January: Patience and Kindness

January: Patience and Kindness

The moments I found it hardest to be patient with and kind to people was when I was at home. How sad is it that around my family, I am the most irritable? I love them dearly, each and every one of them, but I think it has to do with the fact that they're family and I've lived with them my entire life. (Yes, I know that is an awful excuse!)

There were times in classes when someone would be chomping too loud, talking too much, typing too much, laughing obnoxiously, or being disrespectful when I had a mind to turn and glare, but thankfully, I just sent up a little prayer: "God, patience! Please." Amazingly, it worked, each and every time. I just forgot about it. Instead of focusing on the negative, it became background noise and somehow helped me to focus even more on what the professor had to say.

Unfortunately, I slightly lagged in the kindness area. That is the one thing I am going to have to work on extra hard throughout the remainder of the year. I try to make an effort to smile at everyone I pass on my way to and from classes, but sometimes my mind is so extremely occupied with other things, I forget. It's not the ultimate kindness, but I'm getting there.

My constant prayer is that God gives me the strength and determination to get me through these 12 Months of Love, with no failing. I want to be a direct representation of Christ's love for His bride. Isn't that picture so phenomenal? And I say "phenomenal" because it means: an aspect known through the senses rather than by thought or intuition; extraordinary. Extraordinary meaning beyond the ordinary, measurable, or customary. Just ponder that for a second...

12 Months of Love

In lieu of my decision to leave the past behind, I am going "to live out 1 Corinthians 13:4-7" one month at a time.

January: Have patience and be kind
February: Dispel envious thoughts
March: Do not boast and get rid of pride
April: Do not be rude (goes along with kindness, but different)
May: Think of others before myself
June: Control my temper
July: Forgive and forget
August: Seek truth and ignore rude, mean, or awful thoughts toward others
September: Protect the reputation of others (do no spread or tolerate any form of gossip)
October: Trust the word of those you love and have discernment with others
November: Hope for the best for others (including my enemies) and pray for them [all] daily
December: Continue loving patterns

My hope in this "new year's resolution" is that each month will build on the previous month's goal, resulting in all attributes of love by December. :)

Now mind you, I am not perfect, so I will probably mess up a few times, but taking one step at a time gets you to the top of the mountain.

Not Conforming

Although you may think I am "conforming to the ways of this world" by becoming a blogger, I'm not. Romans 12:2 says "Do not conform to the ways of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..." That's exactly what I am doing. I am not going to use this blog to write about aimless subjects or treat it as my diary that rants and gushes over every ordeal that plagues my life, instead I am going to be sharing how I am overcoming my "past life" and learning to love, all with the help of my God.

Before I begin, you may want to know a few unessential facts about me:

1. I sing, I dance, I perform. I read, I aspire, and I am my own person.
2. I live life for the beauty, I love because it's hard, and I learn for fun.
3. I'm extremely opinionated, I don't like to be wrong, and I'm stubborn.

Now for the more important things:

1. I am a born again Christian who is saved by the power of Christ's blood sacrifice on the Cross! If you want to know more, feel free to ask me about it.
2. I was born and raised in Utah and I am proud to say that I plan on living there when I'm older.
3. My life is being insanely rocked by God, and I love it!
4. There are so many new ideas and beliefs that I've never been exposed to, and now that I'm on my own, I'm truly beginning to form my own opinions separate from my parents. It's quite wonderful.
5. I have a heart for missions, especially in Africa. I'm majoring in Cross-Cultural Studies w/ an emphasis on TESOL (learning to interact cross-culturally so that I might teach english to speakers of other languages) in hopes of someday working in Northern Africa/Mid East to little Muslim kids, or in Central Africa at an orphanage or refugee camp in the middle of a war-torn society (or the "bush"). Although this has been in my plans for quite some time, I've begun experiencing changes in my plans (because they're God's plans, not mine). Utah is my home. I love it there. I love the people there. I honestly feel God pushing me "home," in a sense, to be a missionary/light in a culture desperate for God's overwhelming love.

My goal for this year is to learn to love others like Jesus loves them. There's a song (that I don't really care for, but the lyrics are interesting) that says, "Jesus loves the losers." Prior to my pursuit of a relationship with Christ, I never took the time to love the losers, the broken, the creepers, or the pompous. I loved those that were like me and those that were easy to love. As John 13:34 says, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." I'm not sure where I heard it, but: the old commandment said "love your neighbor as yourself," therefore the standard was based on much you loved yourself, whereas the new commandment's standard is based on how much Jesus loved.

Another lesson that I try to apply to my everyday life is Romans 12:21: "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." I've always had this picture of the person I wanted to be, and finally, I'm going to live up to it.

These two goals are the reason I've dubbed my blog the name "Overcoming and Loving in My Brain." I will compile all my recent headway in reaching my goals and how they apply to my life, but also talk about what is on my mind.

For my first blog, I don't think I did too awful of a job. I hope you stay in tune for the next episode, and the one after that, and so on. My hope in creating this blog is to inspire others to challenge their own lives and live a life of love and life that overcomes.