Random Stuff About Me

Hey y'all.  It's been awhile.  I have a few blog topics I'm semi-working on right now, but for today, I thought I'd do something a little different and post a few random facts about myself.  You know, sort of like the whole Facebook "25 Random things" craze a year or so ago.  Also, if you have any questions you'd like me to answer, or topics you think I should write about, let me know in the comments!! Please!!!

*My favorite flowers are daisies and roses.  I can't pick between the two.  But, I'm not a huge fan of colored daisies, only the white ones.  Also, red roses are the BEST.  Pink ones are ok, and any other color pretty much doesn't count.

*I love to drive.  If gas was free, I might just get in my car and drive all day.

*My favorite gems are pearls and sapphires.  Diamonds are so cliche. Haha.  Also, white gold is much classier than yellow gold.

*I LOVE my middle name.  Especially with my first name.  "Rachel Elizabeth" means "God's consecrated lamb."  How cool is that?? (This is one of my future blog topics.)

*My pet peeves: people who smell bad.  People who aren't real. Gray areas.  People who think they know everything.

*Things I wish I was better at:  dancing. Basketball.  Talking to people. Keeping my temper.

*One of my favorite things to do is walk around outside and just look around me.  At night, during the day, in the city, or in my neighborhood--I love it.

*I love singing, and I love to dance.  I'm only good at the first one though.

*My favorite Disney princesses are Ariel and Aurora.  (I'm really bad at picking just one favorite thing--not sure if you noticed that....)

*Favorite smells: cologne. (If you're a good smelling guy, you're automatically attractive.  Seriously.)  Bacon! haha.  Clean laundry.  Summer thunderstorms.  Cucumbers.

*I love country music.  All you people that hate it are just wrong.  End of story.  Haha.

*If I'm in the car and I know the words to the song playing, I'm singing along.  Unless someone else is in the car with me.  Then I have to remind myself to be quiet.

*I love shoes.  But, my favorite pair is my black Old Navy flip flops.  Go figure.

*Someday I'm going to get an Australian terrier and name him Hemsworth.

*Boomer Sooner!!!  and Thunder up!!! Other than that, I don't really watch sports.

* I hate baseball. 

*I worked at Chick-fil-A for over 3 years.  When I quit, I swore I wouldn't eat there any more.  Now it's my favorite fast food restaurant.  Of course.

*I should've been born in the 50's.  People were so classy back then.  I want to be Grace Kelly.

Earning Approval

So, I haven't posted in over a month. I fail at life.  My excuse: for the past two weeks I've been enjoying my summer, and the two weeks before that I was taking finals and all that fun stuff.

You know, I’ve been doing the “Christian thing” my whole life. I grew up in church. While I’ve genuinely become a follower of Christ (You can read my story here), it’s been a struggle for me not to be a sort of modern-day Pharisee.  Paul says he was a “Hebrew born of Hebrews” (Phil. 3:5).  Well, I’ve always been a “Southern Baptist born of Southern Baptists.”  I was the kid who memorized the most Bible verses. I sang in the choir, went on mission trips, and when I got older I helped out in VBS and Awana.  Now, I can honestly say that most of the time, I wasn’t doing these things just so everyone would look at me and say, “Oh, she’s such a good Christian.” I also knew that I couldn’t earn my way into heaven or anything like that—only Jesus’ blood is sufficient to cover my sin.  But, at the same time, I never felt like God was satisfied with just me.  I felt like I had to be the best at whatever I did, or I was failing God.  I beat myself up if I was anything less than perfect—so, I beat myself up over everything.

I’m not sure why I did this.  Maybe it was because I had a false salvation experience  before I actually came to know Christ.  So, I felt a kind of need to “prove” that my second experience was real.  After all, when Jesus comes into your life he makes a change, right?  And I became a follower of Christ when I was 9.  It’s not like I had been on drugs, or sleeping around, or anything like that.  I didn’t have a “cool” testimony where Jesus had completely changed everything about me.  So, maybe I felt the need to do all these good things just to affirm that I was really a Christian.

As I got older, my love for Jesus grew.  I started singing in choir and helping out at church because I wanted to, not because I felt like I had to.  But at the same time, I never felt like I was good enough.  I just stopped trying so hard to be good, and just enjoyed myself. I did grow closer to God—I wasn’t backsliding or anything like that.  I just always had this part of me that felt like God was never quite satisfied with me.

