Working Together

At the movie theater where I work, one job that I am always asked to do on Saturday nights is lobby porter. In essence I keep the lobby clean for eight hours. It may not sound hard, but there is popcorn dropped every where as well as people spilling their sodas, and leaving their trash on the table. On most Saturday nights, there is always something to clean in the lobby, and you are always busy.

Now on the weekends there are two people assigned to this job because when we are busy, it is too much for one person to do. This weekend I was paired with a guy, and both of us are hard workers and we take good care of keeping the lobby clean. Once our manager found out that we were the ones who were going to be cleaning the lobby that night, he was ecstatic. One of his reason he was so happy was because he knew the entire lobby would be clean because we both are good at cleaning different parts.  I am good at making sure everything is stocked and that all the coke machines are working. My coworker is good at keeping the floors clean (which is my least favorite thing to do) and wiping down the tables.

This got me to thinking because many of us think that we can do it all. It can be anything from keeping the lobby clean to being able to raise kids on your own. We think that we can do it all, but it tunrs out time and time again that we need other people to come in and help.

I heard this quote one day in church and I wrote it in my Bible because it is so powerful and true. It is from Mother Teresa. "You can do something I can't do. I can do something you can't do. Together lets do something beautiful for God." I love this quote because it shows us how God made us to be unique in our abilities and that while we are unique, he wants us to rely on each other as we go throughout our lives.

So as you go through your week, don't be afraid to rely on other people for help in areas that you are weak in, because as the saying goes, two heads are always better than one.

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for the abilities you have given me Lord. Help me to use my ability in conjunction with other people and their abilities.  Amen. 

Having the Right Glasses

One of my family's favorite activity to do on our days off from work is to go to the lake and go jet skiing. I normally would need prescription glasses to see long distances, however when I am on the lake I wear normal sunglasses because I don't want to break my good driving glasses. I can still drive the jet ski just fine but everything is a little fuzzy and all of it is out of focus.

Today I decided to mix things up and wear my prescription sunglasses and everything became crystal clear and I could see details that I could never see before. Everything was clear and I enjoyed my ride much more than when I was just using my regular glasses.

A similar concept in church the other week. Glasses are a way that we see the world and the type of glasses you have are important. If your glasses are fogged and covered in filth, than you can not see the objects in front of you correctly. When the Israelite's were walking into the promise land they saw their enemies and believed that they were not strong enough to take them out. They were looking through glasses that couldn't let them see the victory as it was with God's help.

However, when we put on glasses of faith, we are able to see ourselves as a God sees us. God knew that the Israelites were able to defeat their foes for he was with them. God could see clearly what we often can’t see at all. So instead of living with fogged up glasses that cause us to miss much of what is happening in front of us, let’s rely on God and trust him because he can see everything clearly.


Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for you being willing to help us who walk through life with dirty glasses. I pray that you help us clean the, so we can see more of life as you intended it to be. Amen. 

Dream for You

I was recently reading a devotional about using your imagination for God's purpose, and one of the quotes that the author said stuck out to me; "Let the size of your God determine the size of your imagination."  There reason why I liked this quote is because God is the God of the impossible, and when we start believing that what was once impossible is now possible, dreams start to expand past what anyone was though was possible.

There are also tons of examples in the Bible where God's power was used in ways no one though possible. David defeated Goliath. Moses lead God's people out of Egypt. Abraham had a son long after his wife stop being fertile. and Mary gave birth to Christ. These are all examples where God's plan was bigger than any one expected, and these people had faith to follow God in what he was saying even though it seemed impossible.

This reasoning also goes against what most of us have been taught, that we should live in what is reasonable and not dream or think to big. However, when we let God dream for us, we are able to do more than ever thought was possible, and it is not done by our own will, but by God and his power.

So this week I encourage you to take some time to ask God what his dream is for you, and to let him work in you with what he has planned.

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for the power you have and the dreams that you have for each one of us. Please show me the dreams you have for me, and give me the strength to follow them. Amen. 

God's Great Universe

On Father's Day, my dad, brother and I went to the Denver Museum. One exhibit that we visited was the Space exhibit, where they had a simulation where you can try and create your own solar system and watch what happens to it over time. Long story short, the three of us were not very good at building our own solar system. We had planets crash into planets, asteroids were destroying planets and we put everything to close to our sun, so it ended up melting everything we put by it. While it was fun to watch things collide and burn up, it became clear that it was best for everyone if we weren't the designers of the universe.

After our failure, it reminded me of how great and powerful our God is. He created the universe so all the planets will orbit the sun and not crash into each other. He designed each planet with care to make it unique. He created the sun to give off heat and he placed Earth in the perfect spot to reap the benefits of the Sun.

