so i haven't written a blog in a while so here goes what is happening in my life...

lately the subject of Faith has been all in my life! It started with Jesus putting a stir in my heart about this and I wasn't exactly sure what was going on. Then my friend Lee said a quote from the book Crazy Love...He said

"What are you doing in your life that requires Faith?"

That is the question I have been pondering in my life the last few weeks...sadly, I have decided the answer is nothing/not much... I have also decided that I don't want it to stay that way!

(PS this whole time me and Jesse have also been praying about a pretty big decision in our lives that, either way, will require faith)

So this past weekend we took a few youth to a beach retreat. It was AMAZING!!!!! There was a whole message focused on not staying comfortable but taking risks!

Here are a few of the amazing quotes/stories that were mentioned that made my heart happy:

"If there is no risk, then there is no need for faith."

When James Calvert went out as a missionary to the cannibals of the Fiji Islands, the ship captain tried to turn him back. "You will lose your life and the lives of those with you if you go among such savages, he cried. To that, Calvert replied, "We died before we came here."

When the titanic had hit the iceberg there was a boat near there that heard the distress signal but did nothing. Later, when asked why he did not go to help he replied, "We feared the icebergs" (this was very convicting to me when applying this story to my life)

The Silversmith (Jesus refines us like silver) The Silversmith Some time ago, a few ladies met in a certain city to study the scriptures. While reading the third chapter of Malachi, they came upon a remarkable expression in the third verse: "And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver [Malachi 3:3]" One lady proposed to visit a silversmith, and report to them on what he said about the subject. She went accordingly, and without telling the object of her errand, begged the silversmith to tell her about the process of refining silver. After he had fully described it to her, she asked, "But Sir, do you sit while the work of refining is going on?" "Oh, yes madam," replied the silversmith; "I must sit with my eyes steadily fixed on the furnace, for if the time necessary for refining be exceeded in the slightest degree, the silver will be injured." The lady at once saw the beauty, and comfort too, of the expression, "He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." God sees it needful to put His children into a furnace; His eye is steadily intent on the work of purifying, and His wisdom and love are both engaged in the best manner for us. Our trials do not come at random, and He will not let us be tested beyond what we can endure. Before she left, the lady asked one final question, "When do you know the process is complete?" "Why, that is quite simple," replied the silversmith. "When I can see my own image in the silver, the refining process is finished." -- Author Unknown

I have decided to start choosing to take risks. Not necessarily like jumping out of airplanes but getting outside of my comfort zone, listening to Jesus even if it sounds crazy, and putting myself out there with people even if I fear they will reject me! (which, by the way, I feel takes more faith and courage than jumping out of a plane anyway!) I choose to live a risky life of loving my Savior and journeying with Him!