Life: The Summation of who I am and how God has blessed me!

So I felt awful most of the last week. Is God not Good? If you are surprised to read that you don't really know me. But for those of you who do know me and think I'm optimistic and upbeat all the time you are very mistaken. I am the most negative person I know, but I also know that people don't like to be around negative people so I do not show my negativity. But just now that was not fake that was truth that I can not deny. He is good! If you knew the whole of my testimony you would stand with your mouth gaping until I got to the But God! part.

Have you ever heard someone say But God!? Really think about that phrase. I think that those are the two most transforming words out there. But God! For me I can say that about a good number of people don't really realize the weight of those words. The But God! in my life is the reason I go out and evangelize to the world. Maybe I've only hit the campus of Michigan Tech or the beach of PCB but I can't see where my results lead so who knows where the Gospel is traveling through me? I know that I will love the people no matter what their decision, yet I know I'd rather see them have a But God! in their lives.

We just had an evangelism campaign called I Agree With John, this event was one of the biggest steps of faith I have ever taken. Not only did I have to step up and lead and pray but I wore a BRIGHT green shirt on campus proclaiming that I agreed with John. How nerve wrecking. Yet I believe that I was 100% successful because I stepped out in faith, in the power of the holy spirit, and I left the results to God. I can not save anyone, yet God chose me to share the Gospel with others so that he may save them. So wearing the shirts was hard to have people both faculty and staff looking at me as if I personally had wrote every single chalking on the sidewalk (even the anti IAWJ ones) and believe that God had called us to make that move. To trust in him who was in control. I am confident that the work that God wanted to be done has been and will be done on our campus!

So if you still wondering about what all this has to do with the summation of who I am and how God has blessed me you need to look at your own life. If you a Christian then think about the But God! of your own life. I ceased to live before the But God! of my life because I was dead in sin. For any non Christians think about where your life is headed. Would it not be better to cause mouths to gape at how God has moved in your life, than for shoulders to shrug because nothing has changed.

But God!- A. Marie

The Break

Last semester has been pretty tough for me but it indicates a huge change in me. If someone had told me I would be very involved in leadership I would have told them that they were probably right. If someone had told me I would be involved in the leadership of a campus ministry I would have told them they were wrong. It's funny but I put God in the same box most college students do. The box that is labeled "Will devote time to when I graduate". The song tomorrow is one of the greatest song to illustrate what a lot of college students plan. I for one am glad that God claimed me in college.

Tomorrow is not promised so I want to live for him today. That's more than just reading a chapter of the bible every once and awhile and regularly attending Sunday service. That was my original plan for my life when I entered college. I can not honestly remembering studying my bible in high school. So many changes in my life happened since college and in the last year it has been more so. One thing that really changed my life was a conversation that scared the daylights out of me. This conversation was talking about Christians being persecuted, and I was so frightened because I was thinking that I did not want to be persecuted. The people having the conversation talked about knowing who was in Christianity for real. Petrified I pretended to still be asleep. After that I thought constantly on that conversation and decided to not worry about my life but to find Joy in the cross!

This sent me on a journey for life part of this journey led me away from the things I was 'passionate' about before. One thing I've learned about being passionate is that sometimes that passion is more like lust. Consuming not long lasting. I had been having a fling with these things but I was not able to make a commitment to them because I was lustful for them not passionate. After constantly going through the motions I decided to go for a break. After this I was able to talk to my true love more with an uncluttered mind. He has allowed my personal ministry to flourish and has brought me to a position where I can help in leading a ministry. It has been the best break I have ever taken and even though I am doing more ministry wise he is still providing me with the rest I truly need.

I Said Yes!

Now most of you who are reading this are probably thinking that I just got engaged. Which means that you are both wrong and right. I am not engaged to a wonderful Christ-filled guy who I will spend the rest of my life with. I am in fact a BTR- Bachelor(ette) Til Rapture who is not dating anyone at this time. The whole point of this blog is to tell you the surfers (and stumblers ;) ) and my few friends who may find this on my facebook, that I have just bought a purity ring. So I am engaged..to Jesus! For awhile now I have been dedicating more and more of myself to him. Part of that was getting baptized last year. I finally made the proclamation that I was God's before the world.

Well now I am making a different proclamation. I have declared Christ as my one true love. Does this mean I'm becoming a nun? Of course not, it means that no matter who comes along Christ is still the number one love of my life. I have declared that my heart belongs in God. As it says in A Woman After God's Own Heart "To Be God's woman, to love Him fervently with a whole heart" is my sole desire. Many of us Christians are still looking for our true love, the person we want to spend the rest of our lives with. Well surprise, surprise, you have already found him. Jesus loves us, knows the desires of our heart, and has already showed devotion by dieing for our sins. Saying yes to Jesus does not mean that there is no room for anyone else in your heart. By no means ( a Paul reference), it means that your heart is larger because you are allowing Christ to be your bridegroom ( guys this refers to you too) if any of you want to get engaged to Christ as well and wear a ring I found mine on www.waitt.org. I pray that everyone will eventually say yes to Christ our one true love!