Why a Happy Attitude is a Godly Attitude

It's no secret that our attitudes are contagious. Our emotions are one of the only things we constantly have control over - we can choose, will we have a good day, or a bad day? It's all about our attitude. Lately, it seems like an overall happy mood is decreasing in popularity, and it's being replaced with negative thinking - a bad attitude. What exactly does that mean? Well, according to good ol' Webster, bad is described as - poor in quality, defective, unpleasant, or unwelcome. Attitude is described as - a settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or something, typically one that is reflected in a person's behavior. If we put this together, a bad attitude is an unpleasant way of thinking, reflected by one's behavior. When we have a bad attitude, our thoughts are of a poor quality. When we have a bad attitude, usually our presence is unwanted and unwelcomed. When we have a bad attitude, we're advertising to the world that we have a defective heart. When we're walking around with a heart and mind full of awful thoughts, we are infecting those around us in a negative way. As Christians, it is Biblical to have glad hearts - in the book of Psalm alone we read so many times that we should have happy, joyful and cheerful hearts.
We all know that a bad attitude is definitely NOT a godly one, so it's important to know what God wants of us concerning our thoughts and our actions.

1. Be quick to hear and slow to speak.

James 1:19 - Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: 

Often times, people listen with the intent to reply rather than the intent to hear. This verse means that we need to be quick to hear, open our ears and listen to what a person is saying to us. We shouldn't be quick to spout of words, or in today's age, a text. We should be slow to our replies, and think about the impact of our words. Lastly, we should be slow to wrath. We really need to give it thought before we become angry for petty or childish reasons. 

2. Don't fight fire with fire.

Romans 12:21 - Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

There are some rude and cruel people in this world, that's not new to anyone. No matter who you are, at some point in your life you've either encountered or will encounter an unpleasant or unkind person. When a person is trying to pass off the bad attitude off to you, the best thing to do is give them the cure - kindness. It may not work, but at least you've offered it. When someone is being rude or unkind or just flat out wicked to you, the best response is kindness. Show them the love of Jesus - good attitudes are just as contagious as bad ones. 

3. Honor God with your thinking.

James 1:20 - For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

Having angry hearts and bad attitudes don't bring God any glory - in fact, they do quite the opposite. If you're a Christian who's walking around with negative thinking and you reflect in your actions and words, you're harming the name of God. Our words and actions and attitudes should all bring God the righteousness and honor that He deserves. When you start to feel that bad attitude sickness creeping in, remember that the goal as a Christian is to be a representative of God. 

4. Every day is a blessing - cherish it.

Psalms 118:24 - This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Perhaps this is one of the simplest commandments. Rejoice and be glad in each day that we have. Is this really so hard? When we walk around with a bad attitude, how is that rejoicing in the day that God gave us? I'll give ya a hint - it's not! David, the author of the book of Psalm where this verse came from, went through a lot of turmoil on earth. He was hunted down to be killed for years by his best friend's father, he was constantly running from place to place to hide, before he became king, he was a lowly and ignored shepherd who had little to no respect, he fought in countless wars, he lost is best friend Jonathon, and amongst all this he also endured much emotional turmoil. There are probably very few people who will ever have to go through a day worse than David had to, and if he can rejoice in the day the Lord hath made, I think we can too.

So there we are - 4 simple verses that show us what God wants from us regarding our thoughts, actions and emotions. In the end, it all boils down to the fact that we are to be reflecting the light of Jesus in everything we say and do. It should be our goal to have an attitude that properly represents our Creator. People are watching us each and every day, seeing if we really are a peculiar people. Attitudes are contagious - is yours worth catching?

Stay excellent!

Summer Bucket List

Can you believe I've lived 19 years of my life and never made a bucket list? Well, my lovely best friend Grace and I decided that this was the year we were going to make one. It isn't long because I'm only home for a month, but we want to achieve everything on this list before I head back to Chicago! So here's the list!
1. Tie Dye Shirts

 



2. Go to the farmer's market
3. Go on a road trip
This Thursday-Saturday Grace and I are hanging out in Kansas City, MO! It's been such a blast.

 




4. Talk in British accents all night
5. Try a new food
6. Go back yard tent camping
7. Star gaze
8. Light sparklers
9. Go midnight swimming
10. Buy best friend necklaces/bracelets
11. Have a bonfire
12. Go to a museum

Today we went to Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in KC! It was really cool. I especially loved this exhibit about the American Soldier. SUPER AWESOME.

13. Buy matching phone cases
14. Make homemade facials
15. Find a four leaf clover
16. Visit a college

17. Make s'mores

So here we go! I'm so excited for all these adventures that are sure to be a blast. We will post photos after we accomplish each thing. Happy summer to everyone. :)

Stay excellent!