On top of all of this, he created the universe with his command. Hebrews 11:3 says, "By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible." God spoke a word, and he created something out of nothing, and he did so beautifully. It is an awesome reflection on just how great our God truly is.

Dear Heavenly Father, 
Thank you for creating this beautiful universe that we live in. I am in awe and wonder of what you can do and how great your power is Lord. Thanks for this planet that we live on, and the ability to learn about your creation. Amen. 

Memorizing Bible Verses

We all have heard that it is good to memorize Bible verses. Having them memorized helps for when we are in times of need. It is easier to recall them when we have them memorized, then it is to try and find the verse that you are looking for in the Bible. It also comes in handy when  you are in conversation with someone, it is easier to tell them the verse that fits the situation, then try and find it in the Bible, especially since you may not always have your Bible with you.

Now I know not all of us are good at memorizing text so below area few tips you can try when it comes to memorizing some verses.

Continuously Read the Quote:What ever you are trying to memorize, you can not remember it after one pass. You need to read it over and over again over a long period of time. Eventually it will become ingrained into your brain to the point where you remember it.

Write Down the Quote: There are studies that show that when we write things down we remember them more often. So instead of trying to just memorize it out of the Bible, write it down on a note card, or a sticky note. That way it is also more portable to carry so you can read that verse any where.

Break it Down into Chunks: It is extremely difficult to memorize a long phase, so if the passage is long, break it apart to manageable pieces. Then as you memorize those pieces, you can put them back together to get the whole passage.

Memorize Parts that Relate to You: There is a fair amount of text in the Bible to memorize and it can seem overwhelming. So choose something to memorize that applies to you. It could be passages about patience, or purity, or belief, or overcoming a certain sin. This way you will have a stronger desire to memorize them, and you will recall them more which helps you remember them.

I hope some of these suggestions help, and I encourage you to find a few verses to memorize over this next week.

Dear Heavenly Father
Thank you for your word Lord. Help us to memorize what you have told us so we can use it in times of need and distress. Amen. 

Breaking Your Legs

One of the most memorable stories that I remember from high school is the story the leader of the Christian club told of the technique that shepherds did to teach their sheep. If they had an unruly sheep, one that wouldn't listen or follow the shepherd's orders, the shepherd would break the sheep's legs. But they wouldn't just leave the sheep there to die, but he would then carry the sheep with him until the legs healed. Through this process, the sheep would grow in its trust of the shepherd and be able to recognize their voice that much easier. And sure, breaking a sheep's legs sounds difficult, but it is for their good. If they can recognize the shepherd's voice, and follow his commands, it keeps them from walking off cliffs and being eaten by lions.

God is called time and time again that He is our shepherd. And he does the same technique that the shepherds did. There are times where we as his sheep need our legs to be broken so we can turn back to our shepherd and listen to his instructions. He can break our legs with a multitude of different events in our lives, but he doesn't do it to spite us. He is trying to correct us and to bring us back to trusting him and his will for our lives. So, while I know it hurts and can be overwhelming, God is still working for your good.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for looking out for me and what is in my best interest and taking the time to correct me when needed. Help me to trust you in your working for my life, for you know more than I could ever hope to know. Amen. 

Just Showing Up

One common theme I found found in today's age is that most people just don't show up. I have had countless experiences, whether it be at work or in my friend group, where people said that they would be there and then they don't show up, and they won't even leave a reason why.

Another way this is played out is when people are present, but they are on their electronic devices, not even paying attention to the people around them. Most people walk around on their phones not taking in the scenery as they walk by. We can easily tune people out and not listen to a word that they say and be completely fine with doing so.

Recently at work, I was cleaning theaters with a girl named Hailey. She loved to talk about everything Avengers and she would talk to anyone who listen.  However, most the other ushers were on their phones and wasn't really paying attention to what she was saying. When I showed up to work, I introduced myself, because we hadn't met yet, and she started talking and I listened. I didn't know much about the Avengers as she did and we did have varying opinions on who was the best, but I listened to her. At the end of the night, she came up and gave me a hug and thanked me for listening, and being present while she talked.

It is simple things like being present while someone talks that makes an impact on people's lives. I can name countless times where just the fact that a person showed up and payed attention to what I was saying was more important than anything they could have said. So I encourage you this week to show up and be present in everything that you do.

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for always being there to listen to me. Help me to do the same for the people around me and to be present in my life. Amen. 

Pitfalls of Growing Up

For one of my senior projects I am making a documentary film about siblings and their impact in each other's lives. For this project, I am going through old videos and photos of me and my brother growing up. It is a lot of fun going back through old photos and seeing how much you have changed. On of my favorite things is to see the imagination that I had as a child. There was one video where I had paint all over my face because I was trying to apply my make-up, and I thought I looked so pretty. It is funny how paint can easily turn into make-up, and how much I believed I was pretty.


