1. Day 5: Your favorite philanthropy event

    May 8, 2012 by Jessr1313

    For those of you that don’t know what a philanthropy event is, it is a way to either volunteer or give back to the community through volunteering your time and work, or raising money, or simply raising awareness. I think I would have to say that my favorite philanthropic event is Penny Wars and Frats at Bat.

    For this event, my chapter spends an entire week in our Student Union with a booth that has a jar for each fraternity and sorority. Over the course of the week we hold a war in which pennies represent positive points and nickels, dimes, and dollars represent negative points. Everyone is able to place their money in whichever jar they please and can really impact the score for other chapters. Though it doesn’t seem that intense at first, I warn you that on Friday is a full out war of fraternity men placing 40 pounds worth of pennies on your table and completely knocking everyone out of the race. This year we raised over $1,000 simply with this event. Along with Penny wars, we assign all the girls to a fraternity team that will play against each other in an all day Softball Tournament. Winning Penny Wars is only part of winning the overall event and it allows the winners to pick who they would like to play against in softball. By the end of the week the Greek Community has truly come together for a great cause, raised a significant amount of money for our philanthropic foundation, and gets to let loose in a softball game at the end of the week. It is by far one of my favorite philanthropic events!

    So what is one of your favorite charitable events? Why do you do it? What do you love about it?

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  2. Day 4: Your favorite social

    May 8, 2012 by Jessr1313

    Socials can range from a mixer with a fraternity, a formal dance, an award’s banquet, or even a traditional Tuesday get together at Fuzzy’s tacos for their $1 tacos. I think for me, I would have to say my favorite social are definitely the Formals. In my time, I have been to three of my own formals and 3 of the Fraternities formals. By far these are the most memorable social events of my college career. I get to spend the night away dancing, eating a formal meal, dressing up to impress, and celebrating another year with our brothers and sisters. Here are just a few of the photos from some of my most memorable formals. I have always had the luck of having an incredible date that truly made each dance a memorable one that I will never forget.

    What is one of your favorite social activities you do to let loose and enjoy yourself? Why do you love them so much?

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  3. Day 3: Your favorite trip taken with Sisters

    May 8, 2012 by Jessr1313

    This is a difficult one for me…well I’m sure most of them will be. It is so hard to just pick ONE favorite trip taken with sisters. So for me I think I will have to say these were my best trips:

    -Spring Break 2011 trip to California

    -Winter Break trip to Colorado

    -Spring Break 2012 trip to South Padre Island

    -Interview weekend in Indianapolis for the Leadership Consultant position

    In my three years in Alpha Gamma Delta I have taken many trips with sisters to all over the place. Every semester my chapter makes a trip up to Oklahoma for our Sisterhood Retreat and I can only bet that there are so many memories from that alone. But these four trips hold something very special for me.

    Spring Break 2011 trip to California was my first BIG trip with sisters for a vacation and it was memorable to say the least. It was just four of us and we decided to drive the entire way from Texas to California which takes a solid 24 hours if you drive straight through…which we did. While there we spent an entire week in a small condo spending our days relaxing, tanning, shopping and just exploring. We went to Venice Beach and drove to L.A (where I was quite excited to see the imprints of the Harry Potter cast at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.) We were lucky enough to get tickets to the Jay Leno show and the wildest thing happened….an Alpha Gam from Oregon State sat right next to us! Overall it was one of the craziest experiences of my life that I never want to take back.

    This year I took a winter trip to Colorado to do a little ski and snow vacation time. Once again, me and a few sisters decided to drive the 17 hours to Colorado and I must say, it was worth it. I had never skied before and never experience snow like that and man that is something I will never forget. I had the time of my life skiing all day then jumping in a hot tub all night. Those are moments that will last with me forever.

    Spring Break 2012 at South Padre was also one for the books. We drove…12 hours this time and walked into an environment that I could never prepare. It was young, wild, and free to say the least. Spring Break in Padre is something that though I had my wild nights at, and probably upset a few people, I still am so glad it happened. It was an incredible experience that I recommend every college student scratch off their bucket list.

