Dancing along His path : future

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

How is God like a canoe???

A while ago at a church retreat my friend, Kassidy and I went canoeing despite the fact that it was extremely windy. We got stuck by the boat house for a good ten minutes, then once we got out onto the lake we thought we would never get back to the dock because the wind was pushing so hard against us. It was a struggle, but we finally made it back and decided that our canoeing experience would make a great witness one day. So I am now here to explain to you just how God is like a canoe. Well okay not a canoe, but like the story I just summed up...

He will never let you stray too far from Him. We all have our Jesus highs and lows, but no low is ever too low to rise up from. I personally, have never hit an extreme low. Whenever I start to stray from God's path, He puts something in my way that brings me right back to Him and I am soooo thankful!
Recently, God spoke to me and told me about my future. I am very much a plan ahead-er so naturally I was so excited to hear Him tell me how much bigger and better His plans for me are. But then the exhilarating roller coaster ride I felt like I was on screeched to a halt. I'm not giving spoilers, mostly because I'm not ready to share exactly what He told me, but I will say that I burst into tears, and not the happy kind. I kept telling myself "Don't go astray! Distancing yourself from Him won't work, and won't change His ultimate plan!" I stayed close for a long time, asking God for more understanding of the ambiguous (SAT WORD ALERT) thing He had just told me, but as the answer's became just as ambiguous as His announcement, I started to lose hope. I only went to Church so I didn't have to go to reconciliation before my next EMHC day, I cracked and binge watched Orange is the New Black and I stopped listening to Christian music. You might be reading this saying, "Hah, that's what you call a low?" but, you're only as pure as the things you put into your mind, so yeah it was!!!! Luckily, it was only a matter of time before I got this message via Jesus Calling....

July 29th

"COME TO ME CONTINUALLY. I am meant to be the Center of your consciousness, the Anchor of your soul. Your mind will wander from Me, but the question is how far you allow it to wander. An anchor on a short rope lets a boat drift only slightly before the taut line tugs the boat back toward the center. Similarly, as you drift away from Me, My Spirit within you gives a tug, prompting you to return to Me. As you become increasingly attuned to My Presence, the length of rope on your soul's Anchor is shortened. You wander only a short distance before feeling that inner tug--telling you to return to your true Center in Me."

Hebrews 6:19; 1 John 2:28; Matthew 22:37

Before I allowed my mind and my being to wander too far from Him, God sent me that passage. He sent me to the Gateway Student Conference. He sent me Wacky Week Round 2, Hillsong's Zion Acoustic Sessions and MKCYC - all to show me how much better life is when it is centered around Him! THANK YOU JESUS!

So in conclusion, God is like a canoe because no matter how strong the wind (temptation, sin etc.) is pushing against you, He will help you fight against it and bring you back to the dock (home/ Heaven!)

lost at sea

finally home!

crazy wind blow hair + fishing (we didn't catch anything)

Okay, so I wrote this post about a week ago and since then I have found a couple more things to add....

Like, I said up there, I've been praying for understanding. Well, on August 7th, the Jesus Calling passage begins with this: "Understanding will never give you peace." I read those words and panicked a little because I want/wanted nothing more than to understand and find peace. BUT then it goes on to say...

That’s why I have instructed you to trust in Me, not in your understanding. Human beings have a voracious appetite for trying to figure things out, in order to gain a sense of mastery over their lives. But the world presents you with an endless series of problems. As soon as you master one set, another pops up to challenge you. The relief you had anticipated is short-lived. Soon your mind is gearing up again: searching for understanding (mastery), instead of seeking Me (your Master).

The wisest of all men, Solomon, could never think his way through to Peace. His vast understanding resulted in feelings of futility, rather than in fulfillment. Finally, he lost his way and succumbed to the will of his wives by worshiping idols.

My Peace is not an elusive goal, hidden at the center of some complicated maze. Actually, you are always enveloped in Peace, which is inherent in My Presence. As you look to Me, you gain awareness of this precious Peace.

Jesus, You've done it again! Also, today's Gospel was the story of Jesus allowing Peter to walk on water through trusting in Him. I realized that's what I need - more trust in God. Faith is one thing we could always use more of.

In His Name,

Meredith

questions, comments or prayer requests? Feel free to email me: meredithmunro@icloud.com

My blog is sooooo close to hitting 2,000 views! That may not seem like much but it is a milestone none the less! If you could share this post with your friends and family, it would mean soooo much to me!

Also, check out my new page, where I have put some of my favorite bible verses!

**PRAYER REQUESTS**

Teachers preparing for the start of the school year
3 year old, Jessica Birrittieri, who is currently at Cooke Children's hospital recovering from brain swelling due to a pool accident. She is making a lot of progress, keep the prayers coming.

