Living Hope

Hello friends! I hope you are all doing well and having a great summer.  It is August and almost time to go back to school. I just finished my summer class and I am waiting to get my official acceptance letter to Clemson University this week. After I get my acceptance letter, I have to register for classes and get a bunch of stuff done before classes start on August 19th. Thinking about everything I have to get done before classes start is overwhelming. I will also be taking all my classes online this semester, which will be challenge. Thankfully I can put my trust in knowing that God has a plan and everything will work itself out. Praying and trusting God is all I can do during this time of uncertainty.   Anyways, I wanted to share a message with y'all that has been on my heart the past few weeks. Over the course of the summer God has revealed to me what a mentor really is and made me realize the importance of being a mentor to younger generations.  Let me start wit...

Hey y'all! I hope you are all doing well. We are still living in crazy times and it makes me sad that Coronavirus cases and deaths continue to rise. It also breaks me heart to see the division of people and the amount of racism, injustice, inequality, violence, and hate that is going on in the world right now. Even during these difficult circumstances I know that I have to trust God. He is my hope and strength.  The last couple of weeks having been rough for me emotionally and spiritually. Most people are returning back to their normal lives, but I still can't return back to my normal life. I live with my grandparents who are at high risk for getting Coronavirus, so I have to be careful where I go and what I do. I miss being around people. I need to hangout with friends right now, go shopping, sit down and eat at a restaurant, and go to the pool.  But then I sat back and thought about it and I realized that all those things I just listed are not essential for me to stay alive....

Hello everyone! I hope y'all are making it through this crazy time with Coronavirus. I know life has been flipped completely upside down and everyone has been having to stay at home for the last few months.  I pray for healing for everyone with family members and friends that have Coronavirus.  I also pray for comfort and peace for the family members and friends that have lost loved ones during this time. I know God is in control and I pray that we will all come out of this being spiritually stronger than when it started.  My church has been doing drive in church services. Drive in church is where everyone stays in their cars and the church has services outside. Today my pastor started a new series called, "Perspective: Seeing things differently and living differently." I just wanted to share this message with y'all today. Our pastor said the definition of perspective is "point of view." Perspective is the way you see something.  There are two interesting th...

Hey y'all! How is everyone doing? I know this is a scary time right now with the uncertainty of the future. I don't know about y'all but this self isolation because of Coronavirus has really been hard for me. I miss my friends, family, and my church. Zoom calls and FaceTime are the closest things I can get to in-person gatherings, but I am thankful for the technology that we have. It also weighs on my heart when I watch the news and continue to see more and more people die from Coronavirus. Even in the midst of this pandemic, there is hope to be found in Jesus. Life has changed as we know it. My church has shut its doors, but thankfully they post their services online for people to access. Today my pastor started a new series called "Fearless Church" and I wanted to share this message with y'all today. God's word is not chained Life has always been busy and constantly moving, but now everything has stopped because of this virus. I believe ever...

Hey everyone! I know its been months since I made a blog post. I have just been so busy with college. I have been enjoying the break this month from college and I hope y'all have been too.  Sadly, I start back Monday, but it has been nice spending time with family and friends. I also had the opportunity to go to a Christian conference called Passion. What is Passion? Passion is a Christian conference held at a different location every year for college students. Passion is held to stress the importance of putting Jesus first and living your life for him everyday. This conference is typically two to three days long and includes many sessions. Each session includes worship lead by popular christian artists and guest speakers that preach a message of God. This year Passion was held December 31st through January 2nd. This was my first year going to Passion. There was unexplainable joy in spending roughly eighteen hours with college students for three days worshipping God, h...

Hey y'all. I hope everyone has had an awesome summer. It has flown by. I am dreading starting college in two weeks. I do not want summer to end and all the fun times at the pool and grabbing coffee with my friends. College is going to be new and scary. I'm not going to know anyone and I don't know what to expect. It really has been stressing me out, getting ready for college and all. My schedule is kinda crazy. I am doing fifteen credit hours first semester, including biology and chemistry lab classes. I have to take certain classes that go towards my major, get thirty credit hours by the end of the school year, and keep at 2.5 GPA to bridge over to Clemson my sophomore year. Thats a lot of pressure. I did realize something today. God doesn't want me to dread and fear going to Tri-County Tech this year. He wants me to try my best to succeed and get good grades, and more importantly to use school as a mission field. Its good to spread the gospel to others ar...

Spiritual Burnout and Lack of Motivation Almost three years ago, I started going to a church called Mount Airy Baptist. I was scared I wouldn't like it, because I didn't know anyone there and it was all new to me. I gave it a chance and I fell in love with it. I have always felt included, cared for, and loved there. For the first year, year in a half, I was on fire for Jesus. I read the Bible everyday, first thing in the morning. I don't know what happened. Just like that, I started experiencing spiritual burnout. My life started getting more busy and I started giving in to other things demanding my attention. This resulted in me starting to neglect my time with God. Now I am at a point where I want to read God's word and spend time with him, but I am struggling with the motivation to even get started in the morning. That is where the prayer closet comes into play. A prayer closet is your own little space to spend one on one time with God. Now if your like me, a...

Hey everyone, I'm sorry, I know its been awhile since I've posted anything. Well, its summertime now and I'm done with high school. My summer has been pretty good so far. I have been spending time with friends and  trying to get ready for college. Unfortunately, I have also been dealing with a lot of anxiety, lack of motivation, and strength that have made me struggle with doing another blog post. I am really hoping that this blog post can help myself and others that are going through a lot right now. My pastor has been in a series called, "Desperation: Turning Desperate Situations Into Defining Moments." In the last week of the series, my pastor preached a message called, "Between Doubt and Despair." In Mark 9:14-18, we are introduced to a boy that has been possessed by an impure spirit that the disciples could not drive out of him. Most of us don't know anyone possessed by an evil spirit, but maybe some of us struggle with negative ...

890264084492280 Hey y'all the past couple of weeks have been a struggle, but God is awesome. A while back, my youth pastor's wife preached a sermon called, "Take Heart." In Mark 6:45-52 , she talked about how the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water and didn't even recognize him. The disciples first were on a boat at night in a storm and were afraid, but Jesus saw them. Just like the disciples, Jesus sees us in our situation. When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, they didn't even recognize him. They were paralyzed by fear. I feel like we also get paralyzed by fear sometimes and then we can't see the miracles God is doing in our life. This really hit me close to home, how often I try to worry and control my fears, when I have to just give it to God. Jesus chooses us and loves us, but it's our choice to choose and love him back. We must take heart, and not be overtaken by fear. We must give our fears to God and trust him. I...