It's funny how when we grow up, we lose that imagination. We know that paint is not make-up and that it does not go on the face. We tend to be more practical, and imagination gets pushed to the side. I had a course this past semester where we focused partly on the imagination and the power it has. If we only live in the real, we only see what is in front of us, and we can't believe in anything outside our bubble. However God works in the unseen and unbelievable, and that is where our imagination comes in. We use our imagination to see the ways that God is working in ways that not always seen. So maybe as we grow up, we should keep part of our imagination.

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for the gift of the imagination. Help me to use it to further you kingdom and to see all the ways you are working in my life. Amen. 

Beautifully Broken

During one of YouTube binge streaks I was on, I found a YouTuber that I really enjoy. His name is Jon Jorgenson and he does Christian Spoken word poetry. One of my favorite videos of his is called "A Million Pieces" (Link is Below) One thing I love about this spoken word poetry is how he makes being broken a glorious event.

When we look back in our lives, we can easily name every mistake and every broken piece in our life. There are many parts of our life that we want to hide from people because we are ashamed of who we are. Yet Jon talks about how our brokenness is a reflection of God's glory. Our brokenness shows how God can use anyone to work for his glory. 

Another thing about spoken word poetry is the power behind the words that are spoken. When we speak in a church or in a lecture, the words are very even and it can be very dry. Yet the power and the rhythm causes all to pay attention to the words being said. And another part of poetry is all the metaphors that are used. Listening to the metaphors shows that I am more than i can ever be. We get so trapped up in doubting who we are as human, that thinking about us in a different way allows for other ideas of who we are can enter our head.

So as you go throughout your week, know that you are more beautiful being broken because God is still able to use you in ways you never imagine. And I encourage you to take some time on YouTube and listen to some spoken word poetry because it is a great way to gain a new view of the word.

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for loving me in all my brokenness. Help me to view myself the way you view me and to see how you can use someone that is broken to a million pieces. Thank you for the people who also create art on YouTube to help us be encourage in our walk with you. 

Video: Jon Jorgenson  A Million Pieces

Sitting There Helpless

One of the biggest take away I had from the high school Bible study I attended was that when the leader was telling of how God will break our legs so that we would have to completely rely on him to carry us.  This whole discussion got started when we were debating if God would ever give us more than we can handle. Most of us have been told that he won't give you more than we can handle and our leader was against that idea of thinking. He believe that time and time again, God will give us more than we can handle.

And by the end of the meeting, I agreed with him.

Now that might sound a little intense saying that God will give us more than we can handle, but the fact is that we aren't suppose to be able to handle everything. God make us to rely on him for everything, but we walk in the belief that we can handle everything. We think we are God, but we aren't not even close.

God will give us more than we can handle to remind us that we need to rely on him. Last semester I was the editor of the short film, and for a week straight I work as hard as I could, thinking I could get the whole project done, by myself. The day of the premier came and five in the morning I had the realization that I couldn't get it done. I could not get the video exported in time, and it was my fault if we didn't have anything to show. I broke down in tears, and sat in the fetal position mad at myself for what I couldn't do. I sat on the floor helpless and just cried. Than I was reminded of what my leader said, and realized that I had tried to do this all myself, and not once did I rely on him. I couldn't do it by myself  for I need God.

After I turned to God, he helped me clear my head and figure out what was wrong, and we ended up having something to show that night. It was stressful, but God had to give me more than I can handle just to remind me to turn back to him for all that I am to do. It is never easy when we find ourselves completely broken, but it shows us just how much we need God and how great it is to trust the guy who is in control of everything.

Dear Heavenly Father
Thank you for always being with us, hearing our every need and every tear we shed. Help us to turn the focus off what we can do, and place it on what you can do. You are so much greater than anything that may come up in life, and I trust you and your plan. Amen. 

God's Painting

This past Wednesday was the super blue moon and the lunar eclipse. I was one of the crazy people who was up at 4:30 am to watch the blue moon and then stayed up for the lunar eclipse. I looked at the blue moon, and at the time when I looked it was blocked by clouds, but that didn't mean that the sky still wasn't pretty.




The blue moon created interesting patterns in the sky, and the clouds had this eerie blue effect on them. After a while I went back to my room, and I laid on my couch and just looked out of our big glass window. Even though I couldn't see the moon, it could still appreciate the blue in the clouds in contrast to the yellow of the buildings under the street lamps. It was a beautiful mix of warm and cool colors, and just looking out the window. Everything looked so peacveful, and at the moment everything was okay.