In February 2010, I was a group leader at my church’s DiscipleNow weekend.  The speaker was A.T. Hargrave.  During one of the sessions, he said something that shifted my own little paradigm.  He was talking about how the Holy Spirit fills and guides us once we have chosen to follow Christ, and how our actions are supposed to reflect that.  Then he talked about our motivation for acting as Christ would.  Our motivation is supposed to be love, not obligation. We don’t need to earn God’s approval.

The way he put it was, “God doesn’t want your works—before OR after salvation.”

I thought, “Oh. I get it. That’s what I’ve been trying to do.”  I’d been thinking that if I did enough, gave enough, said enough, then God would be proud of me.  But He’s already proud of me. He loves me now, not after I’ve confessed every single sin I can think of.  Not after I’ve led someone to Christ.  Not after I’ve written a big check to my church.  He loves me now. He’s proud of me now.  And He approves of me now. 

While that was a “stepping stone” of sorts in my walk with Jesus, it’s come up again and again.  I’ve especially been dealing with it lately.  This morning in my quiet time I was reading John 16.  Jesus is headed to the Garden of Gethsemane , about to be arrested, tried, and crucified.  So He’s giving His disciples as much information as He possibly can about what’s coming.  He compares what’s about to happen to a woman in labor, saying “When a woman is in labor she has pain because her time has come.  But when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the suffering because of the joy that a person has been born into the world. So you also have sorrow now.  But I will see you again.  Your hearts will rejoice, and no one will rob you of your joy.  In that day you will not ask Me anything.” (vv. 21-23a).

Then He tells them, “I assure you: Anything you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.  Until now you have asked for nothing in My name.  Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be complete.” (vv. 23b-24).

I paused after I read that.  “Anything you ask… He will give you.”  What did I want to ask for?  I started crying as I prayed, “God, I know you love me.  But I don’t feel like it. I don’t feel like I please you, or that I’m accepted by You.  Your word says that I’m covered by Your blood, that I’m holy, and that You love me.  Please just let me feel that God. I want to know it and not just keep telling myself it over and over. I’m asking this in Your Son’s name, God.”

And then, a few verses later, I read this:

“For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from God.” (v. 27).

And a few verses later:

“Yet I [Jesus] am not alone, because the Father is with Me.  I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world.  Be courageous! I have overcome the world.” (vv. 32b-33, emphasis added).

God is so good.  Did you catch that?? First, I got a word-for-word assurance that God loves me, not because of what I do, but because I have a relationship with His Son.  Next, God says that He wants me to have peace.  He doesn’t want me to live in doubt of Him and His love.  He told me exactly what I needed to hear. 

He is always faithful.  And He accepts me just as I am, because I’m His child. No works necessary.

Dialect Vlog

Ok, this is yet another idea I stole from meandmysoldierman... It's a really fun idea!  Here's the deal: you record yourself saying various words, and then answer questions.  The answers to the questions will differ depending on where you're from.  So... Enjoy!

Here's a list of the words and questions:

Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans,  Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image,  Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught

What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?

What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?

What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?

What do you call gym shoes?

What do you say to address a group of people?

What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?

What do you call your grandparents?

What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?

What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?

What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

What do you call the thing women carry all their stuff in?

Texting

Texting—isn’t it weird to think that our parents never had it? It’s such a fundamental part of our culture now. If you don’t have it, you’re outdated.  Texting is also controversial—people have all heard about texting during class, texting and driving, and even sexting.  I’m sure I could fill several posts talking about each of these topics, but for now I’m sticking with a different angle—how texting affects our relationships (and also our time).

I was a little late to the “texting party.”  I got texting the summer after I graduated from high school—about 2 years after most of my friends did.  I didn’t text much at first…

(This is a highly professional graph I made at work the other day.)

Then, I started talking to Boy, and the number of texts I sent/received looked like this:

(sorry, it's a little blurry.  The note says, "Started texting Boy! :D")

Boy and I started dating…

…and then we broke up.

Seriously, I didn't text anyone when we first broke up.  I didn't want to talk to anyone else, and I sure couldn't talk to him anymore.  It was ridiculous, but more on that later...

Not very long after the breakup, Boy and I talked about maybe, possibly getting back together, and my texts went up again...

...But it didn't work out. Back down to (almost) zero.

 This is roughly how much I text now.

