Happy Valentine's Day

My mom took me to see "Stars on Ice" as a Valentine's Day treat. I have always loved figure skating, and it was a special way to spend the day with her. By the way, Sasha Cohen fell in both of her solo skates, which made me realize that I have never seen her skate without falling. Remember the Olympics? How did she become such a star?

After I got home from the show, I went over to my friend Lindsay's house for a girls Valentine's party. I also treated myself to a small shopping spree at Target in the morning. Spending an hour in Target automatically makes any day better. In fact, I love Target so much, I think I would marry it if I could. Since that's probably not possible, maybe having my wedding inside Target would be the next best option. I would get married in the stationery aisle or the accessories department. Don't worry. I'm just kidding. Anyways, yesterday was pretty much the perfect day.

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

Stirring my affections

This last week has been a hard one for me because of something that happened at work which I cannot talk about on my blog. Please know that there is a student who desperately needs prayer and a counselor (me!) who needs wisdom on how guide her.

I went through the membership class at The Village this weekend, which turned out to be a huge blessing to me. I have struggled with the decision of where I should go to church and how I should serve within the church. After going through the class, I feel very peaceful about my decision to join the Village and excited about the opportunities I have there. I have been meeting some great people and am excited to get to know them and hopefully walk through the next seasons of life with them.

Matt said something that really impacted me during the class. I don't remember what the original context was anymore, but he talked about how we should fill out life with things that stir our affections for Christ. I think back to the times when I have struggled with my desire to be in a relationship with God, and I realize that the things I prioritized in my life at the time were not things that would pull me or excite me about Christ. So, I made a list. I pray that I will continue to fill my life with these things and weed out things that pull me away from Him.

Things that stir my affections for Christ:
1. worship music
2. being in nature
3. strong Christian fellowship
4. the Psalms
5. prayer
6. good books with Christian themes
7. the innocence of children
8. missions and service
9. journaling
10. seeing or hearing other people's stories about sacrificial love