    And finally, my interview weekend in Indianapolis. That was an experience like no other. I flew in from Texas to Indianapolis and met 14 of the most influential collegiate women in Alpha Gamma Delta. We all flew in from all over the U.S with the same purpose in mind, to interview for the opportunity to be a Leadership Consultant for our International Headquarters. It is one of the most selective interview processes you could imagine for a sorority or fraternity and only 10 people are chosen to represent Alpha Gamma Delta as you fly from chapter to chapter helping with any problems. We all came together for a common goal, we knew it would be selective and difficult and scary, we knew that we were all competing against one another and that there was a good chance we would not receive the job. Regardless, we all grew really close in just those two days and left Indiana with an experience we will never forget. I did indeed receive the position and will always think of those women and our time together.

    So my question for any readers is what was a trip you took with family, or a friend, or sorority/fraternity brother or sister that you will truly never forget? What was it like for you?

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  4. Day 2: Your Big Sister/Brother

    May 3, 2012 by Jessr1313

    When you look up what the relationship is supposed to be between a Big Sister and Little Sister in a sorority, or Big Brother and Little Brother in a fraternity, this is what you get:

    The purpose of the Big during the new member period is to act as a mentor for their Little.  It is their duty to introduce their Littles to the sorority and help them adjust to Greek life. Bigs answer any questions their Littles might have regarding the chapter, the sorority, college or with life in general.

    In Alpha Gamma Delta, we go even a step further. In our organization we do not provide a big or little but rather a sister-mother, an initiated member who serves as a personal guide and friend throughout a woman’s first months in Alpha Gamma Delta. This special inner-family relationship extends beyond Initiation and graduation.

    Sadly, for me I did not receive a sister-mother who was very involved. During formal recruitment I was told in my last day as a potential new member during the preference ceremony that I had girls fighting for me to be my sister-mother. Maybe that was true. But on the day of the unveiling I was shocked to see that I had in fact received someone who I had never met. I wasn’t disappointed though. In fact, I was the opposite. I was excited to get the opportunity to meet someone knew who would be showing me the ways of this chapter.

    Unfortunately, my sister-mother had many struggles of her own. Throughout my new member process I saw very little of her. Any questions I had, I found myself asking other pledge sisters and even active members though at times it terrified me. Then, shortly after I was initiated, my sister-mother decided she could no longer be a part of this chapter and left us. I felt a bit abandoned at first. There I was watching as my pledge sisters had this deep bond with a sister-mother and already I was left alone with no real connection to my family tree.

    I know my sister-mother tried her hardest, and I never will judge her actions because of that. She was an incredible person and I wish I could’ve gotten to know her better. However, the positive part in this all is that when she left, I promised myself that I would be the best sister-mother I could possibly be. I promised to wait to take on a sister-daughter only if I felt a connection with them. So that is exactly what I did, and I couldn’t be more proud of my sister-daughters.

    I guess my advice to anyone who may be in ANY kind of organization that shares these similar qualities such as a big/little in band, a mentor/mentee program in academics, a little sis/ big sis in a philanthropic organization, or even a real big/ little sister, remember that YOU matter to that person. Step up and be there for them on good days and bad. And for those who may have been unfortunate like me and may not have had the most fantastic experience…..learn from it and most importantly GROW. Do not harbor raw emotions that are bitter and filled with hatred for a long time. Move on and remember that maybe they tried the best that they could, but have faith in yourself that you will continue giving the best that you got.

    For those who are not in an organization maybe make your post for the day about a photo of someone you hope to guide in life, or someone who has guided you. What did they do for you? What can you do for them?

     

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  5. Day 1: A Favorite picture of you and your sisters, and your chapter, school, and semester/year you initiated.

    May 2, 2012 by Jessr1313

    Here are just a couple of my favorite photos of me and my sisters. It’s funny that although I have been in Alpha Gamma Delta for 3 years now, I chose photos all from the last year. I think the reason behind that though is because my chapter went through a lot in those three years. We had a lot of members quit and kicked out, we had risk management violations and scholastic violations…yet through it all we prevailed and became the closest group of women I’ve ever seen. I don’t believe I could be more proud of that. So here is my chapter: Alpha Gamma Delta. I am proud to say that I a member of Alpha Gamma Delta since the Fall Semester of 2009 and I will continue to be a member for the rest of my life.

