GREEN-LIGHT revolution

Welcome to another week of the Green Light Revolution and the introduction of another authoress. Here are the basics: Hi ladies, my name is Cathy Kaminski, I’m 25 years old, I live in Chicago, IL, and I’m single. On paper that’s what the world would categorize me as…I prefer to define myself as daughter of the King. Even though I am in 25, I do live in Chicago, and I am single, the most defining aspect of my life is the fact that Jesus died for me and traded His righteousness for my rags. And I have a LOT of rags….in fact I still seem to try to collect them…but daily, I also try to remember truth: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-19 NIV)

When all else falls away, when I stumble (again) and fall (again), one truth remains: I am in Christ.
That truth is not an excuse to sin, but to remember the blessings I have received. I am in the process of reconciliation and I have the blessing of sharing that reconciliation with the whole world. So that not only my life is transformed, but all lives.

Lately I have been in a funk…I feel broken…I feel incomplete. I’m realizing that although I have been walking with Jesus for almost 8 years…I still need to come to Him with everything. Loving Jesus, living as a Christian, it doesn’t just hit this certain point and we have it all figured out. We are not the authors of our own salvation. I am not the author of my own salvation. I need Christ. Fact. And I must remember this truth as well: “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)

I am a work in progress. I am confident of this very thing, that Jesus will complete the good work that has been started in me. I need to remember that currently I am just an idiot praying for more wisdom each day, (James 1:5), an incomplete idiot, who just seems to ramble as a mechanism for figuring out this journey I’m on. So thanks for partaking with me. Thanks for reading. This has been installment 1 of: Ramblings of an Incomplete Idiot.

GOING GREEN!
Cathy

Sorry I’ve slacked a little on the post-age this week. It’s been a bit of a rough one for me. Nothing to get too excited about…I’ll be just fine. I’m currently at home, in my sweats, on my couch. Yes. I need this!

I just wanted to share a little story, then adios until Cathy posts : )

First of all. This story isn’t about singleness, or boys, or anything like that; but rather about God’s faithfulness…I hesitated to share, then I thought, “What am I thinking?!” Now, my story:
I haven’t been getting enough sleep….for months. It’s ridiculous. I don’t go to sleep at night, and for some reason, I wake up in a panic before my alarm goes off nearly every morning. It’s to the point that sometimes, all I can think about is sleeping, I can’t concentrate on work, etc etc. This is not a sob story, please keep reading! Anyhow, I’ve been rather discouraged, verrry tired, frustrated, irritated, etc. I even cried today. I’m not a crier. I usually make it to bed between midnight and 2:00 (don’t judge me!) but last night I was ready to conk out at 9:00. I was sooo exhausted, I just wanted to crawl into bed and forget about everything until I woke up before my alarm went off (again) this morning. Then, I realized maybe part of the reason I’ve been so unsettled lately is because I haven’t been spending a proper amount of time with God. Half-heartedly, I grabbed my Bible. “What to read??” I noticed the monthly reading schedule that CCOJ provides. Even though I’m way behind, I decided to just start with the passage suggested for September 24 rather than trying to catch up when I was so tired. The suggested reading was Psalm 16 and Matthew 16. “Big flippin’ hoopty-doopty,” I thought. “What in the world is God going to tell me as I read His gospel out of order, without reading chapters 1-15 first?? Maybe I’ll get some bit of encouragement from the Psalms…” Not only was I encouraged, personally; God showed me some MORE truths to share with you as well!!!

Here is what I read:

Psalm 16

16:2 I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good besides You.”

16:5-6 (5) Lord, You are my portion and my cup of blessing; You hold my future. (6) The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

16:7-8 (7) I will praise the Lord who counsels me – even at night my conscience instructs me. (8) I keep the Lord in mind always. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

16:9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my spirit rejoices; my body also rests securely. (I was so happy to be reminded of that.)

16:11 You reveal the path of life to me; in Your presence is abundant joy…

Matthew 16 is about Pharisees and Sadducees…It also touches on faith (or lack thereof). As an aside, my mom and I were just talking about present-day Pharisees and Sadducees… How people like this are missing the point of the good news, and the GRACE, of God, and His son, Jesus Christ. The day after my mom and I talked about it, I had a similar conversation with someone else. A few days later, I read about it in my Bible. I always take it as affirmation that God holds me in the palm of His hand, at ALL times, when things like this happen. He is paying attention to every detail of my life. And to show me, He allows me to read His good word, written thousands of years ago, just at the time that I am so discouraged, about one of the very things that discourages me. Whew, that was a long sentence. I hope you’re still with me! I thank God that He NEVER turns his back on us. Be encouraged, ladies! Listen for God to speak to you, because I have no doubt that He is trying!

Much love and I hope that you have a beautiful weekend!

Going Green,

-Andrea

Hi ladies! Andrea Boll here. I’m soooo excited to be participating in this awesome blog with so many Godly women. : ) What a blessing!

First things first, eh? I’ll introduce myself, like everyone before me!

I graduated from Missouri Southern State University in May, and I’ve since moved to Joplin and started working full-time. I love living in Joplin because it puts me closer to the community of Christ’s Church. (I had lived about 30 miles away, before.) I also want to mention that God’s timing was perfect…I just started attending CCOJ in January. Before that, I was church-hopping. It’s been an incredible blessing to meet people who have poured love, encouragement, and sound teaching into my life. Also, I am single, which may go without saying…and learning (daily!) to find my identity in Christ. Man, what a tough lesson at times! Just when I think I have things figured out, God reminds me that He is in control, and that’s such a comforting thing.

