what I vow

Over the past several months, I have been fortunate enough to spend time studying the Old Testament of God's Word.  That I even have my own translation of the Bible in my heart language amazes me; according to Wycliffe Bible Translators, around 2,000 languages of the Earth have no Scripture translated to them.  I treasure the opportunity to study the Bible in my own language!  The richness and practicality of God's Word is evident throughout its entire text, and my only regret in studying the Old Testament is that I did not begin doing so earlier!

For me, one of the most convicting messages came through the book of Jonah.  I see many similarities between Jonah and me.  At times, I totally ignore God's instruction for my life and make my own decisions, just like Jonah did when he disobeyed the Lord's orders to travel to the city of Ninevah and preach truth.  I balk at sharing the Gospel in the "difficult" places of this Earth for fear of persecution or discomfort.  Sometimes I don't even share in the joy of a changed heart because my selfishness and pride gets in the way.  The beauty of God's Word is that we can supply its truth to these sinful feelings and desires in our hearts - the Lord has given us practical, human examples so that we can learn from their mistakes (and our own!!) and turn to God's Truth to shape our thoughts and actions and make us more like His Son.

Jonah 2:7-9 says:
When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD,
and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.
Those who pay regard to vain idols
forsake their hope of steadfast love.
But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the LORD!

When I read these verses, it was as if the Lord spoke audibly to me in my dorm room.  Another beautiful thing about God's Word is that it's His conversation with us!  That God would spend time talking to me blows my mind.  But that's another post.  

This passage reminds me that my prayers are heard directly by the Lord in His holy temple.  Even when my life is "fainting away", when I remember the Lord and pray to Him, He hears me!  The next sentence is scary: if you don't remember the Lord for your needs but instead depend on other things (friends, intellect, wise sayings, science), you "forsake [your] hope of steadfast love".  I don't know about you, but forsaking steadfast love sounds like a pretty crazy (not to mention dumb) thing to do!  The Lord is the only one who gives us life.  As the last phrase of the passage says, salvation belongs to the Lord and only to Him!

Finally, Jonah says that he will sacrifice to the Lord with thanksgiving, meaning joy and praise, and he will pay what he has vowed.  In Jonah's case, this meant he would acquiesce to travel to Ninevah like God asked him to.  What have you vowed to the Lord?  If you have given your life to Christ and accepted His salvation, you have vowed to follow His Word and give full reign to Him in your life.  That may look like many different things, including giving up your favorite pastime (if it goes against God's Word), moving to a foreign country to carry out the Great Commission, or making peace with a person you've held a grudge against.  It's essential that we live according to the Lord's plan for our lives, even if it means doing something crazy and radical!  If you have never given your life to Christ, I urge you to remember that it is He who gives you your life in the first place.  Who better to surrender to?

xoxo
Kinsey

the cause

Having the opportunity to move back to Auburn three weeks before classes start provided me with a rare window of unscheduled time.  It's been a time of relaxing and reflecting, and I'm grateful for this calm before the storm of fall semester.  I've been able to spend lots of time studying God's Word, and I feel like I understand for the first time the way that God speaks directly to His children through the medium of the Bible.  

In the book of Lamentations, the prophet writing (historians believe it may have been Jeremiah) is expressing his grief over the fall of the city of Jerusalem.  Chapter 3 begins by detailing the persecutions that the prophet has suffered at the hands of false teachers and scorners, including broken bones, besieging, isolation, and taunting.  He does not dwell on his misfortunes, however, and turns the attention back to the unfailing steadfastness and mercies of the Lord, saying:

"The Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love" (vs. 31-32).

And later in the chapter, when the prophet calls on the name of the Lord from "the depths of the pit", the Lord comes near to him and reminds him not to fear.  Then the prophet says something that shook me to my very core:

"You have taken up my cause, O Lord; you have redeemed my life."

Wow.  The Lord of the entire universe, who laid the foundation of the earth, caused the dawn to find its place, who knows the way to the dwelling of light, enters the storehouses of the snow on a regular basis, the one whom every creature looks to for life - He has taken up MY cause.  He has saved my life from its spiral of selfishly serving my flesh and my sinful nature and has redeemed it that I may find freedom in being His daughter.  When I think about the implications of this truth, I am truly speechless.  It is so humbling to realize that even when I had nothing to offer Him, no "good" fiber in my being, no nobility or prowess, He chose to invest in my life and call me to His purpose.

The only proper response to this verse in Lamentations is to surrender that redeemed life of mine completely over to the Lord.  The fact that the Lord Himself has taken up my cause and redeemed me means that I owe everything to Him: full allegiance, devotion of every minute of my life, and commitment to follow His commands.  How can I "seek first the kingdom of God" and work to further that kingdom?