     

    Inspire the Woman. Impact the World

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  6. April and May Challenges

    May 1, 2012 by Jessr1313

    Welcome to MAYDAY! The first day of may, and with that, the first day of a new challenge.

    Now I know I was unable to post at all for the month of April, and I promise to come back and revisit what all happened this month, but today begins the day of one of my favorite challenges: The Sorority Sister Challenge. So what all does this challenge entail and why exactly am I doing it?

    So the challenge entails posting a photo each day of a specific aspect of sorority life and explaining it. The reason why I have chosen to do this challenge is because I graduate in 19 days and want to be able to look back and remember the roller coaster of a ride it has been. Just because you are not in a sorority though doesn’t mean you can’t participate in this. You can do this with any aspect of your life and I will try and post an alternative to each day. So here are the challenges for the month:

     

    Day 01 – Your favorite picture of you and your sisters, and your chapter, school, and semester/year you initiated.

    Day 02 – Your big sister.

    Day 03 – Your favorite trip taken with sisters.

    Day 04 – Your favorite social.

    Day 05 – Your favorite philanthropy event.

    Day 06 – Your favorite sisterhood memory.

    Day 07 – Your favorite recruitment shirt.

    Day 08 – If you could change one thing about your chapter, what would it be?

    Day 09- Someone who made a huge impact on you during your new member period

    Day 10- A Picture of your Big-Little Family

    Day 11- A Picture from a date function

    Day 12 – Why you chose your sorority

    Day 13- Favorite Fraternity Formal

    Day 14- A favorite picture from your sorority Formal

    Day 15- A photo that makes you laugh

    Day 16- A photo of your best friend

    Day 17- A photo of your pledge class

    Day 18- Most memorable photo from each year

    Day 19- A photo of your little/littles

    Day 20- A favorite photo from a night out

    Day21- A photo from “a night you’ll never remember”

    Day 22- A photo of a college sweetheart

    Day 23- Something you accomplished in your chapter

    Day 24- A photo of a moment that makes you proud

    Day 25- A photo that you define as “sisterhood”

    Day 26- A photo of a moment you wish you could go back to

    Day 27- A photo that makes you want to cry

    Day 28- A photo that you define as your “chapter”

    Day 29- A photo of you on bid day

    Day 30- A photo of a moment that defines your college experience

    Day 31- What does your chapter ultimately mean for you

    So as always my readers, I hope you learn something new about yourself! Good luck

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  7. Day 27: We love because He first loved us. But do you love yourself?

    March 27, 2012 by Jessr1313

    The other day I made plans to go out and eat with a friend of mine.  I had the idea that we would engage in our everyday conversation, switch stories about Spring Break, and genuinely enjoy each others time with laughter and silly conversations that have no significance.

    Its funny how things work out. Its funny how you can wake up with a certain mindset telling yourself “ok this, this, and this is what will happen today. This is what I plan to do. This is how I plan to feel. I woke up that morning telling God my plans for the day. He laughed.

    See because what he had in mind was for me to have a conversation I never expected to have with a person I never expected to have it with. And it was incredibly fulfilling and enlightening.

    If you haven’t been able to tell by now, I go through many struggles on a daily basis and most of them are struggles of my mind and my own self. I use to think “wow, what is wrong with you? How can you, at such a young age, have so many struggles?” But in my walk of faith I’ve learned that I am not alone.

    Let me say that again. I am NOT alone, by any means of the word. This is something that people everywhere are going through on a daily basis. Every person has their battles regardless of age, race, gender, culture, sexuality, anything. I would place money on the fact that you, the reader, even have a struggle or two. Which is why I post these blogs. My hopes are that maybe there is someone out there with a similar struggle, who feels like they are alone in that struggle, that happens to stumble upon my blog and realize, WOW, I’m NOT alone.