 And here's the whole graph:

Ok, I know my graph is corny/dumb/whatever.  But it was my life, and I learned a few lessons from it..

First of all--and this might not apply to anyone but me--for awhile I let my worth be determined by how many texts I was getting, and from how many people.  When I first broke up with Boy, I wasn't getting any texts, and I felt like no one in the whole world cared about me.  Which is ridiculous.  But I totally bought into that lie because I let my value be defined by how many people wanted to talk to me.  According to Christ, my value lies in the fact that I have been created by God and redeemed by Christ's blood.  I have to remind myself this; not only when I'm not getting texts, but also on days when I mess up, don't feel pretty, say stupid things, and don't measure up to other people's expectations of me.  On days like that, I have to remind myself that not only am I a princess, but God Himself chose me!  So, the fact that I don't get a lot of texts means nothing at all...

Second, Boy and I texted about everything.  We rarely talked on the phone, and our face-to-face communication was even more limited.  Now, for the first part of our relationship, we were roughly 1500 miles apart because I was going to school in New York.  So, a lot of the communication had to be over text.  Plus, texting is just easier when you're busy.  Still, it got to where we were a lot more comfortable texting each other than we were talking to each other.  It was so bad, that whenever I was with him, I would think of something and then think, "Oh, I'll text him about that later."  How sad is that???  I would be willing to bet that over 85% of our fights happened over text.   This is one of my biggest regrets about that relationship.  I've made a rule that in my next relationship, and also when talking to my friends, anything important--good or bad--will be said face to face.  If that's not possible, I'll call them.  One of the flaws of texting is that it's black-and-white--there's no tone of voice, or facial expression/body language, so it's a lot easier for misunderstandings to occur.  This caused a lot of fights in the relationship.  Lesson very much learned.

So, that's my point of view on texting.  What's yours??

Giving

So, God has been working on my heart about going on a foreign mission trip for awhile now.  I've loved mission trips ever since my first one in 7th grade, but I've never had the opportunity to go out of the country, to another culture.  It always seems like the money just doesn't work out.
I feel really blessed, because I've been taught from an early age that my money belongs to God.  When I got my first babysitting job in 7th grade, 10% went to the church.  My parents told me that's just what you do with your money, and surprisingly, I never had a problem with it.  They told me that God blesses faithfulness in giving, and I believed them.  Ten percent wasn't much anyway...
Then, when I was about 16, I got my first job.  Minimum wage was $5.15 then, and I worked maybe 8 hours a week.  I was going to play basketball at CHA, but since I was a homeschooler, it was going to cost me around $300.  Plus, I was going to get my license soon, which meant paying for insurance as well.  My parents wanted me to save about half of everything I earned (for college, a car, etc.), so I didn't have a lot of "extra" money.  Then, my junior year, I took economics with Coach Kufahl at CHA.  At the very beginning of the semester, we read a little book called The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn.  The book talked a lot about investing long-term--as in, eternally.  God will always provide enough for our needs today; we just need to trust Him  with our finances, and focus on the Kingdom of God rather than getting a pile of "stuff" for ourselves.
As I read, I felt God speaking to me.  I had really been stressing about how much basketball and my insurance was going to cost, and I had no idea where that was going to come from.  I knew God was telling me to trust Him with my hard-earned money.  I also knew that this trust couldn't just be words--I had to back it up with actions.  I felt like I needed to start giving an extra 5% along with my regular tithe.  Now, I know that doesn't sound like much, but to me it was a huge deal.  I prayed about it and asked God to confirm this if it was what He wanted.  (Funny how I have no problem rushing into something I want, but if it's something I think God wants--I'd better take my time and make sure!)  The next morning, my quiet time was about the rich young ruler (Matthew 19:16-30).  So, that was settled.
I gave 15% of my next paycheck.  That week, I found out that someone (I still don't know who) had completely paid for my basketball.  I also found out that my car insurance was going to be half of the original estimate.  I relearned an old lesson--If we are faithful, God meets our needs.
At the beginning of this year I read Crazy Love (Francis Chan) and Radical (David Platt) within two weeks of each other.  Now, both of these books are pretty challenging on their own, but together... whew!  My budget, and my life, got rearranged again.  Reading these, I decided that when I die, I want to be remembered for how I gave.  Not as far as big numbers go--God doesn't need my "millions" or my "thousands" or even my "dollars."  He wants my heart, my time, and my love.  Sure, that includes my money.  But it also includes my car, my phone, my computer, my education, my clothes--all my stuff.  He has given me each of these things in order that I may bring Him glory with them.  I want to be someone who gives out of everything I have been given.  And part of that means giving of myself and going out to love His people.  So, I'm probably going to be rearranging my budget again very soon, so that I can start saving for a mission trip.  God will provide--He always has and always will.  Could y'all pray that I will be completely obedient to everything He wants me to do?  Thanks :)

