0% Perfect, 100% Forgiven

Where to begin? Well, for starters, this past Sunday at Sagebrush-Las Cruces, the sermon was on forgiveness. Technically it was on Matthew 5:9 which says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." I left that night processing and trying to understand what God wanted to teach me through this. Todd, the pastor, talked about forgiveness and he said that it was easy for us to forgive ourselves, but hard to forgive others and I couldn't stop thinking about that. You see, for me, it is much harder to forgive myself than it is to forgive others. I hold myself to a higher standard while I make excuses for other people. I then continue to beat myself up over my sin. It's all over my journal! When I confess my sin, I say, "How could I do something like this?", "What was I thinking?", or I just call myself stupid. None of this is edifying and it doesn't really help me to grow. It's one thing to confess my sins, but it's another to dwell on them. That is when Satan comes in and tells me I'm not worthy of Jesus' blood. So basically, I've been struggling with dwelling on my sin this week. Tonight, I met with my discipleship group, which is led by this amazing Campus Crusade for Christ staff woman named Holly. We are going over 1 John and we talked about the false teachings of sin that are addressed in 1 John 1:5-2:2. We talked about downsizing our sin and dwelling on it and I expressed my struggle. Then God spoke to me through Holly. Holly said that dwelling on our sin and beating ourselves up over it is like saying Jesus' blood isn't powerful enough to cover my sin. It's like saying, "Thanks God for sending Jesus, but His blood won't cover my sins"...basically, a slap in the face. Not cool. She then went on to say we need to confess our sins and admit to them, but then acknowledge what Jesus did for us and recognize that His death on the cross-the pain he endured as his flesh was being torn from His body and as He died by suffocation-encompasses every sin I have ever committed and will ever commit. I will always sin...it's my nature and it is inevitable. However, knowing this, I can be confident in the fact that I am always 0% perfect, 100% forgiven.

1 Timothy 4:8

I got a letter in the mail today and it made me so happy! Recently, I have become a pen-pal of my 7 year-old cousin, Abby. Abby lives in Indiana with my Uncle Norm (aka Uncle Nick-Nock), my beautiful and wonderful Aunt Kimberly, and her younger siblings Luke and Mary-Claire. I haven't gotten to see them for a little over a year, but I like writing to Abby to hear what she is up to. Her letter today told me that I was a great cousin and she drew me a lot of cute and wonderful pictures. On a full sheet of paper, she told me about the Bible verse she's been learning. "Training the body has some value, but being godly has value in every way. It promises help for the life you are now living, and the life to come." -1 Timothy 4:8...Reading this made me so happy! It lifted my spirits and definitely reminded me of what I need to be doing daily, but it also ensured me that she is actively seeking the Lord and that she wants to share that with me! I absolutely loved it! Oh and I love the dance classes I'm taking! I'm learning so much about technique and really learning to enjoy it more...however, in ballet today, we did retire a passe and I am not very good at them when I have proper posture! But, at least I know what I can work on! Until next time...

Maiden Voyage

So...hi! This is my first blog post ever and I'm kind of nervous about it so please don't judge me. I'm new to this whole blogging thing, but it seems like a better way to keep people updated from long distances. I couldn't sleep, so I decided to create a blog...crazy, right? Anyways, my favorite worship song of all time is "Jesus Paid it All", but a close second is "Desert Song." If you've never heard it, please go listen to it. It's AMAZING! It describes every phase of life that we can go through on a daily basis and God is always right there with us. So part of the reason this blog is called "In the Desert..." is because that's where I am spiritually, like it says in the song...and literally! I am currently living in Las Cruces, New Mexico, but my family is in Albuquerque. LasCruces is approximately 45 minutes west of El Paso, Texas, which means I am about 45 minutes west of Mexico. This pretty much means I'm in the desert. Not like sand dunes, scorpions, and huge cacti, but beautiful mountains, the best sunsets ever, and the most amazing people. The picture behind the blog title is of the Organ Mountains in Las Cruces at sunset. SO GORGEOUS! Honestly though, I think the sunsets are even better in Albuquerque. God has seriously blessed me with so much here. I have the most amazing and incredible group of friends and I have grown so much closer to the Lord! I'll have to go into greater detail later, but I hope I actually remember to get on and update this thing! TTFN-Ta Ta For Now!