    So the other day God decided to put someone in my life at the right place and the right time to help battle one of these struggles. Something that has always been a struggle for me on top of forgiving myself like I explained in Day 4: Am I good enough? is loving myself. Before I came to truly know God and understand my faith, I was quickly falling into a downward spiral of alcohol, promiscuity, caring less about people, caring less about family, overall change in complete attitude and morals. It may sound bad but it really wasn’t all too bad. In fact, compared to the average college student, it wasn’t all that bad. But for me, it was. In the matter of two years, I was able to completely change everything I ever was and transformed from Jessica, whom people knew for most of her life, into J-Rod, the girl I became. And I wasn’t happy about it.

    But here is where my struggles grew deeper. I never loved “Jessica,” who she was, how she acted, how she dressed, how she kept to herself and had very few friends, how she never went out, never drank or enjoyed life, and just sat around watching TV all day. But I also didn’t love “J-Rod,” who she became, how she began to dress, how people knew who she was and how many “friends” she had (facebook is just a number), how she always wanted to go out, drank more alcohol than needed, and could no longer enjoy herself if she was alone in a room.  I was in a constant battle between two worlds and didn’t know how to make the best of them both. So instead, I just never learned how to love myself.

    It’s been said that you can’t find someone who loves you if you can’t love yourself. It can also be said that you can’t truly know what love is unless you understand the love God has for you.

    God is the creator of love and yes, although we have a description of love is, what it does and what should feel like in 1 Corinthians 13, we still cannot fully understand love until we understand God’s love for us. I mean just think about it, God sacrificed his only Son who was all perfect…for us. His only child. For us. I can’t even begin to comprehend that kind of love. I screw up, often. I make mistakes, daily. I sin, and will probably continue to sin throughout life. I’m not perfect, by any means. So why would someone EVER sacrifice their child for someone like me?

    Simply put? Because,

    [That] is love. Not that we loved God, but that he loved us… -1 John 4:10

    Essentially, if I was able to just comprehend what God did for me and why, then I would understand what love is. So then the question that begs an answer is: If he was willing to do all of that for me, shouldn’t I do as he asks and love one another as thyself?

    The answer is yes I should. But, the first step towards loving one another is first loving thyself, which was exactly the same answer my friend gave me when I began talking about how I didn’t feel good enough for certain guys. She asked me, how can you possibly ask someone to love, or even like you, when you first do not even love yourself? Well….I can’t. So I thought about it for the past week and came up with this answer:

    • Love “keeps no record of wrongs.” 1 Corinthians 13:5 – If love can forgive and continue on its path than so can I. How can I expect love to reside in me and for me to love myself if I am constantly keeping track of my wrongs and never forgiving or forgetting any past mistakes?

    Step 1: Forgive thyself. Let it Go. Let go and Let GOD.

    • Love “does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” 1 Corinthians 13:6 – Love rejoices in the truth. How can I expect to love myself if I am not even true to myself. Love does not delight in the evil of false identity and does not rejoice in the fact that I am lying to myself.

    Step 2: Drop the act. Forget what people will think or say about you. Stop trying to morph who you are in order  

                 to please others. Figure out who you are and stay true to that.

    • Love “always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” 1 Corinthians 13:7 – The love you have for yourself will protect you. Trust in it as it trust that you will hold it close. Love always hopes and will allow you to hope to find someone worthy of it. Love will persevere regardless of attacks, denial, or betrayal. How can anyone expect to bounce back from a rough break up or from someones verbal/emotional abuse if they are not first confident in themselves and love themselves. If we cannot fall back on the love we have for ourselves then we will fall into a deep, dark pit. We will believe hurtful words or the eveil thoughts in our head screaming “your’re not good enough!”

    Step 3: Love is your safety net, trust in that. Love is your protector and warrior and is capable of fighting off

                  even the most harmful of evils out to get you. Stop breaking down the brick wall that love is desperately trying

                  to rebuild time and time again. Start trusting in the fact that although others may hurt you, you shouldn’t be

                  leading the rebellion. Stop saying negative things about yourself. Stop putting yourself down and stop making

                  yourself feel bad. 

