Made for Something Greater

Galatians 4:28
Now you brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.

   I am a child of a promise that God spoke into Abraham long ago. God made all of us for something greater and his desire is for us to discover what we were made for and to live in the promise that we are part of. I was not meant to live a mundane life and neither were you, God has called us all to live an extra ordinary life and to challenge the status quo of our daily lives. This concept really hit home for me as I was watching The Hobbit and how Bilbo was going to miss out on a grand adventure because he was comfortable in his little hobbit life but when he decided to challenge the status quo of life and go places he never imagined his world view was changed and he changed the course of history because he was willing to be someone greater. We are all made for something greater we just have to be willing to take that adventure and be willing to possibly change the course of history. Everything you have experienced in life has been preparing you for that moment when you, like Bilbo, will be ready to sign that contract and go on an adventure. I am reminded daily that my God is good but that he calls me to live dangerously for him and that he is leading me to something greater and because I am a child of a promise I know I am safe in his hands. God longs for us to be everything he is preparing us to be and sometimes it may feel like we are being put through that refining fire but he knows that when we come through the other side that it is the fire that will be burning inside of us and that we can be a light for the dark world. We can become world changers when we decide to search out our life purpose and when we begin to realize we were made for something greater and that God has already spoken a promise into our life and we must walk in that promise. 

KyLa

A Rendered Heart

Joel 2:12-14
"Even now", declares the Lord, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning". Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and He relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing- grain offerings and drink offerings for the Lord your God.

   There is a saying that says to "follow your heart" but God ask us to surrender our hearts to Him and to follow His heart and not our own. This concept is difficult for us humans, to rend our hearts and to place our fragile and sometimes broken hearts into the hands of the potter. We like to keep our hearts hidden deep behind our rib cage and not allow it out of this protective cage but we must remember that our hearts are not our own and we must return our heart back to the maker of it, so that we may learn to follow His loving and compassionate heart to a place of wonderful blessings.  God does not ask us to rend our hearts to cause us pain, though it will be painful at first, He ask us to rend our hearts in order to give us something better. He ask us to surrender the most precious part of ourselves so we may know His crazy amazing love for us. He knows that once we choose to give Him our heart we can have the fullness of His love because we no longer have our selfish heart holding us back and therefore we can become captivated by His heart. We become this beautiful mess when we rend our heart and the more imperfect we are the more worthy and perfect we become to the heart of God. God desires our shattered hearts and He longs to embrace our brokenness so we may know His abounding love.

 Surrendering your heart to God is terrifying because once He has it He has the power of a potter to mold and shape your heart however He wants. God loves to wreck our lives and take our hearts to places we may have never thought but He always creates something beautiful and He never makes mistakes so you know your heart is safe in His hands. God may relent form sending calamity but He will not relent when pursuing your heart. God wants you to offer up you heart to Him, He wants you to rend it and release it out from behind it's cage. Another sayings says " Love isn't love until you give it away" so give your heart to God and He will fill that empty spot with a deeper love than you could ever image.

I have decided to have a completely rendered heart and to be captivated by the heart of God and to allow His heart to beat for mine.

KyLA

Beautiful Endings Leave Hope for Blessed Beginings

When this summer began I had high hopes of it being a great summer. My plans were to get a job and to start working right away, I was also looking forward to a fantastic 21st birthday, and just relaxing and creating great memories with my family. Well, despite my job searching efforts I did not find a job and my 21st birthday did not bring great joy but instead heartach, my beloved dog that had been by my side for 13 years passed away. I guess you could say my summer has been filled with beautiful endings, though it has been just recently that I have been able to see the beauty admist the heartach. 

My sister will be graduating from highschool this year as well, another ending that is hard to grasp it seems like yesterday that I was holding my baby sister and singing fuzzy wazzy. Another death brought great pain to our family, my sisters dog got mysteriously sick and also died. This is the first time in our lives without a dog in our home. My Aunt and Uncle just ended 30 years of living in California and moved to Michigan to start an new dream and a new journey into retirement. It has been difficult knowing they are no longer next door. 

My step dad Victor also had an ending in his life, the engine of his ford focus decided it had had enough and it gave out. Which left us with one vehicle, we managed though it was not pleasant. My mom also had an ending in her life this summer, she graduated from college again and now has a degree in counsiling. 

All summer I have had the words of a song stuck in my mind it says " Isn't beautiful the way we fall apart" and I can say I have had many days this summer of falling apart and thinking that it would not get better but I have come to realize that the end is beautiful because it gives hope of a blessed and new begining. I do not know what God has planned for the future but I know that it will be great and he has allowed these endings in my life so that he can create new and beautiful beginings and I can already see the horizen of the new beginings and it makes me excited to start the new chapter in God's amazing story.

Joshua 23:14
You know with all your heart and soul that not one of the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed. 

