and Marta for being my co-patriots for the last few years, as well as sticking with me since the start of the troop. Love you both!

Marta, Alyssa and I

Praying for Alyssa

 

So, I guess what I'm saying is this: God puts people and places in your life to mold and shape you. He did that with OCS as well as with AHG. Don't be afraid to try something new and meet new people. Five years ago I was scared to start basketball, but I did and because of that I have an amazing senior class that I love with all my heart. I was nervous about being a leader's daughter and didn't really know what AHG even was when we started! But I wouldn't have the confidence in myself that I do today without it. Trust God. He knows exactly what you need to be molded. He puts things in your life especially for that. Each opportunity and door is planned by God especially for you. Trust Him and love life. Who knows where He wants to take you next! Be open to change, because God will use it to change you.

Through Many Trials...

Trials. Not a fun word. Not something we like going through. and sometimes we don't expect them.
This last weekend we were at Faith Baptist Bible College for their annual high school basketball tournament. I was very excited. Last year our team went down and won the whole thing! We lost four of our starters last year, so I knew that this year at the tournament would be harder.

But I didn't think it would be this hard.

The first three games were pool play to determine our ranking for the fourth game on Saturday. We lost all three pool play games. On Saturday we would play for seventh out of eight teams.

Talk about a trial.

I don't like trials. Never have. Thing is, I learned so much this basketball tournament. Not only about basketball, but also about myself, my attitude, my character and my walk with God. Trials do help us learn. Funny...God uses trials to teach us things that we may not have learned otherwise. Would I have looked at my attitude if we had won every game? Probably not, because my attitude would have been great. But instead I had to learn to love the other players on and off the court when they killed us. I had to keep my head up high for the younger girls when I really just wanted to go into the locker room and pout. I had to honor God with my thoughts when I honestly was feeling defeated. Saturday night I got home and I was tired. Mentally and emotionally. But looking back a few days later, I think that we had the best tournament yet. Yes we got crushed, but we bonded as a team. We lost together. We learned together. We encouraged each other together.

God uses trials. Why?

1) they push us out of our comfort zone. I wasn't comfortable losing. Honestly I wasn't used to it. The past few years we have only lost about six games. But losing made me think that winning isn't everything. Character is. If we won but had a horrible attitude, we might as well have lost. Wins and medals will fade, but who you are as a person never will.

2) they reveal what we need to work on. Not only did I learn tons of things that I need to work on in basketball (better passes, hustling more, having patience, etc.) but also about myself off the court. I get in to the habit of having an attitude of defeat. I feel like I have to be perfect and when I'm not I feel defeated. I learned that I can't have that attitude. If you're in a hole and life throws dirt your way, shake it off, stomp it down and step up.

3) they show us that we need to turn to God. When life is going good I get into the habit of forgetting God. I get content. Comfortable. God has to sometimes throw a trial into our lives to remind us who is truly in control. Lesson from that? Don't wait for a trial to put God first. Make Him a priority when things are going great as well as horrible.

Trials aren't fun. But you know what? If we let God have His way and if we are teachable, we come out better than before. That tournament changed me as a person and as a basketball player. So are trials bad?

No.

Not if you let them change you into more of an image of Christ. God doesn't bring trials in our lives to knock us down, but so that through Him we can learn to rise up better than before.