Felt board Jesus ruined my faith

For those of you who grew up attending church I am sure you can all remember the felt boards teachers used in Sunday School back in the day. I have been thinking about what all I was taught growing up in Sunday School via this felt board and I have come to the conclusion that it probably did more damage to my faith and that it helped. I grew up thinking that because of the felt board stories I was taught that I knew all I needed to know Jesus and the Bible….WRONG! I was having lunch with my good friend, Marissa Poulson, and she I and I were discussing this topic and decided that because of our Sunday School experiences we had a warped sense of who Jesus was. We learned that Jesus loves so very much (insert sticker with the heart that says Jesus Loves You here) and yes that is true but we did not learn the power and majesty of our God or that his death on the cross was the most excruciating death one could encounter. We did not learn that his grace for us is why we have eternal life and that we are NOT worthy of the life we have been given. Jesus did not have to die in order to save our selfish lives. We are to rejoice in our sufferings. We will strive to do good but end up doing evil anyway. God’s heart is for the poor and unsaved. One day God will destroy the earth and then will create and new earth and a new heaven. We think that the only time Jesus got mad was when he overturned the tables in the temple. For some reason we figured that because we could sing Father Abraham, Jesus Loves Me, and the song about Zaccheus, and knew the story of Moses and Noah we were set when it comes to Bible knowledge. Thankfully most churches have retired the felt boards and moved on are beginning to really engage in our youth which is a desperate need. After all if kids spend 40 hours a week in school and 1-2 hours a week in church, can we waist time putting the little felt people up on the board and spend the whole lesson trying to get them to stay up? Kids are now learning things in kindergarten that were being taught in 2nd grade 10 years ago, so if education has stepped up its game and expected more from the youth then why can’t the church do the same. Or maybe I am wrong, you tell me….

“TomJoy”

Brit, Brie, Shelby and I went to the Toms Shoes Sample Sale in Santa Monica the other weekend and as we left with our new purchases we decided that there should be a word that describes the joy one receives when they buy their Toms and know that at the same time you get an awesome new pair of shoes you are also sending a pair to a kid in another country who has never had a pair of shoes. So we came up with Tomjoy and submitted the word and definition to urbandictionary.com which they accepted so we told Toms about it and they put it up on their blog along with a picture of us! Check out urban dictionary and the Toms blog!

www.urbandictionary.com
www.tomsshoesblog.com

Title Explanation

“The beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord.”

This was said by one of my teachers the other day during my class. It is a pretty simple statement with extremely powerful words. Growing up I always had a fear of God. Yes, I knew he loved me and protected me but at the same I time I would think to myself that if I ever came face to face with him I would probably pee in my pants, that’s elementary school age theology for you. However, as I have grown up and studied the Bible a little more I now know that all I long I was not being ridiculous or juvenile in my thinking. Recently during a chapel the speaker was talking about the things God saves us from like death, hell, and satan but he also said that most importantly God saves us from himself. We often forget that our God is powerful, an intense God who is not afraid of wrath. I for one would never ever want to encounter the wrath of God. This is something I am truly thankful for because I feel like it helps me to not but God in a box and pretend he is just my bff who is always there for me when things go wrong, but he is an almighty God is above all things and at any moment could easily strike me down. He is more powerful, glorious, and holy than I can ever imagine. I do not consider myself to be full of wisdom but knowing that by fearing the Lord I am on the right track makes me pretty happy. But, at the same time I probably would still pee in my pants if I came face to face with God.

Here we go....

I have taken a vacation (unplanned) from blogging and the ideas have been building up inside me so I hope this will be the start of many blogs to come. The following are my new blog resolutions:
-blog makeover
-more frequent blogging
-more commenting on other blogs(i still read everyone elses even though i have been neglecting mine)
-update my blogroll (welcome to the blog world kinsley!)
-new blog name (i think i have one and there will be a blog explaining it)

'Tis the Season

It is Christmas time in case you haven't noticed, especially since Target had an entire aisle dedicated to Christmas stuff before Halloween. I love Christmas for so many reasons, red Starbucks cups, peppermint mochas, family, christmas trees, christmas lights, lots of yummy desserts, amazing smells and so much more. Since I have come to CBU there are new things added to my christmas favorites list like when the palm trees get wrapped in lights, the uco christmas concert, and Yule. This year I got to be part of planning Yule which was a huge job that took a lot of time and stress but in the end it was worth it!
My Yule date David and I

Starbucks after the UCO Christmas Concert

Thanksgiving Week :)

It is the end of a relaxing, productive weekend and I am watching the American Music Awards and I can't help but get excited for the upcoming week! Not only do we only have 2 days of school this week but there are some other awesome events that I really can't wait for. First off, on Monday I get to have always loved roommate time and celebrate Brit's 22nd birthday! I dearly love this girl:


On Tuesday night I get to experience Coldplay live with another roommate/one of my favorite people! (fyi:this was the night we got our tickets)


On Wednesday I will be going home and get to see the fam, enjoy a short break and I also get to see my wonderful Jew!

On Thursday I get to have quality family time and eat some yummy yummy food. My sister and I are in charge of cooking the Turkey again, we haven't burned it yet so hopefully it will look this good:


On Friday I get to spend some girl time with my mom and my sister while we go on the hunt for my Yule dress, I can't believe it is only 2 weeks away!



