I say it all to say this: Glory to God

Posted by Morgan
Life is such an interesting thing. Every stage of life that I find myself in brings new challenges, and if I'm being honest, I don't really like a lot of the challenges it brings. The art of surrendering is hard, and yes, it is an art. It takes time and patience and persistence. 


I've mentioned before that I am working in an orthodontist office this summer as a lab assistant, and for the most part I have really enjoyed it. I have learned a lot of new skills and I really do enjoy the actual work part of it. Being one of only 3 or 4 Christians is a whole other story entirely.  The last week I have been absolutely bombarded with attacks spiritually and indirectly from some of the women I work with. You would have to know the ladies in the office and fully understand the dynamic of the workplace, but trust me, I am not exaggerating any of this. 


Over the last 2 months I have had a variety of different conversations in that office. But in the last week, a few of the ladies have shown their disapproval/disagreement with some of my life choices: my relationship with the Lord, my choices on dating, the boundaries I put into my friendships with guys, and, believe it or not, my decision to wait till marriage to have sex. Now, have they come right out and said I was wrong about each of these things? Not every single one, but some, yes.  I know a few of these ladies well enough by now to know how they are and what they do when they disapprove or disagree with something. Some get VERY quiet, some quickly change the subject, and some flat out tell you that is not what they would do or would ever recommend anyone do.


A few days ago I had a really interesting experience and God has definitely shown me a lot through that. I won't go into the details of the conversation or the context, because honestly, when you are working with 13 women, the conversation takes an extremely awkward and inappropriate turn and let's just say that this was definitely one of those times. 


What I learned and what God showed me after the fact, is that who I am is speaking for itself. There are some things I believe in and things I stand for that I haven't come out and just said, not because I'm ashamed or anything, the opportunity for some conversations just hasn't presented itself just yet. But even without me saying those things out loud, the ladies I work with knew that I stood for those things. It really was a testament to the work that God is doing in me. It is an answer to my prayers to see that what I believe is showing through my actions.


 I say all of this to give the glory to God. I say all of this to say that God does answer your prayers. I say all of this to challenge you to seek the Lord and ask Him to shine through you and your actions if He isn't already.


Singing Harmony,
Morgan
Category: 0 comments

Surrender

Posted by Morgan
So I gave my blog a makeover. It's kind of what I want to do with my life right now. Being home this summer has been so good, but it has not been without it's challenges. I find that there always seems to be a theme for the stage of life I'm in, and right now, it is most definitely surrender. Yeah, fun right?


Every thing book I read, every song I listen to, every conversation I have seems to continually point me in one single direction: full and complete surrender. I am being called to release to the Lord all of MY plans, MY hopes, and MY dreams. I am being called to trust the Lord in a more full and complete way with my future. There are some things that I have always held on to, and I've held on to them very tightly. There are several things like that, mainly they have to do with my future. What I will do, who I will be with, where I will be, who I will be around. All things like that.


Letting go is NOT easy. And to be honest, I don't like it at all. I am really bad about thinking about some things and over-analyzing them. The hardest part of surrender for me, at the moment any way, is keeping my thoughts and my mind focused on the Lord and not on the situation, or the thing I am trying to surrender. 


When I say everything has been pointing to surrender, I'm not kidding. I was listening to my sister's iPod in the car last night and the first song that came on was "Holding Nothing Back" by Melissa How, the second song was "I Surrender" by Kim Walker and I was like, are you kidding me? God really does know how to get my attention. 


About two weeks ago I read a series by Terri Blackstock. They were Christian fiction novels - I LOVED them. There were four in the series, and they were about a family living the typical American dream. Then suddenly all the power goes out, and not just electricity, cars didn't work, cell phones didn't work, basically nothing electronic worked. The books were about their journey of trusting the Lord and surrendering to Him even when the circumstances around them told them to rely on their own strength. The family went through loss and gain, joy and heartache. It really got me thinking about giving God glory and praise when everything around you is going wrong. When it feels like life just isn't fair and that the Lord should be doing something about what is going on. I know I forget that He really is in full control all the time. Anyway, the books really taught me a lot about surrendering to the Lord, even when every your fallen human desires say not to. 


