More than enough.

This blog is going to be short and sweet: I need Jesus. You're probably thinking to yourself, "duh." But our need for Him goes way deeper than the surface level of this statement.
In our world where materialism and being better than every one else is celebrated, we are constantly told that we "need" more. We need to be better. We need to look better so we need to buy more. We need to be thinner so we need to work out more. We need to have people in our lives to be worth anything. We need to be loved. STOP.


You need Jesus.

"And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." ~Philippians 4:19

Jesus meets every need. Did you catch that? Your desire to be loved? He has loved you with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3). Your desire to be better? He makes everything beautiful in His time (Ecclesiastes 3:11). He meets every single need. He created you. He knows your heart. He knows what you desire before you even realize it yourself. And He is the only one capable of fulfilling your every desire with just this one thing... HIMSELF.
I don't have to know what I'm going to do after graduation or even next month. Because I have Jesus. He is enough. I don't have to have people in my life who love and support me (even though I have been blessed with these people in my life) because I have Jesus. He is enough. I don't have to fret and worry over what I look like, if what I'm doing is good enough, because I have Jesus. And He is more than good enough. He IS enough.
The funny part about this whole thing is when you finally realize that He is indeed enough and are completely satisfied in Him and who He is, all those little things you used to worry about seem completely ridiculous. Because how could you want that when you've been given something so infinitely greater? My God is enough. More than enough for me.

Still good. Still faithful.

I failed miserably at blogging this semester. Whoops. Let's just say it was a whirlwind emotional roller coaster. Moving on...
I am currently somewhere between Mississippi and Louisiana headed back to Dallas from Passion 2013. The Lord used Passion 2012 last year to ROCK. My. World. And I was eager and expectant and, for the first time, ready to receive what the Lord wanted to show me at Passion 2013.
From the very first session, the Lord spoke directly to me and affirmed what He had been doing in my life. Louie Giglio's first message used all the passages I had read in the weeks preceding preparing for Passion. And I promise Kristian Stanfill got a hold of my journal for the songs written. Finally, Francis Chan spoke straight to my biggest struggle in this season I'm walking through, which I'll share more about later. But time and time again the Lord just reminded me that He would complete the work He began in me and that He had been preparing me for every single moment of this week.
The biggest evidence to me of God's goodness and faithfulness came in the remembering of how much He has done in the last year.

"He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him." ~Psalm 126:6

This verse was scrolling on the screen before the first session of Passion and when I saw it I immediately just started praising God for who He is and all He did in my life in 2012. And this verse perfectly describes it. "He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow..." Last year I left Passion heart broken, literally weeping, but a seed had been planted in me. I wanted to fall in love with Jesus.
"And they will return with sheaves of joy." As I drew near to the Lord, He was faithful to draw near to me. I returned to the Dome FULL of the joy of the Lord with sheaf after sheaf of what He had done. As I sat in the exact same place I was a year ago, I surveyed the sheaves the Lord had blessed me with in 2012.
This one, this is where He healed my broken heart.
This one is when He restored me to the joy of my salvation.
This one is when He placed China on my heart.
This one is when He helped me identify and heal from my long standing insecurities.
This is when He fulfilled two dreams of mine: to visit Paris and work with the people of China.
This is when He showed me what it is to be content in the season He's placed me in at the moment.
This is when He delivered me from a season of depression and questioning of purpose.
This is when He birthed new friendships.
This is when He revealed new facets of His character to me.
And here, in the Dome, He reminded me that He is faithful no matter what. And that He always fulfills His promises. And that His plans for me are GOOD, even if what I think should happen doesn't. And that He is always faithful, always good. For He CANNOT deny Himself. And He IS faithful. He IS good.

"And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord." ~Luke 1:45

Thank you Jesus!