Do you know what you are getting yourself into?

When I made up my mind

And my heart along with that

To live not for myself

But yet for God, somebody said

Do you know what you are getting yourself into

My life goal: To go anywhere, and SHOW the love of God. To stand out. To be a light. To let people know that I AM DIFFERENT! 

People go to church..say they are Christian...but never follow through with it. Being a strong woman or strong man in God means KNOWING the commitment you have made and LOVING every minute of it.

Be different. Be a light. Show EVERYONE that YOU are a beautiful person of God. Make EVERYONE WISH they had a smile on their faces as much as you do. DEMONSTRATE Gods grace. PRAY often. Have FAITH all the time. and KNOW that God's will IS TO BE DONE! 

How amazing would this world be if everyone got over what others thought and relied on the sole purpose of pleasing God. Problems happen in this world because people are too worried about what others think. 

Life is worth living when you stop living it just to compete against others and you live it for God. By living life for God, you ARE living it for others...in a good way...in a way of serving..in a selfless way..in a BEAUTIFUL WAY! Forget about what person A thinks..or what person B says about you...WHO REALLY CARES?!?!?! YOU SHOULDNT! Pay attention to what GOD will think...trust me, life is a WHOLE lot better that way.

Today...more than ever...have I realized that every friendship that has ended..every relationship...every acquaintance...everything that has ended has put me into the greatest place in my life. I didn't need people in my life that were in constant "competition", that were not 100% focused on God and that were only looking out for themselves...each friendship I have separated myself from has lead me to an even better one and I couldnt be more thankful!  I surround myself with leaders who know God goes first, a husband who works with me every day to grow deeper in faith and parents who have walked with me every step of the way. 

Honestly...dont worry about what others think. get out of those friendships/relationships. Be DIFFERENT. SHOW PEOPLE THAT GOD IS HIGHER THAN ANYTHING OUT THERE! If they want to live in their selfish ways...let them...they will do it with/without yo

ur permission..better to be growing in your FAITH without them puling you down..right?

I think God puts people in our lives to see how much we are committed to Him and to see how strong in our faith we are. I think one of the hardest things to do was to leave (who I thought were "good") friends...God does that for a reason. He wants you to remember that you committed to HIM. You committed to a lifestyle apart from those of the world. He wants you to PROVE that you believe and that you will do what it takes!

I'm getting into you
Because you got to me, in a way words can't describe
I'm getting into you
Because I've got to be
You're essential to survive
I'm going to love you with my life

Remember..God is next to you. He knows what you got yourself into. Now go be DIFFERENT! 

He said, I love you and that's what you are getting yourself into

Update

So I have been REALLY bad at this blogging thing. Life has been insane. Thesis began, the semester began, Travis FINALLY moved here and married life is BUSY, we somehow now have a cute dog(?), etc etc etc.

In the midst of all these busy times, one thing is constant...the presence of God. He is EVERYWHERE. He does EVERYTHING. and I love where He has placed me in life.

I have started leadership development training and WOW! God has inspired me to become a leader and I am so excited! I want to help others, I want to be a source of influence, I want to do something in this world SO CRAZY that people KNOW it must have been done by God because man alone couldn't have done it. I am ready to dream big and do insane things!

If you ever have a dream..I hope that it is HUGE! I hope that your DREAM is so CRAZY that you have NO IDEA how you are going to achieve it. I pray that you spend HUNDREDS of hours trying to conceptualize this dream and that you DARE to DREAM BIG! Most of us dream dreams that we KNOW can be completed with the certain technicalities..such as money, school, time, etc...those are goals. A DREAM is something GOD has to do...with some of your help. If you can do it ALL alone..its not a God given dream..but if you dream it, conceive it, and go to all POSSIBILITIES to complete it..and your still just a few steps away..wait until God steps in..He will make that dream even BIGGER than you could have ever imagined!

I think we get so caught up in life and goals that we forget to dream big and to let God manage it...I mean, after all, thats what He is here for. We were put on this earth to spread His great name..trust me, God wants to be KNOWN in the craziest ways possible! Have some faith..take a chance...get out there and let His will be done!!!

If you ever feel that your stuck in a dead spot..that your stressed out because you cant fathom completing it by yourself...or that you just dont know where to begin...pray..dream big..let God step in..let God manage EVERYTHING. He will get you exactly where you need to be...plus some!

Ephesians 3:20

Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within you! 