    • Last, if you do not have love, the you have nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 – Simple as that. For those like me who have never loved themselves, what do we really have? An even better question, what can we gain simply from loving ourselves? …Everything.

    Step 4: Take that leap and start loving yourself. 

    God loved us first and showed us what absolute love can be. Take these steps and maybe then we can begin the journey towards loving thy neighbor, loving one another, and eventually loving the one who fell in love with you. People love people who have a love within themselves. Our hearts beat for God and for the person God put on this Earth to balance us out.

    So I leave you with this:

    And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13

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  8. Day 20: Who are you to judge me?

    March 20, 2012 by Jessr1313

    Well, it has been awhile since I checked in on here and my journey through 31 days of faith and 31 days with the Proverbs 31 woman. I recently got back from my Spring Break vacation on South Padre Island and let me tell you…your faith can definitely be tested there. So fair warning, this post will be a long one simply because my faith went through a lot this week.

    Now lets begin with South Padre. If you don’t know much about what it is like to go to South Padre Island during Spring Break let me fill you in on it a bit….

    Basically, it’s 10,000 college men and women flocking down from all over the world to a small little island off Texas where the days are spent drinking and partying and the nights are spent drinking and clubbing.

    Now for me one thing I have wrestled with for hmm I would say the past two years is drinking. I’m not saying I drink too much or too often, but what I am saying is I constantly wrestle with how it has impacted my life, my faith, and so many other aspects. So I knew this week was going to be tough, but I also knew that I am graduating in two months and had never experienced the college Spring Break.

    Needless to say, I did.

    But here’s where my faith was truly tested over the course of the week. On the very first day of arriving, me and my group went down to Coca-Cola beach to experience where the real day party was at. It was overwhelming to say the least, but I certainly had fun. However, about half way through the day as I migrated closer towards the water front, I could hear shouting coming from about 30 yards away. Curious, I made my way over there and noticed a big group of individuals standing up on a crate, megaphone in hand, preaching how every single one of us was going to hell for the sins we were partaking in, including just drinking. I stood there and listened to him going on and on about how if we did not turn around now and beg for forgiveness, we were all going to hell. I listened as he said that we were hopeless sinners, and that there was no answer for us other than hell.

    My breath was gone.

    My heart ached.

    And all I could remember thinking was “I’m so new in my faith, so maybe I am wrong but what am I being a part of? Am I one of these people? Is THIS what I am supposed to be believing in?”

    My world was shattered for a split second only to then quickly mend and move to shear anger and frustration. I then remember thinking, who are these people to stand before us all and cast judgement on us. The God I know is the only One whom I can be judged by. Are we not supposed to guide people towards the answers rather than set them up for questions of confusion and questions of why they should believe in something like this? I was frustrated to say the least, but did nothing about it.

    I continued off down the beach with my group and sat down to relax. About an hour later I watched as my friend was approached by a guy who began reading out of his Bible. I was upset that I didn’t say anything earlier to the people with the megaphone, but in that moment I decided I would say something to this guy. I immediately walked over to him and asked him what his intentions were. He seemed a bit shocked at such a question so I asked him again, what are your intentions in coming here? He again said nothing but soon after I was tapped on my shoulder and found myself face to face with a familiar looking girl. It took me a second but after a brief introduction, I realized I was talking to a girl who not only went to my school, but a girl that I had desperately wanted to join my sorority when she went through recruitment.

    At first, I was shocked to see she was even associated with the group and their megaphones but realized that she was agreeing with everything I was telling her about what I, in my new faith, believed in. I was telling her a story about how if this had been me a year ago, 4 months away from being baptized, I would have ran full speed the other way. I asked her how could they possibly believe that by telling everyone they were going to hell, they were bringing them closer to Christ?

    She stopped me mid-sentence and told me that they were from a different organization, there for the sole purpose to let people know that not every Christian is like that. She explained to me their idea is to come to the beaches, and spread the word, not cast judgment. She told me about how they had hundreds of people coming in to provide free transportation to everyone 24 hours a day so that no one would harm themselves or others. She explained to me that at night they had free pancakes to give out so that people can have something in their stomachs, especially to help soak up the alcohol.

