Another writing

Another thing I wrote and shared with these amazing women I live with. I wasn't able to indent on here like I wanted...so in place I had to use this ___

“The Release”

A sense of relieve,
One I’m unhurried to accept.
Once enticed by still waters,
Their swell did engulf me.

Oh! But what a calm,
How tender the tide rolls.
My eyes do stream at such a joyous deluge,
It was the cork I took off the harbor.

What a flow!
One that did not cease
Serenity was found in the thunderous crash of the blue.
But not preceding—

___________Pounding on my body
___________With power that leaves no mark
___________Trying to push back but to no avail
___________The swell continued beating me, passing to die.

___________I sputtered
___________Inhaling a bitter salt,
___________Surrendered my footing
___________To be carried by the same that had done the thrashing.

And now—
Now is where I can see the beauty.
On the shore,
Sun softly Kissing my outline is where I sit,
At my release.

The water tickles my toes,
But the Warmth spreads my lips over with praise.

Lauren Whatley
March 9, 2008


PSALM 31 (check it out)
Into your hands I commit my spirit…my eyes grow weak with sorrow…I have become broken pottery…But I trust in you…let your face shine on your servant…How great is your goodness…Praise be to the Lord, for he showed his wonderful love to me when I was in a besieged city.

wrote

Hey there,
This is something I wrote this past week and ended up sharing it with my dorm. Hope it can minister to you in some way.

Much love,
The College Girl

“Emotions”

We walk down the road straight and narrow, my hand in His. The tender touch of His thumb on the back of my hand, I know I am secure. His grip is warm but never too tight. He allows me to let go, but as I do the world goes dark. I can’t see the path and my feet shrink back in fear of what is ahead. My eyes can make out shadows of trees, tall and slim. Other shadows move about swiftly cutting at my calves. The world around is not friendly to me. I look to the trees for comfort, being sure of what they are. But they simply stand tall only swaying in the wind. More shadows dart past some on the right, some to the left. My spirit and mind grow faint. Then a swift movement and I am staring, eyes wide, straight at a shadow. I feel its breath on my slowly moving chest. My spirit only allowing a few paralyzing breathes. My eyes focused on the shadow slowly squint into a crescent and a silent tear glides down my cheek. Another quickly chasing behind as if wanting to run from this but having nowhere to go as it hits the ground before the shadow’s feet. My lips slowly release their embrace and I whisper a soft “Abba”. I feel a familiar touch on my face, my eyes shut. The shadow is no more. I feel myself being gently lifted and then cradled. I can feel the warmth of my rescuer’s chest as my head is held there through the support of His arms. No bone in my body creaks and my eyes are wet but loosely at rest for I know this Comfort. He holds me and I sense the cadence of His step as He walks the path. I feel His lips on my head as He sweetly kisses me, and His hot breath as He whispers, “my child”.

Lauren Whatley
February 25, 2008

“So if you think, you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” 1 Corinthians 10:12-13

Retreat

My retreat was amazing. No one but me and God. I don't think I could even describe it in words, plus I haven't taken the time to write about it. One thing is for sure though my God loves me with an intimate love that surpasses my understanding. He speaks tenderly to my heart and comforts me like no one else can. I wanted to share some pretty cool quotes that a friend sent to me and a couple that I found that weekend. Enjoy! Oh and these are some pictures I took during my retreat.

"There are things to be seen and learned in the apparent wastelands which cannot be seen and learned in places of comfort, convenience, and company. God intends to keep us in a place where there is nothing else we can count on. Let's not ask for shortcuts. Let's keep alert for the wonders our Guide will show us in the wilderness." --Elizabeth Elliot

And only heaven is better than to walk with Christ at midnight, over moonless seas. He is indeed enough. He is not all we would ask for, if we were honest, but it is precisely when we do not have what we would ask for, and only then, that we can clearly perceive His all-sufficiency. It is when the sea is moonless that the Lord has become my Light.--Amy Carmichael

We receive enlightenment only in porportion to when we give ourselves more and more completely to God in humble submission and love. --Thomas Burton

I know of no more staggering and humbling truth than that a sovereign God has ordained my participation. --Elizabeth Elliot

Request

Hey there,
I would really appreciate it if you would be praying for me this weekend. I am going to have a weekend pretty much to myself. And while I need to get lots of school work done, even more importantly I need rest and to take time to reflect and put my life in order. Many different things I am really going to meditate on in prayer this weekend. Here are just a few that I can share and you can be praying about for me

• How to be pouring into others
• Re-evaluating old decisions
• New relationships
• How to make sure I am taking care of myself--b/c I recently was reminded that that is not selfish!

Well that is pretty much it for now, I know not a big update or anything. I am sure this weekend might produce some good reading on this blog though.