PS. heres some photos of the newest (very random) addition to the Souder Family...we just couldnt let him live at SPCA! 

 meet Ziggy. a full grown..2 yr old stray mini dachshund that we ended up rescuing!  He knows tricks, is potty trained AND crate trained. it was too easy! 

on a beautiful walk at Hermann Park 

before he JETTED after the squirrels. 


*welcome to the family, Ziggy*

Today....

Today God confirmed that faith, constant hope, and living a life ALL FOR HIM has incredible surprises!

Today..like any other day, I am stressed out, tired, overwhelmed and pre-occupied with a million things.
Today..like any other day, I look to God, I worship Him with everything and I give him my utmost appreciation.
Today..UNLIKE any other day, I received a phone call with the most encouraging words ever! I do not want to say what they were YET..because it is still in the process but HOLY COW DOES GOD WORK IN INSANE WAYS!
Today.. I REALIZED that NO MATTER WHAT..ALWAYS put GOD first. ALWAYS, ALWAYS let His light shine through you and NEVER give up.

Life is to short to give up. Life is too short to be anything less than what He made you for. Life is about taking chances. Life is about teaching others the grace of God. Life is about sharing Gods love with others. Life is about SERVING HIM! so get out there...give it ALL to GOD and let Him work MIRACLES in your life..because He WILL!


Ephesians 3:20 "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever."

Havent blogged in a WHILE!

Life has gotten so busy..and I thank God every day for it! He has blessed me with SO much the past month and I couldnt have done ANY of it without Him!

I went back to California and saw tons of friends and loved ones who I have missed so much! Let me tell ya...God has given us the best gift of true friendship! I have been best friends with Rachel, Laura, Thesla and Jordan since we were all in early elementary school and we can still all get together and its like we have never been apart for months! I love those girls with all my heart!

As most of you probably know..God blessed Me and Travis (yes it is P.C. to use ME instead of I in this case.) with the beautiful gift of marriage!! We were married the day after CHRISTmas..on a Sunday! It was the best day of my life (so far!) and I cannot thank my friends, family and mostly my mom and dad! I love this man with all my heart and I cannot wait to see what God has in store for us!!!

Coming back to Texas...facing reality of my thesis project, jobs, no family and being alone (Travis' job isnt transferring him to Texas for a few weeks) really set my vacation mindset to a halt and Im back to being super BUSY!

I am thankful that I am so busy! But it is important to remember that God craves you all the time (and I like to think that when your busy..He is REALLY wanting to hear from you). Remember..to take a step back, breath, talk to God..ask Him for help, ask Him for guidance, thank Him for allowing you to be busy and never ever forget that He is always there for you!

Its a new year...a new chance to make the commitment that you will put God ahead everything..no matter what! Trust me...life is a whole lot better when you have those 5...10...20 minute spurts of calmness and thanksgiving. If your running late with something...whats an extra 5 minutes? I love how Joel Osteen puts it "if you put the time to God..He will give you time to finish what you need to do"

make that new years resolution..whatever it may be...to be better mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually...whatever it is...and stick to it! there is nothing like someone who gives up! be the STRONG, PRESERVING person who DESERVES the next BIG award. When you put time into God..He puts time to you!

We are BLESSED!

"and these are the moments I thank God that I am alive. I couldn't ask for anything more" 

I was sitting at church today singing the line "I'll stand with arms high and heart abandoned, in awe, of the One who gave it all. I'll stand, my soul Lord to you surrendered all I am is Your's" and I didn't feel the presence of 20,000 people around me. No. But instead, everyone else's singing voices were silenced and it was just me soaking the the awesome-ness of God. I couldn't help but smile!

Then as the service went on, and we were seated, I looked around at the entire stadium  (my church is in Compaq center..its HUGE) and I realized "wow..this is a moment I am going to remember forever". Now most people don't think that, sitting amongst 20,000 strangers, still sick, and awkward from waking up late for church..but I did.

It was AMAZING to see all the people there ON FIRE for the Lord! people were JUMPING up and down, clapping, shouting, high five-ing! it was AWESOME!

I am blessed. God has given us so much. if you are sitting at a computer reading this you are amongst the most blessed people in the WORLD with access to a computer...electricity....vision....I could go on and on. we are SO BLESSED! we are not LUCKY...we are BLESSED. Luck is for those who dot believe that He blessed us..I could say your 'lucky' that you have a computer...but really..your blessed.

Having the ability to sit at church, praise the Lord, and see everyone who loves Him and who is on FIRE for Him was amazing.

I will never forget the smile I had on my face. I am so blessed to be able to go to the HUGE center and worship God and to feel His presence all around!

We are loved. the Bible is His love letter to us. Dont ever forget that!

