Matthew 11:28-30

"Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30.

We all have days where the stresses of life seem to overwhelm us. We can be disappointed, depressed or just plain angry. We can blame others, ourselves or even worse God. We often can feel at the bottom of the pit and not know where to go. But remember this verse! Matthew 11:28-30 says to come to Him. Jesus will give you rest. His yoke is easy and His burden is light! He wants us to lay our overwhelming struggles at His feet so we don't have to be burdened or weary. When this world tries to weigh you down remember that our Savior is gentle and humble and wants to give you His peace. What a great promise!

Reflection: Take a few minutes to meditate on this promise. Have you laid down your burdens today? Come to Him and you will find rest!

Carin' in Cambodia

"And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8

Soon I will be changing the name of my blog to "Carin' in Cambodia" because God has opened the door for me to go to Cambodia. I will be teaching English to Kindergarten to 2nd grade students that are relatively new to the English language.

It’s hard to believe that in about 3 months I will be on my way to Cambodia. I am super excited as the planning and preparation season sets in. I constantly am learning more about Cambodia, its people and its history. I’m also educating myself more about teaching English in a foreign country.

This will be my first experience overseas so I am also getting excited about living in another country and being completely immersed in a new culture and new environment, surrounded by others speaking a language that I am not familiar with.

I wanted to let you all know of the progress on my fund-raising. I have currently received more than $1,000. I am completely amazed by the faithfulness of my family and friends. THANK YOU so much for your prayerful support. I believe that God will provide all the funds necessary so I am asking all of you to pray for me during this time of preparation and, as the time draws closer, prayer for the trip and my time in Cambodia.

Again, thank you all so much! I am so blessed by each and every one of you!

A LONG Time Coming!

"The Lord is my light and my salvation -- Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life --of whom shall I be afraid!"

Psalm 27:1
It has been a LONG time since I have posted anything and think that its a good time to update. A lot has happened and changed since June. Summer is over and Fall is past and Winter 2010 is upon us, soon to be 2011. WOW what a difference a few months can make. In these months I have worked my summer job... stressed out about a job for the school year, GOT a teaching job and now teach at a local elementary school... I was so consumed by these things that I know I often forgot to rely and fully trust in the Lord. It's quite funny to look back and think "Wow, Carin how much easier would life have been if I just gave it to HIM!" Starting a new job and moving into that next stage of life, the "Real World," is SUCH a hard thing. I'm learning more about myself then I ever have in the past and God constantly brings up things, some are fun and exciting and others are a little harder to swallow! But I am constantly reminded of Psalm 27:1 that God is my stronghold, my light and my salvation. I have NOTHING to fear or be afraid of!

Another sweet and new thing that is happening is that I am going to Cambodia for a month this summer to teach English!! With this decision and through the whole process (Which has just started :) ) I have already found that constant reliance and full trust in HIM is what will get me through this process!
I am so comforted by the promises of God's Word!

What is Love??

I know this may sound corny and this verse is definitely over used at weddings but Love, true love, is... Patient, Kind, It doesn't boast, It doesn't envy, it isn't proud, It doesn't keep records of wrongs, its not rude, Love never fails, It always protects, hopes, and perserveres. (1 Corinthians 13: 4-7)I think often verses like this one get way overused people forget the real meaning behind it. I mean think about your life for a second, think about your closest relationship be that a significant other, a friend or family member. Think about the times you were rude, or brought up past failures, think about the time you got impatient and said unkind words. I'm not trying to be a downer but I'm sure everyone reading this (if anyone does read this! :) ) had to say "ugh... yup... I've done that!" I mean we are not perfect by any means so there is not one person who can truly do all these things, all the time (except God of course) but we have God to help us! And that is the beauty behind this verse. Not only does it show us how to love others but it also shows us how God loves US (His very imperfect creation!) So remember that the next time you want to say some unkind words or bring up some past mistake, remind yourself of this verse. Love ALWAYS perserveres!

To be honest I have NOT been the best at this lately, God has truly convicted me of it and so to those of you whom I have hurt (you know who you are) I can say from the depths of my heart I'm so sorry.... and from now on, my love to and for you will perservere!

Deep Roots

Psalm 1:1-3 "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked... but his delight is in the law of the Lord... He is like a tree planted by streams of water..."

Recently we had an interesting string of storms that blew through North Dakota and Minnesota. We didn't see a lot of it here in Fargo but at my apartment there was some interesting damage. A big oak tree that was nicely placed between the apartment building and the garages quite ironically was completely uprooted and fell. Now, luckily the tree fell North, and not East or West into either of the buildings, but the whole thing got me thinking... there is a song by Justin Rizzo called "Tree" and it says "I want to be unmovable and unshakable so let my roots go down deep, unmovale and unshakable in You..." I mean look how easily the natural winds of this earth tore down a HUGE tree. If figuratively I were that tree that would be like me getting spiritually knocked over because of some minor sin or minor upset in my life. So I need to have deeper roots, that I will be unmovable when the winds and storms try to blow me down. I need to keep those roots firmly planted in HIM! What a great reminder!!

Ecclesiastes 3:1

Ecclesiastes 3:1 "To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven..."

Some times in our lives we have times that seem more like winter, some like spring, summer and some like autumn. Some times the rains come down and we are flooded and overwhelmed with either emotions or just the busy-ness of life... Sometimes we feel cold and heavy like the winter wind and snow. With not much to look forward to or just kind of "dead". In the autumn seasons of our lives we watch as our lives start to twirl and spiral to the ground like the leaves on the trees... In the summer we have drought spells where we are dry and feel useless...

BUT (and there always is a but!) let's not forget that after the heavy spring rains comes the beautiful, green plants; after the bitter winter wind and cold comes the beautiful glistening snow topped trees; the beautiful colors of autumn leaves that remind us God is SOOO creative and of course in the dry drought of summer the wind will blow away the dust and we can bathe in the sun (or the "Son" if you will!)

Jesus, help me to remember that seasons come and go and that there will be times of cold, rain, spirals and drought... Remind me that to everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven. AMEN!

Proverbs 27:14

"As water reflects a face so a man's heart reflects the man" Proverbs 27:14

Friendships are like mirrors they show you who you really are... OUCH... When I really think about that phrase it kind of stings... Lately I definitely think my mirror would not show the prettiest of faces. I have not been the best friend or the most encouraging person that I normally am... You know, I could sit here and blame it on life's ups and downs, or on the past or even the future. But in reality it is a reflection of my heart. In those times of ups and downs did I run to God... I have to admit that no... I didn't... I have learned so much in only one week that I have no idea where to even begin. All I can say is GOD is SOOO good! I just have to continually give my heart to HIM! "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD He directs it like a watercourse wherever HE pleases." Proverbs 21:1. I place my heart in HIS hands and HE directs it... That way my reflection will be a beautiful reflection of the true me! The me I couldn't be with out HIM!

WOW! What an awesome revelation!

My challenge to you... Who do you see in the mirror today, the mirror of your heart... if you don't like what you see, give your heart to GOD, your worries, anxieties, hopes and dreams and I promise HE will direct them all and that reflection will change! I know mine has! :)