KyLa 

How ISU Encourages Students to be Involved with Activities on Campus

When I first thought about a topic to research I thought about researching the reasons why students do not seem to attend on campus events but as I started my research I was lead into a slightly different path. I found in my research that the school seems to recognize the lack of student involvement and they are putting forth great effort to encourage students to be more involved with activities and events on campus. 

I decided to focus on the student organizations on campus that support student activity on campus. The two main student organizations on campus are the SAB and UPC. The SAB is the Student Activities Board and they consist of 8 student members and the   events they organize are Bingo, Service Saturdays, Family game night, Bengal Wednesdays. The UPC is the Union Program Council and they consist of 5 student members and the events they organize are Tuesday Tunes, Monday night football, ISU’s got talent, Rock the Quad. In my findings I was surprised to find out how many students did not realize that there were so many events provided on campus for students. 

In my interview with the SAB I asked what events get the best turn outs and they told me the traditional events that offer free food and free prizes. I went to one of these traditional events just to see how many students would participate and I was shocked to see the venue completly full. This event was ISU's Got Talent, it was a great show and it had a great turn out plus it had free food, free prizes for the students. UPC had organized this event and they had only planned for 250 but 350 came, I think this shows just how well ISU is encouraging students to be involved with events on campus. 

Marketing to students is also a major factor in getting them to participate in events. The main was SAB markets to students is by posters, rat cards, and personally handed out flyers. SAB said that the personally handed out flyers is what seems to work best and I also interviewed a student that said she prefers the handed out flyers as well.

ISU is a great place to get an education but college is a time to have experiances and make lifetime friends so if you are not involved with activities on campus I would encourage you to be involved and go out and have a great time!

Michaela Ghent

english 3308

prof. Debra Shien

My Wonderful Mother

Proverbs 31:25

She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the day to come.

        March 8th, 1968. This day is very dear to my heart because it was the day my best friend and the most wonderful mother in the world was born.  I know that when God had my mom in mind he thought of a woman of strength and dignity a woman who would persevere through life and always ready for the next grand adventure God was going to take her on. My mom has shown me how to be a strong woman and she has shown me how to be a wonderful wife and mother someday. From her I have learned to love well and to love much. She has a passion for people and that passion has been taught to me by her actions. 

  Whenever I read Proverbs 31 I always think of my mom and how she has been a woman that seeks God and is always providing for her family. My mom has tended to me when I was sick, she has cried with me when I am sad, and she has rejoiced with me when I am happy. She has been my best friend and is always willing to lend a listening ear. 

  My mom is my hero! I am continually impressed by all that she does and I am in constant awe of her ability to do everything and to do it well.  My mom has a servants heart and every opportunity she has to serve you can guarantee she will, she never considers herself first, this is how I know that she will be first in the kingdom of God because he says the first shall be last and the last shall be first. I can only hope to be as much as a Wonderful Godly mother someday that my mother is, she surely is my inspiration. 

Happy Birthday Mom!

I love you!

Thanks soooo much for all you do!

 Love, KyLa

Captivated, Allured, and Compelled!

Hosea 2:14-23

" Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. 
" In that day declares the Lord, you will call me my husband; you will no longer call me my master. I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord".
" In that day I will respond declares the Lord- I will show my love to the one I called "not my loved one". I will say to those called not my people "you are my people"; and they will say You are my God"!


This week God has captivated my heart, allured my spirit, and compelled me to love. Today is the day we celebrate love and the greatest love we can ever know is the love that God so freely bestows upon us. Falling in love with the creator of the universe is the most wonderful and speechless feeling in the world. In Hosea Gods greatsest desire is for his choosen people to fall deeply and passionately in love with Him. True love is not chocolate and flowers but it is laying down ones life for someone else and and being a servant to all. 

God has so greatly captivated my heart and he has allured my spirit to him so tenderly that I feel an overwhelming conviction that has compelled me to want to proclaim that He is my loved one and that He is my God!

God is so wonderful and he is my provider in every way and all I want is to be wrapped in his loving arms and comforted by his grace. Thank God for his redemption and his great desire to be in love with me! 

KyLa

Grace

This weekend my family and I went down to San Diego and went to the Zoo and the beach. We had a wonderful time though we thought that we may never find our way out of the zoo. Then we went to the beach and had a relaxing and peaceful time there and I could not but help to think of Gods beautiful grace as I looked out at the ocean and I was reminded of  a verse in a song that says if grace is an ocean then we are all sinking. How wonderful! Gods amazing grace rises on the beams of the shining sun every morning and His mercies are new ever day! I am so thankful to spend this time with my family and I am so thankful for all the blessings God has placed in my life!

For He Delights in Me

I just completed reading through the book of Psalms and I love the entire book but one passage has adhered itself to my mind and I thought it was something I needed to share. Psalm 147:10-11 His pleasure is not in the strenghth of the horse, nor His delight in the legs of man; the Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love.

I must say that this has been a very long and tireing week and I was starting to feel weak and maybe alittle insignificant, but after I read this passage I realized that God delights in me. We often times think that because we are not as magestic as a horse or as strong or as smart some human beings that we are some how less or insignificant in the sight of others. The verse says that the Lord delights in those who fear Him and who put their hope in Him, that means He delights in me!

