Is it Enough?

I grew up in a Christian home and I went to church on holidays (Easter and Christmas). I I went to vacation Bible school once.

That was enough.

Then in middle school (7th grade) I became a Christian and as a result I began to attend my older sister's church where I got involved in their youth group and small group girl's Bible study ("Impact").

That was enough.

During my high school years I attended numerous weekend retreats (conferences as their called now) at various Bible camps (Spring Hill!, Lake Waubesa Bible Camp, Lake Geneva Conference Center and Camp, Phantom Ranch Camp) and the summer between my junior and senior years, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA) "National Youth Conference" at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, GA. After that week, I was on a "spiritual high."

Once again, that was enough.

After high school, I went from church to church, and I finally found one that I stuck with for longer than a month (LOL). At Calvary Church, I was a youth leader to high school students. Serving others seemed like a good way to demonstrate my level of faith.

This was enough.

Then in 2008, I began attending Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU) because I wanted a quality Christian education. I visited campus twice and loved the friendly staff and faculty and appreciated the spiritual atmosphere. That's the reason I came here amidst the myriad of college options.

Above all, they put Christ center with chapel three times a week and "spiritual emphasis week" (Summit) at the beginning of each semester.

One of my favorite things about IWU is Summit. I love the community of it and gathering in corporate worship with my brothers and sisters in Christ. The "spiritual and emotional high" Summit brought me excitement and I was able to push through and continue growing closer to the Lord.

All this was enough.

And now, after four years of being an IWU student, of attending chapel, Summit's, and sometimes "The Rising", it is no longer enough.

God has changed me continually since I became a student. I can no longer settle with "comfortable" Christianity. No longer is it enough for me to say, "I'm a Christian. I believe in Jesus." yet watch as the world suffers.

I want to go where no one else wants to go.

All the rituals aren't enough.

I pray that in my life I would be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Always <3

All for HIS glory

~Susie

Summer is Here

I've made it through another semester...and my hardest one :-(

Every day I felt I was fighting through. This past semester some people at my school kept telling me, "you made a bad decision" repeatedly.

I know. Thank you, Please tell me something I don't know. :-/

IWU is a community and that is how they treated me and the decision I made. This part makes me sad: although I felt I was a member of community, I didn't feel that I was a member of the church.

Community and church cannot be used interchangeably.

But now summer is here! Yay! And my life is changing. After graduation (in December of this year) I feel called to do missions work. That is kind of random, I know. I might be going to Thailand for a internship through Youth for Christ.

I had the perfect plan and now I said "yes" to God. My life is His.

Always <3

All for HIS glory

Unhindered

I honestly don't know how to start this post. So much has happened in my life with God, that there is only word to describe how I want my spiritual life to be: unhindered.

I honestly don't know what it means to be unhindered.

I am far from reaching this in my spiritual life.

There is so much God wants to do in me the remainder of the summer before I head back to IWU that I appear to be shutting God out.

I want to see God move in my life in life changing but I hinder his work by not taking the time to spend with Him.

Off and on this summer, God has revealed pieces of what He wants to do; what He plans to do, but I have a mindset that says, "I can't do this" and that is the end.

I shut my journal, and in essence, shut God out.

It comes down to fear.

I fear what would come in my life if I just let God work, if I was unhindered.

All for His glory--

Focus

The summer has officially begun! Yay!

I have noticed something about my blog posts: they are random in nature and do not seem to have much focus.

That's how my life with God feels at different points. I don't focus; I just go along and think "Okay. I'm growing in faith but I'm kind of just skating by."

The prayer I have for my summer is that I bring back focus to my spiritual life; that I seriously seek God and His will for my life.

Less than a week ago He freed me from myself. I want that taken to the next level: I want Him to continually free me from loss of focus so I can see growth in ways I have never seen before.

My prayer is that I would see Him clearly, my heart would break and that I would be overwhelmed and amazed by His presence in my life.

peace-