"No one can settle how much we ought to give.  I'm afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare."--C.S. Lewis

Stuff in My Purse

I stole this idea from meandmysoldierman, but I happen to know that she got it from someone else so I'm sure she won't care!  Basically, what you do is take EVERYTHING out of your purse and take a picture of it--you can't leave anything out and you can't add anything.  I'm one of those girls that carries everything in my purse--or if it won't fit, I carry it in my backpack (like, say, deoderant).  So...

This is my purse.  My wonderful brother got it for me for Christmas.  I told him I wanted it to be a color that went with a lot, and that it shouldn't, under ANY circumstances, be brown.  He did good :)

These are my "absolutely necessary no matter what" items.  Keys, cell phone, Burt's Bees, and sunglasses.  And, it HAS to be Burt's Bees--it's the best!

Glasses--I hate them but I need them. Cheap hand lotion--NOT scented--not sure why, but I've never liked the scented kind. Orbit--normally I like the sweet mint or the peach, but WalMart was out of both, so I got the whitening kind.  Wallet--crammed full of ids, my debit card, random business cards, and gift cards with like 37 cents left on them.  Notepad--I'm a list-maker.

Drugs--Advil and Tylenol, I keep them in 1 bottle because it saves space.  More Burt's Bees--I'm telling you, I'm an addict.  Checkbook--I'm like the only person I know that's under 30 and writes checks.  Calendar--I don't use it much, but you never know.  Camera case--usually the camera's in it, but obviously I had to take the picture with it.  Pens--Between my purse and my backpack, I could probably supply a good-sized classroom with these.

Nail file/case, mascara/eyeliner, a compact mirror, my flash drive, and yet another notepad.

Lip cream (it's like a cross between lipstick and lip gloss), makeup compact, case with random lip glosses and eyeliners that I never really use, a couple of emergency tampons, glasses cleaner, cuticle gel, and nail strengthener.  (I basically only use the last 2 things when I'm bored in class! haha)

Well there you go... everything in my purse!  Girls, what do you carry in yours that I don't? 

Catching Up...

Hey guys! School has been crazy busy, so of course blogging is the first thing to go when it's time to prioritize.  This isn't going to be a long post (and possibly a not very coherent one either.  I've gotten about 5.5 hours of sleep the past couple of nights).  My Daniel diet went pretty well--most of the recipes I made were really good.  My favorite was a stir-fry, which I made again with chicken after the diet officially ended.  I took pics so I might put it up here sometime in the future.  (I'm thinking that between now and the 2nd week of May I probably won't be blogging more than 1 or 2 times a week, if that.  Stupid school!)
Speaking of school... I enrolled at MidAmerica last week, and surprisingly, I'm excited about it!  I found out that pretty much all I have left is psych classes... 55 hours of them.  So, about 2 more years, which is what I expected.  I'm REALLY excited to be going back to a Christian school.  My experience with public college hasn't been horrible, but it was NOT academic at all.  I don't want my education to be boring and easy.  I like a challenge.  Maybe that's weird, but that's who I am.  (And, I know a big part of the problem was the fact that I went to a 2-year college instead of a 4-year college.  The expectations are a lot lower.) That said, MidAmerica is quite expensive, and I'm not sure where the money is going to come from!  Your prayers for God's provision would be greatly appreciated!
To be honest I wasn't looking forward to enrolling in another school.  I was seriously considering just taking my associate's degree and running with it.  But I'm not sure that's what God wants for me, and when I went to enroll at MidAmerica, I felt a peace, and even enthusiasm, about going there.  At this point I'm leaving it up to God--if He wants me to go, He's got to provide the money.  (And if it would be necessary to take out a loan for school... I'm taking that as His "No."  I know most people would disagree with me on this but I have several strong reasons for thinking this way... future post possibly??)
All right, well that's what's been up with my life lately.  Hopefully I will post again soon!