Just a Little Something to Make Your Day...

Go on. Watch this. I DARE you not to smile the whole way through….

I love this video for MANY reasons but I love how excited she gets over the small little presents and how grateful she is for even a pack of Oreos. Not gonna lie, I cried with her...

                  You know what the best feeling is?? When you're just sitting there doing absolutely nothing but simply contemplating on life, and you suddenly realize that it's pretty dang amazing.

You’ve been through a lot, yes, but you haven’t been through it alone. Not once,

Never once,

Did you ever face anything alone. Every single step of the way, He’s been with you. And every victory that you’ve claimed has been because the Father has been with you the whole time. Time and time again, His hand has shown itself mighty.

The faithfulness of God in my life NEVER ceases to amaze me...

Autumn.

Ladies and Gentlemen....
It's here.
Or it's very close to ALMOST being here.
HOOOOORAAAAAY!!! IT'S ALMOST AUTUMN!!!!
Why do I love the fall so much?
Well....

thick scarves

Cool, gusty mornings

BOOTS

the sound of leaves crunching beneath your feet

bare trees (they're easier for climbing)

three words: PUMPKIN. SPICE. LATTE.

big bowls of soup to slurp down

carving pumpkins

love seems to always be in the air

those feelings of rushing to class, being cold and yet your face is flushed cause you're getting hot, and at the same time being so absolutely happy for absolutely no reason at all.

leggings

the GAP fall collection is always the best

yellow, orange, red and brown leaves coloring the ground

So you tell me, what's NOT to love!?

Your favorite things about the fall.
GO.

You are HERE

Moving is a hard thing to do.
It was hard when I moved across town in 7th grade and it's hard moving across the country to another state now.
I don't do well with change. There's something about it, the unfamiliarity of things that frightens me. Sometimes I say I'm adventurous. SOMETIMES. Only when I feel like it. Most times, unexplored lands scare me.

But I'm convinced that going to Mississippi to attend school is in fact what the Lord has planned for me as of now, so that's where I'm going to go.
I'm excited, but boy, am I scared.

I think of all the people that the Lord told to move. Abraham. Moses and the Israelites. My mother. And my sweet friend Alicia.
I think of them, and their lives-where they were called to go, their response, and their lives now.
They all followed His voice and direction. They all obeyed. They all saw His goodness in their lives.
Abraham became the Father of nations. Moses led an entire nation from captivity. My mother created new lives for her, her children and the generations to come. Alicia is spreading His love to the hungry people of Taiwan.
These people-changing lives and affecting generations, all because they moved.
They didn't question, they just did it. I question all the time and I'm afraid- I'm only moving to Mississippi for crying out loud!
But He spoke to me the other night as I laid in my bed.
"What are you so afraid of? Have I ever left you before? Renata, you worry too much. You spend so much time letting worry consume your mind, that you can't let it trust. I will be with you now, just like I was with you then. But you need to trust me..."
This is going to be quite the process, you know, of learning how to trust. But He's right. If I don't trust Him, I'm going to miss out on the things He has for me, beyond anything I could have ever imagined all because I let worry anchor me down.
No more.
I'm dropping that anchor forever, and I'm going to follow Him. Seeking Him. Trusting Him.
May Christ be my anchor, the very rock on which I stand and the very truth that I forever follow.

He has so much in store for me. I can already feel it. Kind of like those days when you look up at the sky and you see the clouds, you inhale all the scents of rain about to fall. It's coming. Any minute now.
That's how I feel. I will not be in the dry and weary land forever, the rain is coming. New life. Hallelujah.


May His Spirit pour into my life in such a manner that the flood causes an overflow into the people around me. Because when it comes to the Kingdom of God, when it rains, it POURS.
This heart is ready.
Onward!

paint.

The Pulley Effect

"He must become greater and I must become less and less."

*John 3:30*

It's ironic isn't it? That the sure sign of growth is by decreasing.

It's because we become too full. We become too full of other things that we leave no room for Jesus to come in.

We are too full of pride, bulge with selfishness and we leave no room for Him to come in and work within us. 

So this is what John says that there must be more of Him and less of me-it's the Pulley Effect.


Let me explain.


It's simple, really. The more you tug on one side of the pulley, the less you have of the other.

The more I have of myself, the less I have of Him but the more I rid myself of me, the more I have of Him. 

Take a look....

That's what I want. I want the Holy Spirit to overtake my heart in such a way, that it drives all the gunk out. All of my selfishness, my anger, my wounds, my desires for independence that enable me to think I can do it alone. I want it all gone so that there is room for the Spirit to fill. That His light may come with such a force that the darkness that hides in the smallest corners be driven out so that it may no longer I that live, but Christ who lives within me. It's not a  better or more improved me, it's simply no longer me.

Jesus, here I am. Broken, unworthy, and so incredibly desperate for You. 
It's all yours. All of it, Yours.
May my life no longer be dictated by my selfish thoughts, but rather be filled with Your overwhelming love and mercy that would enable my hands and feet to move in obedience to Your voice.
May You be lifted high in my life Lord, in everything, be lifted high. That I may have none of me left, but all of You.

It's like the old hymn that sings 

"O Jesus Christ, Grow Thou in me

And all things else recede"