When you feel down, stressed out, tired, weak, frustrated, lonely..look to God's love letter...soak in his grace and mercy. He blessed you with so much and sometimes we get so busy we look over the little things in life we have...like the privilege to go to church on sunday's and worship Him.

I cant help but smile every time I look at the Bible...any answer I need..its there!!

Life is not easy. there is always something we have to battle and always something we wish was different. but don't forget..WE ARE BLESSED! and we need to constantly THANK HIM for giving us EVERYTHING HE HAS GIVEN US! because no matter what....even if one situation is bad..we have a million good things to thank Him for. and no matter what..He will get us through the tough time..better than we could have done on our own.

Next time you have a million things going on in your head...take a deep breath..close your eyes/put on some awesome christian music/pray...and open your eyes...look around...and soak in the moment. He has given us so much, He has done so much for us, and He has great plans for our future. Always thank Him and remember that YOU ARE BLESSED!


'cause praise precede's the victory! 

I couldnt ask for more than the Love You give me. 

When God closes one door..He opens two windows.




I need to keep remembering this.

God grant me the serenity 

to accept the things I cannot change; 

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time; 

Enjoying one moment at a time; 

Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; 

Taking, as He did, this sinful world

as it is, not as I would have it; 

Trusting that He will make all things right

if I surrender to His Will;

That I may be reasonably happy in this life 

and supremely happy with Him

Forever in the next.

Amen.

And all I have in You..is more than enough.

"You're enough. You're enough. You're enough for me."

The past few weeks have been CRAZY (to say the least). Between flying to San Antonio for a 1 hour meeting. Flying to CA for thanksgiving (after a 2 hour delay). Running around Orange County like a mad woman to get the many errands done. Waking up sick Sunday morning just to hop back on a plane to Texas. to finally..missing the last 3 days of class the WEEK before finals because I am sick. Yea..to say the least...my mind has been going CRAZY!

Theres times where a MILLION things need to get done, a thousand places need to be visited and a hundred people need to be seen...I know that I cannot do it all. I never have..and never will. Sometimes, I think God puts so much on my plate to watch how I handle it. Usually, I go in full forced and accomplish it all (which I have done the past few weeks) but then I wake up one morning sick, stressed and exhausted...I look up to Him and say "Yep. I should have taken a step back...prioritized...relaxed...and let You help me"

We get SO Busy that we forget He is here with us! We may feel like we need to accomplish all of this RIGHT NOW..but we DONT. He has given us everything we need. I know that I could have relaxed a little more last weekend but I get WAY too excited and am the type of person that ALWAYS has to be busy. Being busy is great, but theres a point where we get TOO busy to where we forget about Him. 

I'm not saying I forget about God..but I am saying that sometimes I forget He works everything out. He doesnt want us bogging ourselves down to get everything accomplished in one day. He wants us to accomplish our goals, yes. But He also needs us to praise Him and thank Him and honor Him.

I love the idea of Sunday being a day of rejuvenation, rest, and thanksgiving. I wish we lived in a world that shut everything down on Sunday's and let us relax and spend it with our loved ones. But that is unheard of now days! In today's culture, Sunday is a day to get everything done that we wasn't finished during the previous week..how crazy is that! I used to use Sunday's as my day with my family and loved ones, I used to use Sunday as my day to relax and clean up the house or to read a good book and NOT do any homework. However, the past few weeks I have had too much to do and forgot about how important it is to spend a day of peace and a day of constant thanksgiving to the Lord. So...here is my public proclamation..Sunday's are now back to how they used to be. I WILL use them to honor and reflect on how great God is and how He is ALL I need to get me through ANYTHING!

On a side note: Sunday is my favorite day of the week. It is God's day. It is a day to go to church. It is a day to enjoy a great breakfast with loved ones. and in college..it was the night to spend with my Sorority sisters. I am also getting married on a Sunday, in a church. What better way to start a marriage then on God's day?! '

God not only gave Himself a day of rest, but He understands how each of us needs a day of rest and He gave us Sunday's! Use them to rejoice in Him! He is all we need! 

Before you run around like a crazy person tomorrow, this week, or this weekend...stop, take a deep breath, check out the beautiful creations God has given us, thank Him, praise Him, let Him know you will count on Him to get everything done and remember....you WILL accomplish what you need to, He will make sure of it!!!...then get out there and tackle the world...oh and get back into the grove of Sunday's being God's day..it REALLY makes your weeks PERFECT, regardless of what went on last week or what you anticipate for the next week.

 "By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done."

Gen. 2:2-3