Living Hope

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...

il_794xN.1055121073_hvty.jpg March 10th, 2019 Hey everyone, I hope everyone had a blessed week. I have been overwhelmed and stressed these past few weeks with trying to get a dress for prom, having struggles in my friendships, and realizing that there are not many days left till high school is over. I am just going to cherish everyday left of high school. My pastor did a two week series called "Noticeable." I wanted to share with you the sermon my pastor preached today called "Love In Action." So first, what is the definition of noticeable? The word noticeable means easily seen or noticed, clear or apparent. To be a noticeable believer, we must love others more than ourselves. Love will almost always cost us something. It is human nature for us to be selfish and jealous and petty, so always showing godly love to others is hard. Real love is patient, kind, understanding, and not selfish. Our pastor talked about the story of The Good Samaritan, whi...

February 3rd, 2019 Hey y'all, I hope everyone has had an awesome week. So far, it has been a good year for me. The best thing that has happened this year for me was being in the Class Beauty pageant last week. I had fun being in a pageant with my friends and feeling beautiful on stage. I didn't win anything, but that's okay. I think it is something every girl should do at least one time. I also enjoyed helping my close friend get ready for Miss Palmetto pageant the next night. She did a great job, especially for her first pageant. Anyway, I wanted to share with y'all the sermon my pastor preached on this morning. We just started a series called, My Prayer For You . Today's message was about praying for other christians in our lives. We were in the book of Ephesians 1:15-23 . I am going to share with you a prayer that you can pray for any christian in your life. We should always pray for other believers, in good times and bad times. In verses...

391.jpg Hey everyone, it's been a bit of a rough week for me. I have been stressed about school and worried about my close friends that have been going through some stuff lately. To make things worse, I haven’t been getting a lot of sleep. I am exhausted, which is probably why I’ve been really emotional and sensitive this week. A while back, my pastor did a series called, “The Holiness Of God.” In my pastor's sermon, he covered the following scripture: Isaiah 6:1-8 , Isaiah 64:6 , and Psalm 99 . Isaiah 6:1-8 talks about how Isaiah the prophet got to see God with his own eyes and be in his presence. In verses 1-4, it shows how much God is above us, different from us, and how his holiness is absolutely pure and perfect. Isaiah 64:6 describes all of us as “unclean” and “our righteous acts as being like filthy rags.” It also says we are like a leaf blown off a tree, “like the wind our sins sweep us away.” For Holy is the Lord and for how unhol...