    And as I listened to this I remember thinking, these are my brothers and sisters in Christ. What a beautiful and kind thing they were doing for these strangers that they had never met and had no obligation towards. It got me thinking how maybe they would only impact 1 or 2 lives, maybe their words would fall on deaf ears except 1 or 2 people, maybe people would walking away feeling no different having met them….but at least they impacted one life. What they did brought me even closer to my faith and my God. It gave me hope that people are good and can be good. It made me realize that there will be people in this world who are set up to question your faith, to challenge it, to poke at it. But at the end of the day, who are they to judge you, to tell you that you are going to hell, to cast punishment on you?

    Which brings me to the point of this entry, why is it that if we are so confident in our faith, we allow others to harm us in such a way? It says in the Luke 6:

    37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

    39 He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.

    41 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

    We allow people to judge us, condemn us, mistreat us, every single day and allow it to hurt us. We take peoples words against us and allow them to shatter our hearts and soul. But Jesus himself said if we do not judge, we will not be judge. If we do not condemn, we will not be condemned. One of my favorite lines is “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” How can I allow a man standing on a crate, lecturing me about my sins, speaking above the teacher as only a student, to get to me when Jesus himself said differently.

    The answer is, you don’t. Each day we wrestle with people and their negative words. I, myself, am guilty of this. But the answer is in the bible, don’t let them. Even more importantly, don’t be the person placing judgment and guilt on another being. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

    That’s what I leave you with. Maybe I didn’t learn as many lessons as I needed to over Spring Break. I certainly have a lot more things I need to work on. But I am certainly glad I walked away having learned that. Only One can judge you. Be careful who you allow to hurt your heart and take a step back to think “Is this my God doing this, or simply a student speaking above the teacher?”

    I thank God every day for placing people like the ones I was introduced to working with this guy and girl. They truly did wonderful things for everyone out there.

     

     

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  9. Day 4: Am I good enough? 31 days of Faith.

    March 7, 2012 by Jessr1313

    Over the past week I have been taking a good hard look at who this Proverbs 31 woman is and every day I come to the same conclusion….she is too perfect. Then in brings into this vicious cycle of will I ever be good enough? Have I ever been good enough? And not only that but am I good enough person in God’s eyes.

    One thing I have always struggled with is the “forgiven” aspect of Christianity. When I was a Catholic, one of the hardest concepts for me to grasp was going to confession, telling a Father your sins that you have committed, and then him telling you certain prayers you should say and how many times you should say them, then all would be forgiven. And I just remember being a little girl and thinking “well am I truly forgiven?” As I grew older and began attending a baptist church I heard people say that all you needed to do was ask for forgiveness and you shall receive as long as you mean it from the heart. Then I remember thinking as a young adult “well am I truly forgiven now?” Then I remember the day in college when I was baptized and as I emerged from the water I remember thinking “ok now am I truly forgiven?” It’s a concept I have constantly battled and I think the simplest answer to my question is with another question “How can you ask God to forgive you when you have yet to forgive yourself?”

    I am my toughest critic, and to me that means I am unable to forgive myself for the blemishes I have left on my life. I am the sole reason for the blemishes which makes it even harder for me to come to terms with. Sometimes I feel so ashamed in what I have done in my past that I feel almost embarrassed to even ask God forgiveness because it means having to admit and own up to what I have done. Don’t get me wrong, I know that God will always love me and will forgive me for even the worst of sins if I truly reflect on what I have done and beg for forgiveness….but the idea that someone so perfect, and his perfect Son can even THINK about about forgiving me for some of my wrongs is absolutely mind-blowing. I honestly cannot grasp my head around it.

