Untruthing “Truths”
It’s finally the holidays. This year has been a wild one. It included such a whirlwind of emotions. The emotions ranged from great moments of joy to great moments of heartache and frustration. It has been quite a tumultuous year to say the least. This season of life has taught me more about the mysterious…
The Elephant in the Room
This has been pressing on my heart. It has been pressing on many hearts of people that I know. I’m sure it has pressed on yours. The Church. I know that sounds a little vague, but I’ll explain. However, you’re gonna have to read this entire blog to fully understand. Anyways, whether you are a…
A Great Big World
Last week, I got to go on a trip to one of my absolute favorite places… the MOUNTAINS! I have always loved the mountains. Everything in the mountains is so extremely beautiful that it is surprising it’s even real. The first full day of the trip, my friends and I went on a hike up…
Scandal of Grace
Lately, I’ve been reflecting on the fact that Jesus was a 100% human and 100% God. OF COURSE this can be hard to wrap our minds around because this is beyond our human understanding. I think something we often forget is the fact that Jesus was 100% human. He performs so many divine miracles that…
What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do
Last night I watched the movie “Soul”. Ever since it came out, I have heard about how great of a message it has to communicate to those watching it. I won’t spoil anything in case you haven’t watched it but let me tell you… it has such an important message for all of us to…
Do You Live for the Journey or the Destination?
One of my favorite classes this year is Celtic Christianity. In this class, we get to learn all about Christianity in Ireland, and it is so fascinating. I love seeing how other cultures come together to worship God. But this sect of Christianity has really made an impact on me. You see, Celtic Christians have…
All to You I Surrender
A couple of weeks ago, I had to get a little, tiny procedure done. BUT you wouldn’t have known it was a little, tiny procedure if you would’ve seen me around that time. I was terrified. If this gives you any context, my parents once had to trick me with ice cream in order to…
2020… a year that has made me better than who I was before
JD and I went on our two-year date last week. That’s literally insane! It seems like time has been flying by in my life recently. But anyways, we always do this fun thing for our yearly dates where he blindfolds me and takes me to different surprise destinations. This year we went to our favorite…
Better Not Bitter
Bitterness comes to steal our joy. It comes to steal our lives and even who we are as a person. Bitterness also seems to come at the most inconvenient times. It comes in the moments when we need joy most in our lives. I’ve never been a very bitter person. I have always been one…
Is God in this story?
“Where is God in this story?” is a question religion majors here at OCU ask quite often. We are taught that this is one of the key exegetical questions to ask about a piece of Scripture. Why? Because it’s important to know the role of God in each story. It’s important to see how God…
Living Life Beyond the Screen
This week has been really busy. Usually on a week like this I’d feel miserable, but I haven’t. I have found myself living more in the present than I have in a very long time. And there is one big reason I think this is. Social media. This week I made it a goal to…
Drop the Stigma
We don’t like to talk about it, but many people are dealing with it. Sadly, there’s a stigma paired with it, and although I wish the stigma didn’t exist, it does. The stigma of mental health. Now more than ever, I hear of people struggling with mental health. I firmly believe the reason for this…
Learning to Live with God-Confidence
“You don’t look good.” Why did you mess that up?” “You always ruin everything.” “You’re not good enough.” These are just a few thoughts that I think have gone through many of our heads. Sometimes we beat ourselves up, until it feels like there’s nothing left. Low confidence comes to steal our joy and leaves…
Blessings and Struggles of Relationships
They’re hard. I have lost friends over them. They have caused some of my deepest scars. They have included harsh arguments and tears. They have made me feel small. My confidence was lost because of them. They also have made me feel on top of the world. They have provided me with love and support.…
Not As Bad As I Thought
This past week was crazy. The homework ramped up, and it felt like I had a million things to get done each day. One thing especially I needed to do was practice piano. I was leading worship with my boyfriend, JD, at the First United Methodist Church in Durant. I was playing piano, and he…
Forgiven and Freed
As he went, the crowds pressed in on him. 43 Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years; and though she had spent all she had on physicians,[l] no one could cure her. 44 She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his clothes, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. 45 Then Jesus asked, “Who…
I’m Not My Situation
This week my classes all started. To be honest, I thought this semester’s workload wouldn’t be too rough, but I was wrong. The way it’s looking from the first week I’m going to have a big time commitment to my studies. Even though I know it’s going to be a lot, I also know that…
Breaking Through Barriers
My little brother is now entering a new chapter of his life. He’s about to be a Freshman in high school. The other day he approached me about sharing my experience in high school and how I grew as a person in that time. Like him and probably most people, when I was a Freshman,…
Seasons
We all go through different seasons in life. Some seasons are great while others are just tough. One worship song that has always found a way into my heart is “Seasons” by Hillsong United. This song speaks the truth that God is with us no matter the season we may be in. I don’t know…
Love Yourself
I’ve always been the type of person that tries to go the extra mile for others. I want people to know that I care. I’ve never really had too much of an issue with putting others before myself. But of course, I do have my very selfish moments. However, most of the time, I’d rather…
New Day… New Beginning
New Years is always known as the time to start fresh and new. When you are on the verge of a new year, it seems like nothing is in your way. You can be whoever you want to be and even change those parts of you that you have wanted to change for so long…
Attitude Is a Choice
I wake up Monday morning looking at a full week of work/school. I drag myself out of bed, getting ready for another draining week. The weekend was nice and relaxing, and I tried with all of my power not to think about the week coming up. It’s the same routine. I get up. I work/have…
Building Character… One Wrong At a Time
Growing up, I was pretty stubborn. It was my way or the highway. And if you would’ve asked me, when I was a child, I would’ve said that I was never wrong. I can still be this way at times, but my parents did a really great job at teaching me the value of admitting…
Just Breathe
A couple of years ago, I was driving in the car alone, when a song came on Air1 that really caught my attention. I remember being overwhelmed in that moment. I was out and about, trying to get a million things done. The song was super fast paced in the first verse, and the lyrics…
Are you worshipping the flow or God?
The word “worship” has more power than we think. There is so much meaning within that one word. One way I love to worship God is through music. I have always found a strong connection to God when singing to Him. I especially love when a whole group is together, singing praise to God. But…
The Struggle of Being Real
I’ve always had this tendency of bottling in all of my emotions. I want the world to see the good parts of me, not the broken parts. I honestly didn’t even realize that I had this tendency until I was a little older. Things started to feel heavy because of all the baggage that I…
Perspective
On February 3rd, a tragedy occurred in Moore, Oklahoma. Moore High School cross country students were out on their normal run at practice when a truck went off the side of the road and hit them head on. One student died on the spot, and later on, two students died in the hospital. There were…
Hate Divides.
It hurts. The world just hurts right now. Last week, I wrote about the coronavirus, not having any idea that America was going to enter into another heartache. On May 25th, 2020, a man who was black died in the hands of a man who happened to be a police officer. I’m sure most of…
Wait… I’m an Adult Now??
They always say that life goes by pretty fast, but I didn’t know it went by THIS FAST. I was a kid… and then, I wasn’t. I was all of a sudden walking across the stage at high school graduation, getting ready to enter into a complete unknown in my life. And I was so…
Beautiful Simplicities 