Now, I will never be as strong as a horse but the awesome wonder of it all is I do not have to be, God loves and delights in me just the way I am and I know that if I put my hope in His unfailing love he will provide me with the strength and power I need to keep moving forward. And as David so often proclaims in his psalms of praise, Praise the Lord!

Learning and Leaning

I have come to find that life is a constant learning and leaning process. God is always giving me more reasons to learn and lean on Him. I like to be able to plan ahead (way ahead) for things in the future but most of the plans I have made don't seem to work out, then I remember that I did not seek out Gods plan and He has to remind me to follow Him even when I can not see what He is planning. When I finally surrender to Him and put my plans in His hands I have a much more peaceful life.

Each night I must give God my will and each morning I must surrender my everything to Him. I have dreams and goals that I am striving toward and each day I must remember who I am living for and how I can glorify God through everything that I do and not just strive for worldly things. Working as a Salvation Army bell ringer I have learned to bring joy to others through my being thankful for everything I am and have through Jesus Christ, and to remind others to live with a smile on their faces.

God has blessed me so much and I am learning that He is my potter forming me into who He wants me to be and my job is to lean on Him and give him the glory for everything He teaches me even if He doesn't give me plans in advance.I am following my creator one step at a time learning to enjoy each step.

KyLa

Waiting For Spring

I am now currently in the spring semester of my freshman year at college, Though it seems that spring just does not want to come I am watching and waiting for the sun to come out to greet me. This semester is super busy and is streaching me further than I have been streached before. I am very excited for this spring and can't wait to see what the Lord will do.
I had a wonderful christmas and enjoyed spending it with Aunt Angie and Ulcle Phil and espesially Pilgram. Though I am enjoying college and having many new experiences with new people I am begining to miss home and can't wait to come back this summer, so spring come soon and let me share your Joy with others and bring me closer to home!

Love, Kyla

A New Adventure

The world is full of people who will go their whole lives and not actually live one day. She did not intend on being one of them. WOW! what a crazy month! I have started college at Asbury University and am enjoying every minuet, yes even the school work! I have met new people, some are better than others, made new friends and cought up with old ones. Coming to college has deffently been a new and scary adventure but one I choose to conquor head on. I choose to live my life to it's fullest each day and to enjoy the experiences God puts in my path. I thank my family for being everything to me. They are the best family EVER! I can't wait till I get to see you all again! I thank God for being everything that He is and for sustaining me night and day. Life is crazy but never stop living! Enjoy every second of life and face your challenges head on! I garentee its worth it! ( the best place to learn this leason is in college).

A Prayer

When you lead,dear Lord, I venture out into the great beyond with courage and expectation. A protected cove is safe, but You have called me to live with passoin. I may encounter risks, but I know Your provision and care are enough. Give me hope in Your saving me from storms, climbing moutains before me and finding me when lost.I trust in You and I thank You for the adventures in my life that make me who I am called to be. Make my way purposeful and glorifing to You. Provide me with all I need for the journey- Your pefect Peace, Joy unspeakable, and unwavering Faith.

KyLa

(from Life Beautiful magazine)

The Ocean

I got to see the ocean for the first time in my life. It was beautiful and peaceful. I was in awe to see such powerful but graceful waves rushing to greet me. Katie and I would stand just anticipating the next wave to sweep over our feet. We took many pictures to capture the memories of this new adventure. To finish our evening we had fish in chips,mmmm. It was a great day and I think I would want to vist the ocean again! KyLa



I thank God for all His blessings and for giving
me this life and my family to share it with!

I thank my family for everything they do.
You guys are great! I wouldn't want to share
these adventures with anyone but you!

Waiting

Have you ever felt like you were waiting forever? In the line at the grocery store or at a trafic light? We have all felt that urge for the bathroom and it seems like you can't find one or when you do it's full. Waiting is never fun. We all hope that when the wait is over there will be a good ending. We are now in the Great month of May. The month that my mother was waiting. Waiting to have a beautiful baby girl! Awaiting the birth of her first child, I am sure seemed like forever. Like at the end of most waits it was wonderful! Now 18 years later, I am waiting to start college. It is exciting and terrifing all at the same time. And for the first time in my life I will be away from the mother who was so patient to wait . In the month we celebrate Mothers Day my mom became a mother, and I gained a life I could have never imagened. So the wait was worth it!
P.S. Thank You God for the Mom You gave to give Life to Me!!!
Michaela Ghent

Some good news!

Happy Friday!! Some good news, I recieved the title for my car in the mail today.... Yeah! It is

now officially mine. Praise God! I can not begin to tell how Great God is and how much I love

Him . He supplies all my needs. I am very excited about startng college this fall! I am going to

Asbury University in KY and am majoring in business. I am excited about starting this new

venture in life and know that God will be with me all the way!