Well, this hasn't been the most up-beat post. But it's honest. And that really is all I want to be. Honest with what God is doing in my heart and life. I'm not going to sugar-coat things, I hate sugar-coated things. Anyway, this is where I am. Walking with the Lord, walking through the hard stuff, and seeking him on a greater and deeper level.


Singing Harmony,
Morgan
Category: 3 comments

Travel Bug

Posted by Morgan
I am currently fighting the urge to just pack up and move out west. It's always been a dream of mine(for years and years and years) to live out west. I don't know where the desire and love for the west came from, but it's always been there.



One of my friends recently went to Yellowstone National Park, and I stole these pictures from her facebook....but she won't mind.


Gorgeous landscaping....




See the rainbow?






BEAUTIFUL!!



Um, yeah that's not gorgeous or anything....



Snow covered mountain tops = LOVE



Would that not be AMAZING to see??
I mean, hello! Do you see why I want to go there?? Yes, I know this is a national park...but it's so pretty!!



It's kinda safe to save I have the travel bug right now. This post got WAY too long, so I deiced to make it a page all it's own :) Check it out at the top or click here :)

I wanna go see God's beautiful creation. 


Singing Harmony,
Morgan

Category: 1 comments

Grateful

Posted by Morgan

These are 3 amazing friends of mine, and I am so grateful for them! One of them I have known her whole life - almost 19 years! And the other two I have known over 8 years. They are fantastic people and I am so incredibly thankful that the Lord has placed them in my life for so long.



You know the kind of people who just get you and love you for you? The ones that pour into your life and when you leave them you feel refreshed? These are those kinds of people.



We went to a braves game for my birthday, the game got delayed over 2 hours and we didn't get to see any of it, but we had so much fun just hanging out and talking. I'm very grateful for these three tonight.

I've recently been reminded of the importance of having yourself surrounded with good solid people who will pour into you and hold you accountable. Because I'm working this summer, the majority of the time I'm surrounded by people who aren't pouring into me, and I've found that pretty hard. And then when I am around any of these three, I find that I am refreshed and relaxed and that my spirit is at peace. They are great people. 

I can honestly say that each and every one of them has helped me through MULTIPLE hard times in my life. They have ALL gotten phone calls when I'm sobbing, and they have all been there to pray for me and to lift me up. These three are the three who know my little habits, what I do when I'm upset, when I'm truly excited about something, and my real smile from my fake one. These are the ones I pick up the phone to call when I have good news to share. They are the ones that I text to say, "oh my gosh, I just had the most ridiculously funny thing happen to me". These are real, true friends. And I am so grateful for them.



We laugh a lot. Laughter is so good. For some reason tonight I feel like going on and on about how much I appreciate these three. But I think you've got point by now.


Singing Harmony,
Morgan
Category: 2 comments

Just a Bad Day

Posted by Morgan
You ever have those days where just about everything DOESN'T happen the way you want it to? Well, that was my day.


It started off at 6 a.m. when I got up to get ready for work. I was running late for work, hit some red lights and barely made it on time. My hair was having one of those "I don't care what you want to do with me, I'm gonna do what I wanna do and you are just gonna have to deal with it" kind of days. Just gotta LOVE those. I trimmed off a little of the gum tissue of one of the plaster models I was making [I work at an orthodontist office in the lab....which is why I was trimming models and currently discussing gum tissue]. And I wasn't supposed to trim off. Whoops. Live and learn.


Got off work at 5 - LONG DAY. Had to grab some dinner before heading off to my college algebra class. I was gone for the first two days of classes because of my family vacation, which the professor knew, so it was okay. I get to Moe's in PTC and I order my food after a very long discussion with the guy behind the counter about what I should get, only to discover that when I get to pay I have $3 and some change and NO credit card. Whoops. Yep. So the nice guy gave me my $6 and something meal for $3.17. Yay for nice people.


