God Gives

God gives to us each and every day. Recently God has been giving SO much to me and I am overflowing with gratefulness. Just this month I have been accepted into the nursing program AND celebrated my favorite Holiday, Christmas. Of course God's giving at Christmas time was spanned across the whole world as he gave us his son to save us all. While these things are pretty great I think it's the little things God gives us that we need to be most thankful for.

My Church and I recently went on a trip Christmas Caroling, which is normally something I would be all for, but this year I was feeling a bit apprehensive. I had some things going on in my personal life that were affecting my emotions and unfortunately affecting my Christmas spirit. Little did I know that God would be giving me an experience that would get my mind off of the negatives and onto the most important thing, himself and the birth of his son, our savior. We had stopped at two houses and were on to the third, a little house just off the beaten path with a tiny gravel driveway. We finished up our rounds of Silent Night, Away in a Manger, Oh Beautiful Star, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas and we hopped back on the vans. We weren't sure how to get out because we were blocked on one side and would've had to back out on the other. Nonetheless we attempted the latter. As one van began to back out we heard something that wasn't so pleasing to the ear. The church van had gotten stuck in the mud. While for most people this would've been a negative experience for us it was a good laugh, a test of teamwork, and a time for silent prayer. We all began pushing and praying and eventually got the van out. God gave me that moment to not only spend time with the ones I love, but he gave me that time as a learning experience and a way to get the negatives off of my mind. While we had gotten stuck at one house, that didn't stop us. We went on to go caroling for three more hours. This is definitely one night that I will never forget as long as I live. 

While God gave me a gift that night he hasn't stopped giving since. God has given me great memories with my family and great blessings of love, friendship, and happiness. During this season of giving the greatest gifts have come from God. James 1:17 celebrates his giving by saying:

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation of shadow due to change."

God is always giving, he is never changing, and he is constantly blessing us. Even the little things are gifts from God, be thankful for your gifts, for they are good.

Planning to Prosper

I usually start these posts off with some type of story but for this post, I'm starting off with a Bible verse. Jeremiah 29:11 says:

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"

This one individual verse has pretty much been the basis for my college career up until this point. I started out wondering where I would attend college and eventually wondering what my major would be. In fact, before I even began college I decided to change my major. Now here I am, two years in, once again wondering if I've made the right decision.

I've been having a pretty tough time with some of the classes needed for my major, which if you read my bio you know is nursing. This difficulty has offered me up a lot of reason for questioning, why am I struggling? Am I having a hard time because God is trying to tell me this isn't for me? Is this difficulty God's way of testing me to see how much I can take? Over the course of these past few months I have tried various studying techniques, talking to the professor, and even attended tutoring sessions and it seems that I'm still having a difficult time remembering and comprehending what it is I need to be learning. If it's this hard for me now just imagine how much harder it'll be once I actually get INTO the nursing program.

This has also been pretty difficult for me as I am typically a planner. I'm always dreaming and planning things for my future. Up until this point I knew exactly where I wanted to live, where I wanted to work, and what I wanted to be doing, but recently I haven't been so sure. I suppose you could say I had been planning to prosper but as I was doing this, I was forgetting that the real plan should be done through God's will.

Every time I get down on myself, much like I am now, and begin asking the what-ifs and the whys, I read and reread that verse. I actually painted myself a picture of this verse for my dorm room as a simple reminder of who is in charge. Once we stop planning for ourselves we can see the plan God has laid out for us. It is important for us to remember that planning to prosper is going to get us nowhere. It is when we take a step back, fall on our knees, pray to God, and listen to him that we ACTUALLY begin to prosper.

Cheerfully given...

It has been a long, LONG time since I have posted anything on here. Since the last time I posted, a lot has changed. My cross country season has ended, I broke a personal record, and just recently (like within the past few hours,) I cut all of my hair off.

Not only did I cut my hair today I absolutely hated it. I'm still not rather fond of it but I should be. After all, I cut it for a good reason. I cut eight inches off to donate it to make wigs for people who need them. This act, so selfless, so why do I still feel awful? 

As a human being, I tend to be selfish, I tend to think of things in terms of me and mine. This selfishness could be the reason I'm so displeased with my hair, and it more than likely is. But shouldn't I be happy? Of course I should. It was so easy for God to give his SON to DIE for me, so why is it so difficult for me to give something as simple as hair to someone who needs it? 

2 Corinthians 9:6-7 of the NIV translation says: 

“6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

God loves when we give to others, but God loves it most when we give with cheer. Many of us, myself included, give to others by going through the motions, it's very important that when we commit these selfless acts we must give with our whole heart. God wants to see us give cheerfully rather than reluctantly. If you decide you want to give, make sure it's of the kindness of your heart and for the right reasons. God will give to you just as you have given to others, sow generously and you WILL reap generously. God loves you and he has given all there is to give, take after your father and be selfless, the outcome will be much greater. 

Until next time, here's a before and after picture of myself, may God bless the person who gets this hair after me, and thank you God for using this experience to teach me a lesson. 

Perfect Timing

I apologize for the lack of posting lately but I have been fairly busy this past week preparing myself for midterms and the TEAS exam which I took today. For those of you who don't know, the TEAS exam, or Test of Essential Academic Skills, is a test required for almost all nursing programs in the US. My college sent out an email a few weeks ago about the exam and I signed up as soon as possible. Due to the urgency I saved little to no time for myself to prepare, however I did a little preparation and it ended up helping more than I would know.

