Show me, O LORD, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. Psalm 39:4

So this isn't from Matthew, but I stumbled upon it the other day and thought it was a really good verse. Between school work, a social life, and spending time with my family, my days have been flying by. It's so easy to get caught up in the moment and forget what truly matters. It's coming to my attention more and more that I need to be a better steward of the time God has given me. If I'm too busy or constantly running from place to place, it becomes far too easy to get caught up in the moment and miss His voice throughout the day. My pastor often says that time alone with God fuels passion and clarity, but business destroys both. Keeping each day with an eternal perspective in mind definitely helps with prioritizing. Let's keep that at the top of our to-do lists :)

-Amber

finally back!

Shew! Only four days away from writing and I missed it so much! I haven't even made time to post Bible verses. :(

Speaking of which... I think I'm going to start pulling a verse from my daily Bible study for y'all. A) It will keep me accountable to my devotions (can't be posting my words on here, I want them to be God's) and B) it will just be kind of fun to share what I'm thinking/reading about on a day to day basis. :D

Life has been crazy these last couple of days. Cake baking, working like a maniac, and job interviews. God has been so good to me. I feel the need to go into detail about Thursday because it was probably one of the most divinely appointed days I have ever lived.

So I woke up late. Like always. I think one of my New Year's resolutions was going to maybe be "be more on time" but I might have put it off long enough that it's not really a resolution at all. I will be on time. One day. As I run out the door, I grab the first pair of tennis shoes that appear to be my own. (This will prove important momentarily.)

I get to class and was blessed to get out early. Suhweet more time to get stuff done! Torn between reading my Bible and going to the gym, God finally convinced me that reading my Bible then working out would be the best idea. God always amazes me with how close He will draw near when I simply and clearly devote my mind and time to Him. That was an amazing thirty minutes of scripture reading and prayer. Close to God and ready to work out, I walk across the street from school to the gym. 

Okay, workout mode. So ready. Going running... music on, headphones in, WAIT A MINUTE! These are not my shoes...

As I reach into my backpack and pull out my workout clothes, I realize that one of the shoes was mine, and one was my sister’s. She is seven years younger than me. Her feet are smaller. Her shoes do not fit my feet. Well, scratch that. Ain't working out today. I was pretty disappointed. But, I decided it would be alright, I'd just go study at a nearby coffee shop. By now it's around 11:15. I get there, open up my online biology homework that I thought for sure was due at midnight. Oh no. It's due at noon. Blessing again. I finished in time to submit it at 100% completion. Had I not forgotten my shoes, I would have gotten a zero. Praise God!

Okay so I have thirty minutes til bio… I pull out my statistics syllabus, only to realize I have a test at two o'clock. To be honest, I hadn't been to stats class in at least a week. (I have since resolved and have employed the help of a friend to MAKE me go. No more skipping.) Guess I will be skipping biology class to study for statistics... Luckily, actually by the grace of God our teacher allows us cheat sheets for our tests. I covered every square inch of that paper with notes. And once again, such a blessing, I bot a B!

With an hour to spare, I got to write last Thursday's post. Yay writing! And, looking up, I noticed a girl that looked strikingly familiar to me. Which reminded me to pray for her and prompted me to text this "long-lost" acquaintance. (I had coffee with her today. It was great! And I’m still praying for God to move in her life.)

A couple hours later, and I'm at home making a cake for a not-so-little friend of mine who was turning twelve. Cake=happiness. Need I say more? ;) To add to my "sweet" afternoon (tehe, pun) I got not one, but TWO calls from the bank for interviews as a teller. I have been praying about a new job now for quite some time, torn between the restaurant I’ve worked at for the last 2 ½ years and moving on. (I've had both the interviews now, and I think they went pretty well! Now just continuing to pray for God's guidance of my steps and His perfect will to be carried out in my life.) And to top it all off, I got to spend Thursday night at my wonderful wonderful college group, ucf! :D

I say all that to say that even in my busy day, and despite my forgetful million-mile-a-minute mind, God was able to show me His control and ability to hold everything together. How else could all that worked out so well??

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

And Wednesday. I really ought to stop staying up so late ;)

-Amber <3

For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
Romans 7:5-6

an open heart

Happy two-week-a-versary to the blog! When I started this, I didn't have much of a clue what it was really going to look like. I had dreams for it of course, wanted to post a lot of cake decorating stuff and Bible verses, but beyond that, I just had a lot of ideas floating around in my head.

Two weeks later and God has given such a purpose that I can hardly contain my excitement.

A couple days ago I was chatting with my wonderful mother about a post she had read on Vicki Courtney's blog. She writes an amazing, real life, God-centered blog and I completely got sucked in looking for this particular post yesterday. Anyway, she worded, so perfectly, this quote:

“I have often stated that I’m not a fan of the “pretender game.” I played the game early on in my Christian walk and learned the art of painting a fake smile on my face even if my life was unraveling at the seams. It’s a miserable game to play and I gave it up years ago, opting instead for honesty and authenticity.” (source: http://vickicourtney.com/page/6/)

It hit me... ever so slowly. But the more I read it, the more I like it. How very often we put on that smile and think we have to act strong as Christians. I know I'm a pro at it. But that's not what we are called to! Christ's strength is perfected in our weakness, hallelujah! :D (2 Cor. 12:9)

So I'm taking a little bit of new direction, or rather, attempting answer God's call on my life to openness. I'm gonna pour my heart on here, Bible verses, stories.... and still some cakes of course. ;) but my commitment is to avoid that oh-so-ugly monster of self-centeredness, and fight the tempation to make it seem like I have it all together all the time, and just be me. Exactly how He made me.

“Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” Matthew 6:1

After all, it is all for His glory. :)

-Amber

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
James 1:2-4