{Lent: Reading my way through the New Testament}

So it's that time of hear again, Lent! Today was Ash Wednesday (although this will be posted the day after) and I have to say, this year Lent has taken on a whole new meaning for me. I don't know quite how to explain it but this year it is just so much deeper than a time of year where I give up cokes for 40 days and download a Verse-A-Day pop up app for my iphone. ((See which ones I reccomend below)) 

While I will probably still do both of those things because I do believe those are great practices (sacrifice and daily Bible Reading) I have also decided to do something a little more. 

I will confess that I am not as diligent in my Bible readings as I should be. Not even close to be honest. So this Lent I have decided to read my way through the New Testament. Why the New instead of the Old? Because, Jesus. I am going to read my way through His life, starting with Matthew. So today I read Matthew 1-5. This is extremely easy and interesting reading, do not let the genealogy at the beginning scare you off, it gets good. Some really awesome stuff happens right off the bat in Matthew, you run through Jesus being born, how the prophecy of the Messiah is fulfilled (this is really cool) and then you hear some of Jesus' teachings. I'm actually really excited to read more (tomorrow/today I will try not to start at 1:30 A.M. so I'm not so sleepy). 

Which brings me to part number 2 of this Lenten readings, making time for God. Confession number 2 is that I am guilty of not setting aside time for God every day. I know that I would be a much more balanced and happy person if I had some sincere Jesus time in my life every day. So tomorrow I am going to set aside some time, either in the morning before class, after class, or before bed to read Matthew 6-10 (or wherever I decide to stop).

I am also keeping a journal through my readings of important parts of the chapters I am reading, important lessons, and scriptures I want to remember! 

 I can't wait to see what awesome things I read and the amazing things God will do during this Lenten season. 

#SorryNotSorry The Selfie Project

Hello! I hope all is well on your side of the screen! I have been so wildly and unimaginably surprised in the best way at all of your responses to my first post on The Selfie Project! Most of all I have been surprised at all of the instagram responses! So many of you reposted selfies with #takebacktheselfie and I have gotten to know a few of you and I have been so excited at y'alls views on this project! I have  been working on my new posts that I promised that will delve deeper into the topics I touched on in my first post but alas the more I hear each of your responses the more into the posts I get and decide that they aren't ready yet! I PROMISE to have them out soon though! For now I have decided to share a few of the pictures of some lovely ladies that have decided to post some awesome selfies on instagram! Also a few other selfies and some other encouraging/funny/interesting pictures! Talk to y'all soon! 

-K

#SorryNotSorry TheSelfieProject

I will never apologize for being myself, who I am is between me and God, and neither of us asked for another opinion.

This is absolutely my favorite, makes me want to sob, but happy tears. Tears of joy from realizing how much I'm loved.

I LOVE THIS. SO MUCH. 

Your life is a beautiful story.

#SorryNotSorry TheSelfieProject: Taking Control of Our Image

The Selfie Project:
Taking Control of Our Image

Recently I read a blog which I will link below about a girl who took all of her hateful comments on her "Selfies" on her tumblr account and retook the pictures the comments were on and pasted the comments on to them. And she said something that really stuck with me, "The act of women taking selfies is inherently feminist, especially in a society that tries so hard to tell women that our bodis are projects to be worked on and a society that profits off of the insecurities that it perpetuates. Selfies are like a "forget you" to all of that, they declare that 'Hey, I look awesome today and I want to share that with everyone.' and that's pretty revolutionary."

What I love about this quote is that it hits the nail on the head of how I feel about selfies. I am a capitol offender of selfies. I probably post 2-3 selfies a week, sometimes more if I am feeling pretty good about myself. I post single selfies, selfies with my girlfriends, selfies with my boyfriend. And not once have I ever felt bad about posting a selfie, and I will never apologize for taking or posting a selfie. In a world where girls are constantly told what they can and cannot do or what they should or shouldn't do with their bodies, I think selfies are one little way for girls to say, I LIKE who I am, I feel GOOD about who I am and what I look like, I am a MASTERPIECE made by God and this is ME, deal with it. And in my opinion, any woman brave enough to take a picture of herself and post it for the cruel society that we live in to see, opening herself open to the negative comments and views, and to say "I DONT CARE, THIS IS ME, THIS IS WHO I AM." deserves an award.

Now- let's talk about something else for a quick second, there is a fine line with selfies. In order for us to accomplish the kind of revolutionary take over of our self image that I briefly touched on above we need to decide WHAT our image needs to look like. I think we can all agree that our society completely objectifies women's bodies. From the time we are old enough to pick out our own clothes we are constantly being told how OUR BODIES affect others. If you grew up in a church environment or went to a school with a dress code then you are taught to cover up our bodies and hide them, but at the same time are told by society that "beauty" is defined by the clothes and makeup you wear, the hairstyle you choose and how much of yourself you are willing to give over for "making over". So right now I want you to put that out of your head. Do away with ALL of that. You are beautiful. God made you beautiful.

So let's take a quick look at what the Bible tells us about our beauty-

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27

You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you. Song of Solomon 4:7

These are just two verses, but there are so many more. Basically, in case you didn't catch the drift of it- let me break it down for you-God created you a beautiful creature in His image. He who made us, and who made the oceans, the mountains, and paints the sunsets, He who came before us, and who's love is everlasting, the Great I Am, the Maker, our God, thinks we are beautiful. Isn't that enough for us to believe we are beautiful? I think that when we take selfies, and I mean selfies that speak to who we are- Women of God, not seductive, lustful selfies that show our body, but selfies that are of us showing that we believe we are beautiful creatures of God, I think that is something really, really cool.