What I Learned From Deleting My Social Media

     Sorry that I haven't written a post in awhile! It's been a hectic week. I realized that it's been almost a year since I deleted my social media. I'll admit, at first it was so hard because I found myself going to look at my Twitter only to find that the apps weren't there. I would take pictures for my Instagram only to remember that I wasn't using it anymore. Here are 4 lessons that I learned in deleting social media from my life.

1. I wasted so much time on my phone

When I was using social media, I constantly had my phone out. I would waste countless hours organizing my Pinterest boards or stalking people's Twitter feed. According to a survey on Adweek.com, people between the ages of 18-29 spend 51 minutes a day on Facebook, 30 minutes on Instagram, 25 minutes on Pinterest, and 23 minutes on Twitter. Although that might very from person to person, overall that adds up to 129 minutes a day. That's a long time to be looking at the Internet. I now try to use my time a lot more wisely. I read my Bible in the morning instead of checking out my Instagram feed, and I might read a book instead of spending countless hours on Pinterest. Overall I have found that without social media, I use my time a lot more wisely.

2. I'm not as concerned about people's opinions

When I was using Instagram, I would take selfie after selfie with proper filtering to make sure that my picture was as good as it could be. I wanted people to like my pictures. On Twitter, it was important to get a lot of followers, retweets and favourites. Overall, we want to represent ourselves well with our social media accounts, and that's something that took me a little overboard. I can't tell you the last time I've taken a selfie. I find that I am a lot less concerned about what people are thinking about me. I want people to know me for the person I am, not who I portray over social media.

3. My life has a lot less negativity

It's no secret that social media is an outlet for drama, bullying and petty fights. When I was in high school, it was a rarity to have a week where there was no drama via Twitter. A lot of young people use social media as an outlet to create problems where they really don't have any place to be. People insert their opinions where their not needed, which makes other people want to retaliate their opinions too. Even if I wasn't participating, by reading that, I was allowing all that negativity into my mind.

4. I can enjoy "real life" a lot better

As a person who loved to use social media in my past, deleting it from my life was hard. I wanted to post things on Twitter all the time, and I saw so many sunsets that I would've loved to upload to Instagram. But not everything revolves around the Internet! I find that I can enjoy things in a new way because I'm not thinking, "Oh, how can I fit this into 140 characters?" or imagining how I word my Facebook status about it. I don't have to worry about letting the Internet world in on my personal life, and it's kind of a freeing feeling.

Overall, I have really enjoyed my time without social media. My friends ask me if I will ever use it again, and honestly I don't think I will. I know that lots of great things come out of social media, and I wouldn't think badly about anyone who uses it because I think that it's awesome how many amazing things can come out of public attention. But for me personally, the lack of social media in my life has really been a positive change. My challenge for social media users is to just be careful - don't spend hours a day on the Internet and enjoy the life God has given you. Remember that each day is a gift, so don't waste it. :)

Stay excellent!

One Simple Truth About Modesty

     "Dressing immodestly is like rolling around in manure. Yes, you'll get attention, but only from pigs." Ah, the issue of modesty. It's the subject of every girl's cabin devotional at Bible camp, and it's discussed in young ladies' Sunday School at least once a year. Wouldn't it just be great if God gave us a specific modesty hand book in the Bible? One that, in detail, let us know what was and wasn't okay for us to wear. There's no step-by-step guide that tells us that skirts have to go to the shin or that sleeves have to go to the elbows, or that anything less of a turtle neck is debauchery. (If that was the case, I think I would just stick to wearing a potato sack everywhere I went.) The thing is, modesty is more than just a hemline. It's an interior decision not to wear anything that would attract vulgar or unnecessary comments or thoughts, because of love for the One who created you. I think that there are many good verses that talk about how we should be presenting ourselves, but there is one verse that really does give us a standard, not only for modesty, but for the way that we should be living in general, and it's found in Micah 6:8. He has shown you, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of thee? But to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.
     To do justly is talking about a heart that can discern right from wrong. A person who is walking in the Spirit will have that heart of discernment. If we look in the mirror and see a little too much of what shouldn't be seen, we should have the desire to change because we should want to be following the Holy Spirit's guiding. We know from other places in scripture (Romans 12) that our bodies are a living sacrifice unto God and we should use them and all that can flow through them to bring Him honor and glory. Say you had a job as a lawyer and you had a client meeting. Would you show up barefoot, in sweatpants and a cut off tie-dye shirt? No. That would not be representing your law firm nor your skills as a lawyer, and that would probably make the client doubt your abilities to perform. It's the same thing in our Christian life. We are Christ's earthly ambassadors, and the world is our client. We need to be representing Him in what we do as well as what we wear. 
     To love mercy means that we should be showing God's love and mercy to other people. If we know who someone struggles with lust but dress immodestly anyways to provoke them, that is wrong. We should be abstaining from all appearances of evil, so if it seems like our clothing is purposely pushing the limits, it's better off wearing something that covers a bit more. It's not about covering the body to hide it in shame, but revealing your dignity. 
     With modesty comes humility. A lot of girls in today's culture dress in pants too tight, skirts too short, and shirts too low, for the sole purpose of getting guys to look. Should they look? No. But will they? Most probably would. Pride and immodesty go hand in hand. If you're living humbly, you would strive to live a modest life. Not only in dress, but in conduct as well. Dressing immodestly isn't giving guys permission to look, but it isn't restricting them either. We need to be respecting the bodies God gave us, not showing them off to get approval. It's like if a recovering alcoholic was walking past a bar, and although there wasn't a sign that said, "PLEASE COME IN AND FALL INTO SIN!", the door wasn't locked either. When a woman dresses immodestly, it's not that there is a sign on her forehead saying "Please, struggle with lust because of what I'm wearing," but she's not making it very hard for him to turn away either. As Christian women, we need to help our brothers in Christ, not make them dread spending time with us for fear of falling.
     There is no specific "this is modest and this is immodest" manual, but there are certain truths we should be living by. Modesty is about the true character of the woman - there should be a mirror to reflect the heart because that is where true beauty is to be found. 
     So you've read all this, and you're probably wondering, WHERE IS THAT ONE SIMPLE TRUTH? Well, here it is. A WOMAN MUST HAVE HER HEART CHANGED, BEFORE HER CLOTHES EVER WILL. My dear friends, it is so important that we use our bodies to honor God, not to bring unneeded attention to ourselves in a negative way. When you dress modestly, you show respect to your Heavenly Father, AND TO YOURSELF. It's about the heart of a virtuous woman. It may be hard, but it IS possible to live modestly in an immodest world. 

