Monday, June 17, 2013

Day 3 of Wonder- Time

On day 3 of the wonder challenge I was suppose to stop and consider 2 things that distract me from the wonder of God that I could control and change. Right now since it is summer I have had a lot of free time. You would think I would spend it doing a variety of things. However, my days often include large amounts of Netflix and Pinterest haha! While doing those things aren't exactly a bad thing overdoing them can be bad. If they prevent me from doing things for God or make me rush to finish whatever im doing they become a problem.

So my goal is to reduce my time spent on those two things and spend more time in the word of God and gazing at the wonderful world he created. 

What are some things you could give up in order to see more of God's wonder?

<3
Blake

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Day 2 of Wonder- Reflection

Day 2 has me reflect on what prevents me from seeing wonder and then to pray about it. My emotions often can put me in a bad mood whenever it effects me or the people around me. After the situation occurs it can leave me in a lasting bad mood. If I can try to control my emotional responses when I feel them coming on it can stop these moods. No bad moods make it easier to see the wonder of God.

Another problem that can prevent me from seeing the wonder of God is the problem I have admitting I am wrong. These leads to fights and frustrations. By giving up this pride it can prevent many negative encounters. 

I pray that I will be able to do better at preventing these things from taking away from how I view God and this beautiful and wonderful world he created.

What stuff prevents you from seeing the wonder of God?

<3
Blake

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Day 1 of Wonder

Day1- got to hang out with my sister all day watching Netflix before I start to work soccer camps for 2 weeks. I was just able to wonder about how blessed I am to have her.

Friday, June 14, 2013

God has his path for you set out. We need only to listen and follow it.

21 Day Wonder Challenge

Hello Lovlies!!!

So continuing with my post from yesterday about wonder I decided to take Margaret Feinburgs "21 Day Wonder Challenge." For 21 days you do different things that will hopefully help you see the wonder of God. I will keep you updated on my progress and I hope you will join me.

Here is the link talking about the challenge.
http://margaretfeinberg.com/the-21-day-wonder-challenge/

<3
Blake

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Wonder

So today I was listening to a boundless podcast and it was talking about the idea of "wonder."

It spoke of just observing all that God has done in the world and just marveling at his power. I have decided to pray for wonder. That God would just let me appreciate all of his creation even the smallest things. That I would stop and realize what I am seeing and not just live day to day and not really see all that he has done. I hope that y'all would do the same! God is great and amazing and wants us to love him every moment of every day.

Here is a book by the woman they were interviewing on the show. I haven't bought it yet but it is definitely on my list.

Wonderstruck by Margaret Feinberg:

http://margaretfeinberg.com/wonderstruck/

Here is the podcast too that I was listening to. It interviews the author. You can just listen to the God of Wonder segment of the whole thing. Believe me you will not regret listening to the whole thing!!!!

http://www.boundless.org/podcast-section/2013/the-love-challenge-episode-261

Have a blessed day!
<3 
Blake

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Christian Websites

Hello My lovlies!!!

Thought today I would share some Christian websites that I like to visit.

http://www.boundless.org/

---I absolutely love this website. A great website for young single Christians. This website has helped me with my relationship with God, and discover more about my relationship with him. It has also helped to give me clarity about relationships, my faith, and being young and single. They also have podcasts that they put up every week that you can listen to on the website or on the podcast app. Each podcast contains a roundtable discussion, culture segment, and Q and A session. So good!

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/

---A great website. Brings worldly news and connects it spiritually. So helpful on how to see the world.  

http://breakawayministries.org/

---Website for the Christian ministry at the campus of Texas A&M. Listen to the sermons of Ben Stuart through the website or on your iPhone through the podcast app. His sermons are so good! Very relevant to the young adult. The sermons are a mix of both scripture, advice, and Stuarts own personal stories.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/iyf/

http://www.christiancollegeguide.net/

---Both of these websites are great just to browse relevant ideas and articles discussing faith. Also, christian college helps those who are looking for a christian college to attend and also advice for once you get there. 

Hope you enjoy these websites. I definitely do! If you guys have any interesting websites (Christian or not) let me know!!!

<3
Blake

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Continuing Down The Path

Hello My Lovlies!!!

We all stumble on the path set before us by God. No one is perfect and God knows that. He still loves us and wants us despite our failings. However, sometimes it is hard to remember this when we constantly seem to be messing up. We may start to feel like we are a bad Christian or we seem to be always be going backwards and barely ever forward. My current battle is my impatience and anger. Sometimes I get so frustrated because I seem to always be mad when someone does something that isn't my way. I will often lay in my bed at night and dwell on how badly I handled a situation that day despite the fact that the night before I was having the same thoughts and had vowed not to get mad.

However, we need to remember that God loves us no matter how many times we mess up. While it may seem we are doing horrible acknowledging our mistakes is the first step. At least we are realizing that there is something we need to fix. Going back to God every time and asking him for help is what we have to do. We may not realize it right away but he is working on us.

Also think about your day. While you may have messed up 10 times did you succeed at least once? Take the day as a victory! Tomorrow will be another battle, but for today thank God for working on you and ask him to continue to help you with your problem the next day. I've had this happen to me recently. One time I got mad at my dad for trying to help me with dinner when I felt like I had it under control. I snapped at him and it made him get angry and defensive. I felt horrible afterwards. I remember praying about it to God that night and telling him how much I hated doing things that hurt my family and asked him to please help me with my anger. A few days later, a similar situation happened and instead of getting angry I allowed my self to give up some control and gave him a job to do to help me. I did not realize it till later that night, but I realized what had happened. I had succeeded at something where I had once failed. God had done work on me!

Finally, remember that whatever you are facing will probably not totally disappear. I realize that I will never totally be able to get rid of my impatience and anger (I don't think there is anyone in the world who has never gotten angry!). However, I can try to control how I handle situations when I grow frustrated. Instead, of yelling and screaming I can try to settle down and seek a more rational and calmer way to respond. This is much more effective than attacking the person and can save the moment and relationship.

I hope this may help some people to realize that we all make mistakes, but God will always love us no matter what! Here are a few verses to help!

"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus."- Philippians 1:6

"But one thing I do: Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead."- Philippians 3:13

"...Stand firm in the Lord..."- Philippians 4:1

Welcome to Me!

Hello my lovely people!

My name is Blake and I want to welcome you to my blog, Discovering Blake! I guess for my first post I will share a little about myself.

I'm a follower of Jesus and have within the past year rededicated my life to him and now try to live my life in a way that glorifies him. I am from Texas and love anything southern and country. I am a health and exercise nut! I love eating healthy and exercising. I am also a college soccer player and nursing major. 

I started this blog in order to share the things I am going through and hopefully show people that everyone is going through the different challenges but relying on God is the simple answer. I will also share other things on here I find interesting or cool. I hope you all enjoy! Thanks for reading and hope y'all keep visiting!

<3
Blake