It is amazing on how God can paint the sky to where it is absolutely beautiful, and how it is so much more beautiful than anything we can ever make. God is such a master painter, and he can take anything that is simple and make it beautiful. He can make something that is so ordinary, and make it shine bright and beautiful. It is a great reminder that no matter how ordinary, we may seem, we are worth so much to God, and he can make something beautiful out of all of us.


Dear Heavenly Father
Thank you for the beautiful nights. Thank you for the lovely scenery that we can see, and thank you for continuously working on me to make me more and more beautiful each day.

God's Plan Is So Much Better Than Mine

So two years ago I was registering for classes and I really wanted to take this linguistic class in the upcoming semester. It was really the only place it fit in my schedule and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to get credits out of the way. However, I couldn't fit it into my schedule because it overlapped with a different course that I also need to take. I was freaking out because things weren't going they way I wanted them to, or the way I thought.

I kept trying to fit the class into my schedule, and it never really fit anywhere until this semester. This semester I was finally able to take the class. After signing up, I realized that this was the best semester that I could have taken the class, and God kept saying wait, until it was the appropriate time to take the class.

The biggest reason this is the right time is that i am taking the class with one of my roommates. It is fun in class, and we can share textbooks and help each other with the homework. It is lots of fun taking this class with her, especially because it is not always the most exciting subject.

When we wait on what God has planned for us, things work out for the better. And sure it can be hard and frustrating during the process of waiting, but it is worth it in the end.

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for knowing what is best for us and not letting ourselves get caught up in the things we think is best. Please give me the strength to sit and wait patiently while you work things to my advantage. Amen. 

A Million Dreams

Over the break I saw the Greatest Showman with my family and I think that was the best movie that came out in December. The editing to the cinematography to the story, especially the story, was phenomenal. I remember sitting in the theater when the song, "A Million Dreams" came on and I sat there in awe of what was going on in the song as well as what was on the screen. I was like something was awoken with in me that had laid doormat for a long time.


That I went to bed, but I couldn't fall asleep because a million dreams were running through my head. A flood gate of all the crazy ideas that I had suppressed came flooding over me and I chased everyone of them all night long. It was a very freeing experience and it made me stop to think of why I had even suppressed them in the first place.


Than reality set in, dreams that are worth chasing are not easily achieved. It is easy to get discouraged right out of the gate with the task in front of you, and instead of facing it, we run away from it. We shut off our dreams so that we can stay safe, and stay where we know.


However, we serve a God that is full of creativity, and he has given each one of us some of that creativity and that comes out in the dreams that we have that we want to pursue. God doesn't want us to suppress the dreams we have for what is safe, for that does not allow a chance for us to grow. When we commit ourselves wholly to him and allow him to work through our dreams to shape us to his glory.


With this I am taking one of my crazy dreams and I am going to work this semester to make this a reality. The big idea is I am going to take the songs from The Greatest Showman and make a video for each song that shows the multiple talents at Dordt. It is a great idea in my head, but to make it a reality I need to assemble a team to help me plan and a team to help me shoot, as well as find actors to be in the videos, and then I have to edit them all together. It is a daunting task, but I am going to try and make this one a reality. I may fail, but at least I would have learned what not to do for the next time. I will keep you all posted on updates through this entire process because it will get interesting and stressful.


Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for the creativity that you have given each of us. Help us to find our confidence in you as we dream up all these grand ideas of what we would like to accomplish. I pray for this project that I am about to start, for I pray that you place the right people in my life to help me reach this goal and that it turns out to be a fantastic product. Amen.

God of the Unexcpected

This Christmas season, one of the themes of the Christmas service at my church was that God is a God of the unexpected and how these traits are found in the Christmas story.

Now most Christians know and accept the Christmas story because we have heard it over and over again. However when the birth of Jesus did happen, it was very unexpected for the people of Israel. When they thought of the Messiah to come, they thought it would be a mighty king, one that would lead them to war to reclaim their land, yet the Messiah came in the form of a baby. That was unexpected for them. They couldn't believe that he would come in a form of a baby, for to them that was totally unexpected.

The thing is God didn't stop then doing the unexpected. Everyday he is doing the unexpected in our lives. The thing is we often don't see it as the unexpected blessing God has for us, but we see it as a hardship, or a curse, or another obstacle we have to overcome. Mary was not expecting to have the messiah, and it came at a bad time for her because she wasn't married and still a virgin, and if word got out, then she would be publicly disgraced. However this unexpected pregnancy was a blessing to her and to the entire world.

So when things turn out the way that you don't expect, do dismiss it as being bad, but wait and see what blessing God can bring you through this unexpected turn in your life.

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for all the blessing you give me, the ones I expect and the ones that come out of nowhere. Help me to change my attitude when the unexpected falls on my life, for it may be a blessing in disguise. Amen.