Thanks for your support!
The College Girl

HIS glory...not mine

So I don’t really have a plan for what I am about to write, but I figured it is about time for an update.
At first being back here at CIU was really hard. It felt like an adjustment all over again. We did some rearranging. Yay for bunk beds! Classes took a little getting use to, but I absolutely love them. I am taking New Testament, which is at 8am and I have gone to looking very nice all prepared for the day, then I have gone with sweat pants and wet hair, and last week—waking up 30 min before class—I opted to put on a baseball cap and sweatshirt go to the cafe eat breakfast then after class I showered. Actually that last scenario was the best…more sleep and food!
My two favorite classes are Biblical Foundations for Life & Ministry and Foundations for Youth Ministry. In Youth Min. I have gotten a free Latte and brownies…so of course it is a favorite :) . The other class is for my major (FACE) and it has been absolutely amazing. I am learning more and more about my faith and what is the basis for my relationship with the Father.
I am not going to lie, not this last week, but the week before was such a hard week. I was processing so many things and God was pointing out so much in my life. I realized how I had convinced myself that I had given God control of certain areas of my life, but in reality I was holding the reigns. What a humbling reality it was to realize how I was lifting my self up instead of seeing God as the healer that He is. I was trying so desperately to figure out things in my life, no wonder I was having a hard time seeing hope. I am reminded of a passage in Hosea:

Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes; I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way. (2:6)
Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards and will make the Valley of Anchor a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt. (2:14-15)

God blocked my path and left me staring at the reality, that I was taking control from Him and how that was only harming me. But the amazing thing is that he allured me (how intimate that is!) and he spoke tenderly to me and with His words He showed me the hope I have. It is such a daily thing for me to give Him control. But, how amazing He is and how great is His love for us!
Okay so the night after this came to my attention we had our monthly dorm meeting. My RA, Sarah, was teaching. She had us write down on paper 4 words, what, how, why, and then vertically who. On another piece of paper we wrote is it worth His glory? Sometimes we know the what, we know the how, but we aren’t sure about the why. God says go here and do such and such, the what is given, and how to get there, but we don’t understand sometimes why God is calling us to go somewhere or to face something. But we know the who and that is God. So the question is, is it worth God’s glory? In our lives, every little thing we do, is it worth His glory? YES, yes it is worth His glory! God’s glory—the way He makes Himself known or shows His might.
In my life I can see what is going on and how all of it is being orchestrated by God, but I don’t fully understand why it is that I have to walk through this longer than what I thought or why things couldn’t be different, but it is so worth His glory.
Glory doesn’t come at the end of a trial, it is found in every step you walk with God through that trial. We need to give Him complete control and allow Him to work through us for His glory.
So this is where the song I posted before this comes into play. “I’ll fall facedown as your glory shines around”

There is so much more God has been showing me, but I hate for this blog to be so long that no one reads it. So maybe another time I will share. I realize this was much more of a serious blog than me letting you know all the happenings around campus…hope you don’t mind!

More to come,
The college girl

"Facedown"

Wanted to share this with you all because it has meant so much to me since I heard Leslie sing it in Chapel a couple of weeks ago.
More to come later,
The college girl

Goals make me ask why

WRITTEN JANUARY 6TH-ISH

I leave for school tomorrow, so I figured I should jump into what I had put off all break…making goals. I am noticing how different this coming semester is going to be schedule wise and trying to weave working into it. I won’t lie, I am quite anxious to see how this will all play out. Besides realizing simple things such as that, through my goal writing I noticed lessons I had learned over break. I would like to take a minute to share these with you.

Sleep: It is very important. All break I have got quite a bit and am curious to see how getting up on Wed. at 7 will pan out. How much sleep you get can determine how your day goes. It determines how friendly, effective, and initiative you are.
In-touch: I realized how sweet and important my relationships are here at home. I saw how much I take for granted those who were once such a huge part of my life. Don’t get me wrong, I think of them so often, but they don’t know I am thinking of them. A quick note, a phone call, or a nice email that is all it would take to say to someone you are just that important that even though my life is headed in a different direction I still cherish what we have.
My stuff: It is enriching to have something you love to do and actually do. Hobbies aren’t a joke; they are what your heart needs. If you have talents than use them. Use them to touch others if you will, but do something you enjoy for yourself.
God & Me: How very crucial it is to take time to get alone with God. Daily quiet times with Him are so good. But sometimes we need more than a quick time with our Father. It is so sweet to sit with Him with no time constraints and just pour your heart out to Him. Word of caution—Satan doesn’t want this. Satan is going to tempt you to put this time off, but please don’t because it is needed.
Be Present: My comfort is found here in Charleston. I have influence here and I have friendships with deep roots, but this is only a stop for now. My place right now is found in Columbia and for the next four years it will be there. I am to be present there. What does that exactly mean? That means I should be making deep roots there, pouring into others, knowing that I have everyone in Charleston in my heart, but that my heart is at CIU. This has been such a hard lesson for me because when I come home I need to be present here also. I encourage you this year to really take this phrase and ask if you are present in every role of your life. If you are truly being present where you are, then you are most likely giving your best.
Give your best: We had Jim Caviezel (guy who played Jesus in The Passion) at Seacoast today and through his testimony I was reminded that I am to give my best for the cause of Christ. Jim suffered unbelievably much during the filming, but to think that his suffering was not even to the level that Christ suffered, spoke volumes to my heart. Christ endured so much for us. Which makes me question why I am even hesitant to tell a friend what this man did for them. I am looking forward to my evangelism class because that is an area of my life that I really need to grow in. Christ did not die for me so that I would hide His story from others.
Pursue: I am the type of person that always hesitates to pick up the phone and call someone because I role-play the whole conversation in my head. And of course I think of all the ways I can mess the conversation up or how awkward it might be. So I was really shocked when in the spur of the moment I call up a friend from CIU and meet this person for lunch. We don’t talk a lot at school, but are always friendly towards each other. Lunch lasted for two and a half hours! Man was I glad I took that risk. When meeting new people or wanting to get to know someone better, just do it! Pursue relationships that are going to grow you in your walk with Christ.

The college girl