    Which brings me to the Proverbs 31 woman. This is a woman clothed in strength and dignity to get her through the days. In Proverbs 31, she is the all perfect woman. But NOWHERE in that passage does it say that she NEVER wrongs. Maybe she is just as imperfect as we humans are yet has the heart and soul of a truly noble person. Maybe she corrects her wrongs by being that priceless wife and mother. So when that question arrises, well am I good enough to be THAT woman…the answer is of course. If you are good enough for God then you are truly a good enough person to be the Proverbs 31 woman. It does not mean you will go all your days in a perfect frame of mind acting perfectly in every scenario. It simply means that God created you to be capable of being that woman, the only person that could hold you back is yourself. He put his entire heart and soul into creating you because you are special and unique to him. He gave you the ability to be the Proverbs 31 woman or the Man in the Proverbs 31 passage, so why hold yourself back?

    Forgiveness is the second step in this process. First, get to know the Proverbs 31 passage and see what God has laid out in the bible as the foundation of an all noble human. Then, start praying. Pray that the next few days, weeks, months, years, your heart will soften and absorb the word in such a way that allows you see clearly what you must do to fulfill those desires. Step two is learn to forgive yourself and turn to God for forgiveness as well. Place faith in the fact that God loves you tremendously or else they wouldn’t mention it so often. I know for me this will be difficult because I am sometimes my worst critic. But you are his child and he is the Father that looks down onto his child and will always say, “I forgive you, my child.”

    And that’s the beauty of it all.

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  10. Day 3: Let go and Let God

    March 7, 2012 by Jessr1313

    Over the past few days, well actually, over the past few months something that has really been on my mind a lot is letting go of the past, moving forward and trusting what God has in store for me in the future. It is really difficult for me most days to put my faith in the fact that God has already determined a path for me. It really tests my faith when awful things happen along this path like deaths, break-ups, tragedies, injuries, basically the negative situations. I know many Christians eventually come to the question of why does God allow bad things to happen in this world, or why does God let bad things happen to good people. I know for me it really pushes my faith to the outermost boundaries whenever one of these situations presents themselves. But one of the conclusions I have come to is that we are simply not the creator of all things. We are not capable of determining what is right and what is wrong for the future of this world, we are not supposed to be the person who determines the future for all living things. We put our trust in God for a reason, he is the all powerful and all mighty. Why question him? Why fight it?

    One of my favorite jokes is “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.”

    I couldn’t agree more…though it is often not easy for me to admit it. For me, I am having a difficult time grasping the idea that in just two months I will be graduating with my undergraduate degree. It doesn’t set well with me knowing that the outcome of my future is relying on a phone call I will be receiving in the next two weeks regarding if I got a full time year position with my International Headquarters for Alpha Gamma Delta or if I will be stuck in town for another year in an awkward limbo counting down the days until I can finally go to Law School. I have a very hard time not knowing what my future holds, who my husband will be, what my family will be like, where I will live, where will I work, what will I do for a living, will I be happy? These questions surround me each and every day. And for what? Do I honestly feel like I have much control over these situations? Sure, I chose what jobs I will apply for, how I will act in an interview, who I decide to marry, where I will ultimately work and live, but do I honestly believe that God has no part in that?

    Of course he does. So then why is this a constant issue for most people who have complete and utter faith in Christ?

    Well my theory is that we feel that we are in constant control of our lives. Even if our life is chaotic, we find it to be controlled chaos.  So to think about how a higher being is actually the one controlling most our situations, maybe we feel as if we are just puppets in this world. We feel like we are constantly being controlled and have no say. Or maybe we are just the people that find it near impossible to know that someone we can’t see or touch is someone that is guiding us down our daily paths.

    It’s a hard concept don’t you think? But it is one that I am hoping to really come to terms with. I want to be able to Let Go and LET GOD! I wan’t to be able to turn to someone who asks “well what do you expect from life, where do you plan to go?” and say ” I expect to go where God leads me.”

    I not only want to say that, but I want to feel it to the core of my being.

    So I suppose my challenge to you is to first ask: Do you let go and let God? or Do you plan every single detail of your life?

    Take the time to step back from life and really look at it, take a deep breathe, and try putting your life in the hands of God.

    What does that look like? Well…it can simply be trying out prayer for once. I don’t pray as often as I wish but maybe that’s the first step I need to take in order to really soften my heart to allow God to fill up and lift me to a place where I can place trust in him.

    So that’s my first step in this process….pray more.

    Category 31 days of Faith | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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