Wishing for a rainy Saturday. For your viewing pleasure. Benjamin and I found out this was filmed in Iceland. I think I'll be visiting those mountain ranges someday ♥

God is L-o-v-e

I was listening to a sermon today that I've heard before and I felt like I should share what he was saying.

He was talking about how sometimes we as Christians feel like God isn't loving us fully. We feel like God has backed away from us because of something we have done to "make God upset." That is wrong. God is NEVER the one that leaves us or steps away from us. WE are the ones that do this!!! I am the one to isn't recognizing God's love that He is constantly giving me.

Andrew Wommack made this comparison: It's like if we were watching TV and all of a sudden the TV went black. We don't automatically call the TV station and tell them to start broadcasting again. They are always broadcasting. We need to check our receiver! Our receiver is the problem. This is just like so many other things in our lives! Just because we don't see the signal, it doesn't mean that it isn't there waiting to be seen. My Jesus wants me. My Jesus loves me ALL the time, no matter how well I do in school or how much I hang out with Him. He's the best friend I've got (I wish I remembered this). Such a simple concept that I forget sometimes. It's so foundational though! So many issues in life come from the root problem of not truly believing that God loves ME. I think..."I'm a wretched sinner. I'm not having a quiet time. I am self conscious."

Who cares?!?!?! 

You are righteous in The Spirit. I am righteous in The Spirit. See...

Romans 8:9-11 (NIV)
You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

We were "made right" with God the minute He died on the cross. Done. THEN and FOREVER!!!! How stinkin awesome. Nothing you can do can separate you from Him. You don't need to confess in order to be made right with Him!! HE did it all. He did it all for me. And you. 

Oh how He loves.

Bloglovin'

If you're like me and read a million blogs, it's really hard to keep up with all of them! When I first got into blogs, I used Google Reader and it was great. BUT now I have a new way to organize and stay in the know! Bloglovin'. It's the best AND it has a trusty app for my beloved iPhone (I'm addicted to that thing).

If you want to follow me just hit the little "subscribe" button on my bloggy! Ps- did you notice I redesigned my blog? I'm not completely done yet, but I love it so far :)

Here is a beautiful video for your viewing pleasure that my friend posted on his twitter. I wish I could dance like this.

A Year Ago

One year ago today my Daddy was diagnosed with ALS. I can't believe it's been a whole year!! If someone were to ask me to sum up this crazy year in one word, it would be growth.

I feel like I have grown so much in this past year. In one year I have cried more than I have the past 20 years combined. In one year I have read more of the Bible than ever. I have been confused, frustrated, sad, encouraged, joyful, happy, loved and scared. I have felt as if I have been on a roller-coaster more times than I can count. I have watched my Dad fall on his face. I have watched him take action on his faith and walk on the treadmill.

I feel like this year has been the most amazing and ridiculously hard year I have ever experienced. How interesting that those two adjectives could describe the same experience! I'll tell you the story of my Junior year: My first semester of school after finding out that my dad had ALS was the most heartbreaking time. I felt like I was constantly on the verge of tears. It is/was the worst feeling. I got to the point where I was so frustrated with God. I remember vividly one time screaming in my car, "THERE IS NO POINT TO PRAY TO YOU AND ASK FOR PEACE BECAUSE YOU AREN'T DOING ANYTHING TO HELP MY DAD!!!!!" Man, was I wrong. About two weeks after that we got a christmas present. What a blessing. I have seen financial blessing in my life countless times, but nothing like this (funny how I have to re-learn this every time there is financial stress in our family). Over the next few weeks, I finally took my mom's advice to listen to some sermons. The man speaking talked about concepts so foreign to me. That we are already blessed, and that ultimately God wants us to be happy and blessed in this life. If you have time I HIGHLY recommend these sermons. With the help of those podcasts, and God's word, my spiritual life has been transformed (and continues to be).  From that point forward, I began to receive revelation that God not only didn't bring this sickness upon my dad, but that he hates it. Sickness is not from Him. Sickness is a curse, never intended for us. I began to have hope. I am sure my roommates can attest to this because I became less of a weepy wreck, to more of a delver in the Word or a searcher of Truth. Life felt like less of a hopeless journey with phrases like. "just make it through this hard time," to more of a battle! A battle. My second semester was spent winning and losing battles. But friends, I want to emphasize this: I beyond a shadow of a doubt KNOW that Jesus did not want this disease for my father. I KNOW that He hates that we suffer. I KNOW this isn't just something that I am going through to learn something. Yes, I will learn. And yes, I have. But that doesn't mean HE did this. This subject is so deep, and I definitely don't know near as much as there is to know, but I do know that I am learning. I do know that I have more hope and joy in my life because I know more now than I did that GOD LOVES ME. So immensely. And because of this, He would never do something to hurt me. Would you want to hurt someone you LOVED more than anything else? Now multiply that times a million bazillion. Yep, pretty sure He wouldn't ever want to see me suffer. 


Friends, this journey has been hard. Such a journey. I have been so encouraged and blessed by so many of you. Thanks. I know that some of the things I said may not make much sense because I have a hard time articulating things but I would love to talk in person if anyone wants! Just remember this right now because it is what I cling onto every day: 


You are loved. You are WONDERFUL.

OMG

I have been lovin OMG lately. I used to be a hater for phrases like that or lol and even shortening you to u. Lemme tell you I am a huge advocate for them now. Well, not lol, never lol. I say OMG all the time now. It seems that oh my gosh or oh my goodness are just too long in daily conversations. So I say OMG. 

Mom- "Today the Dr. said that Micah will have to get surgery on his nose tomorrow so now our trip is postponed a day."

Me- "OMG are you serious?" (Of course she's serious, why did I say that?) 

Micah broke his nose last Tuesday at church camp on the slip 'n slide. The slip 'n slide. 

His life is so interesting, it really is. 

OMG reminds me of myspace in high school. Myspace was so cool in high school right?! 7 years ago, prime-time for myspace. Xanga was cool WAY before that, it quickly fizzled out. Ben thinks that xanga was cool when he was in high school (he had one). Maybe in Kansas it was cool. These are the things we argue about. 

Today I ate oatmeal

I'm usually not a fan of oatmeal but it seemed a bit healthier than cinnamon rolls, which is what the brothers were having, so I opted for the healthier choice. I'm trying to eat better. Trying is italicized because it's not faring very well for me (I LIKE MY CHAI AND COKE EVERY DAY MOM). Mom and Dad think I am drinking too much sugar. Let's face it, probably am. But I like it (insert pouty face here). I'll give up soda when school starts again because it's easier to "just say no" (I realize I sound like a crack addict) when there aren't soda's in the fridge and the pantry just calling my name....Kambly drink me....Kambly open happiness....you get the picture. You can keep me accountable if you want. If I bite your head off, just give me a cup of sugar because I'll probably be having withdrawals. 

On another note: little brother Micah, 14 years of age, has a real habit of saying things that most people don't say out loud. I like to picture that with a hashtag for all you tweeter peeps: #thingsyoushouldn'tsayoutloud. Looks better. Today he said this: "I just took the biggest poop of my life. 10 inches. Had to flush the toilet twice." Disgusting. 

Reason #234 why sharing a bathroom with boys stinks, quite literally.