I get to school, eat my dinner, and go inside to talk to the people about getting a parking pass. Come to find out I need to make time in my already to busy schedule to make a trip to the beautiful town of Morrow, GA -which is a solid 45 minutes away- to get a pass [and by beautiful I mean sketchy]. I find my classroom and wait for other people to start coming in. When they finally do I ask about the homework and what I missed the week before. And the girl I asked very emphatically, and with a few choice words, told me how much homework we had been assigned this last week and this week.


To make a long story shorter, the teacher was a sub for the day, she went so fast and I barely understood anything the whole first hour(I almost cried during class, not even kidding), I didn't have my computer - which I needed - and, to top it all off, it started pouring down rain. One of the guys in my class stepped out for a smoke break and came back and said that the entire front row of parking was flooding, and where was my car parked? Of course, in the front. I asked if I could go move it and she said yes. Good thing I did too because the water was well above the half-way point on my front tire. My shoes got soaked through, my pants where wet almost up to my knees because the water was so deep and I was drenched.


I have to get up in 6 hours and work tomorrow, and I have 7 sections of homework and 2 quizzes due Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. 


I think it's pretty safe to say that today was just not my day,


Singing Harmony(or trying to anyway),
Morgan
Category: 0 comments

What I will Miss

Posted by Morgan
Well friends, another semester has come and gone just like that. Spring semester really does fly by...it's kind of insane. Right now I'm looking at my half unpacked room and wondering how in the world all of this fit in my room in the first place, much less in that tiny cubicle I lived in since last fall. 

Well, as I have been unpacking, it has definitely caused me to look back and reflect on this past year....and I've decided there are most definitely some things I will miss this summer, and here are a few of them.

I will miss.....

 Having adventures that lead to getting lost in a corn maze...


 Getting dressed up for fun events with friends


 
 Photo shoots at the train tracks :)


 Because the train tracks are fun :)


 
Getting drenched in the rain during one of the many Cleveland monsoons :)


These great girls :)


  Eating Lucky Charms out of a coffee mug :)


 Sara, because of her willingness to have fun at any given moment and the wonderful talks we've had...and her amazingly awesome photography skills :)


 Running out into the snow at any given hour to take pictures with Sara because we know the snow will have melted and be gross within the hour :)


Procrastinating with friends when we should be studying

While I will not miss the all-nighters at IHOP, I will miss the memories made during them :)


Hanging out with friends at all hours of the night at Matt and Nates

Again, being absolutely crazy with these girls :)



Supporting the intramural sports teams and hanging out with friends while doing that :)



Hannah :)

 Rock Band...



 
and the photo shoots in the middle of the street :)







Those are some things I will most definitely miss :) 

Singing Harmony,
Morgan
Category: 1 comments

Contentment

Posted by Morgan
I think that a lot of the time, the enemy is so predictable. I find that whenever the Lord brings me to a new place in my relationship with Him, or whenever I'm learning so amazing lessons, or whenever I finally overcome a really hard obstacle. waiting right around the corner for me is the enemy. It's so true. Whenever we are following the Lord the enemy will be working against us in some way. But praise the Lord that we have power over him. We claim the truth we know and don't let him drag us down. The key is recognizing the power we have over him, and recognizing what he's trying to do before we let him tear us down.

I'm in such a good place right now, and obviously, all around me I'm being attacked in some way, shape, or form. The enemy is crafty, but our God is bigger and so much more powerful. Praise the Lord for that. Right now, I find myself being attacked in the area of relationships - and for those of you who can't or aren't reading between the lines, I'm talking about boyfriends. Or in the phrasing of the wonderful Lee University, "my one". It seems like everywhere I turn I'm bombarded. And to be quite honest, I'm sick of it. It is extremely difficult to stay content when everyone around you is telling you that you aren't.

I am in such an amazing place with the Lord right now. I really am and I couldn't be happier. But right now, the enemy is driving me crazy. Thank the Lord we have power in Christ and we have the authority to tell him to take a hike! :)

Singing Harmony,
Morgan
Category: 0 comments