Sunday, February 9, 2014

I'm Back/ Planning Ahead

Hey y'all. I'M BACK!!! (Well at least I hope so)
The other day I was reading a girl's blog and I thought to myself, "Remember when you had a blog for like a week then school started and you forgot about it?" So I logged on to Blogger and saw that I hadn't posted since August... that's almost six months ago but it feels like a week! Which got me thinking about how darn fast this year has gone by. Then I asked myself why this year has gone by so quickly. And I have come to the conclusion that we are always so busy looking forward to things, we forget to enjoy in the moments we're in. I feel that trying to blog more, will help me cherish these moments so that in two years when graduation comes, I can say that I have chronicled my best (and worst) memories.
So much has happened since I wrote on here last. Football season, wisdom teeth surgery (and complications), dance conventions, birthday parties, church retreats, semester exams, driver's license tests and much, much more. Today I was going through my iPhoto library, looking for a picture to post for my friend, Kassidy's birthday and all of these memories came flooding back. Another thing that I started after taking a blogging hiatus was the daily devotional, Jesus Calling. I was a bit hesitant to start it because it's so popular and I didn't know if it was just a book people take pictures of to make themselves look all Christian-y. But I am glad to say that I read it every night and it is AMAZING, definitely worthy of all the hype! If you don't have a copy, get one, I have given it to multiple people as a gift and they all love it as well. One topic that has come up a lot lately in JC is living for this moment and not fearing the future. To be completely honest, those pages scare me. We live in a society where you have to plan ahead, you're trained to fear the future. If I don't take the right classes in high school, I won't get into a good college. If I don't get ahead on studying, I'm gonna fail this test. So on and so forth. I miss the days when you didn't have to plan things out, they days when you could just walk up to your friends door and run around outside with them for hours on end. The days when you were worrying about having enough clothes for all of your barbies and not who you're going to ask to a banquet that is four months away. I wish we could be elementary schoolers again, when grades didn't matter and your mom made all of your plans for you. But the harsh reality is that we can't go back to those days. I will be the first one to admit that I spend more time in the future than I should. As I said before, we are all so busy. In the next four months alone I have six dance competitions, four dance recitals, drill team tryouts, at least two banquets, I'm a confirmation sponsor and then there's also school mixed in there. WOW. Of course one of my dance studio competition conflicts with drill team tryouts. The drill team banquet conflicts with a dance studio competition. And the dance studio banquet conflicts with the Confirmation Mass. I have to plan ahead to make sure I can work all of these things out because they're all priorities. Knowing that I'm not able to be in multiple places at once causes stress. Now on top of that I'm reading that you shouldn't think about the future? It often feels impossible to find peace.
But I finally figured out that God isn't saying not to to look into the future, He is saying not to fear it because He is leading us down the path we're on, there is no need to fear! God has you right where you need to be at this very moment, though you might not believe it, this is all part of His greater plan. Here is the passage from Jesus Calling that once frightened me, it now gives me peace.

February 1st:

Follow Me one step at a time. That is all I require of you. In fact, that is the only way to move through this space/time world. You see huge mountains looming, and you start wondering how you’re going to scale those heights. Meanwhile, because you’re not looking where you’re going, you stumble on the easy path where I am leading you now. As I help you get back on your feet, you tell Me how worried you are about the cliffs up ahead. But you don’t know what will happen today, much less tomorrow. Our path may take an abrupt turn, leading you away from those mountains. There may be an easier way up the mountains than is visible from this distance. If I do lead you up the cliffs, I will equip you thoroughly for the strenuous climb. I will even give My angels charge over you, to preserver you in all your ways. Keep your mind on the present journey, enjoying My Presence. Walk by faith, not by sight, trusting Me to open up the way before you.

"With your help I can advance against a troop;
with my God I can scale a wall." Psalm 16:29

"For He will give His angels [especial] charge over you to accompany and defend and preserve you in all your ways [of obedience and service]. They shall bear you up on their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone." Psalm 91:11-12 (AMP)

"For we walk by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7 (NKJV)

(Jesus Calling, Sarah Young)

I know y'all are probably equally as busy as I am so I hope that this passage helps you find peace. Know that you are always in my prayers and as Father Henry would say, JESUS LOVES YOU! That's all for now!

- Meredith

Questions? Comments? Prayer requests? Leave them below or email me: meredithmunro@icloud.com

Wondering what I was doing instead of blogging for the past six-ish months? Here are some highlights (not in chronological order!)

My Church was on Say Yes to the Dress!

Sweet Sixteen party!

New Year's Eve!

Got to watch Sarah in her percussion concert!

I finally got a Pope Francis calendar.

Winter HSM retreat!

I went to the Notre Dame Shamrock Series at AT&T Stadium and took some terrible panos.

I dressed up like Miranda Sings a couple of times...

Then I met her!

One of my favorites, when I was in kindergarten I got to go write a letter to Santa at CHS and this year I got to help my kindergarten teacher's son write his!