      Stay excellent!

Peace, Be Still

     I'm currently studying through the book of Mark, and last night I noticed something pretty cool at the end of chapter 4. The last 4 verses say,
          "And he (Jesus) was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked them, and said unto the sea, "Peace, be still." And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, "Why are ye so fearful? how is that ye have no faith?" And they feared exceedingly and said one to another, what manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"
    In the verses right before we see that they were on a ship, and a horrible storm was beating down upon them. In studying this chapter, I found that there are 4 lessons that we can learn from these 4 verses. 

    1. The God who calmed their storm, can still our storms too.

Our trials and struggles in life often parallel to storms and tempests, and although the disciples were experiencing a real storm with water, it relates quite a bit to the storms in our lives. I feel like sometimes it's so easy to judge the disciples here. Like, Jesus is right there, you can SEE Him! But we have that same assurance of Jesus' presence, yet our faith lacks too. They saw Jesus yet they doubted His capability to fix the problem. Amidst their doubt, He calmed the waves just by speaking, and they were in awe of Him. I find it totally incredible that this is the same God that we serve daily. He looks out for His children, and we trust in that.

  2. Don't accuse God of not caring.

The disciples say, "Carest thou not that we perish?" They're upset that Jesus is laying there asleep instead of watching out for them. You see, sometimes we as Christians ask God the same question. "Do you not see that I'm hurt? Why aren't you doing anything about this?" We think that just because God isn't actively calming the storms right when we want Him too, that He must not care enough. It's clear from so many scriptures that Jesus DOES care, more than we could ever comprehend. One of my favourite chapters in the Bible is Psalm 139, and verses 17-18 say, "How precious also are thy thoughts toward me, O God, how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand..." I don't know about you, but I've never taken a handful of sand and counted each little grain, and I have no intentions of doing so. God thinks precious thoughts toward us, so never accuse Him of not caring just because you can't see His calming hand.

   3. Don't let fear rock your faith. 

God sometimes chooses His best soldiers out of the highlands of affliction. When storms come up in life, don't fear. We can see Jesus right there, and we can rest in the knowledge that He has it under control. When we fret and worry about being injured by the waves, we are telling Jesus that we don't think He is able enough to protect us. Don't let the fear take precedence over the overwhelming calm that can come with faith in the one who created you.

   4. We are safe in Jesus' hands no matter what.

You could imagine that the disciples were probably pretty confused at the fact that Jesus was asleep, during the storm, laying on a pillow no less! But Jesus was just as much in control asleep as He was awake. We are always safe in God, just like they were. He is very much in control no matter what, and I think that we can see the contrast of Jesus and the disciples' faith by the fact that Jesus was sound asleep while the disciples were panicking. Even if He doesn't wake up and calm the storm, we can still be safe in Him. I don't know about you, but there's no place I'd rather be.

 I love that calm assurance that we can have in knowing that we can trust God no matter what. When He says, "Peace, be still," the storms don't fight back. He has the whole world in His hands, and that's something that we can have total confidence in.

Stay excellent!