when growth happens

Sometimes I am unaware that growth is taking place in me. I do my devotions but I ask, "am I growing deeper and closer to God?" 

It's not always easy to notice spiritual growth. But that doesn't mean growth doesn't take place. 

I know God has grown in my life when my old struggles creep back in and I handle them differently than I did before. I ask myself if my decisions are glorifying to God and if they're not, then I change and walk away from the temptation and back into the ways of God.

Journaling is one way I notice His work in me. I can go back and read my journal from last week, last month, even last year and I see His hand in me. 

I never give up because God is stronger. He will always grow in my life as long as I am receptive to His voice and keep away from things that distract me from Him. 

my one word

I recently stumbled across a book entitled "My One Word" by Mike Ashcraft and Rachel Olsen. The main theme of the book is to pick a word that you will focus on the whole year.


So I decided to give it a try. My one word for 2014 is grow.
This year I want to grow closer to God. But it goes deeper than that. How can I grow spiritually? Mentally? Relationally?


One of the reasons I chose grow as my word is because I want to move forward in my faith. That requires initiative and intentionality.


This is a work in progress. I will be journaling as God reveals areas that need growth.

the importance of trust

I learned many lessons while a student at Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU). I learned the value of friendships, hard work (academic). A couple of my courses were difficult but I made it through.

Above all, I learned the importance of trust in the context of friendships. I learned that opening up to my peers when I should remain quiet is not without it’s consequences.  The summer between my Junior year I began to make some decisions that would be damaging to me and those around me.  I lived on campus so I felt I could be open about my struggles and what I said would remain between my friends and I.

I was wrong. I had a parent/child relationship with my roommate. She always said “You’re not ready for a relationship” and constantly criticizing me for my decisions. I took responsibility for my decisions and by no means placing the blame on her. But I was in a bad place and the last thing I needed was someone coming across as critical and judgmental. After all as Christians, aren’t we supposed to be loving and accepting despite another’s decisions?

Things only escalated in my senior (and last) semester as a student. Near the end of the fall 2012 semester, I was caught by surprise with an email from Student Development. I then knew what had happened. My roommate told my resident assistant (RA) about me and my situation when I trusted her not to say anything. When I confronted her, she said, “I told once. Why wouldn’t I tell again?” She had violated my trust.

I was left hurt and unable to trust her with private details of my life. I built trust with her and it only took a second for her to destroy it.

Through that experience, I learned the importance of trust in relationships. Just because I felt I could trust her, she proved me wrong. Now I’m cautious about what I share with those around me. I tell people what I feel they want to know: to make me sound like I’m strong.