How can I take up the cause of my Lord today?  After all, He has taken up mine. 

xoxo
Kinsey

never despise meager beginnings

I am beyond excited to be back in Auburn, my home away from home, for the new school year!  I'm officially settled in to my cute little attic room in Wittel Dormitory and getting prepared for the year ahead as the Resident Assistant of the building.  Having some free time before school starts has put me in a reflective mood, and looking back on my first year of college, I really can't imagine how it could have been more perfect.

The summer before my freshman year was the most incredible of my life thus far.  I was focused on the Distinguished Young Women program and getting prepared for the National Finals.  I experienced some of the best two weeks of my life in Mobile, Alabama, but when I returned home and realized that soon I would actually LIVE in Alabama, subdued panic set in.  In the weeks leading up to official move-in day at Auburn, I truly was terrified.  The thought of leaving my hometown, family, church, friends, and everything that was familiar to me and moving 700 miles away to the deep south (I didn't even know what real sweet tea TASTED like!) was incredibly scary.  I wondered if college would be a disappointment and worried that I wouldn't make friends or be successful.  As I stood crying in front of my dorm watching my parents drive away, a nagging question stayed in my mind: had I made a mistake?

It is hard to believe that the girl crying on the sidewalk last August and the one preparing for RA duties and her sophomore year of college are one and the same.  My expectations for Auburn were not only exceeded, but they were shattered!  The Lord was standing there on that sidewalk one year ago, holding my hand, reminding me that His blessing and providence would follow me.  God wanted me at Auburn and He wants me here today, and He was so faithful in proving that very fact over and over again.  

Before class even started last fall, I had 36 best friends who intentionally and lovingly got involved in my life; the Auburn University Singers adopted me into their family in a huge way.  From my grandfather passing away to my horseback-riding accident and even to my struggles with choreography, they were supporting and encouraging me more than I could have even hoped!  I know that a large part of my success during my first year stemmed directly from the incredible people I met in Singers.  I am so honored to be part of such a talented and passionate group of individuals!

The 2011-2012 AU Singers on our summer tour in Louisiana and Texas

Another blessing the Lord is using in my life here at Auburn has been the body of believers at Lakeview Baptist Church.  The very week that school started, I began going to Girls' Bible Study on Monday nights.  It was in my small group of girls at Lakeview that I met some of my very very best friends.  Within the first two weeks of school, I knew that these girls were going to challenge me in my walk with Christ and teach me what true friendship means.  At Lakeview, I have received so much Biblical instruction, exhortation to reach the world for Christ, and passion for worshiping the King in everything I do.  I am very grateful for my friends at Lakeview and know that the Lord has used Lakeview's ministry to exponentially grow my faith in the past year.

Precious Lakeview friends!

When I look back over the past year and start to appreciate the growth I've experienced and the incredible opportunities I've been presented, a quote comes to mind: never despise meager beginnings.  When I came to Auburn, I couldn't see the whole picture.  Even now, I know my journey here at Auburn is far from over.  However, I have learned that though we may not understand the reasoning behind things that happen in our lives, meager beginnings can become a spectacular masterpiece if we are patient and steadfast, trusting in the Lord to bring it together.  I've seen such a masterpiece beginning in the life of one of my friends and in our relationship: neither of us was "supposed" to come to Auburn.  We never should have met on this Earth.  And yet, we have both been directed to this place and have formed a friendship that will last for a lifetime.  God has been pulling together many meager beginnings for the past nineteen years.  And I can't wait until the beautiful masterpiece is revealed.

xoxo
Kinsey

new undertakings

Yesterday, I submitted my final post for the Distinguished Young Women of America blog effort.  I thoroughly enjoyed the privilege of sharing my thoughts, musings, and lessons with the Be Distinguished community, and my mind liked the creative outlet that authoring a post provides.  I decided to branch from my experience with the Be Distinguished blog and start one of my own!

My hope for this undertaking is the same as my hope in everything that I do: that the Lord would be magnified.  As I am given time here on earth, I wish to spend it on things of eternal value - the things that last forever.  One of my favorite songs goes like this:

I can't think of many places
I'd leave it all to go;
I can't think of many things I'd die to hold.
The list of what is priceless
Is very short indeed,
And there aren't very many things
I find I really need.
So here's my simple creed.

The things that last forever;
The things that never die;
I give myself each day I live
For what I know will never, never die.
I will give myself away
For the things that never die.

Putting effort into the things that never die is my chief aim and the only thing of importance to me.  What do you count as priceless?

xoxo

Kinsey