Do I think selfies are silly? Yeah.
Do I think we should still take them? Yeah.



I plan to get much more in depth into the ins and outs of everything I have touched on in this post, but for now I leave you with this-
You are beautiful, and if you want to take a seflie, do it. Take back your image. Love yourself and believe that you are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Take that selfie girl.

-K

 

 

If you take a selfie tag #Takebacktheselfie


The article on the blog (DISCLAIMER: I do not adivse any persons under the age of 13 to read her actual blog, it contains graphic images and strong language)- http://www.buzzfeed.com/alisonvingiano/this-tumblr-user-shows-her-horrific-anonymous-messages-in-a

{You're Beautiful}

You know how sometimes there are just those songs that grab you by the heart and are just so awe strikingly beautiful and have lyrics and chords that just seem to put your heartbeats into audible sound waves? Songs that immediately transport you into a dark room, with a worship band leading you into intimate worship, your voice joining in with other Christians, you're all screaming the lyrics at the top of your lungs with tears streaming down your face? (At least for me, this is where I go) 

This song, this is one of those songs for me. Without a doubt. 

You're Beauitful by Phil Wickham

I see Your face in every sunrise

The colors of the morning are inside Your eyes

The world awakens in the light of the day

I look up to the sky and say

You're beautiful

I see Your power in the moonlit night

Where planets are in motion and galaxies are bright

We are amazed in the light of the stars

It's all proclaiming who You are

You're beautiful

I see You there hanging on a tree

You bled and then you died and then you rose again for me

Now You are sitting on Your heavenly throne

Soon we will be coming home

You're beautiful

When we arrive at eternity's shore

Where death is just a memory and tears are no more

We'll enter in as the wedding bells ring

Your bride will come together and we'll sing

You're beautiful

I see Your face, I see Your face

I see Your face, You're beautiful

You're beautiful

You're beautiful

http://youtu.be/QGlTzH9xkXQ

^^^^ Please listen to it! ^^^^ 

{Update}

Dear Whomever Reads My Blog,

Today is Sunday, December, 1, 2013, and I thought I would give a little update on what has been going on. I fully plan to get back on my blog game as soon as possible but I have had my hands more than a little full with life this past month or two. I currently have 4 jobs, I am in a sorority, and I am full time at school as well. I also moved out of my parents house {EEEEK, scary}, but also exciting. I now live with my cousin Emily, which has turned into such a blessing. Emily and I had never even met each other before September, but Emily is literally my counter part. We are the same person, with a few minor differences. We share the same love in clothes, food, decorations, movies, and most importantly JESUS. Emily has a heart for the Lord and it is such a blessing to live with someone who not only keeps me accountable but also uplifts me and encourages me. It's also pretty cool to live with someone who will go to BDubs with me @ 1 A.M. and watch Breaking Bad. Just sayin'.

So Thanksgiving just passed and I feel like I missed a huge opportunity to brag on my family and friends! So I just said how thankful I am for my roommate, but there is a long list of others that I am SO thankful for!

First, my family! I am thankful for my WHOLE family, every single person. I could not imagine my life turning out the way it has without everyone in my family, my family has helped to shape who I am today. I am also TREMENDOUSLY thankful for my parents. Many of you already know that my mom is my bestfriend. I don't say that lightly. My mom is the weirdest, craziest, most loving, insane, beautiful, coolest, and amazing person I know. She is the person I call when I am in trouble {yes that does happen sometimes, I know, shocker}, the person I call when I am excited, bored, scared, hungry, or anything else! She is the person I call at 2 A.M. to bring me milk so I can make biscuits and gravy {true story}, the person I call when I locked myself outside of the house without pants {also true story}, and the person I call when I've gotten my heart shattered into a million pieces and I cannot possibly ever love anyone ever again {not true story come to find out, but I thought it was true then}. Long story short, my mom is my absolute best friend, partner in crime, crime fighter, and mentor. She has truly shown me what a Godly, southern woman looks like.

Second, I am thankful for my friends! 1 group of friends I am thankful for are all of my sorority sisters! I don't know what I would do without y'all! My lunch buddies, my movie dates, my sisters in Christ, all of my dearest friends. I am especially thankful for my pledge class! I love all of those girls dearly, I have gotten to know them so well these past few months and I couldn't have asked for a better group of girls to have been in the same pledge class with! I am also SO thankful for my Big Sister! My Biggie Smalls is my best friend, my sorority didn't know what they were doing when they put us together but I am so glad they did! We are the perfect push and pull partnership, the best pairing they could have ever made! Don't know what I would do without her, she is always there for me, even at 4:00 A.M.!

Third, I am thankful for my church family! Probably some of the most passionately, constructively critically, supportive group in my life. They never accept anything less than the best of me which is great. They love me, support me, encourage me, and are always checking up on me.

So those are just a FEW groups of people in my life that I am thankful for, I could not possibly name every person in my life that I am thankful for. Actually, if I took about a year of my life I might be able to. But since that list is always growing, it might take eternity.

Well that is just a little update on my life, I plan on updating more later on tonight, but here is just a little bit!

Til Later,
Love and Blessings,
K

This page is dedicated to my sisters, Olivia (8) and Bailey (12, soon to be 13) and their friends. To all the young women of Christ in K-12. I believe that this age group of girls, the 0-18 year olds have the hardest task set before them. These young ladies are given the task of growing up a lady of Christ in a world that tells them to be sexy, that their bodies are their biggest asset, that tells them that they need a boyfriend, that tells them what to be and how to be it. This page will be dedicated to those young ladies, the devotionals will each have an age range on them, but most will apply to K-12. The devotionals and scriptures will be encouragement & testimonies for young ladies of Christ.

-K