I had many brain storms for ideas of what to blog about but nothing was really developing, so I think instead I’ll just share some truths that God has shared with me in the past week or so.In my life group on Wednesday, we started out by discussing who Jesus is. People said things such as: He is infinite, the only savior, source of peace, hope, or joy…All of these things are beautiful…and all point to my favorite way to think of Jesus: LOVE. Jesus represents Love. Ladies, sometimes we have such a skewed view of what love is (me, too!). I am learning to be content in my singleness, and not to pine for every guy who looks in my direction. If a man cannot display Christlike love for you, move on!

Also at Life Group (those Life Groups = good stuff!), we were singing a song. Some are the words were, “I’d rather have Jesus, than anything.” I looked around the room at the various ages of men and women and saw the genuine worship, and then I was struck with a truth. It struck me that we should all have that attitude, and we should DEFINITELY seek that mentality in the men we find ourselves attracted to. I have made the mistake over and over of being attracted to 37 guys at one time (surely one of them will be nice, right??). It’s such a discouragement (and also a waste of time) as you realize reason after reason you can’t (or shouldn’t) be with this guy or that guy. It struck me that if I would, first, seek Christ as my affirmation and first love, and second, only allow myself to be attracted to men who understand the importance of following Christ over anything else, I’d be so much better off! Realize this is easier said than done, but it is so freeing!

Let’s pray together this week.
-For eachother! Pray for your sisters to continually seek their identity in Christ-For contentedness in singleness
-That we would seek Christ as our ultimate source of Love
-For peace and patience as we live the life that He has for us RIGHT NOW

Going Green!

-Andrea

Hello Friends!

Let me introduce myself--My name is Martha Lee; I'm 20 and am currently a junior at UM-St. Louis. It was just over 2 years ago that God brought me to St. Louis for school, and brought Jubilee Church into my life!

When I was about 14 years old, I remember coming across 1 Timothy 6:6, which states, "Now Godliness with contentment is a great gain". As awful as it sounds, I remember pretty much thinking, "Yeah well, I don't think I'll ever be at that point." I could have Godliness, but probably not contentment. The majority of my attitude and outlook on life stemmed from discontentment in where I was. Having 3 older sisters, I was always looking at what phase of life they were in, and wishing I could be there with them. In Jr. high, I wished I was in high school. In high school, I thought college was where its at. Then I got to college and my sisters were marrying and having babies. My second semester freshman year, it hit me like a ton of bricks: Instead of valuing where I was, I was thinking that life would get so much better AFTER I was no longer at the stage I was in. I had spent my high school years dismissing where I was, thinking it was unimportant and trivial, instead of recognizing that was where God had me, where He had things to teach me and things for me to do and to enjoy.

I didn't want to make that mistake in college. After so long of "looking ahead", I didn't know how to be content where I was. Years after reading that verse, I opened my Bible up to it again, and instead of dismissing it as not possible for me, I followed 1 John 1:9 : "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness". I repented of my disbelief and sinful attitude, and that began a journey of learning contentment in where I was. At some points it was a painful process of dying to myself, but I was being opened up to the life Christ offered me.

Throughout my sophomore year, God continued to prove Himself faithful, and began showing me countless ways that my singleness and status as a student was a gift. I'm an RA on my campus, and I've had the incredible opportunity to share the gospel with lost students. My flexible schedule allows for me to give rides to our college group meetings and to our Sunday services. I would never have that if I was not in college. I have the time and ability to invest in these lives, and to have a blast doing it! By the end of that year, I was able to truthfully say that I was completely content in the phase of life I was in, not just content but LOVING it. Christ has utterly freed and changed my heart to enjoy where I currently am, while smiling at the thought of what is to come.

In the past few months, I've been consistently seeing more and more fruit in my life. Godliness had been joined with contentment, and the result has indeed been a great GAIN! Just like Christ promised in His word. :)

1 phillippians 1:6 " For I am confident in this: He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."


Going Green!
Martha

Hola Chicas,

My name is McKenzie but most people call me Kenzie. Just to say a bit about myself... I absolutely love Jesus and he has given me a heart for those little people, also known as kids. I have recently become a Children Ministry leader at my church, and let me tell you it is a ton of work but well worth it. When I see those kids having fun learning about Jesus and what it is to have a relationship with him, my heart goes wild.
I think I might be going off on one of those tangent things, but that's what happens when the Spirit takes over... So actually I almost didn't take the position as a Children Ministry leader. Even though I knew God had called me, I almost couldn't do it. I was afraid. It was like I kept telling myself that I would fail and that I didn't have the authority. And the truth is I don't have the authority, God is the one with authority and he appointed me to that position. I couldn't use the excuses of "I'm to young" or "because I'm single". God told me to look at it as if my age and my singleness would actually benefit me more. Weird, huh? At first I didn't get it but I started thinking about how I have so much time and energy to focus on kids work without those other distractions. And I'm not saying it would not work if I was older or married, I'm just saying God used even those parts of my life to better benefit the church.
I love how God is always surprising me and helping me to grow in ways I don't always understand. He always keeps me on the edge of my seat, I love it. Adventure and spontaneity is my favorite and that's why I love Jesus so much, because he is a spontaneous adventure!

Going Green!
Kenzie

Hello again, ladies!