Within the past few days I have received letters, cards, and prayers from many people in my hometown. The cards came from friends, past teachers, church members, and family members all with encouraging words and prayers for the upcoming test. Although the cards were exciting to get I was still fairly nervous about taking such a big step in my college education. The outcome of the TEAS exam could not only determine my college career it could pretty much determine the rest of my life. With that in mind I was pretty anxious when I woke up this morning. I woke up a few hours early to gather my materials, my pencils, my test ticket, my ID, and to say my final prayers for sanity and intelligence. 

As I grabbed my phone to check the time I got a notification from my iDisciple app:

At 9:26 on 9/26 God sent me the only thing that could've comforted me at the time, Phillipians 4:13. As I read the verse I began to cry, a very humble cry, and thank God for sending me exactly what I needed to hear at the most perfect of times. There could not have been a better verse to help me through my test. I CAN do all things through CHRIST who strengthens me, and today I definitely did. I finished the test and got my results, 74.7%. That score might not mean anything to you but to me, it's my ticket to the future. 

Proverbs 3:5-6 says

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Today God straightened my path a little bit more. He placed me in that testing room, he handed me that verse, and he helped me do exactly as he wanted me to do. It's hard not to lean on your own understanding when it comes to something like a standardized test, but we need to remember that even those results are controlled and directed by God. God's timing is perfect, and with prayer and trust in him you can do anything his will, will have you do.

Constant Reminders

Hi everyone, I am a little late in sharing this post but better late than never, I always say! I've got a few stories from yesterday that I thought I would share with you. Two little constant reminders of God's love and grace. 

The first story I have is from my Humanities class, the second class I have on Tuesdays. I was sitting in my chair before class began, wondering what I would share with you all. I looked up at the white board where someone had written, "God is Good." Wow, what a powerful message to write on a board that so may people would see throughout the week. I couldn't help but think to myself, "Yes, he is good," and just like that I was reminded of how good he really is. He gives us constant reminders every day of his love, truth, grace, and power, things that we, as Christians, sometimes take for granted. I think God plants these little reminders, through notes, images, stories, and people, to humble us and remind us that he is the one in charge and he loves us very much. Someone didn't take much time to write those three words on the board but the message that one would take away from that is so much greater than they could ever imagine.

The second story I wanted to share with you actually comes within a picture:

for those of you who read my introduction, know that I am a collegiate runner. We put in mileage seven days a week whether it is with the team or on our own. The bracelet in the picture is a road ID, a bracelet for athletes on the road that share personal information in case of an emergency. (You can get your own custom bracelet at roadid.com.) On the website it said the last line was for an inspirational quote or additional information. I didn't have any extra information but I thought the inspirational quote would help. I decided to put my own constant reminder on my bracelet of God's presence and love. Sometimes after a run or a race I will be disappointed in my performance, what better way to remind myself to, "Let Go," than to wear it on my wrist. Running with this bracelet is also a constant reminder that God is with me every step of the way.

We are given constant reminders every day, whether from God, ourselves, or others. One of the most famous constant reminders actually came from the Bible. God promised he would never flood the world again, and thus he gave us the rainbow, the greatest constant reminder that we could possibly ever have, and what a beautiful reminder it is. 

In 2 Peter there's a great verse about God giving us reminders:

10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will recieve a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 12 So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. 13 I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of the body, 14 because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.

It is pretty evident that these constant reminders, whether a note on a board, a bracelet, or a rainbow in the sky, were given by God to remind us of his very love. He reminds us every day through the little things of just how much he loves us and just how much we must love one another. As long as we live he will be giving us constant reminders so that we may not stray away from him or his teachings. These constant reminders are everywhere, have you seen yours today???

In the Beginning

In the beginning was a blog, and the blog was a blog, and the blog was with God...

My name is Kari Baker and I am currently a sophomore at a small town college that most of you probably haven't heard of. I am majoring in nursing and I'm also taking on the double life as a student athlete. I run cross country and track here at my humble place of higher learning and it can get a little stressful at times. I started this blog to share with you my journey throughout college and throughout my christian experience. I recently found myself reading my mother's blog, rediscoverstella.blogspot.com and saying to myself, "I wish I could be more like that." My mom has been strengthening her life as a Christian and blogging about her experience, I too felt that my faith could use a little more growth and thought the best thing to do would be to take to the internet.

As a college student it is really easy to give in and give up but what we must remember to do is to, "Let Go and Let God." If you're reading this and you know me personally you probably understand how difficult that is for me to do. I dwell on all of the negatives and sometimes forget who is really in charge. With that being said I should tell you a little bit more about how I chose the title of this blog.

     In Luke chapter 15 we read Jesus' parable of a lost sheep. As a Christian, I consider myself a lamb      of God, however sometimes it is easy to wander from our upbringings and teachings and become        a little lost. In verses 4-7 Jesus tells of how he cares for his lost sheep, he says:

 4 “Suppose one of  you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. (NIV)

This parable was the main source of inspiration for the title of my blog. In college, it's a little bit too easy to become one of the lost sheep. There are lots of sins surrounding you that would make it easy to lose your Christian faith. It is important not to give in to those types of sins, regardless of how tempting they may seem at first glance. Just know that if you do mess up, your God is bigger and regardless of how lost you may seem he WILL bring you back, so long as you repent and allow God into your heart.

If you happen to be in college, or even a Christian in the work place, I hope my blog will be something you can connect to. There will be times when we all need to lean on God and there will be times when we need to learn from him as well. As I grow into an adult I find myself being exposed to a lot more and the only thing that has ever gotten me through, both the good times and the bad, is my righteous father, God. As I experience new things and as I experience Holy things I will leave little posts that will hopefully lighten your day and heighten your spirituality just as they will do for me. Thank you for taking the few minutes it took to read this first post, I hope to see you again soon.

God Bless,
Kari <><