As I was writing this blog Coldplay came on and performed Lovers in Japan and I got the chills. Nancy and I are pretty much in denial that we get to witness that live in 2 days!!!!

Encouragement...

I find that it is something you can never get enough of and is always a wonderful thing to give. I am blessed beyond belief to be part of such a great community hear at CBU, I thank God every day for this blessing! One of the coolest things about being part of this community is that I am continually blessed by so many people in so many ways even when they have no idea. This where I have found my encouragement lately....

Brittany Ingold
This really awesome girl happens to be my roommate, and I feel like the luckiest person to share a room with her. She was Brie's roommate last year and we just decided to be roommates without really knowing each other that well. She encourages me everyday, I get excited every time we get to hang out, she makes me laugh like crazy, she has the heart of a warrior, and most importantly is a God fearing woman who teaches me so much about living for Christ and she doesn't even know it.



Dylan Haddad, Jonathan Cottrell & Travis Mulder
Dylan is one of my good friends, we transferred to CBU at the same time and I was instantly drawn to him because of his witty sense of humor and beautiful heart. Dylan has a passion for reading and discovering Christ in any way possible, I truly admire him! He will stand up for his faith any day and takes pride in being a follower of Christ when everyone around him thinks otherwise. Any girl would be lucky to have this guy and I feel blessed to call him my friend.

Jon is a very close friend of mine and he can always make me smile and then piss me off 5 seconds later, but that is part of his charm. Like Dylan, Jon and I transferred to CBU at the same time and I have no recollection of how we met. It has been a pleasure to watch him grow in so may ways over the past couple of years, to overcome adversity and strive to be a Man of Christ. I can't wait to see where God takes him in the future!

Travis is also part of the group of us that transferred in at the same time. He is unlike any guy I have ever met. He goes from goof to bible answer man in a matter of seconds. I have a lot of respect for him, more than he knows. I also think I got my obsession for naming everything from him :)



Brianna Kaiser
This girl is on the other side of the country and still encourages me on a daily basis. I can also say with confidence that she is going to change the world! She is off learning all kinds of cool things at what I have termed "Jesus School". I miss her terribly but at the same time have a great peace about her being gone because I know God is using her to further his kingdom and share his love with the nations and I could not admire anyone more doing what Christ created us to do. Im pretty sure this girl expanded my heart and my soul, I can't think of too many other people that know me and understand me the way she does.




David Sandlin
I met David at the beginning of last year at the New Student Orientation Retreat, thats NSOR for you Calbap people, and he quickly became one of my favorite people. I think more people at CBU know him than don't. If you haven't read the recent note he posted on Facebook then you should. David and I were talking tonight about the crazy stuff going on in his life and all the things God is teaching him. At the end of our discussion my heart literally swelled when he said "I know I don't have to worry anymore because God will take care of me." Now I know this is kind of a 'no duh' statement but really how often do we forget this simple fact? I know I do all the time!!! I was so encouraged by our conversation and so excited for the things God is doing in his life and how he is using it to bless others, I know I have been blessed by it. And bonus, David happens to be my date to Yule this year and I can't imagine a better one!


The other Roommates (Candy, Nancy, Jeni & Kendra)
I would talk about them each individually but that could be a blog post within itself. I love the feeling of coming home and being able to relax. I can't express to you how encouraging it is to come home and be excited to see your roommates and want to spend as much time with them as possible. They have made my senior so great!!! They have all taught me so much, and I have found joy in living with each of them. Thank you ladies for making my senior year wonderful!



Lindsey Turner
I had the privilege of serving with Lindsey in Thailand this summer and I think I learned just as much from her as I did from the Thai people. We don't get to hang out a lot because of our busy schedules but I cherish our coffee dates and random meetings around school. I always feel encouraged by our conversations because she always wants to know what God is doing in my life and always eager to tell me the same. I really admire people who are so willing to share what God is working on in their lives even when it isn't pretty. She has a passion to share the Lord and it is truly contagious, I honestly believe that she too will change the world. God has blessed her with awesome talents and it is amazing to see her use those for his glory. She might kill me for putting up this picture of her but its honestly how remember her, at a massage place in Thailand where we had to change into more clothes than we were wearing to get a massage :)


Taylor Fagg
Another person I don't get to see enough but still brightens my day when I do. Taylor was also part of the 07 spring transfer group. I have watched Taylor grow in so many ways sometimes I think he is a whole different person, in a good way though. I admire him because he is straight foreword and is not afraid to try new things even though everyone around him is against it. The thing I admire most about him is that he has just decided to 'be happy', which means he has decided to live in that true happiness that can only come from Christ. Along with Dylan, Jon, and Travis I feel protective of him as though he were a brother. With all of these guys it brings joy to my heart to see them happy and succeeding but at the same time makes my heart hurt to see them sad or angry. I am so thankful to have all of them in my life and part of my CBU family. This picture is from our orientation a couple of years ago but it makes me smile :)


Ultimately Christ is the true source of my encouragement but I know that he uses these incredible people to provide some of it, and that is one thing I am thankful for this holiday season! I hope that Christ has somehow encourgaed you by reading this.