Integrity

Currently listening: Natasha Bedingfield "Unwritten"
Integrity is important to me. Living a life of integrity is so important to a Christian walk. For me I'm trying to walk in truth. It's not an easy task. Hurt from others sometimes those closest to us is generally involved. Tonight at fellowship I shared about integrity. I'm including an excerpt of what I said which is actually an excerpt of an e-mail a former corps officer of mine sent me last semester.

Your integrity to the truth- telling the truth, living the truth, recognizing the truth, rewarding the truth, relying upon the truth, speaking of the truth even when it puts you in a bad light-all of these subjects shape your presence as a holy adult. Your temptations from Satan will be more subtle, more daily, more able to be explained or covered. They will rely upon how you handle the truth. Your integrity is all you have- when it is lost, everything is tied to it. Do not fall prey to the desire to protect yourself so much that you begin the ride on a slippery slope leaving your integrity behind.

Something to think about. On another note I've been on a Christian/praise music and world music kick recently. It's even better to find both genres combo-ed. My roommate has a Spanish praise CD that she bought in Panama. It's becoming a favorite.

Question of the day: Are you a fan of bar soap, liquid soap, or foamy soap?

Me: I prefer liquid soap. My skin has a tendency to break out in rashes with certain kinds of bar soap. I never feel clean enough with the foamy stuff. As for brands I really enjoy Soft Soap's Milk and Honey and just about any scent from Bath & Body Works.

Oh, Happy Day...

Today was one of those blah mood days. I didn't go to any of my classes and spent most of the day sleeping. Considering that I feel physically better than earlier today...it was worth not going to class.

God is really moving on this campus still. I love seeing him at work but part of me is sad. I don't know God as much as I want to. I keep pursuing him though. I'm not one who quits easily. I've been thinking a lot about integrity lately. And how it is so important that we are true not only to God but also ourselves and aspects of our lives. I think integrity is important to God. It's mentioned in the book of Job a couple of times. And elsewhere in the Bible. Integrity is important to me too. I don't want to mis-lead others into believing things about me that aren't true. I realize that I can't control what people think regardless of how I live. I want people to see Jesus and aspects of the God whose image I was created in. But do they? I know personnally there are things that I haven't been 100% true on. Even if it was something I did once. But the cool part is...realizing why I did it...confessing my sin...asking for forgiveness and God forgiving and forgetting. As humans we tend to remember the wrongs we've received from other people. God isn't human though. I love that he can forget about the silly things I do that aren't exactly pleasing to him.

Currently I'm spending the majority of my time reading for class. I'm reading Taking Heaven by Storm, by this man whose last name is Wigger. It's a good book but the font is really small and there is a ton of example details. The goal is to finish it by this Tuesday before 7 PM. I've started Searching for God Knows What, by Donald Miller as well for personal reading. And in my on going trek through the OT I'm spending some quality time with Isaiah. I've decided that he is rather confusing but I do enjoy a challenge.

Question of the day: Does the word moist gross you out? If not is there a word that does gross you out?

Me: yes. The word sounds gross to me when it is said. I also cringe when the words discharge and puberty are said. I know I"m a bit weird but I can't help it.

la la la...

Well it is offically the weekend by my standards. For me it started right after my 1 PM class called History of Religion in US. It's a good class. The books look interesting and we have to visit two different worship services. This weekend I am going to a Baptist Church and I think the other one is going to be a Morman one.

Hmm...so yesterday I was caught completely off guard. I was talking to my former Youth Pastor and out of the blue he asks me where I got my faith from. My answer was pretty crappy because I wasn't prepared. But realistically, I should know the answer to that question. There is serious warfare out there. Sometimes I think that I'm in the middle of it with some current situations involving my family. And me not knowing Scripture or having an adequate answer to why my faith is the way it is...then I'm headed for trouble.

So where did I get my faith from...well experiences have a lot to do with it but my entire faith is not built upon those experiences. The experiences showed me more about God. But for me it comes down to trusting God with everything. What I know and what I don't. He's never let me down and tends to surprise me. I've tried putting faith in people and learned that it leads to disappointment and a lot of hurt. Don't get me wrong...I love people and trust several of them. But that's not the same as putting faith in them.

Feel free to leave comments about this. I like input.

Question of the Day: If you could meet any fictional character who would it be and why?

Me: Ponyboy Curtis from The Outsiders. First of all his name is a bit different. I really liked the book and the discription of his hair seems wonderful.

Can I Get A What, What?

I've decided that I know too many people on both blogs and that I'm just going to post the same entry twice. That way I don't miss out on my shout outs and hollas on Xanga or potential comments on this thing.

Yeah! What! OK! So I'm not the next Lil' John but me attempting to use any of these words like him would probably be hilarious. Just a thought.

So I had an amazing weekend. I didn't do anything spectacular by any means but all in all a great weekend. God has been showing me so much lately. And I got to thinking about settling. Settling for less than what could be out there for us as people. I don't want to settle. I want to be open to the adventure that awaits. Whatever and where ever my vocation is. I honestly like challenges and being out of my comfort zone. Those are times when my character is refined and molded into what God wants to use me for later on in the path. Regardless of how little I know about the future or even about some present situations, God is going to be faithful through all of it.

I re-colored my hair today. It is a nice shade of red that blends in with my natural dark brown. As for my belt drama, I ended up having to call it in. The woman who took my order was very pleasent and hopefully the belts will come in soon. Pretty much all of my pants are a bit too big. Including one of my favorite pairs of comfy pants. They're these great green scrub pants.

Question of the day: Do you prefer the term journal or diary?

Me: I like journal better. It fits my personality and I've always liked the style of journals better because they generally don't have the locks on them.