Live Life: Give

This week’s Live Life challenge is to give. My first reaction….I’m a broke college student, I’ve got nothing to give. Silly Sarah…

When I began thinking of what I could give, I tried to think about what I hoard the most in my life. I wanted to give up what I am idolizing, so that I can use it to further God’s kingdom instead of my own. Once I had this mindset, it was clear what I needed to give. My Time.

Time has been a tricky thing this semester, between school work, Eboard responsibilities, and trying to have a social life, I’ve gained a very selfish and skewed viewpoint of my time. I’ve began to think of it as my own. I wake up, give God a few minutes of my time, go to class, go to the gym, do homework and hang out with friends. Its become monotonous and routine. And I can honestly say that the time with God I’ve listed has not been priority. I could easily sit hear and complain that I just need more hours in the day, but in reality I need to reevaluate my priorities. I have realized this week how closed off I’ve made my schedule to actually let God use me.

This week, I’ve been challenged to rearrange what my days look like. I’m choosing to get up earlier to work out before class. This gives me time to grab coffee or a meal with people in my life that I feel God has called me to invest in spiritually. I’m setting aside more time to spend in His word and in prayer, so that my strength can be rooted in Him. I am starting my homework earlier so that I can have a more fruitful Sabbath.

My time is not my own. It is the Father’s gift to me. It is what I am choosing to give & release this week, for His kingdom to come.

What do you feel God calling you to give?

Live Life: Pray

Last week, I committed to limit my time with social media for Lent. It was surprisingly easy to do. I have only been checking Instagram and Facebook once every night (besides my Sabbath this weekend). I have seriously felt so free and at peace about it, it’s cool to see the it is all truly just excess.

This week’s Lent challenge is prayer. The tagline in my email notification read “Do you ever feel frustrated with prayer?” Ummmmm, it’s like they were writing directly to me. Lately my quiet times with God have been so methodical: bible, journal, pray, done. I've just felt disconnected, like there’s a wall between God and I. The most humbling part, it’s not God’s fault….it’s my attitude. I've been turning my prayer life into a wish list again. When it comes down to it, I've forgotten the reverence behind prayer. I've ignored God’s sovereignty.

One of this week’s challenges is to pray in a format similar to the Lord’s prayer. This structure opens with adoration for His power, and the supplication is not a selfish one. It’s to see His kingdom come. His will be done. What does that mean? It’s not about me. My mission is to see His kingdom come in my life, and on my campus.

So this week, I’m devoting time to converse with my Savior, intimately. I want to set aside time each morning when I wake up, and right before I go to bed to come God to listen and speak. I am also praying over this prayer, my personalized version of Matthew 6:5-13:

”Our Father, you are good and powerful and worthy of my praise. You provide for me beyond compare. Lord, I pray that your will be done on this campus. That your kingdom come at BU. You are my strength & my power. Remind me that you are my source. I pray against selfishness & pride. You are good and your plan exceeds my own. May I be constantly humbled to do Your will this week. Thy will be done. Thy kingdom come.”

Live Life: Fast

Week one of the Live Life challenge is focusing on fasting. This is the aspect of Lent I am most familiar with. Growing up, I always heard my friends talking about how they were giving up sweets or tv or something for the time of Lent. Many of them did so begrudgingly, so I never understood the point. But this year, I wanted to fast with a purpose. The point of fasting isn’t to just give something up, it is to examine the aspects of your life that distract you, specifically from God. Immediately, one thing comes to mind. Social media.

I am overly attached to this. I wake up in the morning and immediately check Facebook, Bloglovin’, and Instagram on my phone. Periodically throughout the day I do the same. The last thing I see before I go to sleep is my screen. It seriously a problem. I am starting and ending my day with the world. I distract myself from boring lectures with virtual updates. And yet, in the midst of it all, I devote maybe 15 minutes solely to my Creator. 15 minutes. That’s 1% of my day. 1% to the One who gave me life and everything I have. That’s pretty darn embarrassing.

This Lent, I am not trying to achieve a goal, I am trying to transform how my time is spent. I want to live in a way that shows that God is enough for me. My time does not need to be filled with nonsense that won’t matter days, weeks, or years down the road. My time needs to be with Abba, my Heavenly Father. This Lent, I am unplugging social media during the day. I am only logging on briefly at night and on Sundays. My day will start and end with God, and my down time will be spent being intentional with the people placed in my life. My hope is that through this, I will see glimpses of a life lived to the fullest….a life lived for Him.

Live Life

Prior to college, I never celebrated Lent. To be honest, I always thought it was just a Catholic thing. I recently switched churches here at school and started attending an Anglican church. It has been a great experience seeing worship in such a reverent setting compared to the very casual church I’m used to back home. I am still learning a lot about the church and its traditions, but I decided to do Lent this year. I was unsure of what to do or give up, until I talked to my friend Mackenzie yesterday. Mackenzie invited me to join her as she is doing World Vision’s “Live Life” campaign.
Each week of Lent, we will be participating in a challenge hosted by World Vision. Here is the break down:

I am so excited to see how God is going to grow me through these challenges leading up to